32 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVI. No. 1176 



in the former that the dust from the seed 

 in the field irritated the eyes, throat, and espe- 

 cially the nose, so much that the native labor- 

 ers were obliged to wear masks. It has been 

 reported that the Germans had bought all the 

 available supply of these seeds before the 

 declaration of war. Both the sabadilla seeds 

 and all preparations compounded from them 

 are now, however, declared contraband by 

 I England. 



Another plant of the same genus grows wild 

 in Texas, and some botanists believe that 

 should a need for sabadilla arise here it could 

 easily be cultivated in Texas and in other 

 southern states. Dr. Rose collected many 

 other specimens during his trip, primarily in 

 the mountains about Caracas and Puerto 

 Cabello, where he made an especial search for 

 cacti and orchids. 



Mr. Paul C. Standley, another botanist of 

 the National Museum, spent three weeks in 

 the vicinity of Fort Myers, on the west coast 

 of southern Florida, collecting plants and 

 studying the local flora. He was later de- 

 tailed for field-work in ISTew Mexico, and re- 

 mained for four weeks at TJte Park, where he 

 gathered over 5,000 specimens, including 

 several genera new to the state, and many 

 additional species. During his work, he 

 secured the largest collection of cryptogams, 

 the flowerless plants propagated by spores or 

 simple cell division, ever obtained in New 

 Mexico. This collection includes about 300 

 species of fungi not previously found in this 

 state. 



The Smithsonian pamphlet also describes 

 the botanical explorations of Professor A. S. 

 Hitchcock in the Hawaiian Islands, a reiwrt 

 of which will be published shortly. 



WAR SERVICE FOR CHEMISTS' 



Chemists and chemical engineers are nor- 

 mally needed in almost all branches of in- 

 dustry (including the standardization and 

 control of food products) for the successful 

 operation of processes, the detection and 

 speedy correction of difficulties and the im- 

 provement of products. England, France and 



1 Eeport to the Council of National Defense. 



Italy found it necessary to recall all chemists 

 from the ranks; Canada does not allow 

 chemists to enlist; chemists have saved Ger- 

 many up to the present time. 



There was a decided shortage in the supply 

 of chemists in the United States even before 

 April, 1914. The war has made the shortage 

 acute, and it is certain that our own war 

 needs and industries necessary to war will 

 absorb chemists as rapidly as they can be 

 trained. 



It takes from four to seven years to train a 

 chemist. The shorter time is for college 

 graduates and chemical engineers who become 

 wholly useful only after a further year of ex- 

 perience in a manufacturing plant or labora- 

 tory (corresponding to the hospital year re- 

 quired of medical students). The longer 

 time is for the training of research men taking 

 the doctorate degree in chemistry, on whose 

 shoulders ultimately the vast need of the gov- 

 ernment and the industries fall for meeting 

 and solving new difficulties and problems of 

 organized research. 



When chemists of mature years are called 

 in for service in government laboratories, 

 their places must be filled by younger men to 

 keep the machinery working. It is, therefore, 

 of the greatest importance that steps be taken : 



1. To keep and impress into service in 

 chemical lines chemists drawn by the draft 

 for service in the United States Army or 

 Navy. 



2. To provide means for keeping open 

 sources of supply of chemists from universi- 

 ties, colleges, and schools of technology, and 

 to procure volunteers in chemistry. 



A tentative plan for accomplishing these 

 results is hereby appended and recommended. 

 "William H. Nichols, chairman of the Chem- 

 istry Gomm,ittee, National Defense Council. 

 Past-president, Society of Chemical In- 

 dustry. President, Eighth International 

 Congress of Applied Chemistry. 

 Maeston T. Bogeet, chairman of the Chem- 

 istry Committee, National Research Coun- 

 cil. Past-president, American Chemical 

 Society. 



