138 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLYI. No. 1180 



many Continental states, as well as in Amer- 

 ica." 



According to Nature the newly formed Rus- 

 sian Botanical Society held its annual, and 

 also a special, meeting at Moscow on Decem- 

 ber 16-19, 1916, and its organization was then 

 completed. The following officers were elected : 

 Honorary President, A. S. Famincyn; Presi- 

 dent, I. P. Borodin; Vice-presidents, V. I. 

 Palladin and S. G. NaYasin; Chief Secretary, 

 ]Sr. A. Bus; Treasurer, V. N. Suchacev; Mem- 

 bers of the Council in Petrograd, V. L. Zoma- 

 rov, S. P. Kostycev and V. A. Transel. In ad- 

 dition, the following were elected on the 

 council as representing cities containing a min- 

 imum of iive members of the society: M. I. 

 Golenkin (Moscow), E. F. Votcal (Kiev), V. 

 M. Amoldi (Charkov), B. B. Grineveckij 

 (Odessa), V. V. Saponznikov (Tomsk), Ja. S. 

 Medvedev (Tiflis) and V. M. Arcichovskij 

 (ISTovocerkassk). The number of the acting 

 members of the society now exceeds 280. Not- 

 withstanding the present unfavorable condi- 

 tions, more than eighty members attended the 

 fouj days' meeting in Moscow, and, in addition 

 to the discussion and settlement of various 

 questions of organization, sixteen scientific 

 reports were read. The nest extraordinary 

 meeting is fixed for December, 1919, again in 

 Moscow. Thanks to a subsidy of 3,000 roubles 

 received from the Ministry of Public Instruc- 

 tion, it was possible towards the end of the 

 year 1916 to proceed with the publication of 

 the Journal of the Russian Botanical Society, 

 and the first issue was placed before, and ap- 

 proved by, the Moscow meeting. The second 

 issue is in the press and finishes the year 1916. 

 For this year a subsidy of 10,000 roubles is be- 

 ing applied for, and it is intended to publish 

 eight numbers of four to five sheets each. 

 Thus the scientific amalgamation of Russian 

 botanists, for which they have long striven, 

 may be considered as achieved, and the forma- 

 tion under the auspices of the Imperial Acad- 

 emy of Sciences of the first all-Russian learned 

 society is an accomplished fact. 



Nature states that under the title of " Sci- 

 ence in Russia " a new reference-book will be 



published in the present year, composed of two 

 parts : (a) an index of all scientific institu- 

 tions, societies, and higher schools in Russia; 

 (h) an index of all persons working in these 

 institutions and of private scientific workers. 

 It will thus include in the first part the par- 

 ticulars hitherto supplied (but very incom- 

 pletely as to Russia) by the " Minerva Jahr- 

 buch " ; while the second part will be similar 

 to " Who's who in science," but will give, at 

 least for 1916, not so much information about 

 each individual. The difficult task of collect- 

 ing the necessary material is already well in 

 hand. The undertaking has been brought, 

 through the Russian newspapers, to the knowl- 

 edge of all those interested, and special forms 

 are being supplied to the institutions and 

 societies, many of which have already been re- 

 turned with the necessary particulars. The 

 work has been taken in hand by the Academy 

 of Sciences of Petrograd and the scientific 

 periodical Priroda (Nature) of Moscow. 

 " Science in Russia " for 1916 will be edited 

 by Professor V. N. Benesevic, and published 

 conjointly by the Academy and the Journal 

 Priroda in the latter part of this year. It will 

 be issued annually. This publication will 

 supply a long-felt need, as up to the present 

 the only work of reference containing any in- 

 formation about the scientific institutions of 

 Russia as a whole has been " Minerva." " Sci- 

 ence in Russia " will help towards an exact 

 evaluation of Russian scientific forces and 

 activity, and will constitute an important step 

 towards the promotion of closer scientific rela- 

 tions with the Allied countries. 



According to the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association, plans have been taken up 

 with the government for the establishment of 

 an outpatient department at Camp Admiral 

 by the officers of the Maryland Psychiatric 

 Base Hospital Unit, of which Dr. A. P. 

 Herring is chairman, and Dr. W. R. Dun- 

 ton, secretary. The chief object of this de- 

 partment will be to examine soldiers for mental 

 and nervous disorders and to arrange for their 

 treatment, but specialists of various sorts of 

 physical disease wiU also volunteer their serv- 

 ices. The purpose is to have volunteers go to 



