September 21, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



287 



Free public lectures of the N"ew York 

 Botanical Garden are being delivered in the 

 Lecture Hall of the Museum Building of the 

 Garden, Bronx Park, on Saturday afternoons, 

 at four o'clock, as follows : 



September 1. "Collecting fvmgi in the Cats- 

 kills, ' ' by Dr. W. A. Murrill. 



September 8. "The origin and history of 

 soils," by Dr. A. Hollick. 



September 15. "Growing fresh vegetables in 

 the back yard," by Mr. H. G. Parsons. 



September 22. "Some botanical features of 

 northern Cape Breton," by Dr. G. E. Nichols. 



(Exhibition of Dahlias, September 22 and 23) 



September 29. ' ' Growing nut trees, ' ' by Dr. 

 W. C. Deming. 



October 6. ' ' Autumn coloration, ' ' by Dr. A. B. 

 Stout. 



October 13. "The relation of forests to water 

 supply, ' ' by Dr. G. C. Fisher. 



(CatskiU Aqueduct Celebration Lecture) 



October 20. "Fall planting and winter protec- 

 tion, ' ' by Mr. 6. V. Nash. 



The Paris Academy of Sciences has decided 

 to establish a !N"ational Physical and Mechan- 

 ical Laboratory for the purpose of scientific re- 

 search, directed in a marked degree to the 

 benefit and use of the industries. The labora- 

 tory will be controlled by a council, of which 

 half the members will be nominated by the 

 academy, one fourth by the state department, 

 and the remainder by the chief industrial as- 

 sociations. The executive control will be in 

 the hands of a small technical committee. 

 Existing laboratories engaged in similar work 

 will be affiliated with the National Laboratory, 

 and will work in close relationship with it. 

 Substantial funds are to be provided for work- 

 ing expenses and for the assistance of the 

 affiliated institutions. 



At the request of the government, the coun- 

 cil of the British Medical Association has sub- 

 mitted the following plan for the creation of 

 the Ministry of Health : " That a ministry of 

 health should be created to take over from ex- 

 isting government departments such duties as 

 are concerned with the health of the com- 

 munity, and to deal with those duties only; 

 that the administrative functions of the min- 



istry should be carried out by a board presided 

 over by a minister of cabinet rank; that the 

 country be divided into suitable administra- 

 tive areas under local administrative health 

 centers consisting of representatives (a) of 

 the rating authorities; (&) of the education 

 authorities; (c) of the persons contributing to 

 a scheme of health insurance (including em- 

 ployers of labor); (d) the medical profession; 

 (e) public hospitals ; (/) dentists; (g) pharma- 

 cists, and (/!,) nurses; that the principal med- 

 ical officers of each center should be two, of 

 equal status, one representing the clinical side 

 (chief clinical officer) and the other the pre- 

 ventive side of medicine (medical officer of 

 health) ; that for each area, hospitals, clinics or 

 treatment centers should be recognized or es- 

 tablished at which persons entitled to treat- 

 ment under the public scheme should be able 

 to obtain institutional, consultative or spe- 

 cialist services on the recommendation of their 

 medical attendant." The meeting passed a 

 resolution by an overwhelming majority in 

 favor of the appointment of a ministry of 

 health. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 NEWS 



Brown University receives $100,000 for a 

 teachers' fund and $4,000 for the purchase of 

 volumes of American poetry by the will of the 

 late Samuel C. Eastman, of Concord, IST. H. 

 The Concord Public Library is given $2,000, 

 the ISTew Hampshire Historical Society $4,000, 

 and $3,000 will go to charity. One half the 

 residue of the estate is willed to Brown Uni- 

 versity, one fourth to the Concord Public 

 Library, and one fourth to the New Hampshire 

 Historical Society. 



The University of Maine and Bates and 

 Colby Colleges have postponed their opening 

 for about a month to allow students to con- 

 tinue their work on farms and in industries. 



PROrESSOR "WiLLiAJi A. ScHAPER, of the de- 

 partment of political science of the University 

 of Minnesota, has been dismissed, following an 

 investigation of the attitude on the war of 



