306 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1187 



care, there will be equipment for surgical re- 

 construction work and " curative workshops " 

 in which men will acquire ability to use in- 

 jured members while doing work interesting 

 and useful in itself. This method has sup- 

 planted the old and tiresome one of prescribing 

 a set of motions for a man to go through with 

 no other purpose than to reacquire use of his 

 injured part. 



In addition to the American orthopedic 

 surgeons now working abroad under Col. 

 Jones, of England, others will soon go over- 

 seas. Experienced surgeons, and a large num- 

 ber of younger surgeons who will work xinder 

 competent directors, wiU go abroad for this 

 work, all to be under the direction of Major 

 Goldthwait. These orthopedic surgeons will 

 work in England among the British force and 

 when needed will be transferred to France to 

 work among American soldiers. 



It is not the intention that men able to 

 go back to the firing line shall be returned 

 to this coimtry unless their convalescence will 

 extend over a period of a considerable number 

 of months. Soldiers unable to return to duty 

 will be sent to the reconstruction hospitals in 

 the United States. 



Instructors and examiners for all the camps 

 are also being furnished by the department of 

 military orthopedic surgery. A number of 

 older and more experienced surgeons will act 

 as instructors and supervisors for each of the 

 groups into which the camps will be divided ; a 

 number of orthopedic surgeons wiU be detailed 

 as attending surgeons at each camp to act as 

 examiners and as consultants to the camp's 

 other surgeons. 



FOREST BATTALIONS FOR SERVICE IN FRANCE 



The formation of a second " Forest " regi- 

 ment comprising ten battalions and composed 

 of lumbermen and woodworkers, who will go 

 to France and get out of the forests materials 

 for the use of the American, French and Brit- 

 ish armies, has been authorized by the War 

 Department. 



Two battalions are to be raised at once 

 with the active aid of the Forest Service of 

 the Department of Agriculture. It is expected 

 that the remaining eight battalions will be 



called for in a short time. Nine "service" 

 battalions, made up of laborers who will be 

 used in connection with the Forest regiment, 

 have also been authorized and two battalions 

 have been ordered raised at once. 



In order to provide for future contingencies 

 it has been decided to commission at the pres- 

 ent time enough officers for other battalions 

 yet to be raised. Those men not needed now 

 will be placed on the reserve, and will be called 

 as the other units are formed. According to 

 the present plan, fifty per cent, of the officers 

 will be sawmill and logging operators, twenty- 

 five per cent, will be technical foresters, and 

 twenty-five per cent, will be men with military 

 tenants will be selected in the immediate 

 future. The minimum age limit for com- 

 missioned officers has been set at thirty-one. 



A considerable number of captains and lieu- 

 tenants to be selected in the immediate future. 

 The minimum age limit for commissioned offi- 

 cers has been set at thirty-one. 



A first regiment of woodsmen numbering 

 about 1,200 men and designated as the Tenth 

 Engineers (Forest) has already been recruited 

 and assembled and is now being trained at 

 American University, D. C. This regiment 

 was raised at the request of the British gov- 

 ernment to undertake the production in 

 France of crossties, bridge, trench and con- 

 struction timbers, mine props, lumber, and 

 other forms of wood required in connection 

 with its military operations. The landing of 

 the American expeditionary forces has made 

 necessary similar provision for their needs, 

 while the French military authorities have 

 indicated that some of the work incidental to 

 their operations might be taken over by woods- 

 men from this country. Decision to raise the 

 new and much larger force has followed a 

 study of the field of possible usefulness to the 

 Allied cause, made by American foresters at- 

 tached to General Pershing's staff. 



Each of the ten battalions of the second 

 regiment will comprise three companies of 250 

 men each, and will be under the command of 

 its own major. The regiment will be made up 

 of volunteers. Applicants must be white and 

 between the ages of eighteen and forty. 



