December 28, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



637 



December. — ' ' Some research among northwest 

 Indians," Mr. Frank Hall, curator, Washington 

 State Museum, University of Washington. 



January. — ' ' The relation of physical to mental 

 growth," Dr. B. W. DeBusk. 



February. — ' ' Thermo-electric properties of al- 

 loys, " Dr. A. E. Caswell. 



March. — "Investigations relating to the conser- 

 vation and utilization of our fish resources, ' ' Pro- 

 fessor H. B. Torrey, Eeed College. 



AprU. — "A rational map of Europe," Dr. 

 Eebec. 



May. — "Biologic investigations in southern 

 California," Mr. Shelton. 



The chief signal officer requests that help 

 be given to the Signal Corps of the army to 

 obtain lenses enough for cameras for the fleet 

 of observation airplanes now being built. The 

 need is immediate and of great importance; 

 the airplanes are the eyes of the army and 

 the camera lenses are the pupils of those eyes. 

 German lenses can no longer be bought in the 

 open market. England met this difficulty in 

 the earlier stages of the war by requiring lens 

 owners to register lenses and requisitioning 

 those needed. The Bureau of Standards of 

 the United States Department of Commerce 

 is now perfecting a substitute for the German 

 " crown barium " glass used for lenses and 

 will later be able to meet the needs, and 

 special lenses are being designed for this work. 

 The situation now, however, is that, with air- 

 planes soon to be ready for service, suitable 

 lenses can not be bought. Hundreds are 

 needed at once. Possessors of the required 

 types are urged to enlist their lenses in the 

 army. They are asked immediately to notify 

 the photographic division of the Signal Corps, 

 United States Army, Mills Building Annex, 

 "Washington, D. C, of lenses of the following 

 descriptions which they are willing to sell, 

 stating price asked: Tessar anastigmat lenses, 

 made by Carl Zeiss, Jena, of a working aper- 

 ture of F. 3.5 or F. 4.5 from 8J to 20 inches 

 focal length. Bausch & Lomb Zeiss tessars, 

 F. 4.5, from 8J to 20 inches focal length. 

 Voigtlander Heliar anastigmat lenses, F. 4.5, 

 8J to 20 inches focal length. 



Secretary Lane, of the department of the 

 interior, on August 16, formally authorized the 



establishment of a new mining experiment sta- 

 tion under the jurisdiction of the school of 

 mines at the University of Minnesota. Min- 

 nesota is one of two institutions to be so desig- 

 nated. The other bureau was established at 

 Columbus, Ohio, the recognized center of the 

 clay-working industries of the United States. 

 In recommending the University of Minne- 

 sota to Secretary Lane for the site of one of 

 the proposed stations, Director Manning, of 

 the bureau, said that at the present rate of pro- 

 duction the high grade ores of Minnesota will 

 become almost exhausted the next thirty years 

 and it will be the duty of the bureau to en- 

 deavor to show the way to utilize the huge de- 

 posits of low-grade ores if the industry is to 

 continue to prosper. The station is to work 

 in a cooperative way with the University of 

 Minnesota, an agreement to that effect having 

 been signed by both parties. 



During the past summer. Professor C. H. 

 Edmondson, of the department of zoology of 

 the University of Oregon, has been conducting 

 a survey of the shellfish resources of the north- 

 west coast, under the direction of the U. S. 

 Bureau of Fisheries. The survey is a part of 

 the general conservation of food campaign 

 undertaken by the federal government. In the 

 course of the work the coast of Oregon has 

 been traversed from about five miles south of 

 Bandon to the mouth of the Columbia River 

 and the Washington coast north to Gray's 

 Harbor. All the important bays and inlets 

 were visited and the species and relative abun- 

 dance of the edible clams noted. The purpose 

 of the survey, however, is not merely to de- 

 termine the location of the edible shellfish, but 

 to aid in all possible ways the increase of this 

 type of food supply and to encourage the 

 general public to make greater use of clams 

 and mussels as a partial substitute for the 

 higher priced meats. Few realize the abun- 

 dance of food represented by the immense 

 quantities of shellfish distributed along this 

 coast or how cheaply edible clams may be 

 obtained from the towns of Marshfield, Flor- 

 ence, Newport or Tillamook. In view of the 

 fact that little is known of the life history of 

 any of these shellfish of our coast. Professor 



