288 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1420 



ei-s in the public liealth movement but by univer- 

 sity i^residents and others who are now partici- 

 pating in the education of youth. Numerous sur- 

 veys have called attention to the need for more 

 and better trained health officers. On the other 

 hand, there has never been so much interest among 

 people generally in public health as there is at 

 the present time. Could there be made available 

 a larger number of trained pubUo health officers, 

 it would be possible within a comparatively short 

 period of years to immeasurably increase the 

 health, efficiency and happiness of the American 

 people. From these considerations it appears 

 that the problem of the education of health offi- 

 cers is a matter perhaps more important in its 

 many implications than any other now before 

 physicians and educators. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



The spring meeting of the American Chem- 

 ical Society will be held with the Alabama 

 Section at Birmingham from April 3 to 7. Dr. 

 Edgar F. Smith will preside. Among the 

 special addresses are the following: "The 

 pioneer's field in petroleum research," by Van 

 H. Manning; "Informational needs in science 

 and technology," by Charles L. Reese, and 

 "Recent developments of the chemistry of 

 rubber," by W. C. Geer. 



On February 24 Vilhjalmui- Stefansson de- 

 livered a lecture before the National Geo- 

 graphic Society. On that occasion the society 

 made the announcement that its Research 

 Council had awarded him the Grant Squires 

 prize "in recognition of the unique interest and 

 importance of his book, 'The Friendly Arctic,' 

 the outstanding geographic publication of 

 1921." 



The King of Italy has conferred upon Col. 

 Lawrence Martin, of Washington, D. C, for- 

 merly professor of geography at the University 

 of "Wisconsin, the rank of Of&cer of his Order 

 of the Crown of Italy for services during the 

 war. 



At a celebration which took place at the Sor- 

 bonne on January 22 Professor Hem-y Le 

 Chatelier was presented with a gold medal in 

 commemoration of his fifty years' work of sci- 

 entific and technical research. 



We learn from Nature that the first award 

 of the Meldola medal has been made by the 



council of the British Institute of Chemistry, 

 with the concurrence of Dr. Percy E. Spiel- 

 mann, representing the Maccabaeans, to Dr. 

 Christopher Kelk Ingold. 



Mr. a. S. KJENNAKD has been elected presi- 

 dent of the Malaeologieal Society of London. 

 The vice-presidents are Mr. J. R. le B. Tomlin, 

 Professor A. E. Boycott, Mr. G. K. Gude and 

 Mr. C. Oldham. 



Dr. Francis Weld Peabodt, assistant pro- 

 fessor of medicine at the Harvard Medical 

 School and physician of the Peter Bent Brig- 

 ham Hospital, has been appointed director of 

 the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, which is 

 being erected on the grounds of the Boston City 

 Hospital. The laboratory will be completed in 

 less than a year and will be devoted mainly to 

 research work. 



Professor Theodor Svedberg, who holds the 

 chair of physical chemistry at the University 

 of Upsala, has accepted the invitation extended 

 to him by the University of Wisconsin to de- 

 liver a course of lectures at the University 

 during 1923. 



P. J. Wester, for seven years horticulturist, 

 and the last four years agi-ieultural adviser to 

 the Bureau of Agriculture, Philippine Islands, 

 has applied for retirement from the govern- 

 ment service under the Osmena Act, and is 

 returning to the United States. 



H. A. Doerner has been assigned to rare- 

 metal work at the Reno experiment station of 

 the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Mr. Doerner was 

 former connected with the Denver office of the 

 bureau. J. A. CuUen has been assigned to 

 cement experiment work at the Columbus Sta- 

 tion. 



L. G. Lennert, assistant sanitary engineer, 

 United States Public Health Service, has been 

 granted leave of absence to serve on the Inter- 

 national Health Board during 1922. He will 

 have headquarters in Sacramento, Calif. 



Ivar Hbrlitz, fellow of the American Scan- 

 dinavian Foundation, formerly with the South- 

 ern Sierras Power Company, Riverside, CaUf., 

 is studying high-voltage transmission problems 

 under a research scholarship from the Swedish 

 Academy of Engineering Science. 



