290 



SCIENCE 



[Vol. LV, No. 1420 



as the legislature was expected to adjourn on 

 Mareli 15. 



Announcement is made from the University 

 of Chicago that Dr. H. A. Lorentz, professor 

 of phj'sics in the University of Leiden, will 

 lecture at the Eyerson Physical Laboratory on 

 March 17 and 18 on "The constitution of 

 matter," on April 3 on "The theory of spectral 

 lines" and on April 4 on "The Theory of rela- 

 tivity." It is also announced that the follow- 

 ing graduate courses in theoretical physics will 

 be given during the coming summer quarter at 

 the University of Chicago : "The electrical 

 properties of gases," by Professor H. A. Wil- 

 son, of Rice Institute, Texas; "Thermo- 

 dynamics, radiation and the Quantum Theory," 

 by Professor W. F. G. Swann, of the University 

 of Minnesota, and "Relativity and the Electron 

 Theory," by Assistant Professor Leigh Page, 

 of Tale University. Associate Professor A. C. 

 Lunn, of the University of Chicago, will give 

 courses on "Vector analysis" and "Satistics and 

 probability." 



As has already been noted in Science, Pro- 

 fessor Solon I. Bailey of the Harvard Observa- 

 tory, accompanied by Miss Annie J. Cannon, 

 sailed from New York on February 28 for Peru 

 to take charge of the Harvard Southern Astro- 

 nomical Station at Arequipa. The Harvard 

 Alumni Bulletin says : The work of the Are- 

 qrdpa station, which has been somewhat re- 

 duced in scope in recent years, is expected to 

 take on a new importance with the return of 

 Professor Bailey, who was instrumental in its 

 establishment over thirty years ago and served 

 for a long time as its director. He plans to 

 spend the next two years in Peru. In addition 

 to supervising the routine affairs of the station 

 he will continue his studies of the globular star- 

 clusters. Miss Cannon, whose achievements in 

 the investigation of stellar spectra recently won 

 for her an honorary degree from Groningen 

 University in Holland, will remain at Arequipa 

 for several months, and will be occupied largely 

 in photographing the faint stars in the South- 

 ern Milky Way in order to classify their 

 spectra." 



The second series of free public lectures on 

 medical subjects and public health, given under 



the auspices of the Division of University Ex- 

 tension of Washington University by the fac- 

 ulty of the School of Medicine, concluded on 

 March 12. These lectures have been given on 

 Sunday afternoons to an audience averaging 

 two hundred, and have received considerable 

 newspaper publicity. The subjects for the year 

 have been as follows : "Smallpox and vaccina- 

 tion," Dr. George Dock, professor of medicine ; 

 "Food and vitamines," Dr. Philip A. Shaffer, 

 professor of biological chemistry, "Syphilis 

 and its results," Dr. Martin F. Engman, clin- 

 ical professor of dermatology ; "The value of a 

 university hospital to the community," Dr. 

 Ernest Sachs, professor of clinical neurological 

 surgery; "Overweight and health," Dr. William 

 H. Olmsted, associate in clinical medicine; 

 "Anthropology in medicine," Dr. Robert J. 

 Terry, professor of anatomy; "Mental hygiene 

 and education," Dr. Sidney I. Schwab, pro- 

 fessor of clinical neurology; "What has surgery' 

 accomplished?" Dr. Evarts A. Graham, pro- 

 fessor of surgery; "Home treatment of minor 

 injuries," Dr. Barney Brooks, associate in 

 clinical surgery. 



The British Medical , Research Council has 

 appointed the following committee to report 

 upon the promotion of researches into the 

 biological action of light with the view of ob- 

 taining increased knowledge of the effects of 

 sunlight and other forms of light upon the 

 human body in health or disease : Professor 

 W. M. Bayliss (chairman), Mr. J. E. Barnard, 

 Dr. H. H. Dale, Capt. S. R. Douglas, Sir 

 Henry Gauvain, Dr. Leonard Hill and Dr. 

 J. H. Sequeira. Dr. Edgar Schuster is secre- 

 tary of the committee. The council recently 

 announced that its total resources have been 

 reduced and that it must omit the prosecution 

 of researches which would have indubitable 

 scientific value toward the advancement of pre- 

 ventive or curative medicine. The Medical 

 Research Council, in cooperation with the Min- 

 istry of Health, the Board of Health for Scot- 

 land and the Ministry of Health for Ireland, 

 was formed for the investigation of tubercu- 

 losis, nutritional diseases, food poisoning and 

 dental decay, and the treatment of veneral dis- 

 ease, or rheumatism and allied diseases, and of 

 mental disorders. 



