September 20, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



371 



The American Fisheries Society at its re- 

 cent annual meeting passed the following 

 resolutions : 



Whereas, the Congress of the United States 

 has passed an act to give effect to the convention 

 between the United States, Great Britain, Russia 

 and Japan, having for its primary object the sup- 

 pression of pelagic sealing, and 



Whereas, this measure was amended so as to 

 establish a five-year closed season on male seals 

 on the Pribilof Islands, contrary to the advice of 

 the United States Bureau of Fisheries and its 

 Advisory Board, including the best informed sci- 

 entists of the country, all personally familiar vrith 

 the islands and the fur seal problem, and contrary 

 to the expressed opinion of others personally 

 familiar vpith the conditions of seal life on the 

 islands. 



Therefore, be it Eesolved, that the American 

 Fisheries Society places on record its deep regret 

 that congress should have acted contrary to the 

 advice of the recognized authority in this country 

 on such matters, and further, 



Resolved, that this society recommend the early 

 repeal of this provision which is contrary to all 

 biological experiences and which can lead only to 

 dissatisfaction and to the ultimate exploiting of 

 seal fisheries by private interests and with detri- 

 ment to the herd, consequent financial loss to the 

 government, and loss of prestige to the nation. 



The following is the text of the act of con- 

 gress concerning the Public Health Service: 



Be it enacted ty the Senate and. Souse of Bep- 

 resentatives of the United States of America in 

 Congress assembled, That the Public Health and 

 Marine-Hospital Service of the United States shall 

 hereafter be known and designated as the Public 

 Health Service, and all laws pertaining to the 

 Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service of the 

 United States shall hereafter apply to the Public 

 Health Service, and all regulations now in force, 

 made in accordance with law for the Public Health 

 and Marine-Hospital Service of the United States 

 shall apply to and remain in force as regulations 

 of and for the Public Health Service until changed 

 or rescinded. The Public Health Service may 

 study and investigate the diseases of men and 

 conditions influencing the propagation and spread 

 thereof, including sanitation and sewage and the 

 pollution either directly or indirectly of the navi- 

 gable streams and lakes of the United States, and 

 it may from time to time issue information in the 

 form of publications for the use of the public. 



Sec. 2. That beginning with the first day of 

 October next after the passage of this act the 

 salaries of the commissioned medical officers of 

 the Public Health Service shall be at the following 

 rates per annum: surgeon general, six thousand 

 dollars; assistant surgeon general, four thousand 

 dollars; senior surgeon, of which there shall be 

 ten in number, on active duty, three thousand five 

 hundred dollars; surgeon, three thousand dollars; 

 passed assistant surgeon, two thousand four hun- 

 dred dollars; assistant surgeon, two thousand dol- 

 lars; and the said oiScers, excepting the surgeon 

 general, shall receive an additional compensation 

 of ten per centum of the annual salary as above 

 set forth for each five years' service, but not to 

 exceed in all forty per centum: Provided, That 

 the total salary, including the longevity increase, 

 shall not exceed the following rates: assistant 

 surgeon general, five thousand dollars; senior sur- 

 geon, four thousand five hundred dollars; surgeon, 

 four thousand dollars: Provided further, That 

 there may be employed in the Public Health 

 Service such help as may be provided for from 

 time to time by congress. 



Dr. Eollin T. Chamberlin, of the depart- 

 ment of geology in the University of Chicago, 

 recently returned from a year of special in- 

 vestigations in South America, where he went 

 as a geologist of the Brazilian Iron and Steel 

 Company to examine the recently recognized 

 iron ore deposits in the state of Minas Geraes, 

 famous in the past for its output of gold and 

 diamonds but likely in the future to be best 

 known for its unrivaled mountains of iron 

 ore. Dr. Chamberlin's special work was to lo- 

 cate the most promising ore masses in the 

 district, make geologic and topographic sur- 

 veys, and estimate the quantity and value of 

 the ore. The surveys were much hindered by 

 the necessity of cutting trails through the 

 tropical jungle, natives armed with the 

 Brazilian foica or wood hook being employed 

 for the purpose. Travel was largely by mule- 

 back. In order to get a general view of the 

 geology of the South American continent Mr. 

 Chamberlin, after finishing his work in Minas 

 Geraes, traveled southward through Brazil 

 and Uruguay to Buenos Aires and returned to 

 the United States by way of the Straits of 

 Magellan, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Panama. 



