396 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1269 



first-class training institutions and research 

 laboratories, as well as colleges. These matters 

 are, it is stated, of such overwhelming im- 

 portance that they must not be permitted to 

 become a class or caste question ; there is little 

 danger of this at the present time for already 

 the intellectual men in Germany are com- 

 bining forces in various directions : this is so 

 in the ease of the technical man and the 

 academician, as well as in that of the artificer 

 and the university professor. Finally, an in- 

 ventors' institute must be foimded in order 

 that the inventor may be furnished with ad- 

 vice, the commercial possibilities of his work 

 tested, a selection made of what is best, and a 

 good market fo\m.d for that which is of real 

 worth. 



APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE KANSAS STATE 

 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



The Kansas legislature of 1919 appropriated 

 a total of $1,675,500 for the support of the 

 Kansas State Agricultural College for the 

 biennium July 1, 1919, to June 30, 1921. This 

 appropriation is in addition to the amount set 

 apart for extension and demonstration work in 

 accordance with the terms of the Smith-Lever 

 Act. In accordance with this law, the legisla- 

 ture appropriated $63,073.65 for 1919-20 and 

 $75,208.20 for 1920-21, the federal government 

 supplying a like amount for each year of the 

 biennaum. The appropriations for the college 

 proper represent an increase of more than 

 $400,000 or approximately 33 per cent., over 

 the appropriation for the present biennium. 



One hundred and ninety thousand dollars 

 was appropriated for completing the central 

 part of Engineering Hall. This will more than 

 double the floor space and will house the elec- 

 trical engineering department which is now 

 located temporarily in Denison Hail. It will 

 also permit of the proper growth and develop- 

 naent of the department of farm engineering. 

 More space will be made available for the 

 physics department, and the chemistry depart- 

 ment will be able to expand its quarters. The 

 erection of the new portions of the building 

 will also afiord proper coal storage facilities, 

 thus economizing tremendously on labor. 



Work on the building will be begun at once as 

 the sum of $50,000 is available immediately. 



The biennial appropriations also include 

 $12,500 for a new water plant for the college, 

 and $10,000 for a new hog plant, buildings 

 and equipment. Ten thousand doUars wiU be 

 spent in the two years in testing road mate- 

 rials for the state highway commission, the 

 Agricultural College having been made the 

 official testing laboratory for the commission. 

 Forty thousand dollars was appropriated for 

 repairs and improvements each year — an in- 

 crease of 60 per cent, over the present appro- 

 priation. The appropriation for the support 

 of the Agricultural Experiment Station will 

 be increased from $40,000 to $55,000 each year 

 of the biennium. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. George Ferdinakd Becker, geologist of 

 the U. S. Geological Survey since 1879, died in 

 Washington on April 20, at the age of seventy- 

 two years. 



The Federation of American Societies for 

 Experimental Biology is meeting this week at 

 the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 

 The societies included in the federation are: 

 The Physiological Society, the Society of 

 Biological Chemists, the Society for Pharma- 

 cology and Experimental Therapeutics and the 

 Society for Experimental Pathology. 



The annual meeting of the Association of 

 American Anatomists was held from April 17 

 to 19 in Pittsburgh under the presidency of 

 Robert E. Bensley, of the University of Chi- 

 cago. 



The executive committee of the American 

 Society of Zoologists has voted to hold the 

 annual Christmas meeting in 1919 in St. Louis 

 in conjunction with tlie American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science. 



Professor Eoland Thaxter, professor of 

 eryptogamic botany at Harvard University 

 since 1901, has been appointed professor emeri- 

 tus. 



The Distinguished Service Medal has been 

 awarded to Colonel John J. Carty "for excep- 

 tionally meritorious and distinguished services. 



