Mat 9, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



443 



stitute a new mineral wliich it has been pro- 

 posed to name '' lambertite " for its discoverer. 

 As already stated, the confirmation must 

 await further chemical aiid optical evidence 

 on pure crystals if obtainable. 



The present development work of the prop- 

 erty has not been sufficient to show how much 

 uranium ore it can be expected to produce. 

 The fact that it has abeady produced about 

 100 tons is very encomraging. 



The writers have been much indebted by 

 the courtesies extended by Messrs. Koss Lam- 

 bert and H. A. Duncan, owners of the prop- 

 erty, and by Messrs. E. D. Morimer and E. A. 

 Dufford, who were in charge of the proi)erty 

 at the time of the writer's visit. It is also 

 an especially pleasant obligation to acknowl- 

 edge the kind interest and valuable assistance 

 of Drs. Laney and Larsen in the examination 

 of this material. 



S. C. LiND, 



C. W. Davis 

 Golden, Colo., 

 March, 1919 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 



CONFERENCE ON HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY 



Ax educational conference on biology in 

 New York City high schools was held under 

 the auspices of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 

 laboratory building, on Friday evening, April 

 4. 1919, Dr. C. Stuart Gager, director of the 

 Botanic Garden, presiding. The meeting was 

 the outcome of a symposium and conference 

 on botanical education in secondary schools 

 on March 11, under the auspices of the Torrey 

 Botanical Club at the American Museum of 

 Natural History. The conference was com- 

 posed of members of the faculties of Columbia 

 University, Barnard College, Brooklyn Train- 

 ing School, The Lincoln School of Teachers 

 College, and the scientific staffs of New York 

 Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Gar- 

 den. The speakers of the evening included : 

 Dr. R. A. Rexford, representing Dr. John L. 

 Tildsley, associate superintendent of schools, 

 in charge of high schools in New York City; 

 Principals Bogart, of Morris High School 

 (Bronx); Janes, of Boy's High School 



(Brooklyn) ; Low, of Erasmus Hall High 

 School (Brooklyn), and Zabriskie, of Wash- 

 ington Irving High School (Manhattan), 

 Principal Denbigh, of Packer Collegiate In- 

 stitute (BrookljTi) ; Dr. Edgar A. Bedford, 

 lirofessor of biology in Stuj-vcsant High 

 School (Manhattan), in charge of a class in 

 general science at Hunter College; Dr. George 

 C. Wood, president of the New York Asso- 

 ciation of Biology Teachers; Dr. James E. 

 Peabody, chairman. Committee on Biology 

 National Educational Association; Professor 

 E. A. Harper, Torrey professor of botany, 

 Columbia LTniversity, and Dr. Otis W. Cald- 

 well, director of the Lincoln School of Teach- 

 ers College. 



The purpose of the meeting was to secure 

 an expression of opinion primarily from ad- 

 ministrative officials of New York City high 

 schools as to the actual and possible value of 

 elementary biology as a high-school subject — 

 the proposed introduction of courses in gen- 

 eral science and community civics in first 

 year of New York City high schools created 

 the possibility of the elimination or serious 

 curtailment of biology. 



It was the unanimous opinion of every 

 speaker that biology, both in content and in 

 educational discipline, contributes something 

 essential in the preparation of young men and 

 young women for citizenship, which is not 

 aftorded by any other subject and it was the 

 expressed opinion of all the principals that 

 the elimination or curtailment of general 

 biology from the high-school course of study 

 would be an educational mistake. All of the 

 sjx'akers emphasized the necessity of plan- 

 ning a content of the course so as to make a 

 very intimate and obvious correlation with the 

 everyday life of the individual. 



The conference is considered by many as 

 the most important meeting for the consider- 

 ation of this question that has ever been 

 held in New York City and the result was 

 especially significant in view of a commonly 

 expressed opinion — sho^vn by this conference 

 to be wholly erroneous — that many if not all 

 of the high-school principals were opposed to 

 the subject of elementary biology. 



