40 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1150 



come under observation. A committee of French 

 citizens has also been organized in close coopera- 

 tion with the government, and appeals have been 

 made to us on behalf of the work undertaken by 

 this committee. 



In response to the appeals we have received, our 

 representatives have made a careful preliminary 

 study of the situation, and the trustees of the 

 Eockefeller Foimdation have been so impressed 

 with the gravity of the need that they have de- 

 cided to take steps to ascertain definitely the lines 

 along which American sympathy and generosity 

 can be made most effective. With this end in view, 

 they have sought to find the man who in all the 

 country was best qualified both as a physician and 

 as a public health administrator to study the 

 situation in France and to determine the lines 

 along which help could best be given. 



They have had no diflieulty in making up their 

 minds that Dr. Herman M. Biggs was the man 

 whose character and attainments best fulfilled the 

 requirements of the case. They realized that it 

 would be asking a great deal of Dr. Biggs to make 

 the sacrifice involved in a visit to France, and that 

 the state of New York had the first claim on his 

 services. They felt, however, that if it should be 

 the happy result of Dr. Biggs 's going to France 

 that the benefits of his long and wonderfully fruit- 

 ful service in New York could be availed of in the 

 organization of the campaign in that country, the 

 effect in terms of human welfare would be so large 

 and far-reaching as to constitute a very strong 

 claim both on his public spirit and upon the gen- 

 erosity of the state of New York. 



During Dr. Biggs's absence Dr. Linsly E. 

 Williams, deputy commissioner, will be acting 

 commissioner; Dr. Matthias Nicoll, Jr., now 

 secretary of the board, will be acting deputy 

 commissioner, and Dr. John A. Smith, at pres- 

 ent sanitary supervisor, will act as secretary. 



THE NATIONAL PARKS CONFERENCE 



Under the auspices of the ISTational Park 

 Service of the Department of the Interior 

 there was held in the auditorium of the ISTew 

 National Museum, "Washington, D. C, on Jan- 

 uary 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, 1917, a National Parks 

 Conference, at which many important papers 

 and lectures were presented. The program 

 included : 



Our National Parks: Franklin K. Lane, secre- 

 tary of the interior; Senator Eeed Smoot, of 



Utah; Eepresentative Scott Ferris, of Oklahoma; 

 Representative Irvine L. Lenroot, of Wisconsin; 

 Carl Vrooman, assistant secretary of agriculture; 

 Enos MiUs. 



Canadian National Parks: J. B. Harkin, com- 

 missioner of Dominion Parks, department of the 

 interior, Canada. 



The Public and the National Parks: Huston 

 Thompson, Jr., assistant attorney general. 



University Classes in the National Parks: Pro- 

 fessor E. M. Lehnerts, of the University of Minne- 

 sota. 



Public Schools and the National Parks: Phil- 

 ander P. Claxton, U. S. Commissioner of Educa- 

 tion. 



National Parks as a Scientific Asset: Dr. 

 Charles D. Waloott, secretary, Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution. 



Teaching by Picture: Gilbert H. Grosvenor, 

 editor, National Geographic Magazine. 



The Painter and the National Parks : William H. 

 Holmes, head curator. National Gallery of Art. 



The Photographer and the National Parks: Fred 

 H. Kiser. 



National Forests and National Parks in Wild 

 Life Conservation: Henry S. Graves, forester and 

 chief. Forest Service. 



The Yellowstone Elk Herds: E. W. Nelson, 

 chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey. 



Future of the Antelope: E. Lester Jones, super- 

 intendent. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



National Monuments as Wild Animal Sanctua- 

 ries: T. S. Palmer, assistant in charge of Game 

 Preservation, Bureau of Biological Survey. 



Colossus of Canyons: Eepresentative Simeon D. 

 Fess, of Ohio. 



The Survey's Contribution to the National Park 

 Movement: Dr. George Otis Smith, director, U. S. 

 Geological Survey. 



The Problem of the Greater Sequoia: Eepre- 

 sentative Frederick H. GiUett, of Massachusetts. 



Perhaps Our Greatest National Park: Enos 

 MiUs. 



The Tehipite Valley and Kings Canyon: Eobert 

 Sterling Yard. 



The Top of America — Mount Whitney: Emerson 

 Hough. 



A FRENCH NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY 



The question of national laboratories of 

 scientific research has been brought ' forward 

 recently in France. In the Comptes rendus 

 of the Academy of Sciences for November 13, 

 as summarized in Nature, is a preliminary 



