84 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1152 



"Potash as a By-produet from the Blast Fur- 

 nace," by E. J. Wysor. 



"Significance of Manganese in American Steel 

 Metallurgy," by F. H. Willcox. 



The committee on arrangements for the 

 convention includes : David H. Browne, chair- 

 man; Lawrence Addicks, P. E. Barbour, 

 George D. Barron, Karl Eilers, Louis D. 

 Huntoon, H. A. Megraw, Thomas T. Eead, 

 Burr A. Eobinson, F. T. Eubidge, E. Maltby 

 Shipp, Bradley Stoughton, Edward B. Stuigis 

 and Arthur L. Walker. 



APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT 

 OF AGRICULTURE 



The House Bill making appropriations to 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture for the 

 fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, is now under 

 discussion. The main bill carries a total ap- 

 propriation for routine and ordinary work of 

 $24,221,081. To this great amount are added 

 other sums bringing the total amount carried 

 in the bill to $25,694,085. The amounts ap- 

 propriated to the scientific bureaus are as 

 follows : 



"Weather Bureau $1,778,320 



Bureau of Animal Industry 3,528,286 



Bureau of Plant Industry 2,769,630 



Forest Service 5,711,195 



Bureau of Chemistry 1,212,311 



Bureau of Soils 363,855 



Bureau of Entomology 911,980 



Bureau of Biological Survey 589,510 



Office of Public Eoads and Rural Engi- 

 neering 702,100 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Sir William Ceookes, the distinguished 

 English chemist; Dr. C. A. Angot, director 

 of the French Bureau of Meteorology, and 

 Professor August Gartner, professor of hy- 

 giene. University of Jena, have been elected 

 foreign members of the Academy of Sciences 

 of Sweden. 



The Elisha Kent Kane medal of the Geo- 

 graphical Society of Philadelphia was, on Jan- 

 uary 19, conferred on Dr. William Curtis 

 Farabee. Dr. Farabee gave before the society 

 an illustrated lecture on " Exploration in the 

 Amazon Valley and in the Unknown Guinea, 



1913 to 1916." Dr. Farabee has also had con- 

 ferred upon him the gold medal of the Ex- 

 plorers' Club of New York. 



Professor E. F. ISTorthrup, research physi- 

 cist of Princeton University, has been awarded 

 the Elliott Cresson medal by the Franklin In- 

 stitute " in recognition of his electrical inven- 

 tions and high temperature investigations." 



Professor Wilbur M. Wilson, of the de- 

 partment of civil engineering at the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois, was honored by the Western 

 Society of Engineers at its annual meeting on 

 January. 10, by having conferred upon him the 

 Octave Chanute medal, in recognition of the 

 fact that a paper presented by him in 1915 

 was judged to be the best in the field of civil 

 engineering presented before the society dur- 

 ing that year. The medal was established in 

 memory of Dr. Octave Chanute, whose studies 

 in the field of aerodynamics were notable. 



Brigadier General Joseph E. Kuhn has 

 been appointed president of the War College. 



E. D. Ball, formerly director of the Utah 

 Station, has been made state entomologist of 

 Wisconsin, vice J. G. Saunders resigned to 

 succeed H. A. Surface as economic zoologist 

 of Pennsylvania. 



Professor Werner has been appointed di- 

 rector of the Heidelberg Institute for the In- 

 vestigation of Cancer established by the late 

 Professor Czerny. 



After twenty years' service in the 'New 

 York Department of Health, Dr. John S. 

 Billings, now deputy commissioner of health 

 and director of the bureau of preventable dis- 

 eases, has offered his resignation, to take effect 

 on May 1. 



Earl B. Smith, formerly with the U. S. 

 Office of Public Eoads and Eural Engineer- 

 ing has been transferred to the U. S. Bureau 

 of Soils as mechanical engineer. His work 

 will be on engineering lines in the design and 

 construction of the new government potash 

 plant at Summerland, California, where he, 

 with Dr. Turrentine, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, will investigate the commercial 

 possibilities of extracting potash, iodine, tar 



