Februaky 23, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



183 



fibers, and tissues under the express condition 

 that the Union des Syndicats Patronaux de 

 I'Industrie Textile contributes the same 

 amount. (2) Ecole Rationale Superieure des 

 Mines. Ten thousand francs to this school for 

 completing the laboratory installation, espe- 

 cially as regards motive power. (3) Institut 

 Catholique de Paris. Two thousand francs to 

 Henri Colin for the purchase of apparatus not 

 usually found in botanical laboratories, to be 

 used in his researches on the conditions of de- 

 struction of various bacilli. Two thousand 

 francs to Jules Hamonet for purchasing appa- 

 ratus for determining the physical constants, 

 particularly refractive indices, of the new sub- 

 stances he has discovered in the glycol group. 



Various Direct Requests for Grants. — Ten 

 thousand francs to Jules Gargon for the prep- 

 aration of a bibliography of bibliographers, a 

 part to be used in making an inventory of the 

 scientific periodicals contained in the libraries 

 of Paris. Three thousand francs to Guillaume 

 Bigourdan for the construction of an angle 

 comparator for measuring the variation which 

 the angular distance of two stars may show in 

 a short interval of time. Three thousand 

 francs to Henri Bourget for his researches on 

 astronomical photometry. Two thousand 

 francs to A. Oolson for continuing his re- 

 searches on solutions. Seven thousand francs 

 to Augustin Mesnager for improving the 

 equipment of the laboratory for testing ma- 

 terials under his direction at the Ecole des 

 Ponts et Chaussees. Two thousand francs to 

 Jules Glover for continuing his researches on 

 telephony. Seven thousand francs to Louis 

 Joblin to complete the publication of his 

 studies relating to the material collected in 

 the second Antarctic voyage of Jean Charcot. 

 Five thousand francs to the Societe de Docu- 

 mentation Paleontologique. Two thousand 

 francs to J. M. R. Surcouf for assisting the 

 publication of his work on horse-flies. 



The total amount in grants is 115,200 francs. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 



Dr. Vernon M. Slipher, for many years 

 chief assistant at the Lowell Observatory, 

 known for his spectroscopic researches, has 



been appointed director of the Lowell Observ- 

 atory in succession to the late Percival Lowell. 



Professor George S. Moler, of the depart- 

 ment of physics of Cornell University, will re- 

 tire from active service at the end of the aca- 

 demic year. 



At a meeting of the Eumford Committee of 

 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 

 held on February 14, 1917, the following grants 

 for researches in light or heat were made: To 

 Professor F. K Richtmyer, of Cornell Univer- 

 sity, five hundred dollars in aid of his re- 

 searches on the optical properties of thin 

 films ; to Professor ISTorton A. Kent, of Boston 

 University, four hundred dollars additional to 

 previous appropriations in aid of his research 

 on spectral lines ; to Mr. Ancel St. John, of the 

 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, two hundred 

 dollars in aid of his research on the spectra of 

 X-rays. 



At the New York meeting of the Botanical 

 Society of America ofScers for 1917 were an- 

 nounced as follows: President, F. C. New- 

 combe, University of Michigan; Vice-presi- 

 dent, E. W. Olive, Brooklyn Botanic Garden; 

 Treasurer, E. W. Sinnott, Connecticut Agri- 

 cultural College at Storrs. R. A. Harper, Co- 

 lumbia University, became a member of the 

 council, and also of the editorial committee of 

 the American Journal of Botany. The repre- 

 sentative of the American Phytopathological 

 Society on the journal committee is Professor 

 Aaron G. Johnson, University of "Wisconsin. 



Professor George Hayem has been elected 

 president of the Paris Academy of Medicine 

 for 1918. 



The Janssen prize of the Paris Academy of 

 Sciences has been awarded to MM. Ch. Fabry, 

 Henri Buisson and Henry Bourget, for their 

 researches on the determination of the tem- 

 perature and evaluation of the atomic weights 

 of the unknown gases in the nebula of Orion. 



We learn from Nature that the president of 

 the British Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 

 has appointed a committee of representative 

 agriculturists to advise him on questions aris- 

 ing in connection with the increased produc- 

 tion of food. The committee is constituted as 



