June 1, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



563 



gation of the lumber needs of the warring na- 

 tions for reconstruction purposes. Early in 

 May, the trade commissioners met at Wash- 

 ington for the purpose of organization. There 

 they gathered data concerning tariifs, freight 

 rates, probable future shipping facilities and 

 other information bearing on the matter of 

 lumber exports after peace has been declared. 

 They will spend two or three months in visit- 

 ing lumber-producing centers in this country, 

 interviewing lumbermen. This preliminary 

 work will be for the purpose of obtaining exact 

 knowledge as to how much lumber the Euro- 

 pean countries now at war can purchase here 

 and in what particular markets. Professor 

 Brown and his associates expect to sail for 

 Europe in August or September. 



The Johns Hopkins Alumni News states 

 that it has lately become known that two of 

 the most successful devices introduced by the 

 allies in the present war are due to Dr. Eob- 

 ert W. Wood, professor of experimental phys- 

 ics. They are the lachrymose or " tear " gas, 

 used to render the enemy temporarily blind, 

 and a photographic screen of a special type, 

 which is especially well suited to the require- 

 ments of modem warfare. Dr. Wood sent the 

 formula for the former to a friend in Paris 

 soon after the outbreak of the war. Several 

 weeks after submitting his plan, Dr. Wood re- 

 ceived word that it had been turned over to 

 the proper authorities. !N'othing was done, 

 however, until three months later when the 

 Germans began the use of poisonous gases; 

 since then the tear gas proposed by Dr. Wood 

 has been used on both sides. The gas has a 

 pswerful effect on the eyes, the slightest trace 

 closing them and starting the tears. It is 

 benzyl-bromide, or choracetone, vapor and 

 produces temporary blindness but not perma- 

 nent injury. Its use was in no way a violation 

 of The Hague conventions or the usages of 

 civilization. It was Dr. Wood's idea that the 

 gas might be used in a single great drive, being 

 released over the whole battle front simultane- 

 ously. The other of Professor Wood's inven- 

 tions being used extensively in the fighting on 

 the west front is the infra-red screen for the 

 panchromatic plates for photography. By the 

 use of the screen the Allied airmen are enabled 



to obtain accurate photographs of the enemy's 

 position, batteries, etc., right through the thick 

 pall of smoke which hides them from view. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 NEWS 



Tale Untveksity has received from Mrs. 

 Edward H. Harriman, of New York, bonds 

 yielding $4,600 a year for the purpose of estab- 

 lishing the Harriman Fund for Orthopedics. 



The late J. T. Apperson, member of the 

 board of regents of the Oregon Agricultural 

 College since its founding and at one time 

 president of the board, left the residue of his 

 estate to the trustees of the college as a perma- 

 nent loan fund to worthy students who make 

 their own way through school. The benefac- 

 tion will amount to from $25,000 to $40,000, 

 and will be invested by the State Land Board. 



The new building of the dental school of 

 Western Reserve University is nearing com- 

 pletion and will be occupied in the fall of 1917. 

 The building is situated alongside the univer- 

 sity campus and near the site for the new 

 medical school plant. The dental school, 

 formerly affiliated, is now an integral depart- 

 ment of the university. An extensive revi- 

 sion of the curriculum and an increase in en- 

 trance requirements are contemplated. 



Sir Chakles Holcroft bequeathed to the 

 University of Birmingham the sum of £5,000 

 for research work in science. Sir Charles Hol- 

 croft contributed, during his lifetime, about 

 £100,000 to the university. 



The board of trustees of the Long Island 

 College Hospital announces the appointment 

 of Dr. James C. Egbert, director of extension 

 teaching, Columbia University, as president of 

 the medical college. Dr. Otto V. Huifman has 

 been appointed dean; Dr. Wade W. Oliver, 

 formerly of the University of Cincinnati, has 

 been called to the chair of bacteriology and 

 Dr. Carl H. Laws, formerly of the department 

 of pediatrics in the University of Michigan, 

 has been appointed professor of pediatrics. 



Dr. J. Bronsenbrenner has resigned the 

 position of director of research laboratories of 

 the Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pitts- 

 burgh to accept the appointment of associate 



