630 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLV. No. 1173 



1. The microscopical inspection of food, 

 clothing- and supplies. 



2. Studies of the coat coverings of animals 

 with a view to the utilization of nature's prin- 

 ciples in making the clothing of soldiers light, 

 warm, well ventilated, impervious to water and 

 protectively colored. 



3. Studies of the mechanism of aquatic and 

 aerial locomotion in animals with reference to 

 its application to submarines and aeroplanes. 



4. Utilization of gulls and other aquatic 

 birds in locating submarines. 



5. Studies of the mechanisms of limbs and 

 joints with a view to offering suggestions in 

 the construction of artificial limbs. 



6. Investigations in tissue cultures, grafting 

 and regeneration, with a view to their surgical 

 applications. 



The committee would welcome any further 

 suggestions either in the line of additional 

 problems or of practical methods of attacking 

 those named. 



E. G. CoNKLlN, Chairman, 

 Princeton University, 



S. A. FOEBESj 



University of Illinois, 



C. A. KOFOID, 



University of California, 



F. R. LiLLIE, 



University of Chicago, 



T. H. Morgan, 

 Columbia University, 



G. H. Paeker, 

 Harvard University, 



J. Eeighard, 

 University of Michigan, 



H. M. Smith, 

 U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries, 

 Committee on Zoology of the Na- 

 tional Research Council 



SCIENTIFIC EVENTS 

 SUSPENSION OF THE KEW BULLETIN 



Publication of the Kew Bulletin has been 

 suspended on the ground of shortage of paper. 

 In regard to this Nature remarks: 



When we see the waste of paper used in Parlia- 

 mentary Reports, National Service propaganda, 

 and by government departments generally, and 



place this by the side of the amount required for 

 the continued publication of such a periodical as 

 the Kew Bulletin — imperial in its scope and in- 

 fluence — we begin to despair that our state ofS.- 

 ciala wiU ever possess true standards of value in 

 matters pertaining to science. The subject is dealt 

 with in an article on another page; and all we 

 wish to say here is that we are glad to accord the 

 hospitality of our columns to a contribution in- 

 tended for the Kew Bulletin, and that we earnestly 

 hope action will be taken to secure the continu- 

 ance of a publication which is more essential now 

 than ever it was. 



The article mentioned says: 



It must be remembered that Kew is the central 

 institution of a great system of smaller institutes 

 established in every region of the empire, and that 

 these institutes exist to further the material pros- 

 perity of the countries in which they are situated. 

 The principal sources of wealth in most of our for- 

 eign possessions consist for the most part of veg- 

 etable products, and it is difficult to overrate the 

 importance of keeping the botanical stations, re- 

 mote as they mostly are from the main channels of 

 current scientific work, continually informed on 

 relevant matters which from time to time reach 

 the great clearing-house at Kew. It must be evi- 

 dent to everyone that any action which tends to 

 lower the eifieiency of these institutes of economic 

 botany must operate in a manner detrimental to 

 the material interests of the country or countries 

 thus affected. It is difficult to believe that either 

 the India Office or the Colonial Office, which are 

 both concerned with the functions that only Kew 

 is in a position effectively to discharge, can have 

 been consulted in the matter, or, if they had been 

 so consulted, that they could have approved of a 

 step so unsound alike on economic and financial 

 grounds. 



Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that 

 Kew receives a good deal from other countries by 

 way of exchange for the Bulletin, which it is now 

 proposed to suspend. We understand that enemy 

 countries, although their colonial interests are as 

 nothing compared with our own, have, neverthe- 

 less, not seen fit to interfere with the continued 

 publication of their own corresponding journals. 



In fact, the same official lack of appreciation of 

 the importance of scientific inquiry and research 

 which was a matter of common knowledge amongst 

 our competitors before the war still continues to 

 sap the foundations of our recognized claims to 

 our foreign possessions, which should largely rest 



