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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1049 



of the liose under heavy duty has shown the 

 value of these examinations. 



In the ease of lubricating oils, also, the con- 

 tracts are let to the lowest bidder whose oil 

 conforms to the specifications of the bureau. 

 At one time, 26 samples of oil were rejected, 

 and it was necessary to advertise for new bids. 

 The second set of samples were practically all 

 up to the requirements. 



The 1,164 samples examined during the past 

 year can not all be mentioned, but here are a 

 few that were rejected as inferior: paint, with 

 over 20 per cent, gasoline; sand, dirty, not 

 well graded, and unsuitable ; anti-freezing com- 

 pound, guaranteed free from calcium chloride, 

 yet found on analysis to be composed entirely 

 of calcium chloride and water; marble cleaner, 

 high in price, and consisting entirely of wash- 

 ing soda; woolen blankets, supposed to con- 

 tain not more than 15 per cent, of cotton, 

 yet shown on analysis to have 30 per cent.; 

 and sulphuric acid, containing such a high 

 percentage of iron that it would have ruined 

 the expensive storage batteries of the fire alarm 

 telegraph system. 



The services of the bureau are, for the most 

 part, accepted in a cooperative spirit by dealers 

 and manufacturers. Its reports are frequently 

 the first analyses the dealers have seen of 

 their products, and they have shown much in- 

 terest in the results and have tried to meet the 

 specifications. The work of the bureau has 

 increased 80 per cent, since last year. The 

 city departments are rapidly taking advantage 

 of the laboratory, and the coming year will un- 

 doubtedly show a big increase in the variety, 

 as well as in the volume, of the work sub- 

 mitted. 



THE BETIMEMJENT OF CBABLES EOMTON 

 PECK 



The regents of the University of the State 

 of New York on the retirement of Charles H. 

 Peck from the position of New York State 

 botanist have adopted the following minute: 



The service rendered to the state by Charles 

 Horton Peek, D.Sc, who has just retired from his 

 position as state botanist, has been extraordinary 

 in its fidelity, assiduity and productiveness. Dr. 



Peek entered the staff of the State Museum as bot- 

 anist in 1867, and from that date to the present, 

 his service has been continuous — a period of 48 

 years. In 1883 the position of state botanist was 

 created and he has been its only incumbent. 



The nearly half century of his scientific activity 

 became an epoch in the science of botany in Amer- 

 ica, by virtue of the extensive contributions which 

 he made, not alone to the knowledge of the flora 

 of New York but specially through his almost 

 pioneer investigations among the fungi. His re- 

 searches in this field vastly increased the sum of 

 knowledge and established an orderly and rational 

 classification so that his published papers, issued 

 in the reports of the state museum, are indispen- 

 sable to any student of these forms of life. The 

 number of species discovered and described by him 

 are counted by thousands and the additions made 

 through his efforts to the state herbarium are so 

 extensive that this collection of plants is to-day 

 among the largest on the continent and of great 

 scientific worth. By common consent of his col- 

 leagues Dr. Peck has long been recognized as the 

 ultimate authority In mycology — the field of his 

 special labors. 



In view of these services whose value to the 

 state can not be briefly estimated or readily ex- 

 pressed, the regents take this occasion to record, 

 with their regret that the exactions of time have 

 impelled him to retire from the service of the uni- 

 versity and the state, their congratulations to Dr. 

 Peck upon a life well rounded and a work well 

 done, with their assurance of continued interest 

 and deep regard for his welfare during the years 

 that may remain. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 

 The annual meeting of the Wesleyan Uni- 

 versity Club of New York City, on January 

 28, was in honor of the fiftieth anniversary 

 of the graduation of Dr. William North Eice, 

 professor of geology. 



Dr. Egbert H. Eichards, professor emeri- 

 tus in the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 

 nology, has been awarded the gold medal of 

 the Mining and Metallurgical Society of 

 America in recognition of his services in the 

 advancement of the art of ore dressing. 



Professor Isaiah Bowman, now in charge 

 of geography at Yale University, will at the 

 end of the current academic year on about 



