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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1051 



frequently made on mountain peaks, so the 

 journey was from mountain to mountain, 

 rather than along main traveled roads from 

 city to city. The general route followed by 

 Mr. Hodgson and his party was from DenTer, 

 Colorado, to Pecos, Texas, then southwest al- 

 most to El Paso, where a detour was made 

 over poor trails through southern New Mexico 

 into Arizona. The central and southern por- 

 tions of the latter state were rather well 

 covered, the itinerary including Solomonsville, 

 Douglas, Benson, Tucson, Globe, Phoenix, 

 Yuma and Parker. The auto truck was then 

 driven across California to San Diego and the 

 San Jacinto mountains, thence via Los 

 Angeles, Mojave and Sacramento to Carson 

 City, Nevada. Astronomical observations were 

 carried along the California-Nevada boundary 

 to Needles, California, where the season ended. 

 During the season the truck, carrying a capac- 

 ity load, was run more than 5,000 miles under 

 road conditions varying from the deep mud en- 

 countered in New Mexico and Texas, and the 

 heavy sands of the Colorado Eiver and Nevada 

 desert regions, to the splendid roads of south- 

 ern and central California. The cost sheets of 

 the season show that the work was done at a 

 saving of at least 35 per cent, from the cost 

 had teams been used. The cost per mile for 

 oil and gas varied from 2.1 cents to 6.6 cents 

 in different sections of the country, and aver- 

 aged 3.9 cents for the entire season. A re- 

 markable feature of the performance of the 

 truck and a tribute to the good work of the 

 driver was the fact that, from the time of 

 leaving Colorado Springs to the end of the 

 season, about six months, during which the 

 truck was run over 5,000 miles, only two hours 

 were lost on the road on account of engine 

 troubles. 



We learn from the Geographical Journal 

 that Messrs. Geo. Philip and Son, Ltd., have 

 prepared a relief model map of Central Europe, 

 constructed to illustrate the topography of 

 the main theaters of the present war. The 

 model, which costs £6, 6s., measures 62 by 35 

 inches, and is on a horizontal scale of 18 miles 

 to the inch, and a vertical one of 5,000 feet to 

 the inch, so that the heights are exaggerated 



nineteen times. Political boundaries are 

 shown, and also towns in red, but neither roads 

 nor railways. The model is said to show well 

 the continuity of the Central Plain from 

 Russia westwards to the margin of the North 

 Sea and the Channel, and thus makes clear 

 at once the exposed frontier of Germany, and 

 the military reason for the violation of Belgian 

 neutrality. Most of the places which have 

 become famous in the western war area are 

 marked, and it is possible to follow very clearly 

 the battle lines of the Marne and of the Aisne, 

 the fighting in the Argonne region, the con- 

 flicts round Tpres and the Yser, and so on. 

 Among minor features which are well shown, 

 are the position of the gap of Toul, due to the 

 fact that a stream which once ran into the 

 Meuse has been captured by the Moselle, and 

 the deserted valley forms an open groove be- 

 tween the two rivers, a groove through which 

 passes the railway from Paris to Toul and 

 Nancy. The position of Eeims, also, placed as 

 it is on a natural line of communication be- 

 tween Champagne, Burgundy, the middle Ehine 

 valley and the Low Countries, is clearly seen, 

 and it helps to explain the constant bombard- 

 ment of that ill-fated city, whose splendid 

 cathedral illustrates its early importance as 

 a crossing-point of routes. 



We learn from the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association that the secretary of 

 state of Missouri has issued articles of in- 

 corporation to " The Missouri Foundation 

 for Health Conservation," the purposes of 

 which are " the conservation of health and the 

 prevention of disease to the end that human 

 eificiency may be increased and human suf- 

 fering prevented." Its purposes are to be 

 secured by any means " that demands of time 

 or of science may require." The first activity 

 undertaken will be a medical laboratory to be 

 established at St. Joseph, with its tributary 

 population of $1,000,000. It is intended that 

 this institution shall be a clearing-house 

 where tJl doctors living in the country tribu- 

 tary to St. Joseph may send specimens from 

 patients for analysis and get prompt returns. 

 The work will be financed by fees, donations, 

 subscriptions and bequests, its aims being 



