386 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1054 



De. Eichard Weitzenbock, aged thirty 

 years, dooent for chemistry at Gratz, has been 

 killed in the war. 



A DESPATCH from Rome states that all physi- 

 cians in Vienna who are under fifty years of 

 age have been ordered by an imperial decree to 

 join the army medical corps. 



The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Re- 

 search has appropriated $20,000 to be used 

 under the institute's direction to further med- 

 ical research work under war conditions, and 

 is equipping Dr. Carrel's new hospital in 

 France with apparatus for research work on 

 pathological, bacteriological, surgical and 

 chemical conditions. 



The New England Association of Chemistry 

 Teachers held its fifty-second regular meeting 

 on February 27, at the Roxbury Latin School, 

 when an address entitled " Some possible items, 

 new and old, for the course in elementary 

 chemistry," was given by Professor Alexander 

 Smith, head of the department of chemistry 

 in Columbia University. At the request of the 

 executive committee Professor Smith discussed 

 several topics, such as: Action of air in the 

 Bunsen burner flame; colloidal suspensions; 

 cause of valence, electrons; the shortest route 

 to atomic weights-; the distinction between 

 physical and chemical change; and new view 

 of a crystalline solid. Several experiments 

 were performed to illustrate these subjects. 

 The members who were present in large num- 

 bers discussed the value of these topics in an 

 elementary course in chemistry. 



The TJ. S. Civil Service Commission an- 

 nounces an examination for metallographist, 

 for men only, to fill a vacancy in this position 

 for service in the Engineering Experiment 

 Station, Naval Academy, Annapolis, Mary- 

 land, at a salary of $2,500. The duties of 

 this position will be (a) to direct the prepara- 

 tion of metal specimens for microscopic exam- 

 ination and the photographing of the same, and 

 to interpret the appearance of specimens under 

 the microscope; (h) to prescribe correct heat 

 treatment for steel specimens which have not 

 had proper treatment; (c) to make and inter- 

 pret the various standard physical tests applied 



to metal specimens; (d) to investigate mis- 

 cellaneous problems that may arise in the 

 course of naval practise, such as the cracking 

 of the tin linings of copper cooking kettles, 

 imperfect welds, various processes of galvaniz« 

 ing, etc.; (e) to investigate the properties of 

 various alloys of metal; (/) occasionally to 

 make a chemical analysis of metallic sub- 

 stances. The degree of Ph.D. from a college 

 or university of recognized standing, and at 

 least five years' experience since receiving the 

 bachelor's degree, such experience to have in- 

 cluded the use of the microscope in the exam- 

 ination of metals, and the making and inter- 

 pretation of photomicrographs of metals, are 

 prerequisites for consideration for this position. 

 A systematic study of Missouri River and 

 its tributaries is being carried on by the United 

 States Geological Survey. Considering the 

 varied character of the streams of the Mis- 

 souri River basin and their great economic 

 value for irrigation, power, and other pur- 

 poses, the investigation is one of the highest 

 importance. The water supply of this great 

 drainage area is the subject of a publication 

 recently issued by the Geological Survey, en- 

 titled " Surface Water Supply of the Missouri 

 River Basin, 1912 " (Water-Supply Paper 

 326), by W. A. Lamb, Robert Follansbee, and 

 H. D. Padgett. This report contains the rec- 

 ords of flow at 130 permanent stations of the 

 survey during the year 1912, data which are 

 necessary to every form of water development, 

 whether it be water power, navigation, irriga- 

 tion, or domestic water supply. Some of the 

 tributary streams are exceedingly variable in 

 flow; others, like the Niobrara in Nebraska, 

 are remarkably uniform. The Missouri proper 

 is formed in southwestern Montana by the 

 junction of three streams which were dis- 

 covered by Lewis and Clark in 1806 and were 

 named by them Jefferson, Madison and Gal- 

 latin rivers. Of these three Jefferson River 

 drains the largest area and is considered the 

 continuation of the main stream. This part 

 of Montana is mountainous and affords many 

 excellent water-power sites. Among the prin- 

 cipal tributaries of the Missouri are the 

 Marias, Musselshell, Yellowstone, Cheyenne, 



