J'ANUABY 16, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



97 



memoir on the renal secretion; and to M. A. 

 Eailliet, G. Moussu, and M. A. Henry, for 

 their researches on the etiology, prophylaxis, 

 and treatment of the distomiasis of ruminants. 

 The Breant prize has been divided aa follows: 

 Three prizes, of the value of £80 each, have 

 been avearded to Dr. C. Levaditi, of Paris, for 

 his researches on acute epidemic poliomyelitis 

 and acute infectious pemphigus; to Drs. A. 

 Netter and E. Dehre, of Paris, for an essay on 

 cerebro-spinal meningitis; and to Professor V. 

 Babes, of Bucharest, for his treatise on rabies. 

 The production of pig iron in 1912 was 

 33,802,685 tons of 2,000 pounds each; that of 

 platinum was 1.3 tons. The value of the iron 

 per ton was $12.44, as against $1,328,391 per 

 ton for the platinum. For the sake of con- 

 venient comparison and because in commer- 

 cial practise the various ores and metals are 

 measured by a variety of units such as the 

 long, short and metric ton, flask, avoirdupois 

 pound and troy ounce, the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey has issued a short summary of 

 the " Production of Metals and Metallic Ores 

 in 1911 and 1912," stated in terms of the 

 short ton of 2,000 pounds, much of which, 

 however, is derived from imported ores, bul- 

 lion, etc. A comparison of the production of 

 some of the better known metals is as follows : 



Platinum 



Gold 



Silver 



Alnminiim .. 

 Quicksilver.. 



Nickel 



Tin 



Copper 



Though at one time in the early history of 

 the country an average of 6,000 maple trees 

 "were destroyed in clearing the ordinary New 

 York or Pennsylvania farm, maple is to-day, 

 -according to the department of agriculture, 

 one of the most widely used and valuable na- 

 tive hardwoods. A bulletin on the uses of 

 maple, just issued by the department, states 

 that the wood finds place in an enormous num- 

 ber of articles in daily use, from rolling pins 

 to pianos and organs. It is one of the best 



woods for flooring, and is always a favorite 

 material for the floors of roller skating rinks 

 and bowling alleys. It leads all other woods 

 as a material for shoe lasts, the demand for 

 which in Massachusetts alone exceeds 13 mil- 

 lion board feet annually. Sugar maple 

 stands near the top of the list of furniture 

 woods in this country. The so-called " bird's- 

 eye " effect, the department explains, is prob- 

 ably due to buds which for some reason can 

 not force their way through the bark, but 

 which remain just beneath it year after year. 

 The young wood is disturbed each succeeding 

 season by the presence of the bud and grows 

 around it in fantastic forms which are ex- 

 posed when the saw cuts through the abnormal 

 growth. Maple, the department goes on to 

 say, is one of the chief woods used for agri- 

 cultural implements and farm machinery, be- 

 ing so employed because of its strength and 

 hardness. All kinds of wooden ware are made 

 of maple, which holds important rank also in 

 the manufacture of shuttles, spools and bob- 

 bins. It competes with black gum for first place 

 in the manufacture of rollers of many kinds, 

 from those employed in house moving to the less 

 massive ones used on lawn-mowers. Athletic 

 goods, school supplies, brush backs, pulleys, 

 type cases and crutches are a few of the other 

 articles for which maple is in demand. Seven 

 species of maple grow in the United States, 

 of which sugar maple, sometimes called hard 

 maple, is the most important. The total cut 

 of maple in the United States annually 

 amounts to about 1,150,000,000 feet. Nearly 

 one half is produced by Michigan, with Wis- 

 consin, Pennsylvania, New York and West 

 Virginia following in the order named. Su- 

 gar maple, says the department, is in little 

 danger of disappearing from the American 

 forests, for it is a strong, vigorous, aggressive 

 tree, and though not a fast grower, is able to 

 hold its own. In Michigan it is not unusual 

 for maple to take possession of land from 

 which pine or hardwoods have been cut clean, 

 and from New England westward through the 

 Lake States and southward to the Ohio and 

 Potomac rivers few other species are oftener 

 seen in woodlots. 



