NovEMBER 17, 1899.] 
In Part IV. Dr. Dall has greatly enlarged on 
the subject, giving a complete synopsis of many 
of the leading generic groups of American Terti- 
ary species. Upwards of 500 species and va- 
rieties are enumerated, including 152 new to 
science. These are shown on 18 plates contain- 
ing 244 figures. 
The Pliocene fauna is closely allied to the 
recent, and Dr. Dall in his investigation has 
been obliged to make so many changes in no- 
menclature, that the work is indispensable to 
the paleontologist and conchologist. 
In 1893 Professor Dall edited the republica- 
tion of Conrad’s ‘ Fossils of the Medial Tertiary 
of the United States’ a work of 136 pages and 
49 beautifully executed plates. In 1898 he 
wrote for the Transactions (Vol. 5), Notes on 
the Paleontological Publications of Professor 
William Wagner. Several plates prepared by 
Professor Wagner in 1839, but never published 
with text, were found in the Institute library. 
The plates were new species of fossils from the 
Carolinas for which credit was given in Brown’s 
Index Paleontologicus, but there was no record 
of the original paper. 
Professor Wagner doubtless had the plates 
prepared for the Journal of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences, and afterwards contented 
himself with sending the plates to his corres- 
pondents. Tuomas L. MONTGOMERY. 
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 10, 1899. 
THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE. 
THE fourth annual celebration of Founder’s 
Day, of the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburg, was 
held on November 2d. President Arthur T. 
Hadley, who was the guest of honor, presented 
an address upon ‘Modern Changes in Educa- 
tional Ideals.’ 
Mr. Samuel H. Church, the secretary of the 
Board of Trustees, read the annual report of 
the progress of the year in all departments of 
the Institute, stating that a considerable plot of 
land had been secured to the east of the build- 
ings for additions already planned, which are to 
provide space for a permanent picture gallery, 
an art school, and for the scientific museum. 
The department of paleontology, recently es- 
tablished under the curatorship of Dr. Wort- 
man, has progressed rapidly. The expedition 
SCIENCE. 
139 
to Wyoming this summer has resulted in the 
securing of a large collection of unusually fine- 
fossil bones of extinct vertebrates. 
Several addresses upon art were given, and 
the announcement was made of the prizes. 
awarded for paintings entered in the Carnegie 
Institute exhibit for 1899. 
Dr. J. L. Wortman then reported on the 
work of the museum in paleontology. 
HARLAN I. SMITH. 
ALCOHOL AS FOOD.* 
BULLETIN No. 69 of the Office of Experiment 
Stations of the U. 8. Department of Agricul- 
ture gives the first detailed accounts of a num- 
ber of experiments lately made by the Depart- 
ment in cooperation with Wesleyan University 
and the Storrs Experiment Station, under the 
immediate direction of Professor W. O. Atwater. 
These experiments were made with men in the 
Atwater-Rosa respiration calorimeter described 
in Bulletin No. 63 of the Office Experiment 
Stations. The object of the inquiries is the 
study of the laws of nutrition. Each experi- 
ment lasts from four to twelve days, during 
which time the man under experiment lives 
day and night in the chamber of the calori- 
meter. He has different kinds and amounts of 
food, and is under different conditions of ac- 
tivity, from actual rest to severe muscular or 
mental work. The results show how the body 
uses its food, what materials are needed for its 
support, and how different food materials com- 
pare in nutritive value. The six experiments 
reported in Bulletin No. 69 were made with a 
variety of dietaries and in two of them alcohol 
made a part of the diet. 
The general plan of the experiments consists 
first in finding a diet of ordinary food materials, 
such as meat, potatoes, bread, and coffee, which 
is sufficient to meet the demands of the man’s 
body when he is at rest, and in determining just 
how much of {the different materials must be 
added to meet the increased demands when the 
man is engaged in more or less severe muscular 
work. Arrangements are made by which all 
the food and drink supplied to the body, and 
* From the Division of Publications, United States. 
Department of Agriculture. 
