118 



SCIENCE. 



[N. 'S. Vol. XV. No. 368. 



and discussion will probably be held in Phila- 

 delphia about Easter. A gathering of electro- 

 chemists from all parts of the United States 

 is assured. 



At the annual meeting of the Montana 

 State Teachers' Association, held at Missoula, 

 Mont., during the holidays, a Montana 

 Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters was 

 organized. The following officers were 

 elected : President, Morton J. Elrod, Professor 

 of Biologyj University of Montana; Vice- 

 President, Department of Science, B. E. Toll- 

 man, Professor of Mathematics, Montana 

 College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts; 

 Vice-President, Department of Arts, L. S. 

 Footh, State School of Mines ; Vice-President, 

 Department of Letters, H. H. Swain, presi- 

 dent of State Normal; Secretary-Treasurer, 

 W. D. Harkins, Professor of Chemistry, Uni- 

 versity of Montana; Lihrarian and Custodian, 

 B. E. Toan, Butte High School. The location 

 of the academy is at Missoula. 



The Des Moines Geographical Exposition, 

 held under the auspices of the Science Teach- 

 ers of Iowa in connection with the meeting 

 of the State Teachers' Association, was very 

 successful. Its scope comprised the appa- 

 ratus and appliances needful to the teaching . 

 of physical geography. Some forty models 

 were on exhibition by Howell, Ward, Ginn 

 and Andrews, including a series from the 

 laboratory of Cornell College, showing 

 methods of building models in various ma- 

 terials. About 1,000 lantern slides were shown 

 from selected lists of American and British 

 dealers, with several of the best lanterns for 

 high schools. Besides physical wall maps of 

 all the leading series, a large exhibit was made 

 in this section of topographic maps from the 

 United States Geological Survey, the Missis- 

 sippi river commission, the coast survey and 

 the surveys of several European countries. 

 Sets of rocks and minerals suitable for high 

 schools were shown. In the section devoted 

 to literature the publications of the Iowa 

 Geographic Survey were placed, together with 

 the books and periodicals, American and for- 

 eign, most needful for the school library, or 

 for that of the teacher. In photographs the 



exposition was especially rich. Lloelzel, of 

 Vienna, sent the well-known 'Charakterbilder' 

 and the Detroit Photographic Co., the series 

 of typical color photographs in physiography 

 selected by Professor Norton, of Cornell Col- 

 lege. Other exhibitors in this section were 

 Hajrnes, the U. S. Geological Survey, Stoddard 

 and Notman and James. In meteorology an 

 exhibit was made by the U. S. Hydrographic 

 office and by Queen & Co. The exposition was 

 directed by Professor W. H. Norton, of Cor- 

 nell College, and Mr. A. W. Brett, of the West 

 Des Moines High School. 



The public health bulletin for last week 

 contains reports to Surgeon General Wyman 

 from officers of the Marine Hospital Service 

 on the theory that the germs of malarial and 

 yellow fevers are transmitted by the bite of 

 the mosquito. Dr. Gorgas, chief sanitary offi- 

 cer at BEavana, reports no cases of yellow fever 

 deaths from that disease in the Cuban capital 

 during the month of November, a condition 

 not obtaining for years. This result Dr. Gor- 

 gas attributes to the system introduced last 

 February of killing mosquitoes in the neigh- 

 borhood of each point of infection, with the 

 result that the mosquitoes in Havana this 

 year are only about one tenth as numerous as 

 last year. 



A BILL has been introduced into Congress by 

 Mr. Hepburn calling for many changes in the 

 Marine Hospital Service. It is proposed, says 

 the New York Medical Record, to alter the 

 name to the United States Health Service, in 

 order to bring the title more into harmony 

 with the work which the evoluted service is 

 now doing. The officers of the new service 

 will be the same as of the old, except that 

 those in charge of the administrative depart- 

 ments in Washington will be called assistant 

 surgeons-general, and the pay of the surgeon- 

 general will be increased to equal that of the 

 surgeon-general of the army. A consulting 

 board is to be created to advise the surgeon- 

 general of the new service in matters relating 

 to public health, and this officer will also con- 

 sult with delegates from the health depart- 

 ments of the various States and territories of 

 the Union. Uniformity in the registration of 

 vital statistics is provided for by the bill. It 



