April 25, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



679 



1882, data to hand are not at present complete 

 enough to afford a practical test of its efficacy. 

 The recently issued report, however, of His 

 Majesty's inspectors of explosives goes to show 

 that the system has been found wanting, and 

 that there is ample justification for the present 

 inquiry. Besides the grants made by the Insti- 

 tute and the Surveyors' Institution, the com- 

 mittee has been aided financially by the gov- 

 ernment grant committee of the Eoyal Society 

 and by the Royal Meteorological Society. 

 Valuable help has also been given by the Eoyal 

 Institute of British Architects, the Surveyors' 

 Institution, the Institute of Electrical Engi- 

 neers and the Royal Meteorological Society by 

 circularizing their members with a view to 

 getting observers. The committee is consti- 

 tuted as follows : Mr. John Slater, chairman ; 

 Major-General E. R. Festing, C.B., F.R.S., Mr. 

 J. Gavey, M.I.O.E., General Post Office; Mr. 

 W. P. Goulding, F.R.G.S., E.S.I., Dr. Oliver 

 Lodge, Birmingham University; Mr. W. N. 

 Shaw, F.R.S., Mr. H. Heathcote Statham, Mr. 

 A. E. Stenning, F.S.I., Mr. Arthur Vernon, 

 F.S.I., Mr. Killingworth Hedges, M.I.C.E., 

 hon. secretary. 



The Secretary of Agriculture has drawn up 

 at the request of the Senate a report on the 

 extinction of the American bison, in which he 

 says : (1) The American bison is on the verge 

 of extermination. Scarcely a handful now 

 remain of the millions which formerly roamed 

 over the plains of the West. (2) So far as the 

 department is aware only two small herds of 

 wild buffalo are in existence in the United 

 States * * * one in the Yellowstone Park, the 

 other in Lost Park, Colo. During the past 

 autumn several of the latter were killed, and 

 while the department has no recent informa- 

 tion as to the exact number of animals in these 

 herds at the present time, it has reason to 

 believe that the Yellowstone herd does not 

 exceed 25 and the Lost Park herd eight or ten 

 individuals. (3) There are no wild buffalo in 

 Canada, except in the Peace river country, 

 where a few woodland buffalo, believed to be a 

 different species from our plains buffalo, still 

 exist. (4) A number of buffalo have been 

 domesticated and half-domesticated. In addi- 



tion to the small herds in zoological parks 

 and in the hands of private individuals there 

 are three important herds — the Corbin herd on 

 the game preserve of the Blue Mountain Forest 

 Association in New Hampshire, the Allard 

 herd on the Flathead Indian reservation in 

 Montana, and the Goodnight herd (containing 

 about a hundred cross-breeds) at Goodnight, 

 Tex. (5) Both the Allard and Goodnight 

 herds consist in part of cross-breeds known as 

 'eataloes' obtained by crossing buffalo bulls 

 with domesticated cows. Mr. C. J. Jones, the 

 originator of this breed, states that he has suc- 

 ceeded in crossing the buffalo with almost all 

 the different breeds of cattle, but that he con- 

 siders the Galloway and the Polled Angus the 

 best for this purpose. (6) Recent information 

 indicates that the Allard herd is being broken. 

 Thirty-five animals were sold last year, and, a 

 number of others within the past few months. 

 If the government could acquire possession of 

 these buffaloes they might be placed on some 

 reservation under competent management, and 

 if properly protected could be preserved indefi- 

 nitely. Unless this is done there is little or no 

 hope of maintaining the herd in its entirety. 

 So far as known the Goodnight herd is not for 

 sale, but a proposition has several times been 

 presented to Congress regarding the reserva- 

 tion of certain public lands in New Mexico 

 for their preservation. Under proper restric- 

 tions this plan might result in the perpetuation 

 of the herd for some years. (7) Should the 

 government acquire possession of a consider- 

 able number of full-blooded animals, it is pos- 

 sible that the absolute extermination of the 

 species might be long delayed. To avoid dan- 

 ger of destruction by epidemic disease and 

 deterioration by too close inbreeding, the gov- 

 ernment herd should be divided and kept in at 

 least two widely separated localities. This 

 would admit of interchange of blood when 

 necessary. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



The General Assembly of the State of Iowa 

 has passed a mill tax for the building support 

 of the three educational institutions of Iowa, 

 as follows : State University at Iowa City, one 

 fifth of a mill to run for five years. This will 



