©crroBBR 25, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



567 



she was not liberated until August 21. During 

 this period a continuance of northeast winds 

 eventually drifted the ship through the Kara 

 Sea into Barent's Sea. Afterwards the ex- 

 pedition explored the west coast of Novaya 

 Zemlya. The ship unfortunately grounded 

 en an unknown shoal, and it was found neces- 

 sary to lighten her by throwing out coal, a 

 eourse which seriously impaired her steaming 

 powers. In spite of this the voyage was con- 

 tinued up the northern part of Novaya Zemlya 

 to Y8° north. The expedition returned to 

 Hammerfest on September 15, all the explorers 

 being in excellent health, notwithstanding the 

 anxious time they had had. The scientific 

 work accomplished will, it is said, prove of the 

 greatest interest, since during the whole period 

 of imprisonment in the ice a continual sys- 

 tematic series of observations was made. The 

 Belgica with the rest of the expedition is now 

 returning home via the Norwegian fjords. 



According to a bulletin of the IT. S. Geo- 

 logical Survey, the total value of the stone 

 product of the country in 1906 was $66,378,794, 

 an increase of $2,570,046 over that of 1905, 

 and an increase of $42,413,565 over that of 

 1896. The value of the granite, trap rock, 

 marble, bluestone and limestone increased, 

 while the value of the sandstone decreased. 

 The figures are : 



Limestone $27,320,243 



Granite 18,569,705 



Marble 7,582,938 



Sandstone 7,147,439 



Trap rock . 3,736,571 



Bluestone 2,021,898 



Almost all the producers, especially the 

 small quarrjrmen, state that the cost of pro- 

 duction was greater in 1906 because of the 

 increase in the cost of supplies and in the 

 rates of wages, especially for common laborers. 

 The increased use of cement and concrete has 

 also had an important effect on the stone in- 

 dustry. Pennsylvania, producing chiefly lime- 

 stone and sandstone, but also granite and 

 marble, reported the greatest value of stone 

 output for the entire United States, which was 

 13.27 per cent, of the total; Vermont, produ- 



cing granite, marble, and a small quantity of 

 limestone, was second, with 11.34 per cent, of 

 the total; New York, producing sandstone, 

 limestone, granite and marble, ranked third; 

 Ohio, producing limestone and sandstone, was 

 fourth; Massachusetts, producing granite, 

 marble, sandstone and limestone, was fifth; 

 Indiana was sixth, followed by Illinois, Maine, 

 California and Missouri, each producing stone 

 valued at over $2,000,000. 



Mr. James W. Eagsdale, consul-general at 

 Tientsin, reports that in view of the enormous 

 forestry enterprise in the three eastern prov- 

 inces of Manchuria, Viceroy Hsu Shih-chang 

 is going to establish a school of forestry for 

 teaching the modern methods, so as to protect 

 China's interest in future. The proposed 

 school will be opened in Mukden shortly. He 

 also states that, according to a Tientsin paper. 

 Viceroy Tuan Fang has notified the board of 

 education and the Chinese foreign office that 

 the German consul-general at Shanghai has 

 intimated the desire of the College of Eastern 

 Languages in Berlin to engage the services of 

 four educated Chinese to teach Mandarin. 

 The instructors would only be required to 

 teach for six hours a week each, and the 

 salary offered is 1,500 Marks a month each. 

 The students would also be afforded every 

 opportunity for continuing their own studies 

 in accordance with the best modern standard. 

 Tuan Fang has accordingly nominated Messrs. 

 Wang, Chang, Chiang, and Liu for these posts, 

 and proposes to grant them from the Nankin 

 treasury 2,340 Marks each per month to cover 

 incidental expenses. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 Harvard Tlniversity has received a gift of 

 2,000 acres of timber land for the Division of 

 Forestry. The tract, which is said to be the 

 best body of timber on an equal area in Massa- 

 chusetts, was formerly the property of Mr. 

 James W. Brooks, who offered it to Harvard 

 at a price below its true value. Mr. John S. 

 Ames, of Boston, has given the university the 

 purchase money and $5,000 additional for the 

 repair and equipment of the building. 



