May 6, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



699 



tained at the observatory on the same morn- 

 ing. On the photographic plate, the comet 

 shows a rather sharp nucleus with a short tail. 



An excursion for geological and geograph- 

 ical field work was recently made to the dis- 

 trict between the Hudson Eiver and the Cat- 

 skiU Mountains, with headquarters at CatskUl, 

 N. T., by a party of thirty teachers and stu- 

 dents from Harvard, the Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology, Tale, Columbia, St. Lawr- 

 ence and Eutgers. The district visited is of 

 particular value from its succession of fossU- 

 iferous formations, its folded and faulted 

 structure, and its characteristic Appalachian 

 topography, both structure and form being 

 developed on a small scale that is especially 

 suitable for purposes of instruction. Among 

 the instructors present were Professors Davis 

 and Johnson and Mr. Lahee, of Harvard; 

 Professor Shimer, of the Massachusetts Insti- 

 tute of Technology; Professor Chadwick, of 

 St. Lawrence; Mr. Hyde, of Columbia, and 

 Professor Lewis, of Eutgers. Detachments 

 of the party, first led by Professor Chadwick 

 and later led by Professor Johnson, ascended 

 the strong east-facing escarpment of the Cats- 

 kill mountains, with special attention to the 

 features of stream capture as determined by 

 the retrogressive erosion of the east-flowing 

 Kaaterskm Creek in its deeply incised clove, 

 under the broad high-standing valley of the 

 west-flowing Schoharie Creek. 



The commission on phytogeographic nom- 

 enclature appointed by the second Interna- 

 tional Botanic Congress, held in Vienna in 

 1905, and of which Professor John W. Harsh- 

 berger, of the University of Pennsylvania, is 

 the American member, has printed its report 

 in a pamphlet of forty pages. This report is 

 the joint work of Briquet, Geneva; Adam- 

 ovie, Vienna; Beck von Mannagetta, Prague; 

 Drude, Dresden; A. Engler, Berlin; Flahault, 

 Montpellier; Harshberger, Philadelphia; C. 

 Schroter, Zurich; W. G. Smith, Edinburgh; 

 Warburg, Berlin; Eug. Warming, Copen- 

 hagen; and it will be presented with recom- 

 mendations to the third International Botanic 

 Congress, to be held in Brussels, from May 14 

 to 22, 1910. 



The Am erican Phytopathological Society 

 has passed resolutions as follows : 



Resolved, That the American Phytopathological 

 Society views with alarm the recent introduction 

 into America of two dangerous European plant 

 diseases: the potato wart, caused by Chrysophlyo- 

 tis endohiotioa Schilb., and the blister rust of 

 white pine, caused by Peridermium strohi Klebahn. 

 The former has been discovered in New Found- 

 land. The latter has been widely distributed in 

 nine of the United States and in the Province of 

 Ontario, but is now believed to have been erad- 

 icated. 



Resolved, That the society deplores the fact 

 that in the absence of any national regulation in 

 either the United States or Canada both govern- 

 ments are powerless to prevent the continued 

 introduction of these and other dangerous dis- 

 eases, or their transference from one country to 

 the other. 



Resolved, That on account of the enormous 

 iinancial interests involved in potato culture and 

 in white pine reforestation, this society regards 

 the situation as very alarming, and one which 

 warrants radical and immediate action. Even if 

 these diseases do no more harm in America than 

 they have in Europe, the situation is serious; 

 but every law of biology and all experiences with 

 plant diseases and pests indicates that, in a new 

 climate, with new varietal and specific hosts and 

 with an entire continent in which to spread, both 

 diseases will reach a degree of virulence unknown 

 in Europe. 



Therefore, Resolved, That this society pledges 

 its support to all legislation in both the United 

 States and Canada looking toward the inspection, 

 quarantine, or prohibition from entry, as may be 

 necessary, of all plant material liable to intro- 

 duce these or other dangerous diseases or pests. 



Some facts are being brought out by inves- 

 tigations of the effect of high voltages on in- 

 sulating material by Mr. H. S. Osborne who 

 is carrying out work for the degree of doctor 

 of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology. At a recent meeting of the 

 Boston Section of the American Institute of 

 Electrical Engineers, which was held at the 

 electrical engineering laboratories of the In- 

 stitute of Technology, Mr. Osborne lectured 

 on the results of his experimental research. 

 The lectures of Professor Harold Pender for 

 graduate students will next year extend the 



