116 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 472. 



The hour was later changed to 8 a.m. It is to 

 be noted that certain persistent discrepancies 

 appear when the observations, after reduction 

 to sea-level, are compared, the most noteworthy 

 cases being those of stations which are more 

 or less completely shut in by hills of consider- 

 able elevation. The result of this condition 

 is to check somewhat the horizontal movement 

 of the air, and to give too high a pressure dur- 

 ing the morning. At the three stations where 

 this topographic effect is most marked the 

 excess of pressure averages about .02 inch 

 at 8 A.M. 



NOTE. 



It is well known that the winter snowfall is 

 a great help in lumbering operations in our 

 northern forests, for it greatly facilitates the 

 labor of hauling out the trees. In a recent 

 article on the ' Forest School at Biltmore ' 

 (Forestry and Irrigation, November), Dr. 

 Schenck notes, among the disadvantages, of 

 the Biltmore forest tracts, the lack of winter 

 snows, which allow ' cheap sleighing to take 

 the place of expensive wagoning.' 



E. DeC. Ward. 



THE ASSOCIATION OF OFFICIAL AGRI- 

 CULTURAL CHEMISTS. 



The twentieth annual meeting of the asso- 

 ciation was held at the Columbian University, 

 Washington, D. C, on November 19, 20, 21, 

 with an attendance of 150, the largest on 

 record. A large part of the meeting was de- 

 voted to the reports of the referees and asso- 

 ciate referees on the analysis of foods. Dr. 

 William Frear, as chairman of the committee 

 on pure food standards, reported that those 

 on meats and the principal meat products, 

 milk and its products, sugars and related sub- 

 stances, condiments (except vinegar), and 

 cocoa products, were ready for adoption as 

 official and the proclamation so declaring them 

 was signed by Secretary Wilson on November 

 21. The circular containing these standards 

 is now in press and will be ready for distribu- 

 tion in a short time. 



Slight changes were made in the official 

 methods for the analysis of sugars and in- 

 secticides and a new division of the work was 

 created by a motion to appoint a referee on 



drugs. A resolution was adopted requesting 

 the Bureau of Standards through its chemist 

 to participate in the work of the referees fix- 

 ing standard methods of analysis. The com- 

 mittee on fertilizer legislation was instructed 

 to prepare a bill for submission to Congress 

 regulating interstate commerce in fertilizers 

 and fertilizing materials. 



The executive committee was given permis- 

 sion to call the meeting of the association 

 next year at St. Louis and there is every 

 probability that such action will be taken. 

 The officers elected are as follows : 



President— M. E. JaflFa, Berkeley, Cal. 



Vice-President — C. L. Penny, Newark, Del. 



Secretary — H. W. Wiley, Washington, D. C. 



Additional Members of the Executive Committee 

 — W. P. Headden, Port Collins, Colo.; W. R. 

 Perkins, Agricultural College, Mass. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 



Mr. Shyamaji Krishnavarma, of India, has 

 offered $5,000 to Oxford University to estab- 

 lish a lectureship in honor of Herbert Spencer 

 to be known as the Spencer Lectureship. 



The prize for French contributions to sci- 

 ence given by M. Osiris through the Paris 

 Press Association has been divided between 

 Mme. Curie and M. Branly. Mme_. Curie re- 

 ceives 60,000 francs for her work on radium 

 and M. Branly 40,000 francs for his work in 

 connection with wireless telegraphy. 



The sixtieth birthday of Dr. Robert Koch 

 was celebrated on December 11. A portrait 

 bust was unveiled in the Institute for In- 

 fectious Diseases, Berlin, a museum for bac- 

 teriology was established and a Festschrift is 

 in press. Dr. Koch expects to return from 

 South Africa in March. 



At the St. Louis meeting of the Astronom- 

 ical and Astrophysical Society of America the 

 following officers, including those who hold 

 over, were elected for the ensuing year: 

 President, Simon Neweomb; First Vice-Presi- 

 dent, George E. Hale; Second Vice-President, 

 W. W. Campbell; Secretary, George C. Com- 

 stock; Treasurer, C. L. Doolittle; Councilors, 

 Ormond Stone, W. S. Eichelberger, E. 0. 

 Pickering, R. S. Woodward. 



