NOVEMBEB 18, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



713 



under the name of " The Eoyal Medical and 

 Chirurgical Society." A new charter was 

 granted it in 1905 under the new name of 

 " The Royal Society of Medicine." 



In a British Colonial Office report Professor 

 Wyndham Dunstan, director of the Imperial 

 Institute, says that the initial stage of the 

 work of the Mineral Survey of Ceylon may 

 now be regarded as largely completed. It is 

 clear that the island contains, in addition to 

 gem stones, a number of minerals of commer- 

 cial importance, of which only graphite, mica 

 and thorianite are at present worked. The 

 mining of graphite is on a large scale and in 

 some cases is under European supervision. 

 This mineral is an important article of export. 

 Mica is mined to a small extent by primitive 

 methods, and there is room for further enter- 

 prise in this material now that it is known 

 that much of the Ceylon mica is of value for 

 special purposes. Thorianite is a new mineral 

 discovered as a result of the operations of the 

 survey, and so far not known elsewhere than 

 in Ceylon. Comparatively large quantities 

 have been profitably exported in recent years 

 and utilized in this country as a source of the 

 thoria used in the manufacture of the incan- 

 descent gas mantle. Much remains to be done 

 in discovering new localities in which this 

 mineral is present, and also in devising better 

 methods of recovering it from the river beds 

 and alluvia in which it is known to occur. 



Ox February 17 of the present year the 

 legislature of Illinois enacted a law establish- 

 ing three mine rescue stations and making 

 for them an appropriation large enough for 

 their complete equipment with all necessary 

 apparatus for the work of rescue following a 

 mine disaster. The location of these stations 

 has been decided; one will be at Benton in 

 the southern Illinois coal field, one at Spring- 

 field in the central coal field and the third at 

 La Salle in the northern field. Two men will 

 be appointed for each station, one as general 

 manager and the other as superintendent. 

 Eight men have recently passed preliminary 

 examinations for these positions, and have 

 been in training for this work at the govern- 

 ment rescue station at the University of Illi- 



nois. The training comprises practise in the 

 use of rescue apparatus in a smoke chamber, 

 and instruction in the proper use and care of 

 rescue apparatus. These men have had unex- 

 pected additional practise in a mine fire which 

 occurred during their stay at the University 

 of Illinois. During this period of training the 

 members of the faculty of the School of Mines 

 and of the Department of Geology supple- 

 mented the practise work by lectures on 

 " First Aid Work," " Mine Gases," " Coal 

 Dust," " Safety Lamps " and " The Geology 

 of Coal." 



The surgeon general of the army announces 

 that the first of the preliminary examinations 

 for the appointment of first lieutenants in the 

 Army Medical Corps for the year 1911 will be 

 held on January 16, 1911, at points to be 

 hereafter designated. Full information con- 

 cerning the examination can be procured upon 

 application to the " Surgeon General, U. S. 

 Army, Washington, D. C." The essential re- 

 quirements to securing an invitation are that 

 the applicant shall be a citizen of the United 

 States, shall be between twenty-two and thirty 

 years of age, a graduate of a medical school 

 legally authorized to confer the degree of doc- 

 tor of medicine, shall be of good moral char- 

 acter and habits, and shall have had at least 

 one year's hospital training or its equivalent 

 in practise after graduation. The examina- 

 tions will be held concurrently throughout the 

 country at points where boards can be con- 

 vened. The examination in subjects of gen- 

 eral education (mathematics, geography, his- 

 tory, general literature and Latin) may be 

 omitted in the case of applicants holding 

 diplomas from reputable literary or scientific 

 colleges, normal schools or high schools, or 

 graduates of medical schools which require an 

 entrance examination satisfactory to the fac- 

 ulty of the Army Medical School. In order 

 to perfect all necessary arrangements for the 

 examination, applications must be complete 

 and in possession of the Adjutant General on 

 or before January 3, 1911. There are at pres- 

 ent seventy-six vacancies in the Medical Corps 

 of the Army. 



