742 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1038 



the middle of the year. The birth-rate last 

 quarter was 2.3 per 1,000 below the average for 

 the corresponding period of the ten preceding 

 years, and 0.4 per 1,000 below the rate in the 

 second quarter of 1913. The birth-rates in the 

 several counties ranged from 16.Y in Rutland- 

 shire and 17.1 in Cardiganshire, to 29.8 in 

 Glamorganshire and 32.3 in Durham. In 

 ninety-seven of the largest tovms the birth- 

 rate averaged 25.5 per 1,000, and ranged from 

 13.1 in Hastings to 34.4 in Middlesbrough; in 

 London the rate was 25.2 per 1,000. The ex- 

 cess of births over deaths during the quarter 

 was 101,879, against 105,808, 102,293 and 105,- 

 620 in the second quarters of the three pre- 

 ceding years. From a return issued by the 

 Board of Trade it appears that the passenger 

 movement between the United Kingdom and 

 places outside Europe resulted in a net balance 

 outward of 7,030 passengers of British 

 nationality, and a balance inwards of 13,566 

 aliens. Between Europe and the United 

 Kingdom there was a net balance inward 

 of 19,308 British and of 15,887 aliens. 

 Thus the total passenger movements resulted 

 in a net balance inward of 41,731 persons. The 

 deaths registered in England and Wales last 

 quarter numbered 124,134, and were in the 

 proportion of 13.3 annually per 1,000 persons 

 living; the rate in the second quarters of the 

 ten preceding years averaged 13.9 per 1,000. 

 The lowest county death-rates last quarter were 

 8.8 in Middlesex and 10.2 in Rutlandshire; the 

 highest rates were 16.1 in Lancashire and 16.7 

 in Merionethshire. In ninety-seven of the 

 largest towns the death-rate averaged 13.8 per 

 1,000; in London the rate was 13.1. The 124,- 

 134 deaths from all causes included 3 from 

 smallpox, 307 from enteric fever, 2,677 from 

 measles, 645 from scarlet fever, 2,658 from 

 whooping-cough, 1,122 from diphtheria and 

 1,428 from diarrhea and enteritis among 

 children under 2 years of age. The mortality 

 from whooping-cough and diphtheria was ap- 

 proximately equal to the average; that from 

 scarlet fever was slightly below the average; 

 and that from enteric fever and measles was 

 about two thirds of the average. The rate of 

 infant mortality, measured by the proportion 



of deaths among children under 1 year of age 

 to registered births, was equal to 88 per 1,000, 

 or 10 per 1,000 less than the average propor- 

 tion in the ten preceding second quarters. 

 Among the several counties the rates of infant 

 mortality last quarter ranged from 45 in 

 Buckinghamshire and in Rutlandshire to 110 

 in Merionethshire and 111 in Lancashire. In 

 ninety-seven of the largest towns the rate 

 averaged 93 per 1,000; in London it was 79, 

 while among the other towns it ranged from 

 36 in Bath to 143 in Middlesbrough. The 

 deaths among persons aged 1 to 65 years were 

 equal to an annual rate of 7.6 per 1,000, and 

 those among persons aged 65 years and up- 

 wards to a rate of 79.8 per 1,000 of the popu- 

 lation estimated to be living at those ages. 



A SERIES of special lectures on chemical 

 engineering will be delivered in the Mellon 

 Institute of Industrial Research, University 

 of Pittsburgh, as follows: 



November 9 — "Our New Knowledge of Coal," 

 by Dr. H. 0. Porter, chemist, U. S. Bureau of 

 Mines, Pittsburgh, Pa. 



November 16 — "Eeoent Researches on the Com- 

 bustion of Coal," by Henry Kreisinger, engineer 

 in charge of fuel tests, U. S. Bureau of Mines, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa. 



November 23 — "Some Applications of Pulver- 

 ized Coal," by Richard K. Meade, consulting 

 chemist, Baltimore, Md. 



November 30 — "Producer Gas," by Dr. J. K. 

 Clement, physicist, U. S. Bureau of Mines, Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa. 



December 7 — "The Softening of Water for In- 

 dustrial Purposes," by James O. Handy, director 

 of research, Pittsburgh Testing Laboratories, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa. 



December 14 — "Tlie Classification of Clays," 

 by Professor Edward Orton, head of the depart- 

 ment of ceramics and dean of the College of Engi- 

 neering, Ohio State University. 



January 4 — "The EfiEect of Heat on Clays," by 

 Albert V. Bleininger, director, Technological Lab- 

 oratory of the V. S. Bureau of Standards, Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa. 



January 11 — "The Manufacture of Structural 

 Clay Products," by Albert V. Bleininger. 



January 18 — "The Manufacture of Refractor- 

 ies," by Kenneth Seaver, chief chemist of the 

 Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. 



