January 7, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



19 



disease of fish or shellfisli, physiological or 

 environmental conditions associated with the 

 development of pathological phenomena, and 

 the means of prevention or cure. The investi- 

 gation of stream pollution is involved, as weU 

 as the study of the physical, chemical and bio- 

 logical conditions that may be salutary or 

 deleterious to fish. Competitors will be exam- 

 ined in general biology, physiologic chemis- 

 try and parasitology, with particular reference 

 to aquatic animals. Credit will be given for 

 thesis and manuscript or published reports. 

 Graduation with a bachelor's degree from a 

 course in a college or university of recognized 

 standing and, in addition at least two years of 

 postgraduate work, or the equivalent, in chem- 

 istry or biology are prerequisites for consid- 

 eration for this position. The salary is $2,500 

 per annum. 



The Weather Bureau asks for an appropri- 

 ation of $30,000 for extending the Carribean 

 weather observations with a view to a system 

 of communication of " considerable value in 

 connection with the military and naval opera- 

 tions in the canal zone." Instead of observa- 

 tions once a day during a seven months' 

 period at an inadequate number of stations, a 

 continuous all-year-round service would be es- 

 tablished at additional stations in South and 

 Central America and along the southern gulf 

 coast. A $25,000 structure on the canal zone 

 to serve as the official headquarters for the 

 weather service in that section also is planned. 



The equipment of the department of ento- 

 mology at the University of Illinois, and of 

 the natural history survey of that state, re- 

 ceives a notable addition in the new vivarium 

 building in Champaign, which wiU contain a 

 large insectary for student use, with three 

 laboratory rooms in connection, an apparatus, 

 furnished conjointly by the university and the 

 State Laboratory of Natural History, for tem- 

 perature and humidity control in the study of 

 insect life histories, and a set of experimental 

 aquaria fitted up for exact studies on the ecol- 

 ogy of fresh- water animals. The insectary and 

 entomological laboratories will be under the 

 charge of Dr. E. D. Glasgow, and the state 



laboratory equipment under that of Dr. V. E. 

 Shelford, of the laboratory staff. 



The Journal of the American Medical Asso- 

 ciation says : " On last Monday, December 20, 

 the Supreme Court of Illinois rendered a rul- 

 ing — it was not a decision, as the newspapers 

 stated, but simply a ruling — in the case of 

 Lydston vs. the State's Attorney. The news- 

 papers, in sweeping statements — inspired? — 

 have carried the impression that the ruling is 

 against the American Medical Association; 

 that the officers, including trustees, are hold- 

 ing their offices illegally; that a new election 

 must be held immediately, etc. Nothing could 

 be farther from the truth. It is the old story; 

 it is merely another step in the case started 

 about the time of the meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Medical Association in St. Louis in 1910, 

 at which time Lydston tried to compel the 

 state's attorney to bring quo warranto pro- 

 ceedings against the association. The Ameri- 

 can Medical Association has not yet techni- 

 cally been brought into the case; thus far the 

 issue has been between Lydston and the state's 

 attorney. The technical announcement of the 

 ruling just made is " Hoyne, State's Attorney 

 vs. People ex rel; Lydston; petition certiorari 

 denied." The state's attorney tried to get a 

 decision from the Supreme Court, but the Su- 

 preme Court declined to hear the case at this 

 time and therefore denied the writ of certio- 

 rari. 



According to a press dispatch proposed leg- 

 islation to create a government bureau of vol- 

 cano observation is under consideration. The 

 project, as outlined to congressional leaders 

 by T. A. Jagger, of the Massachusetts Institute 

 of Technology, a delegate to the Pan-Ameri- 

 can Scientific Congress, contemplates the se- 

 curing of information on which ultimately 

 predictions of volcanic disturbances may be 

 based as well as studies of gases and liquids in 

 the earth which may prove of value in connec- 

 tion with weather observations. There are 

 said to be between four hundred and five hun- 

 dred living volcanoes in the world, about one 

 fourth of which are within United States terri- 

 tory, in Alaska, Hawaii and the Philippines. 



