66 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1098 



River. Mr. Lange described the little island 

 of Pacoval as an archeological mine. Frag- 

 ments of pottery cover the ground and every- 

 where the earth is mixed with pottery ranging 

 in size from minute pieces to vessels weighing 

 as much as twenty-five pounds. Nothing is 

 known of the makers of this ware. Who they 

 were or where they came from is at present a 

 mystery, but it is hoped that a study of the 

 unique and beautiful decorations on the pot- 

 tery will afford some information on the point. 



The Bureau of City Tests of the University 

 of Cincinnati has submitted its annual report 

 through Director E. K. Files. The report 

 states that 1,024 samples have been examined, 

 including coal, cement, gas, soot fall, oil, 

 asphalt and soap. Less than one per cent, of 

 the samples received have been rejected be- 

 cause of inferior material, so that the city in 

 its purchases is enforcing a high standard of 

 quality. "New developments in the bureau are 

 as follows: (1) Two cooperative chemical engi- 

 neering students are employed in the labora- 

 tory to give supplementary tests and more 

 complete analyses; (2) since last May, atmo- 

 spheric pollution in Cincinnati has been 

 studied. The deposits collected in various 

 districts of the city are analyzed each month 

 and the difference in composition of carbon, 

 tar, acids, etc., between the street level and 

 upper stories of buildings in the downtown 

 districts is being worked out. This study will 

 continue and is valuable for showing the ef- 

 fectiveness of smoke-prevention work. Other 

 interesting investigations now being made 

 are on the influence of the composition of coal 

 on the fusibility of the ash and the causes of 

 variation in the density of natural gas during 

 the different seasons. The bureau is now 

 doing work for the following departments of 

 the city : Engineering, Sewerage, Purchasing, 

 Street Lighting, Board of Education, Univer- 

 sity of Cincinnati, Park, Fire and Smoke In- 

 spection Bureau. 



The recognition by citizens generally that 

 the Geological Survey is a bureau of infor- 

 mation as well as a field service has gradually 

 placed upon it a large burden of work as well 

 as of responsibility. The amount of corres- 

 pondence involved in performing this public 



duty may be indicated by the fact that ap- 

 proximately 50,000 letters of inquiry were 

 handled in the different scientific branches of 

 the survey last year. The scope of these in- 

 quiries is not less noteworthy, for they range 

 from requests for information concerning the 

 geology of every part of the United States or 

 the water supply, both underground and sur- 

 face, of as widely separated regions as Alaska 

 and Florida, or for engineering data on areas 

 in every state in the union, to inquiries re- 

 garding the natural resources of foreign coun- 

 tries, especially those of Central and South 

 America. The changes in the world's trade in 

 metals and other mineral products during the 

 last year brought to the Geological Survey a 

 new opportunity for special service. The in- 

 quiries concerning possible sources of this or 

 that mineral product began early in August, 

 and the Secretary of the Interior gave to the 

 public an interview outlining the expected de- 

 velopments in the mineral industry. His state- 

 ment was followed by special press bulletins is- 

 sued by the survey on the more important sub- 

 jects. In September, 1914, however, the demand 

 for authoritative information had become so 

 lively that a bulletin — " Our Mineral Eeserves" 

 was issued. In this publication the subject of 

 the country's ability to meet the emergency 

 demands for minerals was summarized and 

 the survey offered to serve as an agent in 

 bringing consumer and producer into touch 

 with each other. This new function of acting 

 as " central " to the mineral industry proved 

 popular, a large volume of special correspond- 

 ence developed, and a gratifying use was made 

 of the Geological Survey's list of mineral 

 producers and of the specific information in 

 the possession of the federal geologists regard- 

 ing practically every type of mineral deposit 

 in the country. It is believed that this corre- 

 spondence has been of material advantage to 

 consumers and producers alike — the users of 

 mineral products who were formerly depend- 

 ent upon foreign sources of supply and the 

 mine operators who have learned of new mar- 

 kets for their output. 



The Department of Agriculture is taking 

 action, through the Biological Survey and the 

 Forest Service, to combat a serious wave of 



