382 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1107 



in all forest activities except commercial tim- 

 ber sales. It predicts, however, a large rev- 

 enue from all sources for the fiscal year 1916, 

 the general improvement in business condi- 

 tions throughout the country having been al- 

 ready felt in the national forests, as shown by 

 an increase during the first three months of 

 about $119,000 over the earnings of the same 

 period last year. During the fiscal year, the 

 total revenues were $2,481,469.35, an increase 

 of $43,759.14 over 1914. Of the $5,662,094.13 

 provided by the regular appropriation for the 

 Forest Service, says the report, $5,281,000 was 

 expended for protection, utilization and im- 

 provements, the cost of protection being in- 

 creased by an extraordinarily severe fire sea- 

 son which necessitated emergency expenditures 

 that were partly provided for by a deficiency 

 appropriation of $349,243. An additional sum 

 of about $196,000 was spent under the law 

 which permits 10 per cent, of the forest re- 

 ceipts to be employed in road development for 

 the public benefit. 



The expenditures include, says the report, 

 the protection of resources which as yet can 

 not be made to bring in cash returns, such as 

 inaccessible timber, as well as those, such as 

 watershed covering and recreational advan- 

 tages, which yield great general benefits not, 

 however, measurable in money values. In this 

 connection, the report mentions that timber 

 given free to settlers and others was worth 

 more than $206,000, while that sold under the 

 law at cost was worth $33,000 more than the 

 government got for it. The revenue also fore- 

 gone by allowing free use of certain grazing 

 lands, adds the report, is estimated to exceed 

 $120,000, while a moderate charge for priv- 

 ileges that are free would bring in at least 

 $100,000 more. All this, says the forester, 

 has never been entered on the credit side of the 

 Forest Service ledger. 



physics, soil chemistry and soil biology. Dr. 

 Jacob G. Lipman, of the New Jersey Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, is editor-in-chief, 

 and has associated with him a consulting inter- 

 national board of soil investigators. This 

 group consists of twelve of the leading author- 

 ities on soils in the United States and eleven 

 from foreign countries. 



It is believed that the journal will fill a dis- 

 tinct need in the field of modem science. Soil 

 investigators have long felt the necessity for 

 a specific medium for the publication of their 

 research work. Heretofore, they have found it 

 necessary to resort to journals not specifically 

 devoted to soil problems. Consequently, they 

 have been put to much inconvenience in keep- 

 ing before them all the more important papers 

 in soil research. Moreover, they have found it 

 increasingly difiicult to secure the prompt 

 publication of their own papers in journals 

 whose contributions cover a wide range of 

 scientific activity. In planning for the publi- 

 cation of Soil Science, the editor was guided 

 by the wish to facilitate the bringing to light 

 of the results of soil research. He felt en- 

 couraged to believe that the new journal would 

 help to conserve the time and the energies of 

 his fellow students of soils, that it would pro- 

 vide for a more direct contact among men in- 

 terested in the same problems, and that it 

 would lead to a broader outlook on the entire 

 field of soil fertility. 



SOIL SCIENCE 



Soil Science is the title of a new monthly 

 journal which is published under the auspices 

 of Eutgers College. The journal, which is 

 international in its scope, is devoted exclu- 

 sively to problems in soils, including soil 



THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF 

 AMERICA 



A MEETING of ecologists was held at Colum- 

 bus in convocation week to take action upon 

 the proposal made at the Philadelphia meeting 

 for the formation of a society of ecologists. 

 Over fifty persons were present and the organi- 

 zation committee held letters from about fifty 

 others who expressed interest in the project. 

 In view of these facts it was unanimously 

 voted to organize under the name The Ecolog- 

 ical Society of America. It was decided to 

 enroll as charter members not only those pres- 

 ent at the organization, but also those who had 

 by letter expressed a desire to be included in 

 the membership, as well as those joining prior 



