September 24, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



421 



reached low ebb in March and April, and is 

 now on the increase. The states west of Miss- 

 issippi Eiver, which in 1914 produced less than 

 13 per cent, of the total, do not appear to have 

 suffered from this decrease as much as the 

 eastern states — reports from certain districts 

 in the west showing an increase over 1914. 

 This is attributed to the increase in metal min- 

 ing and smelting, and to greater railroad ac- 

 tivity. In the east the loss of bunker trade on 

 the Atlantic seaboard and the slowness of the 

 Lake season have been only partly offset by 

 the increasing coal exports. The recent activ- 

 ity in the iron business has been slow to affect 

 the coal trade, although coke has gained con- 

 siderably during the last two months and for 

 the rest of 1915 the increased output should 

 continue. The anthracite producers have fared 

 better than the soft coal operators, since it is 

 estimated that the output of anthracite has 

 fallen off only from 3 to 5 per cent, below the 

 average for 1914. 



The portion of the National Forest receipts 

 for the fiscal year 1915 to go to the benefit of 

 the various states in which the forests lie, ac- 

 cording to the computation of the forest serv- 

 ice just approved by the secretary of the treas- 

 ury, amounts all told to more than $850,000. 

 The gross receipts for the year ending June 

 30 were $2,481,469.35, of which under the law 

 25 per cent, is paid over to the states for 

 county school and road purposes and an addi- 

 tional 10 per cent, is made available for ex- 

 penditure by the secretary of agriculture in 

 building road and trails for the benefit of 

 local communities. Montana gets the largest 

 share, having contributed the largest amount 

 of receipts for the sale of timber, grazing and 

 other uses of the forests, or more than $318,000. 

 Of this amount, Montana is to receive $79,- 

 589.Y8 for county school and road purposes, 

 while the forest service will expend $31,835.91 

 for improvements of special benefit to local 

 communities and not included in the regular 

 administrative and protective improvements. 

 Idaho comes second with a 25 per cent, allow- 

 ance of $75,651.15 and a 10 per cent, fund of 

 $30,260.46. California is third, receiving a 25 



per cent, allowance of $67,611.87 and a 10 

 per cent, fund of $27,044.74. The total amount 

 to be expended under this system of sharing the 

 forest receipts with the states to make up for 

 the loss of local taxes due to public owner- 

 ship of the land is about $16,000 greater than 

 for the previous fiscal year, as the receipts for 

 the fiscal year 1915 exceeded those of the 

 previous fiscal year by about $44,000. The 

 provision of law under which a portion of 

 the receipts is turned over to the states dates 

 from 1906, and the total payments reach, with 

 this year's allotment, nearly $4,500,000. The 

 ten per cent, provision for government-built 

 public roads has been in force only since 1912, 

 and has now made available for this purpose 

 an aggregate of $926,000. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 



The Southern Methodist University, Dallas, 

 Texas, begins its initial session September 22. 

 This is a coeducational institution under the 

 auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church 

 South. The assets of the university in 

 grounds, buildings and endowment amount to 

 about one million and seven hundred thousand 

 dollars. This university is to become the 

 head of the southern Methodist colleges west 

 of the Mississippi Eiver. An active cam- 

 paign is now being waged for an additional 

 million dollars. The following appointments 

 have been made on the scientific staff: Robert 

 S. Hyer, A.M., LL.D., professor of physics; 

 Frederick M. Duncan, Ph.D., professor of 

 biology; John Henry Eeedy, Ph.D. (Tale), 

 professor of chemistry; Ellis W. Shxiler, Ph.D. 

 (Harvard), associate professor of geology. 



Plans have been approved by the board of 

 regents of the University of Nebraska for a 

 new hospital in connection with the College 

 of Medicine at Omaha. The building is to 

 be five stories in height and will have six wards 

 of sixteen beds each, three receiving rooms, 

 six groups of isolation rooms of three beds 

 each, and the necessary operating rooms, oper- 

 ating amphitheater, and rooms for adminis- 

 tration and service. 



