310 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 871 



sion will meet at Milan on September 18-20 

 of this year to take stock of the work done so 

 far. 



The first all-Eussian congress of women of 

 academic education will be held in November 

 of this year in St. Petersburg. 



The TJ. S. Public Health and Marine-Hos- 

 pital Service has just issued a series of nine 

 wall charts illustrating the anatomy and life- 

 history of hookworms, the methods of their 

 dissemination, methods of prevention and pic- 

 tures of severely infected patients. These 

 charts are intended for use in schools,, colleges 

 and in field work. They are now being used 

 by some of the state boards of health in the 

 campaign for the eradication of hookworm 

 disease. The charts are printed on heavy 

 paper mounted on linen with wooden hangers 

 and are sold by the Superintendent of Docu- 

 ments, Government Printing OiEce, Washing- 

 ton, D. 0. 



The State Geological Survey of Colorado, 

 of which Professor Russell D. George, of the 

 state university, is head, has three main 

 parties in the field this summer. The first 

 party, consisting of seven men, is under the 

 direction of Assistant Professor Ralph D. 

 Crawford, of the university. It is extending 

 work begun in 1909 in the Monarch and Gar- 

 field area of Chaffee County to adjacent parts 

 of Gunnison County. Professor Horace B. 

 Patton, of the State School of Mines, heads a 

 party at work about Alma, near Leadville. 

 Under the direction of Professor F. F. Grout, 

 of the University of Minnesota, a third party 

 is doing rapid reconnaisance work in the Rab- 

 bit Ear Range in Routt and Grand counties. 

 A study of the mineral and hot springs of the 

 state is another activity of the survey. Mr. 

 Roy M. Butters, of the university, and Mr. 

 Frank Slattery, of the School of Mines, are 

 visiting all the important springs. 



For the first time the coal mines of the 

 United States in 1910 were credited with an 

 output exceeding half a billion short tons, the 

 combined production of anthracite, bituminous 

 coal and lignite having amounted to 501,576,- 

 895 short tons. This great output was at- 

 tained in spite of the fact that most of the 



mines in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas 

 and Oklahoma were closed for nearly six 

 months by one of the most bitterly contested 

 strikes in the history of the industry. The 

 heaviest tonnage mined in any year previous 

 to 1910 was in 1907, when a total of 480,363,- 

 424 short tons was produced. 



Of the nineteen mines producing quick- 

 silver in the United States in 1910, fifteen are 

 located in California, two in Nevada and two 

 in Texas, according to H. D. McCaskey, of the 

 United States Geological Survey. The pro- 

 duction in 1910, as obtained from confidential 

 returns to the Geological Survey by every pro- 

 ducer in the country, was 20,601 flasks of 75 

 pounds each. At the average domestic price 

 at San Francisco, $46.51 a flask, the value was 

 $958,153. As compared with the production 

 of 1909, which was 21,075 flasks, valued at 

 $957,859, this shows a decrease in quantity of 

 474 flasks but an increase in value of $294. 

 Although the production of California in- 

 creased in 1910, the output from Oregon de- 

 creased to nothing, as that of Arizona did in 

 1909, the small Nevada production fell off 

 considerably, and the output from Texas de- 

 creased. In no state, except possibly Nevada, 

 can an increased output be expected for 1911, 

 the present outlook being for a total produc- 

 tion for the United States not exceeding 20,- 

 000 flasks. A good domestic demand for 

 quicksilver was noted throughout 1910. The 

 principal uses are for gold milling and placer 

 mining, for the manufacture of vermilion, 

 fulminates, physical instruments, and drugs, 

 and for lighting. The use of quicksilver in 

 making the fulminate of percussion caps for 

 igniting powder is increasing in importance 

 probably more than any other use. The im- 

 ports of quicksilver for domestic use are now 

 nominal, having been in 1910 only 667 pounds, 

 valued at $381, although the values of the 

 imports in the preceding three years varied 

 from $6,000 to $8,000. The exports of quick- 

 silver in 1910 were 144,237 pounds, valued at 

 $91,077, against 510,141 pounds, valued at 

 $266,243, in 1909. The chief market is now 

 Canada, followed by Mexico. The world's 

 production of quicksilver in 1910 was 3,399 



