710 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 882 



this kind. The three months from March to 

 May, inclusive, were occupied in exploration 

 of the San Joaquin Valley along its entire 

 length, the particular purpose being to ascer- 

 tain the status of the rodent population of the 

 region. The ranges of the native members of 

 the squirrel family were determined vrith some 

 accuracy, this information having definite 

 bearing upon the problems to be met by the 

 federal and state authorities who are dealing 

 with the plague situation. Much material in 

 the way of specimens and information was 

 gathered. This work was prosecuted by Mr. 

 Swarth and Mr. Grinnell, with two assistants. 

 Miss Annie M. Alexander and Miss Louise 

 Kellogg with two assistants spent the three 

 summer months in the high mountain region 

 of Siskiyou and Trinity counties, collecting 

 birds and mammals, in continuance of work 

 begun by them during the previous winter. 

 The series of specimens gathered includes sev- 

 eral species new to the museum and one bird 

 new to the known fauna of the state, while 

 much information bearing upon the relation- 

 ships of the Shasta and coast faunas was 

 obtained. The period from June 15 to Sep- 

 tember 15 was occupied in exploration of the 

 mountainous region lying between Tehachapi 

 and Mount Whitney. Mr. Grinnell, Mr. Tay- 

 lor and three assistants were engaged in this 

 work, the results comprising, aside from large 

 series of specimens of mammals, birds and 

 reptiles, an increased knowledge of the com- 

 plex faunal conditions at the southern end of 

 the Sierra Nevada. All of the above field 

 work was made possible through special gifts 

 by Miss Alexander of funds for its support. 



The British Decimal Association, estab- 

 lished to promote the adoption of a decimal 

 system of weights, measures and coinage in 

 the United Kingdom, announces that a 

 weights and measures law, rendering the use 

 of the metric system compulsory in Bosnia- 

 Herzegovina, will come into force on Septem- 

 ber 1, 1912. 



The Smithsonian party which accompanied 

 Dr. A. O. Wheeler, president of the Alpine 

 Club of Canada, on his topographic survey of 

 the British Columbia and Alberta boundary 



line and the Mount Eobson region, has re- 

 turned to Washington. The party was a small 

 one, consisting of four members including 

 Mr. N. Hollister, assistant curator of mammals, 

 and Mr. J. H. Eiley, of the division of birds 

 in the National Museum. Assembling at 

 Edmonston, Alberta, Canada, early in July, 

 the party proceeded on the Grand Trunk Rail- 

 road to the end of the line, where they took 

 pack horses to penetrate the Mount Robson 

 region. The land to be surveyed included the 

 territory lying about this mountain, probably 

 between 14,500 and 15,000 feet high, and sur- 

 rounding it for a distance of fifty miles. The 

 natural history work was divided up, Mr. 

 Hollister and Mr. Eiley collecting the birds 

 and small animals, while the other two col-' 

 lectors hunted big game. The collection in- 

 cludes some 900 specimens of birds and mam- 

 mals. Much material for exhibition groups 

 was secured, including a series of caribou, 

 mountain goats, mountain sheep, beavers and 

 many varieties of smaller animals. Besides 

 birds and mammals, large numbers of plants 

 and insects were collected. All the specimens 

 have been turned over to the National Museum 

 and when the collection is worked up, parts of 

 it will be put on exhibition. 



Mr. r. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of 

 the Bureau of American Ethnology of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, has returned to 

 Washington from an expedition to New Mex- 

 ico, conducted under the joint auspices of the 

 bureau and the School of American Archeol- 

 ogy at Santa Fe. Early in September Mr. 

 Hodge proceeded to El Morro, or Inscription 

 Eock, in western New Mexico, where, with the 

 assistance of Mr. Jesse L. Nushaum, of the 

 School of American Archeology, paper im- 

 pressions and photographs of the inscriptions 

 on the rock were made. Mr. Hodge later 

 joined Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, director of the 

 School of American Archeology, on an expedi- 

 tion to the Jemez Valley, about sixty-five miles 

 northwest of Albuquerque, where excavations 

 were conducted in the ruins of a large stone 

 pueblo known as Amoxiumqua, which meas- 

 ures about 1,100 feet by 600 feet, and is situ- 



