August 1, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



163 



Bronx Park, on Saturday afternoons, at four 

 o'clock : 



August 2, "American Desert Plants," by Dr. 

 William Trelease. 



August 9, "The Biology of Cheese," by Dr. 

 Charles Thorn. 



August 16, "Wild Flowers of the Late Sum- 

 mer," by Dr. N. L. Britton. 



August 23, ' ' Explorations in Mexico, II. : Mex- 

 ico City to Cuernavaca," by Dr. W. A. Murrill. 



August 30, "The Mammoth Trees of Cali- 

 fornia," by Dr. Arthur Holliek. 



September 6, ' ' Shade Trees and their Ene- 

 mies, ' ' by Dr. F. J. Seaver. 



September 13, "A Visit to the Panama Canal 

 Zone," by Dr. M. A. Howe. 



September 20, ' ' Scenic and Botanical Features 

 of Devil's Lake, Wisconsin," by Dr. A. B. Stout. 



September 27, "Explorations in Mexico, III.: 

 Colima and Manzanillo, ' ' by Dr. W. A. Murrill. 



Arrangements have been made between the 

 New York State College of Forestry at Syra- 

 cuse University and the Palisades Inter-State 

 Park Commission whereby the College of For- 

 estry will prepare and carry out a plan of 

 management for the 14,000 acres of forest 

 land controlled by the commission and lying 

 along the Hudson River. The work of get- 

 ting the forest land into shape will be started 

 about the middle of August by four advanced 

 students under the direction of Professor 

 Frank F. Moon, of the College of Forestry, 

 who was forester for the former Highlands of 

 the Hudson Forest Reservation. The various 

 properties will be mapped out and studied to 

 ascertain the amount of the timber now stand- 

 ing and the amount to be removed. In addi- 

 tion, the fire problem will be studied and even- 

 tually a long term reforestation plan put into 

 force. Centers of insect and fungus damage 

 will be located and timber will be marked so 

 that during the coming winter the park em- 

 ployees will be busy removing the dead, dis- 

 eased and undesirable specimens. A forest 

 nursery will be developed and active refor- 

 estation begun in 1914. 



The national congress of Brazil has passed 

 and the president of that republic has ap- 

 proved a law fixing legal time in Brazil. 

 Following is a translation of the bill: 



Art. 1. For purposes of international and com- 

 mercial contracts the meridian of Greenwich shall 

 be considered fuudamental in all Brazil. 



Art. 2. So far as the legal hour is concerned 

 Brazilian territory is divided into four distinct 

 zones as follows: 



(a) The first zone includes the archipelago of 

 Fernando de Novorha and the island of Trinidad, 

 and shall have Greenwich time ' ' less two hours. ' ' 



(6) The second zone includes all the coast, all 

 the states of the interior (except Matto-Grosso 

 and Amazonas), and the part of the state of Para 

 east of a line starting from Mount Grevaux on the 

 frontier of French Guyana, following down Rio 

 Pecuary to the Javary, along this last river to the 

 Amazonas, and southward along the Eio Xingu to 

 the state of Matto-Grosso. This zone shall have 

 Greenwich time ' ' less three hours. ' ' 



(c) The third zone includes all of the state of 

 Para west of the line just mentioned, the state of 

 Matto-Grosso, and all of the state of Amazonas 

 east of a line drawn on a great circle starting at 

 Tabatinga and ending at Porto Acre. This zone 

 shall have Greenwich time ' ' less four hours. ' ' 



(d) The fourth zone includes the territory of 

 Acre and the region west of the line just men- 

 tioned, and shall have Greenwich time "less five 

 hours." 



The following letter from President John 

 C Branner was published in the Journal do 

 Commercio, Rio de Janeiro, June 14, 1913: 



The first volume of the "Monographs of the 

 Geological and MLneralogical Service of Brazil" 

 has just appeared, published by the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, Industry and Commerce. It bears 

 the title "Devonian Fossils of Parana, by Dr. 

 John M. Clarke," Rio de Janeiro, 1913. 



It is a work of the greatest importance to 

 science, not only that of Brazil, but of the foreign 

 world as well. 



The Federal Geological Service has been in 

 operation in Brazil for six years. In this rela- 

 tively short time the director has, amongst many 

 other achievements, succeeded in bringing together 

 an important collection of Devonian fossils of the 

 highest interest to science and in inducing Dr. 

 Clarke, the ofiicial geologist of the state of New 

 York and one of the highest authorities on this 

 subject, to undertake their study, description and 

 discussion. In the words of Dr. Clarke himself, 

 "the results are of world-wide import." The 

 interest and importance of this monograph are due, 

 in great part, to the fact that the studies embrace. 



