August 8, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



191 



is resulting in the death of a great deal of 

 chestnut timber. Officials of the IJ. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture recommend, to pre- 

 vent the spread of the disease, that shipments 

 of chestnut timber should include only ma- 

 terial from which the bark has been removed 

 and from which the diseased spots have been 

 cut out. In the region affected there is a 

 good market for all chestnut products except 

 cordwood. The demand for poles and ties 

 absorbs all that are offered, and lumber finds 

 ready sale in local markets. Cordwood, how- 

 ever, is often a drug except within shipping 

 distance of tanning extract plants, brass foun- 

 dries, lime kilns, brick yards and charcoal 

 plants. The question has arisen as to whether 

 the disease-killed timber is less valuable than 

 that from green trees. Strength tests made 

 by the Forest Service indicate that sound 

 wood from chestnut killed by the bark disease 

 is as strong as that from green timber. The 

 bark disease kills the tree by girdling the 

 trunk, and does not cause unsound or de- 

 cayed wood, which is the result of attack by 

 fungi or insects. Until two years after the 

 death of the tree the wood generally remains 

 sound, though at the end of that time insects 

 have commenced working in the sapwood. 

 Three years after death the sapwood is honey- 

 combed with insect burrows; in four years it 

 has decayed, and begins to dry and peel off in 

 the fifth year. After this the heartwood 

 checks badly. To avoid loss, therefore, all 

 timber should be used within two years after 

 being killed. At a recent meeting in Tren- 

 ton, N. J., foresters were present from most 

 of the states in which the chestnut bark dis- 

 ease is prevalent. Connecticut, New Jersey, 

 New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Vir- 

 ginia, North Carolina, and the Forest Service 

 and the Bureau of Plant Industry were repre- 

 sented. Representatives of the states ap- 

 proved the investigations undertaken by the 

 Forest Service, and recommended that the in- 

 dividual states give particular attention to 

 the development of local markets for stands of 

 blight-killed chestnut. Owners of such timber 

 should apply to the state foresters or to the 

 Forest Service for further information upon 

 the uses and markets for chestnut. 



We learn from Nature that a large number 

 of distinguished physiologists, biologists and 

 medical men have signed a letter addressed to 

 the home secretary directing attention to the 

 scientific aspects of the administration of the 

 Mental Deficiency Bill. The signatories desire 

 to secure the continuous prosecution of re- 

 search into the conditions on which mental 

 deficiency depends, and into the means by 

 which it might be remedied or prevented. 

 They point out that it may be said, in a gen- 

 eral way, that the conditions in question must 

 be due either to defective formation and de- 

 velopment of the active structures of some 

 portion or portions of the brain, or to defec- 

 tive formation or supply of the fluids by which 

 these structures are surrounded, and by which 

 they are stimulated to activity. For example, 

 one common form of idiocy is consequent upon 

 the absence from the blood of the secretion 

 which should be furnished by the thyroid 

 gland, and may be remedied by the administra- 

 tion of thyroid extract derived from lower ani- 

 mals. The Mental Deficiency Bill will prob- 

 ably bring together many of its subjects into 

 institutions controlled by the state, and sup- 

 ported by the public. It is therefore urged 

 that the facilities for scientific study which 

 such institutions would afford should be fully 

 utilized for the general benefit of the commun- 

 ity, and that the duty of so utilizing them 

 should be committed to men of science, fully 

 conversant with all that is already known in 

 relation to the subject, and able to point out 

 the directions in which further inquiry should 

 be pursued. It is suggested that the objects in 

 view could scarcely be obtained except by an 

 adequate representation of biological science 

 upon any commission to which the administra- 

 tion of the law may be entrusted. 



An agricultural colony in Palestine has 

 applied to the U. S. Forest Service for 

 help in planting trees to bind the drifting 

 sands of the Mediterranean. The colony is 

 near Jaffa, or Tafa, the ancient Joppa of the 

 Bible, and there is being developed in connec- 

 tion with it a seaside resort, with hotel, villas, 

 bath houses and gardens. The experts of the 

 service point out that the reclamation of sand 

 dunes is not a serious problem in the eastern 



