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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXTIII. No. 



wild animals, either generally or locally, with 

 a view of checking the trypanosome diseases 

 of man and stock. (4) Whether any other 

 measures should be taken in order to obtain 

 means of controlling these diseases. 



The production of gypsum in 1912 was the 

 greatest in the history of the industry, accord- 

 ing to the U. S. Geological Survey, the amount 

 of gypsum consumed being 2,500,757 short tons. 

 The value of gypsum and gypsum products 

 was $6,563,908, an increase of $101,873 over 

 1911. In 1880 only 90,000 tons of gypsum were 

 produced; in 1900 the production was 590,000 

 tons. The bulk of the gypsum produced in the 

 United States is manufactured by grinding 

 partial or complete calcination into the various 

 plasters, such as plaster of Paris, molding and 

 casting plaster, stucco, cement plaster, floor- 

 ing plaster and hard-finish plaster. Refined 

 grades of plaster are used in dental work, for 

 making pottery molds, stereotype molds, molds 

 for rubber stamps, and as an ingredient in 

 various patent cements. A steadily increasing 

 quantity is being used in the raw state as a 

 retarder in Portland cement. Considerable 

 ■quantities are ground without burning and 

 used as land plaster; smaller quantities are 

 used in the manufacture of paint, wall tints, 

 crayons, paper, imitation meerschaum and ivory, 

 and as an adulterant. The pure white massive 

 form, known as alabaster, is much used by 

 sculptors for interior ornamentation, less, how- 

 ever, in this country than abroad. 



According to the Scottish Geographical 

 Magazine the research vessel Hiawatha, char- 

 tered for fishery research in the North Sea, left 

 the Tyne in August for the purpose of making 

 certain practically continuous hydrographie 

 observations, at a fixed position. She was to 

 take part in a coordinated research into the 

 movements of the great water masses in the 

 ISTorth Sea, and for this purpose was to drop 

 her anchor about 150 miles " E. by N. J N." 

 of Shields. Her labors were to be identical in 

 aim with researches simultaneously carried 

 out on board eight other vessels, also at anchor. 

 Two of these other vessels were to be research 

 vessels, acting on behalf of Sweden and Scot- 



land, the Swedish vessel working in the Ska- 

 gerak, the Scottish well to the northeast of 

 Aberdeen. The remaining vessels are light 

 vessels, two acting for Holland and the other 

 four for the English department. The obser- 

 vations were to consist of current measure- 

 ments made near both surface and bottom 

 every hour night and day throughout the fort- 

 night, and in fine weather at other intermediate 

 depths. Special attention was to be paid to 

 the submarine waves which, it is espected, are 

 to be met with at the depth at which the 

 heavier bottom water and the lighter surface 

 water are in contact. Specially devised cur- 

 rent meters are used in this work. The tem- 

 perature and salinity of the various layers of 

 the sea were also to be ascertained, special 

 water-bottles being employed to secure samples 

 of the sea from any desired depth. Samples of 

 the minute floating organisms which, directly 

 or indirectly, constitute the food of all our 

 food fishes were also to be taken at various 

 depths and at the extremes of the tide. It is 

 expected that some 8,000 independent current 

 measurements would be made from the English 

 vessels alone. The operations have been 

 planned by a special committee of the Inter- 

 national Council for the Exploration of the 

 Sea, it is stated, because a knowledge of the 

 constitution and movements of the sea water 

 is essential to the understanding of the move- 

 ments and of the abundance of the fishes upon 

 which the fishing industry depends. For in- 

 stance, the abundance or scarcity of the her- 

 ring of the Kattegat and Skager Rack has been 

 found to be connected directly with the amount 

 of water which enters the Baltic from the 

 North Sea, and other fisheries in southern 

 Sweden have been shown to change with the 

 ebb and flow of this layer of cold, salt water. 



The U. S. Bureau of Mines has issued Bul- 

 letin 22, entitled " Analyses of Coals in the 

 United States, with Descriptions of Mine and 

 Field Samples collected between July 1, 1904, 

 and June 30, 1910." This report contains the 

 analyses of 5,000 samples of coal taken from 

 1,500 coal mines and prospects situated in the 

 various coal fields of the United States. Not 



