740 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 986 



eases of bone, and Dr. James T. Case, Battle 

 Creek, Mich., slides of the alimentary tract. 

 Others have promised to send slides, and it is 

 the intention to add to the collection from 

 time to time as important work is done. The 

 collection is available for study by any civilian 

 practitioner on application to the curator, 

 Arnly Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. 



We learn from the Journal of the American 

 Medical Association that acting under aus- 

 pices of the commission appointed by the 

 Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania 

 for the Conservation of Vision that an active 

 campaign is under way against ophthalmia 

 neonatorum, needless eye injuries in the 

 trades, trachoma, wood alcohol, wrong light- 

 ing of buildings and like causes of blindness. 

 In addition to a large number of distinguished 

 laymen, acting as advisory members, the Com- 

 mission on Conservation of Vision includes 

 Dr. Wm. Campbell Posey, Wills Eye Hospital, 

 Philadelphia, chairman; Dr. Wm. W. Blair, 

 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.: 

 Dr. Clarence P. Franklin, Philadelphia; Dr 

 C. M. Harris, Johnstown, Pa. ; Dr. Edw. B 

 Heckel, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Dr. T. B. HoUoway 

 University Hospital, Philadelphia, secretary 

 Dr. Wendell Reber, Temple University, Phila^ 

 delphia; Dr. Edward Stieren, Pittsburgh, Pa.; 

 Dr. Lewis H. Taylor, president of State So- 

 ciety, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. ; Dr. Wm. Zentmayer, 

 Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia; Dr. Sam- 

 uel G. Dixon, commissioner of health of the 

 state of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Pa., hon- 

 orary chairman. 



Alaska coal fields continue to be undevel- 

 oped, according to the United States Geolog- 

 ical Survey. The only coal being mined is 

 some lignite coal taken out for local use at 

 Cook Inlet, on Seward Peninsula, and at sev- 

 eral other localities. The total production in 

 1912 did not exceed 100 or 200 tons. One oil 

 company continued operations in the Katalla 

 petroleum field in 1912, as in 1911. One of 

 the two producing wells is said to have been 

 sunk to a depth of about 800 feet. The oil is 

 _ procured by pumping and is refined in a small 



plant located near Katalla, and the gasoline 

 finds a ready sale in the coastal settlements 

 of this part of Alaska. There are several 

 other oil companies which control property in 

 this field, but these seem to have done little in 

 the way of development during 1912. 



VNIVEESITT AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS 

 A GIFT of $4,350,000 to the Cornell Medical 

 School is now officially announced. The name 

 of the donor is withheld but he is believed to 

 be Col. Oliver H. Payne, of New York City. 



At the conference of the Association of 

 American Universities, held November 6, at 

 the University of Illinois, eighteen of the 

 twenty-two institutions admitted to member- 

 ship were represented as follows : University 

 of California, Dean A. O. Leuschner; Catho- 

 lic University of America, Professor D. W. 

 Shea; University of Chicago, Dean Eollin D. 

 Salisbury and Dean Albion W. Small; Clark 

 University, Professor J. W. Baird; Cornell 

 University, Dean E. Merritt; University of 

 Blinois, Dean D. Kinley and Dean K. C. Bab- 

 eoek; State University of Iowa, Dean C. E. 

 Seashore; Leland Stanford Junior University, 

 Professor W. W. Willoughby; University of 

 Kansas, Professor F. H. Hodder; University 

 of Michigan, Dean K. Guthe; University of 

 Minnesota, Dean G. S. Ford; University of 

 Missouri, Dean I. Loeb; University of Ne- 

 braska, Dean L. A. Sherman ; University of 

 Pennsylvania, Dean H. V. Ames and Dean J. 

 C. Rolfe; University of Wisconsin, Director 

 G. C. Comstoek. 



The non-resident lectures in the graduate 

 course in Highway Engineering at Columbia 

 University appointed for the 1913-1914 ses- 

 sion are as follows : John A. Bensel, New York 

 State Engineer; William H. Connell, chief. 

 Bureau of Highways and Street Cleaning, 

 Philadelphia; C. A. Crane, secretary, the Gen- 

 eral Contractors Association; W. W. Crosby, 

 chief engineer, Maryland Geological and Eco- 

 nomic Survey, and consulting engineer; 

 Charles Henry Davis, president, National 



