JlLY 24, 1!)03.] 



SCIENCE. 



\2'i 



subject of tlic result of Major Iloss's recuin- 

 luendations for the improvement of tlie sani- 

 tary conditions at Ismailia, with special refer- 

 ence to the campaign against mosquitoes. 

 Major Ross, accompanied by Sir William 

 MacGregor, went out to Ismailia in the au- 

 tumn of last year to study the question of 

 the prevalence there of malaria. Major Ross 

 was sent out by the Liverpool School of Trop- 

 ical Medicine, at the special request of Prince 

 d'Arenberg. The report begins by referring 

 to a statement made quite recently by the 

 principal medical officer of the Sudan to 

 Major Ross that the sanitary state of Ismailia 

 is now much improved. The secretary-general 

 proceeds to say that since the visit of the ex- 

 pedition of the school to Ismailia in September 

 last several important drainage works have 

 been undertaken, including the filling up of 

 water puddles, and that a special service had 

 been created for the purpose of supervising 

 this work, specially charged with the duty of 

 pouring oil on the pools and disused wells, 

 doing away with marshes, puddles, etc., exist- 

 ing in and near the residential quarters of 

 Ismailia. On the other hand prophylactic 

 measures, such as gratuitous distribution of 

 quinine, ' liqueur de Fowler,' have been con- 

 tinued without interruption since April, 1902. 

 In December the number of eases of fever 

 had decreased in a most marked manner com- 

 pared with preceding months and the cor- 

 responding month in the previous year. The 

 secretary-general states that this diminution 

 in fever has been maintained up to the date 

 of writing — namely, July 2 in the present year. 

 Thanks to systematic oiling of pools and to 

 the unceasing watch kept over all likely places 

 where larvae can be hatched, the ordinary 

 mosquitoes of the genus culex and stegomyia 

 have been annihilated almost absolutely, and 

 even in the worst period of the hot season it 

 lias been found possible to dispense with the 

 use of mosquito nets. The secretary-general 

 ends with a testimony to the value of the work 

 of the expedition, and says they have every 

 hope that the assistance rendered by Major 

 Ross will result in the complete abolition of 

 malaria from the town of Ismailia. 



The U. S. Geological Survey has just issued 

 a list, complete up to June, 1903, of its serial 

 publications, consisting of Annual Reports, 

 ifonographs, Professional Papers, Bulletins, 

 .\[ineral Resources, Water-Supply and Irriga- 

 tion Papers, Topographic Atlas of the United 

 States, and Geologic Atlas of the United 

 States. Monographs, topographic sheets and 

 geologic folios are sold at cost of publication 

 — topographic sheets (of which indexes, free 

 on application, are published from time to 

 time) are sold at 5 cents each, or $2 per 100 

 in one order; geologic folios usually at 25 

 cents each; the other publications are dis- 

 tributed free. The latest professional papers 

 are : Xo. 1.5, ' Mineral Resources of the Mount 

 Wrangell District, Alaska,' by W. C. Menden- 

 hall and F. C. Schrader; No. 16, 'Carbonifer- 

 ous Formations and Faunas of Colorado,' by 

 G. H. Girty; No. 17, 'Preliminary Report on 

 the Geology and Water Resources of Nebraska 

 West of the One Hundred and Third Merid- 

 ian,' by N. n. Darton; No. 18, 'Chemical 

 Composition of Igneous Rocks expressed by 

 means of Diagrams, with reference to rock 

 classification on a quantitative chemico-miner- 

 alogical basis,' by J. P. Iddings. The latest 

 bulletins are : No. 213, ' Contributions to 

 Economic Geology, 1902,' S. F. Emmons and 

 C. W. Hayes, geologists in charge; No. 214, 

 ' Geographic Tables and Formulas,' compiled 

 by S. S. Gannett; No. 215, 'Catalogue and 

 Index of the Publications of the United 

 States Geological Survey, 1901 to 1903,' by 

 P. C. Warman ; No. 216, ' Results of Primary 

 Triangulation and Primary Traverse, Fiscal 

 Year 1902-3,' by S. S. Gannett. The latest 

 water-supply papers are : No. 80, 'Relation 

 of Rainfall to Run-off,' by G. W. Rafter; No. 

 81, ' California Hydrography,' by J. B. Lip- 

 pincott; Nos. 82, 83, 84, 85, 'Report of Prog- 

 ress of Stream Measurements for the Calendar 

 Year 1902,' by F. H. Newell; No. 86, 'Stor- 

 age Reservoirs of Stony Creek, California,' 

 b.v Burt Cole. The latest geologic folios ready 

 for distribution are: No. 90, 'Cranberry, Ten- 

 nessee'; No. 91, ' Hartville, Wyoming'; No. 



92, 'Gaines, Pennsylvania, New York'; No. 



93, ' Elkland-Tioga. Pennsylvania.' All the 



