aio 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 463. 



such a forest and they will speedily eat or 

 trample down the undergrowth till the bare 

 ground is exposed. The soil then rapidly dries 

 out and becomes hard, and the trees soon die. 

 Grasses, insects and wind usually hasten the 

 destruction. Cattle and goats have ravaged 

 the Hawaiian forests without hindrance for 

 many years and have worked further each 

 year into the heart of the dense tropical 

 growth. The Hawaiian public lands consist 

 of 1,772,640 acres. All of these lands, which 

 are in forest, and many forest areas privately 

 owned which the government can gain pos- 

 session of by exchange, will be put into forest 

 reserves, cleared of cattle and goats, fenced 

 and preserved. 



Bradstreet's says editorially: The enormous 

 losses already suffered in Texas and the im- 

 mense power for evil, not only to that state 

 but to the entire south, contained in the on- 

 ward march of the so-called Mexican boll 

 weevil, lends interest to the fact that a con- 

 vention has been called to meet in Dallas, No- 

 yember 5, to consider ways ■ and means of 

 checking its ravages. Invitations have been 

 sent out to all parts of the United States in- 

 terested in this problem, and especially 

 throughout the cotton producing states of the 

 south, not only to those handling cotton itself 

 but to all principal dealers in kindred lines. 

 Fully one thousand delegates are expected to 

 assemble to consider the subject. The ques- 

 tion is getting to be a serious problem, not 

 only with Texas producers but the entire cot- 

 ton producing section of the United States, 

 and those interested regard it as a question 

 that should be studied and considered by every 

 section of the United States. Under the cap- 

 tion ' The Cotton Weevil, a National Dan- 

 ger,' Bradstreet's some six months ago advo- 

 cated a careful consideration of this subject 

 by Congress, and the beginnings of systematic 

 work were laid in an appropriation by Con- 

 gress of a sum of money to be used in study- 

 ing the pest and, if possible, finding something 

 to check its progress. "We know of no single 

 subject that contains more of importance to 

 the entire country's economic interests than 

 the devising of measures to arrest and, if pos- 



sible, eradicate this scourge to the principal 

 agricultural interest of the south. 



UNIVESSITY A^'D EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

 The College for Women of the Westerp 

 Reserve University has received from .various 

 donors $50,000 for the enlargement of the 

 campus. 



At the last meeting of the trustees of Co- 

 lumbia University, gifts amounting to $40,500 

 were acknowledged toward the fund for the 

 purchase of South Field. 



The board of directors of the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons of Philadelphia has 

 instructed President H. C. Wood to appoint 

 a committee to obtain plans for the proposed 

 new library hall, on Twenty-second street, 

 above Chestnut.- The site was purchased some 

 time ago, at a cost of $80,000. The college 

 now has on hand a surplus of $24,000 toward 

 the construction of the hall. Mr. Andrew 

 Carnegie gave $50,000 for that purpose, and 

 $54,000 was raised by the college. 



The University of Wisconsin is islanning 

 to celebrate next June, with a week's exer- 

 cises, the fiftieth anniversary of the first com- 

 mencement. 



William F. Durand, professor of Marine 

 Engineering, has been appointed acting direc- 

 tor of Sibley College, Cornell University, in 

 place of the late Professor Thurston. 



The following appointments have been made 

 in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 

 Columbia University: Dr. Samuel W. Lam- 

 bert, professor of applied therapeutics; Dr. 

 Joseph A. Blake, professor of surgery; Dr. 

 George E. Brewer, professor of clinical sur- 

 gery; Dr. John S. Thacher, professor of clin- 

 ical medicine; Dr. Frederick Peterson, clin- 

 ical professor of psychiatry. 



At the Illinois Wesleyan University, Dr. 

 J. K. P. Hawks has been appointed instruc- 

 tor in bacteriology. Dr. J. Whitefield Smith, 

 instructor in biology, and Mr. Bartgis Mc- 

 Glone, instructor in botany. 



Earl Spencer has accepted the presidency 

 of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Cirencester, in the room of the late Duke 

 of Richmond and Gordon. 



