382 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 349. 



According to the daily papers the steamer 

 Friihjof arrived at Hammerfest on August 29 

 and reported that the Baldwiu-Ziegler arctic 

 expedition had been landed at Camp Ziegler, 

 in latitude 90.24° north and longitude 55.52° 

 east, on Alger Island. All the members of the 

 expedition were in good health. Mr. Baldwin 

 intended to start northward on August 24, by 

 the interchannel route, across Markham Sound. 

 We record the movements of this arctic expe- 

 dition with some hesitation, as it has but little 

 claim to be called scientific. Mr. Baldwin con- 

 tributes to the last number of McClure^s Maga- 

 zine what is said to be the only authorized 

 account of the aims of the expedition. He 

 enlarges on his intention to reach the pole and 

 ■describes in detail the number of tons of pro- 

 visions of different kinds provided by the liber- 

 ality of Mr. Ziegler, but does not mention the 

 names of the members of the scientific staff. 

 Still valuable scientific knowledge may be 

 secured, and even voyages of adventure have 

 some relation to the advancement of science. 



The Italian government has established 

 laboratories of micrography and bacteriology 

 and chemistry as dependencies of the Sani- 

 tary Bureau. According to the British Medical 

 Journal a department of the bacteriological 

 laboratory is to be devoted to the preparation 

 and control of serums and similar products. 

 The professional staff of the bacteriological 

 laboratory consists of a director, with a salary 

 of $1,200 ; a coadjutor, with $800 ; and two as- 

 sistants, with $500 each. For the serum de- 

 partment there are medical and veterinary co- 

 adjutors, each with a salary of $800 and three 

 assistants at $500 each. The staff of the chemi- 

 cal laboratory is paid on the same scale. 



The National Good Roads Association of the 

 United States has called an International Con- 

 gress of Good Roads, to be held in Buffalo, 

 September 16-21. All sessions of the congress 

 will be held during the Pan-American Exposi- 

 tion. It is designed to devote a portion of the 

 time included in the dates above named to 

 demonstrate the scientific methods of modern 

 road construction by building sections of the 

 various classes of roads, including earth, oil, 

 gravel, stone, tar-macadam, vitrified brick, etc. 



A railroad train equipped with modern road- 

 making machinery will be on exhibition, and 

 practical road experts and engineers will have 

 charge of the work. The scope of the delibera- 

 tions of the congress will include general dis- 

 cussion and exemplification of the science of 

 road construction and maintenance, together 

 with experimental tests and experience of the 

 several countries of the world and the states of 

 the Union. Addresses will be made by prominent 

 statesmen and ofiicials, competent engineers, 

 and scientific road experts from various nations. 

 According to the Medical News several mem- 

 bers of the Chicago Sanitary District Board are 

 said to have suppressed the reports showing the 

 self-purification of running streams. After hav- 

 ing appropriated $2,500 for the preparation of 

 the report and after having authorized its pub- 

 lication, they are said to have taken steps to 

 keep it from being made public. The circum- 

 stance was brought to the surface when Presi- 

 dent Alexander J. Jones was asked to permit 

 access to the report by several expert chemists 

 who spent months making an examination of 

 the waters of the drainage canal and the Illinois 

 river. The experts are Professor E. O. Jordan, 

 of the University of Chicago, Professors Pal- 

 mer and Burrill, of the University of Illinois^ 

 and Professor Adolph Gehrmann, of the citj 

 laboratory. Political jealousy, lest the publl 

 cation should reflect too much credit upoq 

 city officials, is alleged to have been the 

 chief motive which actuated the suppression! 

 The suggestion as to this motive comes from oflS 

 cials of the City Health Department. President 

 Jones declares that the report was suppressed 

 so that the material in it could be used by the 

 sanitary district in its defense against the at- 

 tempts of the city of St. Louis to have the 

 drainage canal closed by the courts. Should 

 the report become public, says President Jones, 

 its value as a defense would be injured. The 

 suppressed report is said to show that the 

 waters of the drainage canal are not polluting 

 the waters of the Illinois River and that the 

 alarm of St. Louis is unfounded. Before the 

 waters of the river reach Peoria they are said 

 to be absolutely pure. At that point they are 

 contaminated by the Peoria distilleries. The 

 river again becomes perfectly pure many miles 



