200 



^iGIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 266* 



interest. All these arrangements, however, 

 would fall through unless a sufficient number 

 of passages had been definitely engaged before 

 January 31st. 



At a recent meeting of the British Depart- 

 mental Committee on preservative matters in 

 food, Professor A. Wynter Blythe testified ac- 

 cording to the London Times, that formerly it 

 was quite rare to find aniline dyes in food, the 

 simpler forms of colors, such as cochineal and 

 burnt sugar, being used, but latterly it was 

 quite rare to find natural colors. The rule and 

 not the exception now was to use so-called tar 

 colors. Dye was not largely used in coloring 

 wine, as the grape gave it a sufficiently nice 

 color. In no substance, however, which he 

 had examined would the quantity of aniline 

 dye, even supposing it to be poisonous, be 

 enough to injure health ; but having regard to 

 the many things colored in this way, it was a 

 question whether the collective amount which 

 a child, say, might take in a day might not 

 have some injurious effect. The great majority 

 of these dyes were not poisonous. Injurious, 

 as distinct from harmless, colors should be 

 scheduled. There would be little difficulty in 

 prohibiting aniline dyes and in detecting a 

 breach of the prohibition. Such a prohibition 

 would be useful, and the drawing up of the 

 schedule would be easy for some central au- 

 thority, say the Local Government Board, or 

 the Board of Agriculture. It should be made 

 the duty of the vendor to declare the presence 

 of coloring matter. As to boracic acid in 

 milk, he did not approve of treating an 

 almost universal article of food with a drug, 

 unknown to the consumer, but it would 

 be very difficult to forbid it altogether in, 

 say, London, where the bulk of the milk came 

 from the country, and where much would be 

 spoilt unless a preservative were used. Here 

 also the presence of the preservative should be 

 notified. Salicylic acid was not much used 

 except in temperance drinks to arrest alco- 

 holic fermentation. Mr. Richard Bannister, 

 Fellow of the Institute of Chemists and of 

 the Chemical Society, and late Deputy-Prin- 

 cipal of the Inland Revenue branch of the 

 Government Laboratory, said bacon was at 

 present brought into England with the aid of 



boras ; it would not be possible to bring it over 

 in refrigerators, as was done with fresh meat, 

 except at a great increase of cost, and even 

 then it would not be in exactly the same condi- 

 tion as at present, or equally fit for the English 

 market. Both in the bacon and butter trade he 

 considered preservatives a necessity. There 

 would be no objection to making it obligatory 

 on the vendor of milk to notify the presence 

 of a preservative, but there would be difficulty 

 in stating the amount, because it was difficult 

 to estimate its amount. Salicylic acid was 

 chiefly used in British wines and liquids which 

 were presented in a clear form, and in which 

 there was not a sufficient quantity of alcohol to 

 make them clear and bright. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 



President Schubman has announced an 

 anonymous gift of $80,000 for Cornell Uni- 

 versity to erect a building for physiology and 

 anatomy. 



By a decision of the New York Court of Ap- 

 peal, Yale will receive the $150,000 bequeathed 

 by William Lampson. 



President Bashfoed of the Ohio Wesleyan 

 UnivCi'sity announces that Mrs. Elizabeth Me- 

 barry of Richmond, Ind., who recently gave 

 $50,000 to the university, has added $10,000 to 

 the fund, thus endowing two chairs. 



A COURSE in landscape architecture to extend 

 through four years has been arranged by the 

 Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard Uni- 

 versity. 



The trustees of the University of Cincinnati 

 have declared vacant nine of the twelve pro- 

 fessorships, and one of the remaining three pro- 

 fessors has since resigned. The instructors and 

 assistants also retire. 



Mr. S. T. Dutton, Superintendent of Schools 

 in Brookline, Mass, has been elected professor 

 of school administration in Teachers College, 

 Columbia University. 



The American Geologist states that Mr. A. G. 

 Leonard has charge of the geological work at 

 the University of Missouri in the absence of 

 Professor Marbut. 



