April 7, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



555 



The present situation can be remedied satis- 

 factorily in but one way. Col. W. C. Gorgas 

 is known to be one of the most expert sanitar- 

 ians now living. He is a man whose courage 

 is of that exalted character which scorns per- 

 sonal danger, a man of integrity, of executive 

 ability and worthy of the fullest confidence of 

 the government. Why not repeat the experi- 

 ence of Cuba in Panama? Why go back to 

 the old methods of crippling the usefulness of 

 the Army Medical Corps by permitting it to be 

 blocked by circumlocution or entangled in the 

 meshes of red tape until it might almost as 

 well not exist? 



The people of the United States will oppose 

 the president's removal of the present commis- 

 sion, and if he will go further and put an end 

 to this dangerous condition of affairs by plac- 

 ing Col. Gorgas in full authority in all mat- 

 ters piertaining to sanitation he will deserve 

 still greater credit. In the construction of 

 the Panama Canal the question of sanitation 

 is paramount. — The N. Y. Sun. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 



A HELPFUL BULLETIN. 



The office of Experiment Stations of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture has 

 issued a Bulletin (No. 2) consisting of an 

 outline of a lecture on ' Potato Diseases and 

 Their Treatment ' for the use of farmers' in- 

 stitute lecturers. It was prepared by F. C. 

 Stewart and H. J. Eustace, of the New York 

 Experiment Station. It contains summaries 

 of our knowledge of the most important dis- 

 eases which aifect the potato in the United 

 States. The descriptions are given in non- 

 technical language, and ought to convince 

 every botanist of the possibility of treating 

 quite difficult subjects in plain English. Fol- 

 lowing the description of diseases is an ad- 

 mirable chapter on spraying and other pre- 

 ventive measures. A very useful bibliography 

 is added in an appendix. 



SEASIDE LABORATORIES. 



It is a fortunate thing for the scientific 

 students of America that year by year the 

 opportunities for seaside study are more com- 

 mon and easily accessible. Some of us re- 



member the time, not so very long ago either, 

 when Agassiz's laboratory on Penikese Island 

 was the only place where seaside studies were 

 possible under competent guidance and super- 

 vision. The Penikese laboratory has long 

 since ceased to be — on the death of its illus- 

 trious founder it could not secure adequate 

 support. It died, and men spoke of it as an- 

 other visionary project which had met with 

 the usual fate of an early death after a brief 

 and fitful existence. But although that pro- 

 ject died, others have arisen to more than 

 take its place. To-day laboratories that in- 

 clude the essential features of the one founded 

 by Agassiz are not uncommon on both coasts 

 of the United States, as well as on the shores 

 of our inland waters. 



The eighteenth session of the Marine Bio- 

 logical Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., is 

 of interest to the botanist not only on account 

 of the botanical courses offered, but also be- 

 cause this is to a certain extent the lineal 

 descendant of the Penikese laboratory whose 

 abandoned site is but a few miles away. As 

 heretofore, the work in botany is to be under 

 the direction of Professor Doctor Bradley M. 

 Davis, of the University of Chicago. 



There are the usual opportunities for in- 

 vestigation for advanced students, and regular 

 instruction in the morphology of thallophytes, 

 cytological studies and plant physiology. The 

 laboratory is open for investigation from June 

 1 to October 1, and for instruction from June 

 28 to August 9. 



On the west coast of Vancouver Island, at 

 Port Renfrew, twenty-six hundred miles from 

 the Woods Hole laboratory, is the Minnesota 

 Seaside Station, whose fifth session is an- 

 nounced for the present year, under the di- 

 rectorship of Professor Conway MacMillan, 

 of the University of Minnesota. Although so 

 far away from the pioneer Penikese laboratory, 

 this one on Vancouver Island is filled also with 

 the spirit of the master who taught us to 

 study nature out of doors. Here, in addition 

 to opportunities for investigation, botanical 

 courses are offered in algology, lichenology, 

 bacteriology, taxonomy of the Coniferse and 

 nature study. The session begins July 8 and 

 closes August 18. 



