The probe, which goes into the patient’s mouth, is con¬ 
nected by a flexible transmission cord to a battery in a 
plastic handpiece small enough to fit in the palm of 
the hand. On the handpiece is a meter that registers 
the temperature. At an Army hospital, the new ther¬ 
mometer made it possible to take ward temperatures 
in one-fortieth the time formerly needed. The new 
device, the first change in clinical thermometers since 
the mercury-column type was introduced in 1867, is 
being manufactured by the Burlington Instrument Co. 
Hospital models will be on the market in 60-90 days. 
The first phase of a long-range sky-mapping pro¬ 
gram designed to yield better insight into the true 
rotation of the Milky Way has been completed at the 
University of California’s Lick Observatory. C. D. 
Shane, director of the observatory, and his colleague 
in the study, C. A. Wirtanen, observer, have reported 
that the last of 1246 plates has been taken, comprising 
a complete map of the sky as seen from the Northern 
Hemisphere. Each of the plates is 17 by 17 in., and 
required an exposure of 2 hr. 
The project was conceived originally by W. H. 
Wright, director emeritus of the Lick Observatory, 
who is now living in San Jose. The sky map, when com¬ 
pared with a second one to be taken beginning some 
10—12 yr hence, will provide data from which the 
Galactic rotation and mass can at last be accurately 
calculated. 
Average length of life in the United States has 
reached a record high of 68^2 yr, a gain of nearly 4 yr 
in the past decade, according to vital statistics com¬ 
piled by the Public Health Service of the Department 
of Health, Education, and Welfare. Women on the 
average live longer, outliving men by 6 yr. The aver- 
. age lifetime expected for women at birth is 71.8 yr, 
while for men it is 65.9 yr. This difference in the life 
expectancies of men and women has increased sharply 
since 1900, when females outlived males by an average 
of only 2 yr. 
White women at birth have a life expectancy of 
72.6 yr, compared to 66.6 yr for white men. Non¬ 
white groups have a shorter average life— 59.4 yr for 
nonwhite men, and 63.7 for nonwhite women. Although 
white persons outlive nonwhites by an average of 8 yr, 
the difference between the two groups has narrowed 
since 1900, when white persons lived about 15 yr longer 
than nonwhites. 
The need for easily available steroid preparations 
for use as reference standards in connection with the 
rapidly developing paper chromatographic techniques 
was recognized by the Endocrinology Study Section of 
the Division of Research Grants, National Institutes 
of Health, as early as 1952. This situation was brought 
to the attention of the Board of Trustees of the United 
States Pharmacopeial Convention, and in 1953 a 
U.S.P. Advisory Board on Steroid Reference Sub¬ 
stances was established. The membership is as follows: 
T. F. Gallagher, Sloan-Kettering Institute; Gregory 
Pincus, Worcester Foundation; Max Tishler, Merck & 
Co.; Adley B. Nichols, U.S.P.; and Sam R. Hall, Divi¬ 
sion of Research Grants, N.I.TI. (chairman). This 
board is responsible for the selection of reference sub¬ 
stances, verification of their authenticity, and deter¬ 
mination of their suitability. 
The first set of reference substances, consisting of 
the 24 steroids considered to be the most needed for 
paper chromatography, is now available. Other sets 
will follow, and suggestions for future additions are 
welcomed. Income from the sale of these substances, 
over and above packaging and distribution costs, will 
be used for expanding the program. The price is $3.00 
for a single steroid and $60.00 for the complete set of 
24. All inquiries concerning the Steroid Reference 
Substances should be directed to U.S.P. Reference 
Standards, 46 Park Ave., New York 16. 
The Atomic Energy Commission has announced an 
agreement with five utility companies of the Pacific 
Northwest to study nuclear reactors as producers of 
electric power. The study is the first to be undertaken 
in the Northwest, where there is a growing demand 
for new energy sources. The project brings to 13 the 
nuclear power studies sponsored by the Commission. 
In 1953, 1072, or 6 percent, of the Nation’s public 
water-supply systems, were unable to meet the peak 
demands of their customers. About 15 out of every 100 
persons using public water supplies were affected. In 
an attempted to discover whether the shortages were 
caused by drought or by a failing of man, the U.S. 
Geological Survey made a reconnaissance inventory of 
the adequacy of public water systems throughout the 
United States. The inventory included all 48 states, of 
which only Idaho, Mississippi, and Rhode Island 
reported no shortage. Most of the shortages were 
caused by municipalities outgrowing their systems. A 
report, “Public Water-Supply Shortages, 1953,” pre¬ 
pared by K. A. MacKichan and J. B. Graham of the 
W ater Utilization Section, Water Resources Division, 
may be obtained free from the Water Resources Re¬ 
view, Geological Survey, Washington 25, D.C. 
S. Arend of the Royal Observatory of Belgium has 
discovered a minor planet that he has named “Brun- 
onia” in honor of Brown University. The name was se¬ 
lected in recognition of the fact that the 190-yr-old 
Brown was one of the first institutions in America to 
teach astronomy. It is also a tribute by Dr. Arend to 
the internationally known research of Charles H. 
Smiley, chairman of the Brown Astronomy Depart¬ 
ment. 
In a recent issue of Frontiers, journal of the Acad¬ 
emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Dan Brogan 
describes how beavers are taken from regions over- 
populated with the animals and parachuted from 
planes into inaccessible areas. There it is hoped that 
they will build many dams. Water storage reservoirs 
thus built in the mountains aid inhabited territories 
below. 
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Science, Vol. 139 
