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Committee of the Privy Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Imperial Institute, the National Physical Laboratory, and the Chemical Society.

It is recommended:

1. That in dealing with the problems of the chemical trade action should be taken so far as possible in the closest collaboration with representatives of the trade.

2. That the Association of British Chemical Manufacturers should be considered as representative of the chemical trade as a whole with certain branches excepted.

3. That a standing committee should be appointed. This committee, which should be fully representative of all the interests concerned, would establish a permanent link between the Ministry and the trade.

4. That a departmental organization should be set up in the Ministry of Reconstruction to deal with chemical questions.

IRON ORE IN 1917

THE iron ore mined in the United States in 1917 amounted to about 75,324,000 gross tons, compared with 75,167,672 tons in 1916, an increase of 0.2 per cent. The figures for the two years are so nearly the same, however, that when the final returns are received from all the producers the actual quantity mined in 1917 may prove to have been less than that mined in 1916. The shipments from the mines in 1917 are estimated at 75,649,000 gross tons, valued at $236,178,000, compared with 77,870,553 tons, valued at $181,902,277 in 1916, a decrease in quantity of 2.9 per cent., but an increase in value of 29.8 per cent. The general average value of the ore per ton at the mines for the whole United States was

therefore $3.12 in 1917, as compared with $2.34 in 1916. The stocks of iron ores at the mines apparently decreased from 10,876,352 gross tons in 1916 to 10,560,000 tons in 1917, or 2.9 per cent.

To obtain these statistics preliminary figures received from producers of nearly 95 per cent. of the normal output of iron ore were compiled under the direction of Ernest F. Burchard, of the United States Geological

Survey, Department of the Interior, and were supplemented by estimates covering the remainder of the output.

About 85 per cent. of the ore mined in 1917 came, as usual, from the Lake Superior district, which mined about 63,964,000 gross tons and shipped 64,275,000 tons, these quantities representing a very slight increase and a decrease of 3.2 per cent., respectively, compared with 1916. The shipments of iron ore by water from the Lake Superior district, according to figures compiled by the Lake Superior Iron Ore Association, amounted in 1917 to 62,498,901 gross tons. It thus appears that the iron-mining industry in the Lake Superior district has been able to bear the strain of the war demand but not to duplicate the great record of ore shipments made by the district in 1916, which amounted to 64,734,198 gross tons. The slight falling off, it is understood, was due to less favorable weather for shipping early and late in the season of 1917 rather than to inability of the Lake fleet to handle the ore mined.

The South mined and shipped more than 8,100,000 tons of iron ore, the bulk of which was produced in the Birmingham district, Ala., but the iron mines of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia contributed about 1,400,000 tons to the total.

The Northeastern States-New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania—increased their production slightly as compared with 1916 and shipped to blast furnaces approximately 2,446,000 tons of ore. This quantity, however, represented decrease of 4.1 per cent. as compared with the shipments in 1916.

Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, the principal iron ore producing States in the West, are estimated to have mined and shipped approximately 666,000 tons of iron ore, compared with 717,660 tons in 1916, a decrease of 7.2 per cent.

Other States, such as California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Utah, and West Virginia, in which there are small iron-mining operations, are estimated to have shipped about 144,000

tons of ore, compared with 134,002 tons in 1916, an increase of 7.5 per cent.

The imports of iron ore for the eleven months ending November 30, 1917, according to the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce, amounted to 913,500 gross tons, so that probably the imports for the whole year reached 988,500 tons, compared with 1,325,736 tons in 1916.

THE FISHERIES CONFERENCE THE members of the Canadian-American Fisheries Conference held recently in Washington, were received by the President at the White House on January 22, 1918. The President expressed great satisfaction at the cordial and friendly spirit which had manifested itself during the continuance of the conference. The following gentlemen were presented to the President by Hon. William C. Redfield, secretary of commerce and chairman of the conference: Hon. J. Douglas Hazen, chief justice, of New Brunswick; Mr. George J. Desbarats, deputy minister of naval service, and Mr. William A. Found, superintendent of fisheries, of the Canadian delegation; Mr. Edwin F. Sweet, assistant secretary of commerce; Dr. Hugh M. Smith, commissioner of fisheries, of the American delegation; Mr. Arnold Robertson, first secretary of the British Embassy, and Mr. Maitland Dwight, of the department of state, secretaries of the confer

ence.

The conference held eight sessions and made satisfactory progress toward reaching an arrangement suitable to all concerned. Among the questions discussed were the following:

The protection of the salmon in and around the Fraser River; the protection of the halibut, which has been overfished, the center of this industry being Seattle, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Ketchikan, on the Pacific; equitable rules governing the use of Canadian and American ports by the fishing vessels of both countries, however propelled; the lobster fisheries of the Atlantic; pike-perch fishing in Lake Champlain, and the possible passage of rules relating to the whale industry.

privilege of consulting the fishing interests at the hearings which it is proposed to hold in New England and in the maritime provinces of Canada in the near future. It is also proposed to visit the Pacific coast, and it is hoped that these hearings will throw some light on the subject with a view to a satisfactory settlement being reached.

The whole conference is desirous of establishing the present law and practise as regards the fish industry, and believes that with this as a basis a satisfactory conclusion may be attained.

The Canadian delegates extended an invitation to the American delegates to visit Ottawa some time before the conclusion of the conference.

MEDICAL TRAINING CAMPS

EXTENSIONS are being made to the scope of the medical training camps at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., and Fort Riley, Kans., by the addition of courses in specialties required of the Medical, Sanitary and Veterinary Corps under Surgeon General Gorgas. There are at present 5,400 officers and men under training at Fort Oglethorpe and 3,800 at Fort Riley. Fort Riley has a capacity of 7,000. Enlargement of the school at Fort Oglethorpe to the same capacity has been authorized, its present capacity being 5,500. The ultimate needs of the Medical Department of the Army look to training camps of capacities totaling 35,000 to 40,000 officers and men.

There have been graduated from medical training camps since June 1, or are now under instruction, a total of about 9,000 officers and about 20,000 enlisted men. Until December 1 the medical training camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., and the one at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, for colored officers and men, had been contributing to the total, but these camps have been discontinued.

Ten new sections have recently been or are now being established for officers in the medical training camps. These are for the following:

(1) X-ray specialists; (2) orthopedic surgeons; (3) psychologists; (4) special examin

The conference is looking forward to the ing surgeons; (5) sanitary engineers; (6)

veterinarians; (7) sanitarians; (8) hospital administration; (9) laboratory specialists (being established); (10) dental surgeons (being established).

Consideration is being given to plans for the establishment of three additional courses, one in general military surgery, one for genitourinary surgery, and one for military surgery of the brain, head and face.

Various special groups now in active service have been trained since the opening of the schools. These include officers and men to operate ambulance companies, field hospitals, evacuation hospitals, base hospitals, hospital trains, etc.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS PROFESSOR FRIDTJOF NANSEN, of the University of Kristiania, Norway, now in Washington as Minister Plenipotentiary of Norway on special mission to the United States of America, has been elected an honorary member of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Dr. Nansen on January 31 gave an address before the academy on "Changes in oceanic and atmospheric temperatures and their relation to changes in the sun's activity."

FRANK AUSTIN GOOCH, Ph.D., professor of chemistry and director of the Kent Chemical Laboratory of Yale University, will retire at the end of the present year. Professor Gooch will be succeeded by Professor Bertram Borden Boltwood, since 1910 professor of radio-chemistry.

Ar the meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh, officers for 1918 were elected as follows: President, Dr. Henry C. Cowles, University of Chicago; Vice-president, Dr. Robert E. Coker, Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C.; Secretary-treasurer, Dr. Forrest Shreve, Desert Laboratory, Tucson, Ariz.

DR. E. M. FREEMAN, dean of the college of agriculture of the University of Minnesota, was elected president of the American Phytopathological Association at the Pittsburgh meeting.

THE officers of the Washington Academy of Sciences for 1918 are as follows: President, Lyman J. Briggs, of the Bureau of Plant Industry; Corresponding secretary, Robert B. Sosman, of the Geophysical Laboratory; Recording secretary, W. R. Maxon, of the National Museum; Treasurer, William Bowie, of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; Non-resident Vice-presidents, T. A. Jaggar, Jr., of Hawaii, and B. L. Robinson, of Cambridge; Members of Board of Managers, T. H. Kearney and A. C. Spencer; Vice-presidents representing the affiliated societies: G. K. Burgess, Philosophical Society; J. R. Swanton, Anthropological Society; J. N. Rose, Biological Society; T. H. Kearney, Botanical Society; F. B. Power, Chemical Society; W. D. Hunter, Entomological Society; O. H. Tittmann, Geographic Society; W. C. Mendenhall, Geological Society; P. S. Roy, Medical Society; A. C. Clark, Historical Society; A. Hrdlicka, Archeological Institute; R. Zon, Society of Foresters; E. F. Wendt, Society of Engineers; P. G. Agnew, Institute of Electrical Engi

neers.

DR. CHARLES V. NORRIS, Chief of the Pathological Laboratories of Bellevue Hospital, has been appointed by Mayor Hylan to be chief medical examiner for New York City.

DR. L. C. GLENN, of Vanderbilt University, has been made acting state geologist on the Tennessee Geological Survey until a successor to the late Dr. A. H. Purdue can be secured. Dr. J. I. D. Hinds, of Lebanon, has been appointed chemist of the Tennessee survey. A short time before the death of Dr. Purdue, he asked Dr. Hinds to take this position as successor of Dr. Paul C. Bowers, who had been called to Washington for government service, and he has been in charge of the state work since December 10.

MAJOR GRAYSON M. P. MURPHY, of New York, has resigned as head of the American Red Cross Commission to Europe. It is reported that he will return to service in the U. S. Army. Major James W. Perkins of New York, who has been serving with the

American Red Cross Commission in Europe since last June, will immediately take up the direction of the commission's work.

DR. H. L. RUSSELL, dean of the College of Agriculture of the University of Wisconsin, has been granted leave of absence by the university, at request of Mr. Herbert Hoover, U. S. Food Administrator. Dr. Russell will organize the Section of Agricultural Relations which will connect the work of the Food Administration and the U. S. Department of Agriculture along production lines and present the work of the administration to the extension agencies of the agricultural colleges.

THE Food Adminstration has requested and secured from the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, leave of absence for F. H. Hall, vice director and editor of that institution, in order that he may take charge of the publicity work of the Food Administration dealing with perishable foods.

THE following members of the faculties of Harvard University have been granted leave of absence: Albert Sauveur, professor of metallurgy and metallography, who is to continue his research work for the French government; Reginald A. Daly, Sturgis-Hooper professor of geology, who is to take up Y. M. C. A. work; Julian L. Coolidge, assistant professor of mathematics, who has been commissioned a major in the Ordnance Department; Lester R. Ford, instructor in actuarial mathematics, who is to enter the military service; Samuel W. Ellsworth, assistant in roentgenology, who has been commissioned captain in the Medical Reserve Corps.

CHARLES A. KOFOID, professor of zoology, University of California, has been appointed major in the Sanitary Corps of the U. S. Army.

DR. GEORGE A. SOPER, consulting sanitary engineer in New York City, has been appointed major in the Sanitary Corps of the National Army.

DR. WALTER R. PARKER has been granted leave of absence from the professorship of ophthalmology in the medical school of the

University of Michigan, to accept service as major in the Medical Reserve Corps.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR J. C. RILEY, of the department of mechanical engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been given the commission of major in the Signal Corps.

PROFESSOR STERLING TEMPLE, of the department of chemistry of the University of Minnesota, has gone to Washington where he is to engage in work as a civilian in the ordnance department.

LEAVE of absence has been granted to Professor David L. Webster, of the department of physics of the University of Michigan, to enable him to accept a first lieutenancy to do research work on aviation instruments.

LEAVE of absence has been granted to Lewis Knudson, professor of botany in the college of agriculture of Cornell University, till next September, to permit him to engage in Y. M. C. A. war work in France.

DR. WILLIAM S. THAYER, of the Johns Hopkins Medical School, has returned to the United States after four months in Russia, as a member of the mission sent by the American Red Cross.

DR. H. GIDEON WELLS, of the University of Chicago, has returned from Roumania to which country he was sent as a member of the American Red Cross Mission.

PROFESSOR E. V. MCCOLLUM, head of the department of chemistry of the school of hygiene and public health of the Johns Hopkins University, will deliver the Packard lecture before the American Pediatric and Rush societies of Philadelphia on February 12. The subject of the lecture is "Growth."

A HARVEY SOCIETY lecture will be delivered at the New York Academy of Medicine on February 9 by Professor John Gordon Wilson, of Chicago. The subject is "The effect of high explosives on the ear."

DR. FRANK R. VAN HORN, professor of geology and mineralogy at the Case School of Applied Science, in Cleveland, lectured on January 22, on "Some geological features of

Alaska and the Yukon" before the faculty and students of Purdue University.

AT the annual meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society Mr. E. Heron-Allen delivered his presidential address on the society during the great war and after.

A COURSE of public lectures on some biological problems of to-day is being given at University College, London, during January and February as follows: On the problem of food, by Professor W. M. Bayliss, F.R.S., on January 21; on war bread and its constituents, by Professor F. G. Hopkins, F.R.S., on January 28; on accessory food factors (vitamines) in war diets, by Miss E. Margaret Hume, of the Lister Institute, on February 4; and on alcoholic and other beverages, by Professor Cushny, on February 11.

THE lecture arrangements of the Royal College of Surgeons of England for February are as follows: February 6, on the surgical treatment of neuralgia, by Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson; February 8, on the treatment of war injuries of the jaw and face, by Mr. Percival P. Cole; February 11, on the diagnosis and treatment of syphilis of the central nervous system, by Dr. Hildred Carlill; February 13 and 15, on the Quaderni d'Anatomia by Leonardo da Vinci, by Professor William Wright; February 18, on the structure of the English skull, by Mr. F. G. Parsons; February 20 and 22, on projectile fracture of limb bones, by Mr. E. K. Martin, and February 25, on the pathological aspect of certain war injuries of the eye, by Colonel W. T. Lister, C.M.G.

ON February 28, 1918, The American Museum of Natural History in cooperation with the delegates from the New York Academy of Sciences, Section E of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York Mineralogical Club, will hold a memorial meeting at The American Museum of Natural History in honor of Abbé René Justus Hauy, 1743-1822, the great French crystallographer. Papers are expected from Edgar T. Wherry, Edward H. Kraus, George F. Kunz and others, and one written for the celebration by the late L. P. Gratacap will be

read. Portraits of Abbé Hauy and the Hauy Frères, as well as mineralogical books of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries will be shown. Dr. George F. Kunz, 405 Fifth Avenue, New York City, is chairman, and Dr. Herbert P. Whitlock, the New York State Museum, Albany, N. Y., is secretary of the committee of arrangements.

THE following resolution on the death of Dr. Theodore Janeway, has been adopted by the General Medical Board of the Council of National Defense:

The general medical board of the advisory commission of the Council of National Defense desires to place on record its profound sense of loss in the death of one of its most active and useful members, Dr. Theodore Janeway, professor of medicine in the Johns Hopkins University, of Baltimore. In this loss it shares with the entire medical profession, from which has been taken one of its chief ornaments. Dr. Janeway has rendered conspicuous service to the country by his devoted and successful efforts in the Surgeon General's office in aiding in the selection of the medical personnel of the Army hospitals. He has died as truly in the service of his country as if on the field of battle.

ON Tuesday evening, January 29, a seminary in Stimson Hall, Cornell University, was devoted to an appreciation of Dr. F. P. Mall, for his work in advancing anatomical science, and for the training and encouragement he gave to young men and women who are in the medical and teaching professions.

ROLLIN A. HARRIS, since 1890 mathematician to the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, died suddenly on January 17, aged fifty-four years.

PROFESSOR CHARLOTTE FITCH ROBERTS, Ph.D., since 1894 head of the department of chemistry at Wellesley College, died in her fifty-eighth year, after a very brief illness, on December 5, 1917. A correspondent writes: "Through earnest and effective teaching she has, through her contact with a very large number of pupils, rendered a real service to chemistry. The loss of her genial companionship is keenly felt by a large circle of friends."

DR. W. L. PURVES, a distinguished English aural surgeon, has died at the age of seventyfive years.

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