versity of Rochester and to the local committee a unanimous vote of thanks for the very efficient manner in which the numerous details necessary for the success of the meeting had been cared for and for the very cordial reception experienced by all attending.

The executive committee of the Federation chose Ann Arbor as the meeting place for the spring of 1928.

Another important matter brought before the four societies of the Federation was the arrangements to be made in connection with the holding of the Thirteenth International Physiological Congress in the United States in 1929. It was agreed that the Federation as a whole would take over the management of this important event. The first step taken was to choose a national committee of four physiologists, three biochemists, two pharmacologists and two pathologists. This committee has met already and one of the important decisions made is that the congress is to be held at Harvard.

The Rochester meeting was held with Dr. E. C. Kendall, president of the American Society of Biological Chemists, as chairman. At next year's meeting Dr. Carl Voegtlin, Hygienic Laboratory, Washington, D. C., president of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, will be the chairman and Dr. E. D. Brown, University of Minnesota, will act as general secretary.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

F. С. Косн, General Secretary

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PHARMACOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL THERAPEUTICS THE eighteenth annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics was held at the University of Rochester Medical School, Rochester, N. Y., on April 14, 15 and 16. The first meeting was a joint session of the four societies which conjointly form the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Sessions of the Pharmacological Society were held on the afternoon of the same day and during the two days following.

There was no one paper presented which might be selected as possessing unusual merit, but the papers as a whole were good and a liberal discussion followed the reading of each paper.

The attendance was unusually large and it was felt that this was in a large measure due to the change in time for holding the annual meeting which had heretofore been held during the Christmas holidays. At a business meeting of the society, the following officers were elected:

President, Dr. Carl Voegtlin, Washington, D. C. Secretary, Dr. E. D. Brown, Minneapolis, Minn. Treasurer, Dr. A. L. Tatum, Chicago, Ill.

Ten new members were elected to membership in the society.

The medical school of the University of Rochester, where all the meetings were held, was found to be well adapted for our use and everything was provided in the way of equipment for the presentation of papers and demonstrations.

The local committee received a vote of thanks for the able manner in which they had provided for our comforts while guests of their city. They are to be commended for their efforts which contributed in a large measure to the success of the meeting.

E. D. BROWN, M.D., Secretary.

THE OHIO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

THE Ohio Academy of Science held its thirtyseventh annual meeting at the Ohio State University, Columbus, on April 15 and 16, 1927, under the presidency of Dr. William McPherson. The attendance was unusually good, there being 125 at the annual banquet on Friday evening.

The Academy was unusually well favored this year in the matter of "invitation speakers" in that it had the opportunity of hearing Dr. Robert A. Millikan, of the California Institute of Technology, in one or two lectures on the general theme "Twentieth Century Discoveries in Physics," and Dr. C. E. McClung, of the University of Pennsylvania, on "The Mechanism of Heredity," each an outstanding scientist in his field.

In addition to these unusual lectures, the members of the Academy prepared and presented some 81 papers on various topics; of these 81 papers, 10 were presented in general session, 11 in the zoology section, 19 in the botany section, 20 in the geology section, 11 in the medical sciences section and 10 in the psychology section. In addition, some eight or nine interesting demonstrations and exhibits were offered, one of which, the wild flowers of Ohio by Mr. William Kayser, was notable.

Sixty-one new members were elected and seven members were raised to the rank of fellow in the academy. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: President, Harris M. Benedict, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati; secretary, William H. Alexander, U. S. Weather Bureau, Columbus; treasurer, A. E. Waller, Ohio State University, Columbus. WILLIAM H. ALEXANDER,

Secretary

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THE BACILLUS OF TRACHOMA

ONCE more modern science scores against disease. The isolation of a small bacillus, believed to be responsible for trachoma, the disease that has blinded thousands of Indians, has been announced by Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York.

Five Indians with trachoma from the Albuquerque Indian School, whose eyes had been operated on, furnished the cultures with which Dr. Noguchi was able to produce the disease in monkeys. From these he recovered the germ and inoculated other chimpanzees that in turn developed the characteristic inflammation of the eye. This is considered rather conclusive proof that the guilty organism has been found. A preventive vaccine and curative serum have not developed, but this is the next logical step in the investigation of the disease.

Dr. Noguchi became interested in the trachoma problem through Dr. F. I. Proctor, of Boston, and began this research with the cooperation of Dr. Polk Richards, of the U. S. Office of Indian Affairs, less than a year ago.

Trachoma is a disease of unhygienic living, widely prevalent in Egypt, Asia and among the Indians of this country. It is one of the few diseases that absolutely prohibit an immigrant from entering the United States. Of 38,111 Indians in the Southwest examined for trachoma in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1925, 7,236 were found to be suffering from it and among these it was found necessary to operate on 4,285. About 19 per cent. of the Indians of the Southwest, it has been estimated, are afflicted with the disease.

This first step in the conquest of trachoma was hailed as a major medical achievement by doctors and scientists at the recent meeting of the American Medical Association. Dr. Noguchi has isolated and cultivated the causative organism of yellow fever and made important contributions to the subduing of syphilis, smallpox, rabies and oroya fever.

FLOOD HEALTH MEASURES

PESTILENCE, riding the crest of the Mississippi Valley flood, is being battled by health and sanitation forces on a scale unparalleled in the peace-time history of this country. Reminiscent of measures instituted during the world war in army camps and refugee centers is the gigantic program being advanced by the American Red Cross and cooperating agencies.

Dispatches daily to national headquarters of the Red Cross at Washington state that 95 per cent. of the total population of the flood area have had at least one injection of typhoid serum and that half a million will be immunized against smallpox and typhoid before the close of emergency relief work.

Dr. William R. Redden, Red Cross medical director, states that 8,000 are being vaccinated daily against smallpox and 10,000 against typhoid. Thousands have been given quinine doses as a precaution against malaria and

between 6 and 7 tons of quinine will be administered for this purpose as mosquitoes begin to breed in the stagnant back-water.

Ninety-two nurses, fifty-eight doctors and thirty sanitary engineers are on duty in the seven states affected, according to Dr. Redden, and as a result outbreaks of disease are being checked satisfactorily, with actually less disease, in Dr. Redden's opinion, than under normal conditions.

Following a recent meeting in Memphis, the relief base, attended by health and sanitation experts of the Red Cross, American Medical Association, U. S. Public Health Service and other agencies, plans were announced to take care of sanitary conditions made acute by the recession of the flood in Arkansas and Mississippi.

Dr. Redden wired headquarters that an exhaustive survey of the terrain was made during the week, which showed that Arkansas has 15,000 head of dead livestock and Mississippi 25,000. To neutralize this menace, 50,000 pounds of chlorinated lime will be used in the two states and one carload of dehydrated lime per county in addition. One carload of crude oil per county will be spread over stagnant waters to prevent the maturing of mosquito larvae.

Emergency county health units are being established in the two states, through which the Red Cross will carry on a concentrated battle against disease, lasting from 30 to 60 days.

Maneuvers of the health forces are often spectacular, involving the use of airplane and radio. A call for typhoid and smallpox serum from Winnsboro, La., brought into action a Coast Guard airplane which set out from Natchez. It was necessary for the pilot to transfer to a train at Clayton, getting as far as Sicily Island, where the flood blocked rail travel. The guardsman procured a second-hand car in which he proceeded within two miles of his objective. Forced to abandon this he advanced on foot through water always knee-deep, sometimes deeper, arriving after nightfall with the supplies.

"Serious epidemic dysentery; must have medicine immediately." Across 60 miles of ether this message was flashed to Red Cross headquarters at Memphis. Within half an hour a Navy seaplane, loaded with the medicine, headed for Bruin, Arkansas. An hour later doctors in the camp were administering it. Without a plane it would have taken several days of tedious travel and it is probable that many lives would have been lost.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

IN CANADA

THE Royal Canadian Mounted Police will join with representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada, Catholic missionaries to the Eskimos, fur trappers and representatives of the U. S. Weather Bureau and Signal Corps in Alaska, to make scientific observations of the total eclipse of the moon on June 15. This announcement

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

School of Medicine

NEW ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS At least three years of approved college work including specified requirements in the sciences.

DEGREE OF B.S. IN MEDICAL
SCIENCE

This degree may be awarded at the end of the third or fourth year to students fulfilling certain conditions including the preparation of a thesis.

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MEDICINE Upon satisfactory completion of prescribed four-year course.

For catalogue and information, address THE DEAN, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

Johns Hopkins University

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

The School of Medicine is an Integral Part of the University and is in the Closest Affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

COURSES FOR GRADUATES

In addition to offering instruction to students enrolled as candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, the School also offers Courses for Graduates in Medicine. In each of the clinical departments opportunity for advanced instruction will be offered to a small number of physicians, who must satisfy the head of the department in which they desire to study that they are likely to profit by it.

Students will not be accepted for a period shorter than three academic quarters of eight weeks each, and it is desirable that four quarters of instruction be taken. The courses are not planned for purposes of review but for broad preparation in one of the lines of medical practice or research. The opportunities offered will consist in clinical work in the dispensary, ward-rounds, laboratory training, and special clinical studies.

The academic year begins the Tuesday nearest October 1 (October 4, 1927), and students may be admitted at the beginning of any academic quarter. The charge for tuition is $50 a quarter, payable in advance.

Inquiries should be addressed to the Executive Secretary of the School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Washington and Monument Streets, Baltimore, Maryland.

School of Tropical Medicine

of the

University of Porto Rico

under the auspices of COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

San Juan, P. R.

An institution for the study of tropical diseases and their prevention.

New building containing well equipped laboratories and library. Clinical facilities in general and special hospitals. Field work in cooperation with Insular Department of Health.

Courses in bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, pathology, food chemistry, public health and transmissible diseases, open to graduates in medicine and others having equivalent preparation. Number of students limited.

First term of second session begins Oct. 1, 1927; second term, Feb. 1, 1928. Special students and investigators admitted at other times as space and circumstances permit. In all cases arrangement in advance is advised.

For further information apply to

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School of Tropical Medicine San Juan, Porto Rico.

has been made to Science Service by Dr. Willard J. Fisher, of the Harvard College Observatory. These groups will make particular note of the weather conditions in Canada in the early morning hours of June 15.

Lunar eclipses occur when the moon gets within the shadow cast by the earth. As the moon is illuminated only by the sun, it appears darker under such conditions than at time of full moon. It would disappear entirely were it not for the earth's atmosphere.

On a clear evening, as the sun sets, we see the sun for a little while after it has actually gone below the horizon, because the atmosphere bends the light rays around the horizon. A similar effect is observed when a stick, partly immersed in water, looks bent. In the same manner, the earth's atmosphere bends some of the light around it and into its shadow, giving the eclipsed moon some illumination. A sunset appears red because the thick layer of air absorbs the blue rays and permits only the reddish rays to pass. The light that gets through to the earth's shadow to illuminate the eclipsed moon has to pass through twice as much air as does the light from an ordinary sunset, with the result that the eclipsed moon shines with a copper-red glow.

As clouds in the part of the earth's atmosphere through which the light passes absorb a certain amount of it, Dr. Fisher has called in the assistance of the Canadian Mounted Police, the missionaries, and the other groups to observe weather conditions along a line from Great Slave Lake, in the Canadian Northwest Territories, across Baker Lake, which drains into Chesterfield Inlet, on the west coast of Hudson Bay, and down to Nova Scotia. It is along this line that the light which is bent into the earth's shadow will just graze the earth. Observations of the state of the atmosphere, whether clear or cloudy, at 3: 24 A. M., eastern standard time, when the moon is most completely immersed within the earth's shadow, may be checked with observations made elsewhere of the eclipse itself, for as the moon will just be setting at the time, and the sun rising in the east, the eclipsed moon will hardly be visible to the Canadian observers.

GIPSY MOTH CONTROL

GIPSY moth control to save New England trees has met with a new complication. One of the most important parasites of the gipsy moth which the U. S. Bureau of Entomology imported from Europe is being hampered in its good work by the presence in this country of insects which have recently attacked it. The damage being done is extensive. In the majority of cases, 65 or 70 per cent. of the beneficial parasites are being destroyed. About 35 species of insects are attacking the beneficial one, but the real damage is being done by only a few, including in their number three species of chalcid flies new to science, according to the U. S. Bureau of Entomology.

"The situation is illustrative of the difficulty of natural control," said Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of the bureau. "To establish imported parasites of pests of foreign origin is not the simple thing that people think. Nearly all primary parasites are subject to attack from parasites of their own. In bringing in beneficial parasites the entomologists are careful not to import with them their natural

enemies. But it happens that they often belong to groups which are represented in the United States by parasites of native insects. These have their own parasites which are quick to attack the European importations related to their native host. This intricacy of relationship between species of insects greatly complicates the business of importing the parasites of pests accidentally brought into this country."

PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE FIT

"SURVIVAL of the unfit," a stock objection by hardboiled critics of public health work, was declared to be a bogey conjured up by the perfervid imaginations of persons to whom a little learning has proved a dangerous thing, by Professor H. S. Jennings, of the Johns Hopkins University, one of the world's foremost students of evolution, genetics and eugenics, who spoke at the meeting of the National Tuberculosis Association in Indianapolis. Fitness, Professor Jennings pointed out, is only a relative term, and an individual at whom the finger of scorn is pointed, as being "unfit" so far as resistance to tuberculosis or some other ailment is concerned, may be very "fit" indeed when it comes to doing useful work in the arts, sciences or business. Wipe out the disease, as yellow fever has been wiped out, diphtheria is being wiped out, and as tuberculosis can be, and the "unfitnesses" of the persons now susceptible to them automatically disappear, for there is nothing left for them to be "unfitted" to. Therefore to argue that nothing should be done to control diseases that take large toll of human life is not merely harsh and inhuman, but silly, in the opinion of Professor Jennings. "For most of the matters with which the public health worker deals there appears to be no indication whatever that the individuals preserved are undesirable, or at a disadvantage in a world in which the attacking agent has been controlled, no indication that defective genes are playing an important rôle."'

LEARNING BY ADULTS

A MAN or woman under 50 years of age should seldom be discouraged from trying to learn anything which he or she really needs to learn by the fear of being too old, Dr. E. L. Thorndike, professor of educational psychology at Columbia University, said at the meeting of the Amer ican Association for Adult Education in Cleveland. To a lesser degree, this is true after 50 years also, he added.

Dr. Thorndike presented results of experiments in which persons 35 years and over, averaging 42 years, were compared with persons 20 to 24 years old, averaging 22, in their ability to learn acts of skill and to acquire various kinds of knowledge.

In learning Esperanto, an artificial language constructed on logical principles, the older group learned about five sixths as fast as the younger. Both groups learned more rapidly than children.

In learning reading, spelling, arithmetic and other elementary school subjects, adults of 42 progressed about five sixths as fast as the adults of 22. Both groups prob ably learned faster than they would have learned the same things as children at the age of 12, for they learned more