expedition, the life and customs of the people and the interesting features of the country. Mr. J. B. Shackelford, who is perhaps the foremost cinematographer of the United States, is equipped with three remarkable cameras which were invented by Mr. Carl Akeley of the American Museum of Natural History for natural history work. This camera can be leveled instantly without reference to the position of the tripod and with a turn of the wrist can be swung up and down, from side to side, or in any direction, thus obviating the clumsy panoramic device which is one of the most cumbersome features of the ordinary moving picture camera. A battery of lenses of all descriptions, including powerful telephoto lenses, will make possible the obtaining of animal photographs at long distances. Antelope, wild horses, wild asses and wild camels can be run down in the motor cars, and these exciting chases, which are a feature of hunting on the Mongolian plains, can be brought home in all their details. The expedition hopes to lasso many animals from the cars and send some of them alive to America. A complete record of the lives and customs of the Mongols, historically one of the most interesting peoples of the world, has never been attempted and this field has almost unlimited possibilities of the greatest scientific and popular interest. Dr. Walter Granger, paleontologist of the expedition, ranks high in his profession throughout the world. Possibly no man is more familiar with the difficult technique of discovering and preparing fossils in the field than Dr. Granger. His many years of work in America on the evolution of the Eocene horse has brought to the American Museum of Natural History the finest collection of fossil horse material in the world. He also conducted extensive explorations in the Fayum Desert of Africa on the famous expedition under the direction of the distinguished president of the American Museum of Natural History, Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn. Dr. Granger has only recently returned from Eastern Szechuan, where he has been spending the winter investigating a fossil field not far from Wan hsien on the Yangtze River. This expedition has brought together an extremely inter esting collection of fossils among which the primitive elephant Stegedon is particularly well represented. Dr. Charles P. Berkey, who is professor of geology in Columbia University, has beeen connected with so many important operations in America, and is so well-known to the geologists of the world that special mention of his activities would be superfluous. Dr. Berkey, who has charge of all the geological work of the expedition will carry on a reconnaissance of structural geology and physiography of the areas to be visited in Mongolia and lay out general plans for further geological work. His attention will be particularly devoted to the Tertiary features of the region in relation to its bearing on the problem of the development of primitive man. Professor Frederick Morris is a former colleague of Dr. Berkey in Columbia University and until the first of March was professor of geology in Pei Yang University at Tientsin. Professor Morris is an expert topographer and will have charge of the mapping and survey work of the expedition as well as assisting in geological investigations. Probably no man in America is better equipped for this work because of his exceptional ability in sketching and his familiarity with map-making and all phases of topographical study. A wireless equipment has been obtained and the American Legation wireless station will send over the correct time each evening at 7 o'clock, so that the exact geographical position of the party will be obtained. Mr. F. A. Larsen, who will act as field manager in Mongolia, will bring to the expedition the benefit of his thorough knowledge of the country and its people and be of the greatest assistance in helping to adjust the various difficulties, such as will inevitably arise. Roy Chapman Andrews, the leader and organizer of the expedition as well as directing the general operations, will conduct zoological investigations in mammals, birds, fishes and reptiles. The purpose of the Third Asiatic Expedition is to carry on a coordinated investigation of various areas in Central Asia which have remained scientifically unexplored. It is the consensus of scientific opinion that the Central Asian plateau, including Thibet, Chinese Turkestan and Mongolia, was not only the point of origin and distribution for many forms of animal life which exist to-day in America, Europe and many parts of the world, but was also the so-called "cradle of the human race." Although its important relation to human ancestry has long been recognized, no coordinated scientific investigation has ever been conducted on a large scale. Its zoology, paleontology, geology and botany bear the most intimate relations to the ancestry of man and it is with reference to this problem, which is of worldwide interest, that the expedition will conduct its work. It will furnish material for the Great Hall of Asiatic Life which is now being added to the buildings of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The expedition also proposes to present to the Chinese government a duplicate series of its collections which it is hoped will be used as the basis of a National Museum of Natural History in Peking. The cordial support which all the officials of the Chinese government have accorded the expedition and the facilities which have been given to it for prosecuting its work, indicate what a keen appreciation of the value of scientific work there is in China. The Chinese Geological Survey for a number of years has been carrying on geological and paleontological explorations in various parts of China and has already become an institution of recognized importance throughout the world. because of the high standard of its work. The survey has cooperated in the most friendly and scientific spirit with the Third Asiatic Expedition and a plan of operations has been agreed upon which is proving of great mutual benefit. The expedition expects to return from Mongolia about October 1, 1922. At that time Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, will arrive in Peking with his wife and daughter to inspect the results of the work and to plan for future investigations. Professor Osborn is one of the greatest living authorities on the evolution of man. His visit to Peking can not but be an important event in the scientific life of China. Mr. Clifford Pope, assistant in zoology, will not accompany the expedition to Mongolia but will continue his studies of the reptiles, fish and batrachians of China. He has already obtained more than 10,000 specimens and will visit all the provinces of China before his work is completed. Mr. James Wong, interpreter, will make an expedition to Szechuan Province while the main party is in Mongolia. His work will be an examination and reconnaissance of the caves along the Yangtze River preparatory to paleontological studies for the winter of 1922-23. Mr. Harry R. Caldwell, assistant in zoology, will continue his zoological survey of Fukien Province during the summer. ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS PEKING, APRIL, 1922 SCIENTIFIC EVENTS THE UNIVERSITY OF HALIFAX DETAILS of the plan recently announced for amalgamating all institutions for higher education in the maritime provinces of Canada into a central university at Halifax, with the assistance of the Carnegie Foundation, have been made public. Alumni of the various colleges at present are considering the proposal. The plan proposes: 1. That there should be formed in Halifax an overhead university connected with all the colleges, but not particularly with any one, which should do the work of graduate and professional schools for the provinces; that is, the work now carried on by Dalhousie University in law, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, and that carried on by the Nova Scotia Technical College in engineering, should be done by the university, together with the junior and senior years and the scientific portion of the freshman and sophomore years of each college. 2. That the various colleges situated outside of Halifax, namely, Acadia, Kings, Mount Allison, St. Francis Xavier and University of New Brunswick, should move to Halifax, erect buildings of their own, provide dormitory facilities, class rooms, dining rooms, chapel and other needed buildings for their own students, and in general conduct the work in English, French, German, Latin, Greek, mathematics and history for the first two years, caring for the housing and discipline of their students. 3. That all examinations should be conducted by the overhead university and all the degrees, with the exception of those in theology, be conferred by the university. 4. That financially the Carnegie Corporation would be willing to assist the colleges which would have to move, and perhaps also the overhead university, so that the general scheme might be well started, and then it was hoped the provincial governments would provide any money necessary for the overhead university; but all fees for classroom work should be handed over to the university, and that the colleges should only do such work as their endowments would permit. ACTIVITIES OF THE ROCKEFELLER A REVIEW of the activities of the Rockefeller Foundation in 1921, written by its president, Dr. George E. Vincent, will be issued in a few days. The things done by the foundation directly and through its departmental agencies -the International Health Board, the China Medical Board, and the Division of Medical Education are summarized as follows: Continued a quarter-million annual appropriation to the School of Hygiene and Public Health of Johns Hopkins University; Pledged two millions to Harvard for a school of health; Contributed to public health training in Czechoslovakia, Brazil, and the United States; Aided the Pasteur Institute of Paris to recruit and train personnel; Promoted the cause of nurse training in America and Europe; Underwrote an experimental pay clinic in the. Cornell Medical School; Formally opened a complete modern medical school and hospital in Peking; Assisted twenty-five other medical centers in China; Promised a million dollars for the medical school of Columbia University; Contracted to appropriate three and one half millions for the rebuilding and reorganization of the medical school and hospital of the Free University of Brussels; Made surveys of medical schools in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Siam, India, Syria, and Turkey; Supplied American and British medical journals to 112 medical libraries on the continent; Supplemented the laboratory equipment and supplies of five medical schools in Central Europe; Defrayed the expenses of commissions from Great Britain, Belgium, Serbia, and Brazil; Provided 157 fellowships in hygiene, medicine, physics, and chemistry, to representatives of eighteen countries; Continued a campaign against yellow fever in Mexico, Central and South America; Prosecuted demonstrations in the control of malaria in ten states; Cooperated in hookworm work in nineteen governmental areas; Participated in rural health demonstrations in seventy-seven American counties and in Brazil; Neared the goal of transferring to French agencies an anti-tuberculosis organization in France; Provided experts in medical education and public health for counsel and surveys in many parts of the world, and rendered sundry minor services to governments and voluntary societies. THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY THE American Ceramic Society held its twenty-fourth annual convention at the Hotel Statler, St. Louis, Mo., February 27 to March 3. One and a half days were devoted to general sessions, one and a half days to divisional meetings, and two days to plant visits. An organization of 1,575 members, it has seven industrial divisions, all of them strong and independent of one another, but united in one body, the American Ceramic Society. On the program for the general sessions, there were nineteen papers and seven films. The Art Division had seventeen papers besides demonstrations. The Enamels Division had seventeen papers, four colloquiums, and one extensive report of their research committee. The Glass Division had fourteen papers, six colloquiums and two reports of their research committee. The Heavy Clay Products Division had eight papers and four colloquiums. The Refractories Division had twenty-five papers and twelve topics for discussion. The Terra Cotta Division had fifteen papers. The White Wares Division had sixteen papers and three colloquiums. The society is governed by a board of trus tees consisting of the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and five trustees. The president-elect is Frank H. Riddle, of Detroit, Mich. Mr. Riddle finished his course at the Ohio State University in 1904 and since that time has had broad experience in the manufacture of art pottery, terra cotta and heavy clay products. He is at the present time consulting engineer and chief chemist of the Champion Porcelain Company and the Jeffery-DeWitt Insulator Company. For two years prior to the war, as well as during the war, he was a member of the technical staff of the Bureau of Standards. It was he, more than any one else, who developed the spark plug used in the aeroplane during the war. The spark plugs made prior to that time would not stand the high tension and were a source of disastrous breakdown. Mr. A. V. Bleininger, then director of the Ceramics Division of the Bureau of Standards, assigned Mr. Riddle to this problem and with him made investigations of the composition and methods of manufacture that resulted in the spark plug of exceedingly low coefficient of expansion and of very high dielectric strength. Mr. Riddle has been associated with the society for several years and has been a member of the board of trustees for two years. The society has enjoyed a very large growth in membership under his direction as chairman of the membership committee. The other members of the board of trustees for the coming year are: E. W. Tillotson, Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., vice-president. R. K. Hursh, University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill., Treasurer. R. C. Purdy, Columbus, Ohio, General Secretary. R. H. Minton, General Ceramics Co., Metuchen, N. J., Trustee. F. K. Pence, Knowles, Taylor & Knowles, East Liverpool, O., Trustee. R. M. Howe, Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., Trustee. B. E. Salisbury, Onondaga Pottery Company, Syracuse, N. Y., Trustee. THE ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF ONE of the most successful meetings ever held by the Academy of Science was the fifteenth annual meeting at Rockford on April 27, 28 and 29. A strong representation of members attended, and the Illinois Branch of the Mathematical Association of America held its annual meeting in conjunction with the academy for the first time. Fifty-seven new members were elected to the academy; the treasurer's report showed a good balance on hand; members took part in presenting strong papers at the general and section meetings; and thus the academy affairs were shown to be in good condition. Committees on membership, on ecological survey, on high school science and clubs and on publications gave interesting and encouraging reports. The following resolution was adopted, and copies have been sent to all Illinois senators and representatives in Congress: RESOLVED: (a) That the Illinois State Academy of Science records its earnest hope that in the tariff legislation now under consideration by the Congress of the United States, provision may be made for duty-free importation of scientific apparatus for the use of educational institutions,— a privilege that has contributed in no small degree to the wonderful progress made in science and its applications in the educational institutions of this country during the past few decades. (b) That this resolution be spread on the minutes of the meeting and that certified copies of it be sent to the Senate and House committees by which the new tariff bill is being shaped up, and to each member now representing Illinois in the Senate and House of Representatives. Another resolution was adopted urging the academy members to cooperate with other scientific organizations whose purpose it is to promote the use of the metric system of weights and measures, so that the public in general may become familiar with the advantages of this system, and so that proper legislation may be enacted. A committee on metric system was appointed to act on the above resolution. The academy members were guests of the Rockford University Club at dinner April 27, and the Rockford Chamber of Commerce acted as hosts on one of the field trips April 29 down the beautiful Rock River Valley. A second field trip, taking two days, was conducted by H. S. Pepoon to Apple River Canyon. These geological and biological trips were much enjoyed. The following officers were elected for 19221923: THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE THE International Society of the History of Medicine was founded in Paris on October 8, 1921. It has for its object the study of the history of medicine in all its branches and the coordination of research work in these subjects. A permanent committee has been established in Paris consisting of delegates appointed by sections of the society in various countries. The society meets in congress every three years, and it has been decided to hold the next meeting in London from July 17 to 22, 1922. Meetings will be held at the Royal Society of Medicine, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Surgeons, the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and elsewhere. There will be special exhibitions of objects connected with the history of medicine, surgery and the allied sciences. The loan of any objects of special interest from members will be greatly appreciated by the executive committee. Communications are invited from members on subjects connected with the history of medicine in all its branches. The following subjects have been suggested for communication and discussion, but are by no means intended to exclude papers on any subject of general interest in connection with the history of medicine: 1. The principal seats of epidemic and endemic diseases in the Occident and Orient in the Middle Ages, including plague, gangrenous ergotism, leprosy and malaria. 2. The history of anatomy. 3. The revival of medical knowledge during the sixteenth century. Communications should be addressed to: The General Secretary, Dr. J. D. Rolleston, 21, Alexandra Mansions, King's Road, London, S. W. 3. The other officers are: President of honor, Sir Norman Moore, Bart., M.D.; vice-presidents of honor, Sir D'Arcy Power, K.B.E., F.R.C.S., Professor Ménétrier, Professor Jeanselme, Dr. Tricot-Royer; president of congress, Charles Singer, M.D.; treasurer, W. G. Spencer, O.B.E., M.S. SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS THE Croonian lecture was delivered before the Royal Society on June 1, by Dr. T. H. Morgan, professor of experimental zoology in Columbia University. His subject was "The mechanism of heredity." DR. ROSS G. HARRISON, of Yale University, has been elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Turin. DR. WILLIAM BATESON, F.R.S., director of the John Innes Horticultural Institution at Merton, Surrey, has been elected a trustee of the British Museum, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Lord Harcourt. AT the quarterly meeting of the Royal College of Physicians at Edinburgh it was resolved to offer its honorary fellowship to Professor Albert Calmette, of the Pasteur Institute, Paris, on account of his distinguished services to medical science. THE University of St. Andrews will confer the degree of LL.D. on July 7 on Sir P. R. Scott Lang, emeritus professor of mathematics in the university; on Dr. G. R. Marshall, professor of materia medica, University of Aberdeen; and on Sir Harold J. Stiles, regius professor of clinical surgery, University of Edinburgh. JOHN K. HAYWOOD, chairman of the Insecticide and Fungicide Board of the U. S. Bureau of Chemistry, recently completed a quarter of a century of service at the bureau, and was the recipient of a gold watch from his present and former colleagues. T. M. BAINS, assistant professor of metallurgy at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, Mo., has accepted the position of geologist with the Moctezuma Copper Company, Pilares de Macodari, Sonora, Mexico. |