The Italian government has decided to devote special attention to the establishment of industrial experimental stations and the encouragement of technical education. Besides studying new processes and making new applications of old methods, these stations will supply industries with a trained personnel. Five such stations have already been established-two at Milan, for paper and fats respectively; two at Naples, for leather and ceramics; and one at Reggio Calabria, for essential oils and perfumes. It is planned to establish three new stations: one at Rovigno, for the sugar industry; another at Milan, for the development of the refrigerator industry; and a third, probably at Rome, to study the distillation of gases and their by-products and, in general, all processes of combustion. Other stations are under consideration. Laboratory schools are being organized at Turin, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Provision is also being made for ordinary schools of industry, of which 150 will be royal schools and 400 others subsidized.

The establishment of a national system for encouraging scientific and industrial research in Belgium has been provisionally approved by the minister, but details have not yet been published.

An Institute of Physical and Chemical Research was established in Japan in 1917 with government support of £200,000 over a period of ten years, while a gift of £100,000 has been received from the emperor. The balance of the £800,000, which is required is being collected from private sources. The institution is apparently intended to serve three purposes: (a) the prosecution of fundamental researches; (b) the conduct of industrial investigations on lines similar to those of the Mellon Institute; and (c) the training of research workers who will be elected from among university graduates to research scholarships. Until the laboratories of the institute can be built in Tokyo accommodation is being provided by the universities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Sendai. It is understood further that another Imperial Ordinance has been issued announcing the establishment of a new Bureau in the Depart

ment of Agriculture and Commerce for the purposes of industrial experiment. This bureau will control work in connection with experiments, analysis, appraisal and instruction. There will be two experimental stations; one in the Tokyo district and one in the Osaka district.

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS

AERONAUTIC SECTION OF THE AMEERICAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS

IN the field of aviation a good deal of cooperative engineering work has been done, standards have been established, details of construction perfected, interchangeability secured. Nevertheless there still exists the real opportunity for promoting in a large way the broad engineering development having to do with the future of aerial navigation regarded as an essentially international science, art and business. To this end the members of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers interested in aeronautics have organized themselves into a professional section of this subject.

Howard E. Coffin, Jesse G. Vincent, Orville Wright, C. F. Kettering, Elmer A. Sperry, James Hartness, John R. Cautley, Lionel S. Marks, Miller R. Hutchison, Charles E. Lucke and Joseph A. Steinmetz, all prominent in the aeronautic field in the war, are among those who have registered in the section.

As chairman of the advisory committee on aeronautics under the Council of National Defense, Mr. Coffin sent the first American delegation to the London Conference on Aircraft in the spring of 1918. In the full realization of the possibilities of future commercial as well as military and naval development, the Peace Conference created a commission for drafting an International Aircraft Convention. Benedict Crowell, assistant secretary of war, and as chairman of the American Aviation Mission visiting Europe in 1919, urged the adoption of a definite engineering basis to secure the future of air navigation and to guide bodies entrusted with the formulation of laws. Herbert Hoover, in his recent address before the American Institute

of Mining Engineers, stressed the limitations of individual initiative and development, and the crying need for definite, comprehensive programs for the solution of our great engineering problems. These things have influenced the A. S. M. E. to take the step of organizing this section with the hope that, through cooperation with all the agencies interested in and working in this field, general good will be brought to the whole industry.

COMMITTEE ON PROBLEMS OF ELECTRICAL INSULATION

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THE National Research Council has planned an investigation of the principles of insulation, a matter which is of vital importance to the electrical trade and to its consumers. meeting of the council's insulation committee was held recently at the laboratories of the Western Electric Company at 463 West Street, New York City. It was attended by a number of engineers and physicists, the chief engineer of the Western Electric Company, Dr. F. B. Jewett, who is chairman of the committee, presiding.

A preliminary meeting of the committee was held a year ago, but at that time no definite plans were formulated. At this meeting it was decided that the first step is the gathering together of all the published and known scientific material relating to insulation. This is a large undertaking and the committee decided that a permanent salaried secretary should be engaged to carry on the compilation of the material which has already been published and to maintain continuity in the records and activities of the committee. The committee also decided that it would attack the technical problems by providing some research men in the universities with funds and materials supplied by the industries under the guidance of the National Research Council. The scarcity of skilled and trained research men, who are capable of attacking insulation problems is a matter of much concern to the insulation committee. An effort will be made to discover among the postgraduate students and the faculties of the

universities men who are able to do this work.

The committee consists of thirty-seven representatives from the electrical industries, the national engineering societies, the national scientific societies, the national manufacturing organizations and the universities and colleges of the country. Among those who attended the meeting were: Mr. C. E. Skinner, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., Dr. Irving Langmuir, General Electric Co., Mr. Percy H. Thomas, Consulting Electrical Engineer, New York, Mr. William A. Del Mar, New York, D. W. Roper, Commonwealth Edison Co., Chicago, Ill., Dr. Clayton H. Sharp, Electrical Testing Laboratories, New York, Professor John Johnston, Yale University, Professor Frederick Bedell, Cornell University, Professor A. E. Kennelly, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor K. T. Compton, Princeton University, Edward D. Adams, Engineering Foundation, New York, Dr. Carl Hering, consulting engi neer, Philadelphia, Pa., John M. Weiss, The Barrett Company, New York, Dr. Richard C. Tolman, Chemical Division, National Research Council, Washington, D. C., and Dr. F. B. Silsbee, Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C.

THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

DIRECTOR JAMES HENRY BREASTED, of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, who recently returned from an archeological survey of the Near East, reports that the remarkable collections which the expedition was able to purchase have arrived at the Haskell Oriental Museum and are now unpacked preparatory to their public exhibition.

Among these is a complete group of twentyfive painted limestone mortuary statuettes from Egypt, representing the deceased and the members of his family engaged in all sorts of household activities. They date from the Old Kingdom (3,000 to 2,500 B.C.) and form the most extensive group of such figures ever dis covered in one tomb. In addition to a group of royal seal cylinders and a group of some

seventy-five alabaster vases, is a collection of about a hundred and fifty predynastic and early dynastic hard stone vases, one being inscribed with the name of the first Pharaoh (3,400 B.C.).

Among other acquisitions is a group of about one hundred bronzes, including some sixtyfive statuettes and a series of fine battle-axes which form the finest collection of bronzes ever brought from the Near East to America. A beautifully written papyrus roll of the Book of the Dead, probably of the seventh or sixth century B.C., is far the best manuscript of this book as yet brought to America; and the purchase of the Timins Collection of stone weapons and implements gives to the university the finest collection of Egyptian Stone Age industries in this country.

From Asia comes a series of two hundred and fifty-eight cuneiform tablets containing business records and a copy of the Royal Annals of Sennacherib. The latter document is in the form of a six-sided prism of buff-colored terra cotta in perfect preservation. It records the great campaigns of the famous Assyrian emperor, including the western expedition against Jerusalem in which he lost a large part of his army. No such monument as this has yet been acquired by American museums, and it will be of primary value to students and of unique interest to the public. Of other cuneiform documents the purchases total a thousand tablets, some of special literary and religious interest.

THE NEWS SERVICE OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

In his report the technical director of the A. C. S. News Service says:

The reports from the clipping agencies indicate that the publicity given to the Chicago meeting was exceptionally large. Whether it will equal in volume or surpass that received from the St. Louis meeting can not be ascertained until the full returns are analyzed.

As Chicago is one of the world's greatest news distributing centers, the wires of the Associated Press, the United Press and similar organizations sent out many dispatches to the newspapers of the country, as is shown by the sheaves of clippings

now being garnered by the A. C. S. News Service. The admirable dispatch summarizing the work of the meeting, written by Mr. Richard D. Jones, of the United Press, had an especially wide distribution. The daily papers throughout Illinois, Indiana and various parts of the middle west carried unusually full accounts.

The sixtieth meeting was held in the midst of a political campaign and in a city, the press of which happened to be giving more than usual attention to local affairs. The Chicago newspapers, however, printed about ten columns concerning the sessions. The most attention was given by the Journal, and the other leading Chicago papers are herewith given according to the space allotted by each: Tribune, American, Daily News, Post, HeraldExaminer.

Extensive dispatches were printed in the eastern papers and some of them appeared in prominent positions. The subjects which seem the most popular to date, as far as lay journalism is concerned, are flavoring extracts without alcohol, the resolution urging Congress to pass dye legislation, hydrolyzed sawdust as cattle food, all news relating to fuel and news print, and the announcement that America now makes 800 rare chemicals, this last being featured on the front page of the New York Times.

More trade and technical publications sent representatives than ever before in the history of the Society, because of the fact that so many periodicals of this class are either published in Chicago or have branch offices there.

The A. C. S. News Service wishes to acknowledge the very efficient help of the Chicago Section's Publicity Committee, of which Mr. Chester H. Jones is the chairman.

GRANTS FOR RESEARCH OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

THE attention of investigators is called to the fact that the committee on grants of the association will soon have at its disposal some four thousand dollars for distribution in aid of research. Amounts up to about five hundred dollars will thus be available for work in each of the various sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, zoology, botany, anthropology, psychology, social and economic sciences, and education. The rules governing the assignment of grants were published in SCIENCE for January 23, 1920.

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Applications for grants should be made not later than December 1, 1920, to any member of the committee, the personnel of which is as follows: Henry Crew, chairman; W. B. Cannon, R. T. Chamberlin, G. N. Lewis, George T. Moore, G. H. Parker, Joel Stebbins and Robert M. Yerkes. The awards will be announced soon after January 1, 1921. JOEL STEBBINS, Secretary Committee on Grants

URBANA, ILL.

SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS

THE International Congress of Mathematicians at the Strasbourg meeting accepted the invitation presented by Professor Leonard E. Dickson to hold the next congress in New York in 1924.

Ar the International Congress of Physiologists, held in Paris, it was resolved, on the invitation of Sir E. Sharpey Schafer, to hold the next meeting in Edinburgh in 1923.

PROFESSOR STEPHEN MOULTON BABCOCK, of the University of Wisconsin, inventor of the Babcock test for determining the amount of butter fat in milk, reached his seventy-seventh birthday on October 22, and in honor of the event and of his work a university convocation was held. Professor Babcock is engaged in active work in his laboratory.

DR. EMILE Roux, director of the Pasteur Institute, Paris, has been awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, with the citation: "Principal collaborator and disciple of Pasteur, throughout an admirable life of simplicity, modesty, labor and devotion he has continued the great work of his master, notably by his researches on diphtheria; by his discovery of antidiphtheritic serum he has conquered this formidable disease and has saved a great number of lives. President of the Conseil supérieur d'hygiène, director of the Pasteur Institute for which he has gained universal renown. A noble and great figure in the world of science."

! THE Rumford Committee of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has made the following appropriations in aid of research:

To Profesor W. W. Campbell, of Lick Observatory, $360 for the purchase of a special photographic lens; to Professor H. L. Howes, of the New Hampshire State College, $90 in aid of his researches on luminescence.

DR. F. HASTINGS SMYTH, formerly captain in the Chemical Warfare Service, has joined the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington.

MR. L. E. JACKSON has resigned as chemist and chemical engineer with the Empire Gas & Fuel Co., Bartlesville, Okla., to accept a fellowship at the Mellon Institute.

PROFESSOR MARK ALFRED CARLETON, formerly cerealist of the United States Department of Agriculture, and recently plant pathologist of the United States Grain Corporation, is at present engaged as plant pathologist for the United Fruit Company, with headquarters at Bocas del Toro, Panama. At the last meeting of the American Society of Agronomy Professor Carleton was elected the first honorary life member of that society.

DR. L. O. GRONDAHL, until recently associate professor of physics at Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pa., has resigned to accept the position of director of research with the Union Switch and Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa.

D. HARRISON E. PATTEN, for several years research chemist with the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., has accepted the position of chief chemist of the phosphate plant of the Provident Chemical Works, St. Louis, Mo.

DR. FREDERICK E. BREITHUT has entered the employ of the Calco Chemical Company, Boundbrook, New Jersey.

GEORGE P. GRAY has resigned his position as assistant professor of entomology and chemist, insecticide laboratory, at the University of California, to become chief of the Division of Chemistry of the newly established Department of Agriculture of the State of California, Sacramento, Calif.

MR. SAMUEL H. SIMPSON has resigned his position in the physical chemistry section of

the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., and is now in the sales division of the Edison Electric Appliance Co., Chicago, Ill.

SAMUEL J. PLIMPTON has returned from a year's leave of absence in Europe and has taken up his work as professor of physics at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

MR. W. P. WOODRING and a party from the U. S. Geological Survey have left for Haiti to conduct a reconnaissance geologic examination of the Republic of Haiti at the request of that government.

DR. AND MRS. CASEY A. WOOD, of Chicago, have gone to British Guiana for the winter. Dr. Wood plans to conduct some researches on the comparative anatomy of the eye with special reference to birds.

CLIFFORD S. LEONARD, who received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in June, has accepted one of the traveling fellowships of the American Scandinavian Foundation, and has sailed for Sweden. He will study chemistry and pharmacology at the Karolin Institute in Stockholm.

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Ar the 149th meeting of the Washington Academy of Sciences on October 23, Dr. E. B. Rosa, chief physicist of the Bureau of Standards, gave an address on A reorganized civil service." Those expected to take part in the discussion were Colonel W. B. Greeley, chief forester, Department of Agriculture and president of the Federal Club; Mr. Paul F. Myers, deputy commissioner of internal revenue; Dr. George Otis Smith, director of the Geological Survey; Dr. F. G. Cottrell, director of the Bureau of Mines; Dr. P. P. Claxton, commissioner of education; Mr. O. C. Merrill, executive secretary, Federal Power Commission; Mr. Martin A. Morrison, president, Civil Service Commission; Mr. Lewis Meriam, assistant director, Institute for Government Research.

ment," by Professor W. A. Noyes, and "The National Research Council and chemical development," by Harrison E. Howe.

DR. COLIN G. FINK, of New York, recently addressed the Rochester Section of the American Chemical Society on "Modern developments in metallurgical research."

THE inaugural lecture of Professor Maximilian Toch, recently appointed adjunct professor of industrial chemistry at Cooper Union, was given on October on the subject The chemistry of artistic painting."

PROFESSOR JULES BORDET, director of the Pasteur Institute of Brussels, delivered the second Harvey Society lecture at the New York Academy of Medicine on October 30. His subject was "Coagulation of the blood."

ON the evening of November 12 a service in memory of the late Dr. Eric Doolittle, professor of astronomy, will be held in the auditorium of Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania. Addresses will be made by Professor Frank Schlesinger, of the Yale Observatory, and president of the American Astronomical Society, the Rev. Robert Norwood and Provost Edgar F. Smith.

ALFRED E. FLETCHER, known for his work in industrial chemistry and especially in the English alkali industry, has died at the age of ninety-four years.

A SITE for the new building in Washington which is to serve as a home for the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council has recently been obtained. It comprises the entire block bounded by B and C Streets and Twenty-first and Twentysecond Streets. Northwest, and faces the Lincoln Memorial in Potomac Park. The academy and council have been enabled to secure this site, costing about $200,000, through the generosity of the following friends and supporters: Thomas D. Jones, Harold F. McCormick, Julius Rosenwald, and Charles H. Swift, Chicago; Charles F. Brush, George W. Crile, John L. Severance and Ambrose Swasey, Cleveland; Edward Dean Adams, Mrs. E. H. Harriman, and the Com