Suspension of Government Scientific PeriodicalsSource: The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1922), pp. 109-112Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/6573 .

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THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE 109

tvere delivered. The deceased f el- lows are: Dr. J. A. Allen, American Museuni of Natural History, New York City; Charles B. Cory, Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois, and Wil- liam Palmer, U. S. National Museum, WVashington, D. C.

The Brewster Memorial Medal was awarded to Robert Ridgway, of the U. S. National Museuni, for his work on the "Birds of North and Middle America," vol. 8, which in the judgment of the council was the most meritorious work on Anieri- can birds published during the last two years. This medal is to be awarded biennially, and this is the first award.

A feature of the annual banquet was the appearance in costume of representatives of Alexander Wil- son, John James Audubon, and C. S. Rainesque, pioneer bird lovers who lived in Philadelphia in the early half of the nineteentlh century.

The following were elected offi- cers: Dr. Witmer Stone, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, president; Dr. George Bird Grin- nell, New York City, and Dr. Jona- than Dwight, New York City, vice presidents; Dr. T. S. Palmer, Bio- logical Survey, Washington, D. C., secretary; and WV. L. McAtee, Bio- logical Survey, treasurer.

SUSPENSION OF GOVERN-\- MA ENT SCIENTIFIC PERI-

ODICALS Imiportant scientific periodicals of

tlhc Department of Agriculture have suspended publication owing to the failure of the Congress to give spe- cific authority for their continuance after December i, the date set by law for the death of all governmenit periodicals not individually autlhor- ized by the Congress.

When the Congress adcjourned 6ithout giving alny committee author- ity to determine which periodicals should continue to appear, some forty-one publications issued by the <D-government departments suspended

puhlication, in most cases without any notice.

From a scientific standpoint, of those that are suspended, four De- partment of Agriculture publications are the most important. The Ex- perinient Station Record, with its concisely written abstracts of agri- cultural literature, knitted together the research activities of the univer- sities and agricultural experiment stations. The Journal of Agricultur- al Research was the medium for making public those researches that as yet would hardly be of general interest to the practical farmer. But in this journal have been announced some of the most important experi- mental work of the department and affiliated experiment stations. Me- teorology in all its phases was the Field of the Montthly Weather Reviezo, edited from the Weather Bureau. Pntblic Roads had a circulation of 4,000 copies a month and carried de- tails and research of the federal aid program to engineers and road build- ers.

Four other Department of Agri- culture periodicals were doing a real service. The Weekly Nezws Letter, circulation 126,ooo, kept the io6,ooo collaborators and employees of the department in touch with its activi- ties and served to take current in- formation to those especially interest- ed in agriculture. Weather data were carried promptly to 3,300 by the weekly National Weather and Crop Builletin. The weekly Market Re- Porter was published to give II,200 bankers, colleges, economists and others prompt data on live stock, grain, produce and other agricultural prices. The Alonthly Crop Reporter, wvith an edition of II4,500, was sent to libraries and organizationis inter- ested in agricultural estimates, but tlhe bulk of the edition went to col- laborators of the department who aid in compiling crop statistics.

By suspending the forty-one gov- eriniient periodicals, it has been esti- mated that from $500,000 to

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JOSEPH LEIDY Statue erected in the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania in

honor of the distinguished naturalist and anatomist

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JOSEPH PRIESTLEY Photograph from the copy of the portrait by Gilbert Stuart, recently pre.

sentetl to the Uinited States Nationial 'Museum by the American Chelmlical Society

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112 TlIHE PIROGJRESS O1 SCIEANCE

$i,ooo,ooo will be saved each year, hut this may be mistaken- economy. It is not inconceivable that even the temporary suspension of the periodi- cals mentionedl may cause a inuclh g-reater loss to the country than the saving on the forty-onie periodicals.

The inability to publish the results of important government researches is becoming a serious situation, even apart fronm the suspension of the scientific periodicals. Printing appro- priations of practically all govern- ment scientific bureatus have been greatly reduced, and only the manlu- scripts that are most important can be published, and these often after undue delay.

SCIENTIFIC ITEMAIS WTE record with regret the death

of Ber-t Holmes lite, professor of agricultural chemistry in the Uni- versity of West Virginia; of W,Vil- liam-i Speirs Bruce, oceanographer and polar explorer; of Etienne Boutroux, professor of philosophy, at the Sor- honne; of Dimitri Konstalntinovitch Tschernoff of Petrograd, knowln for his work on the nietallography of iron; of Ch. Francois -Fralnick, form- erly lecturer on physiology at the Collegc de France; and of Julius -Hann, Austrian neteoroloe ist.

ELIMINATION of industrial waste vas the principal topic discussed at the forty-second annual meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers held in New York City from Decemher 5 to 9. Separate sessions were held to consider the wastes of power generation, machine shops, railways, use of fuel, materials handling, textile manufacture, wood manufacture, and the aeronautic in- dustry. A national program of in- dustrial education and training as a fundamental necessity in the develop- inent of the industries of this coun- try also had a place on the program. Honorary membership was awarded to Henry R. Towne, directing head of the Yale and Towne Manufactur- ing Co., and Nathaniel G. Herreshoff, who has played a large part in the developmiient of the science of naval architecture botii through hiis inter- est in yacht racinig and his work on comimercial and war vessels.

THE relation of chemical engineer- ing to national defense was the lead- ing topic of the fourteenth annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers held in Balti- maore, December 6 to 9. Visits were made to Edgewood Arsenal and to various Baltimore industries.

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