in pharmacy leading to the baccalaureate degree, which are comparable with the baccalaureate courses in other sciences and the fact that these longer courses are well patronized is evidence of the progress being made. During this fifty-year period there have come and gone many noted characters in the field of pharmacy. Some of these have left their impress upon the field of chemistry as well and they are representative of various parts of the country and various fields of pharmaceutical work. Among these may be mentioned the names of Caspari, Chandler, Diehl, Hallberg, Hynson, Lyons, Maisch, Oldherg, Prescott, Rernington, Rice, Sadtler, Searby, Sqliihb. Stevens, and Whelpley.
College Failures Traced to Speech Defects. Glib and clear-cut speech is not a parlor accomplishment but an everyday necessity for college girls, judging by a speech census taken among students at Mt. Holyoke College. The investigation has revealed that nearly half of the students who have entered the college in the past four years have been somewhat imperfect in speech Sixteen per cent were so obviously defective that i t was necessary for them t o take corrective work in speech training during the freshman year. The list of students handicapped hy poor speech included a large proportion of those who failed in their courses. One explanation offered for this is that there is 8 close connection between the ability t o speak clearly and accurately and the ability to read rapidly. The student who reads slowly and inaccurately is unable t o do the same amount of work as the more skilful reader. The percentage of defective speech for the general population is believed to he considcrahlv than amona the college students. Teachers making the speech . hirher census told the students that good speech is an economic as well as a social asset. The colle~e . can assist the student to improve his or her personality in this respect: but the easiest time for the formation of correct speech habits is when a child is learning to talk, they were told.-Science Service from Cornstalks Declared a Possibility. Cornstalks, the largest single item of waste of America's largest industry, farming, have had their challenge answered not by an American scientist but by an Hungarian. Dr. Bela Dorner, head of the laboratories of the Royal Hungarian Railways, has recently come t o this country with a process which he states is commercially practicable far the utilization of the stalks in the manufacture of paper, rayon, auto finishes, and many other products for which wood pulp a t present is the only satisfactory basis. A number of New York capitalists have become interested in the possibilities of Dr. Domer's method, and a prominent consulting chemist retained by them has reported favorably on it, after a series of large-scale tests. I t has long been known that cornstalk substance is chemically and physically suited for the needs now met only by wood pulp, but certain practical difficulties prevented the development of a stalk-pulp industry. One of the chief obstacles in processes hitherto tried has been the necessity for cutting out the hard cross-plates a t the joints, which made too great an expense for commercial development. I n the Dorner process, however, the whole stalk is ground up, and i t is claimed that the hard parts make no trouble in the later manufacturing stages.-Science Service
