The Treatment of Tetanus by Antitetanic Serum

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LABOR LAW- FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT- RIGHT OF EMPLOYEES TO WAIVE PAYMENT OF AWARD OF BACK WAGES

In July, 1940, the Wage-Hour Administrator obtained a consent decree restraining defendant from violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, and a stipulation was filed which provided, among other things, that defendant should restore to its employees the difference between wages actually paid and the minimum wages which should have been paid under the act. Twelve of the fifteen employees in whose favor the award was made endorsed over the checks which they received with out obtaining any actual cash, and executed releases for the amounts due to them. In the present proceeding, the administrator sought a rule to show cause why defendant should not be adjudged guilty of contempt for violation of the decree. Held, for defendant, rule discharged, and petition for adjudication in contempt dismissed because (1) the decree was unenforceable for uncertainty since no list of the employees affected by the decree was included in the court files; (2) an execution at law, rather than a contempt proceeding, would have been the proper remedy; (3) the employer and the employees had the legal right, in the absence of coercion or fraud on the part of the employer, to settle the award by waiver; and (4) even if a contempt proceeding were proper, the decree had not been violated. Fleming v. Warshawsky & Co., (D. C. Ill. 1940) 36 F. Supp. 138

FEDERAL COURTS - DECISIONS OF STATE INTERMEDIATE COURTS AS STATE LAW TO BE APPLIED BY FEDERAL COURTS

The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that a federal district court in Ohio was not bound by a decision of the Cuyahoga County Court of Appeals to the effect that in a case of wrongful transfer of shares of stock, a demand and refusal was necessary to start the statute of limitations running. On certiorari, held, that, in ascertaining what the state law is, lower state court decisions are data which are not to be disregarded by a federal court, unless it is convinced by other persuasive data that the highest court of the state would decide otherwise. West v. American Telephone & Telegraph Co., (U.S. 1940) 6r S. Ct. 179

FEDERAL COURTS - CONFLICT OF LAWS - DUTY OF FEDERAL COURT TO APPLY STATE CONFLICT OF LAWS RULES

In a suit on a contract brought in the United States District Court in Delaware, based on diversity of citizenship, the court allowed interest costs on the basis of the Civil Practice Act of New York where the contract was made. The Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the ruling upon the ground that it was the best rule, without regard to the Delaware conflicts law. On certiorari, held reversed, on the ground that the doctrine of Erie Railroad v. Tompkins prohibits such an independent determination by the federal court of conflict of laws rules. Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Mfg. Co., (U.S. 1941) 61 S. Ct. 1020

FEDERAL COURTS - CONFLICT BETWEEN THE FEDERAL DECLARATORY JUDGMENTS ACT AND THE JOHNSON ACT

Plaintiff gas company contracted with defendant city to furnish gas from a certain field at rates fixed by ordinance. Plaintiff reserved the right, when this field became insufficient, to furnish gas from other fields at rates to be adjusted in accordance with the increased cost. In a suit in the federal district court for a declaratory judgment, plaintiff sought a determination that the local field had become insufficient, and that it was necessary to furnish gas from other fields. Plaintiff alleged that defendant city refused to recognize the changed conditions and insisted that plaintiff continue to furnish gas at the old rates. Held, the Federal Declaratory Judgments Act gave the district court power to give declaratory relief, and the Johnson Act did not deprive the court of jurisdiction to hear this dispute. Mississippi Power & Light Co. v. City of Jackson, (C. C. A. 5th, 1941) 116 F. (2d) 924; cert. denied, City of Jackson v. Mississippi Power & Light Co., 3I2 U.S. 698, 6I S. Ct. 741 (1941)

BANKS AND BANKING - IMMUNITY OF NATIONAL BANKS FROM STATE ESCHEAT STATUTE

A Michigan statute provided that bank deposits, in the possession or control of insolvent banks, which have remained inactive for a period of seven years or more shall escheat to the state. In a suit for a declaratory judgment, filed by the Attorney General of Michigan, against the receiver of an insolvent national bank and the Comptroller of the Currency of the United States, the federal district court held that the receiver must turn over deposits coming within the terms of the statute. Held, the statute is invalid if so applied, since it would constitute an unlawful interference with the process of liquidation of a national bank as provided for in the National Banking Act. Starr v. O\u27Connor, (C. C. A. 6th, 1941) 118 F. (2d) 548, cert. den. sub nom. Starr v. Schram, (U.S. 1941) 62 S. Ct. 412

TAXATION - FEDERAL INCOME TAX - EXEMPTION OF LIFE INSURANCE PROCEEDS WHEN PAID IN THE FORM OF ANNUITY

A taxpayer was the beneficiary of life insurance policies which required the insurance company to make fifty annual payments of $2,000 each. At the death of the insured in 1917, the commuted value of this obligation was$53,000. Prior to 1934, the taxpayer had received seventeen payments, aggregating $45,473.40, no part of which had been reported as income. For the year 1934, the taxpayer received$2,581.40, of which $2,000 was the annual payment, and$581.40 was an excess interest dividend. He again failed to include any of the amount in his gross income. The commissioner determined that under the Revenue Act of 1934 $53,000 was the total amount to be exempted under the policy as a payment by reason of the death of the insured. Since$45,473.40 had already been received by the beneficiary, only $7,526.60 of future payments would be exempt, and this sum, spread evenly over the remaining twenty-three years of the annuity, would provide an exemption of only$228.08 per year. The board of tax appeals upheld the commissioner as to the $581.40, but reversed as to the$2,000, holding the latter amount entirely exempt on the ground that the amount arising from the death of the insured was $100,000. On appeal to the circuit court of appeals, held the treasury regulation on which the commissioner relied is invalid and the board\u27s determination of exemption should be affirmed. Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Winslow, (C. C. A. 1st, 1940) 113 F. (2d) 418

Surface scattering properties estimated from modeling airborne multiple emission angle reflectance data

Here, researchers apply the Hapke function to airborne bidirectional reflectance data collected over three terrestrial surfaces. The objectives of the study were to test the range of natural surfaces that the Hapke model fits and to evaluate model parameters in terms of known surface properties. The data used are multispectral and multiple emission angle data collected during the Geologic Remote Sensing Field Experiment (GRSFE) over a mud-cracked playa, an artificially roughened playa, and a basalt cobble strewn playa at Lunar Lake Playa in Nevada. Airborne remote sensing data and associated field measurements were acquired at the same time. The airborne data were acquired by the Advanced Solid State Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS) instrument, a 29-spectral band imaging system. ASAS reflectance data for a cobble-strewn surface and an artificially rough playa surface on Lunar Lake Playa can be explained with the Hanke model. The cobble and rough playa sites are distinguishable by a single scattering albedo, which is controlled by material composition; by the roughness parameter, which appears to be controlled by the surface texture and particle size; and the symmetry factor of the single particle phase function, which is controlled by particle size and shape. A smooth playa surface consisting of compacted, fine-grained particles has reflectance variations that are also distinct from either the cobble site or rough playa site. The smooth playa appears to behave more like a Lambertian surface that cannot be modeled with the Hapke function

Magnetic behavior of the spin-chain compounds,Ca3CuIrO6 and Ca3CuRhO6

The spin-chain compounds, Ca3CuIrO6 and Ca3CuRhO6, crystallizing in a K4CdCl6-derived monoclinic structure, are investigated by ac and dc magnetization, isothermal remnant magnetization as well as heat capacity measurements. The results reveal the existence of a magnetic ordering in the vicinity of 15 K for both the compounds, but the transition appears to be of a complex nature. The existence of a spin-glass component is strongly indicated by the results. We propose that topological effects play a role on magnetism of these compounds. The magnetic properties for these two compounds are interestingly similar as though isoelectronic chemical substitution at the octahedral coordination site does not significantly interfere in the magnetic exchange process.Comment: Physical Review B, in pres