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Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including one about the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) hearings against physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in the June 28, 1954 issue, another one about British military commander General Gerald Templer in the June 7, 1954 issue, and one about Senator John McClellan in the June 21, 1954 issue.

The influence of drying on the magnitudes of soil strength parameters Cand ϕ was determined for three cohesive soils. Shear strength measurements were made using a modified laboratory triaxial apparatus for three different soil types on samples prepared in the laboratory. All samples of a given soil type were molded at the same soil water content and to the same bulk density. Samples were dried slowly to soil water contents between the 1/3‐bar soil water suction level and air dryness. The criterion used to determine shear was either the development of a definite failure plane or an increase in sample diameter of 0.25 mm (0.010 in), whichever occurred first. Volume change of the sample and the applied axial and radial stresses were measured and recorded continuously throughout a test cycle. Mohr's circles were constructed and the parameters Cand ϕ were determined for all samples. The parameters Cand ϕ both increased with drying for these soils. Additional studies will be necessary to completely describe the soil shear strength‐drying relationship, or to determine the mechanisms of action which prevail.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including an article about the village of Kalavryta in Greece in the June 15, 1953 issue, an article about Albert Einstein in the June 22, 1953 issue, and the "Bloody Ghost" in the June 15, 1953 issue.