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A WHEKLY JOURNAL 
DEVOTED TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CommitTeEe: S. NewcomB, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

'N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. Bowpircu, 
Physiology; J. S. Brutrnes, Hygiene; Win~tiAmM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 

J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


NEW SERIES. VOLUME XII. 


JULY-DECEMBER, 1900, 


NEW YORK 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1900 


107 0Fq_. 


THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY, 
41 NORTH QUEEN STREET, 
LANCASTER, Pa. 


CONTENTS AND INDEX. 


ING ISL WiO1bs 2-G0b 


The Names of Contributors are Printed in Small Capitals. 


A., H. M., Botanical Club of Canada, 229 

Academei dei Lincei of Rome, 490 

Academies, International Association of, 273 

Acoustics, Architectural, W. 8S. F., 489 

Acquired Characters, C. G. S., 114 

Aérial Voyage, The Longest, A. L. Rorcn, 930 

Agricultural, Education, W. J. BEAL, 328 ; Stations 
in Hawaii and Porto Rico, 531; Colleges and 
Experiment Statious, Association of, A. C. TRUE, 
817 

Agriculture, Annual Report of the Secretary of, 897 

ALLEN, EK. W., Agricultural Experiment Stations, A. 
C. True and Y. A. Clark, 111 

ALLEN, J. A., The Birds of Celebes, A. B. Meyer and 
L. W. Wiglesworth, 223 


_~—American Association forthe Advancement of Science, 


1, 4, 9, 12, 15, 41, 48, 81, 104, 106, 263, 299 

Animals, Wild, Protection of, in Africa, 275 ; Living, 
Importation of, 491; Names of, published by Os- 
beck, W. J. Fox, 716 

Anthropological, Section of the British Association, 
Address of the President, JOHN Ruys, 502; Col- 
lections in the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, 720 ; Society, German, 770 

Anthropology, at the American ’ Association, F. Rus- 
SELL, 265 ; and Psychology at the N. Y. Academy 
of Sciences, C. H. Jupp, 729, 925 

Appletree Canker, European, W. PADDOCK, 297 

Aquila, A New Star in, E. C. PickERING, 116 

Arithmetical Note, C. A. Scort, 648 

Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of America, 
Gro. C. Comstock, 121, 171 

Astronomy, The Teaching of, A. HALL, JR., 15; Ad- 
dress of the Chairman of the Department of, at 
the British Association, A. A. Common, 590; 
Physies and Chemistry at the N. Y. Academy of 
Sciences, W. S. Day, 612, 849, 1007 

ATKINSON, G. F., The Botanical Society of America, 
677; American Fungi, 800 

Atom, Structure of the, C. A. PERKINS, 368 

Atomic Weights, Report of German Chemical Society, 
Jo Ib ne 246; International Commission on, J. 
L. H., 346 


Barney, E. H. S, Chemical Laboratory of the Uni- 
versity of Kansas, 997 

Bailey’s Cyclopedia of Horticulture, W. T., 226 

Baird, Professor, Monument to, 156 

BAKER, IRA O., Engineering Education, 666 

poe S., Our New Prosperity, R. H. THuRSTON, 
762 

BALDWIN, J. M. and Orners, A Disclaimer, 850 

Ball, R. S., Theory of Screws, C. BARus, 1001 

Bancrort, W. D., Anorganische Chemie, W. Ost- 
wald, 722 


BANKS, N., Camphor Secreted by an Animal, 649 

Barus, C., Interferences observed in viewing one 
coarse ‘grating through another, and on the pro- 
jection of one piece of Wire Gauze by a Parallel 
Piece, 617 ; Theory of Screws, R. S. Ball, 1001 

Barrus, G.S., Engine Tests, R. H. THurstron, 802 

Bea, W. H., Irrigation, 674 

BEAL, W. J., Agricultural Education, 328 

Beddard, F. E., Whales, H. C. Bumpus, 726 

Bell, A. G., and A. M. Sullivan, The Helen Keller 
Souvenir, W. K. Brooks, 523 

Belzung, E., Anatomie et physiologie végétale, D. T. 
MacDoueat, 444 

BENEDICT, A. L., ’ Bufialo Exposition, 271 

BENSLEY, B. A., Inflection of the Angle of the Jaw 
in Marsupialia, 558 

Bessey, C. E., Botanical Notes, 74, 150, 451, 570, 
649, 852, 890; N. A. Forests, E. Bruncken, 110 ; 
Flora of Montana, per Axel Rydberg, 111 

BIGELow, M. A., Embryology of Lepas, 65; Zoology, 
C. B. and G. C. Davenport, 442 

Biological, Laboratories, Inland, 436; Lectures (Woods 
Holl), C. B. DAVENPORT, 563 ; Society of Wash- 
ington, F. A. Lucas, 728, 807, 927, 965 

Biology at the N. Y. Academy of Sciences, F. E. 
LLOYD, 729, 885 

Birds, Protection and Importation of, 155; Three For- 
gotten Names of, W. J. Fox, 314 

Birmingham, University of, R. H. THURSTON, 315 

Bocert, M. T. , N. Y. Section of the American Chem- 
ical Society, 849 

Botanical, Terms, C. A. WHITE, 62; Notes, C. E. 
Bessby, 74, 150, 451, 570, 649, 852, 890; Club 
of Canada, H. M. A., 228 ; Section of the British 
Association, Address of President, S. H. VINES, 
459; Nomenclature, Method of Types, O. F. 
Cook, 475; Garden, N. Y., 6513; Society of 
America, G. F. ATKINSON, 677 

Botany at the American Association, D. T. MaAc- 
DouGAL, 577 

Bottone, S. R., Wireless Telegraphy, F. L. T., 375 

Bourne, G. C., Comparative Anatomy of Animals, 
J. 5S. KINGSLEY, 311 

BRAY, W. L., Relations of N. American Flora to that 
of S. America, 708 

Breaks, Street Car, R. H. Tuurston, 444 

Bristor, C. L., Homing Instinct of a Turtle, 890 

British Association, 334, 417, 459, 502, 590, 632, 745, 
787 ; President’s Address, W TURNER, 337, 385 

Britton, N. L., Torrey Botanical Club, 36 

Brooks, W. K., The Helen Keller Souvenir, A. G. 
Bell and A. M. Sullivan, 523; Marriages of the 
Deaf in America, E. A. Fay, 524 

Brown, B. M., Physiology, F. S. LEE, 683 

Bruncken, E., N. American Forests, C. E. BessEy, 110 


iv _ SCIENCE, 


Buckingham, E., Thermodynamics, J. E. TREVOR, 343 

Buffalo Exposition, A. L. BENEDICT, 271 

Bumpus, H. C.,. Whales, F. E. Beddard, 726 

Buraess, E. S., The Torrey Botanical Club, 687, 886 

Butler, N. M., Education in the United States, P. H. 
HANus, 485 


C., H. W., Microorganisms and Fermentation, A. 
Jorgensen, 344 

CALKINS, G. N., Brook Trout Epidemic, 64 

Callosities upon Horses’ Legs, LAWRENCE IRWELL, 
113; W J McGzsg, 194 

Cambridge Philosophical Society, R. S. W., 481 

CAMPBELL, M. R., and C. W. HAyEs, Relation of 
Biology to Physiography, 131 

Camphor, Secreted by an Animal, O. F. CooK, 516; 
N. BANKs, 649 

CARHART, H.S., Imperial Physico-Technical Institu- 
tion at Charlottenburg, 697 

Cars, Street, in Glasgow, 491 

Catalogue, International, of Scientific Literature, 77, 
215; H. F. Osporn, 113; R. RATHBURN, 270; 
MICHAEL FOSTER, 457 

CHAMBERLIN, T. C., and F. R. MouLtTon, The Nebu- 
lar Hypothesis, 201 

Chemical, Literature, Report on Indexing, 130; In- 
dustry, Society of, 234 ; Section of British Asso- 
ciation, Address of President, W. H. PERKIN, 
632; Laboratory of the University of Kansas, 
E. H. 8S. BAILEY, 997 ; Society, N. Y. Section of, 
M. T. BoGert, 849; DURAND WoopMAN, 849, 
1008 ; Society of Washington, W. H. Krue, 1005 

Chemistry, Bureau of, 116; Notes on Inorganic, J. 
L. H., 147, 194, 272, 314, 489, 530, 569, 731, 
766, 931; at the American Association, A. A. 
NoYes, 263; Organic, The Revival of, H. N. 
STOKES, 537 

CHILD, C. M. » Zoological Club of the University of 
Chicago, 298 

Christmas Island, WM. H. DALL, 2 

Cities, The Growth of, 960 

CLARKE, J. M., Siluro- Devonic Tere 406 

Cu AYTON, H. BL, Structure of the Corona, 146 

Coal Fields of China, 452 

Coast Survey, Superintendency and Organization, 765 

COCcKERELL, T. D. A., American Hydroids, C. C. 
Nutting, 920; The Kieffer Pear and the San 
José Scale, 488 

CoE, F. N., Amer. Mathematical Society, 129, 764 

Coleoptera, Ulke Collection of, L.O. HowArp, 918 

Color. Problem of, C. L. FRANKLIN, 408 

Colton, B. P., Physiology, F. S. LEE, 683 

Common, A. A., Address of the Chairman of the De- 
partment of Astronomy of British Association, 590 

Comstock, Gro. R., Astronomical and Astrophysical 
Society of America, 121, 171 

CONKLIN, E. G., The Cell, E. B. Wilson, 109 

Cook, O. F., Method of Types in Botanical Nomen- 
clature, 475 ; Camphor Secreted by an Animal, 
516; Peach Yellows, 875 

Copyright of University Lectures, R. M. WENLEY, 
376 


Coral Reef, A Tertiary, T. W. VAUGHAN, 873 

Corona, Structure of. H. H. CLAyTon, 146 

Correlation of the Human Skull, ALICE LEE, 946 

Cory, C. B., Birds of Eastern N. America, W. H. 
Osaoop, 192 

CouttER, J. M., The Mission of Science in Educa- 
tion, 281 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


CowLes, H. C., Physiographic Ecology, 708 

Cox, U. O., Physiology, F. S. LEE, 683 

Crew, H., Physics, W. Le C. STEVENS, 34 

Crossley Reflector of the Lick Observatory, C. B. 
PERRINE, 627 

CurTIs, W. C., Sexual and Asexual Reproduction, 940 


DALL, WM. H., Christmas Island, 225 ; Scientific Re- 
sults of the Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 
F. Nansen, 562; Relation of N. American Flora 
to that of S. America, 808 ; Mollusks, 822 

Daty, R. A., Notes on Oceanography, 114, 148, 688 

DAVENPORT, C. B., Investigations at Cold Spring 
Harbor, 371 ; Biological Lectures (Woods Holl), 
563 ; Quantitative Variation, 864 

Davenport, C. B., and G. C., Zoology, M. A. BI@E- 
Low, 447 

Davis, W. M., Current Notes on Physiography, 73 

Day, W. S., Section of Astronomy, Physics and 
Chemistry, N. Y. Acad. of Sci., 612, 849, 1007 

DEARBORN, G. V. N., Lectures at Clark University, 
A. Mosso, 312 

Demoor, J.. Evolution by Atrophy, C. H. EIGEN- 
MANN, 760 

Diplodocus, Vertebral Formula of, J. B. HATCHER, 

) 


Disclaimer, A., J. M. BALDWIN and OTHERS, 850 
Discussion and Correspondence, 71, 113, 143, 193, 
230, 270, 314, 346, 376, 406, 447, 487, 568, 648, 
684, 730, 765, 808, 850, 887, 929, 1009 
Doctorates Conferred by American Universities, 321 
DrAums, A., and H. Evxis, The Criminal, 930 
Drahms, A., The Criminal, HAVELOCK ELLIS, 610 
Dust Drift, Illusory, A. H. PIERCE, 208 
DyAr, H. G., Lepidoptera Phalene, G. F. Hamp- 


son, 487 
Earthquakes, T. C. MENDENHALL, 678; JOHN 
MILNE, 891 


Eclipse, Solar, 76 

Ecology, Physiographic, H. C. CowxEs, 708 

Edinburgh Encyclopedia, W. STONE, 685 

Educated Men and the State, H. 8. PRITCHETT, 657 

Education at the Paris Exposition, 136 

Eel, The Conger, C. H. EIGENMANN, 401 

EIGENMANN, C. H., Zoology at the American As- 
sociation, 299 ; The Conger Eel, 401 ; Evolution 
by Atrophy, J. Demoor, 760 

Electricians, American, in London, R. H. THURSTON, 
689 

ELLIS, HAVELOCK, The Criminal, A. Drihms, 610, 
and A. DRAHMS, The Criminal, 930 

Embryology of Lepas, M. A. BIGELOW, 65 

Embryo sacs, Plant, K. M. WIEGAND, 347 

Engineering, Schools and Original Investigation, A. 
MAkston, 397; Education, IRA O. BAKER, 666 

Engineers, Mechanical, American Society of, R. H. 
THURSTON, 964 

Epitropism, Apotropism and Tropaxis, C. A. WHITE, 
143 


Eunica Auriculata, A. L. TREADWELL, 342 
Explosion of Scientific Interest, R. H. THURSTON, 732 
Eye, Power of the, H. M. STANLEY, 73 


F., A. C., Folk-lore in Borneo, 684 

F., A. K., Ornithology, 140 

F., B. E., Forestry in the Philippines. 810 

F., W. 8., Architectural Acoustics, 489; Notes on 
Physics, 613 


New | 
VoL. XII. 


Farrand, L., Basketry Designs of Salish Indians and 
Traditions of Chilcotin Indians, O. T. Mason, 804 

Fay, E. A., Marriages of the Deaf, W. K. Brooks, 524 

' Frreusson, S. P., Meteorological Kite Flying, 521 

Fernow, B. E., Forestry, M. H. Vanutberghe, 527 

FESSENDEN, R. A., Physics at the American Associ- 
ation, 106 ; Inertia and Gravitation, 325 ; Gravi- 
tation, 740 

Flora, N. American, Relations to that of S. America, 
W. L. Bray, 708; W. H. DALL, 808; of S. Ap- 
palachian Region, T. H. KEARNEY, 830; The 
Rocky Mountain, P. A. RYDBERG, 870 

Folk-lore in Borneo, A. C. F., 684 

Foods and Drugs, HENRY KRAEMER, 232 

Forestry in the Philippines, B. E. F., 810; Under 
State Control, V. M. SPALDING, 977 

Fossil Faunas, C. R. KEyss, 146 

Foster, MicHA&L, The International Catalogue, 457 

Fox, W. J., Rafinesque’s ‘ Western Minerva,’ 211 ; 
Three Forgotten Names of Birds, 314 ; Names of 
Animals published by Osbeck, 716 

FRANKLIN, C. L., Problem of Color, 408 

FRANKLIN, W. S., Mesures électrique, E. Vigneron 
and P. Letheule, Resistance électrique, G. de 
Villemontée, 646; Gravitation, 887 

FRELEY, J. W., A Correction, 649 

French Association for the Advancement of Sci., 376 

Fricker, K., Antarctic Regions, W. LIBBEY, 682 

FULLERTON, G. S., The Faith of Science, 586 


G., J. E., Chemistry, L. C. Newell, 803 ; Arithmetic of 
Chemistry, J. Waddell, 803 ; Analytical Chemis- 
try, E. H. Miller, 921 

Gasoline Launch, G. D. Harris, 1008 

GatscHeT, A. S., Waikuru, Seri and Yuma Lan- 
guages, 556 

Gauss and the Non-Euclidean Geometry, G. B. HAL- 
STED, 842 

Geological, Survey, BAILEY WILLIS, 241 ; Congress, 
International, H. F. O., 440 ; Survey, Oklahoma, 
C. N. GouLp, 559 ; and Paleontological Collec- 
tions at the American Museum, E. O. Hovey, 
757 ; Society of Washington, F. L. RANSOME and 
DAVID WHITE, 884, 926, 1005 

Geoloey, Address of the President at the British As- 
sociation, W. J. Sounas, 745, 787; and Miner- 
alogy at the N. Y. Academy of Sciences, T. G. 
WHITE, 447, 923, 1006; and Geography at the 
American Association, J. A. HoumEs, 989 

GERMANN,G.B., University Registration Statistics, 956 

GILL, THEO., An Eminent American Man of Science, 

; 568 ; Sauria and Batrachia, 730 

GovtLp, CG. N., Oklahoma Geological Survey, 559 

Government Scientific Work, Administration of, 737 

Gravitation, R. A. FESSENDEN, 740; W.S. FRANK- 
LIN, 887 


H., J. L., Notes on Inorganic Chemistry, 147, 194, 
272, 314, 489, 530, 569, 731, 766, 931 ; Report of 
German Chemical Society on Atomic Weights, 
246; International Commission on Atomic 
Weights, 346 

Hail Storms, Prevention of, 316 

HALE, G. E., James Edward Keeler, 353 

HAut, A., JR., The Teaching of Astronomy, 15 

HALLock, W., Leitfaden der praktischen Physik, 
F. Kohlrausch, 484; Physics, J. Hortvet, 564 

HAtstep, G. B., Gauss and the Non-Euclidean 
Geometry, 842 


SCIENCE. Vv 


Hampson, G. F., Lepidoptera Phalenz, H. G. DyAR, 
487 


Hanus, R. H., Education in the United States, N. 
M. Butler, 485 

Harairt, C. W., Hydromedusz, 340 

Harris, G. D., Gasoline Launch, 1008 

Hartig, Ernst, R. H. THURSTON, 66 

Hartman Anthropological Collection, 967 

HatcueEr, J. B., Paleontological Expeditions, 718; 
Vertebral Formula of Diplodocus, 828 

Hayes, C. W. and M. R. CAMPBELL, Relation of 
Biology to Physiography, 131 

Health Association, American Public, 571 

Heat-engine Diagrams, R. H. THuRsTON, 402 

Herdman, W. A., Ascidia, W. E. Rirrer, 404; and 
R. Boyce, Oysters and Disease, H. F. Moorg, 
443 

Hermaphroditism of Docoglossa, M. A. WILCox, 230 

Hertwig, O., Entwicklungslehre, C. S. Minot, 800 

HILGARD, E. W., Etude sur la gréle, V. Vermorel, 
269 

Hosss, W. H., Science Club of the University of 
Wisconsin, 928 

Hoff, J. H. Van’t., Chimie physique, H. C. J., 881 

HOLLAND, W. J., Butterflies, S. H. Scudder, 269 

Houtmes, J. A., Geology and Geography at the Amer- 
ican Association, 989 

Hopkins, E., Oil Chemist’s Handbook, W. A. N., 921 

Horticulture and Botany at the Association of Agri- 
cultural Colleges, 770 

Hortvet, J., Physics, W. HALLOCK, 564 

Howakrp, L. O., Ulke Collection of Coleoptera, 918; 
Parasitic Hymenoptera, L. G. Seurat, 961 ; The 
Harlequin Fly, L. C. Miall and A. R. Ham- 
mond, 963 

Howard on Mosquitoes in the United States, M. V. 
SLINGERLAND, 560 

Hovey, E. O., Geological and Paleontological Collec- 
tions at the American Museum, 757 

Hovey, H. C., La spéléologie, E A. Martel, 608 

Howe, J. L., Periodic System, 20 

Hydromeduse, C. W. HARGITT, 340 


IHERING, H. von., The Neotropical Region, 857 

Ihering, H. von , Archiplata, A. E. ORTMANN, 929 

Inertia and Gravitation, R. A. FESSENDEN, 325 

Interferences observed on viewing one Coarse Grating 
through another, CarL Barus, 617 

Investigations at Cold Spring Harbor, C. B. DAVEN- 
PORT, 371 

Irrigation, W. H. BEAL, 674 

IRWELL, LAWRENCE, Callosities upon Horses’ Legs, 
113 


J., H. C., Chimie physique, J. H. Van’t Hoff, 881 

JAMES, W., International Psychical Institute, 376 

JASTROW, J., Grammar of Science, K. Pearson, 67 

JEFFERSON, M.S. W., Tarr and McMurry’s Geog- 
raphies, 373 

Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine, 153 

JENNINGS, H.S., Michigan Zoological Journal Club, 
886, 927 

Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 235 

JORDAN, D. S., First Species Named as the Type of 
the Genus, 785 

Jorgensen, A., Microorganisms and Fermentation, H. 
W. C., 344 

Jupp, C. H., Anthropology, and Psychology at the 
N. Y. Academy of Sciences, 729, 925 


vi SCIENCE. 


Kathode Rays, E. Merrit, 41, 98 

Kearney, T. H., Flora of 8. Appalachian Region, 830 

Keeler, James Edward, G. E. HALE, 353 

Kemp, J. F., Pre- Cambrian Sediments in the Adiron- 
dacks, 81 

Keyes, C. R., Fossil Faunas, 146 

Kinestey, J. S., Comparative Anatomy of Animals, 
G. C. Bourne, 311 

Kite vs. Balloon, A. L. Rorcn, 193 

Kororp, C. A., Microscopy of Drinking Water, G. C. 
Whipple, 69 

Kohlrausch, F., Kleiner Leitfaden der praktischen 
Physik, W. HALLOCK, 484 

KRAEMER, H., Foods and Drugs, 232 

Krug, W. H., Chemical Society of Washington, 1005 


L., F. A., Zoological Notes, 150 ; Museum and Zoo- 
logical Notes, 569 
Languages, Waikuru, Seri and Yuma, A. S. Gar- 
SCHET, 556 
Lankester, E. R., Zoology, J. P. McM., 959 
TLARMOR, 8 Address of the President of the Mathe- 
matical and Physical Section of the British Asso- 
ciation, 417 
Lassar-Cohn, Chemie, E. RENOUF, 803 
Lazear, Jesse William, 932 
Leaves, Green, Electrical Effect of Light on, 377 
- Leg, ALICE, Correlation of the Human Skull, 946 
Lex, F. S., Physiology, B. M. Brown, 683; U. O. 
Cox, 683 ; B. P. Colton, 684 
Lipsey, W., Antarctic Regions, K. Fricker, 682 
Luoyp, F. E., Biology at the N. Y. Academy of Sci- 
ences, 729, 885 
Lockygr, W., and W. J. S., Sunspots and Rainfall, 
915 
Logs, J., Artificial Parthenogenesis in Annelids, 170 
Loess of North China, F. B. Wriaut, 71 
Loew, O., Tobacco, H. N. STOKES, 191 
Loos, Herman Andreas, M. C. WHITAKER, 403 
Lucas, F. A., Deformed Sterna in the Domesticated 
Fowl, 71; Biological Society of Washington, 728, 
807, 927, '965; Paleontological Notes, 809 
Lumholtz, Cx Symbolism of Huicol Indians, O. T. 
Mason, 804 


M., T. C., Newspaper Science, 684 

MacCormac, W. , Development of Surgery, 254 

MacDovaat, D. “GBs Anatomie et physiologie végé- 
tale, EB. Belzung, 444; Botany at the American 
Association, 577 

McGeEg, W J, Callosities on Horses’ Legs, 194 

Mellvaine, C., American Fungi, 958 

MeM., J. P., Zoology, E. R. Lankester, 959 

Maats, W. F., Physics, W. Watson, 139 

Magnetic Work, 152 

Mammalian Fauna of the Santa Cruz Beds of Pata- 
gonia, W. B. Scorr, 937 

Marston, A., Original Investigation by Engineering 
Schools, 397 

Marsupialia, Inflection of the Angle of the Jaw in, 
B. A. BENSLEY, 558 

Martel. E. A., La spéléologie, H. C. HoveEy, 608 

Mason, O. T., Anthropological Publications of the 
American Museum, 804 

Mathematical Society, American, F. N. Cone, 129, 
764 ; and Physical Section of the British Associ- 
ation, Address of the President, J. LARMOR, 417 

Mathematics and Astronomy at the American Associ- 
ation, W. M. Srrone, 104 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


Mechanics, Applied, Congress of, R. H. THURSTON, 
681 


Medical Exhibits at Paris, 195 

MENDENHALL, T. C., Earthquakes, 678 

Merritt, E., Kathode Rays, 41, 98 

Meteorological Kite Flying, S. P. FeRGusson, 521 

Meteorology, Current Notes, R. DeC. WARD, 37, 114, 
731, 850, 1009; Congress of, A. L. Roreu, 796 

Meyer and Wiglsstatowae on the Birds of Celebes, J. 
A. ALLEN, 223 

Meyer, H. , Carbon Compounds, W. R. ORNDORFF, 882 

Miall, L. Oh, and A. R. Hammond, Harlequin Fly, 
L. O, HOWARD, 963 

Microscopical Society, American, HENRY B. WARD, 
999 

Miller, E. H., Analytical Chemistry, J. E. G., 921 

MILNn, JOHN, Earthquakes, 891 

Minot, C.S., Entwicklungslehre, O. Herrwie, 800 

Mollusks, Ww. H. DALL, 822 

Monreomery, H., Eminent American Men of Sci- 
ence, 346 ; A Large Crystal of Spodumene, 410 

Moore, H. F., Oysters and Disease, W. A. Herdman 
and R. Boyce, 443 

Mosquitoes, in the British Museum, 691 ; and Yellow 
Fever, 692 

Mosso, A., Lectures at Clark University, G. V. N. 
DEARBORN, 312 

Movutton, F. R. and T. C. CHAMBERLIN, The 
Nebular Hypothesis, 201 

Museum and Zoological Notes, F. A. L., 569 

Museums, Foreign, 231 


N., W. A., Oil Chemist’s Handbook, E. Hopkins, 921 
Nansen, F., Scientific Results of the Norwegian 
North Polar Expedition, W. H. Daun, 562 

National Academy of Sciences, 848 

Nebular Hypothesis, T. C. CHAMBERLIN and F. R. 
Moutton, 201 

Neotropical Region, History of, H. von IMERING, 857 

New York Academy of Sciences, Geology and Miner- 
ology, T. G. WHITE, 447, 923, 1006 ; Astronomy, 
Physics, and Chemistry, W. S. Day, 612, 849, 
1007; C. H. Jupp, 729, 925; Biology, F. E. 
LiLoybD, 729, 885 

Newell, L. C., Chemistry, J. E. G., 803 

Nobel prizes, 497 

Noyes, A. A., Chemistry at the American Associ- 
ation, 263 

Nutting, C. C., American Hydroids, T. D. A. CocKk- 
ERELL, 920 


O., H F., International Geological Congress, 440 

Oceanography, Notes on, R. A. DAny, 114, 148, 688 

Ornborrr, W. k., Carbon Compounds, H. Meyer, 
882 

Ornithologists’ Union, American, J. H. Saar, 949 

Ornithology, A. K. F., 140 

OrtMANN, A. E,, von Thering’s Archiplata, 929 

OsBorN, H F., International Catalogue of Scientific 
Literature, 113 ; Zoo-paleontology, 767 

Osaoop, W. H., Birds of Eastern North America, C. 
B Cory, 192 

Ostwald, W., Anorganische Chemie, W. D. BAN- 
CROFT, 722 


Pappock, W., European Apple Tree Canker in 
America, 297 

Paleontological Expeditions, J, B. HATCHER, 718 ; 
Notes, F. A. Lucas, 809 


New SERIES 
VoL. XII. 


Parthenogenesis, Artificial, in Annelids, J. Lorn, 170 

Peach Yellows, O. F. Cook, 875 4 

Pearson, K., Grammer of Science, J. JASTROW, 67 

PENHALLOW, D. P., Paléobotanique, R. Zeiller, 
606 

Periodic System, J. L. Howe, 20 

PERKIN, W. H., Address of the President of the 
Section of Chemistry of British Association, 632 

PERKINS, C. A., Structure of the Atom, 368 

PERRINE, C. D., Crossley Reflector of the Lick Obser- 
vatory, 627 

Peruvian Arc, I. W , 676 ‘ 

Philosophical Society of Washington, 648; E. D 
PRESTON, 926 

Physical Laboratory, British National, 154 

Physico-Technical Institute at Charlottenburg, H. 8. 
CARHART, 697 

Physics, at the American Association, R. A. FESSEN- 
DEN, 106; Notes on, W. S. F., 613 

Physiography, Current Notes on, W. M. DAvIs, 73 

PICKERING, E.C., A New Star in Aquila, 116 : 

Piercs, A. H., The Illusory Dust Drift, 208 

Plague. Harben Lectures on, 969 

Plant Geography in North America, H. C. CowLEs, 
708; W. L. BRAy, 708; T. H. KEARNEY, 830 ; 
P. A RYDBERG, 870 

Potato Beetle, Colorado, W. L. Tower, 438 

Pozzi-Escot, E., Analyse chimique qualificative, E. 
Renovr, 71 

Pre-Cambrian Sediments in the Adirondacks, J. F. 
Kemp, 81 

Preston, E. D., Philosophical Society of Washing- 
ton, 926 

PRITCHETT, H S., Educated Men and the State, 657 

Psychical Institute, International, W. JAMES, 376 

Psychology, of Pity, H. M. SrANLEY, 487 ; Congress 
of, R. S. WoopwortH, 605 


Quarter, The Last, L. M. UNDERWooD, 161 


Rafinesque’s ‘ Western Minerva,’ W. J. Fox, 211 

Railways of the United States, R. H. Taurston, 724 

RANsoME, F. L., and D. Wurtz, Geological Society 
of Washington, 884, 926, 1005 

eae R., Catalogue of Scientific Literature, 

70 

Rees, J. K., German Scientific Apparatus, 777 

REESE, H. M., Zeeman Effect, 293 

Renovur, E., Analyse chimique qualitative, E. Pozzi- 
Escot, 71; Chemie in tiglichen Leben, Lassar 
Cohn, 803 

Reinhardt, C. W., Mechanical Drafting, F. N. WILL- 
SON, 528 

Se ee Sexual and Asexual, W. C. CURTIS, 

Reynolds, O., Papers on Mechanical and Physical 
Subjects, R. S. W., 483 

Rays, JoHn, Address of the President of the An- 
thropological Section of British Association, 502 

eee and the Periodic System, F. P. VENABLE, 

25 

Ritter, W. E., Herdman on Ascidia, 404 

Ross, Professor, and Stanford University, 811 

Rorcu, A. L., Kite vs. Balloon, 193 ; Sounding the 
Ocean of Air, R. DeC. Ward, 761; Congress of 
Meteorology, 796; The Longest Aérial Voyage, 930 

Royal Society, 960 

RUSSELL, F.., Anthropology at the American Associa- 
tion, 265 


SCIENCE. 


Vil 


RussE.., I. C., Topographic Atlas of the U. S., 1003 

RYDBERG, P. A., The Rocky Mountain Flora 870 

Rydberg, P. A., Flora of Montana, C. E. BESSEY, 
111 


S., C. G., Acquired Characters, 114 

§., F. W., Texas Academy of Sciences, 142 

Saag, J. H., American Ornithologists’ Union, 949 

San José Scale and the Kieffer Pear, T. D. A. CocK- 
ERELL, 488 

St. Louis Academy of Sciences, WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
648, 928 

Sauria and Batrachia, THEO. GILL, 730 

Science, and Education, J. M.CouLTER, 281 ; Research 
Scholarships, 378 ; Man of, Eminent American, 
THEO. GILL, 568 ; The Faith of, G@. S. FULLER- 
TON, 586 ; Newspaper, T. C. M., 684 

Scientific, Books, 34, 67, 109, 139, 191, 223, 269, 311, 
343, 373 403, 442, 481, 523, 562, 606, 645, 678, 
722, 760, 800, 842, 881, 920, 958, 1001 ; Journals 
and Articles, 36, 113, 141, 192, 227, 270, 313, 
345, 375, 405, 529, 567, 611, 648, 727, 763, 806, 
846, 882, 921, 1004; Notes and News. 38, 78, 116, 
157, 197, 236, 276, 317, 347, 379, 413, 453, 492, 
532, 572, 614, 652, 693, 733, 771, 813, 854. 882, 
933, 969, 1012 ; Apparatus, German, J. K. RrEs, 
177 

Scort, C. A., Arithmetical Note, 648 

Scort, W. B., Mammalian Fauna of the Santa Cruz 
Beds of Patagonia. 937 

Scudder, S. H., Butterflies, W. J. HOLLAND, 269 

Seurat, L. G., Parasitic Hymenoptera, L. O. How- 
ARD, 961 

Shells, Fossil, R. E. C. STEARNS, 247 

Sigma Xi, The American Association and the Geolog- 
ical Society of America, 196 

Siluro-Devonice Boundary, J. M. CLARKE, 406 

Smrpson, C. T., Former Courses of Tennessee and 
other Rivers, 133 

SLINGERLAND, M. V., Howard on Mosquitoes of the 
United States, 560 

Smith, H. I., Archeology of the Thomson River Re- 
gion, O. T. Mason, 804 

Societies and Academies, 36, 142, 228, 446, 612, 648, 
686, 728, 764, 807, 848, 884, 923, 965, 1005 

SoLAs, W. J., Address of the President of the Section 
of Geology of the British Association, 745, 787 

SPALDING, V. M., Forestry under State Control, 977 

Species, First named, as Type of the Genus, D. 8. 
JORDAN, 785 

Spencer-Tolles Fund, 686 

Spodumene, A large Crystal of, H. Montacommry, 410 

Standards Bureau, National, 412 

Sranutey, H. M., Power of the Eye, 73 ; Psychology 
of Pity, 487 

STEARNS, R. E. C., Fossil Shells, 247 

STEVENS, W. LEC., Physics, 34 

Stine, W. M., Photometrical Measurements, F. P. 
WHITMAN, 403 

Stokes, G. G., Memoirs presented to the Cambridge 
Philosophical Society, R. S. W., 481 

Stokes, H. N., The Revival of Organic Chemistry, 
537 ; Tobacco, O. Loew, 191 

Stone, W., Edinburgh Encyclopedia, 685 

Strone, W. M., Mathematics and Astronomy at the 
American Association, 104 

Suess, E., La face de la terre, J. B. WooDWORTH, 645 

Sunspots and Rainfall, N. LockyER and W. J. 8S. 
Lock Y&R, 915 


Vill SCIENCE. 


Surgeons, Royal College of, 250 
Surgery, Development of, W. MAcCorMAc, 254 


T., F. L., Wireless Telecraphy, S. R. Bottone, 375 

T., W., Bailey’s Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 226 

Tait, P. G., Scientific Papers. R. S. W., 483 

Tarr and MeMurry’s Geographies, M. S. W. JEFFER- 
son, 373 

Teit, J., Thompson River Indians, O. T. Mason, 804 

Telephonegraph, 812 

Tennessee and other Rivers, Former Courses “of, C. 
T. Smmpson, 133 

Tesla and the Universe, 447 

Texas Academy of Sciences, F. W. S., 142 

TuuRston, R. H., University of Birmingham, 315 ; 
Heat engine Diagrams, 402; Street Car Breaks, 
444; Water Supply of the City of New York, 
566 ; Congress of Applied Mechanics, 681 ; Rail- 
ways of the United States, 724 ; - Explosion of 
Scientific Interest, 732; Free- hand Perspective, 
VY. T. Wilson, 761 ; Our New Prosperity, R.S. 
Baker, 762 ; Engine Tests, G. 8. Barrus, 802; 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 964 

Topographic Atlas of the U. S., I. C. Russet, 1003. 

Torrey Botanical Club, N. L. Brirron, 36; E. S. 
BURGESS, 687, 886 

Tower, W. L., Colorado Potato Beetle, 438 

TREADWELL, A. L., Eunica Auriculata, 342 

TRELEASE, W., Twentieth Century Problems, 48 ; 
St. Louis Academy of Sciences, 648, 928. 

Trevor, J. E., Thermodynamics, E. Buckingham, 
343 

Trout Brook, Epidemic of, G. N. CALKINS, 64 

TRUE, A. C, Association’ of Agricultural Colleges 
and Experiment Stations, 817 

True, A. C. and V. A. Clark, Agricultural Experi- 
ment Stations, E. W. ALLEN, 111 

Tuberculosis, British Congress on, 316 

TURNER, W., Address of President before the British 
Association, 357, 385 

Turtle, Homing Instinct of a, C. L. Bristox, 890 

Twentieth Century Problems, W. TRELEASE, 48 


UNDERWOOD, L. M., The Last Quarter, 161 

Uninsulated Conductors and Scientifie Work, 1010 

Units at the International Electrical Congress, 410 

University, and Educational News, 40, 79, 120, 160, 
200, 240, 279, 320, 352, 384, 416, "456, 496, 536, 
576, 616, say 695, 736, 7716, 816, 855, 896, 936, 
976, 1016; Registration Statistics, G. B. GER- 
MANN, 906 


Vanutberghe, M. H., Forestry, B. E. FeRNow, 527 

Variation, Quantitative, C. B. DAVENPORT, 864 

VAUGHAN, T. W., A Tertiary Coral Reef, 873 

VENABLE, F. P., Richter and the Periodic System, 
825 

Vermorel, V., La gréle, E. W. HILGArD, 269 

Vigneron, E. and P. Letheule, Mesures électrique, 
W.S. FRANKLIN, 646 


CONTENTS AND 
INDEX. 


Villemontée, G. de, Resistance électrique, W. S. 
FRANKLIN, 646 : 
VinEs, S. H., Address of the President of the Botan- 

ical Section of the British Association, 459 
Vision, Defective of School Children, 274 


W., I., The Peruvian Arc, 676 

W., R. S., Memoirs presented to the Cambridge 
Philosophical Society on the occasion of the Jubi- 
lee of Sir G. G. Stokes, 481; Scientific Papers, 
P. G. Tait, 483 ; Papers on Mechanical and Phys- 
ical Subjects, O. Reynolds, 483 

Waddell, J., Arithmetic of Chemistry. J. E. G., 803 

Warp, R. DEC., Current Notes on Meteorology, 37, 
114, 731, 850, 1009 ; Sounding the Ocean of Air, 
A. L. Rotch, 761 

Water, Supply of City of New York, R. H. THURS- 
TON, 565 ; Analysis. Standard Methods, 906 

Watson, W , Physics, W. F. MAGIz, 139 

Welsbach Light, 951 

WENLEY, R. M., Copyright of University Lectures, 
376 . 

Whipple. G. C., Microscopy of Drinking Water, C. A. 
KOFOoID, 69 

WHITAKER, M. C., Herman Andreas Loos, 403 

Wuitr, C. A., Botanical Terms. 62; Epitropism, 
Apotropism and Tropaxis, 143 

WuitE, D., and F. L. Ransome, Geological Society 
of Washington, 884, 926, 1005 

WuHite, T. G., Geology and Mineralogy at the N. Y. 
Academy of Sciences, 447, 923, 1006 

WHITMAN, F. P., Photometrical Measurements, W. 
M. Stine, 403 

WIEGAND, K. M., Plant Embryo-sacs, 347 

WILcox, M. A., Hermaphroditism of Docoglossa, 230 

WILLIS, BAILEY, U.S. Geological Survey, 241 

WILtson, F. N., Mechanical Drafting, C. W. Rein- 
hardt, 528 

Wilson, E. B., The Cell, E. G. ConKLIN, 109 

Wilson, V. T., Free-hand Perspective, R. H. THURS- 
TON, 761 

Wireless Telegraphy, 690 

Woop, R. W., Zenker’s Photochromie, 445 

WoopMAN, DURAND, N. Y. Section of the American 
Chemical Society, 849, 1008 

WoopwortH, J. B., La face de Ja terre, E. Suess, 645 

Woopworrh, R. S., Congress of Psychology, 605 

Wricat, F. B., Loess of North China, 71 


Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes, 692, 1010 


Zeeman, Effect, H. M. REESE, 293 

Zeiller, R., Paléobotanique, D. P. PENHALLow, 606 

Zenker’s Photochromie, R. W. Woop, 445 

Zoological, Notes, F. A. L., 150; Club of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, C. M. Carnp, 228; Mich. 
Zoological Club, H. 8S. JENNINGS, 886, 927 

Zoology at the American Association, C. H. EIGEN- 
MANN, 299 

Zoo-paleontology, H. F. OSBORN, 767 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE : 8. NEWcoMB, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE CONTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; 
W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuppDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. 8. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownpitcH, 
Physiology; J. 8S. Brbutines, Hygiene; WiLLIAM H. WEtcH, Pathology; 

J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Scientific Books :— 
Crew’s Elements of Physics: PROFESSOR W. LE 
CONTE STEVENS. Books Received........0..0...0+ 34 


36 


FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The American Association for the Advancement of 
Science :-— 


Scientific Journals and Articles 
Societies and Academies :— 


TheeNew Mon keMceting er. stesesceseeccessceccsssers 1 The Torrey Botanical Club: PROFESSOR N. L. 
The Proceedings of the Association : PROFESSOR BRITTON io. aceciccsnctieccesseses stseeteecucessasceere scaes 36 
CHARLES BASKERVILLE...........-2.cssceseeseeeeees 4 Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Address of Welcome: PRESIDENT SETH Low... 9 Climate and the Ice Industry; Frost Fighting : 
Address of the President: PROFESSOR R. S. RD HCA WARD enecceectancectseresensncenseseeteeees 37 
WOODWARD. 000-0 cesseeseereeeeeeeeseceesereeseesseeee 12 Scientific Notes and News. .......00cccoce secseseeseeeees 38 
On) they Teaching of “Astronomy, in) the: United University and Educational News........0.0ee.ceeeeseees 40 
States: PROFESSOR ASAPH HALL, JR............ 15 

nh ighth riodic Sys 
the Engiible Gee, ay oe ie todicy System mand MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
some of its Problems, Il.: PROFESSOR Jas. for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
NUEAWASHELOWIE) scien scncaecceestscnitecoctasuscsecseareseeue 20  sorJ. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF 
SCIENCE. 


From the point of view of scientific work the New York meeting of the Association 
was the most successful in its history, with the possible exception of the anniversary 
meeting held two years ago at Boston. It was not expected that New York City would 
be a favorable place to awaken local enthusiasm or altogether suitable for social gather- 
ings, but even in these respects there were no grounds for complaint. The attendance— 
a registration of about 450—was not as large as had been hoped for. It included, how- 
ever, an unusually large proportion of fellows, and there were perhaps three hundred 
members of the affiliated Societies present who did not register as members of the Asso- 
ciation. Theassembly of scientific men was therefore about as large as it ever has been, 
and considerably larger than since 1884, with the exception of the anniversary meeting. 

The general conduct of the meeting met with the approval of nearly all the mem- 
bers, though a few regretted the lack of eleemosynary entertainments and excursions. 
The members were welcomed to Columbia University by President Low and to the 
American Museum of Natural History by President Jesup. The address of the presi- 


2 SCIENCE. 


dent, Professor Woodward, who presided 
with admirable dignity and tact, is printed 
below, while last week we were able to pub- 
lish the address of Mr. Gilbert, the retiring 
president, which was a model of what such 
an address should be. Scientific excursions 
were made to the Botanical Gardens, to the 
Zoological Park, to the American Museum, 
to the Marine Laboratory at Coldspring 
Harbor and elsewhere, but the special feat- 
ure of the meeting was the number and im- 
portance of the papers presented before the 
sections and affiliated societies. 

The scientific pre-eminence of the meeting 
was due to these special scientific societies 
holding sessions in conjunction with the 
Association. The American Chemical So- 
ciety always has a large attendance and 
crowded program. It was the first society 
to become definitely affiliated with the As- 
sociation, and the result has been to make 
chemistry the leading science at the meet- 
ings. The Botanical Society of America, 
The Society for the Promotion of Agricul- 
tural Science and the American Forestry 
Association have given botany a place next 
to chemistry. But this year, for the first 
time since the beginning of the movement 
toward special societies, chemistry and 
botany were rivalled by the work of sec- 
tions A and B. The American Mathemat- 
ical Society and the Astronomical and As- 
trophysical Society of America met with 
the section for mathematics and astronomy 
and the American Physical Society with the 
section for physics, and these sections held 
meetings of unusualimportance. The Geo- 
logical Society of America strengthens Sec- 
tion E, but unfortunately for the Associa- 
tion the most active geologists are likely to 
be in the field at the time of the meeting. 
The work of the Zoological section was un- 
usually good this year. The Association of 
Economic Entomologists and the American 
MicroscopicalSociety met with the Associa- 
tion, but the American Morphological So- 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


“ety and the American Ornithologists 
Union have not hitherto co-operated. An- 
thropology was strengthened, though only 
to a limited extent, by the American Psy- 
chological Association and the American 
Folk-lore Society. There were no special 
societies meeting in conjunction with Sec- 
tion D, Mechanical Science and Engineer- 
ing, or with Section I, Social and Eco- 
nomic Science, and these are the two 
weakest sections of the Association. The 
Society for the Promotion of Engineering 
Education, which met after the adjourn- 
ment of the Association, should join with 
Section D, and every effort should be made 
to secure the co-operation of the great en- 
gineering societies. In like manner the 
national societies devoted to social and eco- 
nomic science should be persuaded to meet 
with Section I, and perhaps special societies 
should be formed relating to the scientific 
aspects of commerce and education. There 
is no question that the special societies are 
strengthening the Association, the only 
drawback being that many of the members 
do not join the parent body. As they take 
advantage of the reduced railway rates and 
other arrangements for the meetings there 
is every reason for them to defray their 
share of the cost. Indeed it is obviously 
the duty of all men of science to support 
the historic and general association, whose 
influence is proportionate to its member- 
ship. 

Although the annual dues are very mod- 
erate — only $3, while they are $5 in 
the British and French Associations—many 
members of other scientific societies think 
that they do not receive an adequate return 
for membership. It is a fact that owing to 
the wide dispersion of men of science in 
America and the difficulties of long journeys 
in mid-summer fewer than one fourth of the 
members attend the meetings. There is 
consequently hesitation in joining the As- 
sociation and a tendency to let member- 


JULY 6, 1900.] 


ship lapse. The Association, however, 
took action at the recent meeting that will 
give even to those who are unable to attend 
the meetings a definite and adequate return 
formembership. The Council unanimously 
decided to send Screncz free of charge to all 
members of the Association next year and 
to publish in it official notices and proceed- 
ings. This action will increase the member- 
ship of the Association and the interest of 
the members in its work, while at the same 
time extending the influence of this Jour- 
NAL, and promoting the cause to which both 
the Association and the JouRNAL are de- 
voted—the advancement and diffusion of 
science. 

The Association took another important 
step in establishing a section of physiology 
and experimental medicine. Since the 
foundation of the Association and even 
since the division into sections eighteen 
years ago a group of sciences has devel- 
oped with remarkable activity. Physiology, 
experimental psychology, anatomy, embry- 
ology, histology, morphology, pathology, 
bacteriology and their applications have 
hitherto been ignored by the Association. 
Yet they represent one-half of the work of 
the German Association. An increase in 
membership and a new impetus will un- 
doubtedly follow the recognition of sciences 
whose great advances and beneficent in- 
fluences are seen on all sides. 

The lengthening of the term of service of 
the treasurer to five years was the only 
other amendment made to the constitution. 
This was an obvious improvement, the 
treasurer being as a matter of fact a per- 
manent officer, though he has hitherto been 
elected from year to year. Several impor- 
tant recommendations were made by the 
Council, an account of which will be found 
_ in the report of the general secretary pub- 
lished below. 

Tt is a cause for congratulation that the 
permanent funds of the Association were 


mously adopted. 


SCIENCE. 3 


increased last year by over forty per cent. 
Mr. Emerson MeMillin’s qualification as a 
patron provided $1000, and the permanent 
secretary was able to hand over to the treas- 
urer $1500, of which $500 resulted from 
the falling in of the dues of life members, 
and $1000 represented savings due chiefly 
to the efficiency of the permanent secretary. 
He was able to add a further sum of $1000 
at the present meeting. In spite of this in- 
crease, certainly great when recorded asa 
percentage of the accumulation of many 
years, the permanent funds are lamentably 
small. Only when 100 patrons, each con- 
tributing $1000, have been secured will 
the Association be able to make appropria- 
tions for research equal to those of the 
British and French Associations. 

The small amount available, the interest 
on the permanent funds amounting to $233, 
was used in the way most likely to produce 
valuable results and strengthen the Associa- 
tion. It was divided among four commit- 
tees, to be spent under their auspices in 
special researches. The committees are : on 
anthropometry ; on the quantitative study 
of biological variations ; on the cave fauna 
of North America, and on the relation of 
plants to climate. When it is generally 
known that the small sum of $50 a year 
will provide for a research under the aus- 
pices of a committee of the Association it 
seems certain that the money needed will be 
forthcoming. 

In accordance with a good departure the 
general committee at Columbus, in selecting 
New York as the place of meeting for the 
present year, recommended Denver for next 
year, and this recommendation was unani- 
Invitations of great cor- 
diality were presented, and it was the general 
opinion that an ‘American’ Association 
should meet farther to the west than hith- 
erto. A good meeting at Denver is certain, 
while at the same time the influence of the 
Association will be exerted in a region 


4 SCLENCE. 


where educational and scientific institutions 
are making extraordinary advances. Pitts- 
burg was recommended as the place of meet- 
ing in 1902. The president was elected by 
a unanimous vote of the general committee. 
It was the opinion of all that no one so well 
deserved this honor as Professor Charles 
Sedgwick Minot, of the Harvard Medical 
School, eminent in the great group of sci- 
ences now first recognized by the Associa- 
tion, as well as in his labors on behalf of 
the Association. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 

TueE forty-ninth annual meeting of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science began with the meeting of the 
Council at the Hotel Majestic at noon on 
Saturday, June 23d, and the first general 
session of the members was held at Colum- 
bia University at 11 o’clock on Monday, 
June 25th. The meeting was called to 
order by the retiring president, Mr. G. K. 
Gilbert, of the U. S. Geological Survey, who 
introduced the president-elect, Professor R. 
S. Woodward, of Columbia University. 
President Low welcomed the Association 
to New York City and to Columbia Univer- 
sity and Professor Woodward replied. These 
addresses are published in this number of 
Science. Governor Roosevelt having tele- 
graphed that he was unable to be present 
owing to important engagements, the Hon. 
James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, 
was called upon, and made an address em- 
phasizing the importance of applied science, 
to which the Department of Agriculture is 
contributing so much. 

On the adjournment of the general ses- 
sion, the sections organized and in the after- 
noon the addresses of the vice-presidents 
were given. There were only five of these, 
the addresses by Mr. J. A. Brashear, Pro- 
fessor C. B. Davenport, Mr. A. W. Butler 
and Professor C. M. Woodward having been 
postponed until next year in accordance 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


with the plan that will hereafter be followed 
of having the addresses given by the retir- 
ing, instead of by the incoming vice-presi- 
dents. The addresses given at New York, 
now in course of publication in this Jour- 
NAL, are as follows: 

Section of Mathematics fand Astronomy: ‘The 
Teaching of Astronomy in the United States,’ by 
Professor Asaph Hall, Jr. 

Section of Physics: ‘The Kathode Rays and some 
related Phenomena,’ by Professor Ernest Merritt. 

Section of Chemistry: ‘The Eighth Group of the 
Periodic System and some of its Problems,’ by Pro- 
fessor Jas. Lewis Howe. 

Section of Botany: ‘Some Twentieth Century 
Problems,’ by Professor William Trelease. 

Section of Geology: ‘Precambrian Sediments in 
the Adirondacks,’ by Professor J. F. Kemp. 

On Tuesday evening the members of the 
Association were welcomed to the American 
Museum of Natural History by President 
Jesup, and Mr. Gilbert gave the address on 
‘Rhythms and Geologic Time’ published 
in the last number of this JouRNAL. 

The scientific work of the meeting was 
presented before the nine sections of the 
Association and the fifteen affiliated so- 
cieties meeting with it, and will be reported 
fully in subsequent issues of this JoURNAL. 

The number of members and fellows in 
attendance at the time of the last general 
session was 447, which during the day 
was probably increased to slightly over 
450. Different sections of the country were 
represented as follows: New York by 184 
members ; District of Columbia, 47 ; Massa- 
chusetts, 46 ; Pennsylvania, 32; Ohio, 22; 
New Jersey, 17 ; Indiana, 13 ; Connecticut, 
12; Wisconsin, 10; Michigan, 9; Illinois, 
8; Rhode Island, 7; Maryland, 6; New 
Hampshire, 5; Virginia, 4; three each 
from Canada, Missouri and North Carolina; 
two each from Iowa, Kentucky, West Vir- 
ginia, Maine, Mississippi, Florida, Minne- 
sota and Colorado; one each from Ala- 
bama, Tennessee, Kansas, Louisiana, South 
Dakota, California, Texas, Nebraska, Dela- 
ware and South Carolina. 


SuLY 6, 1900.] 


Two hundred and fifty-nine new mem- 
bers were elected at the meeting, which, in- 
cluding those elected at previous meetings 
of the Council, makes a total of 331 new 
members since the Columbus meeting. It 
was announced by the Permanent Secretary 
at the close of the meeting that the mem- 
bership list numbers 1900. 

Seventy-seven fellows were elected as 
follows : 


H. C. Lord, Ohio State University, Columbus, O. 

E. S. Crawley, University of Pa., Philadelphia. 

George A. Hill, U. S. Naval Observatory, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

William J. Humphreys, Charlottesville, Va. 

Miss Mary W. Whitney, Vassar Observatory, 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

Paul 8. Yendell, Dorchester, Mass. 

Arthur L. Foley, Indiana University, Blooming- 
ton, Ind. 

Oscar M. Stewart, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

Barry McNutt, Lehigh University, South Bethle- 
hem, Pa. 

C. E. Mendenhall, Williams College, Williams- 
town, Mass. 

Chas. F. Cox, Grand Central Station, New York, 
N. Y. 

John F. Mohler, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. 

D. B. Brace, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebr. 

Wallace C. Sabine, Harvard University, Cambridge, 
Mass. 

Chas. F. Scott, Westinghouse Co., Pittsburg, Pa. 

Chas. T. Knipp, University of Indiana, Blooming- 
ton, Ind. 

Chas. A. Perkins, University of Tennessee, Knox- 
ville, Tenn. 

A. DeF. Palmer, Brown University, Providence, 
IX, Is 

Frank A. Wolff, Jr., Columbian University, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

George F. Stradling, Central High School, Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

James S. Stevens, University of Maine, Orono, 
Maine. 

R. W. Wood, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 
Wis. 

Augustus Strowbridge, University of Michigan, Ann 
Arbor, Mich. 

C. E. St. John, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio. 

Herschel C. Parker, Columbia University, New 
York, N. Y. 

Thomas Clarke, Chapel Hill, N. C. 


SCIENCE. 5 


Miss Mary E. Pennington, Woman’s Medical Col- 
lege, Philadelphia, Pa. 

W. R. Whitney, Mass. Inst. Tech., Boston, Mass. 

M. T. Bogert, Columbia University, New York, 
N. ¥. 

E. C. Franklin, Kansas State University, Law- 
rence, Kansas. 

J. B. Weems, Iowa Agr. College, Ames, Iowa. 

Samuel Bookman, Pathological Institute, 
York, N. Y. 

C. W. Moulton, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 

J. A. Deghuee, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

A. W. Smith, Case School, Cleveland, Ohio. 

C. W. Dabney, University of Tennessee, Knoxyille, 
Tenn. 

A. P. Saunders, Hamilton College, Madison, N. Y. 

F. A. Genth, Lansdowne, Pa. 

A. J. Hopkins, Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. 

L. H. Orleman, Military Academy, Peekskill, N. Y. 

W. O. Crosby, Mass. Inst. Tech., Boston, Mass. 

F. P. Gulliver, St. Marks School, Southboro, Mass. 

J. V. Lewis, Clemson College, 8. C. 

Edward Orton, Jr,, Ohio State Uniy., Columbus, 
Ohio. 

W. G. Tight, Granville, Ohio. 

S. Prentiss Baldwin, Cleveland, Ohio. 

G. H. Barton, Cambridge, Mass. 

S. W. Beyer, Iowa Agric. College, Ames, Iowa. 

A. P. Brigham, Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y. 

H. C. Bumpus, Brown University, Providence, R. I. 

Mrs. S. H. Gage, Cornell Uniy., Ithaca, N. Y. 

W. H. Welch, Medical School, Johns Hopkins 
Univ., Baltimore, Md. 

Dean C. Worcester, U. S. Commissioner, Manila, 
12, Ils 

C. Hart Merriam, Dept. Agric., Washington, D. C. 

E. B. Wilson, Columbia Univ., New York, N. Y. 

G. 8S. Hopkins, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

Outram Bangs, Boston, Mass. 

Frank Smith, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. 

A. G. Mayer, Museum Brooklyn Institute, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

L Schoney, New York, N. Y. 

C. L. Edwards, Trinity College, Hartford, Conn. 

W. F. Ganong, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. 

Wm. L. Bryan, Indiana Univ., Bloomington, Ind. 

G. G. MacCurdy, Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn. 

J. Walter Fewkes, Bureau of Ethnology, Washing- 
ton D. C, 

A. F. A. King, Washington, D. C. 

F. R. Rutter, Dept. Agric., Washington, D. C. 

George A. Hoadley, Swarthmore College, Swarth- 
more, Pa. 

W. M. Stine, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, 
Pa. 


New 


6 SCIENCE. 


H. J. Webber, Dept. Agr., Washington, D. C. 

Frank Wm. Rane, Agricultural College, Durham, 
N. H. 

S. A. Beach, Agl. Exp. Station, Geneva, N. Y. 

B. M. Duggar, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

A. D. Selby, Agl. Exp. Station, Wooster, Ohio. 

Grace E. Cooley, Ph.D., Wellesley, Mass. 

Oscar Loew, U.S. Dept. Agr., Washington, D. C. 

John Muir, Martinez, Cal. 


The more important transactions of the 
Council are the following: 

A committee was appointed consisting of 
Professor Simon Newcomb, Mr. G. K. Gil- 
bert, Professor R. S. Woodward, Professor 
Jas. Lewis Howe and Dr. L. O. Howard, to 
report upon the relations of the Association 
and the journal Science, and drew up the 
following resolution, which was unani- 
mously adopted by the Council: 


That the Council accept the proposal of The Mac- 
millan Company to furnish the journal SCIENCE to all 
members of the American Association in good stand- 
ing, at the rate of two dollars per year each ; to take 
effect for one year from January 1, 1901, the total 
amount of the subscription at this rate to be paid by 
the permanent secretary from funds in his hands, and 
the members to receive the journal free of charge to 
themselves on the following conditions: That to the 
words of the title of the journal be added the words, 
‘Publishing the official notices and proceedings of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence,’ and that the price to all non-members of the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science 
be maintained at five dollars per annum. 

That the President of the Association, the Perma- 
nent Secretary and one other member to be appointed 
by the chair be a committee with power to arrange 
details with The Macmillan Company. 


The Committee composed of G. K. Gil- 
bert, R. S. Woodward, F. W. Putnam, J. 
McK. Cattell and L. O. Howard, appointed 
at the April meeting of the council to con- 
sider the organization of an American 
branch of the International Association for 
the Advancement of Science, Arts and Edu- 
cation reported as follows : 

That the Committee approves the idea of interna- 
tional co-operation in the field of science and recom- 


mends that the council designate a delegate to a na- 
tional conference looking to that end. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 288, 


The Committee on the disposal of back 
volumes of proceedings, consisting of G. K. 
Gilbert, L. O. Howard and T. H. Norton, 
reported as follows : 

Your committee appointed at the New Haven meet- 
ing to consider the disposal of accumulated back num- 
bers of proceedings, having given the matter due con- 
sideration, report the following recommendations : 

1. That the back volumes now in storage in Cam- 
bridge be transported to New York and stored in the 
Columbia University at no storage cost to the Associa- 
tion. 

2. That 50 complete sets be reserved for sale only 
in sets at 50 cents per volume. 

3. That other back volumes, not less than five 
years old be sold to members for 50 cents each. 

4. That volumes published within five years be 
sold at $1.50 each with the usual trade discount of 25 
per cent. 

The Library Committee reported and two 
of the members, Drs. T. H. Norton and Al- 
fred Sprenger, resigned. A committee on 
the disposition of the Association library 
was appointed, consisting of W J McGee, 
B. F. Thomas and L. O. Howard. 

A committee, consisting of John M. 
Clarke, W J McGee, J. McK. Cattell, 
Chas. H. Hitchcock and Theo. Gill was ap- 
pointed to report on the erection of a bronze 
tablet to mark the house in Albany where 
the geologists of New York in 1838 met to 
make arrangements for the Association of 
American Geologists, the parent-body of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science. 

The committee of Section H, on the 
teaching of anthropology, was made a stand- 
ing committee of the Association. It con- 
sists of W J McGee, G. G. McCurdy, 
Frank Russell, Franz Boas and W. H. 
Holmes. 

Dr. Thomas Wilson reported progress on 
behalf of the Committee appointed to ob- 
tain legislation looking to the protection 
and preservation of many articles of arch- 
zological, ethnological and anthropological 
interest and value. 

The action of the American Chemical 


Juty 6, 1900. ] 


Society strongly recommending the estab- 
lishment of a National Standardizing 
Bureau in Washington by the government 
was endorsed. 

At the request of Section G, the following 
was adopted : 


Resolved, That the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science, recognizing the importance 
of the preservation in its original condition of some 
portion of the hard-wood forests of the Southern Ap- 
palachian region, respectfully petitions Congress to 
provide for the establishment in that region of a Na- 
tional Forest Reserve. 


The action of the same section in adopt- 


ing the resolution given below was ap- 
proved : 


WHEREAS, the Pacific Coast redwood forests (Se- 
qoia Sempervirens) are now practically all in the 
hands of private owners, who hold them for lumber- 
ing purposes ; and 

WHEREAS, this species occupies a certain coast- 
range belt of remarkable climatic characteristics, the 
study of which ought to be of profound interest to 
science ; and 

WHEREAS, the only other living Seqoia (usually 
known as Sequoia gigantea) which the redwood rivals 
in its proportions as wellas in its interest to travellers 
and to men of science, has already received protection 
in part from the United States, by the establishment 
of the Sequoia National Park and the General Grant 
National Park, in the Sierra Nevadas ; 

Resolved, that the Botanical Section of the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of Science 
strongly approves the recent efforts of the several soci- 
eties, clubs, colleges, universities and private citizens 
in California to create a public opinion that will re- 
sult in the purchase and permanent preservation as a 
public forest park, of a tract of over 25,000 acres, 
largely made up of the primeval redwood forest, sit- 
uated in the Santa Cruz mountains, forty miles south- 
east of San Francisco and fifteen miles south of the 
Leland Stanford Jr. University. 


The reports of those to whom grants for 
research were made at the Columbus meet- 
ing, approved by the proper sections and ac- 
cepted by the Council, were as follows: 


REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE STUDY OF 
THE WHITE RACE IN AMERICA. 


The Committee on the study of the white race in 
America report that in accordance with the plans pro- 


SCIENCE. meee 


posed at the Columbus meeting they have made ar- 
tangements to carry out physical and mental tests on 
members of the Association at the present meeting, 
and these are now being made. A report on this 
work and on work of an anthropometric characte; 
done under the auspices of this committee and else- 
where has been made to Section H at its Christmas 
meeting and at the present meeting, and it need here 
only be remarked that the measurements of our mem- 
bers will be of special interest when compared with 
those of members of the British Association. In view 
of the fact that instruments were at hand at the place 
of meeting this year it was not necessary to purchase 
them, but if the work is continued it will be neces- 
sary to secure aset of instruments that will be the 
property of this Association and can be sent from place 
to place. Weask for this purpose an appropriation 
of $50 to be added to the similar appropriation made . 
last year. Weask that the name of the Committee 
be changed to Anthropometric Committee, thus limit- 
ing and defining more exactly its scope. We ask that 
the vacancy on the Committee caused by the death of 
Dr. Brinton be filled by the appointment of Professor 
Joseph Jastrow. : 

J. McK. CAtTrEeLu. 

F. Boas. 

W J McGEE. 


REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE QUANTITA- 
TIVE STUDY OF BIOLOGICAL VARIATION. 


The Committee has held two meetings. The first 
took place at New Haven during the Christmas recess, 
Drs. Boas, Cattell and Minot being present. At this 
meeting it was planned to prepare a reporton the course 
of study which should be pursued in preparation for 
quantitative work in variation, and on the instruction 
now given in variation in colleges. It was proposed 
also to present a report on the history of the develop- 
ment of the quantitative study of variation. This re- 
port has been prepared by the recorder and read 
before Section F. The second meeting of the Com- 
mittee was held at the Hotel Majestic, New York, 
June 25, 1900. Present, Drs. Cattell, Eigenmann 
and Davenport. At this meeting a summary of the 
results got by Mr. C. C. Adams, to whom the grant of 
$50 was made, was received. The full report of Mr. 
Adams is to be presented to Section F. As Mr. 
Adams has not yet completed his studies it was 
voted : To recommend that, if possible, one hundred 
dollars be appropriated to the Committee on the 
Quantitative Study of variation to aid Mr. C. C. 
Adams in his further researches on the variation o¢ 
the genus Io. In case it is not feasible to appropriate 
so large a sum the Committee recommends that so 
much as possible be granted. 


3 SCIENCE. 


The Committee asks to be continued. 
F. Boas, 
C. 8. Minot, 
J. McK. CATTELL, 
C. H. EIGENMANN, 
C. B. DAVENPORT, Recorder. 


REPORT ON THE INVESTIGATION OF THE BLIND 
VERTEBRATE FAUNA OF NORTH AMERICA. 


In the absence of a committee I beg leave to make 
the following personal report on the grant of $100 
made me for investigation of the blind vertebrate 
fauna of North America. 

1. Collections of typhlogobins were made at the 
foot of Point Loma, Cal. : 

2. A collection of 12 Rhineura was secured through 
dealers. 

3. Mr. E. B. Forbes visited southwestern Illinois 
and secured a series of chologasters at what I had 
supposed to be their breeding time. 

4. Six trips were made to Mitchell, Indiana, caves 
to secure embryological material. 

5. One trip was made to the Mammoth Cave region 
in Kentucky. 

6. A visit was made to the San Marcos, Texas, 
wells and caves. 

7. In most cases the railroad companies granted 
either passes or half rates to the points mentioned. 
The total expenses of these trips chargeable to the ap- 
propriation were $139.66. An appeal was made to 
the Trustees of the Indiana University to pay as 
liberal an amount of these expenses as possible. An 
appropriation, the amount of which I have not yet 
ascertained has been granted by them so that a bal- 
ance of the Association grant is still available. 

The results obtained during the year were em- 
bodied in the paper presented during the meeting of 
of Section F on June 26th. 

To assist in the continuation of the work in hand 
I will recommend that a committee be appointed to 
direct the work. I hope that asmall additional grant 
be made for the use of the committee during the year. 

C. H. EIGENMANN. 


The Committee on Grants made the fol- 
lowing recommendations to the Council and 
they were adopted: 


1. That a grant of $50 be made to the Committee 
on anthropometry. 

2. That a grant of $50 be made to the Committee 
on the study of blind vertebrates. 

3. That a grant of $100 be made to the Committee 
on the quantitative study of biological variations. 

4. That a committee be appointed to study the re- 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


lation of plants to climate, and that a grant of $33 
be made to such committee. 

5. That if practicable an allotment of $17 be made 
to the last named committee from the funds in the 
hands of the permanent secretary. 

The two new committees to which grants 
were made were appointed as follows: 


“On the Study of Blind V ertebrates ’: Theodore Gill, 
Chairman ; A. 8. Packard, S. H. Gage, C. O. Whit- 
man, H. C. Bumpus, C. H. Higenmann, Secretary. 

“On the Relations of Plants to Climate’: W. M- 
Trelease, D. T. McDougal, J. M. Coulter. 


The Treasurer in his report for the year 
ending December 31, 1900, showed that the 
permanent funds in his hands at the begin- 
ning of the year were about $6083, which 
were increased during the year by about 
$2733, making the total about $8817. The 
receipts represented $1000 from Mr. Emer- 
son McMillin as patron, $500 from fees of 
deceased life members, $1000 in addition 
from the permanent secretary and about 
$233 interest. The permanent secretary in 
his financial report showed a balance from 
his preceding account of $3723.90 and a 
balance carried forward to the new account 
of $4228.33. The receipts were $6216 from 
members and $172.49 from miscellaneous 
sources. The expenditures in addition to 
the $1500 handed over to Treasurer were: 
Publications, part of Boston volume, 
$1003.33; Expenses, Columbus Meeting, 
$427.54; General Office expenses, includ- 
ing expressage and postage on Proceedings, 
$931.19 ; Salaries, $1970; Miscellaneous 
disbursements, $52. 

The general session met daily. It passed 
resolutions in memory of Dr. Edward Or- 
ton, who died during his term of office as 
president, and adopted amendments to the 
constitution establishing a Section of Physi- 
ology and Experimental Medicine and ex- 
tending the term of office of the treasurer 
to five years. Amendments to the Consti- 
tution, which lie over until next year, were 
proposed, making the presidents and secre- 
taries of the affiliated societies members of 


JuLy 6, 1900. ] 


the Council, establishing a section of Com- 
merce and Manufactures, and giving the 
Council, under certain conditions, power to 
change the place and time of meeting. 

At the last general session it was an- 
nounced that the general committee had 
elected officers for next year as follows: 


President. 


Professor Charles Sedgwick Minot, Harvard Medical 
School. 
Vice-Presidents. 
Mathematics and Astronomy: Professor James Mc- 
Mahon, Cornell University. 
Physics: Professor D. D. Brace, University of 


Nebraska. 
Chemistry: Professor John H. Long, Northwestern 


University. 

Mechanical Science and Engineering : Professor H. 
8. Jacoby, Cornel! University. 

Geology and Geography: Professor C. R. Van Hise, 
University of Wisconsin. 

Zoology: President D. 8. Jordan, Leland Stanford 
Jr. University. 

Botany: B. T. Galloway, U. S. Department of Ag- 
riculture, Washington, D. C. 

Anthropology: J. W. Fewkes, Bureau of Ethnol- 
ogy, Washington, D. C. 

Economic Science and Statistics; John Hyde, De- 
partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 


Permanent Secretary. 


L. O. Howard, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D.C. P 


General Secretary. 


Professor William Hallock, Columbia University, 
New York. 
Secretary of the Council. 


D. T. McDougal, New York Botanical Gardens. 


Secretaries of the Sections. 


Mathematical and Astronomy: Professor H. C. 
Lord, Ohio State University. 

Physics: J. O. Reed, University of Michigan. 

Chemistry : Professor W. McPherson, Ohio State 
University. 

Mechanical Science and Engineering : William H. 
Jacques, Boston, Mass. 

Geology and Geography : Dr. R. A. F. Penrose, 
Pierce, Arizona. 

Zoology : Professor H. B. Ward, University of Ne- 
braska. 

Botany : A. S. Hitchcock, Manhattan, Kansas. 

Anthropology : G. G. McCurdy, Yale University. 


SCLENOE. 9 


Economic Science and Statistics : Miss C. A. Benne- 
son, Cambridge, Mass. 
Treasurer. 
Professor R. S. Woodward, Columbia University- 
Denver was selected as the place of meet- 
ing for next year, and Pittsburg was recom- 
mended for 1892. The meeting next year 
will begin with the session of the council on 
Saturday, August 24th, and the scientific 
work will begin on Monday, August 26th. 
CHARLES BASKERYILLE, 
General Secretary. 


ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 
PRESIDENT Low, of Columbia University, 
said: Mr. President and Members of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science: It gives me very much pleasure 
to welcome this Association to the City of 


- New York and to Columbia University. 


It is thirteen years since this Association 
met in the City of New York, although it met 
I believe in 1894 in the City of Brooklyn 
which has since become a part of this city. 
In that interval of thirteen years there has 
beena profound stirring of the scientific spirit 
in this vast community. Witness, if you 
please, the foundation of the Botanical 
Garden of New York by the co-operation of 
the City and of private organizations, after 
the pattern which has shown itself so ef- 
fective in the case of the Metropolitan 
Museum of Art and of the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History. Witness again, 
the formation of the New York Zoological 
Garden which is projected upon a scale 
entirely worthy of this great metropolis ; 
witness the establishment by the City au- 
thorities of the Aquarium ; witness the en- 
largement, until it is three-fold its size of 
thirteen years ago, of the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History ; all of these things 
being done either by the City itself as in 
the case of the Aquarium, or by the City 
in co-operation with private agencies as in 
all the other cases. The Universities of 


10 


the City have made immense strides in the 
direction of scientific equipment in the same 
interval. Our own University, New York 
University and the Medical Schools attached 
to these two universities and to Cornell 
University and to the Long Island Medical 
College, all of them only thirteen years 
ago practically without laboratory equip- 
ment, all of them to-day equipped in a way 
to compare favorably with medical schools 
in any part of the country and in some re- 
spects, perhaps, favorably with medical 
schools in any part of the world. The 
scientific societies of New York have also 
awakened to new life. All these things 
show that throughout the length and 
breadth of this vast community a remark- 
able stirring of the scientific spirit has oc- 
curred since your last meeting here. It 
may easily be that your meeting here at that 
time sowed the seeds, or some of the seeds 
at least, which have produced this valuable 
and welcome fruit. I congratulate you upon 
securing for the advancement of science such 
an ally as this metropolitan city. It has 
indeed the strength of a giant, and, once 
aroused, it brings to any cause to which it 
allies itself a giant’s strength. Therefore, 
I congratulate you, as I have said, in ob- 
taining for the cause which appeals to you 
so important an ally as the City of New 
York. 

I think I may also say that this Univer- 
sity, which to-day welcomes you as its 
guest, has had its fair share in the reawak- 
ening. In 1887, when you were here, my 
predecessor, the late Rey. Dr. Barnard, was 
president of this University ; when he died, 
a year or two later, it was found that he 
had left his entire estate to the University, 
subject to a life interest on the part of his 
widow, with the provision that $10,000 
should be set apart for the maintenance of 
a Barnard fellowship in science, to be 
awarded to some fellow who should pursue 
physical and chemical research. He pro- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 289. 


vided also for the award, every five years, 
of the ‘ Barnard medal for meritorious ser- 
vice to science.’ This medal is awarded by 
the Trustees of the University upon the 
recommendation of the National Academy 
of Sciences. It was given this month to 
Professor Roentgen for the discovery of the 
X-rays. The remainder of Dr. Barnard’s 
estate, he provided, should be a fund for 
the increase of the Library, the income of 
which should be used especially for the pur- 
chase of scientific books, and more especially 
in the domain of physics and of chemistry. 
When Mrs. Barnard died, a year or two 
later, it was found that she had added her 
own estate to that of her husband and 
dedicated it to the same purposes. I think 
it is interesting to find that our late presi- 
dent should have had the cause of science 
so near at heart, for he was, as many of 
you know, a clergyman of the Episcopal 
Church ; but he was one of those who saw 
no contradistinction between the Truth of 
God written in the manuscripts of Nature, 
and the Truth of God as revealed through 
the Scriptures. In that respect he was a 
worthy representative of the University 
whose motto has been, since its foundation 
in 1754, ‘‘ In Thy light we shall see light.’’ 
Therefore we anticipate new discoveries in 
science, because at the center of all things, 
we believe, is the Father of Light. In 1887 
this University studied science and taught 
science. It had not, however, committed 
itself to the advancement of science, as in 
the interval it has done, by the establish- 
ment of its Faculty of Pure Science. I re- 
member that when Professor Osborn was 
invited to the chair of biology, in this Uni- 
versity, he told me that only a few years be- 
fore he had wanted to study that science in 
the City of New York, and could find no 
opportunity. There was then no provision, 
either public or private, for the study of 
biology in this great metropolis. You know 
as well as I how great isthe change to-day. 


JuLyY 6, 1900. ] 


Any cause which is sufficiently great to 
attract delegates from all over the United 
States every one recognizes as a cause of 
importance. The fact that, from so wide a 
territory, men and women will come to- 
gether to discuss that interest stamps it as an 
interest of unusual importance. This meet- 
ing lacks no element of importance in that 
regard. Not only does the Association for 
the Advancement of Science gather its rep- 
resentatives from all parts of the Union, 
but there are also meeting with you this 
week at least fifteen affiliated societies ; and 
I believe all of them are national in their 
scope. But after all, this meeting interests 
me, less because of the wide range of terri- 
tory from which it gathers its adherents 
than from the vast range covered by its in- 
terests. Here are men and women whose 
itnerests reach out through the entire uni- 
verse. Occupied space, so far as its occu- 
pancy can be made known either by pho- 
tography or by the spectroscope, is included 
naturally within the range of your interest. 
On the other hand, you deal with the little 
things of the universe as carefully as with 
the great things. Here are those who are 
interested in all life, whether human or of 
any other kind. Here are those who are 
interested in inanimate objects, whether 
great or small. The interests which you 
have come to serve are not national in their 
scope only, nor international, nor world- 
wide—they are universal; and it seems to 
me that this fact itself is an interesting illus- 
tration of the unity of Nature. No one can 
study any part of the natural universe 
without being drawn into the current with 
those who are studying the universe in some 
other part. 

But I should fail, it seems to me, to do 
justice to your Association if I did not as 
President of this University, recognize the 
immense contributions of science to the 
cause of education. I suppose there is 
hardly a lecture room in this building in 


SCIENCE. . rst 


which preparation is not made for the use 
of the electric lamp, so that through the use 
of electricity and photography almost every 
branch of scientific research is being for- 
warded. The student can sit in his room, 
and see whatever the sun sees; he can see 
what the sun never saw, because the sun is 
blinded by the fullness of its own light ; he 
can see what exists in the outer universe 
and also in the depths of the earth. But 
this is not the greatest contribution science 
has made to education. After all, it is, in 
all these things, the unseen rather than the 
seen that is the essential. I should say that 
science has contributed to education in the 
last half century two things vastly more im- 
portant than all its contributions to the 
better equipment of the class room. It has 
given to us the evolutionary theory ; which, 
being applied in almost every domain of 
study, has revolutionized it; and it has - 
given to us, also, the scientific method. I 
stated to you that thirteen years ago there 
was hardly a laboratory in the City of New 
York in connection with an educational in- 
stitution. There were chemical laboratories 
and assay laboratories, here and there, but 
almost no others. Even the public schools 
of the City are equipped with laboratories 
in several sciences at the present time. So 
that in those two gifts—the evolutionary 
theory and the scientific method, you have 
made contributions which certainly demand 
the most generous recognition on the part 
of educators. In making this statement I 
am sure that I speak, not only for this Uni- 
versity, but for every university in the 
land. 

I am especially glad to welcome you be- 
cause you are an Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. That, after all, is 
what ought to make you feel at home in the 
atmosphere of this University ; for a uni- 
versity that does not assist the advancement 
of science has hardly a right to call itself by 
that great name. I heard Phillips Brooks 


12 


say, in a sermon that I heard him preach in 
Boston when this Association met there 20 
years ago, that you can get no idea of eter- 
nity, by adding century to century or by 
piling «on upon eon; but that, if you 
will remember how little you knew when 
you sat at your mother’s knee to learn the 
alphabet, and how with every acquisition of 
knowledge which has marked the interven- 
ing years you have come to feel, not how 
much more you know but how much more 
there is to be known, all can get some idea 
of how long eternity can be, because all can 
understand that there never can be time 
enough to enable any one to learn all that 
there is to know. There is so much to be 
known, that even the great advances of the 
last generation do not make us feel that 
everything is discovered, but they appeal to 
new aspirations and awaken renewed 

_ energy in order to make fresh discoveries 
in a region that teems with so much that 
is worthy of knowledge. I congratulate 
you upon your success, and I bid you wel- 
come to Columbia. : 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


PROFESSOR Woopwarp said: Under the 
favorable auspices of this institution of 
learning, with its commodious quarters and 
its scientific atmosphere so generously 
placed at our disposal, we meet to-day to 
begin the forty-ninth session of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of 
Science. 

The life of this Association has been con- 
temporaneous with an epoch of triumphant 
scientific progress; and in this last year of 
the century one is tempted to look back 
into the history of the achievements of our 
predecessors, in order to render them due 
homage, and in order to learn from their 
experience the wisdom essential for future 
guidance. One is prone especially to recall 
the noble lives and the indefatigable in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


dustry of the founders and early workers 
of this Association, who are no longer with 
us, but whose careers are sources of ad- 
miration and inspiration to the present gen- 
eration of scientific menin America. There 
were Rogers and Henry and Bache, and 
Agassiz and Peirce and Dana, and Torrey 
and Hall and Lea, and Barnard and Gould 
and Gray, and Marsh and Dawson and 
Newton, and Brinton and Cope ; and many 
others not less worthy, whose life work was 
intimately related to the work of this As- 
sociation. The mere mention of a few of 
these honored names may suffice, however, 
on this occasion, to remind us of our in- 
debtedness to them, and to assure us of the 
steady progress which has attended the As- 
sociation in its growth from asingle section 
of a half century ago to the nine different 
sections and twice as many affiliated socie- 
ties of to-day. The fertility of the study 
of our planet in stimulating thought and in 
leading thought to action is at once appar- 
ent when we recall that out of the small 
beginnings of a few naturalists who styled 
themselves the American Geological So- 
ciety have sprung the varied activities of 
this Association and the kindred societies 
which meet with us this week. Verily we 
may say, in the noble words inscribed over 
the entrance to Schermerhorn Hall on our 
right, ““Speak to the earth and it shall 
teach thee.” 

But science knows no nationality, and 
the forward movement in which our Asso- 
ciation is engaged is only a part of a world 
wide advance which is undoubtedly the 
most noteworthy characteristic of the civil- 
ization of the present half century. And 
wherein, we may fittingly ask ourselves, 
and still more fittingly may the general 
public ask us, does this advance consist? 
What, in common parlance, are the contri- 
butions which the science of our day has 
brought to the betterment of man’s estate ? 
In a summary way, disregarding material 


JuLyY 6, 1900. | 


benefits, which everybody recognizes, these 
contributions may be specified under three 
heads in the order of their historical suc- 
cession. 

First, there is the far-reaching generali- 
zation known as the law of conservation of 
energy, whose establishment dates from 
about 1850. This law holds in what for 
the present we find it convenient to call the 
material world. It enables us to describe 
what goes on in that world in the simplest 
terms and in the most comprehensive fash- 
ion. It relates unknown to known phe- 
nomena; and it enables us to predict with 
practical certainty not only the feasibility 
and efficiency of the vast aggregate of 
mechanical appliances on which the con- 
tinuity of daily life now depends, but also 
the range and limitations of the physical 
processes of the entire visible universe. 
This doctrine supplies at once the principal 
criteria of, and the principal methods of in- 
vestigation in, physical science. It is the 
most precise and the most comprehensive 
of theories devised by man. 

Secondly, there is the doctrine of evolu- 
tion, which dates substantially from the 
publication of Darwin’s work on the 
Origin of Species in 1859. ‘This, like the 
doctrine of energy in the material world, 
enables us to describe in the simplest terms 
and in the most comprehensive fashion the 
succession of events in what for the present 
we find it convenient to call the organic 
world. It enables us to trace the lines of 
development along which life has proceeded 
from age to age in geologic time, and to 
predict with some degree of probability the 
course and order of development in the 
future. It enables us to see how in the 
endless interactions of the organic and in- 
organic worlds, the former is adapted to 
the latter and the latter is moulded by the 
former ; so that the history of terrestrial 
life, with its teeming forms of animal and 
vegetable organisms, becomes, in the light 


SCIENCE. 


13 


of this doctrine, at once readable and veri- 
fiable. But the law of evolution is not 
limited in its application to the lower forms 
of life alone. It extends to man as well, 
and proclaims him a part of, and not apart 
from, the world of phenomena we seek by 
scientific methods to explain. Thus, with 
the advent of this doctrine, the anthropo- 
centric theory of the universe, so long held 
by man, vanishes ; but by way of compen- 
sation, if any were needed, the new view 
of his réle confronts him with the transcen- 
dent problem in which the instrument of 
investigation is, in a far higher degree than 
hitherto, the object of research. . 

Thirdly, and perhaps most important of 
all, there is the educational renaissance 
which seems to be a direct result of the in- 
crease and diffusion of science in our times. 
Learning is no longer restricted to a narrow 
range of subjects. Studies are no longer 
strictly divisible into those which are liberal 
or humanistic, and into those which, per 
contra, must be illiberal or demoniacal ; 
and the value of knowledge is no longer 
measured by linguistic standards alone. In 
short, we have come to understand the es- 
sential unity of knowledge and the univer- 
sality of its sources; and that progress is 
attained not so much by journeying along 
the easy highway of @ priori reasoning as 
by following up the rough trails of obser- 
vation and experiment. So rapidly and 
completely has this renaissance come about 
that many of the present generation are 
quite unable to understand how educational 
affairs could have been at all different in 
the preceding generation. That liberal 
provision should be made for the teaching 
of science in every school, and especially 
in every college and university, now goes 
without saying; and munificent endow- 
ments for the maintenance of scientific in- 
struction and investigation are everywhere 
the order of the day. But it was not very 
long ago—quite within a stretch of the 


14 


recollection of many here present—when 
science waS an unknown quantity in our 
common schools and a sort of imaginary 
quantity in our colleges. The average 
school boy’s idea of science, as Huxley says 
in one of his earlier essays, was that it 
meant ‘skill in boxing.’ One professor- 
ship in a college was commonly compre- 
hensive enough to include all the sci- 
ences, and frequently too comprehensive 
for the peace of college faculties; for, 
strange as it now appears to us, some of 
the growing sciences were looked upon as 
threatening the stability of the social 
fabric, and all were regarded as dangerously 
aggressive. Laboratories were either wholly 
wanting or little used ; and although most 
students gained the idea that all that is 
worth knowing was ascertained long ago 
and is to be found in books, libraries seemed 
to be maintained for the sole benefit of 
librarians and bookbinders. These were 
the good old times when the college pro- 
fessor heard recitations by day and read 
polite literature by night. 

It is matter of history that the educa- 
tional progress of the past three decades 
has not been accomplished without an in- 
tellectual struggle, the noise of which is 
still heard, occasionally, in the wail of 
those who fear that the treasures as well as 
the rubbish of the golden age of antiquity 
may be engulfed by the iconoclasm of the 
present age of steel. But whatever may 
have been our prepossessions, as we look 
back on this struggle, with our senses of 
proportion and humor not overstrained by 
the pressing nearness of events, there ap- 
pears little cause for regret. The emanci- 
pation of education from the dominance 
of classical tradition is seen to be merely 
an incident in the general advance. What- 
soever is worthy and noble in the ancient 
learning has acquired new and increasing 
interest in the light of the growing science 
of anthropology; and whatsoever is un- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


worthy and ignoble may well wither in the 
light of modern criticism. 

But surprising and gratifying as have 
been the achievements of science in our 
day, their most important indication to us 
is that there is indefinite room for improve- 
ment and advancement. While we have 
witnessed the establishment of the two 
widest generalizations of science, the doc- 
trine of energy and the doctrine of evolu- 
tion, we have also witnessed the accumula- 
tion of an appalling aggregate of unrelated 
facts. The proper interpretation of these 
must lead to simplification and unification, 
and thence on to additional generalizations. 
An almost inevitable result of the rapid 
developments of the past three decades 
especially is that much that goes by the 
name of science is quite unscientific. The 
elementary teaching and the popular ex- 
position of science have fallen, unluckily, 
into the keeping largely of those who can- 
not rise above the level of a purely literary 
view of phenomena. Many of the bare 
facts of science are so far stranger than 
fiction that the general public has become 
somewhat overcredulous, and untrained 
minds fall an easy prey to the tricks of the 
magazine romancer or to the schemes of 
the perpetual motion promoter. Along 
with the growth of real science there has 
gone on also a growth of pseudo-science. 
It is so much easier to accept sensational 
than to interpret sound scientific literature, 
s0 much easier to acquire the form than it 
is to possess the substance of thought, that 
the deluded enthusiast and the designing 
charlatan are not infrequently mistaken by 
the expectant public for true men of science. 
There is, therefore, plenty of work before 
us; and while our principal business is the 
direct advancement of science, an impor- 
tant, though less agreeable duty, betimes, 
is the elimination of error and the exposure 
of fraud. 


As we contemplate the future activities 


JuLY 6, 1900. ] 


of our Association, one of the interesting 
and inspiring signs of the times is seen in 
the increasing number of international con- 
ferences for the promotion of art, commerce, 
education, science, and, above all, peace 
and good will tomen. At the joint meet- 
ings held last year by the British and 
French Associations for the Advancement 
of Science, steps were taken to form an in- 
ternational organization, which has since 
been perfected under the name of the In- 
ternational Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, Art and Education. The 
first meeting of this body will be held dur- 
ing the present summer at the Paris Expo- 
sition. May we not entertain the confident 
hope that, under the influence of such an 
association, science, which has done so 
much to enlighten the minds and amelio- 
rate the conditions of men during the nine- 
teenth century, will play a still more benef- 
icent role during the twentieth century ? 

And now, with a cordial invitation to 
our hosts, the Trustees, the President, and 
other representatives of this institution of 
learning, and with a like cordial invitation 
to the general public as well, to attend the 
sessions of the various sections of the As- 
sociation, I declare this meeting formally 
open for the transaction of its regular 
business. 


ON THE TEACHING OF ASTRONOMY IN THE 
UNITED STATES.* 

Havine to teach Astronomy at the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, it has been necessary 
for me to make inquiries regarding the in- 
struction in this subject given at other uni- 
versities. I have tried to learn also the 
character of the work done at the different 
observatories, from the point of view of the 
development of students and the encour- 


* Address of the Vice-President and Chairman of 
Section A—Mathematics and Astronomy—at the New 
New York Meeting of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science. 


SCIENCE. 15 


agement of the spirit of scientific research. 
Thus I propose to discuss briefly the posi- 
tion taken by our colleges, and observa- 
tories also, in the teaching of Astronomy. 

Not so very long ago in this country of 
ours, which is rather new after all, many of 
the young men educated at the colleges 
were intended for the ministry. They were 
trained in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and a 
little Natural Philosophy, as it was called, 
this latter subject including all the known 
sciences, and being taught by one man. 
There was almost no laboratory work. At 
present, whether for good or ill, the rule of 
the clergymen over our colleges is pretty 
well broken. The old style college presi- 
dent, usually a clergyman of scholarly tastes 
and sympathies, who teaches the seniors 
Moral Philosophy, is becoming rare. His 
place is being taken by the sharp business 
man, who in his scholarship corresponds 
very much to a librarian, having a wide 
knowledge, but not necessarily an accurate 
one on any subject. 

Of late years the elective system has been 
introduced, and has been extended very 
far, so that a degree may represent almost 
anything, in many cases a good deal of 
technical and professional work being in- 
cluded. If a large number of students are 
to go to colleges it is necessary, probably, 
that the technical studies should be allowed 
to remain, as many would not have the 
means to give themselves a liberal educa- 
tion. 

Of course, it is hard to discuss in a fair 
and intelligent way the intrinsic merit of 
Astronomy or any other study. I believe 
myself that students who can manage it 
ought to obtain something of a classical 
training. But in the case of any given 
student who elects Latin, for instance, is 
the subject really chosen for the culture 
which it gives? I must say that in most 
cases that I know about I can’t tell. Some- 
times I think that in college all studies 


16 


ought to be elective with the exception of 
a moderate requirement in English, and 
that as regards mental discipline and cul- 
ture one thing is about as good as another, 
if itis properly taught. 

To begin with the elementary Astronomy, 
it seems to me that it should be taught in 
the high schools and preparatory schools 
as well as in the colleges. Preparatory work 
in it ought to be accepted for admission to 
college. By elementary Astronomy I mean 
those common, every-day facts of the sci- 
ence which can be learned by any intelli- 
gent student without mathematical train- 
ing; for example, why the stars rise and 
set, the motions of the planets and the moon 
among the stars, the reason for the seasons, 
the names of the principal constellations 
and why they seem to change with the 
seasons. These are things that are before 
our eyes all the time, and every one who is 
fairly well educated ought to know some- 
thing about them. I would not say that 
this Astronomy ought to be required for 
entrance to college, or required in college, 
but it certainly ought to stand on the same 
plane with Botany, for instance, and Zool- 
ogy. 

As a culture study in college I would 
bring to your notice also the history of As- 
tronomy. The study of this science no 
doubt goes back toa time before we have 
any historical records, and probably was 
connected with religious worship and festi- 
vals. The motions of the sun, moon and 
planets were watched and studied. It was 
seen very soon that the seasons and crops 
and life on the earth depended on the sun’s 
position in the sky. Thus the sun was 
worshipped as a god, giver of life and har- 
vests. It may be that our Christmas is 
the remnant of an old pagan festival when 
rejoicing was had because now the sun 
would turn and go north and winter would 
leave the northern hemisphere, and vegeta- 
tion and life would come back. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


Therefore, in the earliest times Astronomy 
was studied a good deal by the priests. 
They kept the calendar and the dates of 
the religious festivals. They followed the 
motions of the sun, moon and planets, and 
knew that the planets sometimes advanced 
and sometimes retrograded in the sky. 
They had a considerable observational 
knowledge of the heavens. It is said the 
Chaldeans had a very exact calendar, better 
than ours, and giving only an error of one 
day in ten thousand years. They must 
therefore have known the length of the 
tropical year with great exactness. 

It would be natural, too, for the sailors 
of the Mediterranean sea to have consider- 
able practical knowledge of Astronomy. 
Much commerce was carried on this sea. 
The Phcenicians voyaged to Britain and 
Spain and Carthage. The Greeks had 
many distant settlements. The Romans 
had large navies, and sailed over all the 
Mediterranean and -to Britain. 

But I think one of the most interesting 
portions of the history of Astronomy would 
be the philosophical study of the difffer- 
ent theories of the universe. Pythago- 
ras is said to have taught the true sys- 
tem of the world, that the earth moves 
around the sun and at the same time turns 
on its own axis. But probably this was 
only one of the doctrines of the specula- 
tive Greek philosophers and it was soon 
abandoned. 

It is a curious fact that the system of 
Ptolemy prevailed for fourteen centuries, 
and that the new ideas of Copernicus, 
Galileo and Kepler were so long in being 
adopted. This may have been because the 
natural vanity of the human race was ap- 
pealed to by making the earth the center 
of the universe. The Ptolemaic theory had 
come to be supported also by the church, 
by the old Greek philosophy, and by all the 
weight of authority. The new theories of 
Galileo were opposed, no doubt, to the 


JULY 6, 1900. ] 


hopes, fears and prejudices held at that 
time by mankind; his treatment by the 
church represented these and cannot be 
charged to any particular church. But it 
is a strange commentary on the fallibility 
of human authority and prejudice. Even 
now most people have little knowledge of 
the scientific method of experimentation. 


As affairs are really conducted it is diffi- . 


cult to secure any readjustment of studies, 
since so much of practical college polities is 
involved. First it is necessary to secure a 
vote of the faculty, then the president ap- 
points a committee, and a majority of the 
committee divides among itself anything 
there is in the way of profit. Thus, in 
the case of some studies a sort of endless 
chain arrangement has been established, 
the college requiring the subject for en- 
trance and after entrance, and in that way 
being enabled to send out -a large number 
of students to teach it. A number of High 
School teachers of Astronomy have told me 
that they were not able to obtain money for 
apparatus because the subject could not be 
offered for admission to College. 

It would seem to me that all who had a 
long enough training ought to be encouraged 
to come to College, even though they may 
not have begun with that idea, but may 
have intended to stop with the High School. 
Therefore the number of subjects to be re- 
ceived for admission ought to be a pretty 
large one, so that the student may use any 
study that he has taken. The tendency is, 
I think, in this direction, as well as towards 
a greater freedom of choice of studies. 

Regarding the Astronomy which is some- 
what more advanced than the beginning 
work, as spherical Astronomy and the ele- 
ments of celestial mechanics, these subjects 
might be more generally taught than they 
are at present, both as a part of a liberal 
education, and looking at them from a com- 
mercial point of view. I will explain what 
I mean by this latter phrase by taking the 


SCIENCE. 17 


ease of Latin again. For many students 
Latin is just as much a technical train- 
ing as that of a bridge engineer. They do 
not care for it especially, but expect to 
teach it as soon as they graduate, and earn 
money, and they are obliged to look at the 
subject in that light. 

Taking, then, what might be called a 
practical standpoint, some Astronomy is 
necessary in all surveying and geodetic op- 
erations, and a number of engineering 
schools and colleges offer courses in field 
work. 

Most of the teachers of mathematics and 
physics in the small colleges are required 
to give instruction also in astronomy. It 
would be worth while for them to fit them- 
selves to do this well, both in the use of in- 
struments and in some of the mathematical 
theory. Also, in this present epoch of the 
function theory and higher algebra there 
is a real need of men who are qualified | 
to teach applied mathematics. So many 
mathematical processes have been invented 
by the masters for the solution of astro- 
nomical questions, especially in differential 
equations and theoretical mechanics, that 
every teacher of applied mathematics ought 
to have some knowledge of astronomy. 

Extended instruction in celestial mechan- 
ics is offered in few colleges. Not many 
men can be found who are qualified to 
teach it, and perhaps it is hardly advisable 
for the student to go very far unless he has 
special gifts in that direction. But it cer- 
tainly requires a much higher order of abil- 
ity to make advances in celestial mechanics 
than to execute what are ordinarily called 
scientific researches, and colleges that have 
the means ought to provide for the men of 
this superior ability. I dwell on this some- 
what, as the difference is not very clearly 
understood between ordinary, routine, re- 
spectable work, and that which involves 
some distinct progress. Ability to do the 
latter is a gift with which a very few men are 


18 


born, just as there are very few good artists 
and good poets. Some of the best known 
and ablest scholars of the world have been 
those who have made substantial advances 
in celestial mechanics. I do not see why 
such men should not be supported and en- 
couraged by the colleges as well as those 
who study Hebrew, for instance. The 
working out and discussion of the laws 
which govern our universe gives strength 
to a natural theology much more than does 
the study of Hebrew. 

For extended instruction in practical as- 
tronomy and observatory work opportuni- 
ties are now offered at a number of places 
in this country. Not many years ago it 
was difficult to obtain it. It was given 
regularly only at one or two places, and oc- 
casionally as a sort of personal favor by a 
working astronomer. Some twenty years 
back most of such teaching was done by 
Professor Stone, now of the University of 
Virginia. I think it is hardly understood 
how much he did in this direction, and how 
many men were once students with him 
who are now active in the science or have 
influential positions in the educational 
world. 

The best equipped observatory for teach- 

ing purposes that I know of is at Princeton, 
built, I believe, under the direction of Pro- 
fessor Young. A number of other colleges 
have observatories, keep them up well, and 
offer good courses of instruction, both ele- 
mentary and graduate. In the large astro- 
nomical establishments there is a tendency 
sometimes towards the factory system, 
which is to be regretted. But where the 
question is of obtaining the greatest amount 
of work from a given income, something of 
the kind may be unavoidable, though when 
carried too far it tends toward the extinc- 
tion rather than the extension of research. 
I have been told that after he became an 
old man Sir George Airy regretted that he 
had introduced such asystem at Greenwich. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 288. 


However, at almost all the college obser- 
vatories that I know of some attention is 
given to students. It is recognized that it 
is just as important to train men as to 
carry on investigations, the German view, 
and probably the result of so many of our 
young men going to Germany to study. 

With regard to the part that government 
institutions ought to take in training stu- 
dents and the encouragement of original 
research, it is difficult to make a criticism. 
They are often engaged on pieces of heavy 
work, extending over long intervals of 
time which private establishments cannot 
undertake. It may be somewhat necessary 
to have this done in a routine way, without 
such regard to whether the computer or as- 
sistant is benefited or is making any prog- 
ress in scholarship. The Naval Observa- 
tory is required, for instance, to keep up 
observations of the sun, moon and planets. 
However, some arrangement might be made 
to change assistants about and give them 
experience in every kind of investigation 
that is being carried on at any institution. 
It might be wise to appoint men on very 
small salaries at first, and allow them half 
their time for study. 

It is interesting to look over the names 
of the men connected with the American 
Ephemeris in the early years ofits history. 
I find Davis, Benjamin Peirce, Gould, 
Newcomb, Hill, Van Vleck, Runkle, Ferrel, 
and others who became well known in 
science. I have not had an opportunity to 
find out how the office was managed. 

I have made some examination of the 
theses in practical astronomy produced in 
this country, and have attempted to com- 
pare them with those presented in Germany 
and France. On the whole I think we 
make a creditable showing. Perhaps our 
instruction is not so thorough and pains- 
taking as that given abroad. There may 
be with us a tendency to be satisfied with 
making observations merely, without dis- 


JuLy 6, 1900.] 


cussing them properly or attempting to de- 
rive the best results. For educational pur- 
poses I think too great emphasis cannot be 
given to the distinction between the two 
kinds of work I have referred to. That 
which is planned and carried out in a 
scientific way alone has value. No matter 
what skill one may have in observing or 
making photographs, if he cannot discuss 
his observations or photographs he stands 
very much in the relation of a skillful stone- 
cutter to the architect ofa building. Very 
many good photographers can be found in 
the galleries of our cities, men of great ex- 
perience and skill, but most of them have 
no scientific standing and deserve none, 
though with a little additional experience 
they could make good astronomical photo- 
graphs. It is true, also, that many theo- 
retical problems can be solved without hav- 
ing much idea of the theory involved. 
Orbits are computed by men who do not 
know very well the meaning of the formulas 
which they are using. Questions in per- 
turbations are worked out in the same way. 
Often good and useful results are thus ob- 
tained. But this technical skill in using 
instruments or handling formulas, though 
necessary, is not a faculty of the highest 
order. At the same time, however, it ought 
to be remembered that it is something very 
useful, and cannot be obtained to a high 
degree without years of experience. 

In practical astronomy I should say that 
our model ought to be Bessel, that he com- 
bined in just the right proportion theoret- 
ical knowledge with skill in handling in- 
struments and ability to obtain from an 
instrument the best results. Especially in 
relation to college instruction do I think it 
worth while to call attention to Bessel’s 
papers. 

It is true that men of ability will get on 
without teachers, and that teachers cannot 
furnish brains. But itis also true that a 
good teacher can be of very great help even 


SOLENOE. 


19 


to men of genius. We all have known 
such, uneducated or self-educated, who 
would have been helped very much, and 
been kept from bad blunders if they could 
have had some training. Encke, Argelander, 
Gould, Winnecke, Schonfeld, Brinnow, 
Watson, all studied with experienced as- 
tronomers, who are known by their students 
as well as by their scientific labors. Most 
of the men just mentioned were teachers, 
also, and probably left their impress upon 
the science to as great an extent through 
their teaching as through their scientific in- 
vestigations. 

It is worth while to take a book like Wat- 
son’s ‘Theoretical Astronomy,’} and look 
over some of the articles, such as the theory 
of the computation of an elliptic orbit, and 
the theory of special perturbations, and then 
examine the treatment given by the differ- 
ent teachers, and see how these theories, 
after leaving the hands of Gauss, the great 
master, were modified somewhat by Encke, 
who was a student with Gauss, and finally 
by Brunnow and Watson, Brunnow having 
studied with Encke, and Watson with 
Brinnow. There is no doubt that Tisserand. 
did a great service to Astronomy by pub- 
lishing his ‘Mécanique Céleste,’ putting in 
a clear and elegant form the principal facts 
of Mathematical Astronomy, though it is 
hardly to be ranked with the making of 
important advances in the science itself. 

I think that the standard of scholarship 
in this country is steadily becoming higher, 
and that we are having better opportuni- 
ties for instruction in Astronomy as well as 
in the other sciences. For however much it 
may hurt our national vanity, the criticisms 
of such men as Henry James on our civili- 
zation are sound. Weare a new country. 
Our first business has been to clear it up 
and make roads. We area nation of busi- 
ness men, trades people. Commercial ideas 
control, to some extent, our college educa- 
tion, and we lack much that in older coun- 


20 


tries makes for the advancement of science 
and art. But time has changed this some- 
what, and I think it will change it more. 

With regard to all the sciences a large 
number of misstatements are made regard- 
ing their commercial value. Probably As- 
tronomy has been of as much benefit to 
mankind as any. Every ocean passenger 
owes to it his safe and rapid passage. 
Through its help the carriage of every ton 
of freight is made cheaper. It would be 
difficult to calculate the money value it has 
been to the world. 

The conception which most people have 
of the nature of the questions to be solved 
in Astronomy is a false one. They look on 
them as text-book problems in mathematics 
which are arranged to come out nicely. 
They suppose such questions can be solved 
definitely and exactly, once for all. They 
do not know that instruments are imperfect 
and that observers have personal errors, 
nor that it is possible to be sure only to a 
certain limit, personal opinion founded on 
experience carrying us a little farther, and 
the rest being uncertain, though methods 
and instruments and mathematical concep- 
tions may, after a while, be improved. So 
that in any actual question in practical or 
theoretical Astronomy it is necessary to 
deal with facts as they are in nature, and 
obtain the best possible solution, though 
perhaps not the one which is exactly true. 

Many people, too, and well educated ones, 
have very curious ideas as to the amount 
of labor involved in the solution of ques- 
tions in Astronomy, and as to the progress 
of the science. An intelligent doctor, who 
knows that the science of medicine, as far 
as it is a science, is something of slow 
growth, who experiments for a year or two 
on some fairly simple question, cannot un- 
derstand the same thing in Astronomy, and 
thinks that it was really founded and de- 
veloped by some one whom he happens to 
know about. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 288. 


In the case of the small observatories, 
where teaching is expected of the astron- 
omer, the question of economy of time is a 
difficult one. At Harvard and Johns Hop- 
kins, for instance, six hours of lectures per 
week would be expected to occupy half of 
a teacher’s time, while in a small establish- 
ment one cannot give that proportion and 
make and reduce observations. At the 
smaller observatories, too, there is difficulty 
in requiring proper preparation and in en- 
forcing a high standard of scholarship. 
Men who believe that the training in law, 
medicine or engineering should be thorough 
and severe, because they think the students 
will be better off commercially, cannot un- 
derstand that students in Astronomy ought 
to have the same thorough discipline. 


THE EIGHTH GROUP OF THE PERIODIC SYS- 
TEM AND SOME OF ITS PROBLEMS. 


II. 


We have seen that nearly half a century 
ago, it was clear to Claus that iron, ruthen- 
ium, and osmium belonged in a group to- 
gether. It was later easily recognized that 
cobalt, rhodium, and iridium furnished a 
second triad, while nickel, palladium, and 
platinum must also be grouped together. 
The analogies between the three metals of 
each of these groups is too patent to require 
discussion, though incidentally we shall 
have occasion to recur to it. When the 
elements were arranged in the first periodic 
tables, these metals did not fall into orderly 
arrangement; as late as 1878 the atomic 
weight of osmium was considered greater 
than that of iridium, platinum, or even 
gold, while gold was given a weight less 
than that of iridium or platinum. Cobalt 
and nickel on one hand and iridium and 
platinum on the other were considered to 
have an identical atomic weight. The 
seeming impossibility of reconciling these 
nine metals with the periodic law is un- 
doubtedly the reason why they were thrown 


JuLyY 6, 1900.] 


out in a single group; dumped into a chem- 
ical Gehenna as it were, while the rest of 
the elements were reduced to orderly ar- 
rangement. Lothar Meyer, however, saw 
that there was a possibility that these ele- 
ments also might be amenable to system, 
and uuder his direction Carl Seubert began 
the revision of the atomic weight of irid- 
ium.* This he found to be more than four 
units less than the figure formerly used, 
and now the order of these elements ap- 
peared to be iridium, gold, platinum, os- 
mium. Three years later Seubert + revised 
the atomic weight of platinum, finding it 
lower than that of gold, and this work was 
confirmed by Halberstadt,{ and by Ditt- 
mar and McArthur.§ The only anomaly 
in these four metals now was in osmium 
and this also was resolved by Seubert,|| who 
found that the old value of Berzelius and 
Frémy was about eight units too high, and 
that so far from having an atomic weight 
greater than that of gold, osmium in reality 
has the lowest atomic weight of the four 
metals. This revision was justly accounted 
a great triumph for the periodic law. 

As with the other metals, so also much 
doubt existed as to the atomic weights of 
rhodium and ruthenium, but the work of 
Seubert and of Joly, while changing some- 
what the older figures, confirmed the order 
given in Meyer’s table. Much work has 
been done on palladium by Keiser and by 
Keller and Smith in this country, by Bailey 
and Lamb and by Joly and Leidié abroad. 
The figures for platinum and palladium rep- 
resent a much greater degree of accuracy 
than those for the other four platinum met- 
als. Indeed it must be said that little accu- 
racy can be claimed for the present figures 
of rhodium and iridium, and certainly those 


*Tnaug. Diss., Tibingen, 1879. 
+ Ber. d. Chem. Ges., 14, 865 (1881). 
{ Ibid., 17 (1884), 2962. 
' @J. Soc. Chem. Ind., 6, 799 (1887). 
| Ber. de Chem. Ges., 21, 1839 (1888). 


SCIENCE. 21 


of ruthenium and osmium cannot be de- 
pended on more closely than half a unit. 

In the case of the three other metals of 
this group, the atomic weight of iron has 
been well determined, but is now being 
subjected to a most careful examination in 
the laboratory of Professor Theodore Rich- 
ards. As was supposed a few years ago to 
be the case with iridium and platinum, so 
cobalt and nickel were thought to have the 
same atomic weight. Then Lothar Meyer 
showed that, judged by their properties, 
nickel should follow cobalt in the periodic 
system and hence have the higher atomic 
weight. Revisions of these metals followed, 
but the more accurate the work the more 
probable it appeared that the atomic weight 
of nickel is below that of cobalt. It was 
suggested that nickel was quite probably a 
mixture and efforts were made to resolve it 
into its constituents. In this connection 
will be recalled the efforts of Gerhardt 
Krauss to decompose nickel, in which for 
some time he thought he had been success- 
ful and christened the new metal gnomium. 
But like so many other aspirants for chem- 
ists’ favor, gnomium proved to be but a 
mixture. The latest work on these metals 
by Richards and Cushman and Baxter, far 
surpassing all that has previously been 
done, confirms the higher atomic weight of 
cobalt, and lends no support to the view 
that nickel is anything but a simple ele- 
ment. 

Here we meet apparently one of those 
chemical mysteries, which seem to bafile 
our attempts at solution. We are not per- 
mitted to doubt the correctness of the gen- 
eral principles of the periodic system, and 
yet here, and the case is perhaps not unique, 
two elements seem to have exchanged places. 
When we know why the properties of an 
element are a function of its atomic weight, 
we shall perhaps come to understand why 
the atomic weight of nickel is not greater 
than that of cobalt. 


If the chemical study of these metals 
supports the conception of their elementary 
nature, an examination of the spectrum of 
nickel and of cobalt, and particularly of 
iron, forces upon us the thought of the com- 
plexity of the atom. If each line of the 
spectrum, representing the vibration of a 
certain wave length, is occasioned by a cor- 
responding vibration of the atom, it becomes 
difficult for us to conceive of so many hun- 
dred simultaneous vibrations of a simple 
atom, a great share of which stand in no 
apparent harmonic relation to each other. 
It has been suggested that it is by a study 
of the spectroscopic portrayal of atomic 
vibration we may hope to gain the most 
complete knowledge of the dynamical char- 
acter of the atom, but it must be remembered 
that with the spectroscope we study the mo- 
tion of the atom ata high temperature, when 
vibration apparently overcomes in most in- 
stances chemical aflinity ; a knowledge of 
the atom at this temperature may give us no 
hint whatever as to the nature of the atom 
at lower temperatures, even as the spectrum 
of the same element may change with vary- 
ing temperature. While we might thus 
conjecture that perhaps by some process of 
careful and refined fractionation, it might 
be possible to resolve iron into a series of 
meta-elements with nearly the same atomic 
weight, we are met by the fact that com- 
plex though it is, we find not only the same 
spectrum for iron whatever its terrestrial 
source, but that the spectrum of sidereal 
iron, from meteorite, from sun, from star, 
gives us no evidence of any variation in the 
composition of iron. Weare, I think justi- 
fied in concluding that the nine metals of 
the eighth group fulfill every definition of 
an element, and that they are just as much 
to be looked upon as simple elementary 
substances as any of those substances which 
we call elements ; and further that while 
refined determinations may change, to a 
slight extent, the atomic weight of some of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


these elements, especially those of ruthen- 
ium and osmium, we may expect the weight 
of these elements relative to each other, 
and hence their position in the periodic 
system to remain unchanged. This, of 
course, carries with it the conclusion that 
in the periodic table an element may have 
an atomic weight slightly lower than that 
of the element which precedes it. I have 
discussed this possibility briefly elsewhere,* 
and will only add that'seeming exceptions to 
accepted laws, instead of overthrowing the 
law, often serve to broaden our conception 
of the law itself. 

Before considering some of the com- 
pounds of the metals of the eighth group, 
attention must be called to the phenomenon 
exhibited by several of these metals, and par- 
ticularly by palladium, of condensing hy- 
drogen and other gases upon their surface. 
The first observation in this connection 
seems to have been that of Sir Humphrey 
Davyt, who in 1817 showed the Royal 
Society how a warm platinum wire, plunged 
into the vapor of alcohol or ether or cer- 
tain other inflammable gases, became incan- 
descent, and continued to glow as long as 
kept in the vapor, causing an oxidation of 
the gas and in some mixtures even an ex- 
plosion. This phenomenon attracted great 
attention on the part of chemists and many 
were the discussions over this lamp ‘ with- 
out a flame’ or Davy’s ‘ aphlogistic lamp’ 
as it was called. It was soon after noticed 
by Edmund Davy { that the platinum re- 
duced from solution, now called platinum 
black, but then platinum suboxid, is espe- 
cially active and can oxidize alcohol to 
aceticacid. In 1823 Dobereiner announced§ 
that platinum black and platinum sponge, 
when held ina stream of hydrogen, ignite 
the gas and that the hydrogen is absorbed 


* Chem. News, 80, '74 (1899). 

+ Phil. Trans., 107, 77 (1817). 

ft Ibid., 110, 108 (1820). 

2 J. fiir. Chem. (Schweigger), 38, 321 (1823). 


JULY 6, 1900.] 


by the platinum. This was the origin of 
Débereiner’s hydrogen lamp, regarding 
which he writes under date of August 5, 
1823: ‘‘ You have doubtless guessed before 
this that I have already utilized this new 
observation (of the heating effect of the 
condensation of hydrogen) for the prepara- 
tion of anew Feuerzeug and a new lamp, 
and that I shall put it to many other im- 
portant uses.’** The interest which at- 
tached to this discovery of Dobereiner’s 
can be judged from the fact that in the 
literature of the decade following are found 
over fifty references to the subject. Little 
attention was, however, paid to the similar 
action of palladium upon combustible gases, 
although the phenomenon had been noticed, 
until in 1868, half a century subsequent to 
Davy’s first observation on platinum, Gra- 
ham presented to the Royal Society his 
remarkable paper on the occlusion of hy- 
drogen by metals,} followed the next year 
by his papers on the relation of hydrogen 


to palladium, { and additional observations . 


on hydrogenium.§ 

Graham’s view that the hydrogen is pres- 
ent in solid form as a metal and that the 
palladium saturated with hydrogen must 
be looked upon as an alloy, was received 
with considerable dissent. The work of 
Troost and Hautefeuille|| tended to the 
view that the substance is a definite com- 
pound, Pd,H. Against this is the fact that 
the conductivity of palladium is but slightly 
reduced by the occlusion of hydrogen. Cal- 
culations of the specific gravity of Graham’s 
hydrogenium by Dewar gave the number 
0.62 and the same figure is obtained for the 
hydrogen in hydrids of sodium and _ potas: 
sium, studied by Troost and Hautefeuille. 
The recent determinations of the specific 


* Loe. cit. 

T Proce. Roy. Soc., 16, 422 (1868). 

f1bid., 17, 212 (1869). 

@ Ibid., 17, 300 (1869). 

|| Compt. rend., 78, 686, 968 (1874) 80, 788 (1875). 


SCIENCE. 


23 


gravity of liquid hydrogen by Dewar, how- 
ever, show a figure only about one-ninth of 
the density of occluded hydrogen, so that the 
question as to the nature of the hydrogen 
condensed by the palladium and platinum 
remains still unsettled. The other metals 
of the group possess this property to some 
considerable degree, but much less than is 
the case with palladium and platinum. In 
this connection it is interesting to note that 
one of the earliest papers of Dewar was on 
the motion of a palladium plate, during the 
formation of Graham’s hydrogenium.* 
Reference has been made to the natural 
grouping of the elements of the eighth 
group into three triplets, iron, ruthenium, 
osmium; cobalt, rhodium, iridium; and 
nickel, palladium, platinum. That this is 
a natural grouping is attested by a com- 
parison of the compounds of these metals. 
However, in considering now some of these 
compounds the evidence of this grouping is 
only incidentally presented ; I desire chiefly 
to call attention to some of the more un- 
usual of these compounds, especially with 
reference to problems which this group 
presents, and to problems of other groups, 
suggested by the chemistry of this group. 
The position of an element in the periodic 
system is, to a very considerable extent, 
determined by its oxids, and that too by its 
highest oxids, excluding the peroxids of the 
hydrogen peroxid type; a considerable num- 
ber of these last have been studied especially 
by Melikoff and Pissarjewsky of Odessa, 
but their character still presents many points 
of obscurity and cannot be used with refer- 
ence to the periodic law. The triplet iron, 
ruthenium, osmium presents the highest 
oxids of the eighth group, and, as is the 
case with other divisions of this group, an 
increasing stability of the higher oxids with 
increasing molecular weight. The type of 
salts of the acid-forming oxids FeO,, RuO,, 
OsO,, occurs in this group, as in the posi- 
* Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinb. 6, 504 (1869). 


24 


tive series of the elements of the sixth and 
seventh groups; viz, CrO, MbO,, WO,, UO,, 
MnO,. This type is not represented in the 
second or third triplet of group eight. Po- 
tassium ferrate, K,FeO,, exists only in solu- 
tion and is very unstable; potassium ru- 
thenate, K,RuO, is stable when dry but 
slowly decomposes when in solution; potas- 
sium osmate, K,OsO,, on the other hand, 
has a very considerable degree of stability. 
Of the lower base-forming oxids, iron has 
not only the sesquioxid, Fe,O,, and mon- 
oxid, FeO, but also several intermediate 
oxids which may be looked upon as merely 
compounds of these two—such is magnetite. 
In the case of ruthenium, the sesquioxid, 
Ru,O,, seems to be what one might call the 
normal base-forming oxid. The different 
conditions which occasion the formation of 
the lower oxids of osmium are ill known, 
though several different oxids seem to exist, 
as OsO, Os,0,, and OsO,. Much more in- 
terest, however, attaches to the tetroxids of 
ruthenium and of osmium, RuO, and Os0O,, 
which are the highest volatile oxids of any 
known element. The almost intolerable 
odor of osmium tetroxid incited Tennant, 
in 1803, to give its name to this element, 
while ruthenium tetroxid, first noticed by 
Claus, has, if not too concentrated, a rather 
fresh pleasant odor, with just a suspicion of 
the smell of ozone, due probably to the for- 
mation of ozone in the decomposition of the 
oxid. As far as physical properties go, 
these oxids, while solid at ordinary tem- 
perature, melt easily and can be distilled. 
Ruthenium tetroxid is, however, far less 
stable than the corresponding osmium oxid, 
for it decomposes slowly at ordinary tem- 
perature, and explodes with great violence 
if heated much above 105°. On one occa- 
sion Deville and Debray* attempted to 
distil a hundred and fifty grams of ruthen- 
ium tetroxid, and when the temperature 
reached a little above 100°, the whole mass 
* Ann. Chim. Phys. [5], 4, 537 (1875). 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No, 288. 


exploded with terrific violence, filling the 
laboratory with a dense sooty smoke. Ina 
recent similar explosion in my own labora- 
tory, occasioned by the contact of a little 
alcohol with ruthenium tetroxid, but hap- 
pily on a much smaller scale than that of 
Deville and Debray, this black soot was 
found to be readily soluble in hydrochloric 
acid. This is unexpected, as all the an- 
hydrous lower oxids of ruthenium are in- 
soluble in acids, and from its methods of 
formation the black substance could hardly 
be anything other than an anhydrous oxid 
or the metal itself. Osmium tetroxid is 
commonly known as osmic acid, but as a 
fact these tetroxids are neither acid-form- 
ing oxids nor are they peroxids in the or- 
dinary acceptance of the term. When 
treated with an alkali, we have a gradual 
reduction with formation of perruthenate 
and ruthenate, or of osmate. 

Turning to the third triplet, we have the 
monoxid of nickel well characterized, and it 
is, we may say, the only well-characterized 
oxid of the metal, for though higher hy- 
drated oxids of nickel exist, and perhaps 
anhydrous oxids also, their composition is 
not definitely known. With palladium and 
platinum also, monoxids seem to exist and 
dioxids as well (PdO, and PtO,). Plati- 
num dioxid may be looked upon as being 
perhaps a very weak acid-forming acid. 
While nickel forms practically only the 
monoxid NiO, and iron forms from choice, 
as we might say, the sesquioxid, Fe,O,, the 
intermediate metal cobalt, while forming 
most generally the monoxid, is easily oxi- 
dized to the sesquioxid, Co,O,, and thus 
cobalt may be considered in its relations to 
oxygen, as intermediate between nickel and 
iron. Similarly in the case of rhodium and 
iridium, there is a strong tendency to form 
the sesquioxid, so that this middle triplet 
is intermediate between the other two trip- 
lets of the group. As a whole, there is a 
large field at hand in a revision of the 


JuLy 6, 1900. ] 


oxids of this group, especially those of the 
first triplet. 

The same may be said eyen more em- 
phatically of the sulfids. Those of iron, 
cobalt and nickel are fairly well investi- 
gated, but of the remainder comparatively 
little is known except the somewhat ex- 
haustive work of Schneider on the thioplat- 
inates and thiopalladates. After a very 
considerable amount of work upon the sul- 
fids of ruthenium, I have come to distrust 
nearly all that has been published and to 
have nothing definite to add myself. The 
precipitates with hydrogen sulfid from ru- 
thenium solutions (RuCl,) contain appa- 
rently a considerable amount of free sulfur, 
but oxidize very rapidly with formation of 
sulfuric acid on drying, making their compo- 
sition very difficult of determination. From 


ruthenate solutions a sulfid is precipitated 


which seems to have the formula RuS,, 
but there is no assurance that a part of 
the sulfur may not be free and not com- 
bined. 

Of all the compounds of the metals of the 
eighth group, by far the best investigated 
are those with the halogens, and upon our 
knowledge of these rests the greater part of 
our chemical knowledge of the platinum 
metals. Yet here again our knowledge is 
wholly inadequate. If we except the work 
done under Wohler’s direction by Oppler 
and Birnbaum on the bromids and iodids 
of iridium, that by Topsde on the bromids 
and iodids of platinum, we may say that 
very little is known of any halids of this 
group except the chlorids. In some in- 
stances, as with ruthenium, even the chlo- 
rids are very unsatisfactorily known. Of 
nickel we know only the bichlorid NiCl, ; 
of cobalt the only stable chlorid is the bi- 
chlorid, CoCl,, but the trichlorid, CoC], 
seems capable of existence in solution; of 
iron, the ferric chloride, FeCl,, is the 
stable compound, into which the ferrous 
chloride, FeCl,, is readily oxidized. Here 


SCIENCE. 25 


again the intermediate position of cobalt 
is apparent. There is a strong tendency 
on the part of all these chlorids to form 
double salts, of which we have examples 
in K,FeCl,, 3H,0, K,FeCl,, and Rb,FeCl,. 
These salts seem to be broken up in so- 
lution and the chlorin can be precipita- 
ted by silver nitrate. Turning to the halo- 
gen compounds of the platinum metals, 
we find double salts of a very differ- 
ent character. The common types for 
platinum and palladium, for example, are 
K,PtCl, and K,PtCl, This latter type 
seems also to be known for all platinum 
metals except rhodium. Osmium, iridium, 
and rhodium present also the type K,OsCI,, 
while ruthenium and rhodium also form 
salts of the type K,RuCl,, The most im- 
portant features of these salts is that they 
are not decomposed when dissolved in 
water, silver nitrate precipitating not 
silver chlorid alone, but the double chlorid 
of the metal and silver; that is, for ex- 
ample, when K,PtCl,, is dissolved in 
water, it is electrolytically dissociated, 
K being the positive ion, while the nega- 
tive ion is the group PtCl, The plat- 
inum metal then in these salts is a part of 
the negative ion. Double salts of this class 
are, of course, well known, but nowhere 
are they developed to the same extent as 
in the eighth group, indeed double salts of 
several acids are found among no other 
metals. The question may be fairly raised 
among the platinum metals as to whether 
there is any salt which is electrolytically 
dissociated giving the platinum metal as 
the positive ion. 

The chlorids of ruthenium furnish an in- 
structive illustration of the difficulties which 
may arise in getting complete knowledge of 
chemical facts as to what would naturally 
be considered simple substances. As we 
have seen, Claus discovered ruthenium in 
1844. He obtained two chlorids or rather 
double chlorids, the one K,RuCl,; and the 


26 


other K, RuCl*®, the former corresponding to 
the type found in osmium and rhodium, the 
latter to that found in platinum and palla- 
dium as wellasiniridium and osmium. In 
describing this latter salt, Claus shows that 
it was in the hands of Berzelius and prob- 
ably in a pretty pure state, but that great 
chemist thought it to be an iridium salt, 
Berzelius was not convinced, and in the 
‘Handworterbuch der reinen und ange- 
wandten Chemie,’ edited by Liebig, Pog- 
gendorff and Wohler, the work of both 
Berzelius and Claus is given. This was 
naturally somewhat irritating to Claus and 
he writes:* ‘‘Even if reverence for the 
great authority of the great chemist (Ber- 
zelius) should seem to justify such a course, 
regard for the truth of science should not 
have permitted it.’ The subject was now 
dropped and for a third of a century no one 
had worked upon this chlorid, when Pro- 
fessor A. Joly, of the l’Ecole Normale, be- 
gan his study of the platinum metals, and 
much of the work of Claus upon ruthenium 
was revised. Now it appears that not only 
Berzelius, but also Claus himself was mis- 
taken, and what he had taken for a chlor- 
ruthenate, K,RuCl,, was in a reality a 
nitroso chlorruthenate, K,RuCl,NO. My own 
work of a little later date upon the chlorids 
of ruthenium abundantly confirmed this. 
Many efforts were made to prepare a tetra- 
chlorid of ruthenium but it proved elusive. 
It may be noted in this connection that the 
cesium and rubidium unitrosochlorids exist 
in an anhydrous as well as in a hydrated 
form and while the very easily soluble hy- 
drated salts lose their water on warming 
the solution, the very slightly soluble an- 
hydrous salt being precipitated, the reverse 
change is seemingly impossible, as the an- 
hydrous salt will not take up water and 
pass back into the hydrated form. 

The history of the higher chlorid of 
ruthenium is not yet completed. Within 

* Bull. Akad. St. Petersb. (2), 108, 1 (1860). 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


the past year Professor Ubaldo Antony and 
A. Lucchesi, of the University of Pisa, 
have described * the preparation of the real 
tetrachlorid, K,RuCl,, which like the corre- 
sponding salts of platinum and the other 
metals of the group,crystallizes in octahedra. 
I have more recently by methods similar to 
those of Antony, prepared the cesium salt, 
Cs,RuCl,, which also crystallizes in octahe- 
dra and corresponds to Antony’s salt; and 
I have also been fortunate enough to obtain 
a new salt of a rare type, lying intermedi- 
ate between the tetroxide and the tetra- 
chlorid, Cs,RuO,Cl, (2CsCl, RuO,Cl,). Now 
a question may arise here as to whether 
Claus was after all, wrong in believing he 
had the tetrachlorid. As the salt was com- 
monly made by Claus, by the action of nitric 
acid, it was, without question, a nitroso- 
chlorid, and his description corresponds 
completely ; but Claus adds in a footnote + 
that it is also possible to prepare the salt 
by heating the trichlorid with potassium 
chlorate and hydrochloric acid. This could 
not give the nitrosochlorid, but while under 
these conditions the tetroxid is usually 
formed, it is possible that the tetrachlorid 
may also have been formed. In another 
place he speaks of making it by action of 
hydrochloric acid on potassium ruthenate, 
but in the presence of saltpeter. Except 
for this latter salt, this is the method of 
Antony, but usually at least it gives the 
trichloride. The salt which Claus gener- 
ally describes is the nitrosochlorid, but in 
one place{ he says the salt seems to be 
dimorphous, for after crystallizing out the 
common prismatic crystals (of the nitro- 
sochlorid) he, on one occasion, obtained 
large regular octahedra, isomorphous with 
tetrachlorids of the other platinum metals. 
As the molecular weight of the nitroso- 
chlorid is almost the same as that of the 

* Gazz. chim. ital., 29 i (1899). 

TJ. prakt. Chem., 39, 96 (1846). 

} Bull. Akad. St. Petersb. (2), 1, 105 (1860). 


JuLy 6, 1900. ] 


tetrachlorid, and as the chlorin seems to 
have been generally estimated by loss, 
analysis would reveal no discrepancy, but 
in one case at least, the chlorin was directly 
determined, and these figures can be ac- 
counted for only on the supposition that in 
this case it was a tetrachlorid which was 
analyzed; so that it would seem possible 
that Claus actually formed the tetrachlorid, 
although he did not distinguish it from the 
nitrosochlorid. Even now the conditions 
of formation of the tetrachlorid are obscure, 
and not less so is the cause of a phenomenon, 
noticed first by Claus, and since his day 
used as a test for the detection of ruthen- 
ium, and which is familiar to all of you 
who have experimented at all with this 
metal. I refer to the beautiful indigo-blue 
color assumed by the solutions of ruthen- 
ium trichlorid when hydrogen sulfid is led 
into them. Since, at the same time, sulphur 
is precipitated, and since the trichlorid 
also assumes 'a blue color on treatment 
with metallic zinc,* it was assumed by 
Claus that reduction takes place and hence 
that the solution contains ruthenium bi- 
chlorid, RuCl,. When ruthenium is heated 
in a current of mixed chlorin and carbon 
monoxid, it increases many times in vol- 
ume and there is formed an anhydrous tri- 
chlorid. This is insolubie in water and in 
strong alcohol, but dissolves with consider- 
able readiness in dilute alcohol to a similar 
deep blue solution. Joly succeeded in dis- 
tilling off the alcohol and water from this 
solution, in a vacuum, and obtained a blue 
deliquescent substance which he considered 
to bean oxychlorid, RuOHCl,. I have also 
formed this blue solution by electrolytic 
action, and while it seems to be formed by 
a reducing action, this is not perfectly clear. 
Considerable work upon this solution, how- 
ever, leads me to agree with Claus that it is 

*Tt has already been mentioned that Vauquelin 


had noticed this blue color, but not knowing of ru- 
thenium had attributed it to osmium. 


SCLENCE. 27 


probably a lower chlorid of ruthenium, but 
it has not been proved. I have dwelt per- 
haps unduly upon these compounds for the 
purpose of showing the obscurity in which 
even such seemingly simple points are en- 
veloped, for it well illustrates how much 
work must yet be done before we acquire 
any adequate knowledge of the nature of 
even the commoner compounds and reac- 
tions of these elements. 

Of the simple salts of oxy-acids few are 
known of any metals of this group except 
the lower series, iron, cobalt and nickel; 
a single sulfate of rhodium, one of palla- 
dium, and perhaps a double sulfate of plati- 
num, a chromate of iridium, a basic car- 
bonate of palladium, two or three nitrates, a 
phosphate of rhodium, and a hypophosphite 
of platinum; such is practically the whole 
list. The platinum metals have little ten- 
dency to form crystalline salts with oxy- 
acids, and many such salts are unquestion- 
ably incapable of existence, but in many 
cases at least the difficulty is our ignorance 
of the condition of formation of such salts. 
And herein, I may say, is one of the most 
marked differences between investigation 
in organic and in inorganic chemistry. In 
the former the field has been so thoroughly 
studied that the conditions of reaction are 
often well known and the course of a reac- 
tion can be foretold with considerable cer- 
tainty; in inorganic chemistry the work is 
like exploration in an almost wholly un- 
known land. We know neither the possi- 
bility of existence of conjectured com- 
pounds, nor the conditions under which 
alone such formation or existence is possi- 
ble. For this reason inorganic research is 
slower and far more apt to be fruitless. No 
better example of this can be cited than the 
fact already referred to that Professor Joly, 
as well as myself, exhausted every method 
which occurred to us for the formation of 
the tetrachlorid of ruthenium, and failed in 
our efforts by missing just the proper con- 


28 


ditions, which happily Professor Antony 
has hit upon. 

But while the platinum metals seem to 
form few simple salts, few or none show 
such a decided tendency to form double 
and complex salts, and this property is, to 
some extent, shared by the three light 
metals of the group. 

Best known and best developed of these 
compounds are the cyanids, which are es- 
pecially familiar to us in the prussiates of 
iron. In nickel we have the ordinary 
cyanid, K,Ni(CN), or 2KCN, Ni(CN),, 
formed by the solution of nickel cyanid in 
potassium cyanid. As electrolytically dis- 
sociated, the nickel is a positive ion, and 
the double salt is at once broken up by 
acids with the precipitation of nickel cyanid. 
The double cyanid of palladium, K,Pd 
(CN), is similar but less easily decomposed. 
The corresponding double cyanid of plati- 
num, K,Pt(CN), is clearly a salt of the 
complex platinocyanic (or cyanoplatinous) 
acid, H,Pt(CN),, which is formed on treat- 
ing the salt with a strong acid, can be 
separated in a pure condition, and is an 
acid strong enough to expel hydrochloric 
acid from sal ammoniac. The platinum 
atom is here a constituent of the negative 
ion, Pt(CN),. 

If we proceed from nickel along the hori- 
zontal series, we find that while a double 
cobalt cyanid, K,Co(CN), or 4 KCN,- 
Co(CN),, can be formed, it is very unstable, 
and belongs to the same easily decompos- 
able class as the double nickel cyanids. 
This cobalt cyanid has, however, a great 
tendency to oxidize and form potassium co- 
balticyanid, K,Co(CN),, which is stable 
and a salt of the cobalticyanic acid, which 
can be obtained in a free state. In passing 
we note a very interesting point, that under 
the influence of such reducing agents as 
potassium cyanid, potassium nitrite, and 
potassium sulphite, cobalt shows a great 
tendency to become oxidized from its biva- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


lent condition to the very stable complex 
compounds in which it is trivalent; under 
other circumstances, simple compounds in 
which cobalt is trivalent are formed with 
great difficulty and are of decided instabil- 
ity. This seeming anomalous property still 
demands an explanation. 

Turning to the iron cyanids we find both 
types, K,Fe(CN), and K,Fe(CN),, ferro- 
cyanid and ferricyanid, well developed 
and extremely stable. From each, the cor- 
responding acid can be obtained in a free 
state, and is a strong acid. Of the remain- 
ing metals, the double cyanids of rhodium 
and iridium resemble the cobalticyanid, 
while of iridium the iridocyanid, K,Ir(CN), 
is also known, and is stable, thus complet- 
ing the analogy found in the nickel group. 
Potassium ruthenocyanid, K,Ru(CN), and 
osmocyanid, K,Os(CN), resemble the ferro- 
eyanid, the free acids being easily separable 
from the salts. Outside of the eighth group, 
the stable complex cyanids are known only 
in the case of manganese and chromium. 

Regarding the constitution of the double 
cyanids, you are all familiar with the vari- 
ous suggestions that have been made from 
time to time, which involve the polymeriza- 
tion, probably by threes, of the cyanogen — 
group. To this there have been raised two 
objections : an explanation which is satis- 
factory for the double cyanids should also 
be available for the double chlorids, as 
K,PtCl, which are also salts of complex 
acids, and where polymerization by threes 
is at least improbable; and second itis pos- 
sible to replace a single cyanogen group or 
chlorin atom, without changing essentially 
the nature of the molecule, as in sodium 
nitroprussid, Na,Fe(CN),NO, and potas- 
sium nitrosochlorruthenate, K,RuCl,NO. 
There is a large field for study in these cya- 
nids from the standpoint of the newer 
physical chemistry. 

Closely connected with the chemistry of 
the cyanids is that of the thiocyanates, but 


JULY 6, 1900.] 


it has been very meagerly worked out for 
the eighth group. In the case of platinum 
both potassium plato- and platithiocya- 
nates, K,Pt(SCN), and K,Pt(SCN),, are 
known, and are salts of the plato- and 
platithiocyanic acids. These are complex 
acids and may be separated out, but in the 
free state are very unstable. The double 
ferric thiocyanates may be formed but there 
is no corresponding complex acid, that is, 
they are ordinary double salts. The fer- 
rous, cobaltous, and nickel thiocyanates are 
known, but form no double salts. It is 
extremely probable that the other metals 
of this group would show a full series of 
thiocyanates. 

Another interesting class of “complex 
salts is that of the double nitrites, first 
studied in the case of platinum by Nilson, 
but for the other platinum metals by Wol- 
cott Gibbs, who bases upon these his 
method of separating the metals. More 
recently these nitrites have been investi- 
gated by Joly, Vézes, and Leidié. The 
most familiar double nitrite is the potas- 
sium cobaltinitrite, which has long served 
for the separation of cobalt from nickel, 
and which is also used as a pigment under 
the name of aureolin or cobalt-yellow. 
These nitrites resemble, to a considerable 
degree, the double cyanids, and in the 
ease of iridium the free complex iridoni- 
trous acid has been obtained. In the case 
of iron, cobalt, and nickel, we have also 
representatives of a large class of very 
staple triple nitrites, first noted by Kinzel 
and Lang and studied by Erdmann.* More 
recently these have been investigated by 
Przibilla + who, after great difficulty, suc- 
ceeded in preparing the triple iron potas- 
sium nitrites with lead, barium, strontium, 
and calcium ; this isthe first nitrite of iron 
to be prepared and leaves osmium as the 


* J. prakt. Chem. 97, 385 (1866). 
Tt Zschr. anorg. Chem., 15, 419 (1897). 


SCIENCE. 29 


only metal of the eighth group of which 
no nitrite is known. 

In the case of all platinum metals double 
sulfites are known, which are salts of com- 
plex metallo-sulfurousacid. In these metals 
the presence of the sulfurous acid radical 
cannot be detected by ordinary reagents. 
In the case of cobalt, a full series of cobal- 
tisulfites is known, which are stable salts, 
while the cobaltosulfites are very unstable. 
Little is known of iron and nickel sulfites, 
and there is much room for further inves- 
tigation in the case of the sulfites of the 
other elements of this group. There is at 
the same time reason to believe that a study 
of the thiosulfates and possibly the dithio- 
nates of this group would not be without 
interest. 

Another acid which is capable of form- 
ing complex salts is oxalic. The platoxal- 
ates are the only ones which have been 
carefully studied, though some work has 
been done upon the rhodoxalates. Several 
iron oxalates and double oxalates are 
known, but aside from this the field is 
unworked but promising. In this connec- 
tion it may be added that while oxalic acid 
is the only organic acid which has been 
investigated to any considerable extent in 
complex salts, it by no means follows that 
it is the only acid which is capable of enter- 
ing into such combinations. Some of my 
students have made preliminary tests with 
a large series of acids and found that sey- 
eral among them enter combination with 
chromium with the formation of complex 
salts, and it is quite possible that similar 
compounds may be formed with the eighth- 
group metals. Mention should also be 
made that Gibbs has introduced platinum 
into his complex salts, forming platinimo- 
lybdates and platinitungstates. 

Since complex salts of hydrocyanic, ni- 
trous, sulfurous, oxalic, and other analo- 
gous acids are best developed generally with 
the metals of this group, it is in the study 


30 


of these and other compounds of this group 
that we may hope to gain an insight into 
the constitution of these interesting com- 
pounds of which so little is known, and 
further extend our knowledge regarding 
valence, for it is just at this point that the 
generally accepted theory of valence begins 
to break down. 

Before alluding to the ammonia bases, 
which are so well developed in this group, 
and would naturally follow these complex 
salts we have just considered, a brief di- 
gression may be made to refer to three 
classes of anomalous compounds, which 
should not be passed without reference. 
The first of these is the nitroso compounds. 
It is only recently that, largely through the 
efforts of Joly, the nature of the so-called 
nitro-prussids was discovered,—double cy- 
anids in which one cyanogen group is re- 
placed by one nitroso group, NO. Joly 
then found that the old osmiamic acid of 
Fritzsche and Struve is also to be consid- 
ered as a nitroso compound, and that the 
supposed tetrachlorid of ruthenium is, in 
reality, a nitroso-chlorid. But while there 
appear to be no representatives of the 
nitroso compounds in the cobalt or the 
nickel groups, several other compounds of 
iron are known which contain this group, as 
the potassium iron tetra- and heptanitroso- 
sulfonates, K,Fe,(NO),S, and KFe,(NO),S,, 
and the iron nitroso-thiocarbonate and thio- 
antimonate of Léw. There seems also to 
be a nitroso-cyanid of ruthenium, corres- 
ponding to the nitroprussids, but it has not 
been isolated. In none of these cases has 
the interesting question been brought out 
as to whether the nitroso group remains 
attached to the metal when in solution, or 
whether it is electrolytically dissociated 
and acts the part of an acid radical. 

In some respects yet more remarkable 
are the compounds formed with carbon 
monoxid and with phosphorus trichlorid. 
The best known compound of this class is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


the nickel carbonyl, Ni(CO), of Ludwig 
Mond. The nature of this volatile liquid 
is yet unknown, but it is by no means 
unique. Immediately after its discovery it 
was found that iron formed similar com- 
pounds, Fe(CO), and Fe,(CO),. That a 
volatile compound of iron exists had been 
very apparent on the lime of the Drummond 
light, when water gas, compressed in iron 
cylinders, was used instead of hydrogen, 
and also in the clogging of gas burner tips 
with an oxid of iron, especially when a car- 
buretted water gas is used as an illumi- 
nant. The volatile iron carbonyl seems to 
be formed at ordinary temperatures by the 
passage of carbon monoxid through iron 
pipes. But it is not alone with metals 
that carbon monoxid combines to form 
volatile compounds. As early as 1868 
Schutzenberger * discovered that platinous 
ehlorid PtCl, would combine directly with 
carbon monoxid, with the formation of 
three distinct compounds, containing re- 
spectively one, two and three molecules 
of CO to one of PtCl, A compound is 
also known in which one CO group replaces 
one cyanogen group in potassium ferricya- 
nid, that is K,Fe(CN).CO. This reminds 
us naturally of the nitroso-ferrocyanid, the 
so-called nitroprussid. Again in 1870 Ca- 
hours and Gal} discovered a series of com- 
pounds containing platinous chlorid united 
with phosphorus trichlorid, and also with 
some of the organic phosphins. These 
compounds are not of the nature of double 
chlorids, for they can be hydrolyzed with 
the formation of chlorplatophosphorous 
acid. An analogous class of compounds of 
iridium has been made by Geisenheimer,{ 
which are also capable of hydrolysis, giv- 
ing echloriridophosphorous acid. Geisen- 
heimer has formed similar compounds con- 


* Compt. rend., 66, 666, 747 (1868). 
+ Comp. rend., 70, 897, 1380 (1870); 71, 208 (1870). 
{ Comp. rend., 110, 1004 (1890). 


JULY 6, 1900. ] 


taining bromin* in the place of chlorin, 
and also others containing arsenic + in the 
place of phosphorus. How far compounds 
of this nature can be extended is only con- 
jectural, but there is evidence of the exist- 
ence of something of the kind with iron. 

Of binary compounds with the less nega- 
tive elements, such as the phosphids and car- 
bids of iron, little is known. Like iron, 
nickel and also platinum and iridium form 
phosphids. Iridium phosphid possesses an 
economic importance in that it enables the 
metal to be fused in a furnace. Up to the 
discovery of this process in 1882 by Dr. 
Wm. L. Dudley, the native grains of iridos- 
mium were alone available for tipping gold 
pens, stylographs, and the like. It was, 
however, found that when iridium was 
heated to a high temperature in a crucible, 
on introducing a piece of white phosphorus, 
the whole mass immediately melted, and 
could be cast into plates, afterward to be 
worked up into desired form. This reminds 
one of the early method of working plat- 
inum by alloying it with arsenic and then 
roasting the arsenic off in a mufile. 

There remains a single class of com- 
pounds to be noticed, the ammonia bases, 
whose greatest development is found in this 
group. The first member of this class was 
the compound now known from its discov- 
erer as the green salt of Magnus, which was 
first made in 1828.{ Then came the work 
of Gros, of Reiset, and of Peyrone. Among 
the many chemists who have cultivated this 
field are Cleve, Jérgensen, who has given 
us most of our knowledge of the rhodium 
bases ; Gibbs, Palmaer, who has developed 
the iridium bases, and Joly, who has revised 
the bases of ruthenium; while the theory 
of these bases has been discussed especially 
by Claus, Blomstrand, Jorgensen, and Wer- 
ner. In connection with these bases appear 

* Ibid., 111, 40 (1890). 

+ Ibid., 110, 1336 (1890). 

ft Ann. der Phys. (Pogg.), 14, 239 (1828). 


SCIENCE. 31 


what must, with our present knowledge, be 
considered anomalies. The greatest devel- 
opment of these bases is found with plat- 
inum, where nearly or quite a dozen distinct 
classes of bases are known, and where we 
find several groups of isomers, which Wer- 
ner seeks to explain as stereo-isomers, while 
Jorgensen strenuously combats the view. 
In type, the palladium bases resemble those 
of platinum, but as far as yet studied are 
much less well developed. Nickel, on the 
other hand, forms no true bases, though 
many ammonia compounds. ‘The cobalt, 
rhodium, and iridium bases are all formed 
on the same general types, but by far the 
greatest development is found in cobalt, 
which almost rivals platinum in the num- 
ber of classes; but few of these are devel- 
oped with iridium, and fewer still with 
rhodium. In the iron group no bases are 
formed by iron, and only two or three am- 
monia compounds ; ruthenium and osmium 
form fewer bases as far as yet investigated, 
than any of the other platinum metals. It 
it interesting to note, however, that one of 
these ruthenium bases, discovered by Joly, 
and which possesses intense tinctorial 
power, resembles very strongly an organic 
dye, both on fabrics and as a stain in 
microscopy. The constitution of the am- 
monia bases is to-day, as it has been for 
half a century, one of the greatest problems 
of inorganic chemistry, and it is apparently 
no nearer solution. In accordance with the 
valence theory, it becomes necessary with 
Jorgensen to assume the existence of chains 
of at least four NH, groups in a molecule, 
stable enough to be unaffected by aqua 
regia and also that these ammonia groups 
are replaceable by water molecules. We 
must also assume that while in ordinary 
salts, as for example chlorids, the chlorin 
atoms, which are directly united with the 
metal, are dissociated in aqueous solution, 
in these bases the chlorin which is directly 
united with the metal is not dissociated, but 


32 


that which is united with the metal through 
the medium of one to four ammonia groups 
is dissociated. Led by a consideration of 
these seeming inconsistencies, Werner has 
proposed his theory of co-ordinated groups 
within the molecules ; atheory which seems 
to possess at least elements of truth, even if 
not expressing the whole truth. It is pos- 
sible, too, that Werner’s theory may ex- 
plain some of the difficulties of the theory 
of electrolytic dissociation, and harmonize 
it with the hydrate theory of solution. 

The constitution is, however, not the only 
problem of these bases. To my mind their 
connection or rather lack of connection 
with the periodic system is one of the most 
inexplicable facts in chemistry. It makes 
it apparent that while the periodic law ex- 
presses a truth without doubt the greatest 
generalization of modern chemistry, yet 
even this is lin its present statement not 
the whole truth. We find a marvel- 
ously full development of these bases in 
connection with cobalt, platinum, and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. VoL XII. No. 288. 


chromium. Manganese and iron which lie 
between chromium and cobalt form no 
bases. The higher members of the chrom- 
ium group, that is, molybdenum, tungsten, 
and uranium, form no bases, while the 
higher members of the iron series, that is, 
ruthenium and osmium do. Of nickel, 
which stands next to cobalt and resembles 
it so closely, no bases are known, and yet 
it is the lowest member of the series which 
contains platinum. It is true that bivalent 
cobalt forms perhaps like nickel, no bases, 
but as trivalent cobalt forms so many bases, 
trivalent iron would seem likely to form 
many, instead of none. If indeed manga- 
nese and iron are capable of forming these 
bases, it seems strange that no one has yet 
happened upon the proper conditions. It 
is the consideration of a subject like that of 
these inorganic bases, which forces upon us 
a realization of how much there is after all 
which we do not know about chemistry. 
We turn now to a short consideration of 
the eighth group from a theoretical stand- 


PrEriopic TABLE By F. P. VENABLE—MODIFIED. 


H He 
Li Gl B Cc N ce) 1p Ne 
Na M Al Si 1? s Cl Ar 
/ % 7 x A \ / XN yf \ ith \ ef \ 
K | Ca | Sc Ti Vv Cr Mn | Fe | Co | Ni 
| Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se | Br 2 ? 
| | | | [82] [8.4] 
Rb | Sr | Xe | Zr | Cb Mo | aE Ru | Rh | Pa 
| Ag | Cd In Sn Sb Te it : ? 
| | | 
Cs Ba | La | Ce | 3 & 3 é 8 ® 
: at Pe t t Vet t | . 
| | | 
¥ x | “ Ss Ta Ww * | Os Ir Pt 
Au | Hg } el Pb Bi Ti T 
8 8 3 | Th * U 
+ | — —|+;/—|+) —|+!—]4+)-]4+]- 
eries|Series | 
* Possible ++ Series elements. + Possible — series elements. === Eka-manganese. 


JULY 6, 1900.] 


point. Following Dr. Venable* we may 
assume that each of the first seven groups 
consists of a group element, as in group one, 
lithium, a type element as sodium, and two 
series, one of more positive elements as 
potassium, rubidium and cesium, and the 
other more negative, as copper, silver and 
gold. Further, the more positive the type 
metal, the more closely will the metals of 
the positive series resemble it; the more 
negative the type metal, the more closely 
will the negative series resemble it. Thus in 
the first group, the positive series potassium, 
rubidium and cesium closely resembles the 
type element sodium ; in the seventh group 
the negative series, bromium and iodin, 
resembles the type element chlorin. Now 
the eighth group differs materially from the 
other seven in that it contains three series, 
with no group or type element. These three 
- series are transitional from the least posi- 
tive among the seven positive series, man- 
ganese, to the least negative among the 
negative series, copper, silver and gold. 
The properties of the metals of group eight 
show this transition as from a chemical 
standpoint, iron, cobalt and nickel form a 
direct gradation between manganese and 
copper. Now comes a further question as 
to possible transition elements between the 
most negative series, fluorin, chlorin, bro- 
min, iodin, and the most positive series 
sodium, potassium, rubidium and cesium. 
From a theoretical standpoint such transi- 
tion elements should be neither positive 
nor negative, and should have a valence of 
zero. A few years ago the realization of 
such a conclusion would have seemed im- 
possible, yet since the discovery of argon 
and its congeners, it seems almost probable 
that these places have been filled in accord- 
ance with theory. If we take the most 
generally accepted atomic weights, we find 
helium preceding lithium, neon following 
fluorin and preceding sodium, and argon, 
* See periodic table. 


SCLENCE. 


39 


really between chlorin and potassium, but 
with an atomic weight apparently slightly 
greater than that of potassium which fol- 
lows it, resembling in this respect cobalt 
and nickel of this same group, and also 
tellurium and iodin. There would, in ad- 
dition, be expected from the analogies of 
group eight, one, two, or three transitional 
elements between bromin and rubidium, of 
atomic weight, 80 to 85, and Ramsay has 
suggested that krypton may belong in this 
place—so also an element or elements of 
similar character might be expected be- 
tween iodin and cesium, with atomic weight 
of about 130. The recently published work 
of Ladenburg and Kruegel on krypton give 
it an atomic weight of about 59. This 
would, as Professor Ladenburg suggests, 
make it immediately precede copper, but 
unless we change very materially our ideas 
of the periodic law, itis difficult to conceive 
of an element with the properties of kryp- 
ton lying between nickel and copper. If 
these inert gases belong in the eighth group 
it may seem strange that iron and the other 
familiar metals which belong here should 
be so unlike such a type element as argon 
or neon; if must, however, be borne in 
mind that this is only an expected exagger- 
ation of the departures found in the first 
and seventh groups, where copper departs 
from its type element sodium, and mangan- 
ese from its type element chlorin. As to 
whether three elements are to be expected 
of atomic weight 150 between the light and 
the heavy platinum metals we have little 
data upon which to theorize. As a matter 
of fact, there is very little definite knowl- 
edge of the elements between cerium and 
tantalum. The inter-Jovian planet proved 
to be an indefinitely large number of aster- 
oids; Sir William Crookes’ study of the 
rare earths leads him to the conception 
of a group of asteroidal meta-elements in 
this vacant space in the periodic table. 
We must await further knowledge be- 


34 SCIENCE. 


fore these problems can be satisfactorily 
solved. 

In conclusion one word as to a very prac- 
tical problem connected with this group. It 
is but a few years past a century since the 
use of platinum was introduced into the 
chemical laboratory. For a few decades 
the supply exceeded the demand, but the 
applications of platinum have steadily in- 
creased, and never so rapidly as in the last 
two decades. For many purposes no sub- 
stitute for platinum has been found. At 
the same time the supply of platinum is not 
keeping pace with the demand, and as a 
result the price of platinum has very ma- 
terially advanced. While platinum is very 
widely distributed, there are few places 
where it occurs in workable quantities. It 
is possible, however, that it has been often 
overlooked, as in placer mining for gold, 
and efforts have been made to attract min- 
ers’ attention to more careful search for 
platinum deposits. At the present outlook 
it will, within a few years, be imperatively 
necessary either to materially increase the 
platinum supply of the world or to replace 
it for many purposes by some other sub- 
stance. How this problem will be solved 
cannot now be foreseen. 

Jas. Lewis Howe. 

WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


The Elements of Physics for Use in High Schools. 
By HENRY CREW, Ph.D., Professor of Physics 
in Northwestern University. New York, The 
Macmillan Company. 1899. Pp. 347. 

One of the most striking indications of the 
steadily increasing demand for instruction in 
science as a part of elementary education, is 
found in the periodic recurrence of new books 
on a market that would seem to have become 
already overcrowded. If the new competitor 
is written by one who manifests his possession 
of the teacher’s instinct in addition to the 
scholar’s knowledge, its reason for existence is 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 288. 


quickly established. The author of the present 
volume plainly shows himself to be the possessor 
of both, though as a teacher he may have had 
little experience in the grade of schools for 
which his book is intended. In the preface he 
expresses his obligations to one friend, a high 
school teacher, ‘for many important excisions 
in the MS.,’ and his readiness to have others 
‘point out sins either of omission or of com- 
mission.’ 

In criticising such a book it is a pleasure to 
find so little to condemn, even if a few more 
excisions may seem advisable. Physics is es- 
sentially applied mathematics, even when no 
attempt is made to introduce openly the ideas 
of calculus or even of trigonometry. Itis most 
natural therefore that a physicist, who is not 
himself a high school teacher, should overesti- 
mate the ability of the average high school 
pupil to grasp mathematical conceptions that 
are not usually introduced in the work of the 
secondary school. 

In the introductory chapter on motion a brief 
and clear exposition of vectors and scalars is 
given, and a subsequent application is made in 
the discussion of uniform motion in a circle, 
where the position vector and velocity vector 
are contrasted, and the nature of the path 
deduced, along with the formula for acceleration 
in terms of radius, angular velocity, and periodic 
time. There is no theoretic objection to this, 
but itis probably safe to predict that many 
secondary pupils will agree in thinking the dis- 
cussion much too abstract for them. Indeed it 
would not be hard to find college juniors of 
literary bent, who would be sympathetic with 
their friends in the preparatory school, and who 
would congratulate themselves on the absence 
of problems, necessary as these may be to bring 
home a difficult subject. There are fashions in 
educational method as well as in dress. Whether 
the vector analysis fashion can be maintained 
in elementary schools may be doubted. To im- 
mature students the method is certainly not so 
easily grasped as are some other methods that 
have hitherto been satisfactory to many. 

In the discussion of angular motion much 
stress is laid upon the distinction between speed 
and velocity, the former being a scalar and the 
latter a vector quantity. This distinction has 


JuLY 6, 1900. ] 


been more or less familiar ever since its intro- 
duction by Thomson and Tait, but to young 
students it can scarcely fail to bring uncom- 
pensated trouble. Among the problems on 
this subject is the following: ‘‘ What is the aim 
of the clockmaker; to produce an instrument 
which will give constant angular speed or con- 
stant angular velocity ?’’ Itis perhaps safe to 
say that few clockmakers would answer with 
confidence ; and probably some teachers would 
hesitate also, especially after trying to assure 
themselves that ‘‘an ordinary peg top may be 
used to illustrate the case of a body having a 
constant angular speed, but at the same instant 
a variable angular velocity.’”’ For mental 
gymuastics in following out the metaphysics of 
a definition the distinction may have its value ; 
but there are many whose maturity exceeds 
that of high school pupils, and who find the 
word velocity, with suitable adjuncts, quite 
enough for all practical purposes. The facts 
give little trouble, for velocity in any given di- 
rection can always be specified, while words 
may become tyrants. 

As an exact science physics is built up on dy- 
namics as a foundation. The study of linear, 
angular, and harmonic motion therefore consti- 
tutes its most natural introduction, along with 
the consideration of the general properties of 
matter, of momentum, rotational inertia, and 
universal gravitation. Each of these subjects 
is treated with intelligence and skill, with 
mathematics that is not abstruse for a college 
student, but in a style that seems rather severe 
for the preparatory schools. Indeed the first 
hundred pages of the book, relating to subjects 
that admit of but little experimental illustra- 
tion, are certainly rather hard for students be- 
low collegiate grade. Passing on then to wave 
motion and acoustics, the rest of the volume is 
non-mathematical and very attractive. 

In the discussion of sound the building of the 
musical scale is brief, yet clear; but it seems a 
little unfortunate that the frequency of middle 
C should be given as 264. This number was 
adopted by the Stuttgart Congress in 1834, and 
the scale built upon it was used in Helmholtz’s 
‘Sensations of Tone’; but it never won uni- 
versal adoption. Within the last few years, 
and largely through the activity of the late 


SCLENCE. 35 


Governor L. K. Fuller, of Vermont, all the 
civilized nations of the world have adopted A, 
435, as standard pitch for the construction of 
musical instruments, England being the last to 
yield. Asall keyed instruments are made with 
the aim of producing the equally tempered 
scale, rather than the diatonic scale, it is read- 
ily found, by application of the proper factor, 
(1.05946)~°, that the frequency of the middle C, 
for this international pitch, is 258.65. For the 
purpose of the physicist the diatonic scale will 
probably continue in use, and Koenig’s forks 
are universally regarded as the best. These 
are tuned, unless specially ordered otherwise, 
to the so-called physical pitch, introduced a 
century ago by Chladni, with 0,=256. The 
wild confusion of a generation ago has now been 
reduced to order, with the survival of but two 
definitely related systems. One of these is in- 
ternational pitch, with A,—485 as starting 
point for the scale of equal temperament; the 
other is physical pitch, with C,—= 256 as start- 
ing point for the diatonic scale. Hach of these 
is of course arbitrary, the result of agreement, 
while the equally arbitrary Stuttgart pitch is 
now of only historic interest. In a text-book 
of physics it may be mentioned, but should no 
longer be taught; and 256 rather than 264 
should be the basis for a diatonic table of fre- 
quencies. 

The closing chapters on heat, magnetism, 
electricity, and light are well arranged, clearly 
expressed, and modern in style of treatment, 
with judicious omission of much that the high 
school pupil can well afford to disregard until 
the subjectis resumed in college. For example, 
the polarization of light is not mentioned, while 
diffraction comes in as an elementary illustra- 
tion of the wave theory, a few simple experi- 
ments being explained which are both interest- 
ing and easily made. In the development of 
the laws of geometrical optics, wave fronts are 
freely indicated in the diagrams, but equally 
free use is made of the convenient term ‘ray.’ 
The fact that this means merely a direction is 
no reason for abolishing it, as has been done in 
a few recent text-books of physics. 


W. L&E ContTE STEVENS. 


WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Photometric Measurements. WILBUR M.STONE. New 
Yorkand London. The Macmillan Co. 1900. Pp. 
vii+ 270. $1.60. 

A Manual of Elementary Practical Physics for High 
Schools. JULIUS HoRTVET. Minneapolis, H. W. 
Wilson. 1900. Pp.x+ 255. 

Comparative Anatomy of Animals. GILBERT C. BOWNE. 
London, George Bell & Sons. 1900. New York, 
The Macmillan Co. 1900. Pp. xvi 269. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The American Naturalist for June opens with 
an excellent account of ‘The Neurone Theory 
in the Light of Recent Discoveries,’ by G. H. 
Parker, originally given as a lecture before the 
Section of Biology, New York Academy of Sci- 
ences. ‘ Variation in the Venation of Trimero- 
tropis,’ is discussed by Jerome McNeil, with 
the rather surprising conclusion, among others, 
that variations in venation may be much greater 
within a species, than those difference which 
distinguish one genus from another. Robert 
T. Young presents some ‘ Notes on the Mam- 
mals of Prince Edward’s Island,’ and T. D. A. 
Cockerell notices ‘The Cactus Bees, Genus 
Lithurgus’ recorded from New Mexico. C. B. 
Davenport summarizes ‘The Advance of Bi- 
ology in 1897’ as indicated by the contents of 
DT’ Année biologique for that year and F. W. Si- 
monds hasa paper, presented before the Amer- 
ican Association last August, ‘On the Interpre- 
tation of Unusual Events in Geologic Records, 
illustrated by Recent Examples.’ Part X of 
the ‘Synopses of North American Invertebrates’ 
is by Mary J. Rathbun and is devoted to ‘The 
Oxyrhynchous and Oxystomatous Crabs.’ 


_ The Popular Science Monthly for July has for 
its frontispiece a portrait of G. K. Gilbert. 
Simon Newcomb has some ‘ Chapters on Stars’ 
and W. M. Haffkine gives the second and final 
part of his very interesting article on ‘ Preven- 
tive Inoculation.’ James Collier presents the 
second of his papers on ‘ Colonies and the 
Mother Country’ and G. F. Swain gives an ac- 
count of ‘Technical Education at the Massa- 
chusetts Institute of Technology,’ which in- 
cludes the history of the institution in brief and 
is illustrated by views of the laboratories and 
portraits of its various Presidents. G.T. W. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


Patrick discusses ‘The Psychology of Crazes,’ 
concluding that ethically and intellectually 
social or collective man is far behind individual 
man. Edward Renouf considers ‘Some Phases 
of the EHarth’s Development in the Light 
of Recent Chemical Research,’ and S. P. Lang- 
ley contributes ‘A Preliminary Account of the 
Solar Hclipse of May 28, 1900, as observed by 
the Smithsonian Expedition.’ ‘Malaria and 
the Malarial Parasite,’ by Patrick Manson, gives 
a good resumé of the subject, and finally Henry 
Carrington Bolton briefly notices ‘ New Sources 
of Light and of Rontgen Rays.’ Under Dis- 
cussion and Correspondence, Charles D. Wal- 
cott tells of ‘ Washington as an Explorer and 
Surveyor,’ while the thanks of the many are 
due to ‘ Physicist’, who under the caption ‘ Sci- 
ence and Fiction’ reviews Tesla’s recent article 
in the Century. 

The Osprey for May, rather belated, begins 
with part V of ‘Birds of the Road,’ by Paul 
Bartsch, followed by ‘Notes on the Habits of 
the Blue Jay in Maine,’ by J. Merton Swain. 
Theodore Gill gives the third instalment of 
‘William Swainson and his Times,’ which con- 
tains some important information regarding his 
publications. M. A. Carpenter, Jr., describes 
‘The Chickadee (Parus atricapillus) in Eastern 
Nebraska’ and some ‘ Remarks on Some of the 
Birds of the Cape of Good Hope,’ by Phillip 
Lutley Sclater is reprinted from the Ibis. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, 


On May 30, 1900, a meeting was held at 
Hazelwood, the residence of Vice-President Dr. 
T. F. Allen, near Litchfield, Conn., subsequent 
to a field excursion arranged by Dr. Allen in 
the vicinity of Litchfield, the Club being his 
guests from May 29th to 31st. 

Professor Lloyd called attention to the occur- 
rence of nectaries* on the leaves of Pteris aquii- 
ina. The glands are found on the rachis, one 
below the insertion of each pinna, and may be 
recognized as modified oval areas covered by a 
dark red epidermis. The color is due to the 
presence of matter dissolved in the sap, and is 

* Described briefly by Francis Darwin in Jour. 
Linn. Soc., 15: 407. 1877. 


JULY 6, 1900. ] 


found also in lines running up and sometimes 
down the rachis from the glands. These are 
very active during the rapid growth of the 
frond, their activity ceasing on the attainment 
of maturity. The secretion, which is very 
abundant, is formed independently of bleeding 
pressure, and the fluid is thick and syrupy. So 
rapidly does it accumulate that one may notice 
the increase in the size of the drops with a hand 
lens. The secretion escapes through modified 
stomata similar in form to the water-stomata of 
Tropeolum. The glandular tissue beneath ex- 
tends deeply into the cortical mass of the peti- 
ole ; its cells are small and contain chlorophyll. 

Small ants, and one honey-gathering dipter- 
ous insect were noticed visiting the glands ; 
none were seen to be gnawed by the insects. 
As F. Darwin observed, the plant has few nat- 
ural enemies or none, and the teleological in- 
terpretation must be sought in the internal 
economy of the plant, probably in connection 
with nutrition. The abundant excretion of 
sugar may be a carrier of or an accompaniment 
to the excretion of some harmful substance. It 
is noteworthy that up to the present time no 
other Pteridophyte has been reported to be pos- 
sessed of nectar-secreting organs. The plants 
on which the observations were made grew near 
Bantam Lake, Litchfield, Conn. 

Dr. Britton remarked on a young tree of the 
Swamp Spruce, Picea brevifolia Peck, found 
during the day in a sphagnum bog near Litch- 
field, and stated that this was probably the 
most southern known station for this species in 
New England. The short glaucous leaves and 
nearly glabrous twigs readily distinguish this 
tree from the Black Spruce, P. Mariana. 

Mrs. Britton exhibited specimens of the red- 
flowered Columbine of the Litchfield region, 
and remarked on its growth in open fields and 
the pubescent character of the plant, differing 
in these features from the plant of the vicinity 
of New York, which inhabits rocky ledges and 
is nearly or quite glabrous. She noted that the 
pubescent plant is also abundant in fields on the 
Pocono plateau of Pennsylvania. 

A yote of thanks was tendered to Dr. Allen 
for his most generous and agreeable hospitality. 

N. L. Brirron, 
Sec’y pro tem. 


SCLENCE. 37 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
CLIMATE AND THE ICE INDUSTRY. 


THE practical use made of nocturnal radia- 
tion for the preparation of ice in certain parts 
of India has long been well known. The method 
pursued there is to expose shallow porous 
earthenware dishes filled with water and rest- 
ing on rice straw, loosely laid in a small exca- 
vation on the surface of the ground. When the 
conditions are favorable, ice is formed in con- 
siderable quantities, even when the temperature 
of the air is 15° or 20° above freezing. A case 
of a somewhat similar kind is noted by O. H. 
Howarth, in a paper on ‘ The Cordillera of Mex- 
ico and its Inhabitants,’ in the Scottish Geograph- 
ical Magazine for June. In one of the highest 
valleys in Oaxaca, atan elevation of 8000-9000 
feet, a flourishing ice industry was discovered. 
It is stated that the ground is covered with a 
large number of shallow wooden troughs, which 
are filled with water, and during the winter 
nights are covered with a film of ice of not 
more than one-eighth of an inch in thickness. 
This ice is removed in the morning, shovelled 
into holes in the ground, and covered with 
earth. Under these conditions the ice consol- 
idates, and is then cut out in blocks and sent 
down by mules to the towns, where a ready 
market is found at all seasons. 


FROST FIGHTING. 


‘Frost Fighting,’ is the title of Bulletin No. 29 
of the United States Weather Bureau, prepared 
by A. G. McAdie, local forecast official at San 
Francisco. The question of protection against 
frost has been very carefully studied by the 
Weather Bureau officials in California during 
the past four years, and every effort has been 
made to forecast coming frosts, and also to in- 
vestigate the best methods of protection. Mr. 
McAdie says that ‘‘the experience of the past 
three years warrants the statement that the 
loss due to frosts in California, hitherto con- 
sidered unavoidable, can be prevented, and 
that unless extreme conditions, by which is 
meant lower temperatures by 5° than have ever 
yet been experienced in this State, occur, the 
citrus fruits of California can be successfully 
carried through the period when frost is likely.”’ 
The formation of frost is found to be very 


38 


largely a matter of air drainage, and every 
owner is urged to make a detailed study of the 
movement of local air currents in his own dis- 
trict. Various methods of protection are briefly 
described, including those based on mixing the 
air; warming the air; cloud or fog formation ; 
irrigation ; spraying, and screening. A ‘warm 
water method,’ adopted by Mr. HE. A. Mea- 
cham, of Riverside, Cal., by which water, after 
being heated in asmall boiler, is allowed to run 
in furrows through the orchard, is stated to 
have been successfully tried. The Bulletin con- 
tains a weather map showing the pressure and 
temperature conditions which are followed by 
heavy or killing frosts within 12 hours in south- 
ern California, and also gives plates illustrating 
the different methods of protection. 
; R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NOTES. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY has conferred its 
LL.D. of Dr. W. H. Welch, professor of pathol- 
ogy in the Johns Hopkins University. 


THE University of Cracow has conferred an 
honorary degree on Professor Simon Newcomb, 
U.S. A., on the occasion of the celebration of its 
five hundredth anniversary. 


THE Paris Academy of Sciences has elected 
Professor L. Boltzmann a corresponding mem- 
ber in the place of the late Professor Beltrami. 

WE regret that we are unable to secure or to 
find in any of our exchanges any account of the 
third biennial conference on an International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature beyond the 
fact that the delegates had a dinner. 


By the action of the Massachusetts Senate 
on June 28th there will be no appropriation 
this year for the destruction of the gypsy moth. 

Iv is proposed to celebrate the 70th birthday 
of Professor Wilhelm Wundt, which will occur 
on the 16th of August, 1902, by the publication 
a Festschrift, to which his former students are 
invited to contribute. The manuscripts must 
be forwarded to Professor Kilpe, Wurzburg, 
not later than January 1, 1902. 

THE directorship of the Paris Natural His- 
tory Museum, vacant by the death of Professor 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 288. 


Milne-Edwards, has been filled by the appoint- 
ment of Professor Edmund Perrier. 


Dr. ALFRED GOLDSBOROUGH MAYER, assis- 
tant of Mr. Alexander Agassiz, and in charge of 
Radiates at the Museum of Comparative Zo- 
ology, Cambridge, has been appointed curator 
of the Department of Natural Science in the 
Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 
Sciences. He will assume his new position in 
September. 

Sir GEORGE F. HAmpson, Bart., who ac- 
cepted an invitation to become an assistant in 
the Insect-room of the British Museum five 
years ago, has just been promoted to the post 
of first-class assistant, under a treasury regu- 
lation to which we have recently referred. He 
is the only assistant in the Natural History sec- 
tion of the museum to whom the benefits of this 
regulation have as yet been extended. But 
since there are many of his colleagues, men of 
equal reputation, who have served in the 
second class for twice, if not thrice, as long, it 
is anticipated that this good example will soon 
be followed. It is pleasing to find that after 
all, the Trustees of the British Museum are 
able to recognize exceptional merit, when they 
haye special facilities for becoming personally 
acquainted with it. 

THE Geological Society of London has elected 
Professor Paul Groth, of the University of 
Munich, a foreign member, and Professor A. 
Issel, of Genoa, a corresponding member. 


THE Society of Arts has awarded its Albert 
medal for the present year to Mr. Henry Wilde, 
F.R.S. 

THE third of the biennial Huxley Lectures, 
founded in commemoration of the late Professor 
Huxley in connection with the Charing Cross - 
Medical School, will be delivered by Lord Lister, 
President of the Royal Society, on Tuesday, 
October 2d. 

Lorp AVEBURY has been elected president of 
the Royal Statistical Society. The Society an- 
nounces as the subject for its Howard medal 
‘The history and statistics of tropical diseases 
with special reference to the bubonic plague.’ 


WE regret to record the death of Dr. Willy 
Kihne, professor of physiology and director of 


JuLy 6, 1900. ] 


the Physiological Institute of the University of 
Heidelberg, at the age of 62 years ; of Dr. Rein- 
hold Hoppe, docent in mathematics in the Uni- 
versity of Berlin, aged 84 years, and of M. 
Bontain the French physicist. 

Ir is proposed to erect a monument in Simons- 
town in memory of the late Miss Mary Kings- 
ley, the African explorer and botanist, who 
died of fever while engaged in nursing the 
Boer prisoners. 

THE United States Civil Service Commission 
announces that on July 24, 1900, an examina- 
tion will be held for the position of assistant 
ethnologist in the Smithsonian Institution at a 
salary of $50a month. The examination will 
be chiefly on Indian languages and especially 
on Siouxan languages. 

On August 14th, there will be an examination 
for the position of assistant, Division of Huto- 
mology, Department of Agriculture, at a salary 
of $840 per annum. The examination will be 
on entomotaxy and especially on the orthop- 
tera. 

A MEETING of the Anatomical Society of Great 
Britain and Ireland was held at Owens College 
Manchester on June 21st and 22d. 


Ir is stated that there has been a meeting of 
cardinals and other ecclesiastical dignitaries at 
the Vatican to discuss the expediency of taking 
an active part in the movement for the preven- 
tion of tuberculosis. 


AT the Blue Hill Observatory on June 19th a 
kite used in the exploration of the air was sent 
to the height of 14,000 feet, which exceeds the 
greatest height previously obtained there by 
1440 feet. The temperature at this height was 
15 degrees below the freezing point, the wind 
velocity was about 25 miles an hour from the 
northeast, and the air was extremely dry, al- 
though clouds floated above and below that 
level. The kites remained near the highest 
point from 5 to 8 p. m. They were then reeled 
in rapidly by a small engine. On the way 
down they passed through a stratum of thin 
ragged clouds at the height of 1} miles. These 
were moving with a velocity of about 30 miles 
an hour. At this time the wind at the obser- 
vatory, about 600 feet above the general level of 
the surrounding country, had fallen to a calm. 


SCIENCE. 


39 


The highest point was reached with 4} miles of 
music wire as a flying line, supported by 5 
kites attached to the line at intervals of about 
three-fourths of a mile. The kites were Har- 
grave or box kites of the improved form de- 
vised at the Observatory. They have curved 
flying surfaces modeled after the wings of a 
bird. The three kites nearest the top of the 
line had an area of between 60 and 70 square 
feet each, and the 2 others about 25 feet each. 
The total weight lifted into the air, including 
wire, instruments and kites, was about 130 
pounds. This flight was one of a series being 
carried on by Messrs. Clayton, Ferguson and 
Sweetland. On June 18th the kites reached a 
height of 11,500 feet. They were sent up a 
second time the same evening and remained 
throughout the night at a height of nearly 10,- 
000 feet. At this height the temperature re- 
mained from 5 to 10 degrees below freezing. 


THE Philadelphia Medical Journal reports that 
the plague is increasing in Australasia. Many 
cases are reported in Victoria, which probably 
started in the slums of Melbourne. In the city 
of Sydney, 239 cases have been reported, with 
82 deaths. The extension of the plague to 
Sydney has caused much disturbance to busi- 
ness. The number of cases is rapidly increas- 
ing, in spite of the efforts at destruction of rats 
and disinfection. The government distributes 
free to all householders a special rat-poison and 
sends men to remove dead rats. About 8000 
persons have been inoculated with Haffkine’s 
prophylactic. A few days later two or three of 
those inoculated were attacked by the disease. 
Dr. Tidswell, the bacteriologist of the New 
South Wales Health Department, is said to 
have found plague-bacilli in the alimentary 
canal of fleas taken from plague-infected rats. 
The British Medical Journal reports 100 deaths 
daily in Calcutta, and the total mortality is 
double that number. The local government 
interferes as little as possible with the domestic 
affairs of the people. No pressure is used to 
send cases to the hospitals and many remain 
untenanted. This system has one advantage— 
that it does not cause a panic and consequent 
flight of a large portion of the inhabitants, 
which would result in spreading the disease 
over the province. On the other hand, no de- 


40 


crease of the disease in the city can be expected 
to foilow such measures, and it isnot surpris- 
ing that the usual annual increase is greater this 
year. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE total amount of the bi-centennial fund of 
Yale University is now $1,090,000. This sum 
includes $490,000 subscribed or pledged uncon- 
ditionally to the general building fund; $250,- 
000 pledged conditionally in case three addi- 
tional subscribers can be found to give $100,000 
each, thus making possible the carrying out of 
the building plan and $350,000 given or pledged 
for special purposes other than those of the 
general building fund. During the year the 
university has received also the Vanderbilt be- 
quest of $100,000 free of tax; $50,000 from the 
estate of Charles J. Stillé; $30,000 from the 
estate of Professor O. C. Marsh, and $15,000 
from the estate of Catherine W. Jarman, mak- 
ing, with minor legacies, about $200,000. The 
University has further just received from Mr. 
W. E. Dodge of New York City the sum of 
$30,000 ‘‘ for the purpose of promoting among 
its students and graduates and among the edu- 
cated men of the United States an understand- 
ing of the duties of Christian citizenship and a 
sense of personal responsibility for the perform- 
ance of those duties.’? The income of the fund 
will be paid each year for a series of lectures. 


THE sum of $109,000 covering the debt of 
Wellesley College has been raised making avail- 
able a gift of $100,000 from Mr. John D. Rocke- 
feller. 


THE daily papers contain a dispatch from 
Havana regarding an alleged scandal in the 
University, where some of the best known men 
in Cuba are said to have received $24,000 a year 
each as professors. There were 72 of these pro- 
fessors and 24 assistants, some of them having 
no classes at all and others only one or two stu- 
dents. Many of the professors drew other gov- 
ernment salaries. When this was called to 
General Wood’s attention he immediately in- 
augurated reforms, which resulted in cutting 
down the list to 46 professors and assistants. 
So at least runs a cablegram from Hayana on 
which perhaps not very much reliance should 
be placed. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 288. 


THE United States transport McPherson, 
having on board 231 of the Cuban teachers who 
will attend the summer school at Harvard 
University, arrived in Boston harbor on June 
30th. 


PROFESSOR CHARLES L. EDWARDS, recently 
of the University of Cincinnati, was elected on 
June 26th to the professorship of natural history, 
in Trinity College, Hartford. The new Hall 
of Natural History, just completed at a cost of 
$60,000, is a building of three stories above a 
high basement, and is designed for the various 
needs of biology and geology. Thereare suites 
of laboratories for anatomy, physiology, ex- 
perimental morphology, zoology, botany and 
geology, together with a vivarium. The south- 
ern half of the building, provided with a large 
central light well extending from the first floor 
to the arched roof, isthe museum. The already 
valuable collections of Trinity College, includ- 
ing the Ward series of invertebrates, vertebrate 
skeletons and Blascke models will be largely 
augmented in the near future. Professor Hd- 
wards will supervise the equipment of the 
laboratories during the summer. 


THE following appointments are also an- 
nounced: H. T. Cory, a graduate of Purdue 
University, now in charge of the engineering 
courses in the University of Missouri, professor 
of civil engineering in the University of Cin- 
cinnati ; Dr. Franz Pfaff, assistant professor of 
pharmacology and therapeutics of the Harvard 
Medical School ; Dr. L. E. Dickson has resigned 
his position as associate professor of mathematics 
in the University of Texas, to accept a call to 
the University of Chicago; Dr. Grace N. Dol- 
son, a graduate of Cornell University, has been 
made professor of philosophy at Wellesley Col- 
lege; at Princeton University, Professor E. O. 
Lovett has been promoted to a full professorship 
of mathematics, and Mr. A. A. H. Lyba has 
been called to a professorship of mathematics at 
Roberts College, Constantinople; Dr. George 
VY. N. Dearborn has been appointed assistant 
professor of physiology in the Tufts College 
Medical School. He succeeds Dr. Albert P. 
Mathews, who has been called to an instructor- 
ship in physiology in the Harvard Medical 
School. 


Sie NCE 


EDITORIAL CommitrEE : §. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWAaRD, Mechanics; EH. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorNn, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; 8S. H. ScUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircn, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WittiAM H. WEtcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Jury 13, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
The American Association for the Advancement of 
Science :-— 
On Kathode Rays and some related Phenomena 


(1): PRoressor ERNEST MERRITT............ 41 

Some Twentieth Century Problems : PROFESSOR 

WILLIAM TRELEASE...........0c.ssceesceee scenes seen 48 
The Structure and Signification of certain Botan- 


ical Terms: DR. CHARLES A. WHITE........... 62 


Lymphosporidium Truttze, Nov. Gen., Nov. Spec., 
the cause of a recent Brook Trout Epidemic: 


aD) GAGE Va Nepa © AUGKADN Suectteciem careless testers ist 64 
Embryology of Lepas: MAuRICE A. BIGELOW.... 65 
Ernst Hartig: PROFESSOR R. H. THURSTON..... 66 


Scientific Books :-— 

Pearson’s, The Grammar of Science : PROFESSOR 

JOSEPH JASTROW. Whipple on the Microscopy 

of Drinking Water: PROFESSOR CHARLES A. 

Koroip. Pozzi-Escot’s Analyse Chimique Quali- 

tative: PROFESSOR EDWARD RENOUF........... 67 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Deformed Sterna in the Domesticated Fowl: F. 

A. Lucas. Remarks of the Loess in North China : 

FRED. B. WRiaHt ; Power of the Eye: HIRAM 

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ON KATHODE RAYS AND SOME RELATED 
PHENOMENA.* 


I. 


Amone the branches of physical investi- 
gation that have recently shown especial 
activity, few occupy a more prominent po- 
sition at the present time than those that 
are related to the electrical discharge in 
rarefied gases. This is true not only be- 
cause of the rapid development of the sub- 
ject, but also because of the far reaching 
importance of the results, and the influence 
which they seem destined to exert upon 
widely different branches of physics. When 
I learned that I was to have the privilege 
of addressing you to-day, it appeared to me 
that I could not better utilize the oppor- 
tunity than by briefly recalling the progress 
in this subject during the last few years, and 
calling attention to some of the results that 
we may reasonably hope for in the future. 
The whole subject of vacuum tube discharge 
is, of course, too large to be treated in the 
brief space of an hour. I shall therefore 
confine myself to one of its more important 
subdivisions, namely, the phenomena and 
theory of the kathode rays. 

Of the many beautiful and interesting 
phenomena that accompany the electrical 
discharge in rarefied gases, certainly none 
has attracted such widespread attention as 


* Address of the Vice-President and Chairman of 
Section B (Physics) of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, given at the New York 
meeting. 


AQ 


the kathode rays. Since their discovery by 
Plicker in 1859, and the first systematic 
study of their properties by Hittorf and 
Crookes, the importance of a more com- 
plete understanding of their nature has 
been generally recognized, and many em- 
inent physicists have made them the sub- 
ject of extended experimental investiga- 
tion. In consequence, our knowledge of 
the kathode rays has progressed during the 
last few years with startling rapidity. To 
make clear how great the progress has been, 
let us consider first the condition of the 
subject of 1890, at which time the theory 
of vacuum tube phenomena was just begin- 
ning to take systematic and consistent 
form. 

Almost from the time of the first dis- 
covery of the kathode rays, widely different 
opinions had been held regarding their 
nature. According to one view, the ka- 
thode rays were to be regarded as distur- 
bances in the ether, propagated in a manner 
somewhat analogous to that in which light 
is transmitted. The rays were not con- 
sidered as essential to the passage of the 
current, but as a secondary phenomenon, 
produced by the discharge. Hertz, for ex- 
ample, suggested that the production of the 
kathode rays by the discharge in a vacuum 
tube is analogous to the production of light 
by the ordinary are discharge in air. This 
view furnished a ready explanation of most 
of the observed phenomena, such, for ex- 
ample, as the rectilinear propagation and 
diffuse reflection of the kathode rays, and 
the thermal, mechanical, and luminous ef- 
fects produced by them. The explanation 
of the well-known deflection of the rays in 
passing through a magnetic field was, 
however, a matter of greater difficulty. I 
am not aware that a thoroughly satisfactory 
explanation of this phenomenon, based 
upon what may be called the ether theory 
of the kathode rays, has ever been pro- 
posed. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


The theory proposed by Crookes in 1879, 
and which usually bears his name, differed 
radically from that just mentioned. By 
Crookes and his followers the kathode rays 
were thought to consist of a stream of 
negatively electrified particles projected at 
high velocity from the negative electrode. 
Such particles would naturally travel in 
straight lines; upon colliding with solid 
obstacles their energy would be transformed 
into that of heat, light, or visible motion ; 
and when moving across the lines of force 
of a magnetic field they would be deflected 
from their straight path. The theory of 
Crookes possessed the great advantage of 
being concrete and definite, while, at the 
time the theory was proposed, it was in 
qualitative agreement with practically all 
the observed phenomena. 

The work of later experimenters, how- 
ever, had in many instances tended to dis- 
credit the theory of Crookes. Thus, the 
various mechanical effects produced by ka- 
thode rays, such as the rotation of radio- 
meter wheels and the like, were found to be 
due largely, if not wholly, to secondary 
causes, such as the heat developed by the 
rays, and the varying static charges on the 
walls of the tube. Again, if the rays con- 
sist of negatively electrified particles, we 
should expect a conductor placed in their 
path to acquire a negative charge. Hx- 
periments made to test this question were 
contradictory, but in the majority of cases 
it was found that the charge was positive 
instead of negative.* Electrified particles 
moving at right angles to an electrostatic 
field should be deflected from their straight 
course; but experiments made by Hertz + 
and others to detect such an electrostatic 
deflection gave only negative results. Since 
the kathode rays are deflected in passing 
through a magnetic field, we should expect 
these rays, if they consist of material par- 


* Crookes, Phil. Trans., 1879. 
t Hertz, Wied. Ann., 19, p. 782, 1883. 


JULY 13, 1900.] 


ticles, to react upon the field and exert a 
force tending to move the magnet to which 
the field is due; no such reaction could be 
detected.* Many other instances might be 
cited in which the results of observation 
were apparently in direct contradiction 
with the Crookes theory. 

Such, in brief, was the condition of the 
subject at the beginning of the present de- 
cade. Of the two theories that had been 
proposed, each possessed strong arguments 
in its favor. Neither was free from serious 
objection. 

Previous to this time, very little work of 
a quantitative nature had been done in 
connection with the kathode rays, although 
several estimates had been made of their 
velocity. Thus, according to Spottiswood 
and Moulton} the velocity was considerably 
less than that of light; whole Goldstein{ 
had reached the conclusion that the ve- 
locity was greater than one four hundredth 
of the velocity of light. In 1894 a direct 
determination of the velocity was made by 
J. J. Thomson§, the method being to ob- 
serve two fluorescent spots, produced by 
the kathode rays at different distances from 
the kathode, by means of a revolving mir- 
ror. The result obtained was 2x10’ cm. 
per second, or about one thousand times 
less than the velocity of light. This ve- 
locity is practically the same as that which 
would be acquired by a hydrogen ion re- 
pelled from the kathode. Thomson’s re- 
sult therefore supported the view, pre- 
viously expressed by Schuster, that the 
kathode rays were not composed of par- 
ticles of metal torn loose from the electrode, 
or of charged molecules of the residual gas, 
but that they consisted of a stream of ions 
such as occur in ordinary electrolysis. 

Recent determinations of the velocity of 


* Hertz, 1. c. 

+ Phil. Trans., 171, p. 627, 1880. 

t Goldstein, Wied. Ann., 12, p. 101, 1880. 
¢ Thomson, Phil. Mag., 38, p. 358, 1894. 


SCIENCE. 


-a photographic plate. 


43 


the kathode rays have shown that the value 
obtained by Thomson was too small, so 
that the conclusions based upon it were in- 
correct. Nevertheless, I am inclined to 
think that they served a useful purpose. 
For by directing attention to the discredited 
emission theory, and to the probable elec- 
trolytic nature of gaseous conduction, they 
stimulated investigation and contributed to 
the advance of the subject. 

The more modern phase of our subject 
properly begins in 1892, when it was dis- 
covered by Hertz* that the kathode rays 
were able to penetrate thin sheets of gold 
foil, aluminium, and glass. Taking advan- 
tage of this discovery, Lenard in 1893+ 
constructed a vacuum tube containing a 
small opening covered with aluminium foil, 
through which the rays passed out into the 
open air, or into a second tube. It was 
thus possible to study the rays under con- 
ditions which could be readily varied, while 
the conditions under which the rays were 
developed remained unaltered. This form 
of apparatus not only made possible a more 
systematic study of the known properties 
of the kathode rays, but also led to the dis- 
covery of many new phenomena. Thus, 
in air at ordinary pressures, the rays were 
found to discharge electrified bodies, to de- 
velop ozone, and to give an impression upon 
The photographs 
published by Lenard, showing the opacity 
of glass and quartz to these rays, and the 
comparative transparency of the metals, are 
strikingly similar to those since obtained 
with the X-rays. In fact, it now seems 
probable that X-rays were present to some 
extent in all Lenard’s experiments, and 
that the phenomena observed by him were 
in part caused by them. 

One of the first questions investigated by 
Lenard was the influence of the medium 
through which the rays passed upon their 


* Hertz, Wied. Ann., 45, p. 28, 1892. 
+ Lenard, Wied. Ann., 51, p. 225, 1894. 


dt 


intensity and magnetic deflection.* In 
passing through the air or other gases the 
rays were observed to suffer diffusion simi- 
lar to that experienced by light in a turbid 
medium. Itwas found that the absorption 
and diffusion of the rays were approxi- 
mately proportional to the density. The 
magnetic deflection, on the other hand, was 
independent of the medium in which the 
rays were observed, and remained the same 
even after the rays had passed through thin 
sheets of metal. 

By changing the conditions under which 
the rays were generated, different kinds of 
kathode rays were obtained, whose pene- 
trating power and susceptibility to the ac- 
tion of a magnetic field could be varied 
through a wide range. Thus, upon reduc- 
ing the pressure in the tube where the rays 
were developed, the penetrating power of 
the rays was found to increase, while at the 
same time the magnetic deflection became 
steadily less. In connection with this work 
Lenard called attention for the first time to 
the so-called ‘magnetic spectrum’ of the 
kathode rays} a phenomenon which was 
rediscovered by Birkeland{ in 1896 and 
has since attracted considerable attention. 
It appears that a beam of kathode rays is 
ordinarily not homogeneous, but that it 
consists of rays which are magnetically de- 
flected in different degrees. In conse- 
quence, the fluorescent patch produced by 
such a beam, after passing through a mag- 
netic field, is no longer sharply defined. 
In many cases it is drawn out into an in- 
terrupted band, in which regions of bright 
fluorescence alternate with regions of com- 
parative darkness. The resemblance to a 
banded or bright line spectrum is often 
quite striking. The phenomenon is now 
known to be due to the employment of a 
fluctuating or interrupted current in devel- 

* Wied. Ann., 52, p. 23, 1894 ; 56, p. 255, 1895. 


Tt Wied. Ann., 52, p. 32, 1894. 
+ Comptes rendus, 123, p. 492, 1896. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von XII. No. 289. 


oping the rays.* Since the character of the 
kathode rays is so largely dependent upon 
the conditions under which they are devel- 
oped, it is natural to expect that when these 
conditions, are unsteady the rays obtained 
will be non-homogeneous. If the rays are 
developed by a steady current, the magnetic 
spectrum is reduced to a single bright line. 

Without stopping to discuss further the 
interesting and important phenomena in- 
vestigated by Lenard, let us consider for a 
moment the bearing of his work upon the 
two opposing theories of the kathode rays. 
Upon the assumption that the rays con- 
sisted of some sort of wave motion, all 
Lenard’s results were readily explained. 
That such waves should pass through air, 
and even through thin layers of metal, was 
to be expected ; the same is true with ordi- 
nary light. To explain the diffusion of the 
rays, it was sufficient to assume that the 
wave length was small compared with the 
dimensions of a molecule. The same as- 
sumption explained the observed relation 
between absorption and density. The dif- 
ficulty in accounting for the magnetic de- 
flection of the rays still remained. But this 
difficulty was no greater than it had always 
been, and seemed by no means insurmount- 
able. 

On the other hand, to interpret Lenard’s 
results in accordance with the Crookes 
theory, in the form that it then took, was a 
matter of great difficulty. That exces- 
sively short waves should be able to pass 
through metal is reasonable enough; but 
that atoms or molecules should be able to 
pass is hard to believe. Yet, according to 
Lenard’s experiments, not only must these 
atoms pass through a grounded sheet of 
aluminium, carrying with them their elec- 
tric charge, but they must emerge from the 
other side with their momentum sensibly 
unaltered. The suggestion was indeed 
made by the advocates of the Crookes the- 

*Strutt, Phil. Wag., 48, p. 478, 1899. 


Juny 13, 1900.] 


ory that the rays did not really penetrate 
Lenard’s aluminium window, but that they 
made of it a secondary kathode, which sent 
out new rays of its own into the region be- 
yond.* But the objections to this view are 
numerous. For example, it is remarkable 
that the secondary rays should be exactly 
similar in their properties to the rays which 
produced them, regardless of whether the 
secondary kathode is thick or thin, a conduc- 
tor such as aluminium, or an insulator such 
as glass. Again, Lenard obtained these rays 
both in air at ordinary pressures, and in a 
vacuum so high that no discharge could be 
made topass. In neither case can kathode 
rays be produced by any other known 
method. Is it not strange that a secondary 
kathode, forming part of a grounded metal 
inclosure, should not only develop these 
rays under conditions where all other 
methods fail, but that it should also pro- 
duee rays of the same kind and intensity 
under such widely different conditions? 
These and other objections make it seem 
highly unlikely that the Lenard rays can 
be satisfactorily explained by treating the 
aluminium window as a secondary kathode. 
Tn fact, I think that this view has now been 
very generally abandoned. But even if it 
were accepted as correct, the difficulties in 
the way of the Crookes theory still re- 
mained. For if the kathode rays consisted 
of charged atoms, as had been indicated by 
the work of Schuster and J. J. Thomson, 
the fact that they were able to pass through 
air is scarcely less surprising than that they 
should penetrate thin sheets of metal. 
Lenard himself interpreted his results as 
offering additional support to the ether 
theory, and called attention to the fact that 
in order to explain the observed phenom- 


* J. J. Thomson, ‘ Recent Researches in Electricity 
and Magnetism,’ p.126. ‘Discharge of Electricity 
through Gases,’ p. 190. 

tSee J. J. Thomson, ‘Discharge of Electricity 
through Gases,’ p. 196. 


SCIENCE. 


45 


ena the wave-length must be small com- 
pared with the dimensions of a molecule. 
At the close of his first article in 1894 he 
says, ‘‘ Judging by the observed behavior of 
the gases’’ (viz, diffusion and absorption 
of the rays) ‘the ether phenomena that 
constitute the kathode rays must be of such 
extraordinary fineness that dimensions as 
small as those of molecules have to be 
taken into consideration. Even toward 
light of the shortest known wave-length, 
matter acts as though it were continuous. 
But toward kathode rays, even the ele- 
mentary gases behave like non-homoge- 
neous media; each individual molecule 
seems to form an obstacle to their propaga- 
tion. Analogous phenomena are observed 
when ordinary light passes through a me- 
dium made turbid by suspended particles.”’ 

When we consider the condition of the 
subject at that time, Lenard’s conclusion 
that the rays must consist of something anal- 
ogous to wave motion seems most natural. 
From our present standpoint, however, it 
is seen that his results might be equally 
well explained by a modification of the 
Crookes theory. The same difficulties that 
are surmounted by the assumption of ex- 
tremely short waves can also be removed 
by the assumption of extremely small par- © 
ticles. If the kathode ray particles are only 
small enough, they might pass for a con- 
siderable distance through air, or even 
through metal films; upon colliding with 
the molecules of a gas they would rebound 
in all directions, and diffusion would re- 
sult; and both diffusion and absorption 
would be roughly proportional to the den- 
sity of the medium. But this requires that 
particles of matter should exist which are 
small as compared with atoms. The sug- 
gestion is a startling one, and so violently 
contradicts our ordinary views of the con- 
stitution of matter that it cannot be ac- 
cepted without strong support. It is not 
surprising, therefore, that several years 


46 


elapsed after the discovery of the Lenard 
rays before this modification of the Crookes 
theory was proposed. 

In 1895, about a year after the publication 
of Lenard’s results, came the discovery of 
the X-rays by Rontgen. The widespread 
interest which this discovery aroused is fresh 
in the minds of all of us, and is probably 
without a parallel in the whole history 
of physics. Apart from their importance 
from a purely scientific standpoint, and 
from their sensational features, the X-rays 
occupy a unique position among the phe- 
nomena connected with the electrical dis- 
charge in vacuum tubes ; forthey afford the 
first instance in which the scientific results 
obtained in this branch of physics have 
been made directly useful in everyday life. 
Although it is not the purpose of the pure 
scientist to seek directly such applications, 
yet every instance of this kind is always a 
source of gratification. Hach new case 
serves to strengthen that belief which forms 
the real basis of scientific investigation ; the 
belief that every advance in our knowledge 
of natural law, be it ever so small, or ever 
so removed in appearance from the affairs 
of everyday life, must ultimately contribute 
to the increase of human happiness and the 
progress of mankind. 

The discovery of the X-rays served to 
stimulate investigation along all related 
lines. Interest in the phenomena of the 
electrical discharge through gases, and espe- 
cially in the kathode rays, became stronger 
than ever before; for it was natural ‘to ex- 
pect that the puzzling problem of determin- 
ing the nature of the Rontgen rays might 
be simplified by a better understanding of 
the kathode rays, that produced them. 

The numerous difficulties and apparent 
contradictions which had stood in the way 
of the adoption of the Crookes theory have 
already been referred to. These may be 
said to have culminated with the discovery 
of the Lenard rays, and the theory in its 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 289. 


earlier form was of necessity abandoned. 
But since that time the difficulties have been 
one by one removed. Thus, in 1896, it was 
shown by Perrin* that the kathode rays 
really do carry a negative charge; this 
conclusion was confirmed by J. J. Thom- 
sont in 1897. That a negative charge is 
also carried by the Lenard rays was after- 
wards shown by McClelland,} Wien,§ and 
Lenard.|| By passing the rays through an 
aluminium window in a completely closed 
metal box, Lenard was able to give a nega- 
tive charge to an insulated conductor within. 
Certainly a more conclusive proof that the 
kathode rays are electrified can hardly be 
demanded. 

The deflection of the kathode rays in 
passing through an electrostatic field, which 
the Crookes theory required, and which 
Hertz had looked for in vain, was proved 
to exist by Jaumann 4] in 1896, and much 
more conclusively by J. J. Thomson ** in 
1897. A year later it was shown by Wien {++ 
and Lenard {{ that a similar electrostatic 
deflection occurred in the case of the Lenard 
rays. 

Not only were the earlier experiments 
shown to be in error in both these cases, 
but the reasons for their failure are now 
pretty wellunderstood. Probably the most 
important sources of error were due to the 
fact that the residual gas in a vacuum tube 
is rendered conducting by the discharge. 
The kathode rays also exert a special ion- 
izing influence of their own, so that in 
those parts of the tube which are traversed 
by these rays, the gas becomes temporarily 
a good conductor. In consequence it acts 


* Perrin, Nature, 53, p. 298, 1896. 

+ Thomson, Phil. Mag., 44, p. 293, 1897. 

{ McClelland, Lond. Elect., 39, p, 74, 1897. 

2 Wien, Wied. Ann., 65, p. 440, 1898. 

|| Lenard, Wied. Ann., 64, p. 279, 1898. 

{ Jaumann, Wiener Berichte, 105, 2a, p. 291, 1896. 
** Thomson, Phil. Mag., 44, p. 293, 1897. 

tt Wien, Wied. Ann., 65, p. 440, 1898. 

tt Lenard, Wied. Ann., 64, p. 279, 1898. 


JuLY 13, 1900. ] 


as a conducting screen, which protects the 
rays from electrostatic influences. This ex- 
planation of the failure to obtain electro- 
static deflection was suggested by Schuster * 
as early as 1890; but the importance of 
this source of error was not generally ap- 
preciated until much later. The fact that 
a conductor placed in the path of the 
kathode rays usually takes a positive charge 
instead of a negative one is doubtless due 
to the same cause. Being surrounded by 
a conducting medium, the conductor will 
receive its charge partly from the kathode 
rays and partly by induction. The induc- 
tive charge will usually be positive, and 
may be sufficiently strong to determine the 
sign of the resultant. Doubtless the almost 
universal employment of the induction coil 
by the earlier observers was also in part to 
blame for the contradictory results. The 
use of a fluctuating current is now seen to 
introduce many annoying complications. 
In quantitative work especially, some source 
of steady current, such as a large Holtz 
machine or a storage battery, is much to 
be preferred. 

The discovery that the kathode rays 
carry a negative charge and are subject to 
electrostatic deflection afforded so strong 
an argument in favor of the Crookes theory, 
that attempts were at once made to subject 
the theory to quantitative tests. The ques- 
tion of the size of the kathode ray parti- 
cles and the charge carried by them was 
attacked independently and almost simul- 
taneously by Wiechert} and J. J. Thom- 
son.{ It is interesting to observe that al- 
though the conclusions reached were prac- 
tically the same, the methods employed 
were radically different. Wiechert’s first 


*Proe. Roy. Soc., 47, p. 526, 1890. 

{ Physikal.-dkonom. Gesellschaft in Kénigsberg. 
Jan. 7, 1897. Wiedemann’s Beibliitter, 21, p. 443. 

ft Royal Institution Lecture. April 30, 1897. 
Lond. EHlect., 39, p. 104, 1897. Phil. Mag. 44, p. 
293, 1897. 


SCIENCE. 


47 


determinations were based upon the con- 
sideration that since the motion of the kath- 
ode ray particle is due to the electrical 
forces, the kinetic energy acquired by each 
particle must be equal to the potential en- 
ergy which it possessed at the surface of 
the kathode. A relation is thus obtained 
connecting the charge, mass, and velocity 
of the particles with the potential of the 
kathode. A second relation between these 
same quantities is obtained by measuring 
the deflection of the rays in a magnetic 
field of known strength. By elimination 
it is then possible to determine both the 
velocity of the rays and the ratio of the 
charge carried by each particle to its mass. 
The results indicated a velocity not far 
from 10 cm. per second, or nearly one- 
third that of light. That a material par- 
ticle should move at such an enormous ve- 
locity seems almost incredible. It is not 
surprising that Wiechert felt the need of 
checking this result by some independent 
method. He did so by employing a method 
that had been suggested by Des Coudres* in 
1895, and which is independent of any as- 
sumption regarding the nature of the kath- 
ode rays ; the results obtained were of the 
same order of magnitude as before. That 
the kathode rays often have a velocity 
closely approaching that of light has since 
been abundantly confirmed. 

Wiechert’s values for the ratio e/m—. e., 
the ratio of the charge carried by a kathode 
rays particle to the mass,—lay between 
20x 10° and 40x 10° (¢. g. s., electro-mag- 
netic units). This is about three thou- 
sand times greater than the corresponding 
ratio for the hydrogen ion in ordinary 
electrolysis. We must therefore conclude 
either that the particles carry a much 
larger charge than is carried by an ion in 
electrolysis, or else that they are smaller 
than the hydrogen atom. The latter alter- 
native, which harmonizes so well with the 

* Wiedemann’s Beiblitter, 21, p. 648. 


48 


phenomena of the Lenard rays, is the one 
usually accepted. 

The value of e/m was determined by two 
entirely different methods by J. J. Thom- 
son, the results being published at practi- 
cally the same time as those of Wiechert. 
In the first method used by Thomson, the 
kinetic energy of the particles was deter- 
mined by measuring the heat developed 
when the rays fell upon the face of a ther- 
mopile, and the charge carried by them was 
measured by an electrometer. These two 
measurements, together with the magnetic 
deflection in a known field, make possible 
the computation of both e/m and v. The 
values of e/m obtained in the most reliable 
experiments by this method ranged from 
14x10° to 10x10°. The corresponding 
values of the velocity were about one-tenth 
the velocity of light. The second method, 
which is regarded by Thomson as more reli- 
able, involved the determination of the 
electrostatic deflection in a known electric 
field, and the magnetic deflection of the 
same rays in a known magnetic field. This 
method gave values of e/m ranging from 
9x 10° to 6.7x 10°, the velocity being about 
one-tenth that of light, as before. Thomson 
found that the ration e/m was independent 
of the nature of the gas in the tube. This 
result has been confirmed by Kaufmann,* 
who found that the ration was also inde- 
pendent of the material of the kathode. 

The conclusions naturally drawn from 
these results may be put into the following 
crude and provisional form: The kathode 
rays consist of negatively charged particles, 
or corpuscles, which are much smaller than 
the atom of hydrogen. These corpuscles 
are present as a constituent part of the 
molecule in all substances: whether only 
one such corpuscle is present for each mole- 
cule, possibly revolving about it like a satel- 
lite, or whether each molecule consists of 
an aggregation of corpuscles, it is not yet 

® Wied. Ann., 61, p. 545, 1897. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


possible to say. Under the influence of the 
intense electrical field at the negative ter- 
minal of a vacuum tube, the corpuscles are 
in some cases freed from the forces that 
hold them to the remainder of the mole- 
cule, and shoot off at enormous speed to 


form the kathode rays. 
Ernest MERRITT. 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


(To be concluded. ) 


SOME TWENTIETH CENTURY PROBLEMS.* 

It is never a bad plan to improve an an- 
niversary occasion by comparative observa- 
tions. In commercial and manufacturing 
lines, short intervals of time are marked by 
balancing books and checking off accounts, 
and an inventory is taken at the end of the 
year without exception. And soit happens 
that I am going to recognize to-day the 
fact that we stand at the end of a century, 
and what I have to say will be influenced 
to no small extent by the recognition of 
that fact. 

Under ordinary circumstances, with this 
in mind, I could hardly avoid following the 
commercial example at the end of the year, 
and taking an account of stock, balancing 
accounts, and ascertaining the advance or 
retrogression in our branch of the scientific 
world during the period of time that repre- 
sents three generations of human beings. 
I do not intend, however, to do this, partly 
because I do not wish to weary an audience 
with all that ought to be passed in review 
in such an important anniversary summa- 
tion, and partly because, a few years since, 
Professor H. Marshall Ward, in resuming 
the botanical progress of the Victorian Hra, 
gave the more important facts, while the 
vice-presidential addresses of several recent 
years before this Section have dealt with 
important advances in botanical thought in 

*Address of the Vice-President, Chairman of Sec- 
tion G (Botany) of the American Association for the 


Advancement of Science, given at the New York 
meeting. 


JULY 13, 1900. ] 


different directions, and of the progress of 
the early part of the century Sachs has 
given a sufficient epitome. I propose, 
therefore, that we shall consider the in- 
ventory and balance sheet as in hand, and 
that, like the thoughtful business man who 
has closed his books for the year after 
noting what he has on hand and what 
the balance sheet shows, we shall take a 
general view of the situation, in the hope 
that some hint of economy or conservatism 
or changed method may suggest itself as we 
do so, by which the work of the new century 
may be furthered. 

I have felt some interest in looking over 
the present trend of botanical thought, as 
evidenced in a few recent journals and in the 
advance programs of this Association and 
the affiliated societies devoted to subjects in 
which botany figures directly or indirectly. 
Neglecting strictly economic botany, I ob- 
serve that taxonomy and descriptive botany 
lead (42 per cent. in the particular examina- 
tion made), followed at some distance by 
morphology and organography (25 per 
cent.) and physiology and ecology (20 per 
cent. ), while the much smaller remainder 
(18 per cent.) consists in nearly equal parts 
of vegetable pathology, phytogeography and 
floras, and the evolution of plants either in 
a state of nature or under the hand of man. 
Though the percentages may vary consider- 
ably, the general distribution indicated 
above would probably apply in the main to 
the prevalent activity of purely botanical 
research. 

A hasty scrutiny of not far from a thou- 
sand periodical publications received at the 
library of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 
and all containing at least occasional 
articles on pure or applied botany, shows, as 
might be expected, that the percentage of 
journals restricted to one branch of botany 
is much smaller than the average percent- 
age contents of the current journals or pro- 
grams. Even where botany is largely or 


SCIENCE. 


49 


exclusively represented, the contents of 
journals are usually very heterogeneous. 
Notes or longer papers on local floras or on 
the characters of one or a few species 
largely preponderate, and there are only a 
few journals which concern themselves en- 
tirely or chiefly with any other single com- 
ponent of botanical knowledge. Among 
these, vegetable pathology, and economic 
botany in one or other of its subdivisions, 
assume a comparable position with mor- 
phology and physiology, though, for the 
reasons stated, all are relatively lowered 
with reference to taxonomy, as compared 
with current papers included in the jour- 
nals. Phytogeography and evolutionary 
matters appear to be more suitable for books 
than the other main subjects excepting 
floras, and they do not appear to have led 
as yet to the establishment of journals 
specifically devoted to them. 

The preponderance of taxonomic work as 
indicated by publications calls for a little 
consideration. Human interest in plants, 
as in nature generally, appears to have 
begun in most cases by the observation of 
useful and injurious or mysterious things ; 
but before the information of the individual 
could become public knowledge it was 
necessary to mark differences between 
things and to name or otherwise designate 
them intelligibly. It is therefore natural 
that taxonomy and nomenclature, in one 
form or other, and however they may have 
been designated, should have played an 
equal part with economic observation in 
even the earlier studies of plants; and it is 
not at all surprising that the first real sci- 
ence of botany should have been developed 
along these lines, nor that the awakening 
interest in other lines of botanical study 
should have failed as yet to attain an equal 
position as regards the number of botanists 
concerned with them. 

It is also a very natural thing that the 
abstract idea of the distinguishable groups 


50 


of individuals that have been called species. 
should have been ultimately all but per- 
sonified, and erected into something sup- 
posed to have been realities, divinely estab- 
lished and immutable. Even those of us 
who have not passed middle age were alive 
when, as one of my geological friends has 
expressed it, a Species was treated almost 
like a thing that had legs and could walk; 
and even the younger of us have seen the 
idea grow, from Darwin and Wallace and 
Huxley and Gray, through the scientific 
circles into the world at large, that heresy 
and atheism are not necessarily implied in 
the belief that existing species are de- 
scended from different earlier species, and 
that their descendants, in all probability, 
will be considered as yet other species. 

If the incident had been closed with a 
general acceptance of this idea of the muta- 
bility of species, we should probably have 
been spared some trouble which we are now 
experiencing and which we are actively 
accumulating for transmission to our fol- 
lowers on the stage ; but the change in the 
theoretical way of viewing the question of 
species has involved many practical changes 
in the way of treating them. 

In some pliable groups, the expert plant 
breeder is quite willing to take an order for 
a non-existent garden form that differs as 
much from all of the named and classified 
plants as one species does from another in 
nature, and, though he may not give a 
bonded guaranty that it will not revert to 
some other form after a few years, it is 
quite likely to transmit its characters for a 
considerable if indefinite time if bred true, 
a condition less readily applied in the 
garden than among species in a state of 
nature, but scarcely more negligible in the 
one case than in the other. Whether or 
not we are to call the most distinct culti- 
vated forms, some of which have been 
deliberately evolved by the gardener and 
some of which have originated as sports or 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 289. 


sudden variants of either wild or cultivated 
plants, species, is rather a matter of agree- 
ment than anything else, for such as are 
capable of perpetuation by ordinary natural 
means constitute, in fact, groups of similar 
individuals of common origin, reproducing 
their kind, which is about all that can be 
said now of natural species. 

The growing knowledge of the great and 
immediate plasticity of species has led to a 
considerably greater change in the way of 
viewing them in the abstract than even 
that which the introduction of evolutionary 
views caused. That virtually left them as 
real concepts, though it opened a vaguely 
distant question as to their beginning and 
end; but this brings the beginning and end 
so close together as to cast doubt upon the 
existence of species at all as definable 
groups having any considerable stability in 
time. 

Ican distinctly recall the thrill of sur- 
prise with which, in my student days, I 
heard of the belief of a distinguished Ger- 
man professor, that species as known in 
other plants and animals probably did not 
exist among the bacteria. I felt grateful 
later that the American flora contains fewer 
representatives of Mieraciwm than are found 
in Europe, when I saw the desperate efforts 
that the Germans have made to distinguish 
these difficult plants ; and the polymorphism 
of the European brambles made apparent 
equal reason for thankfulness that American 
institutions are simpler also in that genus. 
But the rehabilitation of synonyms and va- 
rieties in all groups that the last decade has 
witnessed, and the increasing rapidity with 
which the species-splitting knife is falling 
upon Antennaria, Sisyrinchium, Viola, Cratce- 
gus and many other genera, have removed 
any such misguided thankfulness, and the 
further separability of natural plants, even 
on the old lines of specific delimitation, ap- 
pears to be coming into as strong evidence 
on the one hand as the gardener’s power to 


JuLyY 13, 1900.] 


create equally distinct species or races is 
on the other. 

There are several ways in which these ad- 
missions may affect our judgment and ac- 
tions. Recognition of measurable parallel- 
ism between the operations of nature and 
of the gardener goes far toward removing a 
sentimental objection to considering as 
species the forms which the latter brings 
into being, but the treatment of both nat- 
ural and garden forms on a uniform basis 
is likely to modify the extreme treatment 
which would otherwisebe accorded to either- 
The garden forms of a given type of plant 
are often so numerous and so freely sub- 
divisible as to threaten, when this is carried 
out, either a very undesirable polynomial 
nomenclature or, what is worse, the multi- 
plication of barely separable genera, in 
order that the facts may be fully expressed. 
It is evident that too great a multiplication 
of genera can but result in unwieldy com- 
plexity of system, and it is equally evident 
that, the ultimate purpose of the systemat- 
ist being to classify and describe for others 
the plants which actually exist—whether 
in the woods or the garden—he must not 
be content with distinguishing between the 
more easily separated only, but must pro- 
vide for all of the forms which either the bot- 
anist or the gardener or the user of plants 
for manufacturing and other purposes needs 
the means of separating. 

We are living through a transition period 
in our science, and should not close our 
eyes to the practical meaning of the changes 
in our beliefs. We are carrying on a move- 
ment for so classifying all groups of plants 
as to indicate their phylogeny by their po- 
sition—or, otherwise stated, we are con- 
tinuing the effort of our predecessors to 
secure a natural system based on real affin- 
ity rather than superficial resemblance— 

_and at the same time we are beginning to 
recognize that the groups of individuals 
that we call species are of every-day value 


SCIENCE. 51 


only in proportion to their simplicity and 
definability. Two years ago Dr. Farlow 
made a strong statement of the necessary 
utilitarian trend of the present attitude with 
respect to species. My own belief is that 
this will very shortly become a principal 
guiding thought in the work of all describ- 
ers of plants, and that the old idea of some- 
thing distinct in nature between the con- 
cepts of a species and a variety, which has 
suffered greatly in the changes that have 
already come about but is still leading to 
diverse practices, will be eliminated as a 
factor of any importance. ! 

In the address referred to, Dr. Farlow 
likened the efforts of the descriptive botan- 
ist to those of the happy possessor of a ko- 
dak—snap-shotting the ever changing pro- 
cession of nature. It is evident that if the 
facts shown have changed before the picture 
is developed, the latter can be of value for 
comparison and as a record of change only ; 
but, fully as we may believe now in the 
changeableness of species, I think that most 
of us are convinced from our own experi- 
ence that the span of human life is rela- 
tively short enough to prevent discourage- 
ment of the best work of which the 
taxonomist is capable, if, as we are more 
and more coming to believe necessary, it be 
conformed to utility as its first purpose—a 
purpose not at all inconsistent with phylo- 
genetic expression. 

One of the questions of daily growing 
interest and importance is that of the au- 
thentication and preservation of type ma- 
terial in descriptive natural history. It is 
probably and unfortunately true that many 
more species have been described originally 
from fragmentary and imperfect material 
than from adequate specimens, and it some- 
times happens that the material of to-day 
makes possible a very satisfactory synopsis 
of a genus or family, although the greatest 
difficulty is encountered in attaching to the 
different species the names which were 


52 


originally given tothem. This, of course, is 
particularly true of groups in which speci- 
mens are made with difficulty or are easily 
destroyed, and, as with Myxomycetes, it 
sometimes becomes almost or quite impos- 
sible to go further back in the application 
of names than some comparatively recent 
monographer’s collections. A growing dis- 
position is noticeable to subject what may 
be considered type specimens to more 
restricted use than was prevalent even a 
few years ago, and itis easy to see that 
with the daily increasing minuteness of 
classification, such preservative restrictions 
are likely to increase rather than diminish 
as time goes on. In some of the larger 
collections, the type material is already 
being removed from the general collections, 
and type collections are being formed. I 
have no doubt that a clear recognition of 
the meaning and importance of types, co- 
types, topotypes, etc., as contrasted with 
ordinary specimens, will ultimately lead to 
the general adoption of this practice and to 
a prohibition of the mutilation of such 
specimens, even for purposes of minute 
study, as complete, if not as sensational, as 
that which the sealing of the cases contain- 
ing Reichenbach’s orchid types for a quarter 
of a century has effected in that family, 
possibly to the ultimate benefit of science, 
but certainly to the impairment of the work 
of to-day. What are to be regarded as 
types, cotypes and the like, for species, it is 
not difficult to see in most cases. A more 
debatable question, which indeed affects all 
the groups of plants superior to species, 
in which are to be expected ultimate up- 
heavals quite as far reaching as those which 
we see to-day in the lower groups, is that 
referring to the types of genera and still 
higher groups. This may form the subject 
of a committee report at this meeting, and 
it is to be hoped that conservative and sound 
but far reaching and uniform action may 
be secured through the efforts of this com- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


mittee of the Botanical Club, and of the 
Section. 

In the vice-presidential address before 
this Section a year ago, Professor Barnes, 
speaking from the point of view of the 
physiologist, who often finds plants of very 
diverse physiological behavior pertaining to 
one species of the taxonomist, expressed 
the belief that the plasticity of plants, con- 
cerning which much has been learned in re- 
cent years, is really so great that it is 
almost impossible, for physiological pur- 
poses, to group together any individuals ex- 
cept those growing under identical condi- 
tions; and he hazards the suggestion that the 
present method of naming plants binomially 
as species must sooner or later give place to 
some other and radically different method. 

The dependence of the morphologist and 
physiologist upon the taxonomist is indeed 
quite as great as that of the student of 
geographical distribution and the cultivator 
of plants, and any classification and nomen- 
clature which are to persist as of permanent 
value must of necessity be alike useful to 
all who are interested in plants, from what- 
ever point of view. Whatever value the 
studies of morphologists and physiologists 
possess to-day comes from co-ordination and 
generalization in the light of the existing 
classification of plants, and the future 
development of these studies is most in- 
timately connected with the evolution of a 
system of classifying and naming plants 
which shall at once permit of the ready 
determination and intelligible designation 
of any desired group of comparable plants, 
—a result that alone can avert the very 
possible danger of a scattering of energy in 
the accumulation of information concerning 
untold myriads of individuals, the peculiar- 
ities of which, however much they may in- 
terest and occupy the student, can scarcely 
enter into science until co-ordinated and 
generalized on rational and reasonably per- 
manent lines intelligible to all botanists. 


Joy 13, 1900.] 


The greater part of the species and va- 
rieties that pass the necessarily fine-meshed 
sieve of to-day are published and defined 
apart from their nearest relatives, so that 
their authors are commonly spared the diffi- 
culty of really arranging them in the system, 
and it is doubtful if some species which are 
now being published would really stand in 
the minds of their authors were the latter 
compelled to clearly differentiate them in a 
comprehensive treatment of the genus to 
which they belong. 

Perhaps the most instructive current 
effort at a logical co-ordination of the 
groups of high and low degree is afforded 
by the Synopsis of the Middle-European 
Flora now being published by Ascherson & 
Graebner, who treat the broadly defined 
groups which Linnzus would have called 
species as ‘collective species,’ as subdi- 
visions of which they then recognize spe- 
cies, subspecies, occasionally of several de- 
grees, races, varieties, subvarieties and 
sports. To subspecies as well as species 
and collective species they give binomial 
designations, which unfortunately in a few 
eases, but not as arule, are identical. A 
very good idea of the working of this sys- 
tem may be obtained from their treatment 
of the Cystea angustata of Smith, or the 
Andropogon niger of Kunth. 

If the need of subdividing the groups of 
plants which have heretofore passed as 
species were no greater for any purposes 
than for the determination of, for instance, 
the wild plants of the Middle-European 
flora, it might not be worth while to fol- 
low this subject further or to modify a 
treatment which gives a possible trinomial 
for any form which the authors have de- 
sired to designate, and in the actual synopsis 
locates this form in its logical position. 
Unfortunately, however, unless botany for 
herborizers is to be a thing quite apart from 
botany for horticulturists, the general mon- 
ographer of Cystopteris, Athyrium, Andropogon, 


SCIENCE. 


53 


Rubus orPyrus must soon handle a far greater 
number of forms and subforms of all degrees 
than have been attempted even in the most 
comprehensive schemes yet attempted. 
Horticulturists are trying to distinguish 
between their more transient artificial pro- 
ductions, and natural forms or those which 
are. more closely comparable with such 
forms. For the former they are trying with 
more or less consistency and real desire to 
secure the uniform adoption of simple ver- 
nacular names, while for the latter, perhaps 
with equal consistency and earnestness, 
they are trying to follow the practice of the 
botanists, so far as they can ascertain what 
that is. The actual result of this effort is, 
for instance, to recognize, in the orchard and 
the market, a variety of Greening apple 
known as the Rhode Island, to which each 
farmer’s son and each clerk in the commis- 
sion house receives personal introduction as 
he would to a new neighbor or a new cus- 
tomer, and the distinguishing marks of 
which he familiarizes himself with as he 
would with those of a man whom he might 
want to know if he were to see him again. 
This is not far different from the way in 
which men made themselves acquainted 
with herbs and simples before the day of 
books. Itis very good so far as it goes, but 
it is neither scientific nor adapted to even 
the present complexity of that theoretical 
horticulture which every year is finding 
greater exemplification in practice. To ad- 
vance on it, the gardener must fall back on 
the botanist, whose task will be to system- 
atize what the gardener knows and what his 
own broader knowledge of plants may add. 
Now the simple matter becomes compli- 
cated. Pyrus Malus, for example, represents 
a species or collective species under which 
many hybrids and varieties now hopelessly 
jumbled are capable of arrangement in log- 
ical combinations, through which, when 
they shall have been made, the trained 
student can run down the Rhode Island or 


54 


the Golden Russet with just as great facil- 
ity and certainty as he can now determine 
Ranunculus septentrionalis or Trilliam viridi- 
florum. For the garden name of the apple, 
Rhode Island does very well, but for its 
botanical designation the Latinized name 
of the last fairly marked form of Pyrus Malus, 
or whatever the species may be called, is 
wanted. In the case of Cystopteris and An- 
dropogon, already referred to, this would be 
given by either the trinomial Cystopteris fra- 
gilis angustata or CO. eufragilis angustata, in 
the one case, and Andropogon sorghum niger 
or A. eusorghum niger in the other; but the 
actual position of either is indicated only by 
saying Cystopteris fragilis eufragilis pinnatipar- 
tita angustata, for the one, and Andropogon sor- 
ghum (sp. coll.) sorghum eusorghum obovatus 
niger, for the other. I fear that the true 
expression of the facts in many genera, 
under the present system, would be likely 
to result either in a polynomial as long as 
those used before Linnzeus’ somewhat ar- 
bitrary but masterly and helpful simplifica- 
tion of nomenclature, and without the de- 
scriptive value of the old phrases, or in the 
erection of genera nearly on the lines of the 
Linnean species. 

Hither of these results is unpleasant to 
contemplate, and we may well inquire if 
they represent the only possible solutions 
of the problem of even a much finer specific 
differentiation than is now prevalent. A 
‘generation ago the best botanists would not 
have looked with favor on a proposal to 
separate species on as fine lines as the more 
conservative botanists now see to be logical 
as wel! as desirable. Perhaps the botanists 
of to-day may not be prepared for even as 
radical a change as the separate nomen- 
clature of collective species, species, sub- 
species, and varieties has already brought 
to them ; but I am not sure that the botan- 
ists of the next generation will not carry 
out a simplification of the present system 
—which by that time promises to be most 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


unwieldy—that shall be quite as helpful as 
that which won Linneus the gratitude of 
his followers and which we could not do 
without in the present state of the science. 

I have been tempted to enlarge on this 
point and to exemplify the idea that I have, 
by a concrete illustration based on some 
genus of plants in which the number of 
minute forms to be distinguished is already 
very large; but I shall content myself by 
saying that the idea that I have of such a 
reform is strongly foreshadowed in the 
practice already introduced of binomially 
designating collective species and subspecies 
as well as species ; and it goes so far as the 
employment of binomials down to one re- 
move from the ultimate subdivisions of 
cultivated plants designated by vernacular 
names. For many writers on the broader 
facts of plant distribution and plant proper- 
ties, the Linnzan conception of species is 
and will be sufficient, and alone applicable. 
For such persons, for instance, the name 
Cystopteris fragilis or Andropogon sorghum is 
satisfactory. The necessary degree of sub- 
division will always vary according to the 
particular purpose and knowledge of the 
writer who may care to go further than 
this. For one, Cystopteris eufragilis will be 
sufficient ; for another, C. pinnatipartita or 
an equivalent binomial; for another, C. 
angustata ; while still another may find it 
desirable to specify by not to exceed a tri- 
nomial a subdivision of the latter of perhaps 
three or four degrees removal. The prac- 
tical result that I foresee, then, is the ulti- 
mate uniform establishment of species of 
several grades, each binomially designated 
and its grade, perhaps, indicated by typo- 
graphical means or the employment of a 
brief symbol connected with the name, un- 
less, after the present nomenclature storm 
shall have blown by, as it surely will before 
this point is reached, it be indicated by the 
adoption of uniform endings for the specific 
names of each grade. 


JULY 13, 1900.] 


-Ican easily fancy a distinct protest at 
the violence that any such plan will do to 
our present treatment of species, and a 
further and greater protest against the pos- 
sible modification of prior specific names in 
the interest of uniformity. A contemplation 
of the results of the current nomenclature 
reform makes me share in the feeling which 
could prompt such a protest, yet I venture 
to believe that the conservatism which op- 
posed and still opposes the relatively trivial 
priority upheaval that was to have pro- 
duced a uniformity in plant names that 
some botanists are still anxiously awaiting, 
rests upon qualities that are more likely to 
favor than oppose a far greater and even 
radical change in the way of naming plants, 
when such a change shall have become nec- 
essary as a matter of practical utility—as it 
is likely to sooner than most of us suspect. 


One of the most serious tasks of the in- 
vestigator of the twentieth century will be 
the utilization of the knowledge resulting 
from the work of his predecessors in the 
field which he may select for his own ac- 
tivity. The rapid increase in specialization 
compels him to begin his own productive 
studies at an advanced point, while the 
mass of material and the array of facts over 
and through which he must clamber before 
reaching his own starting point constitutes 
a@ growing handicap, against the beginner 
and likely often to discourage him and not 
infrequently to make him a loser from the 
start in the race for recognition and fame, 
but in his favor after he shall once have 
left it to his followers. Very probably, 
much that he has learned at the start will 
have to be unlearned later and no doubt 
might better not have been learned at all, 
for it is an unpleasant fact that little 
progress in any direction is made without 
the aid and embodiment of theories and 
hypotheses, many of which of necessity are 
tentative and sooner or later prove to be 


SCIENCE. 5d 


wrong, and that few wrong hypotheses fail 
to leave a long persistent trail of erroneous 
reasoning and even of observation so badly 
warped as to be absolutely misleading; but 
aside from what is faulty, there is being 
brought together daily an overwhelming 
mass of information of the greatest use, so 
that everything must be tested step by step 
as any piece of investigation proceeds, and 
the faulty detected and rejected, while the 
trustworthy is built into the foundation on 
which the author’s own conclusions are to 
rest. 

No doubt after assimilating the principal 
knowledge of the past, every original and 
really productive worker would feel a sense 
of relief if he could wipe out the records of 
this knowledge. Their existence virtually 
compels him to burden his own discussion 
of the subject with an analysis, commen- 
datory or critical, of all that has been said 
of it by his predecessors,—failing in which, 
he leaves to those who follow him the con- 
clusion either that he has not considered 
the facts and deductions of earlier students, 
or that none exist. The presumptive value 
of his own work must of necessity be greatly 
weakened if the first opinion is held, and in 
the other event he is likely to seem to pose 
as a leader when to the discriminating eye 
he is merely a follower. 

No small part of the difficulty of reach- 
ing the point where one’s own additions to 
science begin comes from the fact that the 
work of those who have gone before him is 
commonly fragmentary and disjointed. It 
is a first principle in research that no ac- 
curately observed fact is valueless, but its 
value lies chiefly in its comparability with 
other facts. Asa rule, thought or observa- 
tion on any subject stimulates the further 
elaboration of that subject, by drawing at- 
tention to minutiz which any observant 
person may then note, though he might not 
have thought of connecting them himself. 
Science has been both advanced and re- 


56 


tarded by the observation and record of 
isolated facts,—advanced when observation 
has been followed by further study and the 
knitting to it of other pertinent observa- 
tions or when it has proposed a new line of 
study awaiting a mind great enough to 
grasp it, but retarded when straws have 
merely been added to the burden carried by 
the world of learning. 

The botany of antiquity and ofthe Middle 
Ages was chiefly a disjointed discussion of 
plants, largely with reference to their uses, 
and not a little mixed with mythology and 
the fables of travelers, whose talents in our 
time would have proved invaluable to the 
daily press. Without disparagement to the 
great men who went before him, Linnzus 
may be said to have been the first naturalist 
whose mind grasped numberless details 
with sufficient precision to really systematize 
them, just as in our own century Darwin 
stands far out from his fellows in the same 
respect, the power to handle and co-ordinate 
isolated facts which all his work shows 
being particularly evident in the treatment 
of the great mass of heterogeneous matter 
on which were based his generalizations as 
to the variations of animals and plants 
under domestication. 

Ours has been a century of accumulation 
and of utilization. It would be unjust to 
ourselves and our immediate predecessors 
to say that great laws have not been reas- 
oned out from observed facts in larger meas. 
ure even than ever before, notwithstanding 
the advanced point at which science stood 
when the century opened. It would be also 
in obvious conflict with the truth to say 
that the world of manufactures and of com- 
merce has not been most apt to seize upon 
and employ the more salient discoveries of 
science, often in a manner not dreamed of 
by the discoverers ; but it may still be said 
that the century just closing, great as have 
been its advances, has been a century of 
accumulation beyond assimilation, a period 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


of roughing out and of laying away lumber 
far in excess of its employment as joists 
and sills and boards in the great structure 
of human progress. 

If the evidence of the times may be 
trusted, the next century is to be marked 
by a still greater productive activity. Spe- 
cialization and the attendant division of 
labor can have no result more logical than 
this. Though it may suit our convenience 
to speak of centuries, we know the pure 
artificiality of such divisions of time, and 
although still in the nineteenth century, 
we may with all propriety count ourselves 
of the twentieth and project the activities 
and tendencies of to-day into the morrow ; 
but the same drift of the straws which 
points to a still greater accumulation of mi- 
nutiz during the century we are so soon to 
enter on shows with equal probability that 
its passage is to be marked by a co-ordina- 
tion of isolated observations and discoveries 
far greater than the world has ever before 
witnessed. 

To this very desirable end we of the 
present day may contribute to no small 
degree. Our discoveries, as has been said 
already, are at once the handicap and the 
foundation stones of the men who are to 
take our places. The manner in which we 
leave the records of what we have done 
decides in large part the preponderance of 
its utility over its obstructiveness, and in 
many cases may even determine whether it 
might not better have been left undone. 
It is easy to justify ourselves to a certain 
extent when we do not do the right thing, 
by pleading that we did not know what 
the right thing was, because we interested 
ourselves only in a limited part of what 
ought to have been handled as a whole, 
and that posterity ought to be grateful for 
the substance of our contributions without 
being too critical as to their form and acces- 
sibility; but we are not likely to go far 
wrong if we assume that few of us who 


JuLy 13, 1900. ] 


contribute isolated and disjointed facts and 
observations will ever be called blessed by 
coming generations in more than an under- 
tone, that appellation being reserved for 
those who have builded from as well as 
hewn out their material, and for those who, 
even without directly contributing to ob- 
served facts, have justly valued the facts 
ascertained by others and have grouped 
and shaped and utilized them. 


If it could be done within the time that I 
have proposed to occupy, I should like to 
consider in detail the entire matter of pub- 
lication, which is in need of much more 
thought and concerted action than has yet 
been bestowed upon it. I fear that the 
amount of time and thought devoted to the 
publication of the results of a given piece of 
research work is often disproportionately 
small, the fact that they are published at 
all apparently serving the author’s purpose 
without much regard to the manner in 
which they are brought out. Publication 


facilities at one time were few and not read-_ 


ily obtained, but to-day the trouble is rather 
that they are so numerous and so generally 
available that even matter unworthy of 
publication can easily be brought out, and 
that the authors of meritorious articles are 
tempted not to look far before publishing 
their work, but to drop it, hit or miss, into 
the nearest press, without correlation with 
other comparable matter or even with the 
articles to which it stands in juxtaposition, 
and with too little thought of the conveni- 
ence of those who are to use it. It some- 
times happens, too, that in their zeal they 
issue simultaneously or otherwise copies of 
their manuscript to several societies or jour- 
nals, so that the original place of publica- 
tion of the article is now and then rendered 
very questionable. 

I should not wish to seem captious in 
making these statements, for nothing is fur- 
ther from my purpose than destructive criti- 


SCIENCE. 


57 


cism; but in view of the growing amount 
and complexity of scientific publication, I 
believe that the real needs of the users of 
botanical literature demand more careful 
consideration than they have heretofore re- 
ceived, and that this consideration will 
easily lead to a number of reforms which 
are perfectly within the power of both au- 
thor and publisher. 

Reference has been made already to the 
fact that a majority of periodicals are of very 
mixed contents. So far as societies are con- 
cerned, the greater number of these bodies 
have originated primarily for the develop- 
ment of local interests, and of necessity 
these interests have been varied. For their 
own direct purposes, the heterogeneity re- 
ferred to works very little harm, and 
for the bibliographer it is the less trouble- 
some because the very condensation of the 
miscellaneous matter in a local publica- 
tion places a large part of it where it 
would naturally be sought. The direct 
purpose of the publication provisions of 
nearly all such bodies being not only to 
secure, the permanent recording of obser- 
vation but to furnish the means of build- 
ing up a library by way of exchange, it 
is probable that the partly undesirable 
mixed contents of the larger number of so- 
ciety publications will continue still for a 
very long time, but it is encouraging to no- 
tice that some of the greater foreign socie- 
ties have long since differentiated along 
main lines in their publication, while within 
recent years a further specialization has 
been effected in anumber of others, notably, 
for our own country, the California Acad- 
emy of Sciences, and such differentiation is 
easily foreseen in others as their member- 
ship and activity increase through the for- 
mation of sections, each devoted to some 
particular science, the more strongly repre- 
sented and active sections being almost cer- 
tain ultimately to secure the separate pub- 
lication of their matter. 


08 


For the journals which do not ema- 
nate from learned bodies, the problem is a 
simpler one. We already have numerous 
examples of a primary differentiation into 
popular and technical journals. The for- 
mer can hardly fail to be, for the most part, 
of miscellaneous contents, because they are 
intended to keep all persons interested in 
science at large informed on the advances 
which are being made in its several depart- 
ments. Familiar illustrations of successful 
journals of this kind are Die Natur, the Na- 
turwissenschaftliche Rundschau, Nature, Science 
Gossip, Science, the American Naturalist 
and the Popular Science Monthly, not to 
mention others of a list which might 
be greatly extended. Even among these, 
however, as the examples named may serve 
to show, there is a considerable specializa- 
tion on subject lines, and the present issu- 
ance of Science and the Popular Science 
Monthly under one editorial management 
may be taken as representative of a process 
of evolution in active progress, by which 
even the less technical journals are differ- 
entiating into classes adapted to readers en- 
gaged in active scientific work and persons 
having an interest in but not directly en- 
gaged with such work. 

One further differentiation that is becom- 
ing a pressing necessity is that which shall 
result in a considerable improvement in the 
specialist’s means of keeping himself in- 
formed on what has been done in his own 
specialty. I do not refer to the popular or 
general presentation of the more striking 
results of current activity which can be ob- 
tained from the general journals or those 
devoted to each particular branch of science, 
but to something which of necessity must 
be limited to that branch and which must 
be complete. Many of the proceedings of 
societies and of the journals publish very 
helpful bibliographies at short intervals, 
and the Botanisches Centralblatt is in large 
part devoted to this purpose, while the Jahr- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 289. 


esbericht, taking more time than is possible 
for a current periodical, summarizes and 
indexes with much greater fullness current 
botanical literature. Unfortunately, the 
Jahresbericht is so greatly delayed that a 
period of several years elapses before its 
pages afford information on any given piece 
of work, and it is difficult to see how this 
can be otherwise, in view of the care which 
is expended in the tabulation and co-ordi- 
nation of its contents; but without this 
tabulation and co-ordination, it does not 
seem to be impossible to secure a very 
prompt synopsis of all that is issued in bo- 
tanical literature. The machinery for doing 
this is already organized in the bureau of 
the Centralblatt, and it is difficult to see 
why all that is needed cannot be supplied 
through this channel, if the publishers can 
be convinced that the botanical public would 
much rather subscribe for a bibliographic 
journal, in which all abstracts are of short 
length and synoptic character, than for one 
in which many abstracts are entirely dis- 
proportionate in length to the importance 
of the papers they refer to, to the exclusion 
of others, while the introduction of original 
matter forces into a supplementary journal 
no small part of the reviews that are given. 
Professor Farlow has very well discussed 
this subject in a recent number of one of the 
botanical periodicals, and it is hoped that the 
action initiated at the Naturalists’ meeting 
last winter, which is likely to be brought 
up by a committee report before this Sec- 
tion, may here find important support, so 
that either a separation may be secured, 
of the Centralblatt and its Beihefte into two 
journals capable of being subscribed for 
separately and permitting the desired com- 
pleteness of bibliography, or other practi- 
cable means evolved for attaining this end. 

Some years ago, the members of this As- 
sociation listened with no little interest to 
Dr. Herbert Haviland Field’s explanation 
of the purposes of his then proposed Con- 


JuLy 13, 1900.] 


cilium Bibliographicum, which has since 
begun operations in Zurich and I under- 
stand is prepared to include botany among 
the subjects that it handles. It is a matter 
for regret that the Royal Society’s proposal 
for an international catalogue of current 
literature has failed to materialize for the 
time being, but it is possible that if a satis- 
factory purely botanical bibliographic jour- 
nal cannot be secured, this scheme can still 
be put into practical motion. In one way 
or another, in any event, it is certain that 
some provision of the kind must be secured 
within a very few years. 

However specialized, publications con- 
sidered as a whole are in need of far more 
careful editing than they commonly receive. 
The author who prepares manuscript for 
publication is more likely than not to cast 
it in final form with reference only to what 
he says in it or what he himself may have 
already published or may expect to publish 
at some future time, and the result of this 
disjointed treatment is perhaps most readily 
seen when some subsequent compiler, let us 
say of a popular flora, copies side by side 
the descriptions of a number of writers. 
The most diverse phraseology is at once 
evidenced, although the compiler, on the 
basis of his own information, may have at- 
tempted to simplify the matter somewhat. 
Comparable things are treated in different 
paragraphic location; similar facts are 
stated in dissimilar phraseology ; and a 
character strongly emphasized under one 
species is not at all considered in another. 
In one paragraph a certain page of a certain 
book or journal is cited in one form, and in 
an adjoining paragraph in another form 
and perhaps under another author, and pos- 
sibly even with a different page reference 
in case, as is often true, author’s separates 
of the article quoted have been issued with 
individual pagination and even plate num- 
bering. 

At the Botanical Congress held in Madi- 


SCIENCE. 59 


son in 1893, this and several other matters 
calling for uniformity of treatment in the 
interest of clearness were referred to com- 
mittees, some of which reported at the next 
succeeding meeting of this Section or of the 
Botanical Club of the Association. The 
increase in intelligibility and simplicity of 
bibliographic citations noticeable of late 
years is an encouraging sign that botanists 
are quite willing to attempt to work out on 
uniform lines these matters which are of 
interest to all who have occasion to consult 
botanical literature, so soon as the method 
of procedure in each case shall have been 
carefully codified with reference to the 
practical difficulties which each writer has to 
confront. 

Among the editorial matters to which 
really this question of citation pertains, 
although it practically falls back upon 
the author, should be mentioned a com- 
parable treatment of comparable facts ex- 
pressed by diagrams, curves, formule, and 
the like. The tendency of large volume 
in any publication is to economy of space 
by the employment of symbols or ab- 
breviations, which must be learned and 
borne in mind by every reader before the 
facts which they stand for are intelligible. 
If these symbols could be standardized for 
all writers who use this means of expressing 
their facts, it would result in added value 
for their work and in a great saving of the 
users’ time. What can be done for symbols, 
however, cannot always be done for what 
are treated as abbreviations, because of the 
fact that the word abbreviated is different 
in one language from what it is in another ; 
and yet thereis no doubt that muchimprove- 
ment can be effected in this direction, while 
a perfectly uniform result for the entire 
world may be ultimately attainable by fall- 
ing back upon the Latin language for words 
which are to be abbreviated. 

Detail matters of this kind are often con- 
sidered too trivial to occupy the attention 


60 


of a body like a section of the American 
Association, but I am convinced that the 
numerous discussions which have taken 
place before the Botanical Club and our 
own Section have resulted in a much clearer 
general understanding of the proper mean- 
ing of many terms that most of us use 
almost daily, than would otherwise have 
been possible, and that each of us has 
profited to the benefit of his readers by the 
information elicited by these discussions ; 
and I cannot conceive a more useful way of 
spending a part of the time of this body 
each year than in the discussion of subjects 
of this kind, carefully selected and referred 
in advance to members or committees cap- 
able of discussing them authoritatively from 
different points of view. 

Some of the facts of plant distribution, 
whether referring to the occurrence of a 
given genus, species or variety over the 
earth’s surface or at different altitudes, or 
to the minuter details of distribution de- 
manded for an accurate presentation of 
some phases of ecology, demand the use of 
maps, more or less detailed according to the 
matter to be presented. Nothing is simpler 
than to so shade or color these maps as to 
indicate what the author desires to bring 
out, but, unfortunately, different maps deal- 
ing with the same general facts are usu- 
ally colored very differently. Map evolu- 
tion consists primarily in the indication of 
physiographic features, on which political 
boundaries are more or less artificially su- 
perimposed, the representation of geological 
structure, and the further indication on this 
foundation of the biological facts which are 
intended to be shown. The work of the 
physiographer and geologist is already done 
to the hand of the botanist, in most cases, 
and when it is not he is early confronted 
with the need of supplying deficiencies 
which exist. It is not many years since 
the geologists turned their attention to a 
standardization of their maps which is al- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No, 289. 


ready simplifying geological literature. 
Will it not be better for botanists, who al- 
ready know fairly well the main biological 
facts that are capable of expression on maps, 
to confer with the zoologists, who have 
comparable though different needs of map 
employment, and with the geologists and 
topographers, on whose work both can most 
profitably build, so as to secure an early 
standardization of method, than to wait 
until the otherwise necessary confusion due 
to independent individual practice shall 
have forced this uponthem? I cannot con- 
ceive a better outcome of the conference to 
be held this summer on plant geography 
than the appointment of a committee to 
consider this question in detail, not only 
with reference to their own needs, but to 
the needs of botanists at large and in con- 
sultation with those in other parts of the 
world who are considering the same prob- 
lem and the best way of solving it. 

If [have confined my remarks thus far 
to details of internal editing, I should 
not wish it supposed that other and more 
general matters do not exist which are 
worthy of equal thought. No small part of 
the confusion in citing publications comes 
from the issuance of the same matter in 
several different places, either at the same 
time or at different times, either similarly 
or differently paged, not infrequently with 
different titles, and sometimes under a title 
so phrased as to give no indication of the 
contents. Books are always likely to 
undergo revision between different editions 
and, unfortunately, this is sometimes true 
of different issues which do not purport to 
be editions, and an article once published 
in a journal or book which is not copy- 
righted becomes by common acceptance the 
property of the world and may be reprinted 
legitimately under the author’s name, and 
properly with the further citation of the 
original place of publication, for an indefi- 
nite number of times, during which process 


Juby 13, 1900.] 


it may undergo considerable modification. 
It is difficult to see how this can be avoided, 
and it is difficult to see how reprints can be 
cited otherwise than with reference to them- 
selves and their original sources, but a 
great deal of confusion may be avoided if 
writers who have occasion to refer to re- 
prints (in contrast to separates) will always 
indicate that they have done so. 

We have fortunately in large part passed 
the age of secondary titles, and it is a mat- 
ter for congratulation that it is now rarely 
necessary, when using a new book, to give 
a secondary or still more subordinate title 
as a means of specifying the particular work 
referred to; and the citation of older books 
makes the occasion for thankfulness that 
this is so, very evident to all who use the 
library. In one respect, however, a great 
improvement is needed. Librarians, who 
are a very practical set of people whose pur- 
pose now is to make any book quickly acces- 
sible to anyone who knows either its author, 
title or subject, have adopted somewhat 
arbitrary but very serviceable rules for cat- 
aloguing and cross-referring, intended to 
secure this end. With an isolated book 
comparatively little difficulty is found, but 
between distinct books, and articles in 
proceedings or other periodicals, there is 
an insensible intergradation, owing to the 
publication of series of various degrees of 
complexity, which are calculated either for 
the convenience of a certain class of readers, 
the glorification of the author or the emol- 
ument of the publisher, or are necessitated 
by the great development of institutional 
research and publication. 

I do not wish to cite examples of terrible 
things to be avoided, which even a casual 
inspection of the contents of any large 
library reveals, but I should not wish to 
pass the subject by without calling atten- 
tion to the very great need of editorial re- 
form which devolves upon those who are 
charged with publishing series, and partic- 


SCIENCE. 61 


ularly those whose publication responsibility 
is so great as to force upon them the un- 
questionably necessary establishment of 
such differentiated series. In a late num- 
ber of the monthly Public Libraries, Mr. 
Reinick presents a suggestive statement of 
a librarian’s difficulties in the arrangement 
and. cataloguing of the United States Gov- 
ernment documents, which is worthy of 
perusal not only by librarians, but by per- 
sons who have occasion to cite such docu- 
ments and those who are concerned with 
their publication. Some four years since, 
Mr. Frank Campbell, of the library of the 
British Museum, published a series of 
essays under the collective title ‘The Theory 
of National and International Bibliography,’ 
in which the question here raised is given 
instructive if perhaps not always final 
treatment. No one who has occasion either 
to arrange, catalogue or use the publica- 
tions of the various branches of the Indian 
Government or of our own Government, or 
the publications of our several states, or of 
the agricultural experiment stations with 
which each of these states is now provided, 
or, finally, the contributions which are 
emanating from the more important re- 
search centers, chiefly in the form of sepa- 
rates or reprints of articles originally pub- 
lished in magazines or the proceedings of 
learned bodies, can fail to see at once the 
necessity for a collective treatment of all 
publications organically connected in their 
origin, and the fact that Mr. Reinick’s de- 
vice of stamps by which the librarian can 
supply necessary information not printed 
on the title page is necessitated if the mem- 
bers of a given series are to be unquestion- 
ably brought together, carries between the 
lines a suggestive commentary on the ex- 
isting facts. . 

I hope that I have sufficiently brought 
out my own belief that the writer, the edi- 
tor and the publisher, who frequently work 
independently of one another, are in real- 


62 


ity tied together by a very close bond, in so 
far as they are aiming at the real purpose 
of publication, its usefulness, and that the 
librarian, the indexer and the reviewer are 
no less necessary links in the chain between 
the publishing investigator and his numer- 
ous and increasing readers. The practical 
recognition of this intimate connection is no 
less necessary for the promotion of the rapid 
advance of science which the present activ- 
ity of investigators promises than the unifi- 
cation of the methods of the investigators 
themselves, and can no doubt be secured 
in the same manner. 


In conelusion, I wish to ask attention for 
a few minutes to a matter of prime interest 
to all botanists, since it will probably af- 
fect the very prosecution of many of their 
studies before the next century shall have 
been closed. I refer to the protection and 
preservation in every possible way of our 
native and natural vegetation. To the sys- 
tematist, the physiologist, and the morphol- 
ogist, this is alike of importance. Agricul- 
tural lands, in the main, of necessity must 
have their native plants replaced by others 
if the latter are more valuable to man, as 
surely as grazing lands have been stocked 
with cattle after the extermination of the 
less useful bison. But the erection of an 
agricultural practice, based on a prelimi- 
nary clearing of the ground, is quite differ- 
ent from the denudation of the land without 
further purpose than the utilization of its 
native products. Primarily the question is 
an economic one and as such it interests 
the community at large; but it is also 
a question of the deepest concern to science. 
Climatology, the past, present and future 
geographical distribution of animals and 
plants, and ecology and evolution are so 
clearly connected that their devotees possess 
a common interest in the preservation of 
natural conditions at least until the factors 
in biologic nature shall have been directly 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No, 289. 


ascertained and correlated; and I need 
scarcely add that what has thus far been 
done in this direction is little more than a 
rough blocking out for the future. Hence 
it is that local societies for the protection of 
animals and plants are worthy of general 
support in their efforts, and that the wide- 
spread forest protection movement, which 
is too commonly looked upon as simply an 
economic or sentimental matter, should re- 
ceive the united encouragement and sup- 
port of naturalists and meteorologists as a 
movement the success of which alone can 
perpetuate for any great time the condi- 
tions upon which much of their profounder 
study is to rest. This Association is to be 
asked to endorse an effort for the local pres- 
ervation of the red-woods over a consider- 
able area in central California, and the lo- 
cation of a forest reserve in the southern 
Appalachians. It is tobe hoped that what- 
ever action may be taken shall rest not upon 
hasty impulse, but upon such recognition of 
the vast scientific as well as utilitarian im- 
portance of this movement as shall ensure 
the permanence of our interest in every step 
of the kind which may originate in the fu- 
ture. 

WitiiaAmM TRELEASE. 
MIssouURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 


THE STRUCTURE AND SIGNIFICATION OF 
CERTAIN BOTANICAL TERMS. 

WHILE it isin some sense true that tech- 
nical names are merely arbitrarily con- 
structed vehicles for conveying ideas on 
special subjects, in the coining of such terms 
from the ancient languages for use in scien- 
tific description and discussion, it is desir- 
able, at least from an educational point of 
view, that they should not only be appro- 
priate, but that they should not involve any 
real etymological error in their construction. 
From a like point of view it is no less de- 
sirable that, when used antithetically, they 
should be strictly correlative in both con- 


JuLyY 13, 1900. ] 


struction and signification, as well as rela- 
tively constant in each of the three etymo- 
logical elements which are used in the 
composition of such terms, namely, the 
prepositional, verbal and _ substantival. 
A considerable number of terms, derived 
from the Greek, which have come into use 
in anatomical and physiological botany, 
while they have been generally accepted 
and approved, are sadly wanting in some 
one or more of these requirements. I al- 
lude to such terms as heliotropism, geotrop- 
ism, apogeotropism and diageotropism, 
which are used with reference to certain 
plant movements; and to hypocotyl, epi- 
‘cotyl, hyponasty and epinasty, which are 
used with reference to certain structural 
conditions. 

The terms geotropism and heliotropism, 
as first proposed by Frank in 1868 and since 
used by Darwin and botanists generally, are 
intended to designate respectively the act 
of the radical portion of plants in turning 
downward, or toward the earth, and that of 
the stemmate portion in turning upward, or 
toward the sun; but in neither case is this 
accepted signification etymologically the 
true one. Geotropism being derived from 
77, the earth, and cpézos, a turn, or turn- 
ing, literally signifies earth-turning ; and 
heliotropism, being derived from jjA:os, the 
sun, and czpézos, similarly signifies sun- 
turning. That is, because they are each 
composed of verbal and substantival ele- 
ments only, the prepositional element being 
omitted, their conventional signification is 
really far-fetched. Long before either 
Frank or Darwin used these terms in their 
present conventional sense, the term helio- 
trope was used to indicate the habit of the 
flowering parts of certain plants in facing 
and following the sun in its daily course. 
This act being really synheliotropism, or a 
turning with the sun, is quite different from 
that which Frank indicated by his special 
use of the old term. It seems to have been 


SCIENCE. 


63 


for this reason that Darwin happily pro- 
posed in its stead the term apogeotropism, 
and for the first time introduced the neces- 
sary prepositional element in the construc- 
tion of this class of botanical terms. 
Strangely, however, although he at the 
same time also employed that element in 
the construction of his term diageotropism, 
he failed to add it to Frank’s term geotrop- 
ism, which should have been written epi- 
geotropism* to make it strictly correlative 
and antithetic with apogeotropism. These 
two terms, when made to contain three 
elements each, are appropriate for the use 
intended because they signify and fully ex- 
press the acts of turning toward and from 
the earth without reference to the sun as 
the assumed objective point of direction. 
Before either Frank’s or Darwin’s incom- 
parable works containing these and related 
terms reached America I had, as Professor 
of ‘ natural history’ at the lowa State Uni- 
versity, constructed and personally used in 
my lectures the terms epitropism and apo- 
tropism in the same manner and for the 
same purpose that Frank’s geotropism and 
Darwin’s apogeotropism are respectively 
used. These terms I derived from Greek 
prepositional and verbal elements only, 
namely éx, toward, azé, from, and zpézos, 
a turning omitting the substantival element 
77, the earth. Because they are thus shorter 
and more conveniently useable in their 
adjective and adverbial forms they seem to 
be preferable to Frank’s and Darwin’s cor- 
responding terms, even if the former should 
be amended by adding the prepositional 
element. While the omission of either the 
prepositional or verbal element from such 
terms as these is a real defect, the omission 
of the substantival element from apotropism 
and epitropism does notin the least obscure 


* While it is true that the radical signification of 
the Greek preposition é7/ is upon, it is often, and no 
less properly, used as equivalent with the English to, 
or towards. 


64 


their meaning because of the special char- 
acter of the subject in the discussion of 
which they are employed. 

The terms hypocotyl and epicotyl of 
Darwin, and hyponasty and epinasty of 
DeVries are objectionable because, being 
respectively antithetical terms, they are 
wanting in correlative construction. That 
is, in their derivation, éz¢, upon, to, or to- 
ward, is made the antithesis of 576, below, 
or under; whereas 5zép, above, or over is 
the proper antithesis of 5zd. Therefore if 
hypocotyl is used, its antithetic correlative 
should be hypercotyl; and similarly the 
correlative of hyponasty should be hyper- 
nasty. 

Not only are the terms hypocotyl and epi- 
cotyl etymologically defective, but their use 
as originally proposed is not always struc- 
turally appropriate. Darwin proposed these 
terms to indicate the up-growing and down- 
growing portions respectively of the germi- 
nating plantlet, and it is evident from his 
use of them that he assumed the axis be- 
tween the opposing portions to be practi- 
cally identical in position with the points 
of attachment of the cotyledons. As a 
matter of fact, however, the cotyledons do 
not mark any material division in the struc- 
ture of the plantlet, and the axis referred to 
is quite independent of their position. In 
many plants, the bean, for example, the 
axis is much below the cotyledons and the 
latter therefore rise above ground as the 
plantlet grows ; while in many other plants, 
the pea for example, the axis is above the 
cotyledons, and the latter therefore remain 
underground. For this inconspicuous, but 
real, dividing disk between the up-growing 
and down-growing portions of the plantlet, 
and also of the mature plant, I have long 
personally used the term tropaxis, of par- 
tially Latinized Greek derivation ; and for 
the parts above and below the axis I have 
used the adjective terms apotropic, and epi- 
tropic respectively. 


SCIENCE. 


{N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


The terms proposed by Frank, Darwin, 
DeVries and others have passed into the lit- 
erature of botany with all their excellencies 
and imperfections, while my terms apotrop- 
ism, epitropism and tropaxis have never been 
published although I have for more than 
thirty years accustomed myself to their use. 
I still think they have much merit and 
therefore offer them for consideration in 
connection with suggestions for correcting 
the structure and use of certain terms now 
generally employed. 

Cartes A. WHITE. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
June 25, 1900. 


LYMPHOSPORIDIUM TRUTTA, NOV. GEN., 
NOV. SPEC. THE CAUSE OF A RECENT 
BROOK TROUT EPIDEMIC. 

In October, 1899, my attention was called 
to a disastrous epidemic among the brook 
trout ina Long Island hatchery. The first 
evidence of the epidemic was seen in May, 
1899, when the director picked out a dead 
fish from one of the ponds and saw that one 
side was pierced by a clear-cut hole. Think- 
ing the hole due to some bird like a king- 
fisher, he threw the fish away without 
further thought. When, however, he found 
other dead fish with similar wounds, and 
when the death-rate became noticeably 
large, an attempt was made to stop the 
headway of what was then recognized as a 
disease. Precautionary measures were use- 
less, and during the summer the fish died 
off at the rate of hundreds per day. Nor 
did the disease stop until, in December, 
every fish in the ponds had died. 

Investigation begun in October showed 
the cause of the trouble to be a hitherto un- 
described genus of parasitic Protozoa, which 
Thavenamed Lymphosporidium trutte, belong- 
ing to the same class (Sporozoa) as the ma- 
laria germ, although the effects of the par- 
asite on the fish are in no way similar to 
the effect of the malaria-organism in man. 
Evidences of the disease in the fish were 


JuLyY 13, 1900.] 


shown by the sluggish movements and di- 
minished vitality, while many had clear- 
cut holes or ulcers, as described above. 
Others appeared with the eyes entirely 
gone ; in others great patches of skin and 
underlying muscle tissue had fallen out, 
leaving large irregular pits in the body 
walls; others still had lost fins or lower 
jaws, ete. 

Upon working out the life-history of the 
parasite, it was found that spores accumu- 
late in the lymph spaces of the fish and 
prevent normal nourishment of the tissues, 
which die and fall out leaving holes in the 
body-walls. The spores are taken into the 
digestive tract of the fish—it is not known 
from where they came originally; in the 
intestine they give rise to eight sporozoites 
or germs each of which develops into an 
adult amceboid individual not more than 
-001 inch in length. These adults penetrate 
the bundles of unstriped muscle cells of the 
intestine and there become mature. At 
maturity a spherical spore-forming cyst is 
formed in the lymph of the fish; here also 
the spores are liberated, and are then car- 
ried to all parts of the body where at differ- 
ent points the accumulations are formed 
which lead to ulcers. 

Two very important points were not de- 
termined viz, (1) the origin of the disease 
which hitherto has probably been un- 
known, and, (2) the remedy. There was 
little chance of finding out after October 
how the disease originated in May, while 
the extinction of all the diseased fish be- 
fore the parasite was even discovered effec- 
tively headed off experiments with remedial 
measures. Gary N. Carxins. 


EMBRYOLOGY OF LEPAS. * 
TuIs paper was based upon the results of 
an investigation recently completed, which 


* Abstract of a paper read before the Biological See- 
tion of the New York Academy of Sciences, April 9, 
1900. 


SCIENCE. 65 


was undertaken with the view of applying 
the cell-lineage method in an accurate study 
of the cleavage and the formation of the 
germ-layers in Lepas and other Cirripedes. 

The cleavage of Lepas is total, unequal, 
and regular. Stages of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 
62 cells are normally formed. Cells of a 
given generation may anticipate their com- 
panions in division, but no second division 
of such cells takes place before all other 
cells have completed corresponding cleay- 
ages and become of the same generation. 

The first cleavage is nearly parallel to 
the long axis (polar) of the ellipsoidal egg. 
The egg is divided into an anterior ecto- 
blastic cell and a posterior yolk-bearing 
macromere. The second cleavage is at 
right angles to the first, both cells dividing, 
and from the yolk-macromere is cut off a 
second ectoblastic cell. The third cleay- 
age is essentially perpendicular to the first 
two, dividing all the cells, and a third ecto- 
blastic cell is separated from the yolk- 
macromere, which is now mesentoblastic. 
Thus by the first, second and third cleavages 
three protoplasmic cells are separated from 
the yolk. These three cells contain all the 
ectoblast and by repeated division they form 
and extend the blastoderm. The fourth 
cleavage separates the mesoblast from the 
entoblast, which is now represented by the 
yolk-macromere. The 16-cell stage is com- 
posed of fourteen ectoblastic cells, which 
largely surround the entoblastic yolk-cell. 
The single mesoblast cell lies in the blasto- 
derm at the posterior edge of the blastopore 
where the entoblastic yolk-cell is still ex- 
posed to the exterior. By the fifth cleavage 
all these cells are divided, the two meso- 
blastic cells still remaining on the surface. 
During the sixth cleavage the two meso- 
blastic cells before dividing sink beneath the 
blastoderm as it closes over the blastopore. 
At the same time four cells of the blasto- 
derm, lying at the anterior and lateral edges 
of the blastopore, divide perpendicularly to 


66 


the surface. Four cells are thus formed 
beneath the blastoderm, and they are ap- 
parently added to the mesoblast, for in the 
next stage their derivatives can not be dis- 
tinguished from the rest of the mesoblast. 
The entire mesoblast then originates from 
one cell which is separated from the ento- 
blast in the fourth cleavage (16-cell stage), 
and from four other cells which are derived 
from the ectoblast in the sixth cleavage 
forming the 62-cell stage. The lineage of 
these four ‘secondary’ mesoblasts has been 
traced back to the first and second ecto- 
meres. 

The course of the cleavage as sketched 
above has been determined to be quite con- 
stant. Cells of definite origin in the early 
cleavage stages are the ancestors of cells 
which occupy particular positions in later 
stages. Following Conklin’s terminology 
(97), the cleavage may be characterized 
as ‘determinate.’ This conclusion is com- 
pletely opposed to the results of the earlier 
investigators of Cirripede development. 

Gastrulation is of the epibolic type, and 
is the result of the extension of the ecto- 
blastic blastoderm over the entoblastic yolk- 
macromere. The blastoderm usually closes 
over the blastopore during the sixth cleay- 
age (62 cells). The blastopore is identified 
as marking the ventral and posterior of the 
future embryo. 

In the general features of the late develop- 
ment of the embryo the results of this in- 
vestigation confirm those of some earlier 
workers. 

A paper with figures in support of all 
the above conclusions has been prepared, 
and is now awaiting publication. 

Mavrice A. BicELow. 


TEACHERS COLLEGE, 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


ERNST HARTIG. 
Ernst Hartic, ‘der Geheime Regier- 
ungsrat Professor Dr. Hartig’ of the ‘kgl. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


Sachsische Technische Hochschule,’at Dres- 
den, died April 23rd. He was born, Jan. 
20, 1836, studied at the Dresden Polytech- 
nikum, finding in the late Geheimrat Pro- 
fessor Dr. A Hulsse an inspiring teacher 
and a warm friend through whose encour- 
agement and aid he was induced promptly 
to take upa line of study and work which 
gave him, ultimately, large opportunities 
and great reputation. He became, in 1862, 
the assistant for mechanical technology and 
was promoted to his professorship in 1865. 
In 1890 he became the director of the Tech- 
nical High school. He was active in the or- 
ganization of the various technical depart- 
ments and the laboratories of engineering 
research and made himself an authority 
relative to the materials of engineering and 
in all departments of textile work. He 
published some important papers. 

His ‘ Untersuchen uber die Heizkraft der 
Steinkohlen Sachsens’ came out as early 
as 1860; from 1864 to 1869 he was engaged 
in the pursuit of a number of researches 
and published the results of an experimen- 
tal investigation of the power required in 
the operation of spinning and weaving ma- 
chinery. In 1873 he brought out his work 
of similar character on the machine-tools 
and in 1876 that on the machinery of the 
combed wool manufacture. At the desire 
of its author, then surrendering his hold 
upon his long-sustained work in that direc- 
tion, Hartig undertook the preparation and 
admirably completed the issue of the fifth 
edition of Karmarsch’s ‘Handbuch der 
mechanischen Technologie’ for his old 
friend and teacher and assumed thenceforth 
the position of a leading authority in that 
branch. From 1877 he had much to do 
with the formulation and systematization 
of the patent laws and patent systems of 
the kingdom and of the empire, accomplish- 
ing much for the inventor, and for the 
courts as well. He was an admirer of the 
United States system and recognized its 


JuLyY 13, 1900. ] 


enormous influence upon the welfare of the 
country and in encouraging that fecundity 
in invention which has always distinguished 
this country. His spirit, his learning and 
his logical mind are exhibited in ‘Studien 
in der Praxis des k. Patentamtes,’ 1890. 

Hartig was named as ‘kgl. sachsischen 
Regierungsrat,’ in 1876, and as ‘ Geheimen 
Regierungsrat,’in 1888. He was decorated 
with the ‘ sachsischen Albrechtsorden Kom- 
thur 2 kl.,’ and the ‘ sachsischen Verdienst- 
orden Ritterkreuz I. kl.,’ the ‘ preussische 
Rote Adlerorden 3 kl.’ and the‘ oster- 
reichische Franz Josef-Orden Ritterkreuz’ 
and was made a member of many learned so- 
cieties. 

Ernst Hartig was one of the most modest 
and companionable of men, kindly, consid- 
erate, seeking to please his friends, and al- 
ways most courteous to strangers. As a 
colleague on the International Jury of 
18738, the writer, working side by side with 
him for weeks together, came to know the 
man and to recognize his admirable per- 
sonal qualities most fully. His affection 
for his older colleagues and his former 
teachers, his friends and his pupils was al- 
Ways in evidence. His mind was a store- 
house of information and his sincerity and 
quiet dignity gave him an aspect of age 
which was yet contra-indicated by his alert 
and youthful movement. He will always 
be remembered by those who have known 
him as one of the most admirable of men, 
the best of friends and the most able and 
useful of workers in a field in which there 
is never likely to be a surplus of such men. 

R. H. THurston. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Grammar of Science. By KARL PEARSON, 
M.A.,F.R.S. Second edition revised and en- 
larged. London, Adam & Charles Black. 
1900. Pp. 548. 

It is possible to acquire a speaking and indeed 

a fairly extensive knowledge of a language with- 


SCIENCE. 


67 


out any special attention to its grammatical 


peculiarities. The conscious realization of syn- 
tax and conjugation, or of rules and exceptions 
may be quite unnecessary in ‘picking up’ an 
acquaintance with a new tongue in its local 
habitat. None the less the student even of 
‘French at a glance,’ or of ‘Fourteen weeks in 
German,’ finds it profitable to include genders 
and declensions, and principles of structure in 
his apercgu. The more earnest student and, most 
of all, the specialist must penetrate still more 
deeply into the intricacies of grammatical struc- 
ture and development. The same is true, 
though more readily overlooked in regard to the 
language of science. In both cases a facility of 
comprehension and expression, and a sympathy 
with the pervading spirit or genius of the lan- 
guage are of inestimable value, and for many 
purposes are indefinitely more useful than 
knowledge—particularly than unassimilated 
and uninterpreted book knowledge—of the re- 
sults of analytical acumen. A scientifically- 
minded person may be more at home in the 
realm of scientific fact, may be less likely to 
wander astray, than he who has greater knowl- 
edge of principles with less insight into their 
practical combination. ‘The observant but em- 
pirical linguist may interpret usage with greater 
success than the formal philologist. None the 
less the grammatical principles of science are of 
inestimable importance in imparting breadth 
and scope as well as depth of insight and vigor 
of logic to the conceptions of professional scien- 
tists and of that larger class who think scien- 
tifically and find an interest in scientific prob- 
lems. That Professor Pearson’s ‘Grammar of 
Science’ has met the needs of such thinkers 
creditably and suggestively, is evidenced by 
the appearance of the second edition, as well as 
by the comments of approval which greeted the 
first issue of the volume. 

It will hardly be necessary in the notice of 
this second edition to present an account of the 
several chapters and of the method of treat- 
ment of the book; it will suffice to outline the 
scope and power of the whole. Three general 
groups oftopicsareincluded. The first portrays 
the general scope and spirit of science, or de- 
scribes the purpose of the worker ; the second 
interprets its fundamental conceptions, or de- 


68 


‘ 


scribes the tools of the trade; the third outlines 
and comments upon the content of the sciences, 
or describes the materials to be worked upon. 
Science ‘‘ claims that the whole range of phe- 
nomena, mental as well as physical—the entire 
universe is its field. It asserts that the scien- 
tific method is the sole gateway to the whole 
region of knowledge.’’ The scientist is charac- 
terized by a logical attitude, by a manner of 
dealing with reality, which when carefully con- 
trolled leads to truth, toa common and veri- 
fiable possession of mankind. Science discour- 
ages short cuts to knowledge and immortality. 
Science admits and emphasizes its limitations; 
in an ultimate sense it does not explain but only 
describes; it has no relations with the super- 
sensuous and is most suspicious of the meta- 
physical. Science justifies its place in human 
evolution by the efficient mental training it 
provides,* by the light it brings to bear on 
many problems of society ;+ by its practical 
benefits in extending control over natural re- 
sources and in increasing human comfort ; by the 
permanent gratification it yields to the intellec- 
tual and esthetical impulses. [ 

Next we must recognize that all knowledge 
is a reaction of our mental functions to the 
stimuli of the environment. There is an es- 
sential intervening psychological process be- 
tween knowledge and reality. We ‘ construct’ 
our universe, and ‘two normal perceptive 


* «Tt is the want of impersonal judgment, of scien- 
tific method, and of accurate insight into facts, a want 
largely due to a non-scientific training, which renders 
clear thinking so rare, and random and irresponsible 
judgment so common in the mass of our citizens to- 
day.’’ “Scientific thought is not an accompaniment 
or condition of human progress, but human progress 
itself.’’ (Clifford. ) 

ft ‘‘Strange as it may seem, the laboratory experi- 
ments of a biologist may have greater weight than all 
the theories of the state from Plato to Hegel |’ ‘‘The 
first demand of the state upon the individual is not 
for self-sacrifice, but for self-development.’’? ‘‘ The 
formation of a moral judgment * * * depends in the 
first place on knowledge and method.”’ 

£ ‘If I were compelled to name the Englishmen 
who during our generation have had the widest im- 
aginations and exercised them most beneficially, I 
think I should put the novelists and poets on one side 
and say Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin.”’ 


SCLENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


faculties construct practically the same uni- 
verse,’ and thus render the results of thinking 
valid. A law of nature is ‘‘a résumé in mental 
shorthand, which replaces for us a lengthy de- 
scription of the sequences among our sense- 
impressions. Law in the scientific sense * * * 
owes its existence to the creative power of his 
[man’s] intellect.’’? ‘‘It economizes thought 
by stating in conceptual shorthand that routine 
of our perceptions which forms for us the uni- 
verse of gravitating matter.’’ With a just 
comprehension of the fact that conceptual results 
form an essential portion of the equipment of 
science, which is by no means limited to per- 
ceptual sense-experience, we may proceed to 
develop the most profitable conceptions of those 
general relations underlying the problems of 
the special sciences. What are cause and 
effect, and probability? What is the scientific 
interpretation of space and time, of motion and 
matter and of their combinations in the phys- 
ical and organic worlds? With these tools 
well sharpened and adjusted to their materials 
the scientific artisans may be sent to their sev- 
eral workshops to work with what success they 
can command; they devote themselves to 
physics and chemistry and mechanics ; and they 
find the most distinctly different material in the 
realm of biology and in the several phenomena of 
life and evolution. And it is because the 
sciences are not ready-made material but repre- 
sent the variety of human interest and the con- 
ceptual reactions to perceptual experience that 
their attempted classification has yielded so 
diverse and on the whole so unsatisfactory re- 
sults. 

Such, in brief, is the progress of thought in 
Professor Pearson’s ‘Grammar.’ Many will 
differ with him in one and another of his posi- 
tions. The metaphysician will be quick to 
point out that Professor Pearson’s horror of 
metaphysics is itself the product of a metaphys- 
ical assumption ; and if the more easy-going 
scientist expresses his belief that all these mat- 
ters, like eesthetic judgments, are matters of 
taste, the logical reply is not far to seek. They 
are matters of taste, of good taste and bad 
taste ; of sound and critical analysis or of slip- 
shod and loose assumptions. ‘‘To know re- 
quires exertion, and it is intellectually easiest 


Juny 13, 1900.] 


to shirk effort altogether by accepting phrases 
which cloak the unknown in the undefinable.”’ 
Others again may object to the particular 
make-up of this ‘Grammar’; may question 
whether the long discussion of the quantitative 
aspects of evolution (a novel feature of the 
second edition) however interesting in itself, 
finds a co-ordinate place with the rest of the 
chapters, or whether it represents unduly the 
special trend of the writer’s interests. But no 
critic can fail to find the general treatment rig- 
orous and suggestive, and to feel that the possi- 
bilities of presenting the fundamental concep- 
tions of science to the student have been 
appreciably increased by Professor Pearson’s 
labors in his behalf. JOSEPH JASTROW. 


The Microscopy of Drinking Water. By GEORGE 
CHANDLER WHIPPLE. New York, John 
Wiley & Sons. 1899. Pp. xii+ 300. With 


21 figures and 19 half-tone plates. 

The biological examination of potable water 
has been conducted upon an extensive scale in 
this country for more than a decade, especially 
in Massachusetts where the State Board of 
Health and the City of Boston have maintained 
laboratories for the scientific investigation of 
water supplies. It is fitting, therefore, that the 
first extensive hand-book upon the subject of the 
microscopy of drinking water should have been 
written by one long associated with this work. 

Mr. Whipple’s ‘ Microscopy of Drinking 
Water,’ is more, however, than a mere manual, 
for it presents the generalization derived from 
the explorations and statistical data accumulated 
by the State Board of Health, the Boston, and 
more recently the Brooklyn Water Works for a 
series of years. It thus treats of many problems 
of limnology and fresh water biology of interest 
not only tothe sanitary engineer and water ex- 
pert but to the biologist and physicist as well. 

The opening chapter is devoted to a his- 
torical treatment of the subject in which the 
faunistic and systematic biology of fresh water, 
and planktology also, are included. The treat- 
ment is brief and there are many omissions. 
There is, for example, no mention of recent 
investigations of water supplies in European 
cities, nor is any reference made to the lacus- 
trine explorations of the United States Fish 


SCIENCE. 


69 


Commission in past years. The excellent work 
of the Bohemian Survey and of the Balaton 
Lake Commission in Hungary is unnoticed. 
Hensen, the father of planktology, is referred 
to as having devised a ‘new method of study- 
ing the minute floating organisms found in 
lakes!’ The planktonocrit is ascribed to 
Dolley, and the Plankton pump to Ward and 
Fordyce. The first use of the centrifuge in 
plankton work seems to have been made by 
Kramer or Cori, and the pump for the col- 
lection of plankton was used by Henson, by 
Peck, at the Illinois Biological Station, and by 
Frenzel, before the pump named was described- 

Bacterial examination is not treated in the 
work as its methods are different and involve 
other processes than microscopical examination. 
The purpose and relative values of the various 
forms of sanitary examination are discussed at 
length by the author. The physical, biological 
and chemical analysis of water supplies are 
each important, and are mutually supple- 
mentary. The interpretation of an analysis 
is a matter of expert skill quite as much as the 
making of the analysis. ‘‘In the detection of 
pollution the chemical and bacteriological ex- 
aminations furnish the most information, in the 
study of the zsthetic qualities of a water the 
physical and microscopical examinations are 
most important, while in investigations con- 
cerning the value of a water for industrial 
purposes the physical and chemical examina- 
tions sometimes suffice.’”?’ The purposes of 
microscopical examination are stated to be the 
detection of sewage pollution, the explanation 
of turbidity, of taste and of odor of water, 
the interpretation of chemical analysis, and the 
study of food of fishes and other aquatic ani- 
mals. The most important service which the 
microscopical examination of potable water ren- 
ders is thus in the study of its esthetic qualities. 

The Sedgwick-Rafter method of water exam- 
ination is described with its various modifica- 
tions and improvements, and the errors incident 
to its use are discussed. The error from leak- 
age through the sand may rise as high as 25 
per cent. or even 50 per cent. when minute 
organisms are present in large numbers, and 
the statement is made that most of the escap- 
ing organisms pass through the sand in the 


70 


earlier part of the filtration. In the reviewer’s 
hands this method has yielded even larger 
errors with water heavily charged with minute 
flagellates and other motile organisms, when 
checked by more precise methods of filtration. 
The greatest escape of organisms occurred, 
not at the beginning, but toward the close of 
the period of filtration. The author concludes 
that the method is precise within 10 per cent., 
4. e., two examinations of the same sample 
seldom differ by more than that amount. 

_ A few pages are devoted to a brief discussion 
of the plankton method in which the Reighard 
and Birge nets are described though the more 
generally used Apstein model is not mentioned. 
The author objects to the standard unit of vol- 
ume, a cubic meter, adopted by planktologists 
on the ground that it necessitates the use of 
large numbers in the case of minute organisms. 
In plankton work a uniform unit is a necessity 
and the small unit of the Sedgwick-Rafter 
method, which he suggests, is equally objec- 
tionable, as it would frequently necessitate 
the employment of fractions or decimals, and 
could not be readily correlated with most avail- 
able and generally accepted unit for quantita- 
tive work, viz, the cubic meter. Thestatement 
that ‘many delicate organisms are crushed upon 
the net’ in the collection of plankton and that 
the pumping method conduces to imperfect fil- 
tration are not borne out by the practical ex- 
perience of the reviewer. 

The comparative absence of organisms in 
rain and ground waters and in filter-galleries 
is noted, and their relative abundance in surface 
waters is discussed. The general statement is 
made that standing water contains more organ- 
isms than running water. ‘‘Samples from rivers, 
unless collected near shore, seldom contain 
many organisms. Organisms found in streams 
are largely sedentary forms. Their food-supply 
is brought to them by the water continually 
passing. In quiet waters there are found free- 
swimming forms that must go in search of their 
food.’’ It is undoubtedly true that there is but 
little plankton in the small and rapidly flowing 
streams of New England and in like waters 
elsewhere ; but in larger streams there is a true 
plankton, often abundant, and very largely 
made up of typical plankton organisms, as has 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


been shown by investigations of the Elbe, the 
Oder, the Danube, the Nile, the Illinois and the 
Mississippi Rivers. The current probably bears 
some inverse ratio to the number of organisms 
present in a stream, but the fact of its presence 
does not necessarily preclude the development 
of an abundant and typical plankton in river 
waters, provided time for breeding is afforded. 

Interesting data concerning the physics of 
lakes and reservoirs, especially in regard to the 
seasonal overturning of the water and summer 
stagnation below the thermocline, are to be found 
in the chapter on limnology. The organisms 
which occur in water-supplies are listed with 
reference to the frequency of their occurrence 
and their obnoxious qualities. In all 186 gen- 
era are catalogued of which but 18 are common, 
and of these at least 10 are troublesome because 
of their unpleasant effects upon potable waters. 
The relative frequency of different organisms 
and the relation of their occurrences to the 
depth of the pond, to the nature of the bottom, 
to the color of the water, and to the chemical 
analysis are discussed in the light of statistics 
accumulated in the biological examinations of 
Massachusetts waters. The same data afford a 
basis for a treatment of the seasonal, horizontal 
and vertical distribution of organisms in pond 
and reservoir waters. Technical matters such 
as the odors of water-supplies, the storage of 
ground, and of surface-waters, and the growth 
of organisms in water-pipes receive expert 
attention. 

A considerable part of the work is given up 
to a descriptive list of the genera of microscopic 
organisms which will be of great assistance to 
the amateur or the beginner. Nineteen well-ex- 
ecuted half-tone plates will further assist in the 
identification of the more common organisms. 
We note the omission of Pleodorina, which occa- 
sionally becomes a water-pest ; that Spirodela is 
figured as Lemna; and that Diaptomus appears on 
the plate with the ovisac dorsal to the abdomen. 


The bibliography at the close of the book 
seems to be very full in the technical phases of 
the subject of water supplies. On the biolog- 
ical side it is less satisfactory, the titles by no 
means representing the best or the latest litera- 
ture of the subject, a defect easily remedied in 
a later edition. 


Juxy 13, 1900. ] 


The work of Mr. Whipple is an invaluable 
guide for the microscopical examination of po- 
table water, in comprehensiveness and execution 
far surpassing all previous manuals of the sub- 
ject in the English language, or for that matter 
in any other. It is also of great interest to the 
biologist, since it summarizes from literature 
not ordinarily gleaned the contributions of 
many workers on varions problems of fresh- 
water ecology. It is to be hoped that this book 
will serve as a stimulus to all engaged in this 
field of applied biology to contribute to the so- 
lution of the many unsolved problems which 
their facilities and opportunities peculiarly fit 
them to attack. ’ CHARLES A. Kororp. 

ILLINOIS BIOLOGICAL STATION, 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 


Analyse Chimique Qualitative. Par M.-H. Pozzt- 

Escor. Paris, Gauthier- Villars. 

This little book is instructive and valuable, as 
the author, instead of following the beaten 
track of qualitative separations, adopts mainly 
the methods of M. Ad. Carnot, and of Engel 
and Silva for metalloids. He gives especial at- 
tention to the detection of the rarer elements, 
utilizing methods of Cleve, of Wyronboff and 
Verneuil, and others. 

Some of the methods of Carnot are rapid and 
give elegant results; the method of separating 
cobalt, nickel, iron, zinc, manganese, thallium, 
indium, and uranium, utilizing hydrogen per- 
oxide may be particularly commended. 

EDWARD RENOUF. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
DEFORMED STERNA IN THE DOMESTICATED 
FOWL. 


THE fact that the keel of the sternum is fre- 
quently crooked in the domestic fowl has long 
been known to me, but until the publication of 
several papers either discussing the cause of 
this deformation, or bringing it forward as an 
instance of the inheritance of an acquired char- 
acter, the reason for it had seemed quite evi- 
dent. Now it may be that thisis one of the 
cases where a thing is not so simple asit ap- 
pears to be on the surface, but the primary 
cause for this curvature of the sternal keel 
has always seemed to me enforced flightless- 


SCIENCE. 


71 


ness and consequent failure of the pectoral 
muscles to pull the sternum straight, while this 
may be aggravated by the feeding of corn 
which forms flesh, but not bone. Another 
factor would seem to be the effort to breed 
fowls that shall be heavy in flesh, attempting 
to increase the size of the pectoral muscles at 
the very time the sternum is diminishing in size 
from the disuse of these same muscles. Thus 
while the sternum as a whole is degenerating a 
larger keel is needed for the attachment of 
muscles and under these conditions the only 
way to obtain more surface is by the curva- 
ture of the keel. It has been remarked that 
thoroughbred fowls are more liable than others 
to have deformed sternal keels and these it may 
be noted are the very birds that get the least 
amount of exercise. The games, and other 
breeds not raised for flesh usually have straight 
sterna while the heavy-bodied Asiatics are 
particularly liable to have crooked sterna and 
it may be said that the same deformation often 
occurs among fancy pigeons bred for show and 
deprived of exercise by being cooped up in 
lofts. 

That a deformation inconstant in direction 
and far from universal should not be regularly 
inherited is not surprising; that it is due to 
resting the breast on the perch, although this 
may be one of various causes, is doubtful; that 
cases where the deformation seems to be passed 
from mother to chick should be regarded as in- 
stances of the inheritance of an acquired char- 
acter is even more to be doubted. 

Finally it may be said that this twisting of 
the sternal keel is much greater in a dried ster- 
num than in one that is fresh or has been 
soaked over night in water. Among the sterna 
of Great Auk collected in 1887 not one was 
straight, although they could be made straight 
by soaking and it is a difficult matter to find a 
straight keel on the dried sternum of a Murre 
or Razorbill. F. A. LUCAS. 


REMARKS ON THE LOESS IN NORTH CHINA. 


ALTHOUGH there has been considerable discus- 
sion regarding the loess of North China, there are 
some facts which have not been presented with 
sufficient prominence, although mentioned by 
Pumpelly and others. In a trip of 450 miles 


72 


from Pekin into Mongolia by way of Kalgan, I 
observed the following facts : 

(1) The loess isa wind deposit without doubt. 
Along the Tsing-ho, a river joining the Yang- 
ho near Kalgan, I found that all the north and 
south tributary valleys had slight deposits of 
loess in sheltered spots along both sides, and on 
the south or southeast slopes of the mountains. 
In the east and west valleys the north side of 
the valleys, that is the south slope of the 
mountains exhibited loess hundreds of feet 
steep, and clinging in sheltered spots to the 
very summit of the mountains more than 5000 
feet above tide. 

On the other side of these east and west 
valleys the loess deposits are practically want- 
ing, except in gullies where there would be a 
lull in the wind. 

The Chinese, who have overrun the Mon- 
golian border, make use of this firm perpen- 
dicular cleaving loess for excavating houses 
which stand well. So the towns are usually 
found on the south or southeast slope of the 
mountains, where they have the loess to build 
in, or to build with, and also the sunny south 
exposure. 

As a rule, depending on the local physical 
structure of the country, these deposits are 
rather more on the southeast than south side. 
In other words, the prevailing winds, then as 
now, blew from the northwest, down over the 
plains of Mongolia, the escarpment of which 
runs from northeast to southwest. 

(2) In the valleys it often shows modification 
by water action. In the valleys and even half 
way up the mountains bands of rock fragments 
usually very angular are of common occurrence. 
These are of local origin and in all cases could 
be easily accounted for. They were either 
talus accumulations from the hill back of them, 
or else were deposited by some temporary 
stream which was formed by one of the sudden 
and terrific rains to which this section is sub- 
ject during the summer months. 

In one of the pits northwest of Kalgan there 
is a U-shaped deposit four feet across, of well- 
rounded gravel, some of the pebbles being 
three inches in diameter. It looks as if a 
stream of considerable size and superloaded 
with gravel from the hills near by had run 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 289. 


over the loess at this point for a short time 
during the latter’s period of deposition. 

Lower down in the valley of the Yang-ho, 
100 or 200 feet above the present river, espe- 
cially where side streams have built up deltas 
at the point of emergence from the mountain 
passes into the valley, beds of sand, gravel and 
loess are interstratified. Probably this loess is 
material brought down either by the main river 
when it was at a higher level or by the side 
stream and deposited in slack water. 

(3) There was some special period of rapid 
deposition, and that in quite recent time. Now 
this loess is everywhere deeply channeled by 
the little streams that are cutting it away. A 
very characteristic channel is one 20 to 30 feet, 
deep, 3 feet wide at the base, and from two to 
three times as wide at the top. Such miniature 
canyons will often be cut back a few hundred 
yards from the valley. Evidently this loess was 
deposited very rapidly at one time and then for 
some reason, probably lack of material, ceased 
to accumulate. 

At present there is enough wind to do the 
work if it had the material at hand. Having 
been for seven hours in a dust and sand storm 
between Hsiian-Hua-Fu and Kalgan, I feel cer- 
tain that the present wind forces are sufficient 
to deposit loess much more rapidly than it 
would erode away, provided it had the mate- 
rial. As it is the wind deposits now forming are 
entirely different from the loess. The drifts are 
in the same sort of places, but instead of being 
an impalpable dust are sand. At Hsiian-Hua- 
Fu the city wall is banked to the very top with 
drifts of sand, but no loess. 

At some recent time the winds must have 
had an excessive amount of this peculiar fine 
dust at its command, and the dust must have 
come from the plains of Mongolia. Whether 
this material was supplied by glacial grist, 
furnished by glaciers coming down on to the 
Mongolian plains from the elevated mountain 
region to the northeast, or not, remains to be 
seen. One thing is certain. The glaciers never 
extended down to the edge of the Mongolian 
plateau in this region (Lat. 40° North). 

(4) This deposit is very recent, for many of 
the smaller streams have not yet cut their way 
through it to the rock. This is in marked 


JuLy 13, 1900.] 


contrast to the broad deep valleys in which 
the loess was deposited—valleys 3000 feet 
deep and 2 to7 miles wide. 
FRED. B. WRIGHT. 
TIENTSIN, NORTH CHINA, May 30, 1900. 


POWER OF THE EYE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: We often hear 
people say that they can merely by a steady 
gaze affect a person at a distance who is not 
looking at them ; and some say that they are 
able to make one sitting in front turn the head 
in this way. Mr. Bell in his ‘Tangweera’ (p. 
198) mentions this feeling when he says : ‘‘ Pre- 
sently I felt as if someone was looking at me, 
and, raising my head, saw a large puma stand- 
ing ten yards off.’’ To the physiologist it may 
seem uncalled for to investigate a manifest ab- 
surdity, but it has at least a practical value to 
explode a common error by direct experiment. 
I asked a young man, who is very confident of 
his powers, to stand, unknown to re-agent A, 
behind a book case, and look through a care- 
fully concealed peep hole. I gave him the best 
opportunity, placing A about four feet from the 
hole and directly facing him, and I engaged A in 
mechanical writing. To the young man’s con- 
fessed disgust and irritation he was unable to 
disturb A. My few experiments were negative 
in results. However, it may be that telepathic 
influence is exerted under certain conditions, 
and experiments with twins and others con- 
stantly en rapport, especially when under emo- 
tional stress and at critical junctures, might be 
worth trying. If there be nervous telepathy, 
this is, perhaps, as simple and common a form 
as any. If disturbance arose subconsciously 
the test would be that the tracings from an in- 
strument to show nervous conditions should 
show large fluctuations coincidently with the 
times when the agent regards himself as suc- 


cessful. 
HIRAM M. STANLEY. 


CURRENT NOTES ON PHYSIOGRAPHY. 
GLACIERES OR FREEZING CAVERNS. 

A HANDSOME volume under the above title 
by E. S. Balch has just appeared (Allen, Lane 
and Scott, Phila., 1900, 337 pages, many illus- 
trations). Nearly a third of the book is given 


SCLENCE. 73 


to a narrative of personal experiences in visit- 
ing ‘ice caves’ or freezing caverns in various 
parts of the world. Fifty pages follow on the 
causes of subterranean ice; the first suggested 
and simplest explanation, the cold of winter, 
being held sufficient against a variety of leg- 
endary and fanciful processes. The prevalent 
belief that freezing caves are colder in summer 
than in winter and that ice forms in the warm 
season is controverted by direct observation. 
The reason for this curious perversion of fact is 
probably to be found in the temperature con- 
trasts between cavern and external air in sum- 
mer and winter ; the cavern air feeling colder 
than the open air in summer and warmer in 
winter. Thermometric records show, however, 
that cavern temperature is relatively constant 
all the year round. The whole story is that 
cold air enters from the outside in winter time 
and produces ice when there is water to freeze. 
This simple explanation is confirmed by the oc- 
currence of glaciéres only in regions where the 
winter has temperatures below freezing. A 
compendious list of glaciéres occupies 100 
pages; abstracts of many opinions concerning 
them, 40 more; and a good bibliography and 
index close the volume. The views of the ice 
stalagmites in the glaciére de Chaux-les-Passa- 
vant in the French Jura are excellent, and the 
book as a whole is highly creditable to Amer- 
ican geographical scholarship. 


THE OLD MOUNTAINS OF MICHIGAN. 


MonoGRAPH XXXVI, U.S. Geological Sur- 
vey, by several authors, treating of the Crystal 
Fallsiron bearing district of the upper peninsula 
of Michigan, contains an instructive account of 
physiographic features amida great body of 
geologic and economic details. The items here 
abstracted are from chapters by Smyth and 
Clements. Although the district is partly un- 
derlaid by resistant and deformed pre-Cambrian 
rocks of diverse structures, and partly by weak 
and gently inclined upper Cambrian sandstones, 
the most general aspect of its surface is that of 
a somewhat rolling plain witha gentle and uni- 
form descent for about thirty miles from an alti- 
tude of 1800-1900 feet in the northwest to 1200- 
1300 in the southeast. The areas of harder 
rocks form broad swells of moderate relief, but 


74 


therey;are no commanding eminences; the 
widest panoramas from the hill tops extend but 
afew miles, and the general evenness of the 
skyline is usually broken only by remnants o¢ 
the old forest, not yet cut or burnt. It ig 
significant that the name ‘mountain’ has been 
applied by local surveyors to hillocks only 100 
or 200 feet in local relief. The minor features 
are explained by the scouring action of the ice 
sheet on this preglacial peneplain. The areas 
of massive crystalline rocks have a surface 
mammillated with rocky knobs and pitted with 
hollows ; the first are largely bare, the second 
are filled to their brim with ponds or quaking 
bogs. Ledges and scarps are found at the bor- 
der of the stronger rocks, while the weaker 
rocks, eroded to a somewhat lower level, are 
covered with drift plains which are mostly fol- 
lowed by the main streams. The drainage is 
very immature, varying irregularly from stand- 
ing water in lakes and sluggish meandering 
streams in swamps to flowing reaches in graded 
drift channels and rushing rapids on rocky 
ledges. The lakes have generally been reduced 
to a lower level than that of their original shore 
line ; they are often surrounded by muskegs or 
reduced to ‘hay marshes.’ Swamps cover a 
large part of the surface, not only filling many 
basins and valley floors, but ascending gentle 
slopes to the spring line on the hillsides; their 
thick spongy carpet of moss retains sufficient 
moisture for the growth of cedars and other 
swamp-loyving trees and shrubs. 

This district is of interest as a sample of the 
geographic conditions that prevail over a vast 
area of the Laurentian highland in north- 
eastern Canada; an ancient mountainous region, 
reduced to moderate relief before the Cambrian 
strata were laid upon it, and since then re- 
maining remarkably quiescent while so many 
changes were going on in other parts of the 
world. 


WATERPOWER IN NORTH CAROLINA. 


BULLETIN No. 8 of the North Carolina Geo- 
logical Survey (Raleigh, 1899) is devoted to an 
account of the water powers of that State, con- 
tributed by several writers. The volume opens 
with a chapter on the general physiographic 
features of North Carolina, in which the essen- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


tial peculiarities of coastal plain, piedmont 
plateau and mountain belt are well presented 
by J. A. Holmes. The fourth chapter, by the 
same author, discusses the geologic distribution 
of waterpower and refers the rapids and falls 
of the rivers to their controlling causes. In the 
mountains, falls are determined by irregular 
variations in the resistance of the crystalline 
rocks ; here short ungraded rapids frequently 
alternate with longer graded reaches. The 
narrows and falls of the Yadkin in the pied- 
mont plateau occur where the river crosses a 
belt of resistant schist between belts of weaker 
argillaceous slates. The Roanoke descends 85 
feet in nine miles as it passes from the pied- 
mont crystallines to the weak strata of the 
coastal plain. The Tar has an abrupt fall of 
15 feet at Rocky Mount, some 20 miles east of 
the border of the piedmont area, where the 
river has cut down through the coastal plain 
strata upon a reef of schists and resistant 
granite. The greater number of pages is de- 
voted to details of individual rivers. The vol- 
ume is well illustrated by half-tone plates. 
W. M. DAvis. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
RECENT BOOKS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS. 


PROFESSOR BARNES has prepared a little book 
under the title of ‘Outlines of Plant Life,’ for 
use in such secondary schools as cannot give as 
much time to the subject as is required by his 
earlier ‘Plant Life.’ He has omitted much of 
the minute anatomy ‘upon the assumption that 
no laboratory work with the compound micro- 
scope is possible,’ an unfortunate assumption in 
our opinion. However, the author does not 
reduce his work to this low plane, but freely in- 
troduces suggestions for microscopical studies 
quite at variance with his prefatory statement. 
The sequence of structural study is from the 
simple to the complex plants, considerably 
more than a hundred pages being given to this 
part of the subject. This is followed by about 
the same number of pages devoted to physio- 
logical studies, and sixty pages of ecological 
matter. It should be very helpful to teachers. 

The same publishers (Holt & Co.) bring out 
a smaller edition of Professor Atkinson’s ‘ Ele- 


Juty 13, 1900.] 


mentary Botany.’ The author assumes that 
the compound microscope is available, and pro- 
ceeds to plan the work accordingly. The se- 
quence here is in our opinion not as philosoph- 
ical as that in Dr. Barnes’s book, beginning 
with physiology (114 pp.), with structural stud- 
ies next (164 pp.), followed by ecology (59 pp.). 
However, the teacher will find much which is 
helpful in the book, which has the merit of 
having much original matter in it. 

Here perhaps may be noticed Professor W. 
W. Bailey’s booklet ‘ Botanizing,’ intended to 
be a guide to field collecting and herbarium 
work. For this it is apparently well fitted. 
It describes the equipment necessary for the 
work in the field as well as in the herbarium, 
and tells just how the work should be done for 
different groups of plants. It is not a modern 
book, for the department of botany with which 
it deals is not modern. When another edition 
appears it may be well to make it a field man- 
ual in a sense broad enough to include ecolog- 
ical work. 


A STUDY OF NON-INDIGENOUS PLANTS. 


PROFESSOR AND Mrs. KELLERMAN, of Ohio, 
have been studying the non-indigenous flora of 
that State, publishing their results in the Journal 
of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History for 
March, 1900. They find that there are known 
2060 flowering plants in the present flora of the 
State, of which 430, or a little more than 21 per 
cent., are non-indigenous. Of these foreigners 
326 came from Europe, 30 from Asia, 2 from 
Africa, 46 from Southern and Western United 
States, 21 from tropical or South America, 
while 5 are of unknown nativity. It will be 
seen that more than 83 per cent. of these plants 
came from the Old World. Fifty-five natural 
families are represented by one or more species, 
the largest being Compositae (88), Gramineae 
(46), Druciferae (27), Labiatae (24), Caryophyl- 
laceae (23), Leguminosae (19), Rosaceae (15), 
Polyponaceae (14), Scrophulariaceae (14), Um- 
belliferae (12), Boraginaceae (11), Chenopodia- 
ceae (11). While many of these introduced 
plants are useful, many also are weeds, no less 
than 49 falling within this category, and of 
these all but eight come from the Old World. 
In order to show that by no means all of the 


SCIENCE. 


75 


weeds are exotic, the authors give a list of 40 
troublesome weeds which are natives of Ohio. 


NEW SPECIES OF INSECT PARASITES. 


Dr. RoLAND THAXTER, who is the authority 
on the group of insect parasites constituting 
the family Laboulbeniaceae has been able to 
add very materially to our knowledge of the 
group by a study of the material derived from 
an examination of the entomological collections 
in Paris, London, Oxford, Florence and Wash- 
ington. He discovered 168 new species, be- 
longing to 22 genera, some of the latter also 
being new. The genus Laboulbenia is enriched 
by the addition of 100species. The new genera 
are Monoicomyces, with four species : Polyasco- 
myces, with one species ; Limnaiomyces, with two 
species ; Hucorethromyces, with one species ; Mis- 
gomyces, with two species, and Euzodiomyces, 
with one species. The descriptions of these 
new genera and species fill two numbers (9 and 
21) of the Proceedings of the American Acad- 
emy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. XXXYV., issued 
respectively December, 1899, and April, 1900. 
Dr. Thaxter makes the welcome announcement 
that it is his intention to publish as soon as 
practicable a supplement to his ‘Monograph of 
the Laboulbeniaceae’ with figures of all the 
species. 

PHYSIOLOGY OF TOBACCO. 

AN interesting paper entitled ‘ Physiological 
Studies of Connecticut Leaf Tobacco,’ by Dr. 
Oscar Loew, contains much of importance to 
the general plant physiologist, as well as to the 
practical grower of tobacco, as may be seen 
from the author’s ‘ conclusions’ which we quote 
in full. ‘‘ Various problems relating to the 
manufacture of tobacco have been touched 
upon in this report, some of them within easy 
reach of solution, others of a very difficult 
nature. The prevention of fungous attacks in 
the barn or in the cases, the regulation of the 
temperature and humidity in the curing proc- 
ess, and the proper control of the sweat are 
points that can easily be settled. In many 
cases the replacement of the stalk-curing by 
the single-leaf curing process may proye a 
financial success. But there are other prob- 
lems of a more delicate and difficult nature, as 
the prevention of the mosaic or calico disease 


76 


and the proper composition of the tobacco leaf 
while ripening. Upon this composition de- 
pends the development of a desirable aroma in 
the sweating process. Climate and weather 
are here such potent factors that human art 
can accomplish directly but little. Too cool 
and rainy weather may favor, for example, the 
production of fatty matter, which certainly 
exerts an unfavorable effect upon the aroma in 
smoking. There may be produced, however, 
still other products which are unfavorable to 
the aroma. Too dry weather may also inter- 
fere with the proper composition of the ripen- 
ing tobacco leaves. By crossing and selection, 
however, varieties of tobacco may possibly be 
produced that even under favorable climatic 
conditions will not form much of the com- 
pounds which injure the aroma. In regard to 
the selection of the seed, it may be mentioned 
that even now some farmers go so far as to im- 
port their seed directly from Cuba each year.’’ 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE RECENT SOLAR ECLIPSE. 

A JOINT meeting of the Royal Society and the 
Royal Astronomical Society was held on June 
27th to hear preliminary reports from several 
expeditions that went out to observe the recent 
eclipse of the sun. Lord Lister, the president 
of the Royal Society, was in the chair, and with 
him was Professor G. H. Darwin, president of 
the Royal Astronomical Society. According to 
the report in the London Times, Mr. Christie, 
the astronomer royal, first presented an ac- 
count of the observations made by himself and 
Mr. Dyson at Ovar, in Portugal. There to- 
tality lasted 84} seconds, and though the sky 
was rather hazy he secured some good pho- 
tographs. The plates employed were 15 inches 
square, and, owing to their size, were rather 
awkward to handle; hence he was only able to 
expose five during totality. The exposures 
ranged from one and one-half to fifteen seconds. 
The resulting pictures were exhibited. In sey- 
eral of them the prominences and inner struc- 
ture of the corona were well shown, while in 
others considerable extensions of the corona 
were visible. Mr. Christie alsoshowed some of 
the pictures taken by Mr. Dyson with a double 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


camera ; in one of these at least greater coronal 
extensions could be traced than were visible to 
the eye. As to the corona, it seemed very dis- 
tinctly inferior in brightness, structure and rays 
to the one seen in the Indian eclipse, appear- 
ing, indeed, quite a different object. 

Sir Norman Lockyer next described the ob- 
servations made by the Solar Physics Observa- 
tory Expedition and the officers and men of 
H. M.S. Theseus at Santa Pola. This place, 
which lay very near the central line of the 
eclipse, was selected because it appeared likely 
to meet the requirements of a man-of war, and 
without the assistance of a man-of-war the 
manipulation of long focus prismatic cameras in 
a strange country was impracticable. Two of 
these instruments were used, one of which was 
a new one with a Taylor triple lense of 6-in. 
aperture and 20-ft. focal length. Out of the 
great wealth of photographs at his command 
Sir Norman Lockyer only exhibited a few to 
give a general idea of his results. Four coron- 
ographs were employed. The corona appeared 
to him a repetition of the one seen in 1878 and 
different from that of 1871; in several respects 
he obtained confirmation of the differences be- 
tween the coronas at periods of sunspot maxima 
and minima. 

Professor Turner spoke of the observations 
he had made with Mr. H. F. Newall in 
the grounds of the observatory near Algiers. 
He himself had undertaken the  photo- 
graphic work, while the spectroscopic fell to 
his colleague, a joint program of polarization 
work being also carried out. Professor Turner 
spoke strongly in favor of the coelostat, which 
he had employed, as an instrument for eclipse 
work, and showed several of the photographs 
he had obtained. From observations on the 
brightness of the corona he concluded it was 
many times brighter than the moon—perhaps 
ten times as bright. 

Professor Ralph Copeland described the ob- 
servations he made on behalf of the joint com- 
mittee at Santa Pola, endorsing Sir N. Lock- 
yer’s remarks as to the advantage of having the 
aid of a man-of-war. With his small prismatic 
camera, in which the optical parts were of 
quartz or Iceland spar, he was in India, work- 
ing the instrument himself, only able to take 


JuLY 18, 1900.] 


four photographs, and in one of these at least 
the instrument was shifted. But an able sea- 
man was able this year to get six perfect ex- 
posures with it. Professor Copeland also used 
the big telescope, 40 feet long, which he had 
employed on other occasions. 

Mr. J. Evershed presented a preliminary report 
on his expedition to the south limit of totality. 
His reason for choosing a site at the limit of 
totality was that the flash spectrum was there 
visible very much longer. Unfortunately, he 
accepted the guidance of the Nautical Almanac 
Office, and found himself outside the line of 
totality—about 200 metres according to his in- 
formants, who said a small speck of sunlight 
was visible all the time. He was successful in 
obtaining some fine photographs of the flash 
spectrum. 


THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 
ON A CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 
LITERATURE. 

Proressorn HENRY E. ARMSTRONG contri- 
butes an article to the current number of 
Nature from which we take the following facts 
regarding the recent Conference on a catalogue 

of scientific literature : 

In view of the proceedings of the Conference 
there can be little doubt that the ultimate ex- 
ecution of this important enterprise is now 
assured. 

Every one was of opinion that if a fair begin- 
ning can once be made, the importance of the 
work is so great, it will be of such use to 
scientific workers at large, that it will rapidly 
grow in favor and soon secure that wide sup- 
port which is not yet given to it simply be- 
cause its character and value are but imperfectly 
understood. Therefore, all were anxious that 
a beginning should be made. 

It has been estimated that if 300 sets or the 
equivalent are sold, the expenses of publication 
will be fully met. As the purchase of more 
than half this number was guaranteed by 
France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland 
and the United Kingdom, the Conference came 
to the conclusion that the number likely to be 
taken by other countries would be such that 
the subscriptions necessary to cover the cost of 
the catalogue would be obtained. 


SCIENCE. 


77 


The resolution arrived at after this opinion 
had been formed, ‘‘ That the catalogue include 
both an author’s and a subject index, according 
to the schemes of the Provisional International 
Committee,’’ must, in fact, be read as a reso- 
lution to establish the catalogue. 

A Provisional International Committee has 
been appointed which will take the steps now 
necessary to secure the adhesion and co-opera- 
tion of countries not yet pledged to support the 
scheme. 

Originally, it was proposed to issue a card as 
well as a book catalogue, but on account of the 
great additional expense this would involve, it 
is resolved to publish the catalogue, for the 
present, only in the form of annual volumes. 

From the outset great stress has been laid on 
the preparation of subject indexes which go 
behind the titles of papers and give fairly full 
information as to the nature of their contents. 
Both at the first and the second International 
Conference this view met with the fullest ap- 
proval. Meanwhile the action of the German 
government has made it necessary to modify 
somewhat the original plan. In Germany, a re- 
gional bureau will be established, supported by 
a government subvention, and it is intended 
that the whole of the German scientific litera- 
ture shall be catalogued in this office. In such 
an office it will for the present be impossible to 
go behind titles; consequently, only the titles 
of German papers will be quoted in the cata- 
logue. In England the attempt will be made 
to deal fully with the literature, and the co- 
operation of authors and editors will be specially 
invited. A full code of instructions for the use 
of the regional bureaux is now being prepared 
under the auspices of the Provisional Interna- 
tional Committee. 

The catalogue is to be published annually in 
seventeen distinct volumes. The collection of 
material is to commence from January 1, 1901. 
As it will be impossible to print and issue so 
many volumes at once, it is proposed to publish 
them in sets of four or five at quarterly inter- 
vals. During the first year, parts covering 
shorter periods will be prepared, so as to make 
the subsequent regular issue possible of vol- 
umes in which the literature published during 
a previous period of twelve months is cata- 


78 


logued. Unfortunately the United States and 
Russia were not represented at the Conference. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


PROFESSOR HENRY F. OsBoRN, professor of 
zoology, at Columbia University, and curator 
of vertebrate paleontology of the American 
Museum of Natural History, has been appointed 
paleontologist in the United States Geological 
Survey. Professor Osborn’s special field of 
work will be to take charge of the vertebrate 
paleontology of the Survey, especially with 
reference to the completion of the monographs 
for which the illustrations were prepared under 
the direction of the late Professor O. C. Marsh. 


It is reported by cablegram from London that 
Professor E. C. Pickering of Harvard University 
has been in conference with Sir David Gill 
with a view to a survey of the east coast of 
Africa, in which it is said American men of 
science will participate. 

THE Society for the Promotion of Engineering 
Education, on July 5th, elected the following 
officers for the ensuing year: President, Pro- 
fessor C. O. Marvin of the Kansas Siate 
University ; Vice-President, Professor Albert 
Kingsbury of the Worcester Polytechnic Insti- 
tute ; Secretary, Professor H. 8. Jacoby of Cor- 
nell University ; Treasurer, Professor C. A. 
Waldo of Purdue University. 


Dr. THomas H. Norton, lately professor of 
chemistry in the University of Cincinnati, who 
was recently appointed by the President to 
establish a United States Consulate at Harpoot, 
Turkey, in Asia, has sailed on the steamship 
Archimede, of the Italian line, for Constanti- 
nople. 


Dr. W. C. Stusss, director of the Louisiana 
Experiment Station, has been selected by the 
Secretary of Agriculture to visit the Hawaiian 
Islands and report upon the most feasible plan 
for the establishment of an agricultural experi- 
ment station there. Dr. Stubbs will spend the 
month of August in the Islands investigating 
the locations best adapted to a station, the lines 
of work which should be undertaken, and mat- 
ters relating to the necessary equipment and 
expense of maintenance. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 289 


Dr. 8S. A. Knapp, of Louisiana has gone to 
Porto Rico on a similar mission. These pre- 
liminary investigations are in accordance with 
the recent acts of Congress making appropria- 
tion for the office of Experiment Stations of the 
Department of Agriculture, providing for the 
establishment of agricultural experiment sta- 
tions in these island possessions. 

Dr. J. WALTER FEWKES of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology has returned to Washington 
after eight months absence in the field devoted to 
a further study of the Hopi Indians in Arizona. 

Dr. CLEVELAND ABBE, JR., of Winthrop Col- 
lege, is spending the field season in Western 
North Carolina and Virginia as special assistant 
to one of the hydrographic parties of the U. S. 
Geological Survey. He is engaged in special 
study of the physiography of this district while 
also assisting in the hydrographic survey that 
is being made by the co-operation of the N. C. 
State Geological Survey and the U. S. Geolog- 
ical Survey. 

PROFESSOR JOSIAH ROYCE, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, has been invited to give a course of 
lectures at Dublin University. 


PROFESSOR GEORGE- LINCOLN GOODALE, of 
Harvard University, will be absent on leave 
next year, and Dr. Rodney H. True has been 
appointed lecturer in botany for the year. 


A CONVERSAZIONE was held at the London 
Medical Graduates’ College and Polyclinic on 
July 4th, when the museum was inaugurated, 
and Professor Osler, of Baltimore, gave an ora- 
tion on ‘ The Teaching of Practical Medicine.’ 


AT a dinner given on June 24th, in honor of 
the yellow fever expedition of the Liverpool 
School of Tropical Medicine, Mr. A. L. Jones 
subscribed £1000 towards the erection of a 
hospital for tropical diseases in Liverpool. In 
addition to smaller gifts, two subscriptions of 
£500 from Mr. Blaize, of Lagos, and Mr. John 
Holt, of Liverpool, were announced. 


THE annual visitation of the Royal Observa- 
tory at Greenwich, which was this year, owing 
to the solar eclipse, postponed for a month, 
took place on June 26th. Among those pres- 
ent were Sir David Gill, from the Cape of Good 
Hope, Sir William Huggins, Sir George Stokes 


JuLy 13, 1900. ] 


and Professor George Darwin. The Astron- 

~ omer Royal exhibited photographs of the 
corona taken at Ovar, Portugal, compared 
with those taken in India, under similar condi- 
tions, in 1898. Other work reported upon was 
the observations and photographs taken with 
the 28-inch refractor and the Thompson equa- 
torial, including observations of Capella, with 
a view to determining whether it could be ob- 
served as a double star. 


It appears from a recent report of the British 
Museum that the visitors to the natural history 
collections at South Kensington rose from 419,- 
004 in 1898 to 422,290 in 1899. In 1899 the 
weekday visitors numbered 366,572 and the 
Sunday visitors 55,718, as compared with 368,- 
572 and 50,432 in the previous year. The vis- 
its paid to the particular departments for the 
purpose of study fell from 20,177 in 1898 to 
19,120 in 1899. The trustees have agreed to 
co-eperate with the Egyptian Government in a 
survey of the Nile to determine the species of 
fishes inhabiting the river. A scientific expedi 
tion is to be dispatched to Lake Tanganyika- 
Particulars are given of the expedition to Soko 
tra undertaken by Mr. Ogilvie-Grant and Dr 
H. O. Forbes, and of Dr. J. W. Gregory’s ex. 
ploration of West Indian Islands. 


THE Boston Appalachian Mountain Club 
held its 35th fieldSmeeting from June 30th to 
July 7th. Professor C. H. Hitchcock, of 
Dartmouth College, was one of the guides and 
was the principal speaker at the evening meet- 
ing. 

THE large flying cage of the New York 
Zoological Park, built at a cost of $8000, has 
been completed and numerous birds have been 
placed in it. Itis the largest cage ever con- 
structed, being 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and 
55 feet high. 


AN institute for the study of oceanography 
is to be established at Berlin. Among questions 
proposed for special study is the mixing of 
the waters of the Baltic and the North Sea in 
the canal connecting them. The Baltic, owing 
to the numerous rivers flowing into it, is less 
salt than ocean water and its fauna becomes 
modified as it passes along the canal. 


THE daily papers report that Baron HE. von 


SCIENCE. 


19 


Toll will head a Russian expedition which is to 
search the Arctic coast of Europe and Asia for 
traces of Andrée. It will start from Norway, 
proceed by way of Nova Zembla, pass the en- 
suing winter at Cape Chelyuskin, Taimyr Pe- 
ninsula, and, searching the Siberian coast dur- 
ing the summer of 1901, endeavor to reach 
Bering Strait. This dangerous passage has not 
been attempted since its accomplishment by 
Baron Nordenskjold in 1871-8. Capt. W. Bode 
will this summer take a party of Germans to 
Franz Josef Land and communicate with the 
Italian expedition under the Duke of Abruzzi. 
A Swedish and a Russian expedition will oper- 
ate in Spitzbergen. Three expeditions, one 
Swedish, under Professor Vatthoff; a Danish 
one under Professor Amdrup, and an English 
one, under Capt. Robertson have already started 
for the east coast of Greenland. 


THE University of Pennsylvania has issued a 
directory of its graduates in engineering which 
will be sent on application. The graduates 
number 469, of whom 445 are living. Of these, 
about seventy-one per cent. are engaged in en- 
gineering practice, twelve per cent. lines in re- 
lated to engineering, thirteen per cent. in other 
professions and pursuits, and the addresses of 
the remaining four per cent. are unknown. 

THE British Medical Journal reports that the 
German Government proposes to establish spe- 
cial plague laboratories at Freiberg and Heidel- 
berg for the diagnosis of any suspicious cases of 
the plague that may occur, and for the prosecu- 
tion of researches as to the cause of the disease. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

By the will of Captain George S. Towle, 
U. S. A., Wellesley College receives practi- 
cally the whole of his estate which is said to 
amount to about $100,000. The income estab- 
lishes a fund to assist worthy students. 

By the will of the late Mrs. Rebecca Rey- 
burn of Baltimore, $20,000 is bequeathed to the 
Catholic University of America. 

BEREA COLLEGE has secured subscriptions 
for $150,000 which makes available Dr. Pear- 
son’s gift of $50,000. 

A JEsuIT priest of Mindanao has presented to 
the Roman Catholic College, at Georgetown, a 


80 


collection of corals said to be of much value. 
The collection also contains shells, opals, etc. 


THE University of Michigan has established 
two new courses, namely Higher Commercial 
Education and Public Administration, which 
will be open to students this fall. The aim of 
these courses will be to train men and women 
for the larger commercial, industrial, political 
and social opportunities which are now offering 
themselves to the younger generation. These 
courses are semi-professional in character and, 
within the limits of sound scholarship, may be 
arranged with especial reference to the careers 
that individual students have in view. Instruc- 
tion will begin with the opening of the Univer- 
sity, September 25, 1900. In connection with 
these courses six non-resident lecturers have 
been added to the faculty of the University of 
Michigan. They are: E. D. Jones, Ph.D., as- 
sistant professor in the University of Wisconsin, 
lecturer on Industrial Resources of the United 
States; O. M. W. Sprague, Ph.D., instructor in 
Harvard University, lecturer on International 
Division of Labor; Lyman E. Cooley, C.E., 
Chicago, lecturer on the Industrial Significance 
of Deep Waterways; Robert T. Hill, B.S., 
United States Geological Survey, Washington, 
D. C., lecturer on the Industrial Significance of 
the West Indies to the United States ; Thomas 
L. Greene, manager Audit Company of New 
York, New York City, lecturer on the Function 
of the Financier in Industrial Organizations, and 
W. F. Willoughby, Ph.D., Department of Labor, 
Washington, D. C., lecturer on the Function of 
Trades-Unions in Industrial Organizations. 


AT the commencement exercises of Alma 
College in Michigan the new Francis Hood 
Museum of Natural History was dedicated, and 
it was announced that the geological collection 
of the late Alexander Winchell had been pre- 
sented to the college. In connection with the 
dedication of the museum, Professor Jacob Reig- 
hard, of the University of Michigan, gave an ad- 
dress entitled ‘ Biology and Education.’ Dr. A. 
C. Lane, the State geologist, said, in connection 
with the presentation of the Winchell collec- 
tion, that it was one that a university would 
be glad to possess and that it must be visited 
by all students of the paleontology of Michigan. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


THE new physical laboratory at Owens Col- 
lege, Manchester, was opened on June 29th by 
Lord Rayleigh. The new laboratory will havea 
larger floor area than that of any other similar 
institution in the world, with the exception of 
the Johns Hopkins and the Strasburg labora- 
tories. The equipment includes the most mod- 
ern apparatus for use in every branch of science. 
Research laboratories are an important feature 
of the new buildings. The electro-technical 
wing constitutes a John Hopkinson memorial, 
and on the occasion of the opening ceremonies °* 
was formally handed over by the relatives of 
the late Dr. John Hopkinson. Professor A. 
Shuster, the director of the new laboratory, will 
be assisted by Dr. C. H. Lees, and Mr. R. 
Beatie has been appointed lecturer in electro- 
technics. 


THE Board of Governors of McGill Univer- 
sity has made the following appointments in 
the faculties of applied science and medicine. 
Neville N. Evans to be assistant professor of 
chemistry, Dr. James Henderson to be senior 
demonstrator in chemistry, Fred. Soddy, B.A., 
Douglas McIntosh, B.Sc., Ph.D., and Charles 
F. Lindsay, B.Sc., to be demonstrators in chem- 
istry; Dr. N. D. Gunne to be lecturer in, his- 
tology, S. B. Allan to be demonstrator in civil 
engineering, E. Andrews to be demonstrator in 
mining, P. W. K. Robertson to be Dawson 
fellow in metallurgy. 

At Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, E. W. 
Berger has been re-elected to the chair of nat- 
ural science. 

OuiverR J. LopGE, F.R.S., professor of ex- 
perimental physics, at University College, 
Liverpool, has been appointed principal of the 
newly established university at Birmingham. 
Professor Lodge, born in 1851, who has held 
the chair at Liverpool since 1880, is well known 
for his researches on electric waves and other 
physical subjects and as a brilliant writer on 
theoretical physics. 

In the same university Dr. W. D’Este Emery 
has been appointed lecturer on bacteriology. 

Mr. L. LEwron-Brain, of St. John’s Col- 
lege, and Mr. A. W. Hill, of King’s College, 
Cambridge, have been appointed university 
demonstrators in botany. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMmitTEre: S. NEwcomB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaRbD, Mechanics ; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBORN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ;S.H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. BownitcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WittiaM H. WetcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Juty 20, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The American Association for the Advancement of 
Science -— 


Pre-Cambrian Sediments in the Adirondacks: 


PROFESSOR J. F. KEMP. ......00........000ssereseeee 81 

On Kathode Rays and some related Phenomena 

(II): PrRoressor ERNEST MERRITT............ 98 

Mathematics and Astronomy: DR. WENDELL M. 

STRON Gyapasacaceisne cece seca oacicce canis dcsadcestecis 104 

Physics: DR. R. A. FESSENDEN............00000008 106 
Scientific Books :— 


Wilson on the Cell in Development and Inheri- 
tance: PROFESSOR EDWIN G. CONKLIN. 
Bruncken on North American Forests and For- 
estry ; Rydberg’s Catalogue of the Flora of Mon- 
tana and the Yellowstone National Park: PRo- 
FESSOR CHARLES E. Bessey. True on Agri- 
cultural Experiment Stations: DR. E. W. ALLEN. 109 


Scientific Journals and Articles........0-......0000008+ 113 


Discussion and Correspondence :-— 
The International Catalogue of Scientifie Litera- 
ture: PROFESSOR HENRY F. OSBORN. The 
Callosities on Horses’ Legs: LAWRENCE IRWELL. 
Transmissibility of Acquired Characters: C.G.S. 113 


Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
Report of the Chief of the Weather Bureau; The 
Aurora Australis; PROFESSOR R. DEC. WARD.. 114 


Notes on Oceanography :— 
The Danish ‘ Ingolf Expedition’; Currents in the 
North Sea; The Gulf Stream Drift ; Hydrography 
and Faunas of Spitzbergen Coast-Waters: Dr. 
TRReH MEAD) YANG ADIEU Fag sohococonpensaesassbendasbeeeos 114 


The Establishment of a Bureau of Chemistry 
Scientific Notes and News. ........0.....-00:seeseeeencenees 116 
University and Educational News.........2.0.:.ceeeeeaee 120 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


PRE-CAMBRIAN SEDIMENTS IN THE ADIRON- 
DACKS.* 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction, the rise of stratigraphical geology. 
Its gradual application to the pre-Cambrian strata. 
The Adirondacks outlined, geographically and geo- 
logically. 
Work of C. H. Smyth, Jr., H. P. Cushing and 
the writer. 
The Varieties of Sedimentary Rocks. 
The Limestones. 
The Quartzites. 
Minor Associates of the Limestones. 
The Sedimentary Gneisses. 
General Distribution of the Metamorphosed Sediments. 
The Northwest. 
The Eastern Side. 
Resumé. 
Typical Stratigraphical Cross-sections. 
Catamount Mountain. 
The Western Spur of Whiteface. 
The Lewis Section of Quartzite. 
Limekiln Mountain. 
Styles Brook Section in Southern Jay. 
The Significance of Graphite. 
Conclusion. 


Stratigraphical geology had its rise in 
those old mining regions of Germany, the 


* Address of the Vice-President and Chairman of 
Section E of the American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, given at the New York meet- 
ing, June, 1900. 

The field work on which the above paper is based 
was done under both the U. 8. Geological Survey and 
the New York State Geological Survey. All the data 
under the authority of the latter and here drawn 
upon have, been printed. For permission to use 
much unpublished matter belonging to the former 
acknowledgments are here respectfully made to the 
Hon. Charles D. Walcott, Director. 


82 


Hartz, the Erzgebirge and Thuringia; and 
speaking as I do, in a lecture room of our 
oldest American School of Mines, it is a 
special pleasure to note this connection and 
to render to the ancient art of mining—the 
real mother of geological science—her just 
due. There is no doubt in my mind that 
the keen observation of miners had con- 
vinced them that there was some regular 
succession in the rocks, long before this 
principle found accurate, scientific expres- 
sion in printed form ; but, so faras we know» 
it was first formally stated by Johannes 
Gottlob Lehmann in connection with some 
profiles or cross-sections of the Hartz and 
the Erzgebirge, which he prepared about 
the middle of the last century. Lehmann, 
who: was a mining official under the Prus- 
sian government, had observed that flat and 
undisturbed beds rested upon earlier tilted 
beds and upon erystalline rocks, both of 
which latter he assumed as his original 
base but with whose relations he did not 
concern himself. A few years later in 
Thuringia, George Christian Fuchsel dealt 
in a tectonic way with the Coal Measures, 
the Permian and the later systems, but as 
we all know it was not until the close of the 
eighteenth century that William Smith 
made known the use of type fossils in Eng- 
lish geology, nor was it until 1808 that 
Cuvier and Brogniart, working upon the 
extremely regular deposits of the Paris 
basin, established for France if not for the 
world the use of fossils on a large scale. 
They brought out a definite system, which 
anticipated by a few years the issue of 
William Smith’s famous map of England. 
It was natural that these results should 
be attained in regions of simple and easily 
deciphered stratigraphy, and of relatively 
modern beds. Taught and inspired by this 
pioneer work, the geologists of the quarter 
century that followed interpreted the Ter- 
tiary and Mesozoic strata, wherever fairly 
flat and undisturbed. Even the Coal Meas- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 290. 


ures were studied and placed in their true 
position, but except in New York, where 
the older series are likewise flat and undis- 
turbed, the lower lying Paleozoic remained 
a sealed book. It even seemed a rash and 
foolhardy undertaking when the two Eng- 
lish geologists, Sedgwick and Murchison 
attacked the hills and mountains of Wales 
and Devonshire some 75 years ago. The 
structural problems which this region pre- 
sented were esteemed too complex and too 
difficult to justify the expenditure of effort 
upon them. Sedgwick and Murchison, 
however, found the clues and by careful 
work finally classified the strata and despite 
faults, folds and moderate metamorphism, 
placed them in their true position. These 
observations opened up for investigation 
the whole Paleozoic and set the pace as well 
as laid out the course for stratigraphical 
geologists until a decade or two since. So 
much has now been accomplished, how- 
ever, that even in regions of very violent 
change, the problems of the Paleozoic may 
now be considered to be in a high degree 
solved, and the range of work upon its 
series and stages has become chiefly faunal 
and biological. : 

But the course of geological investigation 
has tended ever downward to lower and 
lower horizons. It may be said that in re- 
cent years the chief problems of strati- 
graphic interest have involved that tempt- 
ing yet elusive series of sediments that lies 
below the limits of well-preserved and 
recognizable fossils. The remains and 
organisms, which are so abundant and use- 
ful in the Paleozoic, disappear in the most 
remarkable way as we go below the Cam- 
brian, and yet there are few geologists who 
do not confidently believe that in some cor- 
ner of the world, not yet fully explored, 
they will be found in satisfactory abun- 
dance. Traces are of course already known. 
Walcott, in the West ; Matthew, in the mar- 
itime provinces; and Barrois, in Britany, 


JuLY 20, 1900.] 


have met with encouragement, but the 
great discoveries remain for the future, be- 
cause as yet the evidence is meagre and 
amounts to little more than a stimulus for 
later work. 

And yet despite the lack of organisms, 
the elucidation of the genetic and structural 
problems supplied by these ancient sedi- 
ments is of the highest interest and impor- 
tance. They carry us ever farther and 
farther back toward the primeval conditions 
on our planet, and year by year the circle 
of the recognized Algonkian closes in on 
the admissible Archean, and year by year 
the ancient gneissic areas yield up the 
secrets of their pedigrees. 

Not all the sedimentary rocks, once re- 
garded as pre-Cambrian, have proved to be 
such on investigation. In many localities 
metamorphic schists, once supposed to be 
very ancient, have been safely lodged in the 
Paleozoic fold, but many more remain and 
there will be no lack of material for the 
next generation of geologists to work upon. 
In all the advances, methods of observation 
and interpretation have been developed, 
and the results gained in one locality have 
been of the greatest service in another. In 
the Highlands of Scotland, under the guid- 
ance of Peach and Horne, we have learned 
the part that overthrust faults may play 
and have realized the complex, although 
not quite hopeless, aggregate of tangled 
strata which may result. In the Lake 
Superior region, Irving and Van Hise 
and their co-laborers have developed the 
methods applicable in a region, folded in a 
complicated way and more or less meta- 
morphosed, although not faulted. In the 
Green Mountains, Pumpelly, Dale and 
others have dealt with folds, metamorphism 
and faults, all three. In New Jersey, 
Nason and Wolff have attacked the old 
gneisses, worse subjects for stratigraphical 
elucidation than any yet cited, except the 
Scotch, and Wolff has appealed with much 


SCLENCE. 83 


if not conclusive success to inconspicuous: 
although fairly persistent bands of peculiar 
rocks to indicate traces of a sedimentary 
succession. Adams, in the crystalline areas 
of Quebec and Ontario has dealt with prob- 
lems more like those which we are to pass in 
review to-day than are any of the localities 
mentioned above. They involve the most 
ancient gneisses, the crystalline limestones, 
the vast intrusions of plutonic eruptives, 
and the same dynamic metamorphism ; but 
there is one important factor in the Cana- 
dian area which we probably lack in the 
Adirondacks, and that is the most an- 
cient gneiss, there called the Ottawa. At 
least we doubt if its equivalent occurs any- 
where south of the international boundary. 
With the crystalline limestones and their 
associates in the Grenville and with the 
Norian intrusives, however, we have much 
in common. 

Outline of the Adirondacks.—The Adiron- 
dacks—under which term I include the 
crystalline rocks of northern New York— 
cover about 12,500 square miles. In out- 
line the area is somewhat like a circle, that 
has been flattened on the Hast along Lake 
Champlain, and pulled out to a cusp on the 
West toward the Thousand Islands. The 
diameter is very nearly 125 miles. The 
surface consists almost entirely of crystal- 
line rocks, for, although a few outliers of 
Upper Cambrian and Ordovician beds are 
known as much as 40 miles from their 
parent masses, they are an insignificant 
fraction of the whole. Inthe area of the crys- 
tallines, metamorphosed representatives of 
both sedimentary and igneous originals are 
present. All except the small trap dikes 
have suffered severely from dynamic proc- 
esses, sometimes to an extraordinary de- 
gree, and in instances the sediments are to 
be hardly if at all recognized assuch. Suffi- 
ciently numerous examples, however, re- 
main which can with certainty be referred 
to their originals, and great probability for 


84 


the same derivation can be established for 
others. While deeply buried, the sediments 
have been invaded by an enormous mass of 
plutonic eruptives, of whose nature and suc- 
cession we now have much evidence. So 
extensively has this been true on the East, 
that the sediments are broken up intosmall 
and often isolated areas, whose relations are 
difficult todecipher. Onthe westas shown 
by C. H. Smyth, Jr., they are more exten- 
sive although everywhere pierced by erup- 
tives. After the intrusions dynamic meta- 
morphism of a pronounced type crushed, 
sheared and mixed themup with the igneous 
intrusions; upheaval and faulting disguised 
the relations ; and erosion removed or ob- 
secured the evidence, so that a problem is 
afforded, that is much the same as if the 
Basement Complex of the Marquette region 
had invaded the Huronian sediments and 
had split them up into small areas after 
which faulting had ensued. And yet in 
the eastern Adirondacks it does not appear 
that close folding has very largely if at all 
taken place. On the contrary, despite the 
dynamic metamorphism, the decipherable 
dips in the ancient sediments and the con- 
tacts between limestones and neighboring 
gneisses are often flat, and low folds if any 
seem to be the rule. Nevertheless crush- 
ing and granulation are very wide-spread 
and have often produced mashing in the 
rocks of all sorts, except the latest trap 
dikes. The mashing cannot be due to the 
larger intrusions, because they exhibit it as 
much as the sediments, and it must have 
followed their entrance. It preceded the 
Potsdam and it must have taken place un- 
der a considerable load, else there would 
have been more severe folding. From this 
brief general statement it will be seen that 
the problems possess their own individual 
characters and in a measure seem to differ 
from those of other regions unless it be 
Quebec and Ontario. 

Recent Geological Work.—I pass over all 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


mention of earlier workers in the region, 
because their contributions have already 
been reviewed elsewhere by me, and be- 
cause they were not serious in a strati- 
graphical way. Detailed fieldwork has 
been required and this has only been at- 
tempted by C. H. Smyth, Jr., H. P. Cush- 
ing, myself and our assistants. Smyth has 
worked in the western counties; St. Law- 
rence, Jefferson, Herkimer and western 
Hamilton. Cushing has studied Clinton — 
and Franklin Counties on the north ; and I 
have been busied with Essex, Warren, 
Washington, eastern Hamilton, Saratoga 
and Fulton. We have however kept in 
close sympathetic touch in all our work. 
In Cushing’s area less of the undoubted 
sediments occur, as only two small expo- 
sures of limestone have thus far been dis- 
covered. In Smyth’s area the limestones 
are most extensive and furnish the best 
large exhibitions, whereas in the region 
covered by myself, they are most numerous, 
although of smaller individual extent, but 
they have associated with them certain 
other forms of metamorphosed sediments, 
which are not yet recorded in such large 
amounts elsewhere, which are of special 
interest; and which throw light on the 
nature of the series. Smyth has suggested 
the name Oswegatchie series for the lime- 
stones and their associates on the West, 
and while the equivalency of the rocks 
with the previously named Grenville series 
of Canada seems probable in a general way, 
we all have agreed to use this term. Any 
term must however be considered more or 
less provisional because as will later appear 
there is a great gap in outcrops between the 
original exposures of the Oswegatchie, along 
the river of the same name, and the near 
neighbors to it, on the one hand, and the next 
exposures to the southeast on the other. 


VARIETIES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 


Before discussing the general distribution 


JuLY 20, 1900. ] 


of the exposures, it will be well to give a brief 
resumé of the kinds of rocks with which we 
have especially to deal. Right in this par- 
ticular appears the great difficulty of a 
metamorphic problem. In sedimentary or 
unaltered igneous rocks we are never ata 
loss to understand their nature and method 
of origin, but in excessively metamorphosed 
varieties the great difficulties arise in de- 
scribing these questions at the very outset, 
and if we were only sure of many of these 
puzzling gneisses, the battle would be more 
than half won. 

The Limestones.—The most easily recog- 
nized is a coarsely crystallized, white lime- 
stone and it is at the same time the widest 
in occurrence and the most significant evi- 
dence of the presence of the old sediments. 
While at times of considerable purity, as 
at the marble quarries at Gouverneur, it is 
generally more or less richly impregnated 
with graphite, apatite, quartz, pyroxene, 
horneblende, phlogopite, biotite, scapolite, 
chondrodite, garnet and feldspars. The 
silicates tend to be aggregated into streaks 
and bunches, that owe their shape in large 
part to the shearing and stretching effects 
of dynamic metamorphism. In the larger 
bunches, less common minerals, such as 
titanite, pyrrhotite and tourmaline are met. 
Most of the minerals cited above are 
without doubt produced by the regional 
metamorphism of more or less siliceous 
limestones. Such are quartz, pyroxene, 
hornblende, biotite, graphite, apatite and 
feldspar. But others, such as tourmaline, 
chondrodite, scapolite, titanite and to some 
degree apatite are the results of contact 
metamorphism, as Smyth has so well shown 
for the west side of the area. 

A variation which is met in several lo- 
ealities, appears when the marbles become 
charged with serpentinous alteration pro- 
ducts, from pyroxenic originals? This is 
true, most prominently, in Moriah town- 
ship, Essex county ; and in Thurman town- 


SCIENCE. 


85 


ship, Warren county, although the same 
rock is met in less amount in a number of 
other places. 

Regarding the development of these 
limestones it may be only said here, that 
they are beyond question calcareous and 
magnesian sediments which involved sili- 
ceous, ferruginous and aluminous admix- 
tures, in some cases very richly. During 
metamorphism the latter elements supplied 
the materials necessary for the production 
of various silicates. The limestones appear 
to be less pure and consequently more 
charged with silicates on the east than on 
the west, and to present smaller cross-sec- 
tions, but from this statement we must 
omit the contact zones of St. Lawrence 
county. In judging of the impurity of the 
limestones we must also make exception of 
the included masses of rocks, composed of 
silicates, which in the dynamic metamor- 
phism, have been torn off from the wall 
rocks or from pegmatite or more basic dikes 
that had penetrated the limestones before 
the disturbances. I also reserve graphite 
for special consideration further on. The 
limestones exhibit many interesting proofs 
of having yielded to pressure like viscous 
substance. They have flowed around the 
harder inclusions and bordering rocks, have 
moulded themselves into their irregulari- 
ties, and have behaved in all respects like 
a plastic material. This property on their 
part has made the determination of accu- 
rate dips and strikes a matter of difficulty 
and has added to the obscurity of the prob- 
lem. 

The Quartzites.—But little has yet been 
stated in print regarding the rocks of this 
type and they are indeed far less abundan; 
than the limestones. In former papers 
reference has been made to thin sulphur- 
yellow beds which accompany the lime- 
stones near Port Henry. They are friable 
quartzites and contain much sillimanite, 
graphite and pyrite. At Hague, a town on 


86 


Lake George, and at a point five miles west 
from the lake shore, the interesting graphite 
mines have been opened, which show un- 
doubted fragmental sediments. A bed some 
6 to 15 feet thick has been faulted once so 
as to be exposed in two places. It dips to 
the west at an angle of 10 degrees and 
contains abundant flakes of graphite, all of 
which show a rubbed and streaked appear- 
ance from much mashing and shearing. 
The rock contains little else than quartz 
and graphite and cannot reasonably be in- 
terpreted otherwise than as sandstone, 
which has been richly charged with some 
carbonaceous matter, either originally or- 
ganic or subsequently introduced as some 
hydrocarbon. Walcott has significantly re- 
marked that the openings look exactly like 
a coal mine in pre-Cambrian strata. Be- 
neath and above the graphitic quartzite is 
a garnetiferous gneiss, richly charged with 
sillimanite. Above the upper sillimanite 
gneiss is still more quartzite and all rest on 
a granite gneiss. Jinterpret the succession 
as one which involved a sandstone, porous 
enough to admit the carbonaceous matter 
now represented by the graphite, and inter- 
stratified in a somewhat calcareous, sandy 
shale now changed to the garnetiferous, 
sillimanite gneiss. Whether the lower 
granitic gneiss is an intrusive, which has 
developed these minerals by contact meta- 
morphism or not; or whether it was the 
old foundation on which the sediments were 
laid down is an obscure question, which I 


am unable at present to positively decide. ; 


The minerals involved are produced both 
by regional and contact metamorphism. At 
one point near the mines some small amount 
of limestone has been revealed by an ex- 
ploring drill hole, at a shallow depth (30 
feet) and on the whole I have been more 
inclined from the evidence in hand to con- 
sider the granitic gneiss as the foundation 
on which the sediments were deposited. 
The largest exposure of quartzite yet re- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 290. 


corded is in the town of Lewis, about three 
miles north of Elizabethtown, in Essex 
county. Ledges occur more or less charged 
with graphite and so metamorphosed as to 
resemble vein quartz, but stratigraphically 
they have a good dip and strike and they 
run under gneisses of which I shall later 
speak. The dip of the quartzite is about 
10 degrees and the thickness across the 
stratification is about 100 feet. The gen- 
eral relations leave little doubt that we are. 
dealing with an old sandstone, somewhat 
bituminous, and now thoroughly recrystal- 
lized. All around are great intrusions of 
gabbros, anorthosites and syenitic eruptives 
so that the quartzite remains practically as 
a little island in the midst of an eruptive 
area. 

In a considerable number of other places 
these quartzites have been noted and as a. 
rule they have shown a pronounced banded, 
if not bedded, structure and have almost 
always exhibited graphite. They likewise 
very commonly contain dark, rounded dises. 
of a mineral that proves when examined in 
thin section, to be monoclinic pyroxene. 
It is irregular in outline and pale green in 
color. The rocks are therefore aggregates. 
of quartz in excess and pyroxene in consid- 
erable amount and are to be interpreted as 
old quartz sandstones, that contained some 
calcareous and magnesian admixture, which, 
during metamorphism, yielded the pyrox- 
ene. A little iron oxide also entered into 
the result. In several instances we have 
found small masses of the quartzites in the 
anorthosites, forming inclusions which have 
been torn off during the intrusion of the ig- 
neous rock, and which have been surrounded 
by small zones or reaction rims, due to con- 
tact metamorphism. 

Minor Associates of the Limestones.—A nother 
peculiar and characteristic rock that is as- 
sociated with the limestones in many places 
in minor amounts consists of quartz and 
milk-white plagioclase, with occasional 


JuLyY 20, 1900. ] 


titanites scattered through the aggregate. 
It seems to be a metamorphic product from 
the transition sediments between the lime- 
stones and the associated clastics. 

Likewise associated with the limestones 
in several localities, but more especially at 
Port Henry and Fort Ann, there are horn- 
blende schists, of dark black color. They 
are often involved with the former in a 
most intricate way, running in as tongues 
and stringers, penetrating as dikes, which 
may be broken up into several scattered 
masses, or appearing as single boulder-like 
inclusions. In all cases where the rocks 
are prominently developed, there is easily 
recognized, intrusive gabbro in the vicinity 
and the burden of probability would seem 
to favor an igneous origin for them. At 
the same time calcareous, magnesian shales 
might be responsible for similar mineral 
ageregates, when exposed to excessive meta- 
morphism, as Professor Emerson has shown 
for the Chester region of central Massachu- 
setts, and in localities of compression and 
mashing they might become involved ina 
complex way with softer beds such as lime- 
stones; but still I think the Adirondack 
evidence favors irruptive contacts for them 
and the mashing and involution of dikes. 

An almost invariable associate of the lime- 
stones, but in comparatively small amount 
is a rock consisting of a granular aggregate 
of dark green pyroxene. Some little calcite 
may often be detected in the interstices be- 
tween the pyroxene, but as a rule the 
coarsely crystalline bits of the former make 
up practically the entire mass. The rock 
has manifestly resulted from the metamor- 
phism of siliceous transition deposits from 
the limestones to the clastics. 

Garnet Pyroxene Rock.—At two localities, 
one in Keene valley, on the west bank of 
the Ausable river and about a mile above 
Keene Center, and the other in northwest- 
ern Lewis, extensive ledges of a peculiar 
rock have been met that seems to belong to 


SCLENCE. 


87 


the limestone series. It is quite massive 
and gives no trace of dip or strike. Itisa 
coarsely crystalline aggregate of deep red 
garnet, and green monoclinic pyroxene. In 
each case the ledges are associated with 
hornblendie gneisses and they may be a 
peculiarly altered, caleareous sediment, but 
the mineralogy strongly suggests contact 
metamorphism upon limestones, although 
in neither case was it possible to establish 
the presence of eruptives in the immediate 
vicinity. In the Keene locality anortho- 
sites are in masses of mountain size, within 
half a mile, but gneisses intervene. In the 
latter case no eruptives of the gabbro family 
are near enough to be reasonably consid- 
ered causes in the effect. 

The Sedimentary Gneisses.—In intimate re- 
lations with the limestones in many locali- 
ties and in quite extended outcrops, without 
them in other places, are gneissoid rocks 
that are quite certainly altered sediments. 
They are characterized by a very pro- 
nounced and persistent banding and the 
banding is regular and runs for very con- 
siderable distances. The transitions from 
dark bands, consisting of prevailing bisili- 
cates to lighter ones containing quartz and 
feldspar are abrupt and can only be ac- 
counted for by changes in sedimentation. 
They differ entirely from the short lenticles 
which are produced by the stretching of the 
minerals of an eruptive rock. The layers 
are at times quite pure quartz and again 
suggest the mineralogy of pegmatites. 
Graphite is a very common mineral and is 
one of much significance. 

On account of fragmentary exposures and 
the ever present drift or forest growth it is 
difficult to determine the actual thickness 
of these rocks. In southwestern Jay town- 
ship, Essex county, I have paced carefully 
over a series of continuous exposures of 
very regular and flat dipping beds that 
were at least 75 feet thick and then 
became concealed under drift. A mile 


88 


away they again appeared on a mountain 
side with very nearly the same strike and 
dip and there is no doubt that a very 
considerable thickness is present. Gabbros 
in one direction and anorthosites in another 
cut them out, and on the strike they were 
traced into exposures which contained lime- 
stones. Graphite was abundant both in 
limestones and gneisses. 

In many other localities these same rocks 
have been met but mostly as isolated ex- 
posures in the midst of the heavy forest 
growth and too few in number to enable us 
to work out their thickness or their accu- 
rate relationships, but there is no doubt that 
they represent sediments that must have 
been originally of the nature of sandy shales, 
which at times had more richly calcareous 
layers and which, in this way, yielded the 
variable metamorphic results, now acces- 
sible to us. As a rule the dips of these 
gneisses are low, although high dips are met. 

Besides the gneisses just described, which 
exhibit the marked regularity in their band- 
ing there are others that are more massive 
and uniform, and yet that from their gen- 
eral relations and associations give strong 
evidence of belonging in the sedimentary 
series with the limestones. They are almost 
always rusty on their outcrops as distin- 
guished from the certain eruptives and 
whenever this character is observed we 
commonly look with success for the near 
presence of limestones. Although appar- 
ently quite basic the microscope reveals 
in most cases quartz and microperthite as 
the light-colored minerals in the midst of 
the prevailing hornblende and less augite. 
Plagioclase is not lacking, but is decidedly 
subordinate. Graphite has been occasion- 
ally detected in them. 

These rocks have proved exceedingly 
puzzling members to deal with in the field, 
because one would be inclined at first sight 
and from microscopic examination to regard 
them as gneissoid gabbros or diorites, but 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


the microscope gives the results just speci- 
fied and the structural relations which will 
be shortly taken up lead to the conclusion 
that they are altered sediments, and that 
they probably represent large and fairly 
uniform bodies of shale. 

Professor Cushing has noted in the eastern 
part of Franklin county considerable out- 
crops of a very coarsely crystalline and 
slightly rusty rock, which I have likewise 
had the privilege of studying in the field 
with him. It consists of almost nothing 
else than lenticles of quartz, half an inch or 
more wide, an eighth or more thick, and an 
inch or two long, which are set in a matrix 
of microperthite. Practically no dark sili- 
cates appear. I have also occasionally ob- 
served the same rock further south and I 
do not know how to account for it other- 
wise than asa recrystallized and squeezed 
conglomerate, whose pebbles have been 
stretched and rolled out to the lenticles and 
whose interstitial filling has yielded the 
microperthite. If this view be correct, we 
have all the ordinary members of a sedi- 
mentary series represented among these 
metamorphic rocks and a much more prob- 
able association for an important and ex- 
tended member of the geological column, 
than would any one or two of the above 
cited members be alone. Itis quite possi- 
ble that others of the more massive gneisses 
are altered sediments rather than sheared 
eruptives, but in the absence of positive 
proofs I hesitate to take even a tentative 
position regarding them, although I am free 
to admit that beginning with prepossessions 
in favor of the igneous origin of many of the 
gneisses, I have become more and more con- 
vinced that altered sediments play a very 
prominent role. 

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE METAMOR- 
PHOSED SEDIMENTS. 

The Northwest.—The erystalline lime- 
stones furnish the most widely distrib- 
uted, indubitable form of pre-Cambrian 


JULY 20, 1900. ] 


sediment with which we can deal in a gen- 
eral sketch, but as already indicated it is 
fully within the bounds of probability that 
other kinds of rocks will be recognized to 
possess this same character, as time goes 
on and observations accumulate. The lime- 
stones are in much the largest amount of 
all the Adirondack localities in the north- 
west, where they have been investigated by 
Professor C. H. Smyth, Jr. St. Lawrence 
county chiefly contains them and they are 
also found in important areas in the neigh- 
boring counties of Jefferson and Lewis. 
They are not all accurately mapped as yet. 
They constitute large northeast and south- 
west belts as well as minor exposures, but 
to what extent additional ones are buried 
beneath the Potsdam,the Drift and the forest 
growth we have no means of knowing. 
Smyth has already mentioned four princi- 
pal belts. The northwestern one is called 
the Macomb. It extends from Theresa 
township, in Jefferson county, across the 
county line and through Rossie, Macomb 
and De Kalb into De Peyster, St. Lawrence 
county. This makes a distance of about 25 
miles and the belt may be 2 miles across. 
The next one to the southeast is the Gouv- 
erneur belt, the largest of all. It begins in 
Antwerp, Jefferson county, and runs for 35 
miles through Rossie, Gouverneur, and De 
Kalb, terminating in Canton. It varies 
from 2 to 6 miles across but is somewhat 
divided as regards outcrops by overlying 
Potsdam and by gneiss. The next belt to 
the southeast runs from Fowler township 
through Edwards and terminates in Rus- 
sell ; and the last of the four extends from 
Wilna, Jefferson county, through Diana in 
the same county, to and into Pitcairn, St. 
Lawrence county. All lovers of minerals 
will recognize at once in these names classic 
localities of many species, which more than 
any other one product have served to make 
this region known, the world over. 

There are other small areas in Pierrepont, 


SCIENCE. 


89 


Parishville and Potsdam further north, 
which have been located by Professor Cush- 
ing upon his published map of the boundary 
of the Potsdam, executed for Professor 
James Hall, and if we may draw inferences 
from Professor Ebenezer Emmons’ few notes 
in the early Survey of the Second District 
of New York, still other outcrops exist to- 
ward the Thousand Islands of which Pro- 
fessor Smyth will no doubt prepare descrip- 
tions in time. But when one passes to the 
southeast of the Diana belt, Smyth has 
stated that for 30 miles the gneisses extend 
without a break. Limestones are however 
known at the Fourth lake of the Fulton 
Chain, as recorded by Vanuxem and they 
have been found by Smyth in small amount 
amid gneisses near Bisby lake and on the 
South Branch of the Moose river at its junc- 
tion with Limekiln brook. Emmons also 
mentions limestones as abundant around a 
lake that he calls Lake Janet and again 
Lake Genet, and describes as being at the 
head of the Marion river. Lake Janet is 
apparently the one now called Blue Moun- 
tain lake but although fairly detailed work 
has been done around it by my assistant D. 
H. Newland, no record of these rocks was 
made and there may besome mistake about 
the earlier note. 

Despite these small areas last mentioned 
there still remains a vast extent of crystal- 
lines that form a broad area from northeast 
to southwest wherein no sediments are 
known. This is the greatest stretch of the 
whole Adirondack region that is devoid of 
them and as it forms a somewhat pro- 
nounced belt, parallel to the general struc- 
tural trend of the country, it cannot well be 
without some special significance. Much of 
this stretch in Franklin County has been 
shown by Cushing to be anorthosite, but to 
the southwest it appears to be granitic 
gneiss, of greater uniformity than is usual 
elsewhere. 

The Eastern Side.—Beginning on the north- 


90 


east, but one exposure has been met in 
Clinton County and that is a stratum about 
20 feet thick and 150 feet long at the foot 
of Catamount mountain. Dip and strike 
are very difficult to determine with accu- 
racy. ‘The bed apparently passes into the 
mountain at an angle of about 45-60 de- 
grees. The relations will, however, be more 
fully commented on in taking up the strati- 
graphical features under a subsequent topic. 

Just across the line in Franklin county, 
and near the village of Franklin Falls, there 
are two separated ledges of limestone. The 
dips are low and with the calcareous beds 
are rusty hornblendic gneisses and some 
graphitic quartzite, the latter being certainly 
sedimentary and the former probably the 
same. Intrusions of anorthosite have served 
to obseure the larger relations. 

In Essex county, to the south, in St. Ar- 
mand township, a double bed of white, crys- 
talline limestone outcrops at the foot of the 
steep, westerly spur of Whiteface mountain. 
It lies embedded in feldspathic gneisses, but 
anorthosites outcrop further up the slope. 
In North Elba, the next township eastward, 
and on the western slopes of Sentinel moun- 
tain, in the Wilmington pass, a small ledge 
of limestone has been met, obscurely ex- 
posed in the bed of a little brook. Passing 
to Keene township, the next one east, there 
are a number of exposures in the northern 
portion that together constitute a pro- 
nounced belt. From a point a mile south 
of Keene Center for several miles to the 
north, until one passes into Jay, they may 
be located first on the west side of the valley 
and then on the east. Quartzites in small 
amount and a great thickness of dark, rusty 
hornblendic gneisses accompany them. 
Away from the central valley and well 
up into the bounding ranges of mountains, 
limestones have been discovered both in the 
eastern and southeastern portions of Jay. 
Over the high divide in Chesterfield town- 
ship, the next one to Jay on the east, two 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


exposures have been met, each time in- 
volved with gneisses, but each time in a 
region where huge intrusions of anorthosite 
are likewise serious factors in the geology, al- 
though at some distance from the limestone. 
In Lewis township, next south, as well as 
in Elizabethtown which lies beyond, a 
long succession of limestones and quartzites 
in a general north and south belt, are met 
over astretch of at least 15 miles, but they 
are much broken up by anorthosites and 
basic gabbros. In two or three instances, 
however, the ledges are of the greatest 
stratigraphical interest, as I shall shortly 
bring out. 

In the valley of Lake Champlain a small 
exposure of limestone with much associated 
graphite forms the extreme point at the 
picturesque Split Rock, Essex township, a 
landmark to all travelers by steamer on the 
lake. While the amount of limestone is 
not great, the associated gneisses are in con- 
siderable development, before they are re- 
placed by anorthosites, which make up the 
main part of the Split Rock range. No 
more limestones are then met until a point 
is reached in the hills in the extreme south- 
western part of Westport, where again a 
small ledge has been located in the midst of 
an area consisting chiefly of the plutonic 
intrusives. In Moriah township, both on 
the lake near Port Henry and back in the 
upland valley which rises to the westward 
from the lake, the limestones are frequent 
and of considerable thickness. Next the 
lake they are the best exposed and thickest 
of any outcrops in the eastern part of the 
mountains. Details of the exposure have 
already been printed by me. In Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga, the next townships 
south along the lake, small ledges have been 
located in many places and relatively large 
areas of the associated gneisses, and if we 
pass right down into Washington county, on 
the south, we shall find in the high narrow 
ridge that lies between Lake Champlain 


JULY 20, 1900.] 


and Lake George several small beds in 
Putnam and Dresden townships. In White- 
hall and Fort Ann, however, the exposures 
become more serious and give greater prom- 
ise of stratigraphical results. At White- 
hall an attempt has been made by me to 
work them out, and in a report, that will 
shortly appear from the office of the State 
Geologist in Albany, a detailed map with 
cross-sections will be given which indicate 
a marked anticlinal character for them 
and the associated gneisses. Quartzose 
gneisses are also present that afford strong 
evidence of being metamorphosed sedi- 
ments. 

If now we return to the latitude of Crown 
point and Ticonderoga and pass westward 
into Schroon, we find a belt along a some- 
what marked depression, ranging from west- 
ern Crown Point, through the valley of 
Paradox lake to and along Schroon lake. 
There are likewise scattered outliers in the 
adjoining hills. Still further westward in 
Minerva and again to the north in New- 
comb, right in the heart of the mountains 
and west of the highest peaks, very ex- 
tended outcrops occur, as usual with the 
associated gneisses. They scarcely cross the 
line from Essex into Hamilton county to the 
west, but they run south through Warren 
county and appear in small and scattered 
areasin Johnsburgh, Chester,and Thurman. 
In eastern Hamilton county, two or three 
have been discovered in Wells and Lake 
Pleasant townships. But then they seem 
to end so far as our present information 
goes, and from these townships southward 
along the western border line of Hamilton 
county and in a sweep around to the west- 
ward along the southern rim of the crystal- 
lines, so far as known they fail. To the 
eastward in Warren county, we have loca- 
ted a number of small and scattered out- 
crops, amid the gneisses of Horicon and 
Bolton townships, while in Hague are the 
interesting quartzites already referred to. 


SCIENCE. 


oil 


In the several townships that intervene on 
the south beforethe mantle of the Paleozoic 
conceals the crystallines, the limestone is 
lacking so far as known. 

Resumé.—In a brief general survey of 
these various details, it is evident that the 
limestones are chiefly found along the north- 


‘west and southeast or eastern portion of 


the great crystalline area. In its northern 
portion they practically fail, and in the 
broad band running from northeast to 
southwest across it, they are unknown. 
They are likewise absent in the southern 
and southwestern border. On the north- 
west they are in extended and compara- 
tively broad belts, but in the eastern portion 
they appear in many small and separated 
exposures, associated with some quartzites 
and much greater amounts of characteristic 
gneisses, but greatly broken up by igneous 
intrusions. 

Broadly considered, it is inconceivable 
that we should have these numerous, thin 
exposures of limestones, undoubted sedi- 
ments, over so wide an area, without cor- 
responding and very much greater amounts 
of clastics. The comparatively few recog- 
nizable quartzites serve to corroborate the 
inference so far as they go, but it is still an 
inevitable conclusion that we must have the 
representatives of very much greater de- 
posits, that have been shales or some simi- 
lar materials, and that are represented now 
by the gneisses, because schists or slates 
are practically unknown. 

It is also significant that so far as our pres- 
ent information goes the recognizable, frag- 
mental sediments are most numerous on the 
east, where at the same time the limestones 
are thinnest and most scattered. While it 
is well appreciated by me, that much fuller 
knowledge awaits us as Professor Smyth’s 
work progresses, yet the significance of this 
relation cannot be entirely overlooked, and 
it seems justifiable to believe that if the 
limestones on both sides of the mountains 


92 


belong to the same geological series, the 
sedimentation involved more shales and 
sandstones on the east and more limestone 
on the west. To a certain degree the same 
relations hold good for the Trenton series 
to-day, its limestone being more massive on 
the southwest of the crystallines and more 
shaly on the eastern boundary. Neverthe- 
less, for the pre-Cambrian formations, the 
assured, fragmental sediments are still, as 
emphasized above, comparatively thin and 
scarce, and the inferences just stated re- 
garding the gneisses will arise. With a 
view of throwing light on this question a 
few typical sections will now be given in 
some detail, and in the mind of the ob- 
server or reader, the point of view should 
always be maintained as to whether it is 
possible to explain such relations by igneous 
contacts, or whether we must not logically 
refer them to a regular sedimentary suc- 
cession. 


TYPICAL STRATIGRAPHICAL CROSS-SECTIONS. 


Catamount Mountain.—This is the most 
northerly of the eastern outcrops. Although 
the crystallines extend for miles beyond, 
there are no more limestones. At the foot 
of asteep mountain-side that looks away to 
the southeast and that rises from twelve to 
fifteen hundred feet above the valley, a 
ledge of limestone has been well-exposed by 
quarry operations. It is 20 feet thick and 
150 feet long. It is a difficult matter to 
convince oneself of the dip and strike, but 
certainly the upper edge of the limestone 
runs along quite regularly and considered 
as a whole the rock seems to be a distinctly 
bedded mass in other rocks. The banding 
of the included minerals give a dip of from 
45 to 60 degrees into the mountain. All 
exposures of rock are concealed both above 
and below the limestone so that its imme- 
diate associates cannot be made out, but 
out in the valley, in the road, a short dis- 
tance to the south Cushing has noted an 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


outcrop of a rusty friable gneiss consisting | 
of nearly colorless monoclinic pyroxene and 
microperthite. With these are sillimanite, 
titanite, magnetite, pyrite and graphite. A 
band of basic hornblende plagioclase gneiss 
is also associated. These latter details I 
quote from Cushing with whom, however, I 
have been over the ground. In Wilming- 
ton mountain to the southeast, I have found 
further outcrops of graphitic rocks and of 
hornblendic gneisses and pyroxenic aggre- 
gates, such as are commonly associated with 
the limestone. 

In passing up Catamount mountain above 
the ledge of limestone, no outcrops can be 
found for a distance which involves some 
hundreds of feet of cross-section, and then 
a dark gneiss appears with parallel strike 
and vertical dip. Under the microscope it 
exhibits plagioclase, green augite, less brown 
hornblende, garnet and magnetite, an as- 
semblage that has strong affinities with 
gabbros. Near the top of the mountain 
this rock yields to a gneiss with abundant 
quartz. I forbear to attempt to interpret 
this poorly exposed succession at the 
present, merely citing it as an illustration 
of the relations met and of the difficulties 
of the problem. 

The Western Spur of Whiteface.—From the 
northern end of Lake Placid a wild and 
narrow pass runs across a small divide, 
separating the Ausable drainage from that 
of the Saranac. At very nearly the crest 
of the water-shed and in the foot of the steep 
westerly spur of Whiteface mountain, a 
double bed of limestone has been discovered. 
The upper bench is 6 feet and the lower 12 
with an interval of 25 feet occupied by 
gneisses. Up the steep slope with a some- 
what flattening dip, hornblendic gneisses 
extend for 300 feet of section, then felds- 
pathic gneisses for 300 feet more, until the 
peculiar type of anorthosite of the White- 
face massif appears. To the westward in 
scattered exposures hornblendic gneisses 


JULY 20, 1900. ] 


occur, until in the second row of hills 
anorthosites replace them. The exposures 
of limestone can only be traced a short 
distance on the strike, say 200 yards before 
they are concealed, but they have all the 
appearance of a regularly stratified, sedi- 
mentary rock, and their contacts give no 
evidence of igneous metamorphism. They 
dip into the mountain at about 40 degrees. 

The Lewis Section of Quartzite—About one 
mile west of Lewis post-office a ledge of 
graphitic quartzite arises out of the sandy 
terrace and, with a dip of 25 degrees to the 
west, extends for quite 100 yards without a 
break. It then dips under a series of 
graphitic gneisses, which may be found a 
little to the south across a narrow gulch. 
Still further westward and after an interval 
that is concealed, the anorthosites appear 
in a hillside. To the eastward of the 
quartzite ledge everything is concealed by 
a half mile of sand and then anorthosites 
again appear. The quartzites and their 
associated, graphitic gneisses present every 
character of a sedimentary series and while 
examining them one cannot resist the con- 
viction that one is face to face with a frag- 
ment of an ancient series of clastics. Fur- 
ther south the anorthosites have been found 
outcropping within- less than 50 feet of the 
sedimentary rocks and with abundant evi- 
dence of contact metamorphism. 

The Two Exposures in Limekiln Moun- 
tain.—In the southwestern corner of Lewis 
and near its line with Elizabethtown, there 
arises a bunch of peaks, called Limekiln 
Mountain on the maps of the U. S. Geolog- 
ical Survey. The main summit is about 
3000 feet above sea level. A number of 
valleys and gulches separate the mountain 
into several knobs. A gradual, drift-cov- 
ered slope rises from the valley on the east 
to a height of about 1400 feet above tide, 
and then the shoulder of the mountain 
ascends quite abruptly. Just in the foot of 
this slope a ledge of limestone 20 to 30 feet 


SCIENCE. 


93 


thick has been opened up for quicklime. 
The dip is very flat, being almost horizontal. 
The exposures extend perhaps 50 yards and 
then are concealed by soil. The rock be- 
neath the limestone is not shown, but ex- 
cellent opportunities are afforded to run 
the section up the hill for a considerable 
distance. For 50 feet across the dip 
gneisses appear which are shown by the 
microscope to contain quartz, microperthite, 
some plagioclase, augite, and magnetite. 
After a concealed interval, rocks of a gab- 
broic character are met, consisting of labra- 
dorite, green augite, garnet and magnetite, 
but with no microperthite or quartz. If 
now we pass across the high ridge to the 
westward and down into the next valley 
evidences of limestones not well displayed 
may be discovered and then a quarter of a 
mile further and somewhat southwest from 
the first locality a beautifully exposed and 
regularly bedded stratum, 20 feet in thick- 
ness and dipping not more than ten degrees 
into the mountain is revealed in old work- 
ings for quicklime. Its general strike and 
dip are closely parallel with the one just 
mentioned, on the other side of the moun- 
tain but it has this advantage, that the 
gneisses are well shown beneath it, and one 
can climb the steep ledges of gneiss above 
it for more than a thousand feet of cross- 
section. They are the same quartzose, 
microperthitic gneisses mentioned a mo- 
ment ago. The limestone itself forms a 
very flat and gentle roll and then disap- 
pears under the talus in each direction. 
Other small rolls can be traced out in the 
direction of the dip, before they disappear 
for good. In the bottoms of brooks in this 
same portion of the mountain, graphitic 
gneisses have been met, fairly remote from 
the limestone, but the forest growth is so 
thick and the exposures so fragmentary 
that connected structural details cannot 
well be worked out. ; 

These two separated ledges of limestone 


94 


with their flat dips and close resemblance 
to the familiar sections in the Paleozoic or 
other well-defined sediments, have borne 
home to the writer with greater force than 
have any others observed in the eastern 
mountains the general conception of what 
the ancient sediments must once have been, 
before metamorphism, igneous intrusions 
and upheavals threw them out of their 
simple and regular relations. They show 
that despite the severity of the changes 
elsewhere displayed, two remnants remain, 
not appreciably mashed, and scarcely even 
tilted, and one can well picture to oneself 
a regular and widespread sedimentary series 
covering extended areas in this region. 

The Styles Brook Section in Southern Jay.— 
One more section will suffice. It is located 
five miles from the last and beyond a group 
of mountains. It runs in a northeast and 
southwest line across a beautiful valley, 
about two miles wide. In the bottom of 
the valley, and fortunately cleared of a 
heavy mantle of overlying drift by a recent 
freshet, about 50 feet of graphitic quarzites 
and gneisses with a northerly dip of 35 de- 
greesare exposed. To the northeast, within 
an eighth of a mile, a huge flow of basic 
gabbro cuts out the sediments. To the 
southwest, after three-quarters of a mile of 
drift, there are rusty hornblendic gneisses, 
which dip almost the same as the previously 
mentioned ledge of quartzite; then after 
another three-quarters of a mile of drift 
and forest-covered mountain-side, quartzite, 
charged with pyrite, constitutes the country 
rock. Anorthosites appear not far away 
along the mountain, but still, despite the 
fragmentary exposures, one must believe in 
the presence of a very considerable and 
not greatly disturbed series of sediments. 
Along the strike of the first mentioned 
quartzite in the valley abundant limestones 
are found within a mile. 

Instances similar to the ones which have 
been cited could be greatly multiplied, for 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


we have now recorded over fifty separate 
exposures of the limestones in the eastern 
mountains, but the range of phenomena is 
fairly well illustrated by the above. In 
most cases they are isolated fragments, too 
much broken up by eruptives to admit 
of working out extended structure, but as 
one passes into Warren county the larger 
manifestations of the undoubted eruptives 
decrease and encouraging opportunities are 
afforded to trace out folds or other struc- 
tural features. In one or two cases this 
has been done by me, and the coming sum- 
mer the matter will be carried further un- 
der the auspices of the State Geologist, but 
more detailed work is required than we 
have been able to attempt in the first recon- 
noissance. 

For the greater areas of limestone on the 
northwest, Smyth has found evidence of a 
series of compressed folds, which pitch to 
the northeast, and which are overturned so 
as to dip on both flanks to the northwest, 
but his statements are as yet somewhat 
guarded.** 

The Significance of Graphite.—Graphite has 
been tentatively referred to in many places 
as one of the criteria for determining the 
presence of sedimentary rocks, and for a 
moment its value in this respect deserves 
consideration. While I am well aware that 
it often appears in pegmatitic dikes or veins, 
and indeed that the old historic mines at 
Chilson Hill, Ticonderoga are based upon 
deposits of this character, yet it is true that 
the graphite is almost never met except in 
close connection with the limestones or 
their characteristic associates, or in areas 
where these form a prominent feature in the 
local geology. The commonest occurrence 
is immediately in the limestones and hardly 
an exposure of them or of the bunches of 
silicates in them has been discovered with- 
out the presence of the shining black scales. 


* Report of the State Geologist of New York for 
1893, I., 497. 


JULY 20, 1900.] 


When graphite appears in metamorphic 
rocks it has been generally considered in 
America and until recently abroad as well, 
to have been derived from organic matter 
originally in the sediments, but in more re- 
cent years investigations have been carried 
out which throw some doubt on these con- 
ceptions. Graphite, considered purely as 
a mineral has come in for a large share of 
attention and some writers have even dis- 
tinguished three varieties, viz, graphite, 
graphitite and graphitoid, depending on dif- 
ferences of physical structure or behavior 
with oxidizing reagents. Weinschenk, of 
Munich, has however quite conclusively 
shown in a recent paper, that all are varie- 
ties of graphite proper, differing only in 
fineness of scales or perfection of crystalline 
form. All true graphite when warmed with 
fuming nitric acid and potassium chlorate 
changes into yellow, transparent crystals, 
possessing the same hexagonal form as the 
original and exhibiting while wet and fresh, 
the optical properties of a negative uniaxial 
erystal. These are called graphitic acid. 
They yield by analysis somewhat variable 
results but they are known to have assumed 
over 40 per cent. of oxygen and about 1.5 
of hydrogen. Other dark amorphous forms 
of carbon dissolve in fuming nitrie acid 
and potassium chlorate to a brown liquid. 

So far as my observations go, all the oc- 
currences on the east are true graphite. I 
have not noted any other form of carbona- 
ceous matter, but in the marbles quarried 
at Gouverneur there are cloudy veinings, 
which may not be the mineral. 

In a valuable paper on the graphite de- 
posits along the border of Bavaria and Bo- 
hemia, usually referred to as the Passau 
district, Weinschenk* has shown that the 
graphite occurs in a much decomposed 
gneiss, in lenticular enrichments, the best 

* Weinschenk, E., 1897. Vorkomnisseaus Graph- 


itlagerstitten nordéstlich von Passau. Zeit. f. Kryst. 
and Min., 1897, XXVILI., 135. 


SCIENCE. 


95 


of which are associated with crystalline 
limestone, and all of which follow the con- 
tact line of a huge granite intrusion and at 
small distances from it. When the contact 
is left the graphite deposits become leaner 
and leaner and finally die out. The graph- 
ite fills all manner of cracks in the min- 
erals of the containing rock and the inter- 
stices between the minerals and may even 
amount to 60 or 70 per cent. of the mass. 
Weinschenk concludes that the graphite 
has not come from original deposits in the 
gneiss and limestone, but from gases emitted 
at moderate temperatures from the granite 
and which penetrated into all the small 
cavities of the gneiss and limestone. The 
most probable constituents of the gases are 
thought to be carbonic oxide, carbonates of 
iron and manganese, cyanides of titanium, 
carbonic acid and water. All contributions 
from the gneiss and limestone and all other 
forms of carbonaceous matter are specifi- 
cally ruled out. 

Into the abundant other literature of 
graphite, especially as concerns Ceylon or 
other productive regions, I do not go as the 
important point before us is to determine 
the significance of the graphite in the Adi- 
rondack rocks, and to decide whether its 
carbon has been introduced by the erup- 
tives. Of eruptives there is no lack, if not 
always in immediate association with the 
graphitic rocks, at least within short dis- 
tances. 

In any conclusions the following condi- 
tions must be met: 

1. The graphite is in all the crystalline 
limestones, sometimes richly. 

2. It is most coarsely erystalline in the 
pegmatitic bunches of silicates, which of all 
sizes from that of the finest to that of many 
cubic yards, are so richly present in the 
limestones. 

3. It is richly developed in the quartzite 
at Hague and appears in many others in less 
amount. 


96 


4, It forms scattered scales in the rusty 
gneisses which are associated with the lime- 
stones, but here only in comparatively small 
amount. 

5. It enters richly some pegmatite veins 
and forms pockets of considerable size as 
well as leaf:like individuals which wrap 
around the component minerals of the rock, 
penetrate their cracks and impregnate every 
fissure. In the Ticonderoga veins, which 
cut across the foliation of a gneiss, the 
graphite is associated with feldspar, quartz, 
pyroxene, calcite and apatite, all in very 
coarsely crystalline development. 

6. It also forms veins by itself in gneisses, 
as at Split Rock, near Essex, where fissures 
an inch or more wide are lined with large 
leaflets, growing out from the walls and 
mingled with quartz in small amount. To 
what depth the veins extend cannot be 
stated, but they run for some yards on the 
surface in the little prospect where they are 
exposed. 

7. Graphite has been discovered by me in 
one place in anorthosite, where the latter 
was in close association with rocks of the 
limestone series. One or two small scales 
were detected in the midst of the labradorite 
erystals. Dr. Hillebrand of the United 
States Geological Survey has also deter- 
mined by analysis the presence of carbon 
not combined as carbonates to an amount 
of 0.05 per cent. in the igneous, titaniferous 
magnetites near Lincoln Pond, Elizabeth- 
town and has obtained traces in samples 
from two other mines. Gnueisses were lo- 
cated near these intrusions but no lime- 
stones have been discovered nearer than 
several miles. 

From the above it is evident that in the 
eases of the pegmatite veins and included 
bunches of silicates in the limestones, the 
carbon of the graphite has been introduced 
into its present situation in some migratory 
and penetrating form and that it has per- 
meated the crevices of the rocks. The in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


teresting point is whether it has probably 
come from the intruded magmas, or whether 
under the metamorphic processes of a re- 
gional character as well as of a contact 
nature it has been produced from carbon- 
aceous matter originally in the sediments. 
Despite the occurrence of very small 
amounts in the igneous rocks, my own opin- 
ion from the preponderating evidence is that 
it has been derived from the limestones, 
quartzites and gneisses and has only been 
worked over, caused to migrate and recrys- 
tallize by the metamorphosing agents. The 
practical limitation of the graphite in large 
amount to the limestones and gneisses seems 
to me to favor this decision, but I am free 
to admit that the other view has some points 
inits favor. Thereis no question that some 
conditions, analogous to those which favor 
the production of pegmatites have been 
necessary to yield the coarse leaves. Aside, 
however, from the question of origin, abun- 
dant experience has proved the value of 
graphite as an indicator of sediments even 
ifit be not derived from them, and as a sort 
of ‘type fossil’ it is most useful. 
Conelusion.—In conclusion the more im- 
portant points of our recent work upon the 
Adirondack sediments may be summarized 
as follows. They have been shown to be 
much more widely distributed than we for- 
merly appreciated, but they are absent 
from a wide central area, where only mas- 
Sive gneisses and eruptive rocks have thus 
far been met. That the sediments were 
extensive is apparent from the evidence 
and from the thinness of the limestones on 
the east as well as their association with 
demonstrable quartzites, we infer that the 
clastics were deposited in much greater 
amount than has been realized. Both the 
nature of many gneisses and also these 
general considerations lead us to infer that 
shales or related rocks have been likewise 
present. On the east at least we have not 
yet been able to prove that the sediments 


JuLy 20, 1900-] 


form synclines, pinched into underlying 
gneissoid rocks. On the contrary they 
seem to constitute low dipping faulted 
monoclines. 

All the sediments are thoroughly recrys- 
tallized and metamorphosed and the asso- 
ciated igneous rocks are plutonic or deep- 
seated types. Both these facts indicate 
their former burial at very considerable 
depths, and the subsequent removal of 
some thousands of feet by erosion. The 
next later rocks, of whose geological age 
we are assured, are the Potsdam sandstones, 
which lie on the old crystallines with dips 
seldom if ever more than ten degrees and 
which are not seriously metamorphosed. 
The greatly metamorphosed sediments 
are certainly pre-Potsdam and the large 
tectonic relations of the Georgian strata in 
Vermont to the Potsdam and the crystal- 
lines preclude our considering the latter as 
of possible early Cambrian age. We are 
forced to conclude therefore that they are 
pre-Cambrian, and from the comparatively 
unmetamorphosed condition of the Cam- 
brian beds, we infer that the pre-Cambrian 
strata suffered their metamorphism in pre- 
Cambrian time. They may be taxonomic 
equivalents of the Huronian, but we have 
no good grounds for correlation. 

The evidence regarding the Cambrian as 
interpreted by Walcott in the Champlain 
valley, leads us to believe that the Cam- 
brian sediments encroached from the east- 
ward upon the area of the crystallines. The 
Georgian is only found in Vermont. The 
Potsdam alone appears on the western side 
of Lake Champlain. It was not therefore 
any load of Paleozoic sediments, which 
rendered possible the deep-seated meta- 
morphism of the pre-Cambrian sediments 
and the plutonic textures of the intrusions, 
but a load of pre-Cambrian rocks which 
have since disappeared. What those rocks 
were is an interesting subject of speculation. 

They may have been sediments, whose 


SCIENCE. 


97 


disappearance leaves us with a lost inter- 
val. If so there is a gap in the records, 
which would be more comprehensible if we 
had better evidence of tight folds in our 
pre-Cambrian sediments and not the com- 
paratively flat beds of limestone so often 
seen. 

They may have been fragmental eject- 
ments and vast surface flows of lava from 
centers of eruption whose deep-seated roots 
alone remain to usin the anorthosites, gab- 
bros and syenitic rocks and whose materials 
piled up in the not unreasonable thick- 
nesses of some thousands of feet, have been 
in time removed to contribute to the Cam- 
brian or still earlier but undiscovered strata. 
Certainly the period of erosion was long and 
the results pronounced. 

Bearing these consideration in mind, 
sometimes while seated upon a lofty peak 
of the mountains and while reflecting on the 
scene spread out in every direction, I have 
allowed my fancy free play and have pic- 
tured again the cones and vents that prob- 
ably made of the Adirondacks a volcanic 
center comparable with Lake Superior. 
Beginning with eruptions of medium com- 
position, as we know from the oldest igneous 
rocks now present they passed to more 
acidic types and closed with the basic gab- 
bros. The fires seem then to have cooled 
and long erosion ensued. 

Meantime beneath the piles of igneous 
rock, metamorphism from the hot intrusions 
and from the general rise of the isogeo- 
therms went steadily forward, and the 
ancient sediments, whether calcareous or 
clastic, were changed over to marbles, 
quartzites and gneisses. Their carbonace- 
ous matter became destructively distilled 
and penetrated every available crevice. In 
time it was changed to graphite. It even 
wandered over to the neighboring, partly 
cooled, igneous rocks and took part in the 
formation of the pegmatites. 

Gradually the early Cambrian sea crept 


98 


up on the flanks, first attacking them in 
Vermont. The Ordovician sea followed and 
its sediments reached points well into the 
crystalline area. Pursuing the thought 
further we may raise the query, were the 
erystallines then reduced to a base-level and 
did submergence gradually bury them, and 
did the Ordovician sea and the subsequent 
Silurian sea go all across from side to side 
with a continuous mantle of sediments? 
Or were the crystallines a great island dur- 
ing all this time and have they remained so 
with minor faultings and upheavals to the 
present? These are questions easy to ask 
and difficult to answer. The most that we 
shall say about them now is that they are 


another story. 
J. F. Kempe. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


KATHODE RAYS AND SOME RELATED 
PHENOMENA. 


II. 


Tuer view here briefly formulated, al- 
though first suggested by Wiechert, owes 
its development chiefly to J. J. Thomson. 
The number of instances in which its con- 
sequences are at least qualitatively con- 
firmed is already surprisingly large. Thus 
it has been known for some time that a wire 
or carbon filament, when heated to incan- 
descence in vacuo, sends off negatively 
charged particles. Thomson * has recently 
shown that the ratio e/m for such particles 
is the same as for the kathode rays. Many 
metals also are capable of giving off nega- 
tively charged particles when illuminated 
by ultra-violet light; at sufficiently high 
vacua, rays may be produced in this way 
which possess all the essential properties of 
the ordinary kathode rays.+ In this case 
also, the ratio e/m is found to be the same. { 
In these cases we have an indication that 

® Phil. Mag., 48, p. 547, 1899. 

t Merritt and Stewart, Physikalische Zeitsch., 1, p. 


338, 1900. 
+ Thomson, Phil. Mag., 48, p. 547, 1899. 


ON 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


the corpuscles may be separated from the 
molecules of a substance by processes differ- 
ent from those which occur at the kathode. 
That intense heat, on account of the violent 
collisions between molecules, should make 
it easier for the corpuscles to escape, is 
quite natural. And that the rapid elec- 
trical vibrations set up by light, especially 
by that of short wave-lengths, should pro- 
duce a similar effect, agrees equally well 
with the corpuscular hypothesis. 

If the light radiated by a molecule of gas 
is due to the vibration or orbital motion of 
these charged corpuscles, a highly concrete 
and satisfactory explanation is at once ob- 
tained of the Zeeman effect. The theory 
has shown itself capable of accounting not 
only for the comparatively simple phenom- 
ena first observed, but also for the more 
complicated modifications of the spectral 
lines detected later. The ratio e/m as de- 
termined from the Zeeman effect is of the 
same order of magnitude as that determined 
from observations on the kathode rays. 

Perhaps the strongest confirmation of 
Thomson’s corpuscular hypothesis is that 
afforded by the recent investigations, of the 
Becquerel rays. In 1899 it was found that 
some of these rays, notably those produced 
by certain preparations of radium, were de- 
flected in passing through a magnetic field.* 
More recently, it has been found that the 
rays are electrostatically deflected} and that 
they carry a negative charge. In fact, they 
behave in all respects like kathode rays. 
Within the last few months the ratio 
e/m has been determined by Becquerel} and 
found to have approximately the same value 
as in the case of the Zeeman effect and the 
kathode rays. 

* Meyerand vy. Schweidler, Phys. Zeitsch., November 
25 and December 2, 1899. Giesel, Wied. Ann., 69, 
834, 1899. Becquerel, Comptes rendus, 129, p. 996, 
1899. 

ft Dorn, Abhandlungen d. Naturforsch. Gesell., Halle, 


March 11, 1900. 
t Comptes rendus, 130, p. 809, March 26, 1900. 


JULY 20, 1900.] 


It appears, therefore, that the same rap- 
idly moving corpuscles which form the 
kathode rays, and which give practically 
the only concrete explanation of the Zee- 
man effect, also form one constituent at 
least of the Becquerel rays. In the latter 
case it would appear that the escape of the 
corpuscles is a result of violent internal 
disturbances among the molecules of the 
active substance. Such disturbances may 
accompany a gradual change from an un- 
stable molecular grouping to one that is 
more permanent. This view removes all 
difficulty concerning the source of energy 
of these rays, a question which a few years 
since caused a great deal of needless an- 
noyance. 

The Becquerel rays developed by a given 
active substance usually consist of a mix- 
ture of rays, differing widely in their vari- 
ous properties. Not all of these rays are 
deflected by a magnet. In some instances 
the rays are more similar to the X-rays 
than to kathode rays, both as regards their 
behavior in a magnetic field and their other 
properties. In such cases it seems to me 
probable that X-rays are in reality present. 
Some of the magnetically deflectable rays, 
which are nothing more than kathode rays, 
naturally fall upon the active substance 
itself. There is no reason why this bom- 
bardment should not result in the develop- 
ment of X-rays, just as it would in the in- 
terior of a vacuum tube. That Lenard’s 
kathode rays are able to produce X-rays 
even in the open air has already been shown 
by Des Coudres.* 

The hypothesis of electrified corpuscles 
has been employed, in a form which does 
not necessarily imply the extreme small- 
ness of the particles considered, by numer- 
ous physicists. For example, Lorentzt 


* Wied. Ann., 62, p. 134, 1897. 

+ Versuch einer Theorie der elektrischen und opti- 
schen Erscheinungen in bewegten Korpern. Leiden, 
1895. 


SCIENCE. 


99 


found it useful in discussing the electrical 
and optical phenomena in moving bodies : 
while Helmholtz* has used it in his electro- 
magnetic theory of dispersion. An expla- 
nation of metallic conduction analogous to 
that of electrolytic conduction has often 
been sought. Recently this subject has 
been developed quite extensively by Riecket 
whose results appear extremely promising. 
The assumption of positive and negative 
ions, different perhaps from those of ordi- 
nary electrolysis, permits a very concrete 
qualitative explanation of a great number 
of well-known phenomena. Among these 
may be mentioned the various thermoelec- 
tric phenomena, the Hall effect, together 
with its thermal analogue, and the Thom- 
son effect. Views similar to those developed 
by Riecke have recently been supported by 
J. J. Thomson. { 

Enough has been said to show that the 
hypothesis of electrified corpuscles has 
much in its favor. That the present form 
of the hypothesis is very incomplete and 
leaves much to be explained, no one would 
attempt to deny. But by means of it we 
have obtained provisional explanations, at 
least, of many complex phenomena; while 
the usefulness of the hypothesis as an aid 
to further investigation has already been 
amply demonstrated. Now that we recog- 
nize the futility of attempting an ultimate 
explanation of natural phenomena, can we 
demand more than this of any theory or hy- 
pothesis? Let us therefore adopt the new 
theory in those cases where its adoption 
leads to clearness and concreteness, and 
make use of it as long as it aids in the ad- 
vancement of science. As our knowledge 
increases, the theory will be continually 
modified and improved. Sooner or later 
it will doubtless be found insufficient, and 
will be abandoned; and something better 

* Wied. Ann., 48, p. 389, 1893. 


+ Wied. Ann., 66, p. 353 and 545, 1898. 
t Nature, May 10, 1900. 


100 


will take its place. Such is, and such 
ought to be, the life history of all scientific 
theory. 

The more promising a new theory ap- 
pears, the more is it deserving of a careful 
and critical scrutiny, both from its adher- 
ents and from its opponents. The hypothe- 
sis of electrified corpuscles, which is in- 
volved in the modified Crookes theory, has 
proved its right toa hearing. It now has 
a right to demand the severest of friendly 
criticism. An elaborate critical discussion 
of the theory would be out of piace in an 
address of this kind, even if sufficient time 
for the purpose were available. I wish, 
however, to call attention briefly to some 
points in connection with the subject which 
I think have not previously received the 
attention that they deserve. 

Let us compare, for example, the values 
of e/m determined by different observers. 
The discrepancies between the values ob- 
tained by Wiechert and by J. J. Thomson 
is not surprising, since they were the first 
determinations of this kind that had been 
made. As a preliminary test of the theory, 
the fact that results obtained by such 
widely different methods were of the same 
order of magnitude is eminently satisfac- 
tory. A number of new determinations 
have been made, however, during the past 
two years. Since the more recent determi- 
nations were undertaken with a full under- 
standing of the necessary experimental 
precautions, we should expect a close agree- 
ment among their results. But discrepan- 
cies of considerable magnitude still remain. 
It appears to me that the variation in the 
values of e/m obtained by different observ- 
ers is greater than can be accounted for by 
experimental errors. To bring out this 
point, and in the hope of getting some idea of 
where the cause of the discrepancy is to be 
sought, I have prepared the following table, 
which contains practically all the values of 
e/m that have been obtained by experi- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 290. 


ments upon the kathode rays. Some of the 
values obtained by other methods have also 
been added for comparison. 

The values of e/m are arranged in groups 
according to the method by which they 
were determined. The results of the most 
recent experiments, and presumably, there- 
fore, the most accurate ones, are in each 
case placed last. 

Leaving aside the results of Schuster and 
Wien and the first results of Wiechert, all 
of which were obtained by experiments of 
a purely preliminary character, we see that 
the results obtained by different observers 
show a satisfactory agreement, provided 
that the same method was used. Compare, 
for example, the two results of Kaufmann, 
obtained by different modifications of the 
same method, with that obtained by Simon. 
A more satisfactory agreement could scarce- 
ly be desired. Similarly, the values ob- 
tained by Lenard agree quite well with 
those that were obtained by J. J. Thomson 
when using the same method. But the 
smallest value obtained by the first method 
is twice as great as the largest value ob- 
tained by the last method. The results ob- 
tained by the second and third methods 
agree fairly well with each other, and are 
intermediate between the two extremes just 
mentioned. Wiechert’s later determina- 
tions, however (Method III.), are subject 
to a possible constant error, so that these 
results must be regarded as uncertain.* The 
third method is liable to experimental error 
for several reasons, notably because its re- 
sults are especially likely to be influenced 
by the conductivity of the residual gas. 
The effect of this source of error, as pointed 
out by Thomson, would be to make the re- 
sults larger than they should be. Objec- 
tions might also be raised to the assump- 
tions on which the method is based. On 
the whole, it appears to me that the results 
of the first and fourth methods are to be 

* Wied. Ann., 69, p. 739, 1899. 


Juny 20, 1900.] 


regarded as the most reliable. And yet 
these are the methods whose results differ 
most widely. 

As the difference appears too great to be 


VALUES OF e/m FOR 
(The results are expressed in c. 


SCIENCE. 


101 


and velocity. But in the method of Kauf- 
mann and Simon it is assumed that the 
whole potential energy of the corpuscle 
when at the surface of the kathode is trans- 


KATHODE RAys. 
g. s. electromagnetic units. ) 


Velocity. 


Observer. | Date. Remarks. | [Velocity of Light =1]. | e/m = 108 
I. Magnetic deflection and kathode potential. 
2 
Hep — =. zmv? —eV. 
Schuster. 1890 [1.1] 
Schuster. 1898 Revision of former data. [3.6] 
Wiechert. 1897 About 0.3 [Less than 40] 
Used different gases and 2 
Kaufmann. 1697 kathodes. Holtz machine. Lod 
Kaufmann. 1898 Holtz machine. 18.6 
Simon. 1899 Holtz machine. | 18.65 
II. Magnetic deflection and velocity of rays. 
2 
y=". y determined by the method of Des Condres. 
Wiechert. 1897 0.1 [20 — 40] 
Wiechert. 1899 Hydrogen. 0.132 — 0.167 11.9—14-2 
III. Magnetic deflection ; heat developed ; charge carried. 
2, 
Hev = 3 Nmv?=heat. Ne—charge. 
| Different gases used. | 
J. J. Thomson. | 1897 { ae eat } | oom7—012 | 10-148 
IV. Magnetic deflection and electrostatic deflection. 
2 
Hev = — Hev= Fe [Two deflecting forces balanced]. 
J. J. Thomson. | 1897 | Several gases. Induction coil. 0.077— 0.4 6.7— 9.1 
Wien. 1898 | Lenard rays. About 0.3 20 
Lenard. 1898 | Lenard rays. Induction coil. 0.22 — 0.27 6.32 — 6.49 
e/m from Zeemann effect. (Various observers ) 10— 30 
“ *¢ Ultraviolet light discharge. J. J. Thomson. 5.8—8.5 
“Edison effect. J. J. Thomson. 7.8—11.3 
“ “  Becquerel rays. Becquerel. About 10. 


The symbols used in the formule have the following significance : 


e=charge carried by each 


corpuscle ; m —mass of corpuscle ; v — velocity ; N = number of corpuscles ; H= strength of mag- 


netic field ; #—=strength of electric field ; r =rad 
magnetic field. 


explained by the accidental errors of obser- 
vation, it is natural to seek its explanation 
in the assumptions upon which the two 
methods are based. Both methods employ 
the magnetic deflection of the rays and as- 
sume the same relation between deflection 


ius of curvature of the rays when deflected ina 


formed into kinetic energy of translation ; 

i. e., retarding forces due to friction or 

other causes are assumed to be entirely ab- 

sent. The method has been criticised on 

that account by Schuster.* The effect of 
* Wied. Ann., 65, p. 877, 1898. 


102 


neglecting the influence of retarding forces 
when such are really present would be to 
give values of e/m that are larger than the 
true value. For this reason, Schuster 
looked upon the method as giving merely a 
superior limit for the ratio. The experi- 
ments of Lenard make it unlikely that re- 
tarding forces can be present after the rays 
have emerged from the dark space. But it 
appears to me that in the immediate neigh- 
borhood of the kathode their equivalent 
might well be present. Before the electri- 
fied corpuscles can yield to the repulsion of 
the kathode and fly off to form the kathode 
rays, they must be torn loose from the 
molecules of which they form a part. Is it 
not possible that an appreciable fraction 
of the whole potential energy is expended 
in effecting this separation? Again, al- 
though it is certain that the kathode rays 
start from points very close to the kathode, 
have we any reason to suppose that they 
originate exactly at the surface? If the 
rays start a little in front of the kathode, 
the effect is the same, so far as the results 
obtained by Schuster’s method are con- 
cerned, as if the corpuscles were subjected 
to retarding forces. 

The most serious reason for doubting the 
correctness of the values obtained for e/m 
arises from the almost incredible velocity 
of the kathode rays. What right have we 
to suppose that ordinary electrical and me- 
chanical laws are applicable to a particle 
moving at one-third the velocity of light? 
It appears to me that we have before us the 
most stupendous piece of extrapolation in 
the whole history of physies. . Let us con- 
sider briefly the assumptions that are made 
and their experimental basis. The chief as- 
sumptions are as follows: 

(1) The force exerted upon a corpuscle 
when passing through a magnetic field is 
proportional to the speed, being equal to 
Hev, where H is the field strength, e the 
charge, and vthe speed. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


(2) The force exerted upon a corpuscle 
when passing through an electric field is the 
same as though the corpuscle were at rest. 

The experiments of Rowland and Him- 
stedt afford indirect experimental evidence 
that the law stated in (1) is true for veloci- 
ties up to about 10,000 cm. per second. In 
computing e/m the assumption is made that 
the same law holds for velocities a million 
times greater ! 

So far as Jam aware, the question of the 
force exerted upon a moving charge by a 
stationary electrostatic field has never been 
made the subject of direct experimental 
inquiry. Lenard,* however, has made some 
experiments upon the kathode rays them- 
selves which are of the greatest importance 
in connection with this question. Upon 
passing the rays through an intense electro- 
static field in a direction parallel to the 
lines of force, he found that the rays were 
either accelerated or retarded according to 
the direction of the field. The change in ve- 
locity was determined by measurements of 
the magnetic deflection and was in some 
cases as great as fifty per cent. The observed 
change was the same in amount as would 
be expected if the force upon the charged 
corpuscles was the same as though they 
were at rest. 

The dynamics and electrodynamics of a 
charged body in rapid motion have been 
attacked from a theoretical standpoint by 
J. J.Thomson,} Heaviside,{ and Schuster.§ 
Rowland|| has recently called attention to 
the fact that this is a case for the applica- 
tion of an extremely fundamental scientific 
law, namely, that of the ‘conservation of 
knowledge.’ Our real knowledge of the 
subject, based upon experiment, is practic- 

* Wied. Ann., 65, p. 504, 1898. 

+ Recent Researches in Electricity and Magnetism. 

{ Electrical Papers, Vol. 2. 

@ Phil. Mag., 43, p. 1, 1897. 

|| Presidential Address before the American Phys- 


ical Society, Bulletin of the American Physical Society, 
Vol. I., No. 1. 


JULY 20, 1900. ] 


ally nil: no amount of analytical manipu- 
lation, however complicated, will add to it 
one iota. 

In the present condition of our experi- 
mental knowledge, theoretical discussions of 
this nature are indeed pure speculation. 
But we must remember also that scientific 
speculation has always been one of the most 
important aids in the advancement of sci- 
ence. For a visionary enthusiast specula- 
tion is a plaything, dangerous to himself 
and annoying to others. But in the hands 
of the trained and conservative scientist it 


INCREASE IN APPARENT MASS. 


SCLENCE. 


103 


sequences of each, and testing the conclu- 
sions by experiment. The kathode rays 
and the Becquerel rays offer the means by 
which such tests may be applied. 

Although the theoretical results of 
Thomson and Heaviside are not in com- 
plete agreement, they both indicate con- 
siderable deviations from simple laws 
when the speed approaches that of light. 
Thomson states his results in convenient 
form by saying that the effect of a charge 
is to increase the apparent mass of the 
moving body. So long as the speed is 


VELOCITY. 


is a valuable tool, without whose aid the 
progress of knowledge would be slow in- 
deed. The present case is one to whose 
study scientific speculation is particularly 
applicable. The motion of charged bodies 
at a speed nearly equal to that of light is a 
subject that we cannot hope to study by 
direct experiment. If we ever geta knowl- 
edge of the laws that apply in such cases, 
it must be by indirect methods. It is 
therefore simply a question of trying one 
hypothesis after another, deriving the con- 


small, the increase is inappreciable. But 
at high speeds it becomes important, and at 
the velocity of light the apparent mass be- 
comes infinite. Since the effective mass is 
a function of the speed, we might therefore 
expect the ratio e/m to vary with the ve- 
locity of the kathode rays. But the hope 
of explaining the observed discrepancies in 
this way is illusory, as the apparent mass 
remains practically constant until the 
speed is nearly equal to that of light. The 
manner in which the apparent mass varies 


104 


with the speed, as computed according to 
Thomson’s theory, is shown in the accom- 
panying curve. Ordinates represent the 
apparent increase in mass, while abscissze 
give the corresponding speeds. The speed 
of light is put equal to unity. It will be 
noticed that the ordinates remain nearly 
constant up to aspeed of about eight-tenths 
that of light, after which the variation is 
rapid. In quantitative experiments on the 
kathode rays the speed has never exceeded 
one-half that of light. Previous experi- 
ments therefore afford no opportunity of 
testing the theory. The problem of in- 
creasing the speed still further is certainly 
a most promising subject of experimental 
investigation. 

Since the apparent increase in mass is 
due to the energy of the field moving with 
the charge, it would appear that the amount 
of the increase must depend upon the form 
of the tube through which the rays pass. 
So far as I am aware, no experiments have 
heretofore been made to test this point. It 
may be that the variation, if it exists, is 
too small to be detected. 

The suggestion has recently been made 
that perhaps the whole mass of the cor- 
puscle is fictitious; that we really have 
to do with free electric charges, or electrons, 
existing apart from matter. This view is 
even more startling than that which makes 
the corpuscles smaller than atoms. The 
novelty of the suggestion is certainly not 
to be regarded as a serious objection. But 
direct experimental evidence in favor of 
this view isas yet lacking. Here, too, it ap- 
pears to me that a quantitative study of 
the kathode rays at the greatest attainable 
velocities offers the most promising means 
of testing the theory. 

We see that in this subject, as in every 
branch of natural science, each step in ad- 
vance suggests still more important prob- 
lems for further study and aids in their 
solution. In the kathode rays we have 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 290. 


gained a new weapon with which to attack 
the great problems of ether and matter. 
What results will be achieved no one can 
predict. But great as have been the ad- 
vances during the past decade, we can 
scarcely doubt that the progress during the 
decade that is just beginning will be even 


rreater. 
8 Ernest MERRITT. 


CoRNELL UNIVERSITY. 


MATHEMATICS AND ASTRONOMY AT THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 

THE meeting of Section A was arranged 
with a view to complete co-operation with 
the Astronomical and Astrophysical So- 
ciety in the astronomical part of the pro- 
gram and with the American Mathematical 
Society in the mathematical part. The full 
effect of such co-operation was secured by 
means of joint sessions, Section A meeting 
in joint session with the Astronomical So- 
ciety on Tuesday and on Wednesday morn- 
ing, and with the Mathematical Society in 
joint session or as guests, Wednesday after- 
noon, Thursday, and Friday. From this 
arrangement Section A received the benefit 
of adding to its program the papers of the 
two affiliated societies and having the pres- 
ence of their members in its meetings while 
in turn, it gave the same aid to them. It 
is to be hoped that every year in which it 
is practicable some such arrangement for 
co-operation may be made. 

Reports of the meetings of the Astronom- 
ical and Astrophysical Society and the Amer- 
ican Mathematical Society will be published 
separately, hence it would be out of place 
to here discuss any of the papers presented 
by them. Among the papers of Section A, 
that of Henry S. Pritchett, who is leaving 
the Superintendency of the Coast and Geo- 
detiec Survey to become President of the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is 
of perhaps the widest general interest ; 
it is on the ‘ Functions, Organization and 
future Work of the U. S. Coast Survey.’ 


JULY 20, 1900.] 


Dr. Pritchett divided his paper into three 
parts. 

1. What is the purpose of the Service? 
The principal purpose he says is to make 
complete surveys and charts of the coasts 
of the United States. Added to this is the 
work of geodesy and the magnetic observa- 
tions on land and sea. 

2. Is it properly organized to carry out 
this purpose ? 

In the original organization the work was 
mostly in the hands of the army and navy. 
There has, however, been a complete change 
in this and with July 1, 1900, the Survey 
becomes entirely civilian. Within the last 
three years there has been a reorganization 
with the idea of developing a clear line of 
responsibility from the head of the service 
to each employee and with the further pur- 
pose of dividing the work so as to secure a 
more direct supervision of it. 

3. What lines of work should it follow to 
accomplish the purpose in view? 

The work has been planned as follows: 
First, a re-survey of parts of the mainland 
of the United States coasts and surveys of 
the coasts of Porto Rico, Hawaii, the Philip- 
pines, and Alaska. Second, the completion 
of an are extending along the ninety-eighth 
meridian from the Rio Grande to the Cana- 
dian border, and the completion of the pre- 
cise level net for the United States. Third, 
a general magnetic survey of the country 
and the waters adjacent. 

Another paper of great interest and im- 
portance was Dr. G. A. Miller’s ‘Report on 
Groups of an Infinite Order.’ The theory of 
groups in mathematics is of recent develop- 
ment but has assumed a place of fundamen- 
tal importance. It is to reports from those 
who have made a special study of groups 
that we must look for an adequate survey 
of the subject as it stands to-day. Section 
A is especially fortunate in having had 
three reports which are supplementary to 
each other, at the last three meetings; the 


SCIENCE. 


105 


first of these reports was given at the Bos- 
ton meeting by Dr. G. A. Miller and was on 
‘The Modern Group Theory’; the second, 
“Report on the recent Progress in the Theory 
of Linear Groups’ was given by Professor 
L. E. Dickson at Columbus, and the third 
is the one whose title is given above. 

The following is the list of papers read 
before Section A: 


‘Miss Catherine Wolf Bruce,’ by Miss Mary Proc- 
tor. 

‘Report on the Work of the Columbia College Ob- 
servatory,’ by J. K. Rees. 

‘Variations of Latitude,’ by G. A. Hill. 

‘The Functions, Organization and Future Work of 
the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey,’ by H. 
8. Pritchett. 

‘The Precise Level Net of the United States and a 
New Levelling Instrument,’ by J. F. Hayford. 

“New Light on Ancient Eclipses,’ by J. N. Stock- 
well. 

“The Case Almucantor,’ by C. S. Howe. 

‘Standards of (faint) Stellar Magnitudes,’* by E. 
C. Pickering. 

‘Variations of Brightness of Starsin m 3,’* byS. J. 
Bailey. 

“On the Spectroscopic Determination of Motion in 
the Line of Sight,’ by W. W. Campbell. 

‘The Velocity of Meteors from the New Haven Ob- 
servations,’* by W. L. Elkin. 

‘ Parallax of Stars with Large Proper Motions,’* by 
F. L. Chase. 

“On the Prediction of Occultations,’* by G. W. 
Hough. 

‘The Comparative Accuracy of the Transit Circle 
and the Vertical Circle,’ by G. A. Hill. 

‘The Propagation of the Tide Wave,’ by T. J. J. 
See. 

“The Dimensions and Density of Neptune,’ by T. 
J. J. See. 

‘ Photometric Observations of Eros,’ by H. M. Park- 
hurst. 

‘Secular Variations of the Motions of the Planets,’ 
by J. N. Stockwell. 

‘A New Method of Finding the La Place Coefii- 
cients in the Theory of Planetary Perturbations,’ by 
J. N. Stockwell. 

‘On a Method of photographing the entire Corona, 
employed at Newberry, S. C., for the total Solar 
Eclipse, May 28, 1900,’ by W. G. Levison. 

‘Some Remarkable Properties of Recurring Deci- 
mals,’ by Edgar Frisby. 

* Astronomical and Astrophysical Society paper. 


106 


‘ History of the Complex Number,’ by G. T. Sellew. 

‘The Motion of a Top taking into account the 
Rotation of the Earth,’** by A. S. Chessin. 

‘Kelvin’s Treatment of Instantaneous and Perma- 
nent Sources extended to certain cases in which a 
Source is in Motion,’** by James McMahon. 

‘Oscillating Satellites’,** by F. R. Moulton. - 

‘Ona Mechanism for drawing Trochoidal and allied 
Curves,’** by F. Morley. 

‘On Surfaces sibi-reciprocal under those contact 
Transformations which transform Spheres into 
Spheres,’** by P. F. Smith. 

‘On Singular Transformations in the Real Projec- 
tive Group of the Place,’** by H. B. Newson. 

‘Report on Groups of an Infinite Order,’ by G. A. 
Miller. 

‘On the Metabelian Groups whose Invariant Oper- 
ators form a Cyclical Subgroup,’ by W. B. Fite. 

‘Definitions and Examples of Galois Fields,’ by L- 
E. Dickson. 

‘Construction Problems in non-Euclidean Geom- 
etry,’ by G. B. Halsted. 

‘The Expression of a Rational Polynomial in a 
Series of Bessel Functions of the nth Order,’ by 
James McMahon. 

‘Sundry Metrical Theorems connected with a spec- 
ial Curve of the 4th Order,’ by F. H. Loud. = 

‘The Directive Force of Philosophy upon Mathe~ 
matics,’ by Miss M. E. Trueblood. 

“Die Hesse’sche und die Cayley’sche Curve,’ ** 
by Paul Gordan. 

‘On the Rational Quartic Curve in Space,’** by F- 
Morley. 

‘On a Special Form of Annular Surfaces,’** by 
Virgil Snyder. 

‘On Hyper-complex Number Systems,’** by H. E. 
Hawkes. 

‘Application of a Method of d’Alembert to the 
Proof of Sturm’s Theorem of Comparison,’ ** by 
Maxime Bocher. 

‘Theorems on Imprimitive Groups,’** by H. W. 
Kuhn. 

‘A Simple Proof of the Fundamental Cauchy Gour- 
sat Theorem,** by E. H. Moore. 

“On the Existence of the Green’s Function for sim- 
ply connected plane Regions bounded by a general 
Jordan Curve, and for Regions having a more general 
Boundary of positive Content,’** by W. F. Osgood. 

“Quaternions and Spherical Trigonometry,’** by 
J. V. Collins. 

‘The Reduction of Binary Quantics to Canonical 
Form by Linear Transformation,’** by Miss B. E. 
Grow. 


** American Mathematical Society paper. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


‘Some Remarks on Tetraedral Geometry,’** by H. 
E. Timerding. 

Organized discussion of the question, What courses 
in Mathematics should be offered to the student who 
desires to devote one-half, one-third, or one-fourth of 
his undergraduate time to preparation for graduate 
work in Mathematics.** Opened by J. Harkness, 
E. H. Moore, F. Morley, W. F. Osgood and J. W. A. 
Young. 

WENDELL M. Strong, 
Secretary. 


PHYSICS AT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 

Ir was happily arranged this year that 
the Physical Society should meet with Sec- 
tion B, and this contributed to ensure a 
better attendance than was at first antici- 
pated. 

There were 29 papers presented before 
Section B, and 13 before the Physical So- 
ciety. All but four were read. 

The prominent characteristic of the pa- 
pers presented was the care and thorough- 
ness with which the experimental work 
forming the basis of the communications 
had been carried out. In this we see the 
influence of the German University train- 
ing which so many of our physicists have 
received, but in addition to this there is su- 
peradded an ingenuity, and an adaptation 
of means to an end which is peculiarly 
American, and the result is a series of 
papers of the most admirable character. 

Possibly the paper which excited most 
general interest was that of Professor R. 
W. Wood, on the ‘ Photography of Sound 
Waves.’ The excellent photographs of the 
sound waves themselves, in practically 
every phase of transmission and reflection, 
and the kinetoscopic reproductions of their 
movement certainly marked an epoch in 
the history of the subject. A second paper 
‘On the application of the Schlieren method 
to the microscope,’ illustrated a method ap- 
parently destined to be of the greatest value. 

Another extremely valuable paper was 
that of Dr. Bedell, on ‘ Copper Saving in 


** American Mathematical Society paper. 


JULY 20, 1900. ] 


the Joint Transmission of Direct and Alter- 
nating Currents.’ The author showed that 
when direct and alternating currents are 
sent over the same line, each behaves as if 
the other were not there, and that thus the 
same line can be used for two separate sys- 
tems of transmission of energy, at the cost 
of asingleline. This would seem to remove 
the last objection to the general use of the 
alternating current system and it is probable 
that the method willbe extensively used. 

In a paper on the ‘Visible Radiation 
from Carbon,’ Professor Nichols brought 
out the surprising fact that the radiation 
from carbons of the types used in incan- 
descent lamp filaments is not, as has hitherto 
been generally assumed, of the same type 
as that from a perfectly black body, but 
that the radiation is selective, the radiation 
from that part of the spectrum between the 
red or the yellow being much greater than 
it isin the case of a black body. It thus 
becomes impossible to estimate the temper- 
ature of heated carbon from its radiation, 
but on the other hand a number of ques- 
tions of the greatest interest are opened up 
which we may hope Professor Nichols’ 
further researches will explain and which 
will result in considerable extensions to 
our knowledge of the subject. 

In a paper by Professors Guthe and 
Trowbridge on the ‘ Coherer,’ the authors 
find that their experiments on the properties 
of contacts can all be expressed by a single 
differential equation. A large number of 
facts are thus simply correlated, and a 
striking advance made in the theory of the 
subject. 

Of a paper by Frank Allen on the ‘ Effect 
upon the Persistence of Vision of Exposing 
the Hye to Light of Various Wave Lengths,’ 
in which a method suggested by Professor 
Nichols was used, it can only be said that 
it is one of those papers in regard to which, 
notwithstanding the apparent absence of all 
flaws in the admirable experimental work 


SCIENCE. 


107 


we are forced to reserve our opinion, since 
the results obtained are so utterly at vari- 
ance with our preconceived ideas. No 
one, for example, who has done much 
spectro-photometry, would have anticipated 
that it would have been possible to obtain 
color curves of subjects on different days 
to an accuracy of less than two per cent. 
Again, the fact, brought out by the author’s 
work, that an eye fatigued by yellow has its 
persistence altered for the red and green 
and not for the yellow which originally 


fatigued it, is apparently inconceivable. 


But it is one of the fine things of science 
that it is perpetually impressing upon us 
the fact that we do not know everything 
yet, even in those cases where we are apt to 
feel that we can be most positive, so that 
the truly scientific man must be, at the 
same time very conservative, and yet capa- 
ble of even greater efforts of mental gym- 
nastics than Alice’s White Queen, whom 
conscientious practice, in conjunction with 
shutting the eyes and breathing hard, had 
enabled to believe no less than six impossi- 
ble things before breakfast. And it is quite 
possible that further evidence will show 
that we must really change our precon- 
ceived ideas in regard to color in a number 
of important respects. Accepting the ex- 
perimental results, there would seem, as the 
author pointed out, no escape from the con- 
clusion that the three fundamental color 
sensations are those of the red, green and 
violet. This is a most important result, 
and is to a certain extent corroborated by 
Mr. Ives, who in the course of a charming 
exposition of his three color processes during 
the meeting, took occasion to point out that 
the only screens which gave satisfactory re- 
sults for such work were a red, a green and 
a blue-violet one. 

Another very valuable paper was that by 
Merritt, on ‘The Production of Kathode 
Rays by Ultra-Violet Light.’ A charged 
dise was illuminated by ultra-violet light, 


108 


and it was shown that negatively charged 
particles were thrown off which possessed 
the properties of the cathode rays in that 
they were reflectible by magnetism, carried 
negative charges and rendered air conduct- 
ing. Crookes theory of the nature of the 
eathode rays is thus abundantly fortified. 
Merritt’s Vice-Presidential address was on 
a similar subject, and evoked great interest. 

In a paper on ‘A New Theory of the Elec- 
tromagnetic Rotation of Light,’ the writer 
showed that whenever light is absorbed 
certain phase relations between the electric 


and magnetic forces and fluxes in the wave 


are shifted in such a way -as to make the 
plane of the wave rotate when placed in a 
magnetic field, and evidence was given 
tending to show that this is a sufficient and 
probable explanation of the phenomenon. 

A paper by Professor F. A. Bigelow on 
the method of reducing barometric observa- 
tion was unfortunately read by title only, as 
it seemed, from the abstract, to contain some 
very valuable suggestions and data. Two 
papers were read by Professor Franklin, 
one on ‘ Lecture Room Demonstrations of 
the Elementary Theory of Elasticity,’ in 
which some extremely ingenious methods 
of illustrating such phenomena were given ; 
the other a more abstract and mathematical 
paper upon ‘ The Flow of Energy round a 
Conducting Screen near a Current Sheet.’ 
Other papers read before this section were 
those of Anthony, ‘ An Observation upon 
the Surface Tension of Mercury’; Knipp, 
‘Surface Tension of Water above 100°’; 
Reed, ‘On Temperature Effects on a Tun- 
ing Fork’ (the last two containing a large 
amount of very valuable experimental 
data). Edward Atkinson read a paper on 
‘ The Diffusion of Light,’ treating the ques- 
tion from the standpoint of the manufac- 
turer’s and insurance company’s standpoint. 
As Mr. Atkinson’s work has been one 
of the chief determining factors in the 
method of lighting large factories in New 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


England and elsewhere, his remarks were 
of more than general interst. He brought 
out the interesting fact that, whilst fire 
losses in the days of gas had been very high, 
electric lighting, installed under the regu- 
lations which he and his companies had 
drawn up, had brought them down to al- 
most a negligible amount. The papers, 
‘The Percentage Bridge and its Applica- 
tions,’ by H. C. Parker; ‘ Power Curves 
from Alternating Current Circuits,’ by 
Rosa; ‘Circuit Breakers and Induction 
Coils’ and ‘Experiments in Electric Light- 
ing’ by the writer, covered various forms of 
apparatus. Some very beautiful photo- 
graphs of electrical discharges were shown 
by T. B. Kinraide, and though the section 
did not apparently agree at all with his 
theories, all were united in their apprecia- 
tion of the results obtained and of the ap- 
paratus used in their production. Other 
papers which may be mentioned are those 
by Professor Carhart ‘On the Thermody- 
namics of the Voltaic Cell’; C. H. Williams, 
‘On an Improved Lantern for Testing 
Color Perception’; A. D. Cole, ‘On the use 
of the Capillary Electrometer’ describing 
an interesting modification, much more 
sensitive than the usual form; and the 
paper by I. 8. Stevens, ‘On a Method for 
Measuring Surface Tension.’ Asa whole it 
will be seen that the standard of the papers 
read was of a very high order, and of more 
than usual interest. 

It will be impossible to more than men- 
tion a few of the papers which were read 
before the Physical Society: Reese, ‘On 
Zeeman Effect’; Potts, ‘On Electric Ab- 
sorption in Condensers’; Dorsey, ‘On the 
Polarization of the Solar Corona’; Nichols, 
‘Preliminary Tests on the Efficiency of 
Acetylene Flame as a means of Illumina- 
tion’; Tufts, ‘On Some Simple Apparatus 
for the Study of Aérial Vibration’; Knipp, 
“On the Use of the Bicycle Wheel in Illus- 
trating the Principles of the Gyroscope’; 


JULY 20, 1900. ] 


Rosa, ‘ On the Measurement of Alternating 
Electromotive Forces of High Potentials’; 
Bauer, ‘On the Results of Simultaneous 
Magnetic Observations made at various 
points on May 28,1900’ and Wood ‘Ona Mica 
Echelon Spectroscope Grating ’ are some of 
the titles, which show that the meeting of 
this Society was fully as successful as that 
of Section B. Dr. Bauer’s paper brought 
out the very interesting fact that at the 
time of the recent solar eclipse there was a 
distinct variation in the magnetic elements 
at a number of points on or near the line 
of totality, and that the change was not 
simultaneous, but depended upon the time 
of totality. 

To sum up, it may safely be said that the 
admirable papers and admirable surround- 
ings made the present meeting of the Sec- 
tion B one of the most enjoyable of recent 
years. R. A. FESSENDEN, 

Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Cell in Development and Inheritance. By 
Epmunp B. Witson. Columbia University 
Biological Series, Vol. IV. Second Edition. 
Revised and Enlarged. New York and Lon- 
don, The Macmillan Co. 1900. Pp. xxi-+ 
483, with 194 figuresin thetext. Price, $3.50. 
The appearance of the second edition of this 

already famous work gives occasion for calling 

attention not only to the changes which it has 
undergone, as contrasted with the first edition, 
but also to its general plan and character. 

At the present time the greatest problems of 
biology are those which center in the life of the 
animal and plant cell. Assimilation, growth, 
metabolism, reproduction, inheritance, develop- 
ment and even eyolution are subjects upon 
which the study of the cell has thrown a flood 
of light. The cell theory has indeed attained 
a prominence in modern biological work, second 
only to the evolution theory. The appearance, 
therefore, of a general work on the cell is of 
more than ordinary concern, not alone to the 
biologist, but also to all persons interested in 
the fundamental problems of biology. 


SCIENCE. 


109 


Professor Wilson’s work on the cell, the first 
edition of which appeared in 1896, at once took 
first rank among books on cytology. It is not 
only a general summary of the results of cell 
studies, but also a most important contribution 
to knowledge. The author has brought to- 
gether, under one point of view the very many 
isolated observations and frequently conflicting 
views of a multitude of writers. In this he 
has graciously and entirely avoided the old 
museum idea of collecting material without ref- 
erence to its use; although he touches upon 
almost every important work of modern times 
bearing upon the cell, yet the book is no mere 
encyclopedia of facts or theories—all is treated 
in a critical spirit as so much material to be 
builded into a system. The labor involved in 
this sifting of literature and collation of results 
must have been prodigious and all workers in 
these lines owe Professor Wilson a debt of grat- 
itude for the service which he has thus ren- 
dered. 

The general plan and scope of the second 
edition of this work remain unaltered ; in fact 
the subdivisions into chapters and sections re- 
main almost exactly the same as in the first 
edition. After an introduction in which is given 
a brief but suggestive sketch of the cell theory 
and its relation to the evolution theory, there 
follow in successive chapters: (1) A general 
sketch of cell structure; (2) cell-division; (8) 
the germ cells; (4) fertilization of the ovum ; 
(5) odgenesis and spermatogenesis, reduction 
of the chromosomes ; (6) some problems of cell 
organization ; (7) cell chemistry and cell phys- 
iology ; (8) cell division and development, and 
finally (9) some theories of inheritance and 
development. The volume also contains an 
excellent glossary, a general literature list, and 
indices of authors and subjects. 

The most important changes in the second 
edition are found in those chapters and sections 
which deal with the nature and functions of 
the centrosome. For the past ten years this 
has been one of the most perplexing problems 
of cytology. In 1887 both Van Beneden and 
Boveri maintained that the centrosome was an 
independent and permanent cell organ, and 
Boveri held that the most important event in 
the fertilization of the egg was the addition of 


110 


a centrosome to the egg cell, which before the 
entrance of the spermatozoon lacked a centro- 
some and was, therefore, incapable of division. 
Since then a large number of investigators have 
devoted attention to this subject with more or 
less conflicting results. In the first edition of 
his book on the Cell, Professor Wilson took a 
very positive stand in favor of the hypothesis 
of Yan Beneden and Boveri; in the present 
edition he takes the much safer ground that the 
problem is still an open and unsolved one. As 
to the origin of the cleavage centrosomes he 
suggests (p. 230 et passim) that Boveri’s hypo- 
thesis may still be maintained in a modified 
form if we assume that the sperm centrosome 
gives rise indirectly, through chemical stimuli, 
to the cleavage centrosomes. 

Other important changes are found in the 
treatment of the structure of protoplasm, the 
mechanics of mitosis, and chromatic reduction, 
while minor alterations are found on almost 
every page. There are about 100 additional 
pages and more than 50 new figures, while sev- 
eral old figures have been redrawn and im- 
proved. 

On the whole, the author’s temper is much 
more cautious and judicial than in the first edi- 
tion, while at the same time there is no loss of 
that enthusiasm which is the peculiar charm of 
his writing. The few erroneous statements of 
the first edition have been entirely rectified, 
and few, if any, new ones have crept in. 
Strange to say, however, the typographical 
errors have increased, though they are still few 
and for the most part unimportant. Too much 
praise cannot be given to the mechanical exe- 
cution of the work. The illustrations are of 
the highest type of excellence ; in fact it is no 
exaggeration to say that many of the figures 
are clearer and better than the originals 
(usually lithographs) from which they were 
taken. 

The book mark of the Columbia Biological 
Series has been changed from a mitotic figure in 
the metaphase to one in the anaphase, which 
fittingly symbolizes the passing of this work 
from a first to a second edition. Although one 
of the latest books in this field, this is the first 
general work on cytology to pass through a 
second edition. May it see still other editions, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XII. No. 290. 


telophases and yet other cycles of development, 
in the future ! 
EDWIN G. CONKLIN. 
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


North American Forests and Forestry, Their Re- 
lations to the National Life of the American 
People. By ERNEs! BRUNCKEN, Secretary 
of the late Wisconsin State Forestry Commis- 
sion. New York and London, G. P. Put- 
nam’s Sons. 1900. Pp. vi-+ 266. 

This work, which appeared early in the year, 
is a timely contribution to the much needed 
literature of forestry in North America. We 
have been so earnestly engaged in ridding the 
ground of the covering of trees which prevented 
us from ‘planting corn to feed to hogs, to sell 
for money, to buy more land, to plant more 
corn, to feed more hogs,’ etc., etc., that we 
have overlooked the fact that a forest is often 
the best crop which a given area can produce. 
With the disappearance of the great forest 
tracts we are learning the hard lesson that we 
have ‘ wasted our substance in riotous living,’ 
and as the thoughtless prodigal of old finally 
‘came to himself’ when he had spent all, so we 
are beginning to have different notions as to 
the value and importance of the heritage of 
trees which we so thoughtlessly wasted. This 
book is itself a result of this changed feeling. 
It is an attempt to treat the forest problems of 
the country as of such importance as to demand 
our most thoughtful consideration. 

Some idea of the scope of the book may be 
obtained from the titles of a few of the chapters: 
The North American Forest, The Forest and 
Man, The Forest Industries, Destruction and 
Deterioration, Forestry and Government; For- 
estry and Taxation ; Reform in Forestry Meth- 
ods, Forestry as a Profession, etc. In the 
treatment of these topics the author discusses 
each with liberality, and is not given to urging 
his particular theory upon the reader’s atten- 
tion. In fact the book is very largely a calm 
discussion of forestry questions, and it is singu- 
larly free from long statements of the author’s 
particular theories as to the proper solution of 
the problems in hand. 

It should have a large sale throughout the 
country and should be found in every public 


JuLy 20, 1906. ] 


library. Some one ought to make the experi- 
ment of using it as a suppiementary reader in 


the high schools. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


Catalogue of the Flora of Montana and the Yellow- 
stone National Park. By PER AXEL RYDBERG, 
Ph.D. New York. 1900. 8vo. Pp. xii+492. 
This fine volume, which is issued as the first 

volume of the Memoirs of the New York 

Botanical Garden, appeared early in the year, 

bearing date of. February 15, 1900. It is the 

result of several seasons of work done in the 
field by the author as collector for the United 

States Department of Agriculture and the New 

York Botanical Garden. When he came to 

work up these collections he found that the 

flora of Montana was but little known, and ac- 
cordingly he availed himself of all the acces- 
sible material of previous collectors. The final 
result is a list of 1976 species and varieties of 

Pteridophyta and Spermatophyta, of which 

776 are not recorded in Coulter’s ‘Manual of 

the Rocky Mountain Region,’ and 163 are new 

to science. 

The treatment of the subject is liberal, and 
we have here much more than the old-fash- 
ioned list which has all but disappeared from 
botanical literature. The nomenclature is 
modern, of course, and authorities and descrip- 
tions are so freely cited that no one need have 
any difficulty in certainly identifying all of the 
species and varieties included. Habitat and 
locality notes are given with much fullness, 
and in nearly every case herbarium specimens 
are particularly indicated by numbers, the only 
exception being in those cases where the 
species had been authoritatively reported in 
standard works. The selection of type, the 
size of page, and quality of paper all con- 
tribute to the finish of the work for which the 
author supplied so well wrought a text. 

The work includes 42 Pteridophytae, 21 Gym- 
nospermae, 423 Monocotyledones, and 1490 
Dicotyledones. The large families are Poly- 
podiaceae (22 species), Pinaceae (20), Gramineae 
(191), Cyperaceae (105), Juncaceae (23), Lili- 
aceae (28), Orchidaceae (22), Salicaceae (29), 
Chenopodiaceae (50), Amaranthaceae(27), Alsin- 


SCIENCE. 


111 


aceae (34), Ranunculaceae (71), Crucifereae (76), 
Saxifragaceae (35), Rosaceae (84), Papilionaceae 
(122), Onagraceae (43), Umbellifereae (41), Pri- 
mulaceae (24), Polemoniaceae (39), Boraginaceae 
(40), Scrophulariaceae (93), Compositeae, in- 
cluding Ambrosiaceae and Cichoriaceae (357). 
That much work is yet to be done in this 
region may be seen from the author’s remark 
in the preface that ‘‘the area east of the 108th 
meridian on the south side of the Missouri 
River, and of the 112th meridian on the north 
side is practically unexplored botanically,’’ in 
fact it appears that it is only the mountain 
regions that have been fairly well explored. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


The Agricultural Experiment (Stations in the 
United States. By A. C. TRUE and VY. A. 
CLARK. U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin No. 
80. Pp. 686, pls. 153. 

This book was prepared as a part of the ex- 
hibit of the American Agricultural Experiment 
Stations at the Paris Exposition. Itis an ex- 
haustive treatise on the history, work, and 
present status of the experiment stations in 
general and of the fifty-six stations individually, 
profusely illustrated with half-tones showing 
the buildings, plats, laboratories, herds, etc., 
of the different stations. It opens with an ac- 
count of the general agricultural conditions of 
the United States as related to the work of the 
stations, dividing the country into six general 
regions. The part devoted to the history of 
the stations includes an account of the early 
experimental work carried on by the agricul- 
tural colleges and other institutions prior to the 
establishment of experiment stations supported 
by State appropriation. The first of these sta- 
tions was located at Middletown, Conn., in 
1875, and was afterwards removed to New 
Haven, where it continues in operation. The 
movement to secure Federal aid for experiment 
stations, resulting in the passage of the Hatch 
Act in 1887, and the development of the sta- 
tions under the Hatch Act are reviewed. There 
are now fifty-six stations in operation, includ- 
ing those in Alaska and Hawaii, fifty-two of 
which receive Federal aid. 


‘ 


112 


The relations of the stations to the general 
government through the Department of Agri- 
culture, their equipment, and lines of work are 
discussed at considerable length. Some of the 
more important general results of the work of 
the stations are briefly noted under the follow- 
ing headings: (1) Introduction of new agricul- 
tural methods, crops, or industrtes, and the de- 
velopment of those already existing; (2) the 
removal of obstacles to agricultural industries ; 
(8) defense of the farmer against fraud ; (4) aid 
to the passage or administration of laws for the 
benefit of agriculture ; and (5) educational re- 
sults of station work. Brief as this summary 
necessarily is, it brings outin a striking manner 
the wide range of usefulness of experiment 
stations to the farming community, touching 
nearly every phase of agricultural operation 
from the seeding and culture of the crop to its 
utilization in feeding for beef, pork, lamb or 
milk production, or in the arts. It points also 
to the great benefits which have already re- 
sulted in particular lines, as in the improve- 
ment of the dairy industry, which has been 
practically revolutionized, and is held by the 
authors to be ‘‘the most important genera! re- 
sult of experiment station work ’’; the mainte- 
nance of soil fertility by the economical use of 
fertilizers and green manures ; the introduction 
of new crops, as Kafir corn, rape and Manshury 
barley; and the prevention of the ravages of 
a long list of injurious insects and diseases. 
And finally it brings out very forcibly the influ- 
ence which the stations have had in arousing 
widespread interest in the various forms of agri- 
cultural education—a phase of the station work 
which is often underestimated. This influence 
has been exerted through the vast amount of 
literature distributed by the stations in the form 
of bulletins and reports, which go regularly into 
more than half a million homes and libraries, 
through other writings and correspondence of 
the station workers, their addresses at farmers’ 
institutes, and the intimate association of the 
stations with institutions for higher education. 
“No nation has ever attempted the free dissem- 
ination of agricultural information in so wide 
and thorough a way as has the United States, 
and it is believed that the results have justified 
the large expenditures which have been made 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Voz. XII. No. 290. 


for this purpose. * * * The stations are not 
only giving the farmer much information which 
will enable him to improve his practice of agri- 
culture, but they are also leading him to a more 
intelligent conception of the problem with which 
he has to deal, and of the methods he must pur- 
sue to successfully perform his share of the 
work of the community and hold his rightful 
place in the commonwealth.’”? Asa result of 
the intimate associations of the stations with 
institutions for higher education, ‘‘ the peda- 
gogical possibilities of instruction in the science 
and practice of agriculture have been more 
clearly revealed, and the claims of agricultural 
science have increasingly gained the respect 
and attention of scientists working in other 
lines. There is now in this country a much 
keener appreciation than heretofore of the fact 
that the problems of agriculture furnish ade- 
quate opportunity for the exercise of the most 
thorough scientific attainments and the highest 
ability to penetrate the mysteries of nature.”’ 

The larger part of the volume is devoted of 
accounts of the individual stations, and of the 
Office of Experiment Stations at Washington, 
which constitutes a part of the general system. 
These accounts, although condensed, are quite 
complete, and aside from giving the history, 
equipment and lines of work of the station, con- 
tain many interesting notes on its more im- 
portant and successful investigations, evidences 
of usefulness, and reference to general results 
which have been of greatest benefit to the agri- 
culture of the State. 

An appendix contains an account of the in- 
spection work of the stations (fertilizers, foods 
and feeding stuffs, apparatus for milk testing, 
nursery stock, animal diseases, etc.), with the 
principal features of the laws under which it is 
carried on ; the general statistics of the Amer- 
ican stations ; alist of the publications issued by 
them since their organization ; a list of books 
published by experiment station workers; and 
a catalogue of the experiment station exhibit at 
the Paris Exposition. 

The chief regret in connection with this book 
is the small edition to which it was limited, 
which precludes its general distribution, even 
among experiment station workers. It is hoped 
that Congress will see fit to authorize a reprint, 


Tuy 20, 1900.] 


so that it may be distributed to those most en- 
titled to it, and placed on sale like other gov- 


ernment publications. 
E. W. ALLEN. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE American Journal of Science for July 
contains the following articles : 

‘Energy of the Cathode Rays,’ by W. G. Cady. 

“Volcanic Rocks from Temiscouata Lake,’ Quebec, 
by H. E. Gregory. 

“Tnterpretation of Mineral Analysis: a Criticism 
of recent Articles on the Constitution of Tourmaline,’ 
by S. L. Penfield. 

‘Studies in the Cyperaceae, No. XIII,’ by T. Holm. 

‘Titration of Mercury by Sodium Thiosulphate,’ 
by J. T. Norton, Jr. 

‘Selenium Interference Rings,’ by A. C. Longden. 

‘Carboniferous Bowlders from India,’ by B. K. 
Emerson. 

‘New Bivalve from the Connecticut River Trias,’ 
by B. K. Emerson. 

“Statement of Rock Analyses,’ by H. S. Washing- 
ton. 

“String Alternator,’ by K. Honda and S. Shimizu. 

“Action of Light on Magnetism,’ by J. H. Hart. 


THE June number of the Bulletin of the 
American Mathematical Society contains the fol- 
lowing articles: ‘Report of the April meeting 
of the Society,’ by the Secretary ; ‘ Report of the 
April meeting of the Chicago Section,’ by T. F. 
Holgate, Secretary of the Section; ‘On the 
history of the extensions of the calculus,’ by J. 
G. Hagen ; Burnside’s ‘Theory of groups,’ by 
G. A. Miller; Shorter notices: D’Ocagne’s 
‘Treatise on nomography,’ by F. Morley ; Bar- 
ton’s ‘Theory of equations,’ by J. Maclay ; 
Rice’s ‘Theory and practice of interpolation,’ 
by E. W. Brown; Braummihl’s ‘ History of 
trigonometry,’ and Boyer’s ‘ History of mathe- 
matics,’ by F. Cajori; and Frischauf’s ‘ Series 
incireular and spherical functions,’ by W. B. 
Ford; ‘Notes’; ‘New Publications.’ 

The July number, concluding Vol. VI. of the 
Bulletin, contains: ‘Some remarks on tetra- 
hedral geometry,’ by H. E. Timerding ; ‘On 
singular transformations in real projective 
groups,’ by H. B. Newson ; ‘ On groups of order 
81/2, by Ida M. Schottenfels; Lobachevsky’s 
Geometry’ (second paper), by F. S. Woods; 
‘Burkhart’s Elliptic functions,’ by J. Pierpont; 


SCIENCE. 


113 


‘Erratum’; ‘Notes’; ‘New Publications’; 
‘Ninth annual list of papers read before the 
Society and subsequently published,’ ‘ Index.’ 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 
LITERATURE. 


To THE EDITOR oF ScieNcE: The following 
criticism has been sent to me of the last sched- 
ule published by the Royal Society for the In- 
ternational Catalogue : 

‘“Take for example, paleontology, the intro- 
duction states that the zoological subdivisions 
are identical with those of the zoological scheme, 
but so hasty is the compilation that the old 
scheme of three years ago has been republished 
quite forgetful of the fact that it was long since 
given up and replaced by a totally different 
one. Had one ever classified titles by this 
scheme, the complete want of accord would 
have at once appeared. On p. 14 of the zo- 
ological scheme is a half page of misprints, 
which could not have been overlooked had the 
scheme served for experiments, ‘Fauna and 
Flora’ stands as a division of human anatomy, 
evidently through some carelessness of copy- 
ing; topics are wanting in abundance and the 
same topic recurs 3 or even 4 times. Indeed in 
spite of all the good counsel given and the two 
years that have been taken, these last schemes 
simply swarm with errors, from fundamental 
ones to mere careless misprints * * *.’’ 

It hardly seems possible that this schedule, 
so regardless of the best principles of biblio- 
graphical work, and so illogical in its classifica- 
tion can receive the general support which is 
necessary to make it a financial success. We 
all welcome the idea of international co-opera- 
tion as the only means out of the impasse of 
over crowded literature, but before we can com- 
bine we must have put before us a scheme 
which is practicable. 

HENRY F. OsBorN. 


THE CALLOSITIES UPON HORSES’ LEGS. 


To THE EDITOR OF ScIENcE: I shall feel 
very much obliged to any of your readers who 
will furnish me with any hypotheses concerning 
the origin of the callosities upon the legs of 
horses and mules, and upon the fore-legs of 


114 


asses. The idea that they are the remnant of 
the inner toe is, in my opinion, untenable, 
chiefly because this toe has been the first to dis- 


appear in all ungulates. 
LAWRENCE IRWELL. 


BuFFALO, N. Y., July 15, 1900. 


TRANSMISSIBILITY OF ACQUIRED CHARACTERS. 


To THE Epiror or ScreNcE With refer- 
ence to the difficulties in the way of such 
heredity mentioned by Professor Sedgwick in 
his address printed in your issue of the 6th of 
this month, would not modifications induced 
by diet during a whole lifetime have the great- 
est chance of being transmitted and becoming 
permanent in the race? By such experiment 
would not the reproductive cells be equally 
affected with the rest? These modifications 
could be influential during the whole lifetime, 
commencing even in the embryonic and ante- 
natal stages. Thus the influence of ancestral 
and homochronous heredity would be, as far as 
possible, obviated. ‘T'o learn if such a test has 
ever been attempted, and for any particulars, I 


should be much obliged. 
©, Ch tSh 


23 Up. BEDFORD PLACE, LONDON, W. C. 
June 29, 1900. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE WEATHER 
BUREAU. 


Vot. I. of the annual Report of the Chief of the 
Weather Bureau has been issued. This volume 
contains the monthly and annual summaries for 
1898, with the customary administrative report. 
In the latter, special attention is given to the 
West Indian service of the Weather Bureau. 
The following points seem worthy of note. In 
connection with the river and flood service it is 
stated that ‘‘ during the next two years, if suffi- 
cient funds are available for the purpose, it is 
proposed to prepare a comprehensive work on 
the entire navigable water régime, giving a 
complete history of all river stations, elevations 
above tide-water, rate of flow of water, and 
data for flood forecasting.’’ The health of the 
men in the West Indian division is stated to 
have been remarkably good. ‘‘ Although al- 
most all have suffered more or less from trop- 


SCIENCE. 


{N. 8. Von. XII. No. 290. 


ical fevers, and the debilitating effects of the 
climate, yet the continuity of observation has 
been interrupted by sickness only at Santiago.”’ 


THE AURORA AUSTRALIS. 


In Ciel et Terre for May 16th, Arctowski pub- 
lishes a short paper on his observations of the 
aurora australis made during the recent trip of 
the Belgica. There were in all 62 observa- 
tions. The phenomenon generally appeared 
between 7 p. m. and 2a. m., the maximum in- 
tensity coming most frequently between 9 and 
10 p. m. The maximum frequency did not 
come during the months of polar night, and the 
intensity was manifestly greatest at the equi- 
noxes. Arctowski finds a striking similarity in 
the appearance of the aurora borealis as ob- 
served by Nordenskiold on the Vega in 1878— 
79, and described by him, and the aurora au- 
stralis as observed on the Belgica expedition. 


R. DEC. WARD. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


NOTES ON OCEANOGRAPHY. 
THE DANISH ‘INGOLF’ EXPEDITION. 


SINCE the publication of Mohn’s great work 
on the results of the Norwegian Atlantic Expe- 
dition, the most important contribution to our 
knowledge of hydrographic conditions in the 
North Atlantic has doubtless been Knudsen’s 
recent memoir (The Danish Ingolf Expedition, 
Vol. I., Part 1, Copenhagen, 1899). Knudsen 
has made a substantial improvement on the 
Negretti-Zambra deep-sea thermometer. While 
salinity determinations are of first importance 
in establishing the relations between the waters 
of the Gulf Stream Drift and Arctic cur- 
rents, it is interesting to note that he did not 
use the hydrometer except as a check, but re- 
lied exclusively on the use of the chlorine co- 
efficient, calculating the total salts from the 
amount of chlorine found in each water-sample 
by titration. He agrees with Pettersson that 
this convenient method gives the most accurate 
results. The gas analyses are especially nu- 
merous and valuable. The content of nitrogen 
has been used, in connection with temperature, 
to distinguish polar and Gulf stream water ; 
the degree of ‘supersaturation’ of the surface- 
water with oxygen has been found to be in pro- 


JuLY 20, 1900. ] 


portion to the abundance of diatoms and vege- 
table plankton in general, thus confirming the 
laboratory experiments of Knudsen on this sub- 
ject. The ‘Irminger’ current of Nordenskiold 
hag been delimited more clearly than heretofore; 
it follows the ‘ Reykjanaes Ridge,’ skirts the 
southwest and west shore of Iceland, and then 
divides into two branches, one of which, turn- 
ing to the southwest, completes the circuit ef a 
large eddy that centers southwest of Iceland 
and is characterized by the cyclonic type of ro- 
tation. The other branch runs northward, 
hugging the Iceland coast, then eastward, and, 
north of the center of the island, dives beneath 
the surface. The complex stratification of the 
water east of this point, as well as in Denmark 
Sound and in Baffin’s Bay, is illustrated in the 
memoir by a large number of sections. Petters- 
son reproduces some of these in his helpful dis- 
cussion on recent works on this portion of the 
ocean (Petermann’s Mittheilungen, pp. 1 and 25, 
1900). 
CURRENTS IN THE NORTH SBA. 

Dr. T. W. Futon, the scientific superin- 
tendent of the Fishery Board for Scotland, has 
reported on the success which has attended his 
experiments with numerous bottle-floats to de- 
termine the currents of the North Sea. (Fif- 
teenth Ann. Rep., Pt. III.) The circulation 
throughout the year seems to be that of a single 
great current which rounds the northern end of 
Scotland, turns southward, skirting the eastern 
coast of England to Yorkshire, and then turns 
eastward to the Danish shore, where it as- 
sumes a northerly trend. Part of the water 
enters the Skagerrack, but most of it goes to 
form the well-known coastal current of South- 
west Norway. The explanation of this curved 
path is one of the problems which Dr. Fulton 
has set himself. The prevailing and dominant 
west and northwest wind cannot be the imme- 
diate motor, since it blows almost at right 
angles to the current with its north and south 
trends in British and Danish waters. Yet the 
wind is regarded as the indirect cause of mo- 
tion. In the southeast portion of the sea there 
is banking of water by wind stress. Escape for 
the surplus water is impossible through the 
Strait of Dover on account of the small size of 
that opening, and a movement is instituted 


SCIENCE. 


115 


along the steeper surface gradient toward the 
north along the Danish shore. The remainder 
of the current curve is explained in largest part 
as the result of compensation of the movement 
just described. The earth’s rotation may be 
accorded some share in turning the Gulf Stream 
water around the northern capes of Scotland, 
and in causing the clinging of the North Sea 
current so near to the shore as is actually the 
ease. The influence of tidal streams is ex- 
cluded by Dr. Fulton, chiefly on the ground 
that, on the east coast of Great Britain, the 
north-flowing ebb is stronger than the south- 
flowing flood. 


THE GULF STREAM DRIFT. 


Doers the Gulf Stream Drift persist on the 
surface at all seasons of the year through the 
Norwegian Sea? This question, so important 
to Norwegian fisheries, has, according to Hjort 
and Gran, been definitely settled. (Report on 
the Norwegian Marine Investigations, 1895-97, 
Bergen, 1899.) During the winter the rela- 
tively warm and dense ‘Atlantic’ water is 
partly displaced by the strengthened Arctic 
current which runs southeast past the east coast 
of Iceland, but does not reach the Shetlands. 
On the approach of summer the polar water re- 
tires from the surface and is not found south of 
Iceland. This annual periodicity in the Gulf 
Stream Drift is accompanied by changes of 
greater amplitude in time, but their laws have 
not yet been formulated. Detailed observa- 
tions on the plankton organisms show that 
their occurrence has likewise a marked annual 
periodicity which is associated with that of the 
currents. Further proofs of a similar relation 
subsisting between the herring fisheries and 
current variations of periods ranging from one 
to several years, have recently been published 
by Pettersson and Ekman as one result of the 
international researches of 1894 and 1895 in the 
North Sea (Bihang till k. Svenska Vet.-Akad. 
Handl. 1890 Bd. 25, Afd. II, No. 1.) 


HYDROGRAPHY AND FAUNAS OF SPITZBERGEN 
COAST WATERS. 

A PRELIMINARY review of the material col- 
lected by the German Expedition to the North 
Polar Seas in 1898 has afforded some interesting 
conclusions as to the conditions of life in the 


116 


waters about Spitzbergen (see Fauna Arctica 
edited by F. Romer and F. Schaudinn, Vol. 1, 
Jena, 1900). On the eastern side of the island 
the fauna is richer, species and individuals more 
numerous than on the west coast ; in the for- 
mer tract, moreover, the fauna is markedly 
benthonic, in the latter planktonic. These con- 
tracts are referred to the action of currents. 
While Gulf Stream water occupies the sea west 
and north of Spitzbergen it is intimately mixed 
with the cold water of the polar current on 
the east. In this zone of mixture the steno- 
thermic and stenohalinic organisms of the plank- 
ton are killed, and thus furnish an abundant 
rain of food for the bottom forms. So thickly 
planted were the hydroids and bryozoa that at 
times the heavy dredge did not penetrate to 
the true bottom at all, but came up full of these 
organisms. A table of hydrographical obser- 
vations appears in the narrative of the voyage. 
REGINALD A. DALY. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


A NEW STAR IN AQUILA. 

FROM an examination of the Draper Memorial 
photographs, Mrs. Fleming has discovered a 
new star in the constellation Aquila. Its posi- 
tion for 1900 is R. A. —19» 15™ 168, Dec. = 
—0°19’.2. It was too faint to be photographed 
on 96 plates taken between August 21, 1886, and 
November 1, 1898, although starsas faint as the 
thirteenth magnitude are visible on some of 
them. It appears on 18 photographs taken 
between April 21, 1899, and October 27, 1899. 
On April 21st it was of the seventh magnitude, 
and on October 27, 1899, of the tenth magni- 
tude. Two photographs taken on July 7, and 
July 9, 1900, show that the star is still visible, 
and that its photographic magnitude is about 
11.5. A photograph taken on July 3, 1899, 
shows that its spectrum resembled those of 
other new stars, while a photograph taken on 
October 27, 1899, shows that the spectrum re- 
sembled those of gaseous nebule. 

On July 9, 1900, the object was observed with 
the 15-inch Equatorial by Professor Wendell, 
who estimated its magnitude as 11.5 to 12.0, 
and confirmed the monochromatic character of 
its spectrum. E. C. PICKERING. 

HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 290. 


THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A BUREAU OF 
CHEMISTRY. 

THE following resolutions have been ap- 
proved by Council of the American Chemical 
Society : : 

WHEREAS, the laws of the several states 
controlling food adulterations are largely inef- 
fective because of the interference of interstate 
commerce laws, and can be made effective only 
through national legislation, 

AND WHEREAS, by bills now pending in the 
Congress of the United States and particularly 
by bills numbered H. R. 9677 and Senate 2426, 
it is proposed to establish in the United States 
Department of Agriculture a bureau of chemis- 
try, the director of which shall, under the di- 
rection of the secretary of agriculture, be 
charged with the chemical investigation of the 
foods produced and consumed throughout the 
country. 

Therefore be it resolved by the Council of the 
American Chemical Society that the Congress 
of the United States be, and is hereby, urged to 
promptly enact into law the said bills, namely 
H. R. 9677, and Senate 2426, and provide ade- 
quate facilities for effective prosecution of the 
provisions of the said bills. 

Resolved, further, that a copy of this reso- 
lution be forwarded to the president of the 
United States Senate; to the speaker of the 
House of Representatives ; to the chairman of 
the Committees on Agriculture and on Com- 
merce and Manufactures of the Senate of the 
United States; to the chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Interstate Commerce of the House of 
Representatives ; to the secretary of agricul- 
ture, who shall be charged with the enforce- 
ment of the provisions of said bills, and to the 
presiding officers of the various sections of the 
Society, urging their co-operation in the move- 
ment to secure the establishment of the bureau 
of chemistry, which shall be charged with the 
scientific and chemical work required in the 
enforcement of the provisions of the said bills. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

M. GIARD has been elected a member of the 
Paris Academy of Sciences in the section of 
anatomy and physiology in the room of the late 
Milne-Edwards. He received 30 votes, 16 


JuLy 20, 1900. ] 


being cast for M. Delage and 12 for M. Vail- 
lant. M. Dwelshauvers-Dery has been elected 
a correspondent for the seetion of mechanics 
and M. Oehlert for the section of mineralogy. 


THE Berlin Geographical Society has elected 
honorary members as follows: Mr. Alexander 
Agassiz, Gen. A. W. Greely, U. S. A., Mr. 
_ Morris K. Jesup, President of the American 
Museum of Natural History, Professor James 
Geikie, and Professor Bidal de la Blache of 
Paris. The Society has conferred the gold and 
silver Karl Ritter medals on Dr. V. Semenoff of 
St. Petersburg and Dr. Hans Steffen of Santiago, 
Chile, respectively, and the gold and silver 
Gustay Nachtigal medals on Dr. W. Bornhardt 
of Clausthal and Dr. Hans Meyer of Leipzig. 
The Georg Neumayer medal, this year awarded 
for the first time, was bestowed upon Dr. Boer- 
gen of Wilhelmshaven. 


THE Balbi- Valier prize (3000 fr.) of the Vene- 
tian Institute of Sciences has been awarded to 
Professor Grassi at Rome, for his work on the 
relation of mosquitoes to malaria. 


THE Paris Academy of Moral and Political 
Sciences has awarded its Audifred prize of the 
value of 15,000 fr. to Dr. Yersin for the dis- 
covery of his anti-plague serum. 


THE Royal Society of Edinburgh has elected 
the following to honorary membership: Pro- 
fessor Dr. G. F. Fitzgerald (Dublin), Professor 
Andrew Russell Forsyth (Cambridge), Pro- 
fessor Archibald Liversidge (Sydney), Dr. T. 
E. Thorpe (London), Professor Dr. Arthur 
Auwers (Berlin), Professor Wilhelm His (Leip- 
zig), and Professor A. von Baeyer (Munich). 


PROFESSOR FREDINAND Y. RICHTHOFEN has 
been appointed director of the new museum of 
oceanography at Berlin, and Dr. P. Dinse of 
Charlottenburg has been called to fill the posi- 
tion of curator. 


WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY has con- 
ferred the degree of LL.D. on Mr. Charles F. 
Brush of Cleveland. 


WE take the following items from the Amer- 
ican Geologist: Mr. Alexander N. Winchell of 
Minneapolis, who has been the last two years 
studying at Paris in the laboratories of Profes- 
sors Lacroix and Hautefeuille, has been elected 


SCIENCE. 


WAL 


professor of zoology and mineralogy in The 
New Montana School of Mines, Butte, Mon- 
tana, and will return in time for the opening of 
the School in September. Professor J. E. Wolff 
of Harvard University who spent the larger 
part of last winter studying in Germany is ex- 
pected to return to America during the latter 
part of August. Dr. H. Foster Bain, recently 
assistant State geologist of Iowa, has under- 
taken a reconnoissance of the zine field at Jop- 
lin, Mo., for the U. 8. Geological Survey. 


Dr. A. L. Bisnop, of Buffalo, has been given 
charge of the Department of Archzology and 
Ethnology to which the Pan-American Expo- 
sition at Buffalo is paying special attention. 


THE English astronomer Royal Mr. W. H. H. 
Christie gave a reception at Greenwich Observa- 
tory, on July 2d, at which the equipment of 
the Observatory was viewed by a number of 
visitors. 

WE regret to record the death of Dr. John 
Ashhurst, Jr., until last year professor of sur- 
gery in the University of Pennsylvania, and 
the author of many important contributions to 
surgery and medicine. He died from paralysis, 
in Philadelphia, on July 7th, aged 61 years. 


Sik RoBERT MURDOCH SMITH, major-general 
of the Royal Engineers, and since 1885 direc- 
tor of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and 
Art, died on July 3d, at the age of 65 years. 
He had been engaged with Sir Charles New- 
ton’s archeological expedition to Halicarnassus, 
had conducted explorations in Cyrenicia and 
had charge of the. Persian telegraphs. 

Mr. GEoRGE WorKMAN Dickson, colonial 
engineer of British Guinea, died at sea on June 
10th. 

Tur New York Board of Estimate and Ap- 
portionment has authorized the expenditure of 
$200,000 for the Botanical Garden and $150,000 
for an addition to the American Museum of 
Natural History. 

WE have already stated that the magnificent 
collection of jewels arranged by Mr. George F. 
Kunz and exhibited by Messrs. Tiffany & Co. 
at the Paris Exposition has been presented to 
the American Museum of Natural History. It 
is now known that the donor is Mr. J. Pierre-— 


118 


pont Morgan. This collection will be incor- 
porated with the Tiffany-Morgan collection of 
gems presented to the American Museum of 


Natural History in 1899, and which formed the 


Tiffany collection of gems at the 1889 Exposi- 
tion. The entire collection will be placed in a 
hall now being prepared for it in the new wing 
of the museum. 


MILNE EDWARDs has by his will bequeathed 
his library to the Paris Jardin des Plantes of 
which he was the director. It is to be sold and 
the proceeds to be applied toward the endow- 
ment of the chair of zoology which he held. 
He also leaves 20,000 fr. to the Geographical 
Society, of which he was president, for the 
establishment of a prize, and $10,000 to the 
Société des amis des sciences. 


TRINITY COLLEGE library has received from 
Dr. G. W. Russell a complete copy of Audubon’s 
‘Birds of America.’ There are believed to be 
about 175 copies of the work about half of 
which are in America. 


THE University of Barcelona has employed 
M. Benlliure, an eminent Spanish sculptor, to 
make a bust in bronze of M. de Lacaze-Duthiers 
in recognition of his services to zoology and his 
hospitality to foreigners who have worked in 
the marine laboratories established by him. 
The bust is now exhibited at the Paris Exposi- 
tion and will be presented by members of the 
University of Barcelona to M. de Lacaze- 
Duthiers in the buildings of the University of 
Paris during the present month. 

THE bronze monument in honor of Lavoisier 
by M. Barras will be unveiled at Paris on the 
27th of the present month. The international 
subscription to the monument now amounts to 
$20,000. The monument in addition to the 
bronze statue of Lavoisier contains twe bas- 
reliefs, one representing Lavoisier in his labora- 
tory dictating to his wife, and the other Lavoi- 
sier explaining his discoveries to the Paris 
Academy of Sciences. 

THE British Medical Journal states that a 
monument has been erected to the memory of 
Dr. Jean Hameau, the obscure general practi- 
tioner of the Gironde who in 1836 published a 
study on viruses, in which he partly anticipated 
the discoveries of Pasteur. The statue was 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 290. 


unveiled recently at La Teste de Buch, where 
Hameau practiced. Addresses were delivered 
by Dr. Laude, the Mayor of Bordeaux and 
President of the Medical Syndicates Union of 
France, Professor Lannelongue of Bordeaux 
and others. Hameau was born in 1779, and 
died in 1851. 


THE Conference on Malaria which the Liver- _ 
pool School of Tropical Medicine had arranged 
to hold at the end of July, has been postponed 
on account of the date suggested clashing with 
the celebration of the Centenary of the Royal 
College of Surgeons of England and with other 
arrangements. 


A NEW physiological society has been estab | 
lished in Vienna with Professor S. Exner as 
president. 


The Ohio Geological Survey has been reor- 
ganized by the new State Geologist, Edward 
Orton, Jr., and is now as follows: Edward’ 
Orton, Jr., State Geologist, Economic Work in 
Cement and Clay Industries ; Charles8. Prosser, 
Assistant Geologist, Stratigraphical and Areal 
Geology; John A. Bownocker, Assistant Geol- 
ogist, Hconomic Work in Oil and Gas; Na- 
thaniel W. Lord, Consulting Chemist, Hconomic 
Value of Ohio Coals ; C. Newton Brown, Special 
Assistant, Uses of Portland Cement; Albert V. 
Bleininger, Assistant, Manufacture of Portland 
Cement; Ralph W. Nauss, Assistant in Chem- 
ical Laboratory. This summer Professor Orton 
and two assistants are fitting up apparatus for 
testing cements and he will spend some time in 
the field in Ohio and in visiting the leading 
cement works of other States. Professor Bow- 
nocker is studying the occurrence of oil and 
natural gas in eastern Ohio; and Professor 
Prosser is carrying on some stratigraphical field 
work in the Devonian and Carboniferous 
systems. 


THE members of the Palisades Commission 
of the States of New York and New Jersey 
made a tour of inspection on July 18th. It 
will be remembered that these Commissioners 
have power to select the land along the Pali- 
sades which could be used for establishing a 
park and preserving the beauty of the rocks. 
The park must, however, not approach nearer 
the river than 150 feet. No funds are provided 


JuLY 20, 1900.] 


for the purchase of the land, but the Commis- 
sioners may receive gifts and bequests. 


SECRETARY HERBERT L. BRIDGMAN, of the 
Peary Arctic Club, left on July 12th, for Syd- 
ney, ©. B., to superintend the departure, of 
the club steamer Windward for North Green- 
land, and if advisable, to take charge of the 
expedition. The Windward carries a full cargo 
of American flour, oil and sugar, Dominion 
coal and English pemmican, Maine lumber, 
New Bedford whaleboats and Mauser rifles 
from Santiago and will proceed as rapidly asice 
and other conditions will permit to Peary’s 
headquarters at Etah. The mail expected 
from the Norwegian friends of the Fram-Sver- 
drup expedition has not arrived, and the relief 
promised for the Robert Stein party landed last 
year, near Cape Sabine, has entirely failed to 
materialize. The fate of Stein and his compan- 

-ions depends upon the Windward. 


Two volumes of the evidence before The 
British Indian Plague Commission have been is- 
sued. They contain a largeamountof testimony 
and numerous reports on preventive inocula- 
tion, and other subjects, but the report of the 
Commissioners has not yet been issued. 


A MEETING was held at Liverpool on June 
25th under the auspices of the School of Trop- 
ical Medicine at which the following resolutions 
were adopted : 


1. That this meeting of the Liverpool School of 
Tropical Medicine and others, having heard the views 
of the experts of the School on the conditions for 
Europeans of life in the tropics, are strongly of opin- 
ion that steps should be immediately taken by Her 
Majesty’s Government to improve those conditions in 
every possible direction by the segregation of Huro- 
peans, improved sanitation, better water supply, 
clearance of bush near towns, light railways to the 
mountainous districts, and such other means as science 
may direct. 2. That the Liverpool Chamber of Com- 
merce be requested to co-operate with the School, and 
to ask the Government to receive a joint deputation 
on the subject. 

Addresses on the subject were made by Pro- 
fessor Robert Boyce, Major Ronald Ross and 
Professor Flexner. 


ACCORDING to a cablegram to the daily papers, 
the first authoritative report on Count Zeppelin’s 
airship was made on July 10th at a meeting of the 


SCIENCE. 


119 


society for the promotion of aérial navigation 
by experts who either shared in or watched the 
recent experiment. They declared that im- 
provements in the steering apparatus were nec- 
essary, the one at present used having been 
thrown out of gear on one side of the balloon, 
rendering its proper guidance and return to the 
starting point impossible. The steering rods 
running upward from the car were too weak 
and became bent. The screw blades conse- 
quently did not respond properly. The air 
pressure motors failed, but it was difficult to 
say whether this was caused by a defect or by 
bad handling. The method of transmitting 
power to the screws will need great improve- 
ment to enable the airship to contend against 
even a light wind. During the recent as- 
cent the wind had a velocity of three 
metres a second to a height of 100 metres, and 
against this the vessel sailed well, but at a 
height of from 150 to 200 metres the balloon 
was evidently driven before the wind. It must 
be remembered, however, that this was when 
one of the rudders was out of gear. If the 
speed of the screws cannot be increased the 
blades must be enlarged. Another defect was 
the continual escape of gas, necessitating con- 
stant filling of the receptacle up to the moment 
of starting. This defect alone will prevent 
the achievement of the idea of remaining in 
the air for eight consecutive days, as a single 
filling costs 10,000 Marks. It is imperative for 
financial as well as scientific reasons that this 
defect be overcome. The king and queen of 
Wirtemburg will visit Friedrichshaven on July 
12th, when a second ascent will be tried in their 
presence. On the result will depend whether 
the vessel shall be improved on its original 
lines or fundamental alterations be made. The 
problem will certainly not be abandoned even 
if there is another failure. Count Zeppelin is 
far too enthusiastic to give up his attempts. 
Moreover, large financial interests are at stake. 
Already more than 1,000,000 Marks have been 
spent on the machine and experiments, of 
which amount Count Zeppelin furnished about 
500,000 Marks. 

THE annual general meeting of Marine Bio- 
logical Association was held in the rooms of the 
Royal Society on June 27th. Nature states that 


120 


the council reported that arrangements had been 
completed for the supply of sea-water, obtained 
from the open sea beyond the Plymouth Break- 
water, for special experiments on the rearing of 
sea-fishes and other marine animals. Through 
the kindness of Mr. J. W. Woodall, the Associa- 
tion has had placed at its disposal a small float- 


ing laboratory, which is at present stationed at 


Salcombe. The periodical surveys of the phys- 
ical and biological conditions prevailing at the 
mouth of the English Channel have been con- 
tinued by Mr. Garstang at quarterly intervals 
for an entire year. Observations were taken at 
four fixed stations. They included serial tem- 
perature determinations at all depths, filtration 
of a definite column of water from bottom to 
surface with a ‘ vertical net,’ and collections of 
the floating life at surface, mid-water and bottom 
by means of a special devised closing net. Mr. 
Garstang has also carried out a series of pre- 
liminary experiments on the rearing of sea- 
fish larvee under different conditions, with a 
view to a solution of the difficulties hitherto 
encountered in regard to the practical work of 
sea-fish culture. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

For the eighth time, we believe, the courts 
have decided the Fayerweather will case in 
favor of the colleges. It is said that the case 
will still be carried to the Supreme Court of 
the United States. As the amount still in- 
volved is about $3,000,000 it is to be hoped that 
no legal technicality will prevent the money 
from being used as Mr. Fayerweather intended 
and that it will not be diverted to the distant 
heirs and the lawyers who are trying to get it. 

A FELLOWSHIP in Greek has been endowed 
at Columbia University to be open to graduate 
students in Barnard College. The name of the 
donor is not made public. The fellowship 
will carry with it an annual stipend for the 
holder of $500. 

THE foundation-stone of the Passmore Ed- 
wards Hall of the University of London, which 
is being erected on a site allocated for the pur- 
pose by the London County Council in Clare 
Market almost on the line of the projected new 
street from Holborn to the Strand, was laid on 
June 2d. The hall will furnish the home of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 289. 


Faculty of Economics and Political Science (in- 
cluding commerce and industry), established by 
the University Commissioners, and in it will be 
carried on the future work of the London School 
of Economies and Political Science, which is 
practically coextensive with the new Faculty, 
and which has been admitted as a school of the 
University. Toward the expense of carrying 
on the work the London County Council will 
contribute £2500 a year, and Mr. Passmore 
Edwards has vested the sum of £10,000 in three 
trustees for the erection of the building and for 
carrying on the work of the School. 

Dr. WintHRop E. STONE has been chosen 
president of Purdue University in Indiana as 
successor to Dr. James H. Smart, who died 
last spring. Dr. Stone has been vice-president 
of the university for several years. 

Dr. Lewis G. WESTGATE has been appointed 
professor of geology in the Ohio Wesleyan 
University. 

Dr. JAMES M. SAFFORD, who has been pro- 
fessor of geology in Vanderbilt University for 
many years, has just retired at the age of 
seventy. For half a century he has been State 
Geologist of Tennessee. 


Dr. GEORGE P. DRYER, associate professor 
of physiology at the medical school of Johus 
Hopkins University, has been appointed pro- 
fessor of physiology in the Medical School of 
the University of Illinois. 

Dr. STEPHEN RIGGS WILLIAMS, an assistant 
in zoology at Harvard University and for two 
seasons instructor at the Cold Spring Biological 
Laboratory, has been appointed professor of 
biology and geology at Miami University, Ox- 
ford, Ohio, in place of Professor Treadwell, 
who has gone to Vassar College. 

Dr. Justus W. Fotsom, professor of natural 
science at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, 
Ohio, has been appointed instructor in entomol- 
ogy at the University of Illinois. C 

Mr. WILLIAM RICHARD SORLEY, professor of 
moral philosophy in the University of Aber- 
deen, has been elected to the Knightbridge pro- 
fessorship of moral philosophy at Cambridge 
University, in the place of Professor Henry Sidg-~ 
wick who has been compelled to resign owing 
to ill health. 


SOlLENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE : S. NEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; 8. H. ScUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Britton, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcn, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WEtLcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Juty 27, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of Amer- 
ica (1): PROFESSOR Go. C. COMSTOCK........... 121 
American Mathematical Society: PROFESSOR F. N. 
(CLOTS, SsonenonsocnasHocnasagsnonscnpoonosanspdcndeguasn99g00b0 129 
The Relation of Biology to Physiography : C. WIL- 
LARD Hayes, M. R. CAMPBELL...........2...0000 131 
On the Evidence of Unionide regarding the Former 
Courses of the Tennessee and other Southern 


Rivers » CHAS. T. SIMPSON............-2c0sseeseeeeee 133 
Education at the Paris Exposition..........0:0.0cc1ec0e 136 
Eighteenth Annual Report of the Committee on In- 

dexing Chemical Literature...........s.cecseceeeseesees 138 
Seientific Books :— 


Watson’s Text-book of Physics: PROFESSOR W. F. 
MAGIE. Ornithology: A. K.F. Books Received.. 139 


Scientifie Journals and Articles..............ccecceeenee 141 
Societies and Academies :— 
The Texas Academy of Sciences: F. W. S......... 142 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Epitropism, Apotropism and the Tropaxis: DR. 
CHARLES A. WHITE. Initiation of New Ele- 
ments in Fossil Fauna : DR. CHARLES R. KEYEs. 
- Rapid Changes in the Structure of the Corona: 
DR. H. HELM CLAYTON ... 0.0.0.6. ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H 
Notes on Oceanography :— 
The Nomenclature of Submarine Relief ; The Lith- 
ology of Ancient Marine Sediments: DR. REG- 
DINPANE TD PAN SPAM Waracnetaie Sacetiice seeldcisocessstiesecce sa ce 148 
Zoological Notes: F. A. LUCAS.........c.cc0cecceeeeeee 150 
Botanical Notes :— 
Genera of American Grasses ; Weeds of the North- 
western Territories; The Ferns and Flowering 
Planis of Oklahoma; North American Fox-tail 
Grasses ; Mosses of the Cascade Mountains: PRo- 


FESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY........--.-ccceeeeeeeenes 150 
Activity im Magnetic Work.........c0scccccesserseeceeeneee 152 
Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine..............++ 153 
The British National Physical Laboratory.............. 154 


Protection and Importation of Birds..............0..0+++ 155 
Monument to Professor Baird........... 

Scientific Notes and News. ..........0..c005 

University and Educational News 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL 
SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 


I. 


THE second annual meeting of the As- 
tronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America (fourth conference of astronomers 
and astrophysicists) was held on June 26— 
28, 1900, at Columbia University, in the 
City of New York, in connection with the 
forty-ninth annual meeting of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science. 

A brief report was presented by the 
Secretary upon the action of the Council in 
administering the affairs of the Society 
during the past year showing an addition of 
forty-three members since the date of the last 
meeting. With one exception the officers of 
the Society whose terms of office expired at 
the present meeting were re-elected, and the 
list for the year 1900-01 is as follows : Pres- 
ident, Simon Newcomb, of Washington, D. 
C.; First Vice-President, Charles A. Young, 
of Princeton, N. J.; Second Vice-President, 
George E. Hale of Williams Bay, Wis. ; 
Secretary, George C. Comstock of Madison, 
Wis.; Zreasuwrer, Charles L. Doolittle of 
Philadelphia, Pa.; Councillors, Edward C. 
Pickering of Cambridge, Mass. ; James E. 
Keeler of Mt. Hamilton, Cal.; Ormond 
Stone of Charlottesville, Va. ; and Stimson 
J. Brown of Washington, D. C. 

By direction of the Council the next an- 
nual meeting of the Society will be held in 
Denver, Col., in August, 1901. 


122 


In accordance with the expressed wish of 
the Society the Council adopted the follow- 
ing resolutions and directed the Secretary 
to transmit copies of them to the Chief of 
the Weather Bureau and to the Western 
Union Telegraph Company. 

Resolved, That the Astronomical and As- 
trophysical Society of America extends to 
the Chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau its 
hearty thanks for his courtesy in transmit- 
ting daily weather bulletins to those as- 
tronomers who observed within the United 
States the total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900. 

Resolved, That the Astronomical and As- 
trophysical Society of America extends to 
the Western Union Telegraph Company its 
hearty thanks for the courtesies extended 
by it to those astronomers who observed 
within the region covered by its lines the 
total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900. 

The number of papers actually read be- 
fore the Society at this meeting was ap- 
proximately the same as at previous con- 
ferences, but many of these were technically 
presented to Section A of the A. A. A. S., 
and were read at joint sessions of that Sec- 
tion with the Astronomical and Astrophys- 
ical Society. Only those papers formally 
presented to the Society and of which ab- 
stracts have been submitted to the Secre- 
tary, are summarized below. 

A new feature of the Society’s program 
was the discussion of the observations made 
at the total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900, 
accompanied by the presentation of numer- 
ous photographs of the eclipse and the 
discussion of a program for observing the 
planet Eros during its close approach to the 
earth in the autumn and winter of 1900-01. 
A summary of these discussions follows the 
abstracts of papers presented. 


The Rate of Increase in Brightness of Three 
Variable Stars in the Cluster Messier 3: By 
8. I. Barney. 

The proportion of stars found to be 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 291. 


variable in the cluster Messier 3, N. G.C. 
5272, is greater than in any other object of 
the same class. This object is so low, how- 
ever, at Arequipa, and the stars areso faint 
that satisfactory photographs of it, with 
the 13-inch Boyden refractor, cannot be ob- 
tained with exposures of less than 90 minutes. 
The rate of increase of the light of many of 
these stars is extremely rapid and in order 
to determine this change with the highest 
precision, photographs of very short ex- 
posure are necessary. At the request of 
the Director of the Harvard Observatory a 
series of most admirable photographs of this 
cluster were taken with the 3-foot Crossley 
reflector by Professor James EH. Keeler, 
Director of the Lick Observatory. These 
photographs were taken on May 20 and 21,°: 
1900. The first plate had an exposure of 
60 minutes, but all the others 24 in num- 
ber had exposure of only 10 minutes, while 
showing the variables at minimum mag- 
nitude. The shortness of these exposures, 
combined with the high quality of the 
plates, make the results obtained very sat- 
isfactory. 

Three variable stars have already been 
measured on these plates. They are Nos. 
11, 96 and 119. The series of plates ex- 
tended from 17° 42™ 46° to 20" 24" 11° on the 
night of May 20th, and from 17* 2™ 38° to 20" 
53" 275, May 21st, G.M.T. These periods 
of time covered the entire interval from 
minimum to maximum, for each of the 
above stars on at least one night. The same 
stars were also measured and 49 photo 
graphs made at Arequipa during the years 
1895-1899. From a study of all these 
measures [ find the periods to be: No. 11, 
12" 12" 25°; No. 96, 12" 0™ 15°; No. 119, 
12" 24" 81°. For the following discussion 
of the rate of increase, however, only plates 
made by Professor Keeler, on the night of 
May 21st, and having exposures of 10 min- 
utes were used. 

The measures of the brightness of the 


JuLy 27, 1900.] 


variables were made by Argelander’s 
method, using a sequence of comparison 
stars whose magnitudes have not yet been 
determined. The results are, therefore, 
given in grades. The value of one of 
these grades is somewhat uncertain, but is 
not far from a tenth of a magnitude, since 
in a previous work the value of my grade 
has been 0.085 of a magnitude. The ob- 
servations were then plotted, using vertical 
distances to represent magnitudes and hori- 
zontal distances to represent time, and a 
smooth curve was drawn through them. 
The time scale employed in this drawing 
was very open, in order to read with greater 
accuracy the ordinates of the curve corre- 
sponding to intervals of five minutes. The 
results of the measures are very accordant. 
Of all the measures on the Lick plates of 
ten minutes’ exposure the average devia- 
tion from the curve is less than half a 
grade. 

From these curves it appears that the 
total increase of light, amounting to 17.5 
grades in the case of variable No. 11, takes 
place within 70 minutes; in the case of 
No. 96, an increase of 16.7 grades occurs 
within 60 minutes; and No. 119, 17.0 
grades, within 75 minutes. The maximum 
increase during any interval of 5 minutes, 
is, in the case of No. 11, 1.9 grades ; No. 96, 
2.5 grades; No. 119, 1.5 grades. During 
30 minutes No. 11 increases in magnitude 
10.9 grades, or at the rate of 21.8 grades per 
hour ; No. 96, 12.8 grades, or at the rate of 
25.6 grades per hour; No. 119, 8.6 grades, 
or at the rate of 17.2 grades per hour. The 
greatest rapidity is met in the case of No. 
96, where for 5 minutes the increase is at 
the rate of 30 grades, or about 2.5 magni- 
tudes per hour, and during 30 minutes has 
a rate of 25.6 grades, or more than two 
magnitudes per hour. This rate of change 
appears to be more rapid than that of any 
other star known. 

The Algol variable U Cephei, which per- 


SCIENCE. 


123 


haps undergoes the most rapid change of 
any star not found in clusters, changes at 
the rate of about one and a half magnitudes 
per hour, during the half hour when its in- 
crease and decrease are most rapid. The 
total times of increase of the three stars, 70, 
60 and 75 minutes, are 9,8 and 10 per cent. 
respectively, of their whole periods. Near 
the beginning and end of increase, however, 
the rate of change seems to be relatively 
much slower. If we allow one and a-half 
grades for each of these slow changes, mak- 
ing three grades in all, we find that the 
remaining increase, amounting to more than 
four-fifths of the whole change in light, 
takes place for the three stars in 42, 34and 
54 minutes, respectively. That is, in about 
6, 5 and 8 per cent. of their respective full 
periods. 

In the case of No. 96 this increase is 
about ten times as rapid as the correspond- 
ing decrease. In general it may be stated 
that the length of periods and form of light- 
curves are similar to many of those in the 
clusters Messier 5 and w Centauri. (See 
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. X., 255.) It will 
be noted that the periods of these three 
stars are about one-half a day. Several 
other variables in this cluster appear to 
have approximately the same period. 


The Series of Parallaxes of Large Proper Mo- 
tion Stars made with the Yale Heliometer : 
By F. L. Case. 

A large proper motion is, as is well 
known, the strongest indication of a star’s 
nearness. Some years ago it seemed to us 
at the Yale Observatory that it would be a 
promising task to make a rather sweeping 
survey of all the fainter northern stars 
having a large proper motion to single out 
those which show a measurable parallax. 
Our list was based upon Porter’s Catalogue 
of Proper Motion Stars, and it was our aim 
to take up all the stars therein contained, 
which showed an annual} motion as great 


124 


as 0.5 excepting such as had already been 
observed for parallax. 

It was hoped that among so large a num- 
ber, nearly a hundred, some very near 
neighbors should be found, but in case the 
results should prove wholly negative it 
would afford some satisfaction to know 
that there are probably no more stars in 
the northern skies within a certain distance 
of us. 

This research was begun in the summer 
of 1892, soon after Porter’s Catalogue ap- 
peared, and has been the problem of chief 
attention on my part since that time. 
There were 86 stars in my list and 13 in Dr. 
Elkin’s, of which I have completed the ob- 
servations of 84 and Dr. Elkin 8. The orig- 
inal plan was to observe each star on 
three different nights near each of the two 
epochs of maximum parallactic effect. For 
each star when possible two suitable com- 
panion stars were chosen on opposite sides 
of the principal star and as nearly as pos- 
sible at the same angular distance from it. 
The observations were made in the cusio- 
mary symmetrical order S1, $2, S2, S1, S1 
denoting the angular distance from one 
companion star and S2 the distance from 
the other. 

At first it was intended to use the known 
proper motions in the reductions, and it 
was thought that three observations at each 
of the two epochs would be sufficient to 
show any parallax as great as 0’”.2, and any 
such cases were to be further investigated. 
Later it seemed to us to be desirable to 
eliminate the effect of proper motion inde- 
pendently, which can be quite thoroughly 
accomplished by repeating the observations 
through two more epochs in the reverse 
order, and at the same time this enlarged 
number of observations should furnish a 
pretty fair approximation to the true value 
of the parallax. 

The plan thus modified would give us 
twelve complete observations for each star, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


which number was secured in nearly every 
case. Hach of these complete observations 
furnishes an equation of condition of the 
form : 
“e+ byte =n 

where x represents the required correction 
to the assumed scale value, y the parallax, 
z the correction to the assumed annual 
proper motion, d the parallax factor de- 
pending upon the positions of the stars 
and that of the earth at the time, ¢e=¢— 
1895.0 (1895.0 being about the middle of 
the period covered by the observations) 
and n equals the difference S1 — S2 minus 
an assumed value for this difference. 

The normals from these equations of con- 
dition have all been formed and a prelimi- 
nary solution has only just been finished. 
As to the results I may say thata little dis- 
appointment was felt that no very large 
parallaxes were found. However there were 
two stars viz: 54 Piscium and Weisse 17° 
322, which show a parallax of nearly 0”.25 
and which, therefore, if the results are con- 
firmed by further observation, will place 
them among the first ten or twelve nearest 
stars so far as at present known. I have 
selected for each of these stars two new 
pairs of comparison stars and have nearly 
completed a more extended series of obser- 
vations of them. The final parallax will in 
each case depend upon 56 complete obser- 
vations instead of 12 as at present. 

A preliminary classification, according 
to the magnitude of the parallax formed, 
may be of some interest and is given in the 
following table : 


Parallax. No. Stars. 
077.20 to 077.25 2 
ORS Oe20) 6 
MO WO ° © 316 11 
0 .05 ** 0 .10 24 
0 .00 * O .05 34 

—0 .05 “ 0 .00 8 
—0 .10 ‘—0O .05 5 
—0 .15 ‘—0O .10 2 


The probable error of a single observation 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


comes out to be on the average about 
= 0.170. Taking the average weight of 
the parallax to be 30.0 the average probable 
error of the values of the parallax found 
would be +0’.031. In thisno account has 
been taken of the systematic error of the 
observer which has not yet been discussed 
for this problem. It should also be borne 
in mind that the parallax here found is only 
the relative parallax to which should be ad- 
ded that of the comparison stars em- 
ployed. 

It is our purpose further to classify the 
results. 1st, according to the magnitudes 
of the stars, and 2d according to the amount 
of the proper motion which may perhaps 
lead to interesting conclusions. The results 
here given may perhaps be slightly modi- 
fied in the fuller discussion, but in their 
present form they may serve to give 
some idea of a piece of work, which we 
hope will contribute something to our pres- 
ent knowledge of the stellar universe. 


The Velocity of Meteors as Deduced from Pho- 
tographs at the Yale Observatory: By W. 
L. ELE. 

The instruments in use at the Yale Ob- 
servatory for the photographic observation 
of meteors have been equipped with an ar- 
rangement for the determination of the 
velocity of meteors. The idea of using 
photography for this purpose seems to have 
first been suggested as long ago as 1860 by 
J. Homer Lane, the well known physicist 
and discoverer of ‘ Lane’s law.’ In 1885 a 
well planned attempt in this direction was 
made by Zenker, in Berlin on the occasion 
of the expected shower of Andromedids, 
but apparently without success, and lately 
the suggestion has again been made by 
Professor Fitzgerald. 

The Yale apparatus consists of a wheel 
(a bicycle wheel) rotating in front of the 
cameras and carrying a number of opaque 
screens. There are at present 12 of these 


SCIENCE. 


125 


interceptors and the rotation is effected at 
the rate of 30 to 50 turns per minute by 
means of a small motor worked by 8 or 4 
bichromate cells. It will be advisable to 
increase the number of occultations in the 
future, however. At each revolution a 
record is made at the chronograph so that 
the wheel’s velocity at any instant is always 
known. 

The length of the interruption of a meteor 
trail and the resulting velocity are easily 
derived from the plates, if the meteor is 
also recorded on a plate at our second 
station at Hamden, distant about 3 km. 
The first attempt was made at the August 
period last year, and subsequent ones at 
the Leonid, Andromedid and Geminid 
epochs in November and December last. 
In all so far five such trails have been ob- 
tained with corresponding records at Ham- 
den and the time and identification also 
secured. These have been carefully meas- 
ured and reduced and the resulting data 
are brought together in the following table 
of which the headings explain themselves 
sufficiently : 


Green- Apparent |Appar’ nt) Approxi- 
wich Radiant | Velocity; mate 

Mean 1875.0 (km. per} Altitude 
Time | R.A. Decl.| sec.) (in km.) 


Meteor} Date 
No. 1 


h. 3. ov ov 
i July 31) 17 a 30 | 28 55 + 57 31 50.4 88 to 75 
2 Aug. 7/14 25 25 | 28812— 620 12.2 50 to 45 
3 Aug. 8/16 32 47) 4355+ 56 38 50.3 101 to 94 
4 Nov. 24) 16 31 25) 27 43+ 40 33 20.2 93 to 90 
5 Dec. 12! 21 43 0/118 44+ 33 36 36.5 90 to 86 


If we now correct the values for the ap- 
parent radiant and velocity for the effect ox 
the attraction of the earth and its diurnal 
rotation by Schiaparelli’s formule, we de- 
rive the ‘corrected’ radiant and velocity, 
in the following table and hence the ‘ true’ 
velocity of the meteors relative to the Sun. 
The last columns of this table contain the 
‘true’ and ‘apparent’ velocities which a 
parabolic orbit, or, in the case of the 
November 24 meteor, an elliptic orbit of 
6.62 years period should have produced. 


ted Parabolic or 

Blas porecieg Bonar BN Elliptic Veloc- 
we aTS7Et0 Velocity. (ea y._|| ity (km. per 

NOT ie gerel| smenber = Go| ASCs) Sie 
» A. Decl. |* sec.). sec. ) ; 

True jappa’nt 
1 29°50/ + 57°40’ 49.1 34.4 41.8 58.3 
2 289 44 —27 58 5.0 32.0 41.8 271 
3 45 12 +56 35 49.0 32.4 41.8 60.3 
4 23 52 +39 46 16.8 39.8 39.3 19.6 
5 112 22 +33 2 34.7 34.0 42.4 49.5 


A comparison of these two last columns 
with the corresponding ones of the observed 
values shows that except in the case of the 
Andromedid meteor on November 24th, 
both the apparent and true observed values 
of the velocity are much smaller than those 
derived on the assumption of a cometary 
velocity. The former (the observed) veloc- 
ities lead to orbits of a very improbable 
character having periods of from 1.25 to 
1.80 years, so that it would seem an almost 
certain conclusion that the atmospheric re- 
tardation has amounted to from 8 to 15 
km. per second for the four meteors. On 
the other hand the Andromedid of Novem- 
ber 24th furnishes the following orbit, by 
the side of which is placed that of Biela’s 
comet according to Hubbard: 

Meteor Nov. 24, 1899. Biela Comet. 


= = 108°48/ = = 109°8/ 

Q— 242 22 }asrs.0 Q = 245 a} 1852.0 
a= 12 4! 2 == 112) 383 

e = 0.7923 e = 0.7559 

a = 4.110 a@ =3.526 


Rather unfortunately this Andromedid 
trail is at the very edge of the plate, and 
therefore somewhat ill-defined, so that the 
length of the single interruption available is 
somewhat uncertain. If this be changed 
by 19” from the original measurement, or 
about =; of a millimeter on the plate, a 
quantity which is, perhaps, admissible un- 
der the unfavorable circumstances, an exact 
agreement with the cometary elements ‘a’ 
and ‘e’ can be brought about. 

This remarkable circumstance makes it, 
therefore, again somewhat questionable 
whether the small velocities found for the 
other four meteors may not after all be 
somewhere near the cosmic values and the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 291. 


truth will have to await accumulated evi- 
dence. Especially valuable will be a long 
trail with considerable change in altitude 
and a large number of sharp interruptions. 
The only one of our trails which has more 
than two such breaks is the one of August 
7th, where three values of the velocities can 
be deduced. These are, in the order of the 
meteor’s progress, and descent, 12.33, 12.11 
and 12.09 km. per second, which, while 
showing an increased retardation, hardly 
admit of any definite conclusions. As I 
have just said, more data are necessary and 
we hope to secure them and also increase 
the accuracy in the near future. 


Recent Astronomical Work at Columbia Uni- 
versity: By Haroxip JACOBY. 

Professor Rees, director of the Columbia 
University Observatory, being absent at 
Paris as a member of the international jury 
for instruments of precision, it devolved 
upon Professor Jacoby to present a very 
brief account of Columbia’s research work in 
astronomy during the past year. The Uni- 
versity possesses no adequate observatory,so 
that the work in observational astronomy 
has been perforce confined very largely to 
the measurement and discussion of celestial 
photographs. The only long series of direct 
observations upon the sky itself is that made 
during the last seven years with the zenith 
telescope by Professors Rees and Jacoby and 
Dr. Davis, who was a member of the obser- 
vatory staff until last year. This series of 
observations was discontinued in May, 1900, 
because a similar one, upon a much more ex- 
tensive scale, has been commenced by the 
International Geodetic Association. It is 
hoped that the Columbia observations, to- 
gether with a corresponding set made at 
Capodimonte, Italy, will furnish a valuable 
contribution to our knowledge ‘of the con- 
stant of aberration and the variations of 
terrestrial latitude. 

The measurement and discussion of as- 


s 


JULY 27, 1900. ] 


tronomical photographs has included work 
upon Rutherfurd negatives and upon nega- 
tives made at Helsingfors, Finland, and at 
the Cape of Good Hope. In connection with 
the Rutherfurd plates, the observatory has 
just published Dr. W. C. Kretz’ paper on the 
‘ Stars in the Coma Berenices Cluster.’ This 
paper was offered by Dr. Kretz last year as 
his dissertation for the degree of Ph.D. It 
will be distributed very soon. Dr. G. N. 
Bauer’s paper, also a dissertation for the de- 
gree of Ph.D., contains a determination of 
the parallax of » Cassiopeiz from Ruther- 
furd measures of position angle. It is now 
in course of publication, as is alsoa paper by 
Professor Jacoby on the ‘ Pleiades.’ This 
latter contains the results of further com- 
putations that have been made in recent 
years, using the same Rutherfurd measures 
discussed in Professor Jacoby’s former paper 
on the ‘ Pleiades,’ published in 1892. The 
new discussions bring out the excellence of 
Rutherfurd’s work even more clearly than 
before. Several other sets of Rutherfurd 
star plates have been measured and re- 
duced, but it has not yet been possible to 
prepare the results for printing. 

An attempt was made last year to photo- 
graph the November meteors, and one trail 
was secured by Mr. C. A. Post and Profes- 
sor Rees, at the former’s observatory in 
Bagport. 

Dr. Caroline E. Furness has completed 
the discussion of four photographs of the 
stars immediately surrounding the north 
pole of the sky. These photographs were 
made at Helsingfors some years ago, and 
measured at the Columbia University ob- 
servatory. Dr. Furness has deduced from 
these measures a photographic catalogue of 
precision including the stars within one de- 
gree of the pole, and has been able to show 
also that the optical distortion of the Hel- 
singfors telescope is confined within very 
small limits, so far as such distortion de- 
pends on position angle. These researches 


SCLENCE. 


127 


are in course of publication by the observa- 
tory of Vassar College, and have formed 
the subject matter of a dissertation for the 
degree of Ph.D., conferred upon Miss Fur- 
ness this year at Columbia University. 

A similar series of negatives of the south 
pole was made some years ago at the Cape 
of Good Hope, and these have been in 
course of measurement during the past 
year at Columbia. It is hoped that they 
can be completed during the present sum- 
mer, and that the results can be computed 
and published within a year. 

The attempt to secure an independent 
determination of the constants of nutation 
and aberration by photographing close polar 
star trails has made considerable progress. 
A special ‘ fixed’ polar telescope has now 
been mounted by Dr. Donner in a suitable 
new building at Helsingfors, at which place 
it is intended to make the observations, in 
order to take advantage of the high altitude 
of the pole, and the consequent diminution 
of atmospheric refraction. This fixed tele- 
scope will be used with the object glass of 
the present Helsingfors astro-photographic 
refractor. We shall thus secure the im- 
portant adventage of using a glass whose 
optical distortion has been most carefully in- 
vestigated. Itis hoped that the actual work 
of making the negatives can begin at Hel- 
singfors as soon as the nights become a little 
longer, and that measurements can com- 
mence at Columbia before the year is out. 


Photometric Observations of the Asteroid Eros: 

By Henry M. Parxuourst. 

My simple formula for the diminution of 
the light of an asteroid in proportion to the 
angle at the asteroid between the sun and 
the earth, seems to be substantiated by Pro- 
fessor Muller, within ordinary limits, but 
the new asteroid Eros extends the angle so 
far as to create uncertainty. For the old 
asteroids the extreme value of this angle 
seldom exceeds 30 degrees; whereas its 


128 


smallest value with Eros in the present op- 
position is only 28 degrees, and its greatest 
value more than twice that amount. In 


the observations of the oppositions of our. 


moon the formula of simple proportion is 
appreciably changed before reaching that 
extent. If the formula depends upon the 
diminution of light in arithmetical progres- 
sion, the variation is in one direction, 
whereas if it depends upon diminution of 
light measured in magnitudes, or in geo- 
metrical progression, the variation is in the 
opposite direction. It has seemed to me 
desirable that special pains should be taken 
to observe Eros photometrically, in order 
to learn what we can of the true law of di- 
minution, and if possible its cause. 

I desire especially to call attention to this 
desirability, for the reason thata tall build- 
ing is in process of erection so close to 
my observatory that should it be com- 
pleted early in the present year, it may pre- 
vent my photometric observation of Eros 
at the times essential to this investigation ; 
in which case we must rely wholly upon 
such observations as may be made else- 
where. I had already made preliminary 
observations in anticipation of this investi- 
gation before the building was commenced ; 
and I still hope that I may be able to com- 
plete my work before my observation of 
that part of the sky is cut off. 


Standards for Faint Stellar Magnitudes: By E. 
C. PICKERING. 
It is believed that the following extract 
from the report of Professor Cross, the 
Chairman of the Rumford Committee of the 


American Academy, will be of interest to 


members of the Astrophysical Society. 

An appropriation of five hundred ($500) 
dollars has been made from the Rumford 
Fund to be expended under the direction of 
Professor Pickering, for the purpose of 
carrying. out an investigation on the bright- 
ness of faint stars by co-operation with 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


certain observatories possessing large tele- 
scopes. This appropriation results from a 
communication made to the Council of the 
American Astronomical and Astrophysical 
Society held in New York last January. 
It was represented that the most urgent 
need of astronomy in America was adequate 
endowment of the great telescopes of the 
country so that they could be kept actively 


at work. It was shown that while the two 


largest telescopes of the country, and of the 
world, were kept constantly at work the 
means for the reduction and publication 
of the observations is wholly inadequate, 
while some of the largest telescopes in the 
country, representing a plant costing hun- 
dreds of thousands of dollars, are nearly 
idle and therefore useless. Observations of 
the greatest value can be obtained with 
these instruments at small expense, and 
itis hoped that the beginning now made 
will justify its permanent continuance on a 
large scale. The problem undertaken is 
the determination of the light of faint stars, 
selected as standards. These will furnish 
points of reference to which other photo- 
metric measures may be referred. Five 
photometers have been constructed in which 
by interposing a photographic wedge of 
shade glass, an artificial star is reduced in 
brightness until it appears equal to a real 
star, as seen in a large telescope. Thirty- 
six regions have been selected in different 
parts of the sky, in each of which a series 
of standards is to be measured. Five stars 
of about the twelfth magnitude, five of the 
fifteenth, five of the sixteenth, and five of 
the seventeenth, are to be chosen in each 
of these regions. The faintest stars will be 
selected and measured with the Yerkes 40- 
inch and Lick 36-inch telescope. Those of 
the sixteenth magnitude will be measured 
with the 26-inch telescope of the University: 
of Virginia and perhaps the Princeton 23- 
inch telescope. The stars of the fifteenth 
magnitude will be measured with the 15- 


JULY 27, 1900. ] 


inch Harvard telescope. All of these stars 
will be compared with the stars of the 
twelfth magnitude, whose absolute magni- 
tudes will be determined with the 12-inch 
Harvard meridian photometer. Their re- 
lative brightness will also be determined 
more accurately with the Harvard 15-inch 
telescope. After the work is fairly started 
it is believed that it can be reduced to a 
simple routine, by which great results may 
be attained with a moderate expenditure. 
By the time this report is presented it is 
expected that observations with the Yerkes, 
Lick, University of Virginia and Harvard 
telescopes will be in progress. 


Registration of Astronomers: By E. C. Pick- 

ERING. 

A plan for the registration of astrono- 
mers desiring positions was proposed to the 
Society at its meeting at the Harvard Ob- 
servatory in 1898. It was hoped that in 
this way suitable candidates could be found 
for vacant positions, and at the same time 
good positions could be found for those 
qualified forthem. As however, the mem- 
bers present did not desire that the Society 
should undertake this work, it has been 
carried out by, and at the expense of, the 
Harvard College Observatory. Blanks of 
the form appended have been distributed, 
and during the last eight months, thirteen 
men and six women have applied for posi- 
tions. Requests for assistants have been 
received from four institutions, but in only 
one or two cases were the vacancies filled. 
The number of candidates for positions is 
therefore abundant and it is hoped that in- 
stitutions will avail themselves more freely 
of this register in filling positions. No 
charge is made either to institutions or in- 
dividuals, and, if desired, communications 
are regarded as confidential. 

GroreE C. Comstock, 
Secretary. 
(To be Concluded.) 


SCIENCE. 


129 


AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 

FoLLowine its usual custom, the Amer- 
ican Mathematical Society held its Seventh 
Summer Meeting in affiliation with the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, at Columbia University, June 
27th-29th. The Society is one of, at pres- 
ent, sixteen scientific bodies which have re- 
sponded to the general invitation of the 
Association to meet simultaneously with it, 
their relation to the Association being de- 
scribed by the very flexible term ‘affilia- 
tion.’ These societies contribute greatly to 
the importance and interest of the meeting, 
frequently furnishing a large proportion of 
the total attendance and of the scientific 
output. In many cases a more intimate re- 
lation between them and the Association 
would be mutually beneficial, and plans for 
such a strengthening of ties are already 
under consideration. But, at present, the 
affiliated societies receive scanty official 
recognition. They have no representation 
in the councils of the Association ; no official 
reception is given them at the meeting ; 
they receive none of the general circulars 
of information issued by the Association ; 
and the notices of the societies printed in 
these circulars have been, in at least one 
instance, unauthorized and incorrect. In 
short, the societies are left mostly to their 
own devices, and enjoy all the advantages 
and disadvantages of this condition. 

The unusually early date of the meeting 
involved some conflict with the academic 
duties of many members, and reduced the 
period of preparation and accumulation of 
material from four to twomonths. But in 
spite of this and the uncomfortable weather, 
the occasion was a pronounced success. 
Fifty-six members of the Society were in 
attendance, a number which has never 
been exceeded. Professor Simon Newcomb, 
ex-President of the Society, presided at the 
opening of the first session, on Wednesday 
afternoon, and was succeeded in the chair 


130 


by Vice-President E. H. Moore, relieving 
President R. 8. Woodward, who was also 
President of the Association. Professor H. 
S. White, Professor E. W. Hyde, and the 
Secretary were also called to the chair 
during the meeting. On Thursday, the 
Society met, for the first time in its history, 
in joint session with Section A, the entire 
day being devoted to this combined meet- 
ing. At the morning session, at which 
papers chiefly from Section A were read, 
Professor Ormond Stone presided. On Fri- 
day, separate sessions were resumed. The 
final session, on Friday afternoon, was de- 
voted to an extensive discussion, noted 
below. 

The Council announced the election of 
the following persons to membership in the 
Society: Mr. J. Li. Coolidge, Harvard Uni- 
versity; Professor Peter Field, Carthage 
College; Mr. F. A. Giffin, University of 
Colorado; Mr. W. J. Greenstreet, Stroud, 
England; Mr. L. L. Locke, Fredonia, Pa.; 
Professor J. E. Manchester, Vincennes Uni- 
versity; Professor W. J. Vaughn, Van- 
derbilt University. Six applications for 
membership were reported. The present 
membership of the Society is 342. At the 
meeting of the Council it was decided to 
set apart the life membership fund, now 
amounting to $600, as a special fund for the 
promotion of such object as the Council 
may hereafter designate. 


The following papers were read at this 
meeting : ; 


(1) Dr. A.S. CHEsstn: ‘Onthe motion of a top, 
taking into account the rotation of the earth.’ 

(2) Proressor F. MortEy: ‘On a mechanism 
for drawing trochoidal and allied curves.’ 

(3) Mr. H. W. Kuun: ‘Theorem on non- 
primitive groups’ (preliminary communication). 

(4) Dr. H. E. TrmMeRDING: ‘Some remarks on 
tetrahedral geometry.’ 

(5) Proressor H. B. NEWSON : 
transformations.’ 

(6) DR. VIRGIL SNYDER : 
annular surface.’ 


‘On singular 


‘On a special form of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


(7) PRoressoR F. MORLEY: 
quartic curve in space.’ 

(8) PROFESSOR PAUL GORDAN : 
und die Cayley’sche Curve.’ 

(9) Mr. H. E. HAWKES: 
number systems.’ 

(10) PRorEssoR MAXIME BécHER: ‘ Application 
of a method of d’Alembert to the proof of Sturm’s 
theorem of comparison.’ 

(11) Miss I. M. ScHOTTENFELS : 
order 8!/2.’ 

(12) Proressor P. F. Suir: ‘On surfaces sibi- 
reciprocal under those contact transformations which 
transform spheres into spheres.’ 

(18) Prorrssor E. H. Moore: ‘A simple proof 
of the fundamental Cauchy-Goursat theorem.’ 

(14) Prormssor W. F. Oscoop: ‘On the exist- 
ence of the Green’s function for simply connected 
plane regions bounded by a general Jordan curve, and 
for regions having a more general boundary of posi- 
tive content.’ 

(15) Dr. J. V. Coins : 
spherical trigonometry.’ 

(16) ProrEssor J. McMAHOoN: ‘ Kelvin’s treat- 
ment of instantaneous and permanent sources ex- 
tended to certain cases in which a source isin motion.’ 

(17) Dr. F. R. Movunton: ‘ Oscillating satel- 
lites.’ 

(18) Miss B. E. Grow: ‘The reduction of binary 
quantics to canonical forms by linear transforma- 
tion.’ 

(19) Dr. M. B. PorTER : 
the non-singular cubic.’ 


‘On the rational 
‘Die Hesse’sche 


“On hyper-complex 


‘On groups of 


“Quaternions and 


‘Note on geometry on 


For the Friday afternoon session, a dis- 
cussion of the following question was in 
order : 


What courses in mathematics should be offered to 
the student who desires to devote one-half, one third, 
or one-fourth of his undergraduate time to preparation 
for graduate work in mathematics ? 


The discussion was opened by the follow- 
ing papers: 


Proressor E. H. Moore: ‘Certain fundamental 
ideas which should be emphasized throughout the 
undergraduate course.’ 

PROFESSOR J. HARKNESS: ‘The importance of 
some preliminary training in applied mathematics’ ; 
‘Courses in differential calculus and differential 
equations.’ 

PROFESSOR W. F. Oscoop: ‘The proper time for 
he introduction of the lecture method ’ ; ‘ Courses in 
differential equations’ ; ‘Should elementary courses 


JuLy 27, 1900.] 


in more advanced subjects be included in the under- 
graduate curriculum ?” 

PROFESSOR F. MorRLeEy: ‘Certain phases of the 
general question.’ 

PRoFessor J. W. A. YounG: ‘ Collegiate prepara- 
tion for the teaching of mathematics in secondary 
schools.’ 

A general discussion of the subject then 
took place. 

On each evening of the meeting, the mem- 
bers generally took advantage of the op- 
portunity to dine together. 

The next regular meeting of the Society 
will be held in New York on Saturday, 


October 27th. 
F. N. Cores, 


Secretary. 


THE RELATION OF BIOLOGY TO PHYSI- 
OGRAPHY. 

THE studies of paleontologists have been 
among our chief sources of information con- 
cerning the physiography of various regions 
in past geologic periods. Far-reaching con- 
clusions have been drawn from faunal re- 
semblances and differences as tothe relations 
of sea and land, the presence or absence of 
barriers and the direction of marine cur- 
rents during particular epochs of the earth’s 
history. It is evident that biology should 
bear a relation to physiography analogous 
to that which paleontology bears to paleo- 
physiography. Some of the ways in which 
the two distinct sciences react upon each 
other have been pointed out by Wood- 
worth,* and it is the purpose of the writers 
to call attention to a specific case in point 
where identical conclusions were reached 
quite independently by different investiga- 
tors pursuing distinct lines of research. 

These results are of the utmost impor- 
tance in the particular problems upon which 
they bear, but their chief value at the 
present time lies in the fact that they bring 
physiography and biology upon common 

* J. B. Woodworth, ‘The Relation Between Base- 


leveling and Organic Evolution,’ Am. Geol., Vol. 
XIV., pp. 209-235, 1894. 


SCIENCE. 


131 


ground and show that each may and should 
receive assistance from the other. 
In discussing the origin and recent his- 
tory of the physical features of the southern 
Appalachians* in 1894 the writers advo- 
cated the theory that the upper Tennessee 
River formerly flowed into the Gulf of Mex- 
ico by way of the present Coosa and Ala- 
bama rivers, and that it was diverted to its 
present course through the Cumberland 
Plateau in the latter part of Tertiary 
{Neocene (?)} time. The former course of 
this river is shown on the accompanying 
outline map by the dotted line A which ex- 
tends in the direction of the upper Tennes- 
see from the vicinity of Chattanooga south- 
westward tothe Coosa in eastern Alabama. 
This theory was again advocated by the 
senior author} in 1897-98, and the evidence 
in its support was presented in somewhat 
greater detail. The conclusions in both re- 
ports were based entirely upon physio- 
graphic evidence—such as the character of 
the Tennessee—Coosa divide, the newness 
of the gorge below Chattanooga and the 
general arrangement of the drainage lines. 
We recently learned with considerable 
surprise and gratification that Mr. Charles 
T. Simpson, of the Smithsonian Institution, 
had independently reached the same con- 
clusion from a study of the fresh water 
mollusca contained in the rivers in question. 
In an equally unexpected manner Mr. 
Simpson has corroborated the conclusions 
of the junior author} regarding the changes 
which haye taken place in the head 
branches of the Coosa, Chattahoochee, and 
Savannah rivers. 
The conclusion that the Etowah River 
had been robbed by the Chattahoochee 


* Geomorphology of the Southern Appalachians : 
Nat. Geog. Mag., Vol. VI., pp. 63-126, May, 23, 1894. 

+ Physiography of the Chattanooga District. 19th 
Ann. Rept., U. S. Geol. Survey, Part II., pp. 1-58. 

{ Drainage Modifications and their Interpretation. 
Jour. Geol., Vol. 4, pp. 567-581 and 657-673. 


152 


River was based upon the following facts : 
(1) the lowness of the divide at Dahlonega, 
Georgia between the Etowah River and a 
branch of the Chattahoochee River; (2) 
the similarity of the alignment of the be- 


Fig. 1. 


yheaded portion with that of the remaining 
Etowah River, as shown at B on the map 
and (3) the plainly apparent tendency of 
the southeastward flowing streams to en- 
croach upon their neighbors on the north- 
west in all the territory about the head- 
waters of the three riversin question. This 


SCIENCE. 


Drainage map of the Southern Appalachian region, showing recent stream diversions. 
and Campbell. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


change was supposed to have taken place 
when the surface relief was slight, presum- 
ably on the elevation of the Tertiary pene- 
plain above baselevel. 

The conclusion that the upper course of 


Hayes 


the Chattahoochee River has been trans- 
ferred to the Savannah system by diversion 
near Tallulah Falls, at the point marked C 
on the map, was based on similar grounds, 
but in this case the proof is stronger for the 
southeastward flowing streams show even a 
greater tendency to encroach toward the 


JuLy 27, 1900.] 


northwest than they do in the vicinity of 
Dahlonega. 

Thus the purely physiographic evidence 
shows that there was a former connection 
between the upper Tennessee River and 
the Coosa system by which the molluscan 
fauna could easily pass from one to the 
other. It also shows conclusively that a 
part of the Etowah River has been trans- 
ferred bodily to the Chattahoochee system. 
Such a wholesale shifting of divides would 
result in the transference of such of the 
Coosa-Tennessee forms as then existed in 
the headwaters of the Etowah River. 

This infusion of new forms spread 
throughout the Chattahoochee system, even 
to its headwaters, but the foreign types 
presumably constituted only a small pro- 
portion of the existing fauna. When the 
Savannah River cut through the divide 
and captured the upper part of the basin of 
the Chattahoochee, it carried with it a 
limited number of forms belonging to the 
Coosa-Tennessee type. Thus in each suc- 
cessive transfer the percentage of the orig- 
inal forms has grown less and less, until in 
the Savannah River, as reported by Mr. 
Simpson, they are scarcely recognizable. 

Beyond Savannah, toward the northeast, 
none of the peculiar Tennessee forms have 
been found, nor is there any indication in 
the surface configuration of there having 
been any drainage changes of consequence 
in this region. 

In most respects the biological evidence 
simply corroborates the conclusions based 
upon a study of the surface features, but in 
the question of age relations it throws some 
new light upon the problem. The migra- 
tion of Coosa-Tennessee fauna from west to 
east shows conclusively that the changes in 
drainage must have followed a similar 
order, hence the diversion at Dahlonega 
must have preceded that which occurred 
near Tallulah Falls. This important fact 
presumably could never have been deter- 


SCIENCE. 


133 


mined from the physiographic evidence 
alone. 

Throughout the whole region there is a 
surprisingly close agreement between the 
biologic and the physiographic evidence 
which clearly indicates that biology should 
stand in the same relation to physiography 
that paleontology does to paleo-physiog- 
raphy. 

The following brief statement of the evi- 
dence on which Mr. Simpson bases his con- 
clusions was prepared at our suggestion for 
publication in advance of the more detailed 
report which the author has in preparation. 

C. W. Hayes, 
M. R. CAMPBELL. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


ON THE EVIDENCE OF THE UNIONIDA RE- 
GARDING THE FORMER COURSES OF 
THE TENNESSEE AND OTHER 
SOUTHERN RIVERS. 

SEVERAL years ago while studying the 
life history and distribution of the Unionide, 
or Pearly Fresh Water mussels I was struck 
by the close relationship existing between 
that part of the mollusk fauna of the Tennes- 
see River drainage system and that of the 
Alabama. 

Within the Mississippi drainage basin 
there is found the richest and most wonder- 
ful, as well as the most highly developed 
Unione fauna of any part of the world. Per- 
haps not less than 400 species, at a most con- 
servative estimate, are found in this area. 
The Unione fauna of the Tennessee drainage 
system (including that of the Cumberland) 
contains a very large proportion of the spe- 
cies found throughout the Mississippi area, 
and in addition to these a great many 
peculiar species found nowhere else in the 
Mississippi system. The genus Pleurobema, 
as I have defined it, a large group of forms 
having rather heavy, triangular shells, gen- 
erally tawny colored, with broken, green 
rays, has its metropolis in the Tennessee 


134 


area. Only three species of the genus occur 
in the Ohio River. Two of these Ohio 
River species extend west into and across 
the Mississippi, but I know of no form be- 
longing to the genus that is found in any 
part of the lower 300 miles of that stream, 
in the Pearl or the Pascagoula rivers, or 
any of the small rivers in Mississippi or 
Louisiana flowing into the Gulf. No mem- 
ber of the genus is found in any of the 
streams flowing into the Atlantic (with 
possibly a single exception). 

Yet the entire Alabama River system is 
filled with Plewrobemas. There are many 
of them in the Tombigbee and Black War- 
rior, still more in the Alabama itself, and 
the Coosa swarms with them. But not 
a species of Plewrobema found in the Ala- 
bama River area is identical with any found 
in the Tennessee system. Those of the lat- 
ter drainage area are, for the most part, 
very closely related to each other, and be- 
long to a single great group typified by the 
well known Unio clavus of Lamarck. There 
are several closely related groups of Pleu- 
robema found in the Alabama system, and 
all these are nearly related to the clavus 
group, yet no member of the latter group is 
found in the southern drainage, and no 
member of any of the southern drainage 
groups is found in the northern drainage. 

There are a number of Uniones which 
have a somewhat general distribution in the 
Mississippi area including the Tennessee 
system, that are found in the Alabama 
River drainage, such as the Unio tuberculatus, 
of Barnes, U. ebenus Lea, U. multuplicatus 
Lea, U. cornutus Barnes, U. pustulosus Lea, 
U. rectus Lamarck, U. trigonus Lea, and U. 
obliquus Lamarck. There are others which 
are only found in the Tennessee and Ala- 
bama systems such as U. cumberlandicus Lea, 
U. conradicus Lea, and U. varicosus Lea; the 
latter, however, extends into the Ohio 
River. 

Yet all these which occur in the Ala- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


bama and its branches have some slight 
characters by which they differ from the 
same species when found in the Tennessee; 
not enough to separate them specifically or 
perhaps varietally from each other, yet an 
expert will generally be able to tell at a 
glance from which system a given specimen 
has been obtained. Unio gibbosus of Barnes, 
an abundant, widely distributed and vari- 
able Mississippi drainage species, is found 
in the Alabama system, but it is shorter, 
smaller and more humped than the type, 
and Dr. Lea believing it to be a valid species. 
called it Unio subgibbosus. I believe that it 
is only a variety or geographical race of U. 
gibbosus. Unio poulsont Conrad found in the 
Alabama River is, I am sure, only a variety 
of the U. alatus Say, a species widely dis- 
tributed in the central part of the United 
States. 

A few species of Plewrobema, and certain 
species of other genera of Unionide closely 


‘related to forms found in the Mississippi 


valley, and evidently derived from the fauna, 
of that region are found in the Chattahoo- 
chee, the Flint River, and some of the 
streams of Southeastern Alabama. 

In the streams draining into the Atlantic 
from Labrador to Georgia there is found 
everywhere a group of Unios typified by 
Unio complanatus Dillwyn. There are a 
great many forms belonging to this group 
which have received specific names at the 
hands of authors, many of which are, ap- 
parently, only mere variations of a few lead- 
ing forms and not worthy of even varietal 
names. Quite a large number of forms be- 
longing to this group also occur in the Chat- 
tahoochee River system, some of which ap- 
pear to differ a little from the Atlantic 
drainage species while others do not seem 
to be specifically different. Many of: the 
forms of this group in both the areas men- 
tioned seem to be merely incipient species 
and the synonymy is in a hopeless tangle.. 
Unio columbensis Lea, a member of the Tetra- 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


lasmus group of Unios, found abundantly in 
the Chattahoochee River, can hardly be 
separated from forms of Unio obesus Lea, 
found in the streams of the Atlantic drain- 
age from North Carolina to Florida. Two 
or three members of the Buckleyi group of 
Unios seem to inhabit both the Chattahoo- 
che River and its branches, and the Savan- 
nah River and nearby streams of the Atlan- 
tic drainage. One member of this group, 
Unio tortivus Lea, is common to certain 
streams flowing into the Atlantic, a consid- 
erable part of Florida, the Chattahoochee 
River system and the Black Warrior River, 
in Alabama. 

These remarkable facts of Unione distri- 
bution led me long ago to believe that at a 
former period, during the lifetime of some 
of the present species of Unionide, some- 
time in the middle or later Tertiary, per- 
haps, the Tennessee River must have flowed 
southward into some one of the streams of 
the Alabama drainage, and through this dis- 
charged its waters into the Gulf of Mexico. 
It seemed most likely that this connection 
was by way of the Coosa on account of its 
nearness to Tennessee, and because the 
genus Pleurobema is more abundantly repre- 
sented in that river than in the Cahawhba or 
Black Warrior. It seemed likely, too, that 
during this or some nearby time there had 
been for a limited period connection be- 
tween the waters of the Tennessee and the 
Chattahoochee system, either directly across 
to the upper part of the latter, or in some 
way by the Alabama system. I could ac- 
count for the distribution of these forms of 
life in no other way, because they cannot 
travel overland from river to river, but must 
have water communication in order to pass 
from one stream to another. 

I concluded that the connection of the 
Tennessee with the Alabama drainage had 
been severed permanently, certainly as far 
back as the later Tertiary. That the Pleu- 
robemas being somewhat susceptible to the 


SCIENCE. 


135 


influence of environment had changed un- 
til new though closely allied groups had 
been developed in the Alabama, region since 
the Tennessee began to flow into the Ohio ; 
that other species of southern drainage 
had developed from closely allied ances- 
tors of northern origin. Others less sus- 
ceptible to environmental influence had 
only changed to new varieties in their new 
location, while still others in which the char- 
acters were firmly fixed only changed 
slightly in appearance. 

Although it is possible that forms of the 
Complanatus and other groups of Unios 
might have migrated from the Atlantic 
along the low shores, of a former strait in 
upper Florida connecting that ocean with 
the Gulf of Mexico, and from thence up the 
Chattahoochee River system, yet it would 
seem more likely that these had passed from 
the Savannah to the Chattahoochee River 
by water connection at or near the head of 
these two streams which have their sources 
very near together. 

In this brief sketch I have not gone ex- 
haustively into the evidence presented by 
the Unionide. There are many other species 
found in the Alabama River system which 
are evidently identical or nearly related to 
Tennessee River forms, but which have no 
very close relationships with the species of 
any other region and which are, most likely, 
descendants of Tennessee forms. In fact it 
is probable that nearly all the Unionide of 
the Alabama River system have been de- 
rived from the Tennessee. 

This subject will be discussed to some ex- 
tent in my forthcoming synopsis of the 
Naiades. 

These conclusions almost exactly coincide 
with those arrived at by Messrs. Hayes and 
Campbell, who have made a very careful 
and exhaustive study of the geomorphology 
of the Southern Appalachians. And it is 
indeed interesting that the geologist and 
biologist, though working along entirely 


136 


different lines, should have met on common 
ground. Cuas. T. SIMPSON. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 


EDUCATION AT THE PARIS EXPOSITION. 

Tne general official catalogue of the Uni- 
versal International Exposition of 1900 enu- 
merates 121 classes distributed through 18 
groups, of which group 1 is education and 
instruction comprising 6 classes, viz ; 

1. Education of infants, primary instruction, in- 
truction of adults. 

2. Secondary instruction. 

3. Higher instruction, scientific institutions. 

4, Special instruction, artistic. 

5. Special instruction, agriculture. 

6. Special instruction, industrial and commercial. 

Thirty political divisions are represented 
in the exposition of class 3 and about 900 
exhibits are found in the revised list. 
France and colonies including Algeria and 
Indo-China have about 500 exhibits, United 
States 70, Hungary 65, Mexico 42, Russia 
36, Italy 21, Great Britain 20, Portugal 20, 
Croatia and Slavonia 17, Japan 13, Belgiam 
11, Roumania 10, Greece, Guatemala and 
Norway 4 each, Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden 
and Switzerland 3 each, Bosnia-Herze- 
govina, Equador, Holland and Servia 2 
each, and one each from China, Cuba, 
Spain, Monaco, Republic South Africa. 

The jury passing on the awards to be as- 
signed the exhibits is threefold; first a jury 
of class comprising a certain number of 
French jurors designated by the commis- 
sion and at most an equal number of for- 
eign jurors. The class jury’s organization 
consists of a president, vice-president (of 
other nation than the president), a reporter 
and asecretary. The president, vice-presi- 
dent and reporter of the class juries com- 
prise the members of the group jury whose 
organization is completed by the election of 
a president, vice-president and secretary. 
Thus the jury of the first group will be 
composed of 18 members, 3 from each of 
the 6 classes. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


The presidents and vice-presidents of the 
18 groups will be members of the superior 
jury with others provided by the commis- 
sioners. 

The superior jury revises the work of the 
group jury and determines any appeals pre- 
sented to it by the lower juries. The group 
jury revises the work of the class jury and 
refers disputed questions not settled by the 
group to the superior jury. The class jury 
inspects the exhibits and assigns recom- 
penses of five degrees, viz: 


1. Grand Prix, the highest. 
2. Diplomes, etc., Medaille d’or. 


3. “ @argent. 
4. GG se d’ bronze. 
5. as ‘ mention honorable. 


On the completion of the work of in- 
spection the class jury presents two lists: 
(1) a list of exhibits not competing by 
reason of the exhibitor being a member of 
a jury, or from other cause; (2) a list of 
the awards in alphabetic order, each di- 
ploma grouped by itself irrespective of coun- 
try; e. g., all the grand prizes, the gold 
medals, ete. 

The jury of class 3, higher instruction 
and scientific institutions, completed its 
work on time, z.e., on or before June 30, 
1900. To the 900 exhibits it assigned 64 
grand prizes, 92 gold and 105 silver. The 
bronze and honorable mentions were natur- 
ally more numerous and all may be changed 
slightly by revision. 27 grand prizes were 
given to French exhibits, 9 to United States, 
5 to Great Britain, 3 each to Hungary, 
Japan and Russia, 2 each to Belgium, Mex- 
ico, Roumania, Italy, and 1 each to Austria, 
Canada, Croatia, Portugal, Norway and 
Sweden ; total 64. 

France received 44 gold prizes, United 
States 9, Russia 8, Hungary 6, Great Britain. 
5, Mexico 3, seven others 2, and three others 
1; total 92. 

As the awards to the United States were 
in several instances collective, 2. e., one 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


prize assigned to two or more exhibits, each 
to receive the diploma if desired, the fol- 
lowing detailed statement is given. The 
awards are grouped in order of merit, be- 
ginning with the highest, the grand prizes. 
The numbers prefixed are those of the offi- 
cial catalogue, and collective awards are 
connected by braces. In three instances 
on the personal motion of a French juror 
distinguished merit was recognized in indi- 
viduals, viz, Professor H. A. Rowland, 
Johns Hopkins University; Professor 
Nicholas Murray Butler, Columbia Uni- 
versity; Director Melvil Dewey, Univer- 
sity of the State of New York. 


AWARDS TO THE UNITED STATES. 
GRAND PRIZES. 


43. The section in its exhibits of superior instruction 
and scientific institutions. 


Museum.  Paleontolog- 


ical reports. 


37. [eoee of the use Travelling li- 


State of New York. 4 Dae ROME Eier: 


| College. Professional 
education in the Uni- 
| 4ed States. 


7. Congressional Library, Washington. Photographs 
and publications. 


University. Publications, models, 
ete. 
{ Observatory. Photographs, Obser- 
L vations, ete. 


63. University of Pennsylvania. 
ditions. 
53. Johns Hopkins University. Spectra, publica- 
tions, etc. 
Collaborator, Professor H. A. Rowland. Diffrac- 
tion gratings, etc. 
54. American library association. 
materials and method. 
Collaborator, Melvil Dewey, Librarian and edu- 
cator. 


‘i \ Harvard. 


Archzeologic expe- 


Publications, 


GOLD MEDALS. 


22. Denton Brothers. 
butterflies. 
( University. Photographs, pub- 
lications, Psychology. 
Teachers college. Higher nor- 
mal school. 


32. Massachusett Institute of Technology. 
grams and works. 


Collection and preservation of 


ay \ Columbia. | 


Pro- 


SCIENCE. 


' 45. Silver, Burdett & Co. 


137 


49. University of Chicago. 
tinuous sessions. ; 

51. Cornell university. Section civil engineering. 
( Alumni association of colleges for women. 


New Departure of con- 


5. Higher instruction of women. 
11. Bryn Mawr. 
18. } Illustrative. | ater. 
19. Wellesley. 


29. Educational Review, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, 
Editor. 

47. University of California. Plans and prospects. 

64, Princeton University. Photographs and publica- 
tions. 

65. Yale University. Sheftield Scientific School. 


SILVER MEDALS. 


1. Ameriean Book Company. Publications in 


higher education. 


2, (. B. Adams. Vacation 
schools and university ex- 
tension. 

8. M. Carey Thomas. Educa- 
tion of women. 

oi J. McK. Cattell. Scientific 

Monographs on associations. 
35. | higherinstruc- | T. C. Mendenhall. Scientific, 
f tion in the} technical and engineering 
United States. | instruction. 
39. | James Russell Parsons, Jr. 
| Professional education. 
40. E. D. Perry. The American 
| university. 
67. A. F. West. The American 
J | college. 


10. Cercle Francais of Harvard and other universities. 

62. New York University. School of Pedagogy. 

30. Foote mineral company. Collections of minerals 
for colleges. 


BRONZE MEDALS. 


31. Hemment. Photographs of games and sports in 
American colleges. 

Publications in higher in- 
struction. 

46. Dana Society of Natural History, Albany, N. Y. 
Publications. 


HONORABLE MENTION. 


59. University of the State of New York. 


{ Chautauqua University, 

| Brooklyn Institute, 
Pratt Institute, 

Peoples Institute, 

Rochester Atheneum. 


Grand prizes 12, gold 14, silver 11, bronze 3, 
mention 5, total 45. 
Henry L. Taytor, Px.D. 
Rapporteur class 3. 
UNIVERSAL INTERNATIONAL EXPposITION oF 1900 
UNITED STATES PAVILION, PARIS. 


Collective 
exhibit of 


138 


EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COM- 
MITTEE ON INDEXING CHEMICAL LIT- 
ERATURE. 

Tur Committee on Indexing Chemical Lit- 
erature respectfully presents to the Chemical 
Section its Eighteenth Annual Report, cov- 
ering the nine months ending June 1, 1900. 


WORKS PUBLISHED. 

Index to the Literature of Zirconium. By A. C. Lang- 
muir and Charles Baskerville. Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, Washington City, 1899. 29pp. 8vo. 

This forms No. 1173 of the Smithsonian 
Miscellaneous Collections. The chronolog- 
ical list of references is followed by a Mat- 
ter-Index. 

A Bibliography of Steel-Works Analysis. 
Brearley. Chem. News, 80, 233, et seq. 
1899). 

The partial bibliography is confined to 
the contents of three English journals : 
Chem. News, J. Chem. Soc. (London), and J. 
Iron and Steel Inst. 

The Committee also reports the publica- 
tion of two foreign bibliographies : 


By Harry 
(Nov., 


Fiihrer durch die gesammte Calcium-Carbid und Acety- 
len-Litteratur. Bibliographie der auf diesen Gebie- 
ten bisher erschienenen Biicher, Journale, Aufsatze 
in Zeitschriften, Abhandlungen und wichtigeren 
Patentschriften. Herausgegeben unter Mitwirkung 
von L. Ludwig. Berlin, 1899. 8vo. 


This covers the industrial field as fully as 
the bibliography by Matthews (Smithsonian 
Miscellaneous Collections) does the scien- 
tific field, and both taken together are im- 
portant for students of the subjects. 
Répertoire générale, ow Dictionnaire méthodique de bib- 

liographie des industries tinctoriales et des industries 

annexes depuis les origines jusqu’ a la fin de l'année 

1896. Par Jules Garcon. Paris, 1899-1900. 

The first volume of this extensive work 
contains a chapter on the sources of chem- 
ical bibliography, in which the author fully 
recognizes the works issued under the aus- 
pices of this committee and those published 
by the Smithsonian Institution. The author 
writes: ‘‘ America yields to no nation in 
the matter of bibliography ; an American 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


devised the decimal system of bibliography, 
and Americans framed the Committee on 
Indexing Chemical Literature, of which the 
Reports, edited by Mr. H. C. Bolton, are 
found in the Proceedings of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 
since 1883.”’ 


REPORTS OF PROGRESS. 


Dr. Alfred Tuckerman has completed and 
sent to the Smithsonian Institution a Sup- 
plement to his Index to the Literature of the 
Spectroscope, which covers the period from 
1887 to 1899. 

Dr. H. Carrington Bolton’s Second Sup- 
plement to his Select Bibliography of Chemistry, 
containing a list of 7500 chemical disser- 
tations is passing through the press ; it will 
form a volume of the Smithsonian Miscel- 
laneous Collections. 

Mr. A. G. Smith, of Cornell University, 
is engaged on an Indew to the Literature of 
Selenium and Tellurium, which, itis expected, 
will be completed this summer. 

Dr. Frank I. Shepherd, Secretary of the 
Cincinnati Section of the American Chem- 
ical Society, plans a bibliography of the 
Alkaloids. 

Mr. Frank R. Fraprie, of the University 
of Illinois, Urbana, I1l., writes to the Com- 
mittee that he contemplates preparing an 
Index to the Interature of Lithium. 

The Committee chronicles the new method 
of indexing chemical substances used by M. 
M. Richter in his Lexicon, and by the edi- 
tors of the Berichte der deutschen chemischen 
Gesellschaft, in which the references to or- 
ganic compounds are arranged under their 
empirical formule ; the Chairman of your 
Committee finds that Mr. Edwin A. Hill, 
of the U.S. Patent Office, has been engaged 
for more than two years in cataloguing 
chemical bodies under their empirical form- 
ule for convenience of his office. Mr. 
Hill’s system is adaptable to inorganic com- 
pounds as well as to those of carbon, and 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


differs from the German plan in the arrange- 
ment of the symbols, being much simpler. 
The method will be explained in print be- 
fore long. 
Tt is gratifying to note the increasing and 
continued interest in bibliography on all 
sides, and the Committee stands ready to 
encourage the movement in chemistry by 
practical assistance to those desirous of con- 
tributing to the now considerable list of in- 
dexes. Address correspondence to the Chair- 
man, at the Cosmos Club, Washington, D. C. 
Committee : 
H. Carrineton Botton, Chairman. 
F. W. CiarkeE (in Europe), 
A. R. LEEDs, 
A. B. PREscort, 
ALFRED TUCKERMAN, 
H. W. WItey. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

A Text-book of Physics. By W. WATSON, 
A.R.C.S8., B.Sc. (London), Assistant Professor 
of Physics at the Royal College of Science, 
London. London, Longmans Green & Co. ; 
New York, The Macmillan Company, 66 Fifth 
Avenue. Price, $3.00. 

This book deserves the careful attention of 
those teachers who are allowed with their stu- 
dents sufficient time to develop an elaborate 
course in general physics. It will be especially 
suited to their needs if their students are able 
to take an interest in the more abstract parts 
of the science. For those who are limited in 
time, or who are not in position to do rather 
advanced work, it will not be so useful. The 
book is almost as long as Atkinson’s ‘Ganot,’ and 
contains a much larger amount of matter that 
requires thought and study than that well- 
known work. In order to condense it as much 
as possible the author has excluded elaborate 
illustrations and descriptions of apparatus. 
The space thus gained is used for the discussion 
of elementary points of theory or for the men- 
tion of modern theories and results. The book 
is consequently not one which can be read 
hastily or with large omissions, and to go 
through it thoroughly with a class will require 


SCIENCE. 


139 


at least four hours a week for ayear. As a 
book of reference, both for students and teachers, 
it will be found to be of considerable value. 

The order in which the various subjects should 
be presented which are comprised under the 
general title of physics has always offered diffi- 
culties to the writers of text-books. Mr. Wat- 
son has used an order which to some extent is 
new, and which is designed to avoid anticipat- 
ing principles or theorems which have not been 
established. He has succeeded perhaps as well 
as anyone can in an effort in which complete 
success is impossible. The principal features 
of his arrangement, which are not of the con- 
ventional form, are: the development of the 
kinetic theory of gases under the head of Proper- 
ties of Matter, before the subject of Heat has 
been introduced ; the treatment of wave mo- 
tion on the surface of liquids in immediate an- 
ticipation of the subject of Sound, the subject 
of Wave Motion and Sound following Heat 
instead of preceding it in immediate depend- 
ence on Mechanics ; the division of the Electro- 
magnetic Relations of the Electric Current into 
two parts, separated by a considerable inter- 
val; and a similar division of Magnetism by 
the omission of Magnetic Induction from the 
chapters where it usually is-given and its in- 
sertion later, just before the presentation of 
Electromagnetic Induction. 

The most serious defect in the book is the 
inadequate treatment of the subjects of moment 
of force and of the properties of the center of 
mass. Judging from what the author says in 
connection with his description of the properties 
of the physical pendulum, his treatment of these 
subjects and of others allied to them was de- 
termined because of the mathematics involved 
in a fuller presentation. It has, however, been 
demonstrated by experience that a method such 
as that used in Selby’s ‘ Mechanics’ furnishes a 
satisfactory foundation for the study of mo- 
ments of force and of the uniplanar motion of 
rigid bodies, and that this method is easily com- 
prehended by students. The mathematics in- 
volved in it are no more difficult than those 
used throughout this book. 

We have noticed a few errors of statement, 
some of which may be mentioned, as they 
would embarrass a student. Thus (p. 27) the 


140 


measurement of a velocity does not require the 
determination of the change in the direction 
of motion; the discussion of Avogadro’s law 
(p. 171) contains a deduction of the Maxwell- 
Boltzmann theorem which is certainly illogical, 
the deduction being based on the constant rela- 
tion between the temperature and the kinetic 
energy of the molecules of all gases which was 
established by that theorem ; electricity is not 
energy (p. 673), although its manifestation re- 
quires the expenditure of energy ; electromotive 
force is not equivalent to difference of potential 
(p. 674), the former term including cases which 
cannot be described in terms of the latter ; the 
formula for the velocity of electric waves is 
given incorrectly on p. 858, and the mistake is 
repeated on p. 861, where Maxwell’s relation 
between the index of refraction and the specific 
inductive capacity is deduced from it by a series 
of algebraic errors. 

One other matter needs to be noticed more 
particularly. In the section on the Liquefac- 
tion of Gases (p. 286), after giving an account 
of the method of Wroblewski, so efficiently 
employed by Olszewski, the author describes 
Dewar’s method, attributing its operation to 
the principle that when a gas expands against 
pressure it does work and hence becomes cooled. 
This principle was the one employed by Cail- 
letet and by Pictet in their successful attempts 
to liquefy gases. In their experiments the 
liquid product was obtained in the tube in 
which the gas was compressed, the gas emitted 
when the stopcock was opened acting as a pis- 
ton pushed out by the pressure of the gas left 
in the tube, and the cooling effect was, at least 
partially, due to the work done by this remain- 
ing gas and was experienced by it. When we 
examine the description of the Dewar method 
it appears that the expansion is so gradual that 
it cannot be considered even approximately 
adiabatic and that the gas which is cooled is that 
which has passed out of the chamber in which 
it is compressed. A comparison of this de- 
scription with that of the Linde method (p. 320), 
shows that the methods are alike in every es- 
sential particular, including the important fea- 
ture of ‘the regenerative process,’ and that 
the principle which applies to both of them is 
that which is so well explained by the author 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


on page 318. Surely it cannot be contended 
that different principles apply in the two cases 
because in the Dewar method the gas to be 
cooled is contained in a vessel in which the 
pressure gradually falls, while in the Linde 
method the supply of gas is renewed by a 
pump so that the pressure is kept approxi- 
mately constant. In view of the claims made 
by Linde (Wied. Ann. 57, p. 332), which have 
never been successfully controverted, such an 
account of the Dewar method should never 
have been given, or if given it should have 
been accompanied with some adequate justifi- 
cation for it. It is incumbent on the writer of 
a text-book to be unusually careful in making 
statements on disputed points, and particularly 
on questions of priority, since his opinions are 
naturally adopted by his readers as those of an 
impartial umpire. 

The book is well printed, its diagrams and 
illustrations are excellent, and it contains much 
new matter, and old matter put in a new way. 
It deserves to take a high place among the text- 
books of physics. 


W. F. MAGtn. 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 


ORNITHOLOGY. 


In ‘ The Birds of Rhode Island’ by Howe and 
Sturtevant, we have a very acceptable addition 
to the excellent lists already published of the 
birds of several of the States. Lists of this 
character are useful in bringing together the 
scattered notes pertaining to a given region, 
thereby saving the reader the time and trouble 
of hunting through many volumes. The au- 
thors have arranged their book in two parts: 
The first reviews the former publications on the 
birds of Rhode Island as well as the State col- 
lections, gives some details on migration, and a 
full account of the historic ‘Cormorant Rock’; 
the second part includes an annotated list of 
three hundred and three species, and a bib- 
liography of one hundred and eighty-five titles. 
Of the three hundred and three birds accredited 
to the State, two hundred and ninety are based 
on positive records, three have been exter- 
minated through the agency of man, and ten 
are placed in a hypothetical list as the evidence 
of their occurrence is not absolutely conclusive. 


JuLy 27, 1900. ] 


The most valuable matter to one interested in 
distribution is the list of one hundred and 
eleyen breeding birds, which concludes the 
chapter on migration. The work, which was 
published privately, contains a little over one 
hundred pages, and is illustrated by six fairly 
good half-tone plates, representing nests or 
nesting sites. The text is good and we are 
glad to recommend the book to the consider- 
ation of the public. oie Re 


D. LANGE’s little book, ‘ Our Native Birds and 
how to protect them and attract them to our 
homes’* is one of the many popular treatises is- 
sued for the commendable purpose of awakening 
public interest in the protection of birds. To 
make the matter more available and easy of ref- 
erence the various subjects are treated in eight 
sections, some of which are further subdivided 
into chapters. Among the causes of the de- 
crease of song birds given by the author are lack 
of proper nesting places, lack of water, the Eng- 
lish sparrow, boys, collectors, birds on hats, and 
the cat (which, in the opinion of the reviewer, 
destroys more bird life than all the others com- 
bined). For the purpose of protecting the birds 
and encouraging them to come to the door yards 
he advocates planting trees, shrubs and vines for 
them to live in, putting up nesting boxes for 
breeding purposes, providing an abundance of 
water for drinking and bathing, and regular 
feeding in winter and during unfavorable 
weather generally. 

He very properly deprecates the killing of 
predaceous mammals and advocates protection 
for the birds of prey. We rather wish the 
chapter on ‘ Birds before Uncle Sam’ had been 
omitted, but the book as a whole is well got up 
and should be read by all bird lovers. 

A. K. F. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 

A Treatise on the Theory of Screws. ROBERT STAWELL 
Batu. Cambridge, The University Press; New 
York, The Macmillan Company, 1900. Pp. xix+ 
544. 18s. 

The Contents of the Fifth and Sixth Books of Euclid Ar- 
ranged and Explained. M. J. M. Hitt, Cam- 
bridge, The University Press; New York, The Mac- 
millan Company, 1900. Pp. xii + 143. 

* Macmillan Co., 66 Fifth avenue, New York 
City. Price, $1.00. 


SCIENCE. 


.due to the same initial stress. 


141 


Aberration and the Electromagnetic Field. GILBERT 
T. WALKER, Cambridge, The University Press ; 
New York, The Macmillan Company, 1900. Pp. 
xix-+ 96. 5s. 

Exploitation commerciale des foréts. M. H. VANUL- 
BERGHE. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1900. Pp. 150. 

Les Phénoménes de Dissolution et leurs Application. V. 
THomMAS. Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1900. Pp. 196. 

Tonometrie. F.M. Raouutt. Paris, G. Carré and C. 
Naud, 19¢0. Pp. 116. 

L Elimination. H. Loren. Paris, G. Carré and C. 
Naud, 1900. Pp. 75. 

An Outline of the Theory of Thermodynamics. EDGAR 
BUCKINGHAM. New York and London, The Mac- 
millan Company, 1900. Pp xix- 205. $1.90. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Geology for May-June, 1900, 
opens with an article on ‘ Methods of Study- 
ing Earthquakes,’ by Charles Davison. Three 
methods of determining the epicenter are dis- 
cussed, depending respectively on the direction 
of the force, the time of occurrence at successive 
points, and the intensity of the shock. Double- 
shock earthquakes are put into two classes: 
those in which two successive shocks, separated 
by an interval of fifteen seconds or more, pro- 
ceed from a single epicenter; and ‘twin earth- 
quakes,’ having two foci whose impulses are 
In these the in- 
terval between the two shocks varies from zero 
to a few seconds. E. R. Barbour describes 
‘Glacial Grooves and Striz in Nebraska,’ giv- 
ing the geographical distribution of glaciation 
and the direction of the striz. Charles EH. 
Monroe notes a ‘New Area of Devonian Rocks 
in Wisconsin.’ The area is a small one near the 
northern boundary of Ozankee county in the 
vicinity of the village of Lake Church. He 
gives a list of Devonian fossils from this outcrop. 
C. R. Keyes contributes an article on ‘ Kinder- 
hook Stratigraphy.’ The data of recent deep 
well drillings along the Mississippi River are 
brought to bear upon the perplexing question 
of the correlation of the Kinderhook beds at 
Burlington, Ia., with those of Illinois and Mis- 
souri. In a paper on the ‘ Probable occurrence 
of a larger area of Nepheline-bearing rocks on 
the northeast coast of Lake Superior,’ Frank D. 
Adams describes thin sectiens of rocks from a 


142 


magma rich in alkalis, and closely related to 
the nepheline-syenites. Hans Rusch discusses 
‘The Last Stage of the Ice Age in Central 
Scandinavia.’ He offers a new theory of the 
origin of the glacial lakes north of Christiana, 
whose beaches occur in the upper parts of the 
valleys to the south of the divide. In an ex- 
tended article Buckley continues his valuable 
discussion of the ‘ Properties of Building Stones’ 
which was begun in the number for February— 
March, 1900. Editorial, Reviews, and a list 
of Recent Publications close this valuable num- 
ber with its varied table of contents. 
J.H.S. 

Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Elec- 
tricity for June contains the following articles : 

“The Magnetic Observatoryat De Bilt, near Utrecht,’ 
M. Snellen ; ‘Magnetic Intensity Variometers,’ M. 
Eschenhagen; ‘ Einige Bemerkungen zur Messung der 
Horizontal-intensitat des Erdmagnetismus Mittels 
des magnetischen Theodoliten,’ J. Liznar; ‘A Possible 
Cause of the Earth’s Magnetism anda Theory of its 
Variations,’ William Sutherland; ‘ BiographicalSketch 
of Dr. William Gilbert’ (with portrait); ‘Somerecent 
Contributions to Terrestrial Magnetism,’ L. A. Bauer. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 


THE Annual Meeting of the Texas Academy 
of Science was held in the Chemical Lecture 
Room of the University of Texas on the morn- 
ing of June 18, 1900, President Simonds in the 
chair. 

The program offered was as follows: 

1. ‘The Nature of Justice,’ by Professor S. E. Mezes, 
University of Texas. 

2. ‘The Development of the Present Texas Railway 
System,’ by R. A. Thompson, M.A., Engineer to the 
State Railroad Commission, Austin. 

3. ‘Mindand Brain,’ by Dr. Edmund Montgomery, 
Hemstead, Texas. 

4. “The Relation of the Work of the Sanitary En- 
gineer to the Public Health,’ by J.C. Nagle, M.C.E., 
A. and M., College of Texas. 


The following papers were read by title : 


1. ‘Note on the Marte and Bluff Meteorites,’ by 
Professor O. C. Charlton, Baylor University, Waco. 

2. ‘My Experience with a Siphon Pipe-Line,’ by 
John K. Prather, B.S., Waco. 4 

8. ‘Fossils of the Fort Worth Limestone near 
Waco,’ by John K. Prather, B.S., Waco. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 291. 


4. ‘Research Work done in Organic Chemistry at 
the University of Texas,’ by J. R. Bailey, Ph.D., and 
Messrs. 8. F. Acree, M.S., Louis Knox, Louis Kirk, 
and Omerod Palm. 

In his paper on the ‘ Nature of Justice,’ Dr. 
Mezes undertook to base the conception of jus- 
tice on the systems of legal justice of the most 
advanced nations, in so far as these systems 
are in agreement; the ground for this position 
being that the conclusions are thus made to 
rest on a study of the best instances of justice 
that can be investigated. It was pointed out 
that there are three subdivisions to justice. 
The first subdivision defines and forbids the 
doing of wrong, either to private individuals or 
to the public; the legal basis here is the law 
of torts and the criminal law. The second de- 
fining the benefits that each individual receives 
from others and from society, points out those 
to whom return should be made for these bene- 
fits, and requires that such return be made; 
here the legal basis is the law of contract, and 
the little systematized law of the obligations 
that arise out of relations. The third subdi- 
vision deals with the proper procedure towards 
those charged with injustice, and the just treat- 
ment of the unjust, but how should they be 
treated and who should take them in hand ; 
here the basis is the law of procedure, and por- 
tions of the law under the heads previously 
mentioned. Otherwise stated, under the first 
head the line is drawn separating liberty from 
license ; under the second specification is made 
of the individual’s debts and of the payment 
that honesty demands; under the third pro- 
vision is made for readjusting the balance that 
injustice has disturbed. In conclusion the 
speaker pointed out that justice requires each 
man to consider his capacities, the deserts of 
others, their needs, and all the other relation- 
ships in which he finds himself, and then to do 
his part as the particular social member that he 
is. 

Mr. Thompson discussed the development of 
the present railway system of Texas and illus- 
trated by map and diagram the progress of con- 
struction from the inception of the first line to 
the present time. The first railway charter 
was granted in 1836. The first road to begin 
construction was the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and 


JuLy 27, 1900.] 


Colorado R. R. in 1852 near Harrisburg. It is 
now known as the Galveston, Harrisburg and 
San Antonio Railway. Construction on the 
Houston and Texas Central R. R. began in 
1858; on the Galveston, Houston and Hender- 
son in 1854 ; and on the Texas and Pacific in 
1856. By 1860, 284 miles of railway were in 
operation in Texas; by 1870, 583 miles; by 
1880, 2581 miles; by 1890, 8486 miles; and by 
1900, 9869 miles. Texas has donated to the 
railways of the State 34,179,055 acres of public 
land, or 53,405 square miles, or one-fifth of its 
total area. This territory would form a State 
as large as Arkansas. 

Of the States of the Union Texas is third in 
railway mileage. Were it as well developed in 
proportion to area as Illinois it would have 
50,759 miles; if as well as Pennsylvania, it 
would have 57,900 miles of railway. 

The effect upon the mileage of the State re- 
sulting from the donation of land~to the rail- 
ways was also shown. 

Professor Nagle’s paper dealt with a few of 
the more important questions which present 
themselves to the sanitary engineer and their 
relation to public health. Statistics regarding 
the death rate from preventable diseases were 
given, special attention being devoted to typhoid 
epidemics as affected by impure water supplies. 
Methods of water purification were described 
and their relative values discussed and the 
necessity of preventing water waste emphasized. 
Methods of sewage treatment and garbage dis- 
posal were similarly treated, and figures given 
to show the degree of purification attainable. 

It was pointed out that during the past fifty 
years the medium age of man has been in- 
creased about 25 per cent. and this was attrib- 
uted to the marvelous discoveries in bacteriol- 
ogy. That the sanitary engineer has provided 
means to greatly diminish the death rate due 
to bacteriological diseases there can be no 
question. The remarkable vitality of certain 
forms of bacterial life under what appear to be 
unfavorable conditions was illustrated by refer- 
ence to actual examples as were also the effects 
attained by changes in water supplies and the 
treatment of sewage. 

The speaker took the position that the engi- 
neer should not only execute such works as 


SCLENCE. 


143 


may be entrusted to him but should endeaver 
in every legitimate way to mould public opinion 
in such matters, and furthermore, that when 
the fact is recognized that the assistance of the 
engineer is often-times as necessary as that of 
the physician, then will a more sanitary condi- 
tion exist, especially in the cities and towns of 
the south and west. 

The following officers were elected for the 
ensuing year: President of the Academy, 
Henry Winston Harper, M.D., F.C.8., Profes- 
sor of Chemistry in the University of Texas; 
Vice-President, O. C. Charlton, Professor of 
Science in Baylor University, Waco; Secre- 
tary, Frederic W. Simonds, Ph.D., Professor of 
Geology in the University of Texas; Treasurer, 
R. A: Thompson, M.A., C.E., Engineer to the 
Texas Railroad Commission, Austin ; Librarian, 
Wm. L. Bray, Ph.D., Professor of Botany in 
the University of Texas ; other Members of the 
Council: H. L. Hilgartner, M.D., Austin; J. 
C. Nagle, M.A., M.C.E., Professor of Engi- 
neering in the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College of Texas, and T. U. Taylor, M.C.E., 
Professor of Applied Mathematics in the Uni- 


versity of Texas. 
F. W. S. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
EPITROPISM, APOTROPISM AND THE TROPAXIS. 


In an article published in ScrENCE for July 
13, 1900, entitled ‘The Structure and Signifi- 
cation of Certain Botanical Terms,’ I men- 
tioned epitropism, apotropism and tropaxis as 
among terms of that kind which I had long per- 
sonally used but never before published. The 
following notes illustrate the manner in which I 
originally used them in my college lectures 
and, in rewriting them, I have found it con- 
venient to retain in part their original didactic 
style. It is not my present purpose to com- 
pare my method of treating this subject with 
the methods of other writers, and I shall there- 
fore not refer to them. 

The archetype, or elemental form, of every 
highly organized plant, especially every pheno- 
gam, is a simple erect shaft, which becomes 
the main shaft of the mature plant. As the 
main shaft increases in growth from the plant- 
let secondary shafts spring from it, those from 


144 


the upper portion becoming branches and those 
from the lower portion becoming roots. The 
primary or main shaft has two axes, a longi- 
tudinaland a transverse. In endogenous plants 
the longitudinal axis, although always existent, 
is seldom visually well defined. In the woody 
exogens, however, its position is clearly marked 
by the central pith. The transverse axis is 
visually inconspicuous in all plants but no 
structural or functional portion has a more 
real existence than has this axis. Its location 
is in a discoid portion of the main shaft, and 
from it the upward and downward growth- 
forces diverge, or turn in -opposite directions. 
Ihave therefore called it the tropaxis. The 
condition, or manifestation of growth-force, 
which is normally exhibited by the part of the 
plant above the tropaxis I have called apo- 
tropism, and that exhibited by the part below 
the tropaxis, epitropism, as explained in the 
former article. Therefore while growth of the 
respective parts is, in a general way, toward 
and from the earth it may more distinctively be 
said to proceed in opposite directions from the 
tropaxis. 

Epitropism and apotropism reside potentially 
in the individual cells of the growing parts of 
the plant. Each condition is normal in its own 
division and in the ordinary growth of the 
plant each is stable as a physiological balance 
to the other. Both epitropism and apotropism 
are, however, less stable in some plants than 
in others, in which cases the normal condition 
is, at certain points, exchanged for the opposite 
condition. That is, under circumstances pres- 
ently to be mentioned, cells that are normally 
apotropic change to an epitropic condition, when 
secondary roots or aérial rootlets result; and 
under other circumstances epitropic cells un- 
dergo the reverse change, when suckers or new 
plants result. Again, there is a kind of both 
epitropism and apotropism due to special physi- 
ological causes. Therefore there are not less 
than three kinds or grades of epitropism and 
apotropism. 

The normal apotropic condition of that part 
of the plant which is above the tropaxis may 
be called primary apotropism. It is that mani- 
festation of growth-force which is concerned in 
giving form and character to all that part of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 291. 


the plantabove ground. Secondary apotropism 
is that condition which results in the change 
of small clusters of cambium cells at certain 
points upon the roots of a plant from their nor- 
mal epitropic to a complete apotropic condition. 
It is this change which results in the production 
of suckers or new plants. Secondary apotropism 
is sometimes spontaneous and sometimes due to 
exciting causes, among which is the infliction 
of wounds. Spontaneous results are seen in 
the abundant suckers which rise from the roots 
of the Silver-leaf poplar, and those caused by 
wounds are seen in the suckers which freely 
rise from the spade-wounded roots of the gar- 
den cherry tree. Another interesting exam- 
ple of secondary apotropism, which is ac- 
companied by secondary epitropism, is seen 
in the method of propagating willows and 
cottonwood trees which is sometimes practiced 
on our prairie soils. Poles are cut down, 
trimmed, notched at intervals with the ax, 
and buried in furrows of moist earth. Clusters 
of primary apotropic cambium cells adjacent 
to those wounded by the ax take on secondary 
apotropic action and suckers result, which are 
well nourished in their early stage from the 
poles. Special apotropism will be presently 
mentioned. 

The three grades or kinds of epitropism 
proper, are primary, secondary and special, all 
of which are distinct from the ordinary epi- 
tropism of gravitation. The latter is plainly - 
mechanical and is conspicuously observable in 
the drooping of branches and in the downward 
curving of the stems of heavy fruits. Primary 
epitropism is confined to that part of the plant 
below the tropaxis where it is a balancing, 
but in some sense an opposing force to primary 
apotropism. It is secondary epitropism which 
is manifested in the production of secondary 
rootsand aérial rootlets. It may be spontaneous, 
when it constitutes one of the acquired habits 
of the plant in which it occurs, or it may be 
due to accidental circumstances. In each case 
clusters of apotropic cambium cells take on 
epitropic action and form, not adventitious 
buds, as is the normal habit of such cells, but 
aérial rootlets or true roots. The aérial rootlets 
of the ivy and the frequent rooting of creeping 
plants are familiar examples of spontaneous 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


secondary epitropism, and the ready rooting of 
cuttings of the grape and the common currant 
are equally familiar examples of secondary 
epitropism resulting from wounds and contact 
with moist earth. The Banyan tree presents a 
remarkable case of spontaneous secondary epi- 
tropism. Pseudo-branches of this strange tree, 
or branches which seem to have become epi- 
tropically surcharged, begin a rapid growth 
toward the earth, perhaps aided by gravitation. 
When the distal end has reached the earth true 
roots spring from it and penetrate the soil, and 
a new tropaxis is formed immediately above 
them. Above the tropaxis the shaft assumes 
a fully apotropic condition and sends forth 
branches some of which repeat the process de- 
scribed until the added shafts form a vitally 
united grove. 

The tropic balance is so stable in some plants, 
the oaks and walnuts for example, that it is 
difficult if not impossible to produce in them 
either secondary epitropism or secondary apo- 
tropism. Therefore, the forester propagates 
these trees only from the seed. In other 
plants, however, the tropic balance is so un- 
stable that propagation is readily accomplished 
by cuttings and layers, success in these cases 
being due to secondary epitropism. In the 
ease of cuttings the fragments of apotropic 
branches which are used for the purpose become 
the main stems of the new plants, a new tropaxis 
forming in each just above the end which is in- 
serted into the moist earth, and whence the 
new roots spring. It is an interesting fact, as 
illustrated by the grapevine and the common cur- 
rant bush that those plants which most fully and 
readily manifest secondary epitropism as a con- 
sequence of wounds seldom manifest it spon- 
taneously. So persistent are cuttings of the 
currant bush, for example, in producing roots 
when inserted into moderately warm, moist 
earth, that they do so even when otherwise 
subjected to wanton violence. As a result of 
one of my experiments when the distal or upper 
end of the cutting, instead of its proximal or 
lower end was inserted into the soil, roots and 
a new tropaxis were produced there as they 
were at the proximal end of those which were 
not reversed; and branches sprang from the 
axillary buds, as they did in the other cases. 


SCIENCE. 


145 


Examples of special epitropism and apotro- 
pism are seen in the epitropic curve of the pe- 
duncle of nodding flowers and the subsequent 
erection of some of them with the seed-laden 
ovary against gravitation, under the influence 
of fertilization of the ovules. The Western 
Primrose, Dodecatheon medea is a good example 
of this kind. Special epitropism alone, under 
the same influence, is seen in the laying of its 
fertilized ovary upon the ground by Cyclamen 
EHuropeum, and in the thrusting of its fertilized 
ovary beneath the soil by the common peanut 
plant. 

Asarule, the growing parts of every plant, 
except its tropaxis, is under the influence of 
either epitropism or apotropism, but other parts 
of some plants are also neutral or atropic. This 
condition exists in the slender organs called 
runners such, for example, as those of the 
strawberry above ground and the so-called 
stems of the potato under ground. The straw- 
berry runner begins its growth just above the 
tropaxis, assumes a horizontal position, in- 
creases only at the terminal point and shows 
no tendency to differentiate in form or either 
to rise or enter the soil until it has reached con- 
siderable length. Then suddenly both epitropic 
and apotropic action takes place in the terminal 
cells which results in a new and perfect plant, 
rooted in the soil and becoming wholly independ- 
ent by the withering of the runner from which 
itsprang. The function of the runner was that 
of a temporary vehicle for the dispersion of the 
species and purveyor of primary subsistence for 
the new plant. Among the ordinary roots of 
the potato plant atropic underground runners 
are produced at the distal end of each of which 
the potato, a tuberous branch having embryonic 
buds, isformed. In these buds apotropism is po- 
tentially developed but temporarily suspended. 
The function of these runners is that of one 
method of propagating the species and the 
storing of subsistence for the future plants. 

It need not be mentioned that the foregoing 
condensed notes contain the statement of no 
new fact or principle, but Iam confident from 
my former use of this method of presenting the 
subject that they possess some educational 
value. I also claim that the special terms I 
use are more expressive and convenient than 


146 


are some others which are used with reference 


to the same subject. 
CHARLES A. WHITE. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
July 12, 1900. 


INITIATION OF NEW ELEMENTS IN FOSSIL 
FAUNAS. 


THE constantly growing refinement in inves- 
tigative method that is demanded by every 
branch of geological science has caused even 
the most familiar phenomena to be examined 
from new view-points. In no department of 
geology has this change of position been more 
marked than in paleontology. In problems of 
geological correlation and comparative chronol- 
ogy the individual species of fossils have come 
to be considered more from the standpoint of 
dependent components of complex faunas than 
as mere isolated accidental factors. 

With this closer study of organic remains and 
in their consideration broadly as distinctive as- 
semblages or faunas, there has arisen a ten- 
dency on the part of paleontologists to give new 
meanings to old conceptions. Conspicuous 
among examples of this sort is a decided prone- 
ness to push backward the geological time di- 
visions. 

As an illustration, the appearance of an Or- 
dovician type among fossils occurring in recog- 
nized Cambrian is pointed out as profoundly 
significant. The occurrence of several such 
younger factors among older ones has given 
grounds for proposing to lower the basal line of 
the newer terrane notwithstanding the great 
preponderance of the older forms of life. 

The initial appearance of younger or newer 
faunal elements is no doubt highly significant, 
but it can hardly have the transcendent im- 
portance often ascribed to it. The importance 
of all such events is fully recognized. When, 
however, it comes to making one or a few fac- 
tors of this kind overbalance predominating 
older elements some caution is necessary. 

We can hardly consider a new faunal age to 
begin with every initial introduction of a new 
faunal element. Faunas haye their beginnings 
far down in depths of older faunas. They ex- 
pand, displace the older elements and culmi- 
nate. They decline and fade away far up 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 291. 


among still newer faunas. We have analogous 
examples in the progress of nations. The initi- 
ation of a new element does not indicate a new 
dynasty. A new political movement has its 
birth amid a multitude of conflicting elements. 
It may grow in importance and finally displace 
the existing government. Only when it has 
overcome the older, ruling powers is a new 
régime inaugurated. Not until then does the 
nation acquire a new name. There are long 
steps between the initiation of a new element 
and the initiation of a new régime. 

So, also, the relative geological ages of rock 
sections more or less remote from one another 
is now capable of being determined with great 
accuracy by methods other than the use of fos- 
sils. Modern stratigraphy rests upon grounds 
wholly different from what it did even a few 
years ago. The exact position of a terrane in 
the general geological column is now not so im- 
portant as the relative local position with ref- 
erence to known associated formations. Faunal 
age has ceased to be any longer a vital consid- 
eration to the geologist. When he has found 
out what are the geological units, or terranes, 
and their relations to one another, he cares 
little or nothing about what biotic age is as- 
signed. He has in his possession the skeleton 
frame work which he can, at his leisure, clothe 
with flesh and blood. No subsequent finding 
of ‘Devonian’ fossils in one part, ‘ Carbonifer- 
ous’ forms in another, or even ‘ Tertiary ’ spe- 


-cies underneath all will change the ascertained 


relative position of his units. The disputes of 
“exact geological age’ according to a standard 
that he no longer recognizes as infallible or es- 
sential, concern him little. If the question of 
“geological age’ or rather ‘biotic age’ can be 
settled even approximately satisfactory to all so 
much the better. If not, his stratigraphic work 
can go on without interruption. Questions as 
to age according to this criterion or that, are 
left for those who have more time than he to 


answer them. CHARLES R. KEYES. 


RAPID CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE OF THE 
CORONA. 

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: The question 

as to whether rapid changes take place in the 

structure of the corona is an interesting one. 


JuLY 27, 1900. ] 


Isend you an observation apparently indicat- 
ing such a change in certain features. The 
phenomenon was observed independently by 
three members of the party with which I was 
connected. 


W 


The accompanying sketch is an outline of the 
corona drawn by Mrs. Clayton during totality 
at Wadesboro, N. C., on May 28, 1900. At the 
beginning of totality the polar streamer marked 
a in this sketch appeared convex toward the 
zenith but rapidly flattened and toward the end 
of totality appeared flat or concave toward the 
zenith as represented by a/ in the smaller 
sketch. There appeared to be other changes 
taking place in the corona but these I thought 
might be explained by more detail becoming 
apparent as the eye became accustomed to the 
darkness. 

H. HELM CLAYTON. 

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 

July 4, 1900. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

In the March number of Leopoldina, which 
is published at Leipzig and is the official organ 
of the Kaiserlichen Leopoldinisch-Carolinischen 
deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher, ap- 
peared an article by Professor F. Fittica of 
Marburg, in which he claims by heating amor- 
phous phosphorus to 200° or lower with am- 
monium nitrate, to have converted the phos- 
phorus partially into arsenic. He even assigns 
to arsenic the formula PN,O and writes the 
equation for the reaction 


2P + 5NH,.NO; = (PN,0),0; + 10 H,O + 38). 


SCIENCE. 


147 


Apparently from the relative obscurity of the 
journal in which the paper was published, these 
remarkable claims seem to have attracted little 
notice till quite recently, but in the last Berichte 
Professor Clemens Winkler of Freiberg takes 
up the subject and shows that Fittica’s con- 
clusions rest upon an ‘ungeheueren Irrthum.’ 
Most phosphorus contains more or less arsenic— 
up to 2.64 %—derived from the sulfuric acid 
used in its manufacture. That Fittica claims 
to have converted eight to ten per cent. of 
phosphorus into arsenic Winkler considers 
merely an estimate. To prove the matter posi- 
tively Winkler took a specimen of carefully 
washed and dried amorphous phosphorus and 
oxidized it in two gram portions with (1) am- 
monium nitrate, with (2) dilute nitric acid, 
with (8) chlorin, and with (4) alkaline hydro- 
gen peroxid. The percentages of arsenic 
found in the phosphorus were as follows : 

(1) Oxidation with ammonium nitrate (Fit- 


tica’s Method) ...........e.seseeeeeeneeeeee eens 1.910 % 
(2) Oxidation with nitric acid...............--..+- 1.925 % 
(3) if GE GIO INS ssooaanoccdnonoocaodonece 1.920 % 
(4) . ‘¢ hydrogen peroxid ........... 1.920 % 


This shows conclusively that all the arsenic 
obtained by the oxidation of phosphorus by 
ammonium nitrate was originally present in 
the phosphorus. 

The closing paragraph of Dr. Winkler’s paper 
is worth quoting entire :* ‘‘It must be admitted 
that this occurrence, the consideration of which 
Thave most unwillingly undertaken, has a very 
grave background. It almost seems as if of 
late in the pursuit of inorganic chemistry, there 
is present a dangerous tendency to enter upon 
speculations, without paying any attention to 
that thoroughness which has heretofore charac- 
terized German research. For the cases multi- 
ply where it is apparent that the theory has 
been first formed, and then the effort made to 
find the facts one wishes to find, or where one 
starts out from what the Leipzig physiologist 
Czermak calls ‘inaccurately observed facts,’ 
and hence soon falls into error. The reason 
for this is to no small degree to be found in the 
fact that the art of analysis has suffered an un- 
fortunate retrogression. I use the word art in- 
tentionally, for between analysis and analysis 


*Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Gesell. 33: 1696 (1900). 


148 


may be a difference as great as that between 
the work of the sculptor and of the stonemason. 
Analytical skill is not to be expected of the 
physicist, whose field of research with the de- 
velopment of electrolysis begins to encroach 
more and more upon the domain of inorganic 
chemistry ; but even without this he can make 
great attainments in his own province. But 
physical chemistry is by no means identical 
with inorganic chemistry ; for inorganic chem- 
istry, so far from being a secluded science, pre- 
sents an unlimited number of problems, whose 
solution must be sought along quite other lines 
than those indicated by the theory of ions. 
The really successful carrying out of inorganic 
chemical research is only possible for the man 
who is not merely a theoretical chemist but also 
an expert analyst, not only a practically trained, 
mechanical workman, but a thoughtful educated 
artist ; the theory of every operation he carries 
out must be very clearly in his mind, stoichi- 
ometry must be transformed for him into living 
flesh and blood, and in all that he does, he 
must be inspired by an esthetic spirit, by a 
sense of order and neatness, and above all by a 


desire for the truth.”’ 
dg Ip, Tale 


NOTES ON OCEANOGRAPHY. 
THE NOMENCLATURE OF SUBMARINE RELIEF. 


Avr the Berlin International Geographical 
Congress a committee was appointed to discuss 
methods of naming the forms of submarine re- 
lief. That some common system should be 
adopted is plain, yet a vigorous paper by Dr. A. 
Supan sustains the thesis that the existing no- 
menclature is both insufficient and ill-advised. 
He proposes an almost wholly new scheme in- 
tended to remedy these shortcomings (Peter- 
mann’s Geog. Mittheilungen, vol. 45, p. 177, 
1899, with map). In several important respects 
his system stands in contrast with the usage 
which has gradually grown up and has crystal- 
lized in the maps published by Sir John Murray 
in the Summary Report of the Challenger Ex- 
pedition and in Murray’s supplementary chart 
recently printed in the Geographical Journal 
(Vol. XIV., p. 426, 1899). 

The depressions are, by Murray, in the main 
generically differentiated and named on a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 291. 


purely bathymetric basis, forty-three of them 
over three thousand fathoms in depth being 
called ‘ deeps,’ and each of fourteen shallower 
depressions receiving the name ‘basin.’ Supan 
objects to this method and emphasizes the ex- 
pedience of so naming these forms that their 
orographic relationships may appear. Thus 
his ‘Atakama-Graben’ is so distinct an oro- 
graphic unit that it does not seem well to refer 
to this great trench only under the names of 
the five ‘deeps’ which Murray has mapped off 
the coast of Chili. Throwing out the term 
‘deep’ entirely, Supan has used ‘Becken’ 
(basin), ‘Graben’ (trough), ‘Mulde’ and 
‘Bucht’ (for which satisfactory translations 
into English are desired). These are intended 
to describe all the types of depression yet 
discovered outside of the continental shelf. 
They are distinguished by form, not by absolute 
depth. The principle is a good one; yet it 
does not follow that the bathymetric element in 
our charts should be entirely restricted to what 
the isobaths tell us. Murray’s ‘deeps’ are far 
too interesting and important not to deserve 
special names, and his system might well be 
combined with that of Supan. We think it 
would be to their mutual benefit. 

The chief difference in the naming of eleva- 
tions appears in Supan’s ‘Schwelle’ (Swell) for 
Murray’s ‘Plateau’; the German term cer- 
tainly seems the more fitting. 

But a still greater contrast between the two 
systems subsists in the names given to indi- 
vidual elevations and depressions. Here again 
it is a matter of the principle involved. Mur- 
ray has watched the growth of the older nomen- 
clature, and, with the traditon of the naturalist 
in his support, has given preference to names 
having the priority. These names were given 
at various times and but slowly. Exploring 
vessels, commanders and naturalists were com- 
monly honored in the application of their names 
to the newly discovered basins, deeps, ridges 
and plateaus. Supan properly dwells upon the 
fact that these names give no clue to the loca- 
tion of the corresponding forms. He, on the 
other hand, employs the one principle of giving 
submarine forms names which will relate them 
at once to well-known parts of the continents 
or to the grand ocean basins. His ‘ Fidschi- 


JuLyY 27, 1900. ] 


Becken’ is Murray’s ‘Gazelle Basin,’ his 
‘Japanischer Graben,’ the famous ‘ Tuscarora 
Deep,’ and his ‘ Atlantische Schwelle’ include 
the ‘Dolphin,’ ‘Connecting’ and ‘ Challenger 
plateaus of Murrays maps. One consequence 
of the difference in method is that but six of 
Supan’s names are identical with those of 
Murray, although thirty-nine of the former 
and fifty-six of the latter relate to the same 
portion of the sea-bed. Such a state of 
affairs needs immediate attention if confusion is 
to be avoided in the future. Some of Supan’s 
terms, e. g., ‘ Chilenisch-Peruanisches Becken,’ 
are, at the least, inconvenient; the ‘ Nord- 
meer Becken’ ‘Murray’s Arctic Basin’) is to 
the Anglo-Saxon ear possibly ambiguous. 
Yet, on the whole, Supan’s names are well 
chosen. 

In the two systems sharper definitions of the 
terms ‘plateau,’ ‘swell,’ ‘ridge,’ ‘bank,’ ‘rise,’ 
‘trough,’ and ‘basin’ are necessary. As yet 
we have no clear statement as to the character- 
istic features of any one of them. Size, shape, 
depth and slopes should have some sort of limi- 
tations for each type, and, difficult as it may be 
to set bounds where one type passes into 
another, yet, for purposes of presentation and 
of understanding the subject of submarine 
topography, we believe that the attempt should 
be made. In any case, it is manifest that we 
have not, at the present time, secured a com- 
plete list of even the larger forms of the sea- 
bottom. The recent discoveries of the ‘ Moser 
Deep,’ the ‘Nero Deep’ and the ‘ Reykjanaés 
Ridge,’ the last-mentioned is the best known of 
all the great basins, show this conclusively. 
When, in addition, we reflect that the lesser 
details of suboceanic relief are yet to be deter- 
mined, we may well ask if the future more or 
less complex system of nomenclature should be 
definitively impaired by too close adherence to 
the doctrine of priority, or, on the other hand, 
by a too hasty acceptance of new views. What 
is needed is a classification of forms which will 
include not only those already discovered but 
also the many expected in future exploration. 
It is to be hoped that the committee will suc- 
ceed in finding out the right way. In one re- 
spect their task is comparatively light; if 
changes in the existing nomenclature are neces- 


SCIENCE. 


149 


sary, they will now meet with a minimum of 
prejudice either academic or of othersort. The 
habit of but one generation, and, indeed, of but 
a few of the world’s broadest and best trained 
scientific men needs to be affected in order to 
secure a firm foundation upon which may be 
based a classification suitable for needed ex- 
pansion. 


THE LITHOLOGY OF ANCIENT MARINE SEDI- 
MENTS. 


ATTENTION should be called to the elaborate 
‘Contribution 4 l'étude micrographique des ter- 
rains sédimentaires’ by Cayeux (Mémoire de la 
Soc. Géol. du Nord, t. iv, Mém. No. 2, Lille, 
1897). He concludes, aftera painstaking study 
of the Cretaceous sediments of France and of 
England, that the chalk must be regarded as 
having been deposited in comparatively shallow 
water. It is thus important to note that the 
doctrine of Continental permanence is not in- 
validated by this latest and most detailed ex- 
amination of the London and Paris Basin beds. 
Cayeux proposes to add to our classification of 
oceanic sediments by recognizing, with the ter- 
rigenous and pelagic deposits, a third class, the 
‘benthogenic,’ which are composed principally 
of the remains of bottom organisms. Examples 
are cited in the bryozoal beds of Senonian lime- 
stones and in the Cretaceous strata made up 
essentially of sponge spicules, his ‘ spongolith.’ 
He discusses at length the problem of glauconite, 
and finds conclusive evidence that it may be 
found either by the intervention of decaying 
animal matter or by simple secondary crystalli- 
zation in the absence of organic substance. 
He lays stress on a new class of ancient marine 
sediments distinguished from the more usual 
sandstones by the presence of a high pro- 
portion of silica soluble in alkalies (allied to 
opal). While the rock may consist of from 76 
to 92 per cent. of silica, no more than 50 per 
cent. is clastic quartz, the rest of the silica 
being accounted for by this soluble diagenetic 
form. This type of sandstone, the ‘ gaize’ of 
French geologists, Cayeux would have perma- 
nently introduced into our classification of 
sediments. 

REGINALD A. DALY. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


150 


ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 


A SHORT time ago two tusks of an African ele- 
phant were noted in SCIENCE, weighing respec- 
tively 224 and 239 pounds. Messrs. Tiffany & 
Co., in whose rooms these tusks are now on 
exhibition, have kindly given the following 
measurements of these huge tusks: Length 10 
feet and 2 inches and 10 feet 33 inches; cir- 
cumference 23 inches and 243 inches. Sir 
Samuel Baker gives the weights of the two 
largest tusks that came under his observation 
as 188 and 172 pounds, but says that the aver- 
age weight of a pair of tusks of the African 
elephant is 140, one being usually about ten 
pounds heavier than the other. 

The weight of the tusks of the extinct Elephas 
ganesa is unknown, but so far as the dimensions 
can be taken from a cast the measurements are 
as follows: Length 12 feet 4 inches, circum- 
ference 2 feet 3 inches. 

One of the largest, if not the largest, of Mam- 
moth tusks is one brought from Alaska by Mr. 
Jay Beach of Oakland, Cal. This is 12 feet 10 
inches long and 223 inches in circumference 
and weighs about 200 pounds. The average 
Mammoth tusk is from 7 to 9 feet long and 60 
to 80 pounds in weight. 

The tusks of the Mastodon seem as a rule to 
be a little more robust than those of the Mam- 
moth and to taper more rapidly, a large tusk is 
9 feet 4 inches long and 23 inches in circum- 
ference. 

A large deposit of fossil bones has been found 
near Kimmswick, Mo., and excavations are 
being made by a company formed for that pur- 
pose. Many bones of the Mastodon have been 
exhumed as well as those of Bison and other 
animals. The locality is thought to have been 
an ancient salt lick about which the animals 
became mired as at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky. 

A miner has filed a claim in Death Valley, 
California, for the purpose of excavating the 
bones of three Mastodons which were discovered 
in the spring of this year and another claim 
has been taken out for mining a Pliocene whale 
in southern California. 


Dr. J. L. WoRTMAN recently called my at- 
tention to the fact that text-books of compar- 
ative anatomy state that the lachrymal bone is 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


wanting in pinnipeds, at the same time saying 
that his own belief was that examination of 
good specimens would show that this bone was 
present in young animals. Material in the U. 
S. National Museum enabled me to complete- 
ly verify Dr. Wortman’s prediction, for the 
lachrymal is present in fcetal or very young 
fur seals, Callorhinus, although at an early date 
it fuses so completely with the maxillary that, 
as a rule, all traces of it are lost within a 
month or six weeks after birth. 

The lachrymal is a thin, scale-like bone, ap- 
plied to the posterior face of the orbital portion 
of the maxillary and in a small feetus there is a 
distinct lachrymal process and lachrymal fora- 
men, the bone projecting slightly beyond the 
maxillary. At this stage the growth of the 
lachrymal is arrested and the maxillary soon 
comes to project beyond it, while later on the 
two bones fuse and all trace of the lachrymal 
is lost. ‘The same thing evidently occurs in 
Otaria and Eumetopias, as in skulls of the young 
of these two genera the lachrymal is indicated 
by a suture which is completely obliterated in 
adult animals. F. A. Lucas. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
GENERA OF AMERICAN GRASSES. 


PROFESSOR LAMSON-SCRIBNER, Agrostologist 
of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
has issued as Bulletin No. 20, a useful little 
book of about two hundred pages, bearing the 
title of ‘American Grasses, III,’ containing 
descriptions of the tribes and genera of the 
grasses of North America. Each one of the 
137 genera is illustrated by drawings of the 
plant with enlarged details of spikelets, flowers, 


grains, ete. These genera are distributed among 


the thirteen commonly recognized tribes as fol- 
lows: Maydeae, 4; Andropogoneae, 9; Oster- 
damiae, 4; Tristegineae, none ; Paniceae, 11; 
Oryzeae, 7; Phalarideae, 3; Agrostideae, 26 ; 
Aveneae, 8; Chlorideae, 13; Festuceae, 40; — 
Hordeae, 11; Bambuseae, 1. Ample keys 
make it easy to distinguish the tribes and 
genera, and the descriptions of both are full 
and apparently well drawn. This volume 
closes with a bibliography of works cited on its 
pages, and an index of Latin and English 
names. 


JuLy 27, 1900. ] 


WEEDS OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES. 


THE bulletin on ‘ Noxious Weeds and How to 
Destroy Them,’ prepared by T. W. Willing, 
Territorial Weed Inspector, and published by 
the Department of Agriculture of the Govern- 
ment of the Northwest Territories of Canada, 
contains matter of botanical as well as agri- 
cultural interest. It is curious to notice that 
some plants which elsewhere are never thought 
of as weedy in their habits are catalogued in 
the ‘list of the worst weeds.’ Thus we find 
that Hierochloe borealis (now known as Savastana 
odorata) is spoken of as ‘ one of the most trouble- 
some weeds in the Northwest Territories.’ One 
is surprised at finding in the ‘list of worst 
weeds’ such elsewhere harmless plants as the 
common white anemone (Anemone dichotoma), 
the golden fumitory (Corydalis aurea), the 
spider flower (Cleome integrifolia), the erect 
cinquefoil (Potentilla norvegica), Silver-weed 
(Potentilla anserina), ete.; and also that some of 
the most common weeds of other regions are 
omitted, for example, crab-grass (Panicum 
sanguinale), green foxtail (Chaetochloa viridis), 
yellow foxtail (C. glauca), jimson weed (Datura 
stramonium), purslane (Portulaca oleracea), ox- 
eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), bur- 
dock (Arctium lappa) and dandelion (Taraxacum 
taraxacum). 


THE FERNS AND FLOWERING PLANTS OF OKLA- 
HOMA. 


PROFESSOR EH. HE. BoGuE, of the Oklahoma Ex- 
periment Station, publishes as Bulletin 45 a list 
of the ferns and flowering plants of Oklahoma. 
It is the first attempt at such a catalogue, and 
the author disclaims completeness for it, yet it 
is more than ordinarily interesting, since so 
little has been published in regard to the flora 
of the territory that it is to most botanists a 
terra incognita. Looking over the list we find 
13 Pteridophyta, but one Gymnosperm (Juni- 
perus virginiana), 99 Gramineae, but one Orchid 
(Gyrostachys gracilis), 131 Compositae, ete. 
There are 30 species of trees, including hickories 
(8 species), the black walnut, cottonwood, 
willows (3), oaks (5), hackberries (2), elms (2), 
mulberry, sycamore, hawthorn, wild plum, 
red-bud, honey locust, Kentucky coffee-tree, 
box elder, China tree, woolly buckthorn, per- 


SCIENCE. 


151 


simmon, and ashes (2). One is struck by the 
absence from this list of bass-wood, crab apple, 
wild cherry, maple, ironwood, and birch. 
Among herbaceous plants we notice 12 species 
of Eragrostis, 13 of Panicum, 15 of Polygonum, 
5 of Astragalus, 7 of Lespedeza, 6 of Psoralea, 14 
of Euphorbia, 4 of Convolvulus, 6 of Ipomoea, 7 
of Verbena, 6 of Physalis, 6 of Solanum, 8 of 
Plantago, 6 of Artemesia, 10 of Helianthus, etc. 
There is no Lilium, Taraxacum, Hepatica, Phlox, 
nor any species of Hricaceae, but oddly there is 
a Claytonia, a Castalia, an Aquilegia, Lobelia 
cardinalis, and Chrysanthemum leucanthemum. 
We shall look with interest for further results 
of Professor Bogue’s studies of this interesting 
flora. 
NORTH AMERICAN FOX-TAIL GRASSES. 


Tue American species of the weedy grasses 
known as Fox-tail or Pigeon grasses, and which 
were until recently described under the generic 
name of Setaria have been carefully revised by 
Professor Lamson-Scribner in a recent bulletin 
(No. 21) of the Division of Agrostology, of the 
United States Department of Agriculture. The 
name Setaria having fallen into synonymy, and 
the autonomy of the genus making Panicum im- 
possible, Chamaerophis and later Ixophorus were 
suggested, only to be discarded after further 
study, these genera being clearly distinct from 
the grasses under consideration. Nothing re- 
mained but to re-christen the genus, which was 
done in 1897 (Bull. 4), with the name Chaeto- 
chloa. Accordingly these grasses should now 
bear this generic name instead of Setaria, or 
any of the others mentioned above. 

In the present paper 23 species and 12 varie- 
ties are described, nine of which are new to sci- 
ence, viz: (. gibbosa from Texas and Mexico ; 
C. hispida, Cuba ; C. leucopila, Mexico ; C. rigida, 
lower California; C. latifolia breviseta, Mexico ; 
C. macrosperma, Florida and Texas ; C. villosis- 
sima, Texas; (. grisebachti ampla, New Mexico 
and Mexico ; C. grisebachii mexicana, Mexico. 
The more common species in the United States 
are C. Glauca, Yellow Fox-tail ; C. verticillata, 
Hispid Fox-tail; C. viridis, Green Fox-tail ; C. 
italica, Millet; and C. italica germanica, Hun- 
garian Grass. The paper closes with lists of 
excluded (11) and doubtful (12) species, and a 
good index. 


152 


MOSSES OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS. 


UNDER this title the Cambridge Botanical 
Supply Company is publishing sets of mosses 
collected by J. A. Allen, in 1898, in the Cas- 
cade Mountains of Washington. Hach set con- 
tains 147 numbers, one of which (56. Pohlia 
porosa) is new to science, and another (46. Zy- 
godon rupestris) is new to North America. The 
determinations have been made by Mrs. E. G. 
Britton, with the aid of Geo. N. Best, J. Car- 
dot, Harold Lindberg, F. Renauld and others. 
An examination of the specimens shows them 
to be ample and well preserved. The collec- 
tion is a notable addition to the exsiccati of 
Western North American Mosses. 

CHARLES E. BESSEY. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


ACTIVITY IN MAGNETIC WORK.* 

Magnetic Survey of Wurtemburg.—Work on 
this survey, under the direction of Professor 
August Schmidt, will be begun during present 
summer. 

Magnetic Survey of the Azores.—Captain F. A. 
Chaves writes, that the magnetic survey of the 
Azores was begun last year, and that he has 
established at Ponta Delgada a declinometer 
for eye-readings, with the aid of which he will 
reduce the field observations to the same 
moment of time. 

Magnetic Work in Japan.—In Japan, complete 
photographic registrations of the variations of 
magnetic elements are now being continuously 
made at the Central Meteorological Observa- 
tory, and the four stations belonging to the 
Earthquake Investigation Committee, viz: 


Lat. Long. 
(North) (E. of Gr.) 
The Meteorological Station, Nemuro....... 43° 20! 145° 35 
The Second Higher School, Sendai......... 38 15 140 52 
Central Meteorological Observatory, Tokio. 35 41 139 45 
The Meteorological Station, Nagoya........ 35 10 1386 55 
The Fifth Higher School, Kumamoto...... 32 48 130 42 


All these stations are provided with a set of 
Mascart’s self-registering magnetograph, and 
the instruments for direct measurements. The 
daily records are all dispatched without delay 
to the Central Meteorological Observatory for 
comparative investigations. 

*From advance proofs of Terrestrial Magnetism and 
Atmospheric Electricity. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


Since 1897, at the Central Meteorological 
Observatory, the absolute measurements of 
magnetic elements are being taken once a 
month. The instruments with which the 
measurements are carried out are the decli- 
nometer, vibration and deflection apparatus 
constructed by Professor Tanakadaté, of the 
Tokio Imperial University, and a dip circle of 
Kew pattern. 

The buildings at all the stations are con- 


structed of wood, with exclusion of iron, and 


the supports for instruments are made of gran- 
ite, or marble, placed on the masonry work of 
white bricks which are free from magnetic in- 
gredients. 

The extreme dampness of the soil in this coun- 
try renders it difficult to use underground rooms, 
which are very desirable for constancy of tem- 
perature. On this account the buildings at the 
four stations, except at Tokio, are made above 
the surface of the ground, and great care is taken 
to keep off the sudden changes in temperature. 

At Tokio, besides the underground rooms for 
the variation instruments there is also a build- 
ing for absolute measurements, constructed 
with proper precautions against any disturbing 
influence. 

The first annual report on the observations 
of terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric elec- 
tricity made at the Central Meteorological Ob- 
servatory is now passing through the press. 

The precise account of the recent magnetic 
survey in Japan carried out under Professor 
Tanakadaté, we understand, is to appear shortly 
in the Journal of the College of Science, Tokio. 
The first and second papers of the magnetic 
survey made in this country several years ago 
have already been published in the same Jour- 
nal. 

Magnetic Survey of the United States and 
Countries under its Jurisdiction.—The Congress 
of the United States has appropriated for field 
expenses, and purchase of magnetic instru- 
ments during fiscal year, July 1, 1900, to July 
1, 1901, the sum of $25,000; this is exclusive 
of office expenses and salaries of permanent em- 
ployees. The field work is fairly well under way. 
Ten complete magnetic outfits are now in use 
by observers in various parts of the United 
States and Alaska. A site for the standard 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


Magnetic Observatory or Principal Magnetic 
Base Station, near Washington, D. C., has been 
selected, and the erection of the buildings is 
now in progress. A temporary magnetic ob- 
servatory, equipped with the Hschenhagen 
magnetograph, is in operation at Baldwin, 
Kansas. Sites for the magnetic observatories 
in Alaska and Hawaiian Islands will also soon 
be selected, and the erection of the necessary 
buildings will begin within a year. At certain 
specified times simultaneous observations, at 
present simply of declination, are made by all 
the magnetic parties, in which important work, 
beginning with September, various universities 
distributed over the entire country will co-oper- 
ate. 

Magnetic Observatory at Tacubaya, Mexico. 
—Senor Moreno sends us the following informa- 
tion: ‘‘In the beginning of last year, having 
finished our magnetic department we installed 
the apparatus and began taking observations in 
March. A little later we were obliged to take 
out the apparatus on account of the excessive 
humidity which appeared in two of the subter- 
ranean rooms. After the rainy season had 
passed some provisions were made to prevent 
the recurrence of dampness in the future, and 
we were successful to the extent that the two 
rooms mentioned are entirely dry. On the 5th 
of February of this year we began anew our ob- 
servations with three direct reading instru- 
ments.”’ 


JENNER INSTITUTE OF PREVENTIVE 
MEDICINE.* 

THE annual general meeting of the Jenner 
Institute of Preventive Medicine was held at 
Chelsea on June 29th last, under the chairman- 
ship of Lord Lister. Among those present were 
Sir Joseph Fayrer, Surgeon-General Hooper, 
Professor Greenfield, Professor Simpson, Dr. 
McCrury, Dr. Bridgwater, Colonel Addison, 
and Mr. Shattock. The governing body re- 
ported that the transference of Lord Ivyeagh’s 
gift for the promotion of the objects of the Insti- 
tute had been effected, and a governing body 
which would in future control its affairs had 
been constituted. The Director (Dr. Allan 
Macfadyen) reported satisfactory progress in 

* From the British Medical Journal. 


SCIENCE. 


153 


the work of the Institute during the past year. 
The fitting up of the Institute buildings, with 
the exception of the museum, was now com- 
pleted. Among other additions during the year 
were a physiological room, a room for incubat- 
ing purposes, and a cold-storage room. 

Mr. Briggs had presented a Hansen apparatus 
for yeast culture, and considerable additions 
had been made to the library. The second 
volume of the Transactions contained nineteen 
contributions and included a paper by Professor 
Ehrlich. Three papers had been communi- 
cated to the Royal Society on the influence of 
the temperature of liquid air and hydrogen 
upon bacterial life. The experiments were con- 
ducted with the kind co-operation of Professor 
Dewar and a further series was contemplated. 
In conjunction with Dr. Morris and Mr. Row- 
land a paper has been submitted to the Royal 
Society on Expressed Yeast-cell Plasma (Buch- 
ner’s ‘Zymase’), and the research had discov- 
ered a new method for triturating organisms. 
Systematic investigations were being carried 
out in the bacteriological department upon en- 
teric fever, tuberculosis, and the etiology of 
cancer, with the co-operation of Dr. Hewlett 
and Mr. Rowland. Various investigations had 
been published during the year by Dr. Hewlett 
and other members of the staff. It was pro- 
posed to set on foot a systematic inquiry into 
the nature and origin of food poisons. A num- 
ber of workers had utilized the laboratories for 
purposes of research during the year. Special 
investigations had been carried out for public 
authorities during the year on tubercle in milk, 
on glanders and anthrax, and other subjects. 

The illustrations for the Transactions had been 
prepared by Mr. J. E. Barnard in the photo- 
graphic department of the Institute. Dr. 
Harden, chemist to the Institute, was continu- 
ing his investigations on the chemical products 
of pathogenic and other micro-organisms. Dr, 
Harris Morris, lecturer on Technical Mycology, 
reported that a number of students had made 
use of the Hansen Laboratory, and that re- 
searches on yeasts, diastases, zymase, and other 
subjects of technical interest had been prose- 
cuted. Dr. George Dean of the antitoxin de- 
partment, had made experiments on the best 
conditions for obtaining powerful toxins and 


154 


antitoxins, and the results of other workers 
had been tested; as a result a higher average 
of antitoxic value had been reached. Several 
races of streptococcus pyogenes had been used 
in immunizing horses with the view of obtain- 
ing a polyvalent serum. Researches dealing 
with problems of immunity were in progress, 
and papers had been published in the diph- 
theria bacillus and a new pathogenic strepto- 
thrix. 


THE BRITISH NATIONAL PHYSICAL 
LABORATORY. 

A DEPUTATION of prominent English men of 
science waited on the financial Secretary of the 
Treasury, Mr. Hanbury, M. P., on June 5th 
with the object of securing a site in the Old 
Deer Park, Richmond, for the new National 
Physical Laboratory. Another deputation hadan 
interview with Mr. Hanbury a few days before 
to protest against the proposed buildings as an 
interference with the amenities of Kew Gar- 
dens, and it was to meet their objections that 
the present deputation waited upon Mr. Han- 
bury. Amongst those present were Lord Lis- 
ter, Lord Rayleigh, Lord Kelvin, Sir Courtney 
Boyle, Sir John Wolfe Barry, Sir M. Foster, 
M.P., Sir E. Carbutt, Sir N. Barnaby, Sir 
Andrew Noble, and Professors Ricker, Clifton, 
Schuster, Fitzgerald and Elliott. 

According to the report in the London Times 
Lord Lister said the Royal Society was deeply 
interested in the question of the new National 
Physical Laboratory, and they were supported 
by all the scientific bodies in the kingdom. 

Lord Rayleigh, as Chairman of the National 
Physical Laboratory, said they recommended 
“That the institution should be established by 
extending the Kew Observatory in the Old 
Deer Park, Richmond, and that the scheme 
should include the improvement of the existing 
buildings at some distance from the present 
observatory.’’ They had already the Kew Ob- 
servatory, which had been doing very valuable 
work cognate to that proposed to be undertaken 
by the new institution, and that alone sug- 
gested the Deer Park as a natural site. Be- 
sides, there were very few sites that were 
likely to be at all suitable, because the char- 
acter of the work to be carried out was of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XII. No. 291. 


kind to be removed from all kinds of mechan- 
ical and electrical disturbances. Electrical dis- 
turbance was a new feature, but one that 
might be made from tramways anywhere. On 
that ground no private site could meet the case, 
because there was no security from buildings of 
other kinds creating mechanical and electrical 
disturbances. 

This consideration greatly limited their 
choice of sites for this laboratory. That princi- 
ple was recognized by the Greenwich Observa- 
tory being placed in the middle of a park; the 
German institution at Potsdam was ina park; 
and the International Bureau of Weights and 
Measures stood in the park of Sévres. In a 
public park they had some guarantee that the 
buildings would be free from electrical and 
other disturbances. Some comment had been 
made on the provisional arrangement with the 
woods and forests as to the 15 acres required. 
One of the reasons for that large area being 
taken was that they wanted one of their build- 
ings to be at a considerable distance from the 
other. It had never been proposed to cover 
the whole 15 acres with buildings. The actual 
area proposed to be covered with buildings was 
only a quarter of an acre, or the 60th part of 
the whole area proposed to be taken. 

Sir John Wolfe-Barry said that he was placed 
on the committee which recommended this site 
for the laboratory as the representative of ap- 
plied science, numbering 9000 members, and 
the general opinion was that it was extremely 
important to establish this physical laboratory 
from the point of view of the trade of this 
country and the huge commercial interests at 
stake. The committee gave the greatest pos- 
sible attention to the question of site, and they 
came to the conclusion that Kew was very suit- 
able. The one thing they had in view was 
quiet, and Kew possessed advantages which 
could not be given at any other place within a 
reasonable distance of London. It was easily 
accessible and it was quiet. They wanted a 
good space because they did not want the public 
to approach too near. 

Mr. Hanbury, in reply, said: I hope the 
deputation are under no misapprehension what- 
ever as to our strong desire that this scheme for 
a physical laboratory should be carried out. 


JULY 27, 1900.] 


The money has been promised, and we are 
anxious to find a site. As to the absolute im- 
portance to the country of having a laboratory 
of that kind there is no doubt whatever. That 
is not the question raised by the Treasury or by 
any deputation. The real difficulty has been 
how far this undertaking would interfere with 
the amenities of Kew Gardens. We want, so 
far as we can, to satisfy both the scientists and 
lovers of nature. Undoubtedly there has been 
some alarm among a certain portion of the pub- 
lic, especially those interested in Kew Gardens 
and open spaces, that this might to a certain 
extent interfere with the amenities of Kew. I 
am bound to say that the impression gathered 
from you to-day is that to a great extent that 
alarm is unnecessary. Of course the deputa- 
tion represented to me the other day the dan- 
ger of the quiet being disturbed by the noise of 
the operations in the two proposed buildings, 
and from what Lord Kelvin and others have 
said to day I am satisfied that on that point, at 
any rate, there need not be any alarm. The 
most important point that has come out to-day 
is as to whether after all on this site you are 
yourselves secure against electrical disturbance. 
I need not express any opinion upon that. We 
ought to wait for the report of the Board of 
Trade committee to see how far that will meet 
your requirements. I understand that if there 
is any extension of the buildings required it 
will be only to a little extent, and the public 
need not fear that you will build over the whole 
of these 15 acres. 


PROTECTION AND IMPORTATION OF BIRDS. 

DuRine the last session of Congress a law 
was enacted, commonly known as the Lacey 
Act, which places the preservation, distribution, 
introduction, and restoration of game and 
other birds under the Department of Agricul- 
ture; regulates the importation of foreign birds 
and animals, prohibiting absolutely the intro- 
duction of certain injurious species; and pro- 
hibits interstate traffic in birds or game killed 
in violation of State laws. 

The Secretary of Agriculture has placed the 
Division of Biological Survey of his Department 
in charge of all matters relating to the preser- 


SCIENCE. 


155 


vation and importation of animals or birds under 
the Act, and Dr. T. 8. Palmer, the Assistant 
Chief of that Division, has immediate charge 
of the issue of permits for the importation of 
animals and birds from foreign countries. 

The regulations for carrying out the purposes 
of the Act have just been published by the U. 
S. Department of Agriculture as Biological Sur- 
vey Circular No. 29, entitled ‘ Protection and 
Importation of Birds under Act .of Congress 
approved May 25, 1900.’ 

The circular explains the object of placing 
the work in charge of an Executive Department 
of the Federal Government as being merely to 
supplement and not to hamper or replace the 
work hitherto done by State commissions and 
organizations ; in other words, to co-ordinate 
and direct individual efforts, and thus insure 
more uniform and more satisfactory results 
than could otherwise be obtained. 

Attention is called to the fact that while the 
Act provides for the purchase and distribution 
of birds, no appropriation is made for that 
purpose. The Department, therefore, has no 
quail, pheasants, or other game birds for distri- 
bution. 

The Department issues no permits for ship 
ping birds from one State to another. In some 
States the Board of Fish and Game Commis- 
sioners is authorized to issue permits for ship- 
ping birds for propagating purposes, and a few 
States make exceptions in their game laws in 
the case of birds captured for breeding pur- 
poses ; but when aState forbids the exportation 
of birds without exception, interstate commerce 
in birds from that State is in violation of the 
Lacey Act, whether the birds are captured dur- 
ing open seasons or whether they are intended 
for propagation or not. 

Persons contemplating the importation of 
live animals or birds from abroad must obtain 
a special permit from the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture, and importers are advised to make appli- 
cation for permits in advance, in order to avoid 
annoyance and delay when shipments reach the 
custom house. The law applies to single mam- 
mals, birds or reptiles, kept in cages as pets, as 
well as to large consignments intended for prop- 
agation in captivity or otherwise. 

Permits are not required for domesticated 


156 


birds, such as chickens, ducks, geese, guinea 
fowl, pea fowl, pigeons, or canaries ; for parrots 
(including cockatoos, lovebirds,macaws,and par- 
rakeets); or for natural history specimens for 
museums or scientific collections. Permits must 
be obtained for all wild species of pigeons and 
ducks. 

In the case of ruminants (including deer, elk, 
moose, antelopes, and also camels and llamas), 
permits will be issued, as heretofore, in the form 
prescribed for importation of domesticated 
animals. 

The introduction of the English or European 
house sparrow, the starling, the fruit bat or 
flying fox, and the mongoose, known also as 
the ichneumon or Pharaoh’s rat, is absolutely 
prohibited, and permits for their importation will 
not be issued under any circumstances. 

Under the regulations prescribed by the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, in case of doubt as to 
whether animals or birds belong to the pro- 
' hibited species, or suspicion on the part of the 
collector of customs that such species are being 
entered under other names, the shipment will 
be held, at the risk and expense of the impor- 
ter, pending the receipt of special instructions 
from the Department of Agriculture, or until 
examined at the expense of the importer by a 
special inspector designated by the Secretary of 
Agriculture and the identity established to the 
satisfaction of the collector. 

Special inspectors will be designated at the 
ports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Bal- 
timore, Washington, New Orleans and San 
Francisco, who will examine shipments at the 
request of the owner or agent, or who may be 
consulted in case of misunderstanding between 
owners and officers of the customs. These 
inspectors are to be designated merely for the 
‘convenience of importers, and owners or agents 
are under no obligations to employ them, but the 
identity of the species must be established to the 
satisfaction of collectors, and in case of refusal or 
neglect, or failure to obtain the permit within 
the specified time, delivery of the property will 
be refused and immediate exportation required. 

The deliberate shipment of starlings or Eng- 
lish sparrows from one State to another is now 
a violation of law and renders the shipper and 
carrier liable to the penalties provided in theAct. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


The attention of sportsmen, commission mer- 
chants, shippers, and express agents is especi- 
ally called to the sections which make it unlaw- 
ful to ship from one State to another animals 
or birds which have been killed or captured in 
violation of local laws, and which require all 
packages containing animals or birds to be 
plainly marked so that the name and address of 
the shipper and the nature of the contents may 
be ascertained by inspection of the outside of 
such packages. 


MONUMENT TO PROFESSOR BAIRD. 

Av the annual meeting of the American 
Fisheries Society held at Woods Holl, July 18- 
20, Dr. H. M. Smith, of the U. S. Commission 
of Fish and Fisheries, spoke of the appropriate- 
ness of the Society erecting at Woods Holla 
memorial to the late Professor Spencer F. Baird, 
and presented the following resolutions which 
were unanimously adopted : 


WHEREAS, The American Fisheries Society, as- 
sembled at Woods Holl, Mass., regards as desirable 
and proper the erection of a tablet or monument to 
the memory of the late Professor Spencer F. Baird, 
in recognition of his distinguished labors in behalf of 
fish-culture, the fisheries and biological science ; and 

WHEREAS, The Society deems it appropriate that 
this memorial should be located at Woods Holl, asa 
special tribute to his zeal in furthering the interests 
of marine biology and fish-culture ; therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee with full powers be 
appointed by the chair to determine the most suitable 
form of the memorial, to raise the necessary funds, 
and to proceed with the erection of the monument. 

Resolved, That the committee notify the surviving 
members of Professor Baird’s family of the proposed 
action, and invite their suggestions thereon. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be trans- 
mitted to the U. 8. Commissioner of Fish and Fish- 
eries. 


The following committee was appointed, pur- 
suant to the foregoing resolutions: Dr. H. M. 
Smith (Chairman), Washington, D. C.; Hon. 
E. G. Blackford, N. Y.; Dr. E. W. Blatchford, 
Ills.; Hon. George M. Bowers, Washington, 
D. C.; Mr. Frank N. Clark, Mich.; Mr. Vinal 
N. Edwards, Mass.; Dr. Bushrod W. James, 
Penna.; Hon. George F. Peabody, Wis.; Hon. 
Redfield Proctor, Vt.; Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, 
Washington, D. C. 


Juny 27, 1900.] 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY conferred at Man- 
chester on June 30th, honorary degrees upon 
Lord Rayleigh, Sir William Huggins, Sir W. 
C.. Roberts Austen, Sir William Abney, Dr. T. 
E. Thorpe, Professor J. Dewar, Professor A. R. 
Forsyth, Mr. R. T. Glazebrook, Professor E. C. 
Pickering, Professor J. J. Thomson and Mr. 
Henry Wilde. 

THE Hopkins prize of Cambridge University 
for the period 1894-1897 has been awarded to 
Mr. J. Larmor, F.R.S., of St. John’s College, 
for his investigations on the ‘Physics of the 
Aether’ and other contributions to mathemat- 
ical physics. 

Str MicHAEL Foster arrived in New York 
by the steamship Lucania on July 21st. He will 
give a course of lectures before the Cooper 
Medical College, San Francisco, and will make 
arrangements for American co-operation in the 
International Catalogue of Scientific Literature. 


PROFESSOR J. MARK BALDWIN, of Princeton 
University, has returned to the United States 
after a residence of over a year at Oxford, where 
he has been seeing through the press the ‘ Dic- 
tionary of Psychology and Philosophy’ shortly 
to be published by The Macmillan Company. 


Dr. Emory McCuintock has returned from 
Paris, where he attended the third interna- 
tional Congress of actuaries as delegate from 
the U. S. Government. 


THE Paris Academy of Sciences has elected 
M. Bazin of Dijon a correspondent for the sec- 
tion of mechanics and M. Zambacca a corre- 
spondent for the section of medicine and surgery. 


Dr. CORFIELD, professor of hygiene and pub- 
lic health at University College, London, has 
been elected a corresponding member of the 
Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium. 


Dr. NicHoLAs SENN, who served as a volun- 
teer medical officer during the war with Spain, 
has again offered the United States government 
his services, to go to China to care for the 
American soldiers who may be wounded. As 
volunteer in the Spanish-American war Dr. 
Senn went to Cuba, where he was chief operat- 
ing-surgeon in the field with the rank of lieu- 
tenant-colonel. 


SCIENCE. 


157 


CAPTAIN EH. L. Munson, assistant surgeon in 
the United States army has been awarded the 
prize (one hundred dollars in gold or a medal 
of that value) presented to the Military Science 
Institution by Dr. Louis L. Seaman, for the 
best paper on the subject of ‘The Ideal Ration 
for an Army in the Tropics.’ 


THE Managers of the Royal Institution have 
awarded the Actonian prize of 100 guineas to 
Sir William Huggins, K.C.B., F.R.S., and 
Lady Huggins for their work ‘An Atlas of 
Representative Spectra.’ 

Mr. J. H. MAIDEN, director of the Botanic 
Gardens at Sydney, is at present in London, and 
will spend about three months making special 
investigations in Great Britain and on the con- 
tinent. 

JAMES R. BAILEY, Ph.D., adjunct professor, 
in charge of organic chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Texas, will spend the coming year at 
Leipzig. His place will be supplied by Mr. EH. 
Schoch, late of the University of Chicago. 


Mr. THoMAS LARGE has been appointed as- 
sistant in the Illinois State Laboratory of 
Natural History for ichthyological work on the 
natural history survey. 


AT a recent meeting of the Board of Regents 
of the University of Texas (July 12th) provision 
was made for the appointment of an ‘ instructor 
in economic and field geology,’ who should 
supplement the work of instruction in the Uni- 
versity by research work in the State. This 
step is preliminary to the establishment of a 
Geological Survey under the auspices of the 
University. 

Dr. J. M. MENECK is supposed to have per- 
ished in the desert of southern Utah. He was 
separated from his companions while prospect- 
ing in that region, and no traces of him have 
been found. He was known as a geologist and 
archeologist and had represented the Smith- 
sonian Institution. 

THE following deaths of ornithologists are 
noted in the Auk: Edgar Leopold Layard has 
died at Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England, 
in his 76th year. He was born at Florence 
on July 23, 1824, and entered the Civil Ser- 
vice of Ceylon when twenty-two years of 


158 


age; in 1855 he accepted the invitation of 
the late Sir George Grey to a post in the Civil 
Service at Cape Town. There he founded the 
South African Museum and became its first 
curator ; Layard’s chief work was ‘The Birds 
of South Africa,’ published in 1867, of which 
a new and revised edition, with the collabora- 
tion of Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, made its appear- 
ance between 1875-84. It is rather by his 
many and varied contributions from 1854 al- 
most to the time of his death that he will be 
remembered ; and a column of closely printed 
type in the General Subject Index to The Ibis 
testifies to his work in ornithology. Percy S. 
Selous, an associate member of the Ameri- 
can Ornithologists’ Union, died at his home 
in Greenville, Mich., on April 7, 1900. His 
death was due to the bite of a pet Florida 
moccasin. Mr. Selous was a great traveler and 
an enthusiastic naturalist, especially interested 
in birds and reptiles. 


Among the British Civil List pensions granted 
during the year ended on June 20th, Nature 
notices the following: Mr. Benjamin Harrison, 
in consideration of his researches in the subject 
of pre-historic flint implements, 26/.; Mr. 
Thomas Whittaker, in consideration of his 
philosophical writings, 50/.; Mr. Charles James 
Wollaston, in recognition of his services in 
connection with the introduction of submarine 
telegraphy, 100/.; Mr. Robert Tucker, in consid- 
eration of his services in promoting the study 
of mathematics, 40/.; Mrs. Eliza Arlidge, in 
consideration of the labors of her late husband, 
Dr. John Thomas Arlidge, in the cause of in- 
dustrial hygiene, 50/.; Miss Emily Victoria 
Biscoe, in consideration of the services rendered 
to Antarctic exploration by her late father, 
Captain John Biscoe, 301. 


THE death is announced of Dr. Corrado Tom- 
masi Crudeli, professor of pathological histol- 
ogy at Rome, one of the secretaries of the 
Accademia dei Lincei and known for his im- 
portant researches on cholera and malaria. 


By the will of the late Timothy B. Black- 
stone, of Chicago, $250,000 is given to public 
institutions, including $100,000 to the Black- 
stone Library at Branford, Conn., and $25,000 
to the Chicago Art Institute. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 291. 


THE Belgian Academy of Medicine offers a 
prize of 1200 fr. for a research on the influence 
of change of temperature on nutrition. Essays 
must be sent before the 20th of January, 1901, 
to the Secretary of the Academy, Brussels. 


THE fiftieth anniversary of the German Or- 
nithological Society will be celebrated at the 
annual meeting which will be held at Leipzig on 
October 5th. 


THE third annual meeting of the American 
Section of the International Association for the 
Testing of Materials will be held in New York, 
October 25th-27th. At this meeting reports of 
a number of committees as to proposed standard 
specifications will be submitted for discussion. 
Among these are specifications for steel axles, 
steel forgings, steel castings and wrought iron. 


THE annual meeting of the British Museums 
Association began at Canterbury on July 9th, 
under the presidency of Dr. Henry Woodward, 
of the British Museum. 


THE Victoria Institute, London, held its an- 
nual meeting on July 15th, when an address 
was given by Professor Hull, F.R.S. 


THE Jenner Institute of Preventive Medicine, 
London, will be taxed according to a decision 
of the English Courts, because it is not exclu- 
sively for purposes of science. Itis held that 
the fact that the Institute has sold certain anti- 
toxines prevents it being regarded as exclusively 
for the advancement of science. 


Tue British Secretary of State for India has 
received a telegraph from the Governor of 
Bombay stating that there were 9928 cases of 
cholera in the famine districts during the week 
ending July 7th, of which 6474 were fatal, and 
that in the native States there were 9526 cases, 
of which 5892 were fatal. The total number 
of death on the relief works was 5870, which 
was 3.9 per 1000. 


THE hut in which Drs. Sambon and Low 
are about to make their experiments, to see 
whether malaria is prevented by excluding 
mosquitoes, is to be placed on a site about two 
miles from Ostia, on the edge of a swamp form- 
ing part of the royal hunting domain of Castel 
Fusano, and left undrained to preserve the 
wild animals. It is one of the most fever 
stricken centers of the Roman Campana and 


JULY 27, 1900. ] 


infested with innumerable mosquitoes of the 
malarial variety. 

.A BLACK bear for the N. Y. Zoological Park 
recently escaped while being transferred from 
a truck to the enclosure in the Park. It 
scratched Dr. Hornaday, director of the Park, 
and an attendant, and was strangled in the at- 
tempt to catch it. 

Tr is said that three of the surveying parties 
recently sent to Alaska by the United States 
Geological Survey are now at work in the 
Nome district and its extension in the Seward 
Peninsula. They are in charge of Messrs. EH. 


C. Barnard, A. H. Brooks and W. J. Peters. © 


Mr. Barnard will make a topographic map ona 
scale of four miles to the inch, and Mr. Brooks 
will make geological investigation covering the 
area thus mapped. He will determine the ex- 
tent of the gold-bearing formation, and trace out 
the conditions of occurrence of the veins from 
which the placer gold has been derived. Hehas 
submitted a report which speaks of the adverse 
conditions prevailing at Nome. He says that 
large numbers of persons on the beach were with- 
out shelter or food, and verifies the reports of 
the presence of smallpox on the vessels, and the 
probability of a smallpox epidemic there. Mr. 
F. C. Schrader, under date of June 14th, re- 
ports the arrival of the Copper River surveying 
party at Valdes. This party is tomake a topo- 
graphic and geologic survey of an area of 3000 
square miles in the Copper River region, where 
valuable copper deposits are reliably reported 
to exist. 


THE Windward has left Sydney, B. C., for 
Htah, North Greenland, with supplies for the 
Peary expedition. It is, however, said that the 
ice floes this year are unusually heavy and ex- 
tensive, and that the Windward will experience 
great difficulty in going North and will prob- 
ably be unable to reach Etah. 


THE British Medical Journal states that on 
the initiative of Professor W. D. Scherwinsky 
of Moscow, a permanent committee for the 
study of tuberculosis as a national scourge has 
been formed in Russia. Professor Scherwinsky 
himself is the President; the other members 
are Messrs. Ph. M. Blumenthal, G. N. Gabrit- 
schewsky, F. A. Guetier, L. J. Golubinin, G. 


SCIENCE. 


159 


J. Gurin, P. J. Kurshin, A. G. Petrowski, J. 
W. Popoff, A. D. Solokoff, and A. N. Ustinoff. 
The committee which has met twice a month 
since the beginning of April has drawn up for 
itself the following program of work: (1) Re- 
ports on the communications made on tuber- 
culosis to the Pirogoff Congress and other med- 
ical societies in Russia; (2) reports of foreign 
congresses on tuberculosis; (8) reports on tu- 
berculosis as an infectious disease (diagnosis, 
etiology—heredity, individual predisposition, 
external influences, mode of diffusion, economic 
and social factors); (4) statistical data respect- 
ing tuberculosis in Russia; (5) legislative meas- 
ures and ordinances in regard to tuberculosis 
of human beings and beasts; (6) sanatoria, 
koumiss establishments, etc.; (7) the means 
actually in use, and which should be used, for 
the prevention of tuberculosis in the different 
provinces of Russia; (8) tuberculosis in ani- 
mals and its relation to the disease in human 
beings. 

Nature states that the grant of 1000. in aid of 
the work of the Marine Biological Association ; 
the site of the National Physical Laboratory at 
Kew; and the grant to the British School at 
Athens, were brought before the House of Com- 
mons upon the vote to complete the sum of 
50,7241. for scientific investigation. It was 
urged by Mr. Gibson Bowles that the grant to 
the Marine Biological Association should be 
largely increased; and by Lord Balcarres that 
the vote of 7000/. for building and equipping 
the National Physical Laboratory should not 
bind the treasury to adhere to the site which 
has been proposed. Mr. Hanbury said it 
should be borne in mind that the grant of 
10007. to the Marine Biological Association was 
not the only grant made in connection with the 
fisheries of the United Kingdom. A grant was 
given to the Fishery Board of Scotland for the 
purpose of scientific investigation, and similar 
assistance was given to the Ivish fisheries. 
Under present conditions there did not seem 
to be any urgent necessity to increase the 
grant. The Treasury has very little voice in 
the matter of a physical laboratory; it has 
acted on the recommendation of a committee 
of the Royal Society. It was absolutely neces- 
sary to find a site near Kew Observatory, and 


160 


after looking at every possible site the com- 
mittee strongly reported that no other site 
would answer the purpose so well as that which 
adjoined Kew Gardens. He agreed that nothing 
ought to be done which would interfere with 
the amenities of Kew Gardens, and this point 
had been considered in the selection of the site- 
The two buildings, one for machinery and the 
other for carrying on the more delicate scientific 
operations, were to be placed in positions which 
would not mar the views from the gardens or 
injure theiramenities. The voting of the 70001. 
would in no way prejudice the consideration of 
the case against the proposed site. Referring 
more particularly to the British School at 
Athens, Mr. Balfour stated that the only ground 
for the alarm expressed was that the original 
grant was for five years, and that this term was 
drawing to a close. The question of govern- 
mental subyention of scientific investigation was 
a very important subject, and there was no 
doubt that Great Britain had, from a traditional 
policy, lagged greatly behind other nations in 
respect. It never occurred to them to do what 
the Germans, the French, or the Americans did 
in making certain grants for investigations ; and 
who was right he did not undertake to say. 
His own personal inclination was rather in the 
direction of governmental aid in cases where 
they could not expect private aid to come for- 
ward ; but at the same time he confessed that 
he often thought how strange it was in a very 
rich country there were not found some people 
who, in a difficulty to find other and more 
profitable investments, did not attempt to earn 
glory for themselves by carrying on those in- 
vestigations with the money that was required. 
He could only say that certainly the grant 
would not be discontinued without a generous 
consideration of the facts and interests in- 
volved. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


AN additional story will be added to the 
University Hall, Columbia University, during 
the present year. The basement of this Hall, 
containing the gymnasium and power house, 
erected at a cost of about $1,000,000, has been 
in use since the University removed to its new 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII, No. 291. 


site. The superstructure is being erected by 
gifts from the alumni, and enough money is 
now available to construct an additional story 
which will contain dining halls, club rooms, an 
assembly room, seating 1500, and some of the 
offices of administration. The assembly hall 
for the religious and social life of students for 
which a gift was made last spring will be begun 
in the autumn. During the present summer, 
alterations are being made in Schermerhorn 
Hall in order to enlarge the laboratory of 
psychology. A private staircase is being built 
from the present laboratory to the floor above 
where seven additional rooms for research are 
being provided. 


Av the University of Texas, Dr. S. E. Mezes 
has been promoted from an associate to a full 
professorship of philosophy and Dr. H. Y. Ben- 
edict, instructor in mathematics and astronomy 
has been advanced to an adjunet professorship. 
The regents have made proyision for an in- 
structorship in botany. 


THOMAS NOLEN, professor of architecture in 
the University of Missouri, has resigned to ac- 
cept a professorship in the University of Penn- 
sylvania. 


Iv is reported that Dr. A. Lincoln, assistant 
in chemistry at Cornell University, has been 
offered the chair of chemistry in the Univer- 
sity of Cincinnati. 


Mr. Joun H. McCLeLuan has been reap- 
pointed instructor in zoology at the University 
of Illinois. 


Dr. PRECHT, of the University of Heidel- 
berg, has been promoted to an associate profes- 
sorship of physics, and Dr. Fritz Czeschka von 
Mahrenthal, curator in the Zeological Institute 
of the University of Berlin, to a professorship 
of zoology. 


PROFESSOR ORESTE MATTIROLO has been ap- 
pointed professor of botany in the University of 
Turin, and Dr. Fridrano Carava associate pro- 
fessor in this science in the University of Cag- 
liari. 

Dr. SCHMIDT, honorary professor of anthro- 
pology and ethnology in the University at 
Leipzig, has retired. 


Sere NCE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ContTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 


Io) 1Up 


Physiology; J. S. BILLInas, 


Britton, Botany; ©. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircu, 
Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Avuaust 3, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The Last Quarter—A Reminiscence and an Outlook : 
PROFESSOR LUCIEN M. UNDERWOOD............- 161 
Artificial Parthenogenesis in Annelids: PROFES- 
SOR JACQUES LOEB..........:.cc:ceceeceseceeeeceneeneee 170 
The Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of Amer- 
ica (II): PROFESSOR GEO. C. COMSTOCK......... ial 
Scientific Books :— 
Loew’s Investigations on Tobacco: Dr. H. N. 
STOKES. Cory on the Land Birds of Eastern 
North America: W. H. OSGOOD......-.......000005 191 
Scientific Journals and Articles........12...00ceceseeeee 192 
Discussion and Correspondence :— q 
Kite vs. Balloon: A LAWRENCE RotcH. 
losities on Horses’ Legs: Dr. W J MCGEE...... 193 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H............00- 194 
Medical Exhibits at Paris.......cecccsccceeneseseneneeeeee 195 
Sigma Xi, The American Association and The Geo- 
logical Society of Americd...........-.ceceereeseceenees 196 
Serentifie Notes and News. ......c0s-c0sc0se csseseasseavene 197 
University and Educational News...........0.sss0eeseeee 200 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes" 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE LAST QUARTER—A REMINISCENCE AND 
AN OUTLOOK.* 


Ninety years ago, a botanist holding a 
professor’s chair in Williams College for 
the supposed mismanagement of an estate 
in Columbia county was confined for a 
short period in a debtor’s prison in New 


* Address of Retiring President, Botanical Society 
of America. 


York City. Years afterward he related to 
a friend that as a relief to the monotony of 
confinement he found amusement in teach- 
ing botany to the keeper’s son whom he 
described as a bright youth of fourteen 
years. From such an inauspicious begin- 
ning came the real development of botany 
in this city, for while Hosack had attempted 
to develop his Elgin Gardens earlier in the 
century, the above episode was the begin- 
ning of a career that resulted in the rapid 
advance of botanical science in New York. 
It is only proper to add that the professor 
above noted was no less a personage than 
Amos Eaton, author of the first series of 
American botanical manuals, and the wil- 
ling pupil was none other than John Tor- 
rey, the Nestor of American Botany. 

Were we tracing the full pedigree of bot- 
any in New York, it would be necessary 
to follow the record two generations back 
of Torrey, for it was Hosack, the originator 
of the first botanic garden of New York 
who instructed and assisted Amos Eaton in 
his early botanical studies while the latter 
was still a law student in New York City, 
and more specially after he had passed on 
to his higher work of instruction. Hosack’s 
Botanical Garden at 54th Street and Madi- 
son Ave. was too far out of town for the 
New Yorkers of 1801-1806 to visit, and it 
passed over finally to Columbia College 
and laid a solid foundation for the financial 
endowment of that institution, as property 


162 


advancement followed settlement northward 
up Manhattan Island. It was little wonder 

_that this college early came to foster bo- 
tanical science and later accumulated the 
foundations that have led up to its pres- 
ent tender of facilities for botanical re- 
search along varied lines. 

It is unnecessary in this presence to re- 
late in detail the incidents which led up to 
the development of a botanical center here 
as early as 1831, so that Asa Gray, restive 
in his work in Central New York and cast- 
ing about for a place where he could study 
botany, could find no better tutelage than 
under his master Torrey, and came to 
New York as Torrey’s pupil and finally 
became his ,assistant in the preparation of 
the Flora of North America, a work that 
will ever stand as a masterpiece in Ameri- 
can botany, combining with the critical acu- 
men and exact learning of its senior author 
the enthusiasm and push of its more youth- 
ful one. It may, however, be useful at this 
time to call to mind some of the conditions 
existing at the time of the first appearance 
of Torrey and Gray’s Flora in 1838 or even 
at the period of the issue of the final part 
of the second uncompleted volume in 1843. 
The great Louisiana Purchase of 1803 ex- 
tending northwestward from the mouth of 
the Mississippi to the Pacific had scarcely 
been entered by the scientific explorer ex- 
cept in its Northern portion, and that 
mainly by Lewis and Clark in their discov- 
ery of the headwaters of the Columbia and 
by Long’s expedition to the Rocky Moun- 
tains. Texas and the great Southwest, 
Utah, Nevada, and California were quiet, 
Mexico-Spanish possessions alike undis- 
turbed by the hum of civilization or the 
visitation of the field botanist except as 
some wandering explorer like Adelbert 
Chamisso had touched at the Pacific ports 
and had skimmed a few memorials of the 
vast west coast flora, or some Russian ex- 
pedition had pushed down from their north- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


ern possessions into Northern California. 
Minnesota and the Northwest were still in 
the hands of the Indians, and all of Iowa 
and much of Illinois were raw prairie un- 
touched by the plow of the pioneer. Chi- 
cago was a hamlet with a handful of peo- 
ple struggling with fever and ague on 
the wind swept marshes at the lower end 
of Lake Michigan. The South which even 
yet has scarcely produced an indigenous 
botanist was then a region untouched since 
the travels of Michaux, except as Short and 
Peter had explored Kentucky and Stephen 
Elliot, the father of Southern botany, had 
brought to notice something of the flora of 
the Carolinas. Such in brief was the state 
of our country and its botanical exploration 
when Gray received his call to Cambridge 
and laid there the foundation of a second 
center of botanical-research. The annexa- 
tion of Texas as the second of our Spanish 
acquisitions of territory ; the Mexican war 
with the commencement of our expansion 
policy in the cession of California and New 
Mexico with the attendant military occu- 
pation and exploration for the settlement 
of boundaries ; the discovery of gold in 
California in 1848 and the attendant de- 
velopment of that Eldorado of immigration, 
and finally with the transcontinental rail- 
road projects of the early fifties, all brought 
to Torrey and Gray the floral wealth of 
these extensions of territory and have 
made the Torrey herbarium at New York 
and the Gray herbarium at Cambridge the 
two great repositories of the types of west- 
ern plants, each supplementing the other 
in their priceless possessions. 

Few of the present generation of botanical 
students realize clearly the rapid advance 
of their science in the past quarter of a 
century or the conditions under which the 
student of botany was placed at the begin- 
ning of that period. It is just an even 
twenty-five years since your retiring pres- 
ident completed the solitary course in bot- 


Avueust 3, 1900. ] 


any offered in his undergraduate collegiate 
work in 1875. It was a course of lectures 
given by a‘great and good man, but one 
whose first love was geology and not botany, 
and extended through a short term of 
twelve weeks in which we were instructed 
in some of the details of the structure of 
the flowering plants something after the 
pattern set in Gray’s lessons, after which 
we were directed how to use Gray’s 
Manual for determining the unknown 
names of such familiar plants as the Tril- 
lium, the spring beauty, the wild geranium 
and the white daisy with all the array of 
names like Leucanthemum chrysanthemum that 
nearly paralyzed such of the students as 
had pursued a long course in Greek. There 
was scarcely a word as to the homology of 
parts, relationship of plants to each other 
or to their environment. Nota word was 
breathed about the world of cryptogamic 
organisms; the ferns and fungi were alike 
tabooed, and liverworts and lichens may as 
well have had a non-existence for we never 
heard them mentioned, and went out of col- 
lege ignorant of their existence at least from 
any direct information from the instructor. 
The compound microscope was sealed to us 
except as an illustration of the application 
of the principles of optics, but we well re- 
member the half day of unalloyed pleasure 
when we stole into the room where it was 
usually securely locked in its case and for 
once found the case open. How we rev- 
eled in a set of prepared slides and had 
our first self-taught lesson in plant his- 
tology. 

This personal reminiscence is not an un- 
usual picture for those times, for then there 
were in the country only two or three col- 
leges where there was a distinctive professor 
of botany, and even in these more favored 
institutions the character of the instruction 
was much the same asI have pictured. 
Ecology was unheard of in the schools; 
plant physiology was scarcely mentioned 


SCIENCE. 


163 


and indeed its only printed exponent avail- 
able was ‘ How Plants Grow, Gray.’ Evo- 
lution was some unholy doctrine about 
monkeys that contradicted the Bible. It 
was with the force of an electric shock that 
a short time later the translation of Sachs ’ 
Botany opened to our astounded eyes the 
manner in which we as students had. been 
robbed of the knowledge of the splendid ad- 
vance of the science that had been in prog- 
ress in Germany during the middle half of 
the present century. Soon after this, Bes- 
sey’s ‘ Botany’ for schools appeared, and it is 
no exaggeration to say that since the time 
when Amos Eaton’s first class in Williams 
College begged the privilege to publish for 
him the first and most famous edition of his 
manual, no single book has appeared that 
for its time has proved a more valuable con- 
tribution to botanical teaching in America. 
Bessey’s work was particularly useful at this 
time because it served to introduce the 
younger student to Sachs’ more extensive 
and difficult text-book and showed him that 
there were other and broader considerations 
in botany than the mere ‘analysis of 
flowers,’ and gave him for the first time a 
rational conception of that underworld of 
plant life of which the hitherto one-sided 
facilities for study had robbed him. Since 
that time wave after wave of lines of botan- 
ical investigation and methods of teaching 
have swept over us, and system after system 
of elementary instruction has been proposed 
and has been crystallized or more often pre- 
sented in an amorphous condition in the 
numerous text-books and laboratory man- 
uals of the past fifteen years. 

I should add here that indirectly a second 
factor greatly stimulated the development 
of the new botany, namely the introduction 
of elementary biological study in theschools, 
for about this time Huxley’s ‘ Biology’ ap- 
peared and from an English stimulus Amer- 
ican students commenced the development 
of biological investigation from a new stand- 


164 


point. Laboratory methods were com- 
menced, and laboratory equipments fol- 
lowed. But Huxley was mainly a zoolo- 
gist, and thus not unnaturally it came 
about that some American biologists came 
to be developed in a one-sided way, and in 
some cases came to assume the unfortunate 
proposition that biology was only another 
name for zoology. In later years they 


learned their mistake and for the future the. 


student who hopes for success along biolog- 
ical lines recognizes that he is committing 
a fatal error if he does not prepare for his 
future with a vigorous foundation in plant 
biology. 

Twenty-five years ago there was practi- 
cally one American botanist and his man- 
ual was supposed to be the end of all neces- 
sary knowledge even though its descriptions 
often failed to cover variations noted that 
later botanists have dared to call species. 
In some remote quarters the momentous 
question was occasionally presented to the 
teacher of botany, Is Gray’s system really 
better than Wood’s? but usually there was 
little dissent from an affirmative answer to 
the question. 

It was in the latter part of this same year 
(1875) that the first number of the Bo- 
tanical Bulletin (now the Botanical Gazette) 
was issued by the enthusiastic professor of 
natural science of a little college in southern 
Indiana. It was a four-page sheet without 
cover containing mainly notes on the local 
flora of the vicinity of the college and bear- 
ing little prophecy of its present develop- 
ment into two volumes aggregating nine 
hundred pages a year. Five years before 
The Torrey Club of New York had founded 
its Bulletin, but for the five years prior to 
1875 had not produced so many pages as 
have just been issued in the first five months 
of the year 1900. Something of the aim of 
the latter journal in its early days may be 
of interest at this time. We quote from 
the first number, January, 1870: ‘ An at- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


tentive study of plants in their native 
haunts is essential to the advance of the 
science, and in this respect the jocal obser- 
ver has an advantage over the explorer of 
extensive regions, or the possessor of a gen- 
eral herbarium. He can note the plant from 
its cradle to its grave; can watch its strug- 
gles for existence, its habits, its migrations, 
its variations ; can study its atmospheric and 
entomological economies ; can speculate on 
its relations to the past, or experiment on 
its utility to man. It would be in vain to 
attempt to enumerate all the points about 
which a lover of vegetable nature can learn 
and report something new. Botany, like 
every other science, far from being- ex- 
hausted, is ever widening its field.” This 
language for the time in which it was writ- 
ten was an unexpected prophecy, for at this 
period scarcely anyone looked at botany as 
a serious subject. It was regarded as a 
suitable study for misses’ boarding schools 
and a harmless elective in a few of the more 
enlightened colleges. No facilities were 
open for advanced work and none was 
thought of by the college authorities. <A 
botanist to grow must delve for himself, 
must invent his methods, must acquire un- 
aided the mastery of his implements of re- 
search. If, as was usually the case, he was 
short of means, he must either teach or 
practice medicine and from his overcrowded 
hours steal the time in which to devote him- 
self to the object of his love. With most 
of us it was a literal exemplification of 
Agassiz’ rule that to succeed asa naturalist 
one must ‘lie hard and live low,’ and many 
in the struggle lost their ambition and went 
in pursuit of more lucrative subjects. 

The government, except in now and then 
detailing a botanist and too often an un- 
trained one on some exploring expedition, 
had not yet commenced to foster botanical 
research. There was a botanist, to be sure, 
to the Department of Agriculture and he did 
accumulate an extensive collection so long 


Auvaust 8, 1900.] 


stored in the old fire trap that, be it said to 
the disgrace of our Government, still serves 
to house this Department; and this collec- 
tion, fortunate in escaping the hazards of 
fire, formed the nucleus of the splendid 
national herbarium now housed in the 
crowded attics of the National Museum. 
Such is a faint picture of the conditions of 
American botanyas they existed twenty-five 
years ago. What American botany has be- 
come to-day with its centers of scientific re- 
search scattered throughout the country 
from New England to the Golden Gate, with 
its botanical publications in a healthful and 
hopeful if not prosperous state of devel- 
opment, with its agriculture and the arts 
clearly recognized by the state and general 
governments, with the work of the experi- 
ment stations which in many states have 
already passed their formative stages and 
are entering the lists as centres of intelli- 
gent botanical research, in the forestry re- 
serves which are already fields of practi- 
eal experiment and promise also to form 
similar research centers, and finally in the 
attitude of men of thought and men of 
wealth who are devoting their activities 
of brain and purse toward better making 
known the importance of the plant world to 
man in its utility and beauty, and seeking 
for the advancement of botanical knowl- 
edge throughout the earth,—these are the 
products almost of the past two decades 
and measure a progress unparalleled in the 
history of scientific development in any 
country and in any age. And this progress 
has commenced along diverse and in some 
cases unexpected:lines. After instruction 
in botany ceased to be merely the analysis 
of flowers, came the study of types lead- 
ing the student to consider other subjects 
than the flowering side of plant creation 
opening up new lines in morphology and 
plant development ; then came plant physi- 
ology taking inspiration from the labors of 
Sachs and others across the sea; then fol- 


SCIENCE. 


165 


lowed plant cytology from the enthusiasm 
kindled in the American students who for 
years have formed the greater number of 
workers in the famous laboratory at Bonn ; 
later still plant embryology has for the time 
been the botanical fashion and has opened 
up new points of view for the study of plant 
relationship. 

To revert once more to Amos Eaton who 
may be regarded not only as the pioneer of 
the long succession of botanical teachers in 
America, but as well the author of the first 
series of botanical manuals that have made 
a knowledge of our flora accessible to stu- 
dents, we desire to call attention to what he 
considered the cardinal preparation for the 
work of a botanical instructor ‘‘ No one,”’ 
said he, ‘should attempt to give instruction 
in botany who is not thoroughly familiar 
with at least four hundred plants.” It has 
been reserved for the present generation to 
produce botanical teachers who do not know 
plants and those whose lack of botanical 
perspective becomes intensified in the suc- 
cessive crops of highly specialized students 
that come out from their instruction ; and 
we may well emphasize this early principle 
which in the present generation is even more 
essential as the first equipment of a genuine 
botanist than it was in Eaton’s time. This 
leads us naturally to some thoughts and 
propositions concerning the future of botany 
in America, and some lines of training 
necessary to make this future satisfactory. 
Tt will be readily admitted that aside from 
applied botany which has for its work the 
making known of the plant world for the 
greater comfort and enjoyment of the 
human race, one of the highest aims of 
purely scientific botanical study whether 
cytological, morphological, or embryolog- 
ical, is to determine the relationship of 
plants to each other and the establishment 
of a natural system of classification. This 
has been the struggle of botanists from the 
time of Jussieu to the present and every 


166 


genuine botanical contribution attacking the 
problem continually from a new standpoint 
adds its iota to this desired end. The un- 
dergraduate course of botany therefore to 
attain its best success either as a prepara- 
tion for life orasa preparation for botanical 
or biological research should not commence 
the fad for specialization too early. It ought 
thoroughly to familiarize the student with 
the common types of plants not alone in the 
laboratory and in pickle but in their living 
freshness in the field. The broadest as well 
as the most intimate acquaintance with as 
' wide an array as possible is none too much. 
Besides the four hundred plants of the 
higher type that Eaton recommended as a 
minimum, the student of to-day ought to 
know half as many at least from the array 
of lower plants which in Eaton’s time were 
a world almost unknown. And all this 
should be in hand in addition to the best 
attainable methods of study with the means 
of using to the best advantage the modern 
implements of research from the simple lens 
and the dissecting needles which should not 
be neglected, to the microtome and the 
various culture media. Following this, the 
research course for those who really expect 
to be botanists, to attain its highest results 
ought to involve some phase of systematic 
botany, for otherwise the student confining 
himself to too narrow lines is still in danger 
of losing his perspective. I do not mean 
systematic botany in its old-fashioned 
narrow sense but in its newer and broader 
sense in which morphology, embryology, 
and the widest application of accessory 
study in culture house, laboratory and field 
is brought to bear on the solution of a tax- 
onomic problem. 

The line of research study that is pri- 
marily embryological ought not to be con- 
fined to a single type, but should involve 
the comparative study of the types of a 
family or in the case of restricted families 
the relations to outliers in others. If the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XII. No. 292. 


major line of research involves the life his- 
tory of a species among the lower plants, it 
ought also to involve a comparative study 
of the allied American species, for no one 
could be better prepared to monograph a 
genus than one who from his studies of de- 
velopment understands the significance of 
morphological and structural characters, 
their degree of variation, and their cause. 
We have had enough of these studies of 
single things without bearings or relations, 
made by candidates for a degree whose 
botanical work is sure to end with the 
theses that they have been able to produce 
with the bolstering aid of their instructor, 
studies that mean nothing because the 
workers failed to grasp the real purpose of 
the study and its true relations and bear- 
ing on the general subject. It is too late 
to accept candidates for degrees in botany, 
who seek the degree as an ignominious end 
rather than a well-earned beginning and 
preparation for future work along botanical 
lines. Whatever we may be obliged to do 
with and for those who take undergraduate 
work in botany because they have to, we 
have no time for graduate triflers or any 
who are not intent on making botany their 
life work—who study botany not because 
itis a present fad or because they really 
think they have to study something, but 
because they are botanists born and must 
become botanists trained. Such will find 
their thesis the beginning of a series of re- 
searches instead of the swan song of a neo- 
phyte. In order to limit a wide subject more 
closely and continue our consideration of 
fields opening up to the trained botanical 
student, we may turn in particular to the 
field of work that lies open to the systematic 
botanistin America. For the higher plants 
I can do no better than to quote a recent 
remark of my successor in office, whose per- 
sonal studies give to his opinion far greater 
weight than any words of mine, that there 
is scarcely a large genus represented in 


Aveust 3, 1900.] 


America that is not in real need of revision, 
and surely the unparalleled activity of 
recent workers in this field not alone in the 
west and south, where novelties were more 
naturally to be expected, but even in New 
England and other parts of the Northeast, 
would seem fully to justify the assertion. 
Intelligent field study of which we need 
much more by trained botanists rather than 
by untrained field collectors is yielding its 
natural and legitimate fruit. And long be- 
fore our ecologists can attain definite point 
to their labors we must know with far 
greater precision than now the definite lim- 
itation of the species of our higher flora. 
When we turn to the lower plants we 
find a still more virgin field in which to 
sound the call for able workers; here not 
only is the need of revision real, but it is 
erying and in some cases almost shrieking 
in its need. Among the fungi the desul- 
tory description of species ‘ supposed to be 
new’ must give way to careful revision, 
genus by genusand family by family. Field 
work and culture methods must supplement 
the most searching comparative study of 
the widest accessible array of material, and 
while it will certainly result in great reduc- 
tions of species carelessly described by the 
older methods and in the correction of many 
errors Of over-hasty reference of American 
species to those of European origin, it will 
also result in bringing to light many that 
by the same methods have been entirely 
overlooked. Wecould at once place twenty 
men carefully trained for research at work 
on as many groups of fungi in which our 
definite knowledge is only a hazy mass of 
crude and scattered bits of information 
needing to be brought into harmony with 
the results of careful consecutive compara- 
tive study. And beyond matter of the defi- 
nite limitation of the species within the 
genus and the genus within the family, 
there are beyond and more far reaching in 
their scope the most important questions 


SCIENCE. 


167 


of alliances and origin of groups that de- 
mand the highest efforts of the most careful 
workers. 

Among the Algee the conditions are still 
worse, particularly among many fresh water 
forms, for here not only are our species in 
a haze of uncertain definition, but the very 
characters to be used in specific definition 
in many groups still remain to be formu- 
lated. 

To accomplish this systematic study of 
our flora successfully will require the active 
co-operation of field botanists and special 
students. No longer can one man or a few 
men seek to realize the complete definition 
of even the higher flora much less the lower. 
There must be the most complete and 
candid co-operation on every hand. To 
this end we offer a few suggestions. 

1. More and more the real systematic 
study of our flora must proceed from the 
centers where are gathered the stores of 
material and among these centers there 
ought to be the freest possible interchange 
of courtesies. Isolated workers in the field 
whose training is such that their judgment 
regarding specific limitation is worthy of re- 
spect, before attempting to publish their re- 
sults should supplement their field and 
home study by an occasional year or at the 
very least frequent long vacations at some 
one of the centers where contact with books 
and types and still more with other workers 
and methods would correct their results and 
stimulate to better effort. 

2. More and more the local field workers 
and amateurs should realize that as isolated 
facts are worthless until brought into har- 
mony with some general law, so material 
illustrating the distribution and variation 
of certain plants is only valuable when de- 
posited where it is accessible to botanical 
workers generally. Great collections are 
only good as well as great when the ma- 
terial they contain is accessible to those 
who are trained to study it, and local col- 


168 


lectors ought to realize that by freely sup- 
plying the material within their reach they 
confer a favor not so much to the particular 
center that receives it as upon all future 
workers in that field who look to that 
center as the proper repository of the ma- 
terial they need to carry on their researches. 
The most obscure field collector by concen- 
tration of observation rather than by dif- 
fusion of effort may add material that will 
be of vital importance to a correct and com- 
plete knowledge of our flora. More and 
more these field workers must be content to 
wait for results and not be clamorous for 
their material to be named by the next 
mail, resting assured that the material they 
contribute will receive due recognition on 
the final results and that none of their 
work that is really useful will go to waste ; 
on the other hand the specialist taking his 
material in order will gain time for his 
final revision that would otherwise be 
badly broken up in miscellaneous exami- 
nations and too often marred by hasty de- 
terminations and conclusions. 

The different attitude of people toward 
the botanist and toward certain of the 
scientific workers in fields where there is a 
much more decided commercial phase to 
the science, resulting in part from the fact 
that real botanists are such because they are 
first lovers of their subject, is well illustrated 
in this matter of the freedom with which 
material is sent to botanists for examina- 
tion and report. Fancy a man sending toa 
well known chemist a half dozen samples of 
water for chemical analysis with the assur- 
ance that if any of the water is not used up 
in the process, the chemist may have it for 
his trouble!!: And yet no one thinks of any- 
thing else in sending a botanist from a half 
dozen to two hundred specimens in a bale 
with the information that he would like 
them named and the specimens need not be 
returned. To do this correctly involves 
skill that requires fully as great an amount 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


of scientific preparation and often more ex- 
penditure of time than to make a similar 
number of water analyses, yet to the botan- 
ist the idea of pay has not been presented. 
While it is true that by this self-sacrifice 
many of our great collections have been en- 
riched with valuable material, and many 
solitary workers have been encouraged to 
better things, it is also true that it has been 
accomplished with an immense waste of 
time and nervous energy that ought not to 
be too lightly demanded of active workers. 
And this labor is all the more exasperating 
when some botanical worker who does not 
appreciate the necessity of abundance of 
good material brings in from some distant 
region merely a series of odds and ends of 
fragments that are yet sufficient to show 
that something really worth having might 
have been collected by a little expenditure 
of common sense and foresight on the part 
of the collector. 

3. There are some practices rife even 
among those from whom we naturally ex- 
pect better things which ought in some way 
to be put under the ban. I need only men- 
tion the practice of literary revisions of 
genera with no commensurate study or 
even knowledge of the plants themselves ; 
the so called galvanic method of transfer- 
ring species heterogeneously from one 
generic group to another except in definite 
monographic work ; and the description of 
species in check-lists, fly-leaves, circulars, 
and other out-of-the-way places where they 
are not readily accessible to the general 
botanist. In short the closing years of the 
nineteenth century ought to sound the 
death knell of the literary enthusiast and 
the galvanizer and mark the disappearance 
of the grotesque and the rafinesque from 
American botany. 

4. The extent of territory covered by the 
American Flora is on the eve of a remark- 
able expansion. The political events of the 
past few years are in part responsible for 


Aveust 3, 1900. ] 


this, but for years it has been evident that 
it was only a question of a little time when 
such expressions as ‘a revision of the 
species north of Mexico’ should be obsolete 
in American botany. The extensive ex- 
plorations of Mexico and Central America 
by Anglo-Saxon American explorers have 
resulted in placing the flora of those coun- 
tries in the hands of American botanists, 
and the Spanish War has had among its 
other results the transfer of the flora of the 
Antilles to the same hands. And with the 
extensive explorations that in recent years 
have been made by our botanists in South 
America, I fail to read the signs of the 
times correctly if they do not point to the 
ultimate inclusion of all the American con- 
tinent from Alaska to the Straits of Magel- 
lan in the future of American systematic 
botany. Scarcely anything can be expected 
of our neighbors in the Central and South 
American States and many Europeans over- 
looking American work already accom- 
plished or wilfully ignorant of it, are too 
often unsatisfactory in their results ; surely 
itis at once the privilege and the duty of 
the botanists of this country to take the 
initiative in a vastly more extended and 
systematically organized way than has ever 
been attempted and solve the most impor- 
tant problem that remains in the study of 
phyto-geography ; the flora of the darkest 
of all dark continents—South America. 
Explorations on a stupendous scale, such 
as are necessary to attack this problem, 
can best be organized here in America where 
the accomplishment of great things is no 
longer a novelty. The English already 
realize that they have problems sufficient on 
their own hemisphere fully to engage their 
attention ; and it will not be long before 
our German friends will realize the same 
situation. Itis most natural that Ameri- 
cans who are more familiar with conditions 
here and are more at home with the flora 
of the upper portions of the American con- 


SCIENCE. 


169 


tinent, should be the ones to undertake this 
work and it is most certain that they will 
carry it out with greater accuracy because 
of their ability and proximity. I think it 
behooves the Americans practically to with- 
draw from any except the necessary com- 
parative study of the flora of any part of 
the Eastern Hemisphere, and combine with 
such division of labor as will be practical 
and equable on the study of the flora of the 
American continent. In this way by ex- 
ample at least we can show our friends 
across the sea that in botany at least the 
Monroe doctrine is still a living and prac- 
tical issue. I might add that those who 
are hoping for an international congress 
originating in Europe to settle questions of 
nomenclature, or any other line of botanical 
policy or procedure, entirely misunderstand 
the tenor of European methods, or the 
genius of European conservatism and in- 
ertia ; suchas wait for a European congress 
to settle anything, will wait until their de- 
scendants of the third generation are totter- 
ing with age before such an adjustment will 
really occur. Americans must take the 
initiative in all these matters if they are 
ever to be settled, and the Old World must 
follow the lead of America in every field 
where progress is involved. 

But all this extension of the study of our 
flora, even that which is limited to the 
North American continent, means years of 
study that cannot be accomplished on this 
side of the water. We are debtors to the 
Old World in that they found our continent 
and with that discovery took back to their 
own the memorials of their conquest. Not 
only are the great herbaria at Kew, at the 
British Museum, at Berlin, and at Paris 
the repositories of the types of many of the 
species of the American tropics but in these 
great collections are what are often more 
valuable than the types themselves, namely 
extensive suites of plants illustrating better 
than the type itself the range and varia- 


170 


tion and allies of the tropical species. To 
these greater collections we should add the 
lesser at Copenhagen, Geneva, Vienna, Prag, 
St. Petersburg and Madrid, all of which 
must be visited again and again before 
we can fully define even our North Ameri- 
can tropical flora. To this end it will bein 
order to look to the establishment of travel- 
ing fellowships that will make possible con- 
tinued study in those European storehouses 
by trained American specialists. 

The time has come for American Botany 
to assert itself in the modest way that be- 
comes Americans, and assume its true po- 
sition in the work of botany in the world. 
We have the men who have profited from 
the training of the best the Old World 
could produce in morphological, physiolog- 
ical, and cytological work among plants; 
we have young men trained and in training 
who have the mental acumen of the best any 
country can produce, combined with a de- 
gree of practicality, vitality and energy of 
which very many of the Europeans are 
lacking; we have men of means who are 
philanthropic toward botanical research 
and stand willing to aid in every work that 
merits recognition, and if we in America 
do not in the next quarter of a century lead 
the world in matters botanical, it will be 
because we are not true to the instincts 
that guided the fathers in botany and be- 
cause we do not enter into our heritage and 
magnify our opportunities. 

Lucien M. UNDERWooD. 

CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


ARTIFICIAL PARTHENOGENESIS IN AN- 
NELIDS (Cheetopterus). 

My experiments on the artificial parthe- 
nogenesis in sea-urchins have led me to the 
following results: (1) Through a certain 
increase in the osmotic pressure of the sur- 
rounding solution, the unfertilized eggs of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


some (probably all) Echinoderms can be 
caused to develop into normal blastulee or 
plutei. (2) This increase in osmotic pres- 
sure can be produced by electrolytes as well 
as by non-conductors. It is therefore prob- 
able that the parthenogenetic development 
is caused by the egg losing a certain amount 
of water. * 

I considered it necessary to try whether 
the same results can be obtained in other 
groups of animals by the same means. I 
have recently succeeded in producing arti- 
ficial parthenogenesis not only in starfish 
(Asterias), but also in worms (Chetopterus). 
The experiments on the artificial partheno- 
genesis in Annelids led to the unexpected 
result, that the unfertilized eggs can be 
caused to develop into apparently normal 
larvee ( Trochophores) by two entirely differ- 
ent methods: First, by increasing the con- 
centration of the surrounding solution 
(osmotic fertilization). This method is 
qualitatively the same as the one by which 
I produced plutei from the unfertilized eggs 
of Echinoderms. Second, by changing the 
constitution of the sea-water without rais- 
ing its concentration (chemical fertiliza- 
tion). Through a slight increase in the 
amount of K-ions in the sea-water the eggs 
of Chetopterus can be caused not only to 
throw out the polar bodies as Mead had 
already observed, but also to reach the Tro- 
chophore-stage and swim about as actively 
as the larve originating from fertilized 
eggs. Further experiments showed that the 
K-ions have no such specific effect upon the 
unfertilized eggs of Echinoderms. This fact 
may help us to understand why a hybrid- 
ization between worms and Echinoderms is 
impossible. I shall publish a full report of 
these experiments in one of the next num- 
bers of The American Journal of Physiology. 

JAcQuEs LoEs. 

Woops Hott, July 22, 1900. 


*Loeb, J., The American Journal of Physiology, Vol. 
IV., August, 1900. 


Aveust 3, 1900. ] 


THE ASTRONOMICAL AND ASTROPHYSICAL 
SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 


II. 

Photographs of Nebule and Star Clusters ob- 
tained with the Crossley Reflector: By J.E. 
KEELER. 

The photographs on glass were exhibited 
by Professor Campbell, who called attention 
to some of the difficulties which had to be 
overcome in the use of the instrument and 
to the important results established, that 
nebule as a rule are spiral in form and as 
an exception irregular in form. 


Some New Spectroscopic Binaries: By W. W. 

CAMPBELL. 

A list of half a dozen spectroscop‘c bi- 
nary stars, recently discovered by Messrs. 
Campbell and Wright at the Lick Observa- 
tory. (To be published in the Astrophysical 
Journal.) 


A Simple Method of inserting the Comparison 
Spectrum in Spectrographic Observations : 
By W.H. Wricut. Read by PRoressor 
CAMPBELL. 

The length of the slit is limited by two 
total reflection prisms mounted immediately 
in front of the slit plate. The reflecting 
edges of the two prisms are parallel to each 
other and at right angles to the slit ; and 
the distance between the reflecting edges is 
the length of the slit. The artificial light, 
from two sets of electrodes placed one near 
each end of the full-length slit, enters the 
slit through these prisms near their vertices. 
The method possesses many advantages. 
(To be published in the Astrophysical Jour- 
nal.) 


Color Screens as applied to Achromatic Tele- 
scopes: By Grorce H. PErers. 

Attention was called to the want of defi- 
nition caused by the secondary spectrum in 
large refractors. It was then shown how 
this was removed at the U.S. Naval Ob- 
servatory by adapting a cell filled with an 
absorbing solution between the eye-piece and 


SCIENCE. 


171 


eye of the observer in the 26-inch telescope. 
The thickness of the absorbing layer is 
about 6 mm., and the solutions used are 
the following : 

1. Picric Acid and Chloride of Copper 
dissolved either in water or alcohol, for 
cutting out the red and blue light. 

2. Picric Acid dissolved in alcohol or 
water. 

3. Bichromate of Potash in water. 

4. Chromate of Potash in water. 

Solutions 2, 3 and 4 remove the blue and 
violet light. Alcohol is used in cold weather. 
The absorption of the liquids is tested by a 
direct vision spectroscope. 

Some of the benefits derived from the 
color screen are : 

‘Improved definition on planets and satel- 
lites and in certain classes of double stars. 

In observations of objects by day where 
the blue light from the sky is removed. 

Professor See and Mr. Peters are jointly 
credited with this device. (See Astronom- 
ische Nachrichten, No. 3636. ) 


The Spectrographic Determination of the Mo- 
tions of the Stars in the Line of Sight: By 
W. W. CamMpBELL. 

Complying with the Council’s request for 
a paper on this subject, the following points 
were presented : 

The great interest taken in this problem 
is attested by the fact that the largest re- 
fracting telescopes in the United States, 
France, England, Germany, Russia and 
Africa are, or soon will be, largely devoted 
to the determination of stellar velocities. 

It must not be assumed that, because a 
36-inch objective receives nine times as 
much light as a 12-inch, it will be able to 
carry velocity determinations in that ratio 
to the fainter stars. The larger telescope 
is accompanied by stronger absorption of 
the light, by larger stellar images (except 
in perfect seeing), by greater difficulties in 
guiding, etc.; so that it is able to extend the 


172 


work of a 12-inch telescope only 5- to 7-fold. 
A 36-inch reflector, suitably mounted, and in 
a dry climate, would probably be more effi- 
cient thana 36-inch refractor in this problem. 

Success in determining stellar velocities 
depends upon a great many elements, of 
which the following were all that time per- 
mitted a mention. 

I. A suitable compromise between the 
various optical and mechanical features— 
many of which conflict—to secure a power- 
ful and efficient spectrograph. 

II. Suitable prisms and lenses. The re- 
quirements demanded by the line of sight 
tests are so severe that satisfactory lenses 
and prisms are difficult to obtain. Since a 
change to a new prism-train usually re- 
quires many changes in the mounting, the 
prisms should be constructed and thor- 
oughly tested before the rest of the instru- 
ment is designed. 

The day for using the ordinary double 
camera lens is past. Even the triple lenses 
do not fulfill the difficult spectrograph’s re- 
quirements. 

III. Absence of differential flexure dur- 
ing the exposure time: the optical angles 
must remain constant. Thisis very largely 
a problem in mechanical design. The 
elimination of appreciable flexure effects 
during long exposures is difficult, but not 
impossible. Existing spectrographs, in- 
cluding those just now completed, are 
wrongly designed, in that they are sup- 
ported only at one end. The heavy prism- 
end projects out into space, unsupported. 
The spectrograph is held out ‘at arm’s 
length,’ so to speak. Now the spectro- 
graph is an instrument complete in itself, 
and need not be rigidly connected with the 
telescope tube. A framework connected with 
the telescope could be arranged to support 
the spectrograph, in position, both near its 
upper and its lowerends; care being taken 
that strains in the supporting framework 
should not be communicated to the spectro- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


graph. This form of support would permit 
a more economical distribution of material 
in the spectrograph, and should decrease 
the flexure effects several fold. 

IV. The Mill’s spectrograph has been en- 
closed in a wooden box case, lined with 
thick hair felt, carrying on its interior sur- 
face about 30 feet of German silver wire- 
As the temperature within the case falls, a 
storage battery is connected with the re- 
sistance wire. The heat generated tends to 
keep the instrument, and especially the 
prisms, at a constant temperature—a most 
important desideratum. 

Y. An accurate method of guiding dur- 
ing the exposure. 

VI. The use of the finer dark lines 
throughout the spectrum, rather than of 
the heavier lines which have heretofore 
been the ones measured. 

VII. Long experience in making the 
measures. 

An exposure of one hour is required for 
a star of the 5th photographic magnitude, 
as given in the Draper Catalogue. 

At the Lick Observatory two or more 
plates have been secured for each of about 
300 stars. For the best stars, such as Po- 
laris, the probable error of a single deter- 
mination of velocity is about one-third of a 
kilometer per second. For such stars the 
plates seem to be essentially perfect, and to 
secure greater accuracy it appears that a 
more powerful spectrograph is required. 

Even with perfect plates the observer 
must be on his guard against systematic 
errors arising from changes in his personal 
habit of measurement. 

Of the 300 stars observed, 22 have been 
found at the Lick Observatory to be binary, 
in addition to three previously detected 
from the same list by Belopolsky. This 
leads us to the important conclusion that 
one star in twelve is a spectroscopic binary. 
And itis probable that others of the stars 
observed are binaries as yet undetected. 


Avaust 8, 1900. ] 


Some Peculiarities in the Radial Velocities of 
£ Geminorum: By W. W. CAMPBELL. 
This is a well known variable star, period 

of 103 days. Its velocity in the line of sight 

- was found, independently at Pulkowa and 

Mt. Hamilton, to be variable. Forty-five 

observations at Mt. Hamilton, distributed 

over 14 years, left no doubt that this star 
is a spectroscopic binary, and that the vari- 
ation in brightness is produced by the com- 
panion. The eclipse theory is untenable. 

The variation is probably the result of tidal 

action between the two bodies. 

The observed velocities cannot be repre- 
sented by elliptic motion. Drawing the 
elliptic curve which best represents the ob- 
servations, the observed curve is alternately 
above and below it, crossing it at intervals 
of about 41 hours. Three complete periods 
of the minor irregularities coincide with 
one light period. These minor irregulari- 
ties in the observed velocities are probably 
due to minor tidal effects in the star’s at- 
mosphere. (Tobe published in the Astro- 
physical Journal). 

H. M. Paul. I would like to ask if these 
observations were plotted to represent the 
total amount of observations, obtaining the 
period from these observations. 

Mr. Campbell. They were all plotted 
with reference to the brightness of the star 
assuming the old period. There is some 
doubt as to the exact form of the light- 
curve. I have endeavored in every possible 
way to ascertain the form of the light- 
curve; but there seem to be some irregu- 
larities, and I think that extremely accurate 
observations would show that the brightness 
curve has the same irregularities as the 
velocity curve ; that there is a reflex action 
of one upon the other. 

G. W. Hough. Were there any syste- 
matic observations to ascertain the cause of 
irregularities with reference to motion in 
the line of sight? 


Mr. Campbell. No; we have obtained 


SCIENCE. 


178 


our results merely as by-products from the 
system of guiding that we have employed; 
and we have made changes in the system 
of guiding in the expectation that if we 
could eliminate the difficulties arising from 
that, so as to make it satisfactory for one 
bright star, it would be satisfactory for two 
stars. 

Mr. L. EK. Jewell. Mr. Campbell has sug- 
gested that the irregularity in the motion 
in the line of sight may be due to tidal ac- 
tion, which I think is probably the case; 
but he has also suggested that it may be 
due to tidal compression, which I do not 
think can explain the phenomenon. I have 
myself been engaged in some work bearing 
upon that problem, and among other things 
the pressure of the different layers of the 
solar atmosphere ; but the lines which have 
been measured in the solar atmosphere do 
not have apressure of more than 14 at- 
mospheres, considering the pressure of the 
earth’s atmosphere as one. The variation 
due to difference of pressure would be too 
slight to produce the effect that he speaks 
of. I think it probable some tidal action 
causes the motion in the line of sight, 
and that it is not due to change of pres- 
sure, because the differences of pressure 
would be too slight to produce such an 
effect. In the case of the sodium lines in 
the sun’s atmosphere, the actual pressure 
is only about an atmosphere and a quarter. 
The variation in the hydrogen lines would 
be very small, and it is probably produced 
in a higher layer of the sun’s atmosphere. 

Mr. Campbell. Weseem to have no anal- 
ogous case to this star from which to obtain 
data to explain it. We have no knowledge 
of tidal action elsewhere, but here we seem 
to have enormous evidence of tidal action. 

T. J. J. See. I think the explanation of 
the cause of the second curve superposed 
upon the first curve is very probable. In 
the case of the ocean tides, we have very 
little vertical motion and a _ horizontal 


174 


motion many times greater. The distor- 
tion shown in the figure indicates that the 
horizontal motion is very large. 

W.J. Humphreys. Some work has been 
done by Wilssing at the Potsdam observa- 
tory, showing a great change from change 
of pressure; but he applies this to such 
stars as Nova Aurigae. He has obtained 
results, working with hydrogen, showing 
that the spectrum lines in hydrogen are 
very sensitive to diminution of pressure. 
This applies especially to the deeper lines. 
He has obtained perfectly sharp lines with 
a pressure of 14 atmospheres. 

Mr. Jewell. From our knowledge of the 
solar spectrum it is perfectly certain that 
the lines do not show any evidence of 
powerful pressure. Under such pressure 
the lines would probably be broader. 


The Indian Eclipse Photographs of Jan. 22, 
1898, obtained by the Lick Observatory Ex- 
pedition : By W. W. CAMPBELL. 
Photographs of the corona and its spec- 

trum; and of the spectrum of the sun’s edge, 
were thrown on the screen. Special atten- 
tion was called to the apparent and proba- 
ble connection between the prominences 
and the curved coronal streamers enclosing 
them and to the relative displacement of 
the bright and dark lines in the spectrum 
of the sun’s edge. 


Total Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900. 

Simon Newcomb presented the report of 
the committee upon the observations of 
the recent eclipse. 

W. W. Campbell. Beinga long distance 
from our base in California, it was impossi- 
ble to take our plates home for development, 
and they were developed in camp, where it 
was impossible to do photographic work 
successfully. I have brought one of the 
original negatives, but Mr. Brown should 
have the privilege of presenting it. It was 
taken with an exposure of one second, 
with a 40-foot camera. It reveals the fact 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


that the coronal tails were not so numerous 
as those in 1898, while those were not so 
numerous as in 1893. There seems at first 
to be no connection between the coronal 
streamers and the prominences ; and yet, 
if you will go over the plate carefully, I 
think you will see there is some connection 
between them. Our spectroscopic material 
was not so great as we should have liked to 
obtain; but for the third contact we ob- 
tained very satisfactory results. It was a 
question whether bright lines would be 
shifted towards the red end, but they seem 
to show no evidence of such shifting. 

S. J. Brown. The eclipse observations 
of the Naval Observatory were widely dis- 
tributed and covered a great deal of ground. 
Two main stations were occupied, one in 
North Carolina and the other in Georgia. 
Our photographic work is not in a condi- 
tion to exhibit. There was one experi- 
mental line of research I think it worth 
while to mention. We wished to try ex- 
periments with color screens; and with one 
lens we used isochromatic plates, and with 
another lens the ordinary photographic 
plates, to see whether any indications would 
be shown as to a difference of structure of 
the corona due to the green line. The re- 
sult showed no difference of structure, but 
there seems to have been a greater expan- 
sion of the polar rays when we used the 
color screens than when we used the ordi- 
nary plates. Photographs were taken to 
obtain as great an extension of the corona 
as possible ; but the sky was not favorable, 
and we did not obtain so great an extension 
as was shown by the results in India. The 
spectroscopic work occupied our most serious 
attention. We had some very rare grat- 
ings, ruled to concentrate the light of the 
first order at a special point. Two of these 
gratings, from the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity, were utilized, one at Pinehurst and one 
at Griffin, besides another grating of long 
focal length. Our preparations for this 


August 3, 1900.] 


work were much hurried, but we had grat- 
ings of which the curves were carefully com- 
puted for the focal length of the quartz 
lenses. At Griffin we obtained a reversing 
layer of eight seconds. Mr. Jewell has 
brought some copies of the only successful 
plates at Pinehurst, showing several new 
coronal lines, one coinciding with the 1474 
lines, and there were three other new lines. 
Dr. Dorsey of the Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity also took photographs, and Dr. Wood 
of the University of Wisconsin undertook 
to study the shadow bands which precede 
and follow the eclipse. He is not here, but 
he thinks he has reached a satisfactory con- 
clusion with regard to the cause of the 
shadow bands. While our results in spec- 
troscopic work were disappointing, in view 
of the large outlay, they seem to vindicate 
‘the value of that method. We think we 
shall be able to obtain a plate which will 
bend to the required curvature, and thus 
be able to photograph the reversing layer. 

L. E. Jewell. We obtained a differ- 
ent wave length for the bright and for 
the corresponding dark lines ; and I think 
that difference in wave length is caused by 
the fact that the dark lines were produced 
very close to the moon’s edge, by the re- 
maining portion of the crescent, not cov- 
ered by the moon, while the bright lines 
were produced further out. On one of the 
photographs taken at Pinehurst there is a 
very distinct difference of the H and K 
lines, between the bright and dark portions 
of the spectrum. The bright line is dis- 
placed with reference to the dark line in the 
direction outside, or further away, from the 
sun itself, just as it should be if that were 
the true explanation. In determining the 
method we should follow in the use of 
these plates we were largely influenced by 
the results of Evershed in India in 1898, 
showing that the chromosphere and revers- 
ing layer were much brighter in the upper 
part, showing other interesting phenomena. 


SCIENCE. 


175 


Another interesting thing was the presence 
of the rare element scandium. It was 
thought best to use his grating for the pur- 
pose of our work, and I made comparisons 
showing that he used a dispersion about 
three times that of a single prism; and we 
concluded that we could obtain at least as 
much light from our grating as from a 
prism. Our results at Pinehurst were 
thought of extreme importance. With an 
exposure of only one second we obtained 
results showing that if we had been able to 
bend the plate to the required focal length, 
it would have given us a spectrum from 
wave length 30 to 60, giving us 1300 lines ; 
the effect being very sharp lines in the 
neighborhood of the Hand K calcium lines, 
and pictures of the chromosphere proper 
and the reversing layer showing 50 to 75 
prominences. The difference between the 
calcium and the hydrogen lines was shown 
very prominently indeed. A plate out of 
focus showed the yellow sodium line, and 
the coronal lines at 1474 which were seen 
much stronger on the opposite side of the 
sun from that where the ordinary bright 
lines are seen. This green line was much 
brighter than on the western side of the sun. 
There is no line which seems to be evenly 
distributed on the two sides of the sun. The 
green line seems to be gathered into a very 
short are on the western limb. On another 
plate taken 25 seconds later, the exposure 
was 5 or 6 seconds, and on that these 
coronal lines are shown all the way round. 
There are four lines not obtained before, 
the substance producing them seeming to 
be about the same as that giving the green 
lines. They show the strongest at some 
distance from the sun’s surface, say three 
to five thousand miles above the solar sur- 
face, although they are visible close to the 
solar surface. Another interesting thing 
was the beautiful way in which the carbon 
band showed with an exposure of one 
second. It was very strong a hundred 


176 


miles from the solar surface. One word 
with reference to future work: I think it is 
very desirable to use a concave grating in 
the ordinary way, but instead of using a 
dense lens of quartz, to use a very large 
concave reflector of a focal length of 100 to 
150 inches, which would give an image of 
the sun an inch and a half in diameter ; 
and then we could use a wide open slit soas 
to be certain to get the limb of the sun in- 
side of it. At Pinehurst we had to cut 
down the slit in consequence of the curva- 
ture, and had an image of the sun only a 
third of an inch in diameter to work with. 
In future work much the best plan will be 
to use two concave mirrors, one of a short 
focus for the dense lines, and the other of a 
considerable focal length, the slit being 
placed between them. In this way we can 
let the light come through the narrow slit, 
and then the larger and long focus mirror 
will act as a condenser, and there will be 
no disturbance whatever in the focus. A 
telescope of high power should be used, and 
focused very carefully ; and the light re- 
flected from the second mirror would give 
us parallel light; and if the adjustments 
were well made the image would be very 
sharp. By that method we ought to be 
able to obtain very satisfactory results. 
Winslow Upton. I will report briefly 
the work we did near Norfolk by very 
ordinary astronomical and photographic 
processes. We had a four-inch telescope 
for visual work ; and we had an equatorial 
stand upon which a camera was carried by 
clockwork. The camera contained two very 
long focus lenses. We also had four ordi- 
nary cameras, which we used for the purpose 
of obtaining the extension of the corona. 
We found that the duration of the eclipse 
was shorter than calculated. By the Eng- 
lish and the American Ephemeris it was 101 
seconds, while we made it 99 seconds. In 
the visual observations we used a magnify- 
ing power of 50 or 60. At the time I did 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


not notice the hooded arrangement of the 
corona, this gigantic hood overlapping the 
strata, shown in the photographs of the 
eclipse of 1878. In our observations to de- 
termine the place of the moon, and in the 
search for an intra-Mercurial planet, we 
carried out the instructions of Professor 
Pickering, which were to expose for 60 
seconds. Our cameras covered a range 
about 25° along the sun’s equator, and with 
8 or 10 gigantic plates we covered that re- 
gion; but we got nothing except one or two 
bright objects, possibly only the planet Mer- 
cury, and there seemed to be star trails in- 
stead of images, perhaps from a fourth 
magnitude star. I think the exposure 
might have been longer; for I feel confi- 
dent that we could have exposed 80 or 90 
seconds without fogging the plate. For the 
spectroscopic work we used triple-coated 
plates, especially made for us by the Seed 
Co., and also orthochromatic plates. With 
regard to the development of the plates we 
decided to vary from the instructions of the 
Committee. The instructions were that we 
should use an exceedingly weak developer 
and developa long time. Professor Picker- 
ing on the other hand recommended a strong 
developer, and a great deal of bromide. As 
we had duplicate plates we decided to try 
both plans, and I think on the whole that 
we obtained better lines with the strong de- 
veloper and the bromide restrainer. I have 
here some lantern slides which I will show. 

Ormond Stone. The University of Vir- 
ginia took part in the eclipse observations 
at Waynesborough, N. C. We used a 40- 
foot camera. I desire here to express my 
gratitude to Professor Campbell for the ad- 
vice he gave us at the beginning, and for 
his kindness in assisting in the preparations, 
and also in developing our plates for us. 
Our preparations were begun very early 
and we went to the camp about a month 
before the eclipse took place. At the time 
of the eclipse the sky was perfectly clear, 


Avaust 3, 1900. ] 


and we took a very good series ef pictures, 
showing a vast amount of detail clear down 
to thesun. We have learned much of what 
ought to be done in the future. clipse 
problems are constantly changing and new 
methods are used. In the adjustment of 
the frame in position, I think it ought to 
be done by actual observation of the stars, 
rather than by experiment. We happened 
to get our carriage some inches out of place, 
but by our observations we brought it with- 
in 1-16th of an inch of its true place. We 
may study the photographs as to the forms 
of the filaments, and the relations of the 
chromosphere to the protuberances; but 
that ought to be supplemented by visual 
observations with the telescope. A six- 
inch telescope with a magnifying power of 
50 will show us ten times as much as can 
be seen in the best photographs. But the 
observer sees it and no one else, so that 
we still need the photographs. The plates 
were exposed by Mr. Mayo, who had him- 
self constructed the apparatus. Mr. Morgan 
had a four-inch equatorial, and I used a 
six-inch equatorial and observed visually. 
It was our purpose to examine each of the 
prominences in succession to see if we could 
perceive any distortion. We could see no 
relation to the protuberances, and our visual 
observations simply confirmed what was 
shown in the photographs. At the eclipse 
of 1878 the filaments were well seen, and 
each one stood out distinctly. At this 
eclipse there was not that sharpness, and 
there seemed to be a strong background of 
something else to the equatorial filaments. 
In 1878 at the poles the rays were very 
much as in this eclipse. In the equatorial 
region there was a perfect network of 
filaments. They started out and moved 
right back with an incurvature in the op- 
posite direction, so that there were a num- 
ber of filaments side by side. They are 
certainly not hyperbolic curves, but we do 
not know what they are. One suggestion 


SCIENCE. 


a 


is that they are meteoric or comet streams. 
Our exposures were mostly short ; we had 
nothing exceeding 12 seconds. It would 
seem well to have some longer exposures. 
I am glad the Naval Observatory has se- 
cured a plate with a longer exposure, on 
which we can see longer filaments and learn 
more of the nature of the curve. By trac- 
ing the curve back to the sun’s surface we 
may be able to get some idea of its form. 
We had a number of small cameras mounted 
on a polar axis and managed by Mr. Lyon, 
and with these we used a color screen such 
that the green line was not seen, but on 
an open space. I think in another eclipse 
we ought to get more color screen pictures 
with our large cameras. 

Mr. C. C. Abbott presented a report of 
observations at Waynesborough. 

Mr. Dorsey explained the mode of deter- 
mining the polarization of the bright 
coronal lines. 

The Secretary read the following reports 
from Edwin A. Frost and E. E. Barnard 
upon their observations of the eclipse made 
at Wadesboro, N. C. 

E. B. Frost. Four spectroscopes were 
employed: 1. A small plane grating in 
front of a lens of 2-inch aperture and 20- 
inch focus, for visual use in determining 
proper instant for exposure for obtaining 
‘flash ’ spectra. 

2. Train of 3 large flint prisms, at mini- 
mum deviation for 14230, in front of pho- 
tographic lens of 38-inch aperture and 
42-inch focus; for photographing flashes 
and cusps and coronal spectra. 

3. Small concave grating used directly, 
without slit; focus 30-inch for photograph- 
ing flash spectra. 

4, Large plane grating of 20,000 lines to 
inch, in front of visual lens of 34-inch 
aperture, 42-inch focus, with red screen, 
for photographing red end of spectrum of 
cusps, flash and corona. All placed in hori- 
zontal beam 13-inch diameter reflected from 


178 


celostat. Time called by Professor A.S. 
Flint ; exposure of 2 and 3 operated by Dr. 
G. S. Isham of Chicago; signal for ex- 
posure given by visual observation of flash 
with 1 by E. B. F., who operated 4. 

Results: 1. The flash spectrum was visu- 
ally observed in the yellow near D, at second 
and third contacts. The number of lines 
seen, however, was not as large as might 
have been expected ; some 12 or 15 were 
seen in the small field employed. These 
were broken by the prominences, and were 
doubtless chiefly lines of the usual chromo- 
spheric spectrum. Noattempts at measure- 
ments were made, as the object of the visual 
observations was to find the instant for 
making the exposures for flash spectra. 
The dark lines of the cusp spectrum were 
sharp and distinct 45 seconds before the 
computed time of totality. A glance into 
the eyepiece at the middle of totality showed 
no coronal rings in the field, which did not 
include the region of 1474 K. 

2. Objective train of three large prisms 
(mean path of the rays in the glass was 8 
inches). Five exposures were made, on two 
plates, all of which were successful. 

(a) The two spectra of the cusps, taken 
before and after totality, show many bright 
(chromospheric) lines in addition to the 
dark lines. The region covered by the plate 
was necessarily limited, by the construction 
of the plate holder, and includes only from 
2 4380 to 24025. Fifty bright lines were 
measured on the second cusp spectrum. 

(6) The first flash spectrum shows no 
continuous spectrum, but will furnish the 
wave-length of many bright lines. Some- 
thing over 100 lines appear to be measur- 
able within the above limits. 

The second flash spectrum was overlaid 
by a band of solar spectrum, the third con- 
tact occurring some seven seconds earlier 
than was expected and indicated by the 
eount. This plate, however, shows a large 
number of bright lines, 275 having been 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


measured on it by the writer between 
24380 and 24027. Young’s list of chromo- 
spheric lines contains 27 in that region. 

(c) The coronal exposure was of 30 sec- 
onds, but could have been longer to ad- 
vantage. The rings of Hy and Hé (chromo- 
spheric) are strongly impressed, showing 
the prominences, and next in intensity is the 
strong chromospheric rings of wave-length 
44078. Four other rings are seen in whole 
or in part, the coronal ring at / 4231 being 
next in intensity, although faint. It shows 
none of the broken appearance which char- 
acterizes the chromospheric rings. Another 
ring of longer wave-length than the Hy, 
may also prove tobe coronal. The continu- 
ous spectrum of the corona is quite strong. 
This plate has not yet been accurately 
measured. 

3. The small concave grating, without 
slit, was used for first and second flash. 

On the first some 70 lines (bright) are 
shown between Hj and Ho6 ; on the second 
about 110 in that region, with about 50 
others less sharply in focus, chiefly on the 
violet side of Ho. 

4. With the limited time for exposure, 
the sensitiveness of the plates, of the ‘ Ery- 
thro’ brand was insufficient to record the 
flash spectra. The plate exposed for 60° to 
the corona shows no impression, as was in- 
deed expected. The spectrum of the cusp 
ten seconds after totality shows some dark 
lines and a few bright lines, and the second 
flash spectrum is seen in traces. 

E. E. Barnard. The following prelim- 
inary statement concerns the photographs 
of the corona obtained by the Yerkes Ob- 
servatory expedition to observe the total 
eclipse of the sun at Wadesboro’, North 
Carolina, May 28, 1900. 

The weather conditions were as near per- 
fect as possible. 

The most important instrument was a 
614-foot horizontal ccelostat with an excel- 
lent 6-inch photographic objective made 


Avaust 3, 1900.] 


specially for the purpose by Brashear. The 
light was thrown into the telescope by a 
very perfect plane silvered mirror made 
by Mr. Ritchey for the instrument. The 
equatorial mounting that carried this mirror 
was also made under Mr. Ritchey’s direction 
though not for this special purpose. It was, 
hower, adapted by him for a 48-hour revo- 
lution. This instrument was driven by the 
elock from Professor Hale’s 12-inch equa- 
torial. The mounting also carried a 15- 
inch mirror for Professor Frost’s spectro- 
scopic work. 

A long horizontal tube connected the 
6-inch objective with the photographic 
house. This tube consisted of a wooden 
frame work covered with red water proof 
paper and was whitewashed on the upper 
part. A white cloth covering was also 
placed over it with a few inches of air space 
between the cloth and the tube. Frequent 
diaphragms were put along the inside of the 
tube to prevent stray light or reflections. 

The photographic house in which the 
plates were to be exposed, was about 30 
feet by 6 feet; it was of wood made thor- 
oughly light proof by heavy red paper. 

The plates were placed in a carrier 15 
feet long, which ran on ball bearings in a 
light-tight sheath—the exposures being 
made through an aperture in the sheath 
where the image fell. 

With this carrier, by rapidly shoving it 
along, one plate after another could be sub- 
stituted for exposure with the minimum 
loss of time, about four seconds for a change. 
With it seven plates were exposed. Three 
of these were 14x17 inches, and the other 
four 25x30 inches. The following expos- 
ures were given these plates. 


No. Exposure. Size of plate. Kind of plate. 


2 14x17 Cramer double-coated. 
? 


1 

2 14x17 Cramer ‘ crown. 
3 8 25 x 30 ns My 

4 30 25 x 30 89 ge 

5 14 25 x 30 ce Y 

6 4 25 x 30 GG Gb 

7 


1 14x17 Cramer double-coated. 


SCIENCE. 


179 


A stop, regulated by hand, fixed the posi- 
tion of the carrier at each exposure, so that 
the image should always fall central on the 
plate. The plates were all set parallel to 
the celestial equator. 

The exposures were made by a wooden ex- 
posing shutter, with a round aperture on one 
end of it. This shutter was controlled by two 
cords, one from each end, running into the 
photographic house. These cords being held 
taut, one in each hand, the exposures were 
made with absolute certainty and rapidity, 
by a quick pull with one or the other hand. 

In the actual work, the carrier contain- 
ing the plates was moved forwards by Mr. 
Ritchey after each exposure. At his signal 
‘ready’ the proper exposure was given by 
me, the time being counted from a sounder 
beating seconds. 

The seven plates were exposed without 
a hitch, the program being successfully car- 
ried out. : 

The signal for the beginning of totality 
was given by Mr. Putnam of the U. S. 
Coast Survey, who observed the contacts 
with a telescope at the Smithsonian Station, 
a hundred feet or so distant. 

The exposures were begun immediately 
upon the signal for totality. A signal was 
also to be given ten seconds before the close 
of totality. This last signal was heard 
while preparing for the last exposure, and 
certainly within three or four seconds of 
this the exposure was made; the sun was 
then just appearing as a small speck of 
light—the end of totality having apparently 
come sooner than was expected. 

At each exposure the image was seen on 
the plate and I was at once impressed with 
the striking likeness it bore to the corona 
of January 1, 1889. Though the moon ap- 
peared very black on the plates, the corona 
itself was disappointingly feeble. In the 
casual inspection, during exposure, the 
prominences were not noticed and but little 
detail was visible. 


180 


On the night before the eclipse each plate 
had been carefully backed with a non- 
halation solution consisting of caramel and 
burnt sienna. The plates were at once 
placed in the carrier ready for exposure. 

In preparing for the eclipse the question 
of sensitiveness of the plates to be used 
was carefully discussed with Professor Hale 
and we finally decided to use the most sen- 
sitive plates. The result justifies our de- 
cision and shows that with a long focus in- 
strument like this (;4,) the plates cannot 
be too sensitive. i 

Two of the plates were Cramer double- 
coated and were supposed not to be so sen- 
sitive as the Cramer ‘Crown.’ Plate No. 
1 (double-coated) was purposely left un- 
backed. No. 7 was also double-coated and 
backed. 

Up to this writing, plates No. 2, 5, 6 
and 7 have been developed. They are re- 
markably sharp and perfectly defined, and 
show the prominences and inner corona 
very beautifully. The polar fans come out 
magnificently. There is a great deal of 
beautiful detail in the inner corona that 
promises to richly repay careful study. 

Great care is being exercised in the 
development of the plates to insure not 
only detail near the sun but to get also as 
great extension as possible. 

Other instruments used were a 6-inch 
and a 34-inch portrait lens, mounted on 
the equatorial mounting formerly owned 
by Mr. Burnham and kindly loaned by 
Professor Comstock. 

A 44-inch Brashear portrait lens, and a 
very sharp focus (1:1.9). Voightlander 
lens of 4 inches aperture, were strapped to 
a fixed post and were used for quick ex- 
posures on the corona. Three Sonader 
lenses, kindly loaned by Mr. Ellerman, 
were placed ona small heliostat mounting 
and were given an exposure extending 
nearly through totality, with three differ- 
ent kinds of plates. 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 292. 


The plates withthe small instrument 
have, in part, been developed. The results 
show an extension of the corona between 3 
and 4 diameters of the moon. The corona, 
as shown on these plates, is singularly like 
that of January 1,1889. There is a broad 
fish-tailed extension spreading out to the 
west more than half way to the planet Mer- 
cury, which shows on all the plates. A long, 
thick set, more or less pointed mass, extends 
to the east for several diameters of the moon. 
The poles are surmounted with fan-like 
systems of rays—the whole entirely charac- 
teristic of the sunspot minimum corona. 

The results with the celostat show that 
it is by far the simplest and best instrument 
for securing photographs of the corona on a 
large scale. The results also show that the 
images could be made very much longer 
with much gain. An instrument of this kind 
for photographing the corona could safely be 
made several hundred feet in length with a 
corresponding increase of aperture. 

G. A. Hill. <A few remarks with regard 
to the observations especially made to de- 
termine the position of the moon. In 
several of the reports the idea is presented 
that the time predicted from the ephemeris 
was not accurate. This I think was caused 
by the position of the observer and his 
station not being exactly known. At Law- 
renceville we had a transit telescope, and 
we computed the times of contact. The 
times of the second and third contact agreed 
within 0.5 second with the ephemeris, and 
the times of the first and last contact came 
within 1.9 second. The duration of the 
totality was exactly given from the ephe- 
meris. At Barnesville we had a clock giv- 
ing seconds, with the 60th second left out, 
and the gentleman who took the time there 
lost his count, omitting that second, so that 
we were a second late in our time. But 
this was not the fault of the ephemeris, but 
of the man who counted on the clock. I 
was much gratified with the condition of the 


Auvaust 3, 1900. ] 


sun on the morning of the eclipse. The 
sun was unusually steady, and we succeeded 
in obtaining contacts that were quite satis- 
factory. : 

M. B. Snyder. I would like to call at- 
tention to the prominence on the southwest 
corner of one of the plates. I observed it 
visually, and was puzzled by the peculiar 
extension of that prominence. There was 
a decided change in its character. At the 
top there was a gradual fading of the promi- 
nence and the corona; and this is brought 
out by the photographs shown. 

Ormond Stone. In the observation of 
contacts it seems to me that there is a dif- 
ferent way from the usual way, and which 
is preferable to it. The method used by 
myself in the eclipse of 1878 was used by 
Mr. Morgan at the present eclipse, at my 
station. Iam not aware that it has been 
used elsewhere. It gets rid of the difficulty 
which arises from the fact that, especially 
at the first contact, we recognize the con- 
tact by an indentation. In other words, 
we do not observe the first contact at all, 
but we recognize as the first contact a time 
which is not the first contact. The method 
which we used was this: A divided scale 
was placed in the field of the telescope, 
with 20 divisions on each side, with every 
fifth division a little longer. This was 
placed at the proper angle to correspond 
with the diurnal motion, and carefully 
focused. When the indentation in the 
sun’s edge had the length of one division a 
record was made ; when it had reached the 
length of two divisions another record was 
made and so on through. By examining 
the report of the eclipse of 1878 you will 
see how closely the different results agreed. 
The observations of the present eclipse 
have not been reduced, but it seems to me 
that some such method as I have described 
is far preferable to the method of noting the 
time when the indentation is large enough 
to be fairly visible. 


SCIENCE. 


181 


Edgar Frisby. The observation of the 
first contact involvesthe knowledge of about 
the position where the contact will occur. 
Of course it is always a little late, but when 
the observer knows the position and is look- 
ing very closely, the error must be very 
small. We should expect the last contact to 
be very close; but I have found, from the 
experience of three or four observers, that 
the agreement was not so close as in the 
first contact. It seems after all to be more 
difficult to note the exact time of the last 
contact than of the first. 

A Member. With reference to the re- 
marks of Professor Upton, I may say that 
Thad charge of the camera, attached to 
which was a visual telescope so that we 
should be able to know just when to get 
the flashes. The time of the first flash was 
successful, and I made the exposure and 
got a number ofbright lines. The second 
exposure was made after about ten sec- 
onds, during the totality, and it partially 
showed the bright lines. The chromospheric 
rings were not well shown because we 
had no driving clock. The attempt to get 
the flash at the last contact was not success- 
ful in consequence of the shortening of the 
time of exposure. After this I made an 
exposure of 10 seconds every minute, and 
several plates showed a continuous spec- 
trum. One minute after the third contact 
the lines were beautifully shown. The 
cause of the apparent continuous spectrum 
was perhaps the fact that the background 
was not sufficiently bright to show dark 
lines. Possibly they were all there but not 
thoroughly brought out. 

M. B. Snyder. You will remember that 
a year ago I called attention to the use of 
the phonograph as a means of recording the 
time. During this eclipse I have actually 
tried the phonograph, with results quite 
satisfactory. We concluded that we might 
observe the shadow bands, and erecting a 
screen directly opposite to the sun we ob- 


182 


served these bands and recorded the results 
by the phonograph. In this I was assisted 
by Mr. Thompson. 

Mr. Thompson. At Mr. Snyder’s request 
I will say that having gone to observe the 
eclipse, I undertook in co-operation with 
him to watch for the shadow bands. Istood 
about 20 feet away, and about three minutes 
before the sun disappeared I noticed very 
faint streaks. I did not communicate this 
to Mr. Snyder until they became unmistak- 
able. At that time they were moving, so 
far as could be determined, at about the 
rate of a man running, say, 20 or 30 feet 
per second or perhaps faster than that. 
The points were curved, and they appeared 
to be broken into little curves 4 or 5 inches 
apart. I should think the dark places in- 
creased in width as totality approached 
until the darkness seemed to cover the en- 
tire space, and a few seconds before the to- 
tality everything had gone into confusion, 
and there was no definite progress after 
that. Just after the totality I noticed that 
the same direction as before was main- 
tained, but that there was another system 
of bands moving in the opposite direction. 
Thus there were two sets of bands moving 
in opposite directions, for a very short 
time, of which Mr. Snyder has the record 
in the phonograph. Those that moved in 
the original direction persisted, fading out 
gradually in about the same time they took 
to come on before totality. I think it very 
likely that the confusion which I noticed 
just before totality was due to the action of 
the two systems of bands. 

Brown Ayers. AsI have never figured 
in the scientific world as an astronomer, it 
may have been presumptuous for me to 
undertake to do so much as I did in the 
observation of the eclipse. But I realized 
that my position at New Orleans was near 
the center of the totality, and there were 
parties who came to our place to observe 
the eclipse, but who located on other 


SCIENCE. 


‘of visual and photographic work. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 292. 


grounds. The location seemed to be poor, 
and one or two who thought of coming 
gave itup. But I thought as we were the 
only institution of any magnitude on the 
line of the eclipse it would be absurd if we 
should allow it to pass without any observa- 
tion whatever. When we received the little 
ephemeris sent out by the United States 
Naval Observatory, we laid our plans as to 
what we could do with the appliances at 
hand. The result was that I tried to observe 
the shadow bands, and to get the contacts as 
wellas possible. That was my program until 
about ten days before the time of the eclipse; 
when Chancellor Fullerton of the Univer- 
sity of Mississippi, wrote and offered to loan 
me a fine telescope of 15-inch visual and 
9-inch photographic aperture, made by 
Grubb. I received it gladly, and mounting 
it prepared to take some photographs with 
as much accuracy as I could. But the main 
point I had in view was to get the times of 
contact. There were different points in 
the city carefully determined and marked 
by the Coast Survey, so that I was able to 
get my position accurately, and I could get 
Washington time by signals in my observa- 
tory. I was able to make a very large num- 
ber of comparisons to obtain the local time. 
The plan I adopted was a combination 
We 
took the pictures as rapidly as we could feed 
the plates into the telescope, the position 
being carefully adjusted by star-trails, and 
we had a snap shutter automatically record- 
ing the time at which each picture was 
taken. This gave us a large number of 
photographs of which the time was ac- 
curately determined. We were so fortu- 
nate as to get a plate showing the Bailly 
beads, and the next plate was blank; so 
that we have secured a very accurate ob- 
servation of the time of the second contact. 
At the time of the third contact I was 
peculiarly fortunate; for just as the plate 
was exposed by the snap shot, there was a 


AvGustT 3, 1900.] 


sudden flash, and I think I have the time 
of that contact photographed pretty closely. 
In addition to my work, Professor Fuller- 
ton, who was within a few feet of my ob- 
servatory, made visual observations ; and 
I think we can work up some successful 
results. Instead of the collection of as- 
tronomers they had at Waynesborough, we 
enjoyed isolation, and the eclipse was an 
old story with us before they could do any- 
thing in Georgia or North Carolina. There 
was one little thing I should like to note, to 
which my attention was called by Mr. 
Brashear. It is that one large prominence 
which on my plates is distinctly turned 
over, half an hour later in Georgia was 
standing straight up. This shows the 
change which had taken place after my ob- 
servations at New Orleans. We had beau- 
tiful weather until the eclipse was over, 
when it immediately clouded up. We took 
over 50 photographs; and although we had 
no astronomers with us, unless we count 
Professor Fullerton as one, I think we did 
our best. 

Winslow Upton presented a report of 
shadow bands observed by John Ritchie 
Jr. of Boston, and also those observed by 
Edwin F. Sawyer. 

W. J. Humphreys. Mr. Ayers states 
that just as the exposure closed, at the sec- 
ond contact, he looked up and saw the last 
of the sunlight go; that the totality had 
not quite begun when this exposure was 
made. The plates shows not only no dark 
line spectrum at all, but there were bright 
lines. This seems to show a very remark- 
able phenomenon. Atthesecond and third 
contacts there was a slight depth of solar 
photosphere and a great deal of halation; 
but immediately after the third contact 
there is no halation whatever, and the lines 
are extremely bright, showing the crescent 
due to the plate and the chromosphere. I 
noticed something that seemed to be of the 
same character. It was 25 to 3 minutes 


SCIENCE. 


183 


before the second contact. I was observing 
with a telescope made up of a field glass 
and asmall reflector, using no slit, and when 
I began observing I saw the narrow crescent 
of the sun as a dark crescent in the spec- 
troscope. The formof the lines, instead 
of being straight, was crescent. Then the 
bright lines began to encroach upon the 
dark crescent, andthe dark crescent began to 
shorten and broke up into anumber of short 
crescents, and these came down toa narrow 
line, not a dark line but a bright line, which 
continued for nearly asecond and then sud- 
denly disappeared, when the whole field 
was filled with bright lines. The F line, 
at the time of totality, extended around al- 
most the complete circle, perhaps three- 
quarters of the way round, and at that time 
there were only a few other lines observable. 
The magnesium lines showed somewhat. 
One thing I wish to call attention to is that 
the photograph shows that at the second 
exposure there were only bright lines and 
no dark lines at all. Mr. Gilbert was un- 
der the impression that the photosphere had 
not quite gone. The base of the chromo- 
sphere was intensely bright, and this is re- 
quired for the reversal of the small lines 
which are produced very close to the photo- 
sphere. I also call attention to the fact 
that where the spectrum was almost contin- 
uous there was a very decided difference be- 
tween the brightness of the bright lines and 
the dark lines. Very many of the dark 
lines were reversed, and there was no such 
phenomenon connected with the bright 
lines. 

W. W. Campbell. This layer which is 
spoken of is shown in one photograph 
which was taken before the totality was 
ended, absolutely that and nothing else, 
and it extends over 150° on the western 
side of the sun. Another point that I wish 
to emphasize is our appreciation of the 
kindness of the Weather Bureau in sending 
us bulletins. The Weather Bureau obser- 


184 


vations showed that a strip of territory in 
western Georgia and in eastern Alabama, 
had the best chance of securing observa- 
tions of the eclipse. But in fact I think we 
had the poorest weather. A minute after 
the eclipse was over the sun was thickly 
clouded over, a large mass of clouds com- 
ing up from the west. In connection with 
this I will say that a member of our party 
made it a part of his business to observe 
the corona, and he found that he could 
visually observe the corona 70 seconds after 
the eclipse was over. We thought it was 
not worth while to take photographs at 
that time, but we could probably have fol- 
lowed the corona longer except for the 
clouds which came up and covered the sky 
at that time. With regard to the green 
ring in 1898, which was shown very much 
broken up, indicating great coronal activity 
there, in this eclipse we had the green ma- 
terial piled up in large masses. 

A Member. I was watching the region 
of F, to learn how to keep the image in the 
slit. It was not a gradual nor a sudden 
change, but a flickering one; and it went 
outa number of seconds after the totality in 
exactly the same manner that it came in, 
so far as its brightness was concerned. I 
am sure that if the best arrangements were 
made to economize the light, a grating of 
214 inches focal length could be successfully 
used. The light from that part of the sun 
which was upon the slit was not more than 
1/200th part of that thrown by the ccelostat 
upon the ruled portion of the grating. If 
we could in some way economize the slit 
we might get good results from it. 

Mr. Jewell. Probably the flickering 
spoken of was due to a slight tremulous- 
ness of the atmosphere. An interesting 
thing to observe was the carbon bands, 
which were exceedingly bright at a dis- 
tance of 100 or 200 miles above the sun’s 
surface, and which extended out about 400 
miles. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 292. 


OBSERVATIONS OF EROS AT THE COMING 
OPPOSITION. 

Simon Newcomb. Some one has divided 
astronomers into two classes, those who 
talk about things to be done, and those 
who go to work and do them. In the 
present case I am afraid we shall have to 
enroll ourselves in the first class, because 
it is not easy to do anything in this matter, 
thesituation inthis country not being favor- 
able to the determination which we have 
in view. You are doubtless all aware of 
the great interest attaching to this remark- 
able asteroid. It may be said to supply us 
with what we have long been wanting, an 
object admitting of exact observation, which 
at proper intervals will come so near the 
earth that the solar parallax can be deter- 
mined with greater precision than by any 
other method. It would hardly be possible 
to get one more exactly to fill the bill. The 
minimum distance of Eros from the earth 
is 0.15 of the distance of the earth from the 
sun. It follows, therefore, that at certain 
times it will be about as near to us as ob- 
servations can advantageously be made. 
Were it to come very much nearer the ad- 
ditional advantage would be slight, for the 
reason that the elements of its orbit could 
hardly be known with sufficient accuracy 
to give us greater advantage; 0.15 is all 
that we can ask for, since that distance 
will diminish the effect of errors of observa- 
tion by six or seven times. We have made 
very little progress in this direction for fifty 
years, and may now hope for something 
more. Yet in Eros, the Fates or whoever 
rules our destiny, have supplied us with 
something very tantalizing. It turns out 
that the nearest approach of Eros to the 
earth occurs only on rare occasions. A 
nearest approach occurred in 1894, and an- 
other approach as near as that will not 
occur until after the middle of the coming 
century. But an approach as near as can 
occur in the next twenty years will take 


Auaust 3, 1900.] 


place in the coming autumn, when its mini- 
mum distance from the earth will be about 
0.38, or twice its absolutely shortest dis- 
tance. It is very desirable that astrono- 
mers who devote their attention to the 
determination of the solar parallax, should 
take advantage of this opportunity for we 
shall have a parallactic displacement of 
Eros exceeding three times and possibly 
five times the solar parallax. But there 
are many drawbacks, the planet is faint ; 
it will probably be, when nearest to us, but 
little above the ninth magnitude, and it 
will therefore be scarcely possible from its 
rapid motion to photograph it, or to ascer- 
its true position upon the plate at any given 
time. It is difficult to ascertain just how 
the observations upon it should be made. 
With the view of getting the ideas of those 
who are interested in the matter, and of as- 
certaining how the stations can best be 
planned, I have published in the Astronomical 
Journal a paper upon this subject, accom- 
panied by diagrams, to aid in the selection 
of the observing stations. These diagrams 
give four projections showing the position 
of the earth as seen from the direction of 
Eros, at different periods during the op- 
position. (A copy of one of the diagrams 
was placed upon the blackboard.) If we 
imagine an observer looking down upon the 
earth from Eros, the relative parallax be- 
tween any two points upon the earth’s 
surface, will be the distance of those two 
points as seen by the observer upon the 
planet. These diagrams therefore show us 
the advantages and disadvantages of any 
two stations we may choose. The line of 


sunset, showing when Eros will be visible : 


to us, will be nearly the same for several 
nights in succession. Taking for example 
December 16th; in that part of the earth 
upon the left of the diagram, it will be day, 
and observers there cannot see the planet at 
all. It is only in the remaining region that 
an observer can see the planet. I will mark 


SCIENCE. 


185 


upon this portion degrees of latitude, show- 
ing the position of different observatories. 
On the circle of 60° north latitude, Pulkowa 
and Helsingfors are situated, their position 
upon the circle depending upon the time of 
observation. Itis evident from the diagram 
that the parallax at those points will be 
very great; and those two places have the 
advantage of being near one end of the 
base line giving the greatest observable 
amount of parallax. The asteroid be- 
ing so far north on December 16th, does 
not set at all at those places. It is evi- 
dent that the best corresponding point, 
giving the longest base line, will be in the 
portion of the diagram south of the equator. 
The planet at that time is only visible about 
15° south of the equator and the only ob- 
servatory in that region is at Arequipa. If 
then observations are made at the Arequipa 
observatory, for an hour or two, and if ob- 
servations are also made at Pulkowa or 
Helsingfors for an hour or two, it will give 
us the longest possible base line for these 
observations. Observations may be made 
at other points, but they will be less avail- 
able in the determination of the parallax 
than those made at Pulkowa or Helsingfors 
and at Arequipa. Another point for con- 
sideration is that if the two sets of observa- 
tions are made at different times, the planet 
will be moving in the meanwhile. Its mo- 
tion is very rapid, and an element of uncer- 
tainty is introduced by the necessity of de- 
termining the amount of this motion. If 
the observations at Pulkowa or at Helsing- 
fors and at Arequipa are not simultaneous 
this uncertainty affects the result. The 
question arises therefore whether simul- 
taneous observations can be obtained at the 
ends of this base line. To determine that 
question we have only to imagine a map of 
the world upon this diagram. As the ob- 
server at Eros comes in sight of the oceans 
and continents of the earth, passing before 
him, he will see the two stations, at Helsing- 


186 


fors and at Arequipa; and observations 
cannot be simultaneous unless he can see 
both at once. We see that the conditions 
are extremely favorable. While Arequipa 
is passing along in this region, near the sun- 
set line, Pulkowa will be passing along in 
this region, near the opposite horizon ; so 
that we may combine observations made 
at Arequipa early in the evening, near 
the end of twilight, with those at Pulkowa 
several hours later in local time, in the 
latter part of the night, and they will be 
nearly if not quite simultaneous. We can 
thus obtain the maximum parallax, which 
will be 48” with a littleallowance for motion, 
from the observations of those two stations. 
Later in the season the Cape of Good Hope 
will appear above the horizon, and then an- 
other combination can be made, the circum- 
stances will be less favorable. We might 
have observations at Paris, Greenwich, Pots- 
dam, ete., but they will afford less favorable 
means of comparison than Pulkowa and 
Arequipa, which give the longest possible 
base line. As to our own position, we can 
observe in connection with Arequipa, but 
not easily; and in connection with the 
Cape of Good Hope, but when Eros rises 
with us it will set at the Cape of Good 
Hope. On the whole we cannot too 
strongly impress upon Professor Pickering 
the desirability of getting at Arequipa the 
best observations that can be made there, 
for combination with all the other stations. 
As to the method of making the observa- 
tions, undoubtedly we must depend upon 
photography. There is no heliometer at 
Arequipa, and at the Cape it is not certain 
that itis available. It will not do to de- 
pend upon the heliometer. We must de- 
pend upon photography, and it is not easy 
for one not an expert to make valuable sug- 
gestions with regard to that. An additional 
complication arises from the rapid motion 
of the planet. It does not appear certain 
that the planet can be photographed at all 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


so a8 to be available for this purpose. It 
must rest in one position long enough to 
take a picture or there will be no trace of 
it upon the plate. Professor Pickering says 
that there will be no difficulty in getting a 
trail; but that will not answer the pur- 
pose. In view of the fact that most of the 
stars will be brighter than the asteroid, 
photographs may be taken by focusing 
upon the planet and taking a trail of the 
brighter stars. But the difficulty remains of 
getting the time from the trails. Another 
difficulty is that we have no first-class pho- 
tographic apparatus in the equatorial re- 
gion, available for this purpose. I conclude 
that the combination of Pulkowa and Hel- 
singfors with Arequipa ought to be our 
main reliance for obtaining the value of the 
solar parallax. 

G. A. Peters. I should think that 
owing to the fact that the planet is upon 
the horizon during the observations for 
parallax, the light would be much dimin- 
ished, and that the photographic plan would 
in that respect suffer a disadvantage in com- 
parison with observations obtained visually. 
Unless large telescopes are used, and the 
atmosphere is extremely clear, there is dan- 
ger that no observations can be obtained in 
that way. 

Professor Newcomb. Itis fortunate that 
at the stations where the planet is near the 
horizon the heavens are remarkably clear. 
At Arequipa, Pulkowa and Helsingfors the 
vapors near the horizon are but a minute 
fraction of those in the clime of Washing- 
ton. It is a curious meteorological fact 
that here the vapor is generally so dense 
that good seeing near the horizon is much 
more rare than at the stations selected. 

C. C. Abbott. Would it not be well to 
use isochromatic plates? 

Professor Newcomb. That is a detail 
that we shall probably have to leave to 
those who take the photographs. 

S. J. Brown. Ihave given this matter 


Auvaust 3, 1900. ] 


some attention. It seems to me that mi- 
crometric observations could be carried on 
simultaneously, especially in the United 
States. We have Pulkowa, Strassburg, 
Charlottesville, Evanston, Madison, Prince- 
ton, Washington, and the Lick Observa- 
tory, and the Yerkes, where work can be 
advantageously done with large telescopes. 
While the factor of the parallax is very 
much smaller in the case of simultaneous 
micrometric observations, the main thing 
seems to be to secure the necessary co-opera- 
tion, and to prepare a careful plan before- 
hand. The motion of Eros is so large that 
the observations will have to be very nearly 
simultaneous. The difference in the factor 
for parallax between Pulkowa and Wash- 
ington isabout 1.1. It isnot much greater 
between Pulkowa and the Lick Observa- 
tory. It is 1.92 at Charlottesville; 1.26 
for the Lick Observatory, 1.13 for Wash- 
ington, and about the same for Princeton ; 
so that by simultaneous observations be- 
tween Pulkowa, Strassburg, Greenwich, and 
the observatories in the United States, we 
may obtain a parallax of about 15’ between 
the 1st of October, and January 16th. My 
impression is that stars should be selected 
not more than 60” from the planet, and that 
they should be compared at nearly the same 
Greenwich mean time at all the stations. 
In this way observations may be obtained 
extremely valuable for determining the 
parallax. Iam not certain but that the 
planet can be photographed to advantage: 
but it would require a long time, and the 
motion of the planet would be uncertain ; 
so that the advantage I think would be out- 
weighed by the accuracy with which micro- 
metric observations could be made ; and if 
referred to the same stars, eliminating the 
motion of the planet, we might expect pre- 
cision. The position of the planet can be 
ascertained closely enough, and its parallax 
known s0 nearly thatwe can measure it to ad- 
vantage in telescopes varying from 16 to 40 


SCIENCE. 


187 


inches in aperture in the United States. I 
had started to draw upa letter to be sent to 
the directors of the observatories of Pulkowa, 
Strassburg, and Greenwich in Europe, and 
in this country at Charlottesville, Prince- 
ton, Madison, the Yerkes and the Lick, 
asking that co-operative work might be car- 
ried on, and asking for a selection of the 
stars. If we assume 60” for the greatest 
distance from the planet, and a parallax 
varying from 15/'to 30”, this will give a dis- 
tance from 60” to 90’; and youcan go down 
to the 10th magnitude, the magnitude of the 
planet, and find in the field a number of 
suitable stars, which should be symmetric- 
ally situated in rectangular co-ordinates. 
In this way it seems to me that we can ob- 
tain from these large telescopes observations 
of as great accuracy as those obtained by 
the photograph, although the distance may 
be twice as great and the factor twice as 
great. I do not see that anything practical 
can be done by this association. It must 
remain for some one to take the initiative ; 
and there ought to be no difficulty in get- 
ting suggestions to perfect such a simple 
plan, such as may result in saving the day 
for the observations of Eros. Photographic 
observations would have to be confined 
largely to Pulkowa, Berlin, or Potsdam, 
and Arequipa, the Cape of Good Hope will 
not come in until along towards the end of 
the opposition. It seems to me therefore 
that micrometric observation, under these 
circumstances will be a matter of consider- 
able importance. 

Professor Newcomb. We want the stars as 
nearly of the same magnitude as possible. In 
a space 60’ square, the mean distance of the 
stars would be about 6’. The planet moves _ 
about 2” of arc in a minute. An observer 
making a careful micrometric measure must 
take at least ten or twenty seconds to make 
up his mind about the bisection. During 
10 seconds the planet will have moved over 
a space of 2’ of arc, a quantity not appre- 


188 


ciable but still large enough to leave open 
the question whereabouts during that period 
of 10 or 20 seconds occupied in making the 
bisection, the planet actually was at the 
time assumed for the bisection. There arises 
an uncertainty which may be systematic. It 
may be different for different observers and 
for different places. This uncertainty seems 
to preclude dependence upon the process of 
micrometric measurement. In the case of 
the satellites of Saturn we know that results 
are obtained differing enormously. 

S. J. Brown. And for the satellite of 
Neptune the difference is still greater. 

Professor Newcomb. There are some sys- 
tematic differences attending micrometric 
observations, but these can be diminished if 
we take our observations to avoid them. 
We have the method of difference of right 
ascension and declination, when we take 
the right ascension entirely free from the 
declination, taking the right ascension at 
the time of passing a certain thread. If the 
star is chosen of about the same magnitude 
as the planet, it will be free from one source 
of systematic error, but there may be a great 
many others. If each set requires a minute 
or two, and if two threads are used, you may 
make 60 comparisons in an hour, which I 
think will be more than can be done with 
the micrometer. There is then much room 
for systematic error. 

G. W. Hough. I think the most accurate 
work can be done with the micrometer. 
With an 183-inch telescope there is no 
trouble in seeing an 11th or 12th magnitude 
star ; and it is only necessary to get the time 
of the bisection and the position angle and 
distance. The time can be known within 
a few seconds, and ten observations can be 
made as readily as one. So we can geta 
final result free from systematic error. 

Simon Newcomb. That may be quite 
possible for a 12th magnitude star. 

G. W. Hough. The method of differ- 
ences of right ascension and declination I 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 292. 


use very often ; but then we must depend 
upon the stability of the telescope. It may 
require 14 to 2 minutes to pass from the 
star to the planet, and there is a liability 
to error from the action of the wind or 
from other causes. In photographic work 
the star will be near the horizon at the time 
required for its observation, and the time 
required will be very long, especially if we 
use isometric or other such plates; and that 
will be a great objection. 

W. W. Campbell. It seems to me that 
both the methods suggested should be sub- 
mitted to actual trial before the entire cam- 
paign is based upon either method. It 
ought to be possible by means of known 
asteroids moving rapidly to obtain photo- 
graphs, by allowing the stars to trail or the 
asteroid to trail, and we could learn with 
what accuracy the position of the asteroid 
can be obtained upon a certain plate. 
Furthermore it will be easy to test the 
method of observing faint stars near the 
asteroid. In large telescopes it will be pos- 
sible either to get a star of the 12th or 13th 
magnitude within 1’ of arc, and by select- 
ing stars in different directions from the 
asteroid it will be possible to eliminate 
practically all the personal element entering 
into the question. In my experience in 
micrometric measures there is never an un- 
certainty greater than 2 or 3 seconds as to 
the exact instant of bisection, and the mo- 
tion of the planet in that time, for that 
particular observation, will be small as 
compared with the accidental error probably 
made. If we take ten observations to- 
gether the motion of the planet will be 
practically unimportant. My main point 
is that the method fixed upon should be 
actually submitted to test before the cam- 
paign is started. It would be a serious 
matter if the campaign should be carried 
on, and afterwards it should be ascertained 
that in consequence of some oversight the 
results are of very little importance. 


Avaust 3, 1900. ] 


G. C. Comstock. If 12th magnitude 
stars are to be used in the comparisons, can 
provision be made to secure the observation 
of the same stars at the different stations ? 

W. W. Campbell. A photographic plate 
can be secured from which the accurate 
positions of these stars can be ascertained. 

G. C. Comstock. Is there time for this 
before the campaign begins ? 

W. W. Campbell. I think there should 
be a carefully prepared plan. 

S. J. Brown. In relation to the obser- 
vation of differences of right ascension and 
declination, all the observations will have 
to be made before we can determine the 
corrections, because the changes of right 
ascension and declination will not bein pro- 
portion to the elapsed time in consequence 
of the rapid motion of the asteroid. We 
need to eliminate the systematic errors. 
You mark your time, and your measurement 
does not correspond with the time you have 
marked. That leads to a systematic error. 
If we can eliminate this I think that obser- 
vations of great accuracy can be made. In 
this case it is proposed to select stars which 
shall not be more than 30 seconds in time 
away from the planet. In micrometric 
measures the suggestion is 60’, which added 
to the displacement of the planet amounts 
to 90’. Above that distance there would 
be a rapid increase of probable errors. The 
main difficulty appears to be in the selection 
of stars down to the 11th or 12th magni- 
tude. 

W. W. Campbell. It seems to me that 
the method of observation of transits is 
objectionable. With the equatorial tele- 
scope there is a tremendous personal equa- 
tion in the observation of stars and comets. 
Undoubtedly there will be a similar per- 
sonal equation in the observation by tran- 
sits of an asteroid and a faint comparison 
star differing 3 or 4 magnitudes from the 
asteroid. There are many things that may 
occur ; the refraction may be changed, or 


SCIENCE. 


189 


the position of the instrument may be 
changed if we wait a minute or two for the 
comparison star to come along. Our ex- 
perience in the observation of comets shows 
that very much better observations can be 
secured if we throw overboard the method 
of observing differences of right ascension 
and declination. 

G. W. Hough. I disagree as to the time 
required for the observations, and I have 
made thousands of observations of differ- 
ences of right ascension and declination. 
But one measure of the position angle is 
better than anything you can get from dif- 
ferences of right ascension and declination. 

S. J. Brown. We have to shift the mi- 
crometer 90° in taking the position angle. 
Suppose the planet to move 1” per minute, 
the change in the angle is not proportional 
to the time, and the change in the distance 
is not proportional to the time. I have 
come to the conclusion that differences of 
right ascension and declination can be de- 
termined with greater accuracy than differ- 
ences of position angle and distance. One 
point we wish to agree upon is a uniform 
method of measurement. Observations 
cannot well be compared if one observation 
is made upon one plan and another obser- 
vation upon a different plan. JI have no 
doubt that the difference in magnitude is a 
very important factor in determining the 
position. In my observations of Titan I 
reduced my observations by the method of 
least squares, and all the equations gave 
positive residuals except one; and that 
could only be explained upon the theory of 
a variable personal equation from difference 
of magnitude. Even with faint stars it 
would be difficult to use differences of right 
ascension observed with the chronograph or 
eye and ear. I think we ought to have the 
experience of those who have had experi- 
ence with stars of the magnitude to be used 
as to their method of treating them. The 
photographic method I think is subject to 


190 


special dangers on account of the low alti- 
tude of the asteroid in the southern hemis- 
phere. 

W. W. Campbell. The base line which 
Professor Newcomb has indicated has a 
great extent, but as to successful working 
much depends upon a wise compromise 
which ought to be considered. At the ex- 
pense of longer observation the observers 
are going to work near the horizon, where 
the refraction will be more uncertain. Fur- 
thermore the image to be measured will 
not in all cases be satisfactory on account 
of the vapors rising near the horizon. 
What amount of difference in the base line 
will outweigh the differences in the atmos- 
phere we shall have to compete with? It 
appears to me that a base line which gives 
only two-thirds of the parallax may be more 
accurate than one which gives five-sixths, 
in consequence of the better conditions 
under which the observations may be made. 

G. ©. Comstock. We should not be mis- 
led by the drawing upon the blackboard, 
because it is not drawn to scale. Taking 
the indicated positions, we shall not bring 
our observations very near the horizon. I 
agree that we should not seek the maximum 
possible base line, there are other consider- 
ations in the problem, but we should get 
the longest base line we can without en- 
croaching upon the horizon, and Pulkowa 
and Arequipa do not crowd the observations 
upon the horizon. 

S. J. Brown. We have to take the tele- 
scopes as they can be found. At Pulkowa 
they have an excellent telescope, and at 
Arequipa also; and they are of identical 
power. These two stations are fixed, there- 
fore, by the facts of the case. And so the 
Cape of Good Hope will be fixed as another 
station. The photographic program is fixed. 
I think the matter will be settled according 
to the circumstances as they exist now. 
We have three photographic telescopes of 
13-inch aperture distributed very favorably 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 292. 


in the southern hemisphere, and three 
or four in the northern hemisphere. The 
micrometric problem is one which I think 
the astronomers of America can agree to . 
co-operate in, and I think we ought to have 
considerable influence in inducing Strass- 
burg and Greenwich to co-operate with us. 
If we can secure the agreement of astron- 
omers in this country and send word to 
those in Europe before October 1st, we may 
possibly save the situation, and perhaps 
produce results comparable in accuracy 
with those from the photographic plates. 
The planet may be observed at Pulkowa 
and Washington from October 1st to Janu- 
ary 16th, the observations at Pulkowa ex- 
tending to an hour angle of 6 or 7 hours. 
Then the planet would have an altitude of 
30°; and the factor can be extended from 
15” to 30” or even 35’. But I have been 
unwilling to write to foreigners until I 
could ascertain the opinions of astrono- 
mers here. 

Winslow Upton. I think if Professor 
Pickering were here he would assure us 
that Arequipa is remarkably well situated 
to adapt it for a southern station. The 
condition of the climate and the atmosphere 
is favorable, and it has an elevation of 
8000 feet above the level of the sea, ensur- 
ing good definition. Again, the twilight 
there is always short. Wecan be perfectly 
sure that Professor Pickering will use the 
facilities of the situation to the utmost. 
But there is a difficulty from the unknown 
law of refraction. The discussion of the 
observations will take the differential form, 
but the law is not known at all. These 
considerations do not apply to Pulkowa, 
but there the planet will not be low. 

F. L. Chase. With regard to diurnal 
motion, will it be possible to eliminate the 
motion of the planet? 

S. J. Brown. I think the micrometric 
method in that respect out of the question. 
The motion of the planet is about 10’ in 10 


Aveust 3, 1900. ] 


hours, and it would be difficult in a large 
telescope to measure that arc of 10’. We 
find that with the great telescope at Wash- 
ington we are limited to 4’ or 5’. Beyond 
that we do not get good results. You can- 
not make the observations without shifting 
the eyepiece ; and I have made up my mind 
that for the purposes of micrometric obser- 
vation the diurnal plan would be out of the 
question. 

J. G. Hagen. Referring to the photo- 
graphic method, there is a difficulty which 
has not been discussed. The motion of the 
planet, in taking a photograph, which may 
require an hour or more, will produce a 
trail. There is an opportunity to choose 
between allowing the planet to trail, and 
allowing the stars to trail. Perhaps the 
same object, of securing an accurate posi- 
tion for the planet upon the plate, can be 
attained by interruption of the exposure. 
The time of the motion can be known 
within ten seconds; and while the planet, 
of the 9th magnitude, may be obtained 
upon the plate, the bright stars may be 
obtained in a series of dots, each expos- 
ure giving an independent determination. 
Whether these interruptions should be 


made once in ten seconds or once in a min- 


ute is a question for experiment. I merely 
make the suggestion of a method that may 
remove the difficulty. 
Adjourned. 
Gero. C. Comsrock, 


Secretary. 
WASHBURN OBSERVATORY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Curing and Fermentation of Cigar Leaf Tobacco. 
By Oscar Lorw. Report No. 59, U. S. De- 
partment of Agriculture. 1899. Pp. 34. 

Physiological Studies of Connecticut Leaf To- 
bacco. By OscAR Lorw. Report No. 65, 
U. 8. Department of Agriculture. 1900. Pp. 
57. 

The great and growing importance of the to- 
bacco industry in the United States has led the 


SOLENCOE. 


191 


Department of Agriculture to undertake an ex- 
tensive series of investigations, covering the 
mapping of areas of soil suitable for raising to- 
bacco, studies in fermentation, improvements in 
breeding and selection, the conditions of growth 
and manipulation in foreign countries and the 
question of supplying tobacco to foreign mar- 
kets. Dr. Loew has been detailed to carry out 
the chemical part of these researches, and the 
above-mentioned documents set forth the re- 
sults thus far obtained by him and by others, 
and contain an abundance of material, both of 
scientific interest and practical importance. 

From the consumer’s standpoint essential 
constituents of tobacco are: (1) nicotine; (2) 
certain compounds, the chemical nature of 
which is wholly unknown, which impart to the 
leaf its acceptable flavor or aroma, and which 
differ in quality and quantity in different grades 
of tobacco. It is upon the latter, rather than 
upon the nicotine, that the commercial value 
of the prepared leaf mainly depends. The 
amount of nicotine is largest in the fresh leaf 
and undergoes marked diminution during fer- 
mentation, while the aromata are developed 
during the processes to which the tobacco is sub- 
jected. There is no apparent relation between 
the color, aroma and amount of nicotine. 

The preparation of tobacco comprises two 
stages, curing and fermentation or ‘sweating,’ 
sometimes supplemented by aging or ‘cold 
sweating.’ During the earlier part of the cur- 
ing stage the cells are still alive, and the result- 
ing changes are physiological, embracing among 
others the transformation of starch into sugar, 
and the partial respiratory consumption of the 
latter, or its transference to another part of the 
leaf and reconversion into starch. After the 
death of the cells, the proteolytic and oxidizing 
enzymes attack much of the protein, fat and 
tannin, and give rise to changes of color and 
flavor. The curing stage is followed by one of 
fermentation, which goes on under the influence 
of air and moisture, and which is accompanied 
by a marked rise of temperature. During this 
stage there is a notable decrease of nicotine, 
but an improvement of flavor and aroma. The 
fermentation was ascribed by Suchsland to the 
action of bacteria, and he attempted to impart 
to German tobacco the peculiar Havana flavor 


192 


by inoculation with pure cultures of bacteria 
obtained from the Cuban leaf, but without suc- 
cess. Perhaps the most interesting part of Dr. 
Loew’s work is the proof that microbes play 
no essential part in the normal tobacco fermen- 
tation, and that the active agents are oxidizing 
enzymes. These exist in the green leaf, but 
are able to manifest their peculiar power of 
utilizing atmospheric oxygen also during curing 
and fermentation, when unopposed by the nor- 
mal physiological processes of the living cells. 
At least three of these are present—an oxidase, 
a peroxidase and catalase. The documents 
contain much interesting information on the 
subject of oxidizing enzymes, together with 
speculative discussion of their nature and mode 
of action, which may or may not stand the test 
of future developments. With the revival of 
the study of catalytic phenomena now in prog- 
gress from the standpoint of physical chemistry 
it is to be hoped that vegetable physiology will 
not have to wait long for important light on 
this still obscure subject. 

The documents encourage the hope that the 
preparation of tobacco, which up to the present 
has been based on empirical procedure, will be- 
fore long be conducted in as scientific a manner 
as is already the case with alcoholic beverages. 
They also afford an excellent illustration of the 
manner in which a government department, 
existing and working solely for practical pur- 
poses, is nevertheless compelled to encourage 
studies of broad scientific interest. 

H. N. STOKEs. 


The Birds of Eastern North America. Part II, 
Land Birds. Key to the Families and Species. 
By CHARLES B. Cory. Illustrated. Special 
edition printed for the Field Columbian 
Museum, Chicago. Boston. 1899. Small 
4to. Pp. 131-387. 

Ornithologists, during the rapid growth of 
popular bird study in the past few years, have 
witnessed the production of all kinds of bird 
literature. In the great variety that has been 
put forth, the general effort has been for 
untechnical descriptions with sufficient accuracy 
to stand the test of practical utility. Mr. Cory 
has accomplished this end to a considerable 
degree in several of his books. In the ‘ Land 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 292. 


Birds,’ we have neither an exhaustive manuay 
nor a pocket key, but an easy ornithology for 
beginners in the shape of a profusely illustrated 
key. It is continuous in pagination with the 
volume already published on the water birds 
and the two are obviously intended to be used 
together, for the useful introductory preface 
and glossary of the first part are not reprinted 
in the second. The book begins with a key to 
families, illustrated by outlined drawings of 
bills, wings, tails, and feet, and much reduced 
halftones of species characteristic of the various 
families. After this comes the key to species, 
which is the body of the book; then follows a 
systematic list of both land and water birds, 
giving in general terms the geographic distri- 
bution of each. The species are divided into 
groups by absolute characters, such as length 
of wing and distinctive colors, which could not 
be misconstrued even by the veriest amateur ; 
technical terms are avoided as far as possible. 
The descriptions are brief, scarcely more than 
diagnoses, but more detailed than those of an 
ordinary key. The illustrations are not of 
uniform excellence, but serve their purpose 
fairly well. They are conveniently inserted in 
the text which refers to them and are repeated 
when necessary. The book is a little large for 
use in the field, but for the actual work of 
identification at the study table it should bea 
most valuable aid, particularly to the beginner. 
W. H. Osaoon. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 
Sciences for June brings the fourth volume to a 
close and is accompanied by the index. The 
opening article on ‘ Pathological Changes affect- 
ing the Islands of Langerhans of the Pancreas’ 
is by Eugene L. Opie, and ‘The Influence of 
Defibrination on the Secretion of the Kidney’ 
is discussed by Franz Pfaff and Vejux-Tyrode. 
‘A New Method of distinguishing Human from 
other Mammalian Blood in Medico-Legal Cases’ 
is described by Ernest L. Walker, based upon 
the different characters of the granules of the 
polymorphonuclear leucocytes of the blood of 
various mammals and the ability to recognize 
these differences in dried blood by appropriate 
treatment and methods of staining. ‘Some 


Auveust 3, 1900.] 


Laboratory Apparatus’ is noticed by Frederic 
P. Gorham and ‘ Methods of staining Flagella,’ 
by W.H. Robey, Jr. Finally an abstract is 
given of a paper on the ‘ Action of Drinking- 
water on Metals,’ by Charles Harrington, in 
which among other interesting points it is noted 
that the same water may act very differently 
at different times. 


The Osprey for June begins with Part VI. of 
‘Birds of the Road,’ by Paul Bartsch ; some 
‘Bird Notes,’ by Lady Broome, are reprinted 
from the Cornhill Magazine, and in the fourth 
part of William Swainson and his Times,’ by 
Theodore Gill, we are told of his literary work. 
The editor discusses the ‘Significance and Ety- 
mology of the Word Mammals,’ calling atten- 
tion to the fact that the commonly accepted 
derivation of the word is incorrect, and that 
the term Mammalia, from which it comes, was 
coined by Linnzus in analogy with animalia, 
to describe the class mammalia which he was 
the first to correctly define. 


The Auk for July is an unusually large 
number, containing articles of much interest, 
not only to the professional ornithologist, but 
to the general reader. The ‘Occurrence of 
Larus glaucescens and other American Birds in 
Hawaii’ is noted by H. W. Henshaw, and this 
is followed by a graphic and gracefully written 
article, ‘ Notes on the Breeding Habits of the 
American Golden-eye Duck or Whistler,’ by 
William Brewster. The ‘ Keology of the Mary- 
land Yellow-throat and its Relatives’ is treated 
at length by William Palmer. ‘Notes on a 
Few Species of Idaho and Washington Birds’ 
are contributed by John O. Snyder, and a ‘ De- 
scription of a New Shearwater from the Ha- 
waiian Islands’ is given by H. W. Henshaw. 
A. W. Anthony tells of the Nesting Habits of 
the Pacific Coast Species of the Genus Puffinus.’ 
E. W. Nelson gives ‘ Descriptions of Thirty 
New North American Birds,’ and Reginald 
Heber Howe describes ‘A New Subspecies of 
the Genus Hylocichla.’ ‘An account of the 
Nesting Habits of Franklin’s Rosy Gull (Larus 
franklinii), as observed at Heron Lake in South- 
ern Minnesota,’ is given by Thomas 8. Roberts, 
and the concluding paper ‘ Notes on a Collec- 
tion of Bahama Birds,’ is by Outram Bangs. 


SCIENCE. 


193 


The articles on nesting habits are all illustrated, 
the plate showing the burrows of the Wedge- 
tailed Petrels being remarkably interesting. 
The customary numerous notes and reviews 
complete the number. 

THE New York Medical Journal, long published 
by Messrs. D. Appleton & Co., has been sold 
to Mr. R. Elliott, an advertising agent in New 
York City. It is to be hoped that the Journal 
will remain under the same editorial manage- 
ment as at present, as it is one of the few 
American medical journals that have consist- 
ently maintained a high standard. 


The Proceedings of the Zoological Society of 
London for June contains Dr. A. Smith Wood- 
ward’s full paper on the much-discussed remains 
of Grypotherium (Neomylodon) listai from Pata- 
gonia. The specimens are described in detail 
and the affinities of the animal made clear. 
They were found on the floor of a cave, ina 
large enclosure, associated with cut hay and 
much excrement, and Dr. Woodward concludes 
that we can hardly refuse to believe that this 
great ground sloth was actually kept and fed 
by an early race of man. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
KITE vs. BALLOON. 


EpItor oF ScIENcE: The high kite-flight de- 
cribed in ScrENCcE of July 6, 1900, was exceeded 
on July 19th, when, by means of six kites at- 
tached at intervals to four and three-quarters 
miles of steel wire, the meteorograph was lifted 
15,170 feet above Blue Hill, or 15,800 feet 
above the neighboring ocean. At the time that 
the temperature was 78° near the ground, it was 
about 80° at the highest point reached, the air 
being very dry and the wind blowing from the 
northwest with a velocity of 26 miles an hour. 

The altitude reached in this flight probably 
exceeds the greatest height at which meteor- 
ological observations have been made with a 
balloon in America. The highest observations 
that have been published were made by the 
late Professor Hazen of the Weather Bureau in 
an ascent from St. Louis, June 17, 1887, to a 
height of 15,400 feet. 

A. LAWRENCE RoTCH. 

BLvuE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY. 


194 


CALLOSITIES ON HORSES’ LEGS. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Your inquirer 
concerning the callosities on horses’ legs might 
gain an indirect suggestion from Ernest Seton 
Thompson’s ‘ Wild Animals I Have Known’ 
or—still more probably—from the same author’s 
recent articles in the Century Magazine on the 
National Zoological Park. The suggestion that 
these callosities are vestigial organs for the 
secretion of specific perfumes gains some indi- 
rect but interesting support from the use made 
of their material by Rarey and other professional 
‘horse-tamers.’ 

W J McGEE. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 


In a study of the radiation of uranium, Bec- 
querel finds that these rays are deviated in a 
magnetic field. When the uranium compounds 
are treated with barium salts and the barium 
then precipitated as a sulfate, the radio-activity 
of the uranium is decreased, but Becquerel has 
not been able in this way to obtain a uranium 
salt which does not show some activity. 


A SOMEWHAT similar series of experiments is 
described by Béla von Lengyel in the Berichte. 
The barium sulfate obtained from the uranium 
mixture was found to be strongly radio-active, 
as well as the barium carbonate and chlorid 
derived from this sulfate. The author con- 
siders this synthesis of radio-active barium ren- 
ders the existence of radium and polonium as 
elements exceedingly doubtful. This reminds 
one of the views of Le Bon that radium and 
polonium are merely allotropic states of barium 
and bismuth, corresponding somewhat to the 
inactive and the phosphorescent calcium sulfids. 


Accounts have been published from time to 
time in the Comptes Rendus by Paul Sabatier 
and J. B. Senderens on the addition of hydro- 
gen to acetylene under the influence of reduced 
metals in a finely divided condition. The ac- 
tion of copper, iron and cobalt have been most 
recently described, the union taking place be- 
low 200°. With copper, ethane, ethylene, and 
other hydrocarbons are formed, and if hydrogen 
is in excess no acetylene is unacted upon. With 
iron in addition to ethane and ethylene, ben- 
zene and higher unsaturated hydrocarbons are 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 292. 


produced. Cobalt is found to give a much 
larger yield of ethane than nickel. 


THE direct preparation of a number of bi- 
nary compounds of aluminum is described by 
Henri Fonzes-Diacon in the Comptes Rendus. 
The sulfid, selenid, phosphid, arsenid, and 
stibid are all formed by the ignition of a mix- 
ture of fine aluminum powder with the element 
in question. In the case of sulfur and selen- 
ium, a little burning magnesium is necessary to 
ignite the mixture; with antimony, sodium per- 
oxid serves the same purpose. When these com- 
pounds are treated with water, the hydrogen 
compound is evolved in a very pure state. In 
the case of phosphid the yield of the non-in- 
flammable gas PH; is practically theoretical, and 
the same is true of arsin. The yield of stibin 
is less good. 


A RECENT Bulletin of the College of Agricul- 
ture of Tokyo, contains a paper by Dr. U. 
Suzuki on the possible replacement of calcium 
in plants by strontium and barium. From an 
abstract in Nature it appears that both strontium 
and barium salts are poisonous to plants, though 
the addition of lime salts lessens the poisonous 
action to some extent. This is apparently very 
different from the action on higher animals, 
where, though barium is strongly toxic, stron- 
tium has little if any toxic action. 


From Nature we note also a short article by 
C. HE. Stromeyer from the Memoirs of the Man- 
chester Literary and Philosophical Society, on 
the Formation of Minerals inGranite. He con- 
cludes that the temperature of granite forma- 
tion need not be limited, nor need the interior 
of the earth be assumed as solid. The mineral 
composition of granites depends not only upon 
temperature and rate of cooling but also upon 
pressure. ‘‘Where the solid rock resting on 
the molten material is of low specific gravity 
and a bad conductor of heat the depth at which 
granite rock would commence to solidify would 
not be great, and most probably the quartz 
would crystallize first, forming, say, quartz- 
porphyry.’’ In somewhat opposite conditions, 
at greater depths and pressure the quartz would 
remain fluid longer, forming feldspar-porphyry. 
Every intermediate condition is also conceiv- 
able. 


Aveust 3, 1900. ] 


THE curious observation is made by P. Vil- 
lard in the last Comptes Rendus, that at the 
temperature of 1000° fused silica, SiO,, is per- 
meable to hydrogen. 


THE abstract of a paper read before the Chem- 
ical Society (London) by John Wade on the 
constitution of hydrogen cyanid, is given in the 
last number of the Proceedings. From reactions 
with alkyl iodids and sulfates, it has appeared 
as if potassium cyanid had the constitution KCN 
while that of silver cyanid is AgNC. Wade 
now shows that when potassium cyanid is heated 
with alkyl potassium sulfate at a lower tempera- 
ture, the isomeric isocyanid is often the princi- 
pal product. He further finds that practically 
all the isocyanids can be converted into cyanids 
(nitrils) by heat. Since the formation of nitrils 
in the above interaction is thus accounted for, 
one of the chief arguments for the nitrilic con- 
stitution, HCN, of hydrogen cyanid disappears, 
and it seems possible that HNC represents the 
constitution of the acid, and that all the cyanids 


have an analogous constitution. 
J. L. H. 


MEDICAL EXHIBITS AT PARIS. 


THE Paris correspondent of the British Medi- 
cal Journal gives the following account of some 
of the medical exhibits at the Paris Exposi- 
tion : 

In the Pavillon des Armées de Terre et de 
Mer, at the end nearest the Pont de l’Alma, we 
first enter the Salon Pasteur. On either side 
of the entrance are cabinets filled with cultures 
of different microbes. In the center of the 
room is the bust of Pasteur on a pedestal, 
round the base of which is an octagonal case 
containing a retrospective exhibition of the 
work of Pasteur. Here we see the manuscript 
of the thesis presented before the Faculty of 
Science in 1847 on molecular dissymmetry; the 
microscope used by Pasteur to measure the 
angles of crystals, and models of various crys- 
tals ; his work on fermentation, with the origi- 
nal apparatus used for the study of butyric acid 
fermentation, and the apparatus for the study 
of living anaérobic microbes. Pasteur’s re- 
searches on spontaneous generation are illus- 
trated by the apparatus to prove that calcined 
air contained no germs, and the flasks used in 


SCIENCE. 


195 


the experiments on the organized dusts in the 
atmosphere, and opened by him on Octo- 
ber 3, 1860, at the summit of Mount Poupet. 
In connection with his investigation into the 
diseases of wines and beer, flasks for the pure 
culture of yeast and experiments on the ag- 
ing of wines are shown. The microscope 
used by Pasteur in his investigation of the 
diseases of silkworms is shown, together 
with baskets for rearing silkworms, chains 
of cocoons, and pigeon-holes for rearing iso- 
lated worms. Methods of sterilization are 
illustrated by the first model of the Chamber- 
land autoclave used in Pasteur’s laboratory, 
and by Chamberland filters. Virulent diseases 
are illustrated by the flask of putrified blood 
from which Pasteur obtained the anaérobic 
microbe which he called the ‘ vibrion septique.’ 
U-shaped tubes from Pasteur’s laboratory con- 
taining anthrax blood, with samples of the first 
and second vaccines against anthrax as sup- 
plied to veterinary surgeons are exhibited. 
Down to January 1, 1900, in France alone, 
4,971,494 sheep and 708,980 cattle have been 
inoculated. Some manuscript notes by Pasteur 
on the experiments in his laboratory in 1881 on 
hydrophobia are shown, asare also his platinum 
spatula instruments for trephining rabbits and 
to remove the spinal cord, dried cords, etc. 

On the right-hand of the Salon Pasteur is a 
model of the Pasteur Institute, with the re- 
cently completed Annexe of Biological Chemis- 
try and hospital for hydrophobia and diphtheria 
patients. An adjacent glass case contains a 
bouillon culture of the bacillus of diphtheria in 
a large flat-bottomed flask, the trocar of Roux 
and Nocard with rubber tube to collect the 
blood from the immune horse, the jar in which 
the clot and serum separate ; a small filter by 
L. Martin for experiments on the toxin, the 
large filter used to filter the cultures of diph- 
theria to prepare the toxin, the filtered culture, 
and bottles of the serum in liquid and dried form. 

On the left-hand side is the exhibit of the 
Pasteur Institute at Lille, showing cultures of 
the plague bacillus of Yersin-Kitasato and the 
antiplague serum ; venomous snakes, with Cal- 
mette’s serum against snake bite ; the steriliza- 
tion of water by ozone, with numerous maps, 
plans and photographs of the Lille Institute. 


196 


In small rooms leading out of the Salon Pas- 
teur is a portion of the hygiene exhibit of for- 
eign nations, the major portion being in the 
Champ de Mars. Germany here shows a large 
model of the Imperial buildings for sanitary 
administration, a map of the mineral waters of 
Germany, numerous plans and elevations of 
the many sanatoria for the open-air treatment 
of consumption ; also numerous graphic models 
to show the increase in the population, the fall 
in death-rates, the hospital accommodation, 
etc., the most striking being black and red 
cubes showing the number of deaths from 
small-pox in 1862-76, that is, 199,410, com- 
pared with the number of deaths in 1882-96, 
that is, 83291 ; in 1897 there were only five deaths 
from small-pox. Vaccination and re-vaccina- 
tion became compulsory by law in 1775. 


SIGMA XI, THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION AND 
THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA.* 


AN unsigned article in SCIENCE (June 22d) en- 
titled ‘Sigma Xi at the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science,’ calls attention 
approvingly to a movement to associate meet- 
ings of this Greek-letter society with those of 
Association. The rapid rise of the Sigma Xi 
in American universities is cited, and it is af- 
firmed that ‘‘as an honor society it promises to 
take a leading part in our universities in which 
science holds a prominent place.’’ It is urged 
that ‘‘it has become a representative honor 
society for the ablest students of science in the 
institutions where it is established.’’ Respect- 
ing its intent, the following authoritative quo- 
tation is made: ‘‘ In establishing a new chapter 
* * * in each case we should make sure that 
we entrust the power of distributing the honor 
of membership only to such persons and insti- 
tutions as are capable of giving the education 
and training necessary to the carrying on of 
scientific investigation.”’ 

It is scarcely necessary to make these quota- 
tions to show that the fundamental feature of 
the Society is the promotion of a class distinc- 
tion based on academic preparation. How- 
ever laudable this may be in itself considered, 


* Editorial article from the American Journal of 
Geology. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 292. 


it would seem to be inharmonious with the 
fundamental purpose of the Association, which 
is the development and dissemination of science 
among all people without regard to race, age, 
sex or previous conditions of intellectual servi- 
tude. 

From professional relations the writer should 
not be inappreciative of the value of uni- 
versity training and of academic achievement. 
Nevertheless, it seems to him that the pur- 
poses of the Association are unqualifiedly 
democratic and that the spirit of science is 
equally so, and that therefore the only distinc- 
tions which the Association should foster or sanc- 
tion, if it fosters or sanctions distinctions at all, 
are those which are based solely upon scientific 
productiveness. And this productiveness should 
be honored quite irrespective of its connection 
with the fortunate conditions of academic ap- 
pointments and opportunities, or with the ad- 
verse or even hostile conditions under which 
much good science has been developed. The 
movement therefore to connect the Sigma Xi 
with those of the American Association seems 
incongruous. 

As set forth in another article in the same 
number of SCIENCE, some fifteen special scien- 
tific societies have already become correlated 
with the Association and have much increased 
the complexity of the proceedings. This move- 
ment seems to be an inevitable consequence of 
the differentiation of scientific work, and is 
searcely less than necessary to the continued 
success of the Association, but it has already 
brought some inevitable conflict of interests 
and not a little congestion of programs and 
appointments. Between these and the in- 
creased number of social functions, it has 
already come to pass that there is little time 
left for that personal conference and that in- 
formal sociability whose basis is ‘shop talk,’ 
which formed so large a factor in the attrac- 
tiveness of the earlier meetings of the Associa- 
tion. If now in addition to these laudable 
complications, the attention of a considerable 
number of the members of the Association is 
to be diverted in the interest of an academic 
honor society and a precedent established for 
the meeting of other societies whose basis is 
not strictly congenial to that of the Association, 


Aveust 3, 1900.] 


it is not clear where the limit of congestion 
will be found. 

Between the lines of the article referred to, 
the imagination is tempted to read a hint ofa 
desire for that rank and dominance in the Asso- 
ciation which the members of Sigma Xi at- 
tained in university circles, and it is not un- 
natural to anticipate that the fraternity might 
unconsciously play a part in Association poli- 
tics not unlike that for which Greek-letter so- 
cieties are famous throughout the university 
world. To those who pride themselves upon 
rank and band themselves together because of 
rank it is not unnatural that official expressions 
of rank should be sought through the uncon- 
scious influence of fraternization. 

Tt is not altogether foreign to the subject of 
this discussion to note the increasing encroach- 
ments of formal social functions upon the meet- 
ings of the Association and not less perhaps 
upon the meetings of the Geological Society of 
America. Without doubt a certain measure of 
formal contact with general society is helpful 
to the ends sought by the Association. At the 
same time it must be recognized that formal 
social functions are largely the province of the 
leisure class and that from the very nature of 
the case they remain so, for leisure and the 
means of leisure are prerequisite to their effec- 
tive cultivation. Equally from the nature of 
the case, the devotees of science do not usually 
belong to the leisure class because real success 
in science inyolves strenuous endeavor and an 
almost unlimited devotion of time. The diver- 
sion of time to social functions during the meet- 
ings of the Association should, therefore, be 
zealously watched and restrained within limits 
which are compatible with the efficient conduct 
of the primary purposes of the Association. 
Particularly is this true of the Geological So- 
ciety which has no organic relation to general 
society. The movement in the direction of 
social formality has already crowded hard upon 
the point where the first requisite preparation 
for a meeting of the Association or of the Geo- 
logical Society is the packing of a dress suit, 
and the second is the preparation of an after- 
dinner speech, preparations that are none too 
congenial to the great mass of hard workers in 
science. 


SCIENCE. 


197 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

A BUST in bronze of M. de Lacaze-Duthiers 
was presented to him on July 1st by represent- 
atives of the University of Barcelona, consisting 
of the rector M. de Luanco and Professors 
Lozana, Mundi, Arazona, Lopez-Sancho and 
de Odan Buen. M. Gréard, vice-rector of the 
university of Paris, M. Frederic of Liége, M. 
Delage of the university of Paris and M. Ley- 
gues minister of public instruction, made ad- 
dresses to which M. de Lacaze-Duthiers re- 
plied. 

Dr. J. HOWARD GORE, professor of mathe- 
matics and geodesy at Columbian University, 
Washington, has been appointed by President 
Loubet, juror-in-chief of the Court of Appeal 
of the Paris Exposition. He is already juror- 
in-chief of the International Congresses for the 
United States. 


ON the occasion of the celebration of its cen- 
tenary, the University of New Brunswick, at 
Frederickton, conferred an honorary degree 
on Dr. J. G. Adami, professor of pathology in 
McGill University. 

Dr. BENJAMIN IDE WHEELER, of the Uni- 
versity of California, has returned from his 
visit to the East, during which he was given 
the LL.D. degree by Harvard and Brown uni- 
versities. 

Mr. JoHn C. MERRIAM is at present in the 
fossil fields of eastern Oregon, where he has 
charge of an expedition making paleontological 
collections for the University of California. 


Dr. HERMANN TRIEPEL has been appointed 
prosector at the Anatomical Institute at Greifs- 
wald. 


THE death is announced of Mr. Georges 
Marye, curator of the museum at Algiers. 


THE Rey. Thomas D. Weems, of Decatur, 
Ill., has given his archeological collection, 
numbering eleven hundred and forty speci- 
mens, to the Powell Museum of the Illinois 
Wesleyan University. The collection contains 
figures, vases, pictured stones, ceremonial 
stones, tablets, pipes, arrowpoints, spearpoints, 
celts, sinkers, knives, saws, hammers, scrapers, 
plummets, discoidals, mortars, pestles and cop- 
per, bone and shell implements and ornaments. 


198 


The Rev. Dr. John A. Kumler, of Springfield, 
Ill., has offered to provide for the cases to con- 
tain the above collection. 


A Society for School Hygiene has been 
established in Germany and will hold its first 
meeting at Aix la Chapelle, in connection 
with the meeting of German Men of Science 
and Physicians beginning on September 17th. 


THE position of physicist in the Geological 
Survey will be filled by a civil service exami- 
nation on August 21st and 22d. The salary of 
the office is $1800 per annum. The subject of 
examinations and the weights are as follows: 


ering lishe (essays) beeeecsenesectrcee sceceenes 8 
A ELIN AN rae aereeeacedereer eceecstecceteeeees 8 
Gb LIN EEIIYE OsononacaqngocuadaoaqpagacnducmutosnSnados 8 
4, Laboratory training............. 2.0... 28 
WHEN NEWARNTICS. moccaoancconocoosenooaeasocoods 20 
6. General physics..................0..ccseees 28 

TRO GAT tite Sa retain ae ANN Coleen 100 


A TELEGRAM was received on July 24th at 
the Harvard College Observatory from Professor 
W. BR. Brooks at Geneva, N. Y., stating that a 
bright comet was discovered by him July 23d 
at 13" (premsumably Eastern time), in R. A. 
2 43" 40° and Dec. + 12° 80’. Motion northerly. 
Stellar nucleus and tail. A subsequent letter 
from Professor Brooks states that he found the 
position of his new comet July 26, 13% 25™ 
Kastern time (18" 25" Greenwich Mean Time) 
to be in R. A. 2" 46™ 30° and Dec. + 21° 1’. 


THE Conference Scientia, an informal society 
organized at Paris for social purposes, held its 
sixth meeting on June 28th, the occasion being a 
banquet in honor of M. Darboux, the eminent 
mathematician. An address was made by M. 
Ch. Richet to which M. Darboux replied. 


More than 300 papers have already been 
offered for the meeting of German Men of Sci- 
ence and Physicians which takes place at Aix 
la Chapelle beginning on September 17th. 
General addresses will be made by Professor 
Van’t Hoff, Berlin, on the ‘Development of 
Chemistry’; by Professor Oscar Hertwig, Ber- 
lin, on ‘the ‘Development of Biology’; by Pro- 
fessor Naunyn, Strasburg, on ‘Internal Medi- 
cine including Bacteriology and Hygiene,’ and 
by Professor Chiari, Prague, on ‘ Pathological 
Anatomy and External Medicine.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 292. 


AT a recent meeting of the Museums Asso- 
ciation at Canterbury, Professor W. M. Flinders 
Petrie advocated his plan of building large but 
inexpensive sheds to house ethnological and 
archeological material. The plan is to acquire 
about a square mile of land within an hour’s 
ride of London and to begin to build large gal- 
leries uniformly on what might be called a 
gridiron plan. The proposed galleries should 
be about 54 feet wide and 400 feet apart, so that 
after completion there would be room for addi- 
tions six times as large on the intermediate 
ground. The plan would involve the construc- 
tion of about 400 feet of gallery per year, or 
eight miles in the century, leaving six times 
the space to be covered by irregular additions 
as required. The financial demands of the 
scheme for land, building and staff might be 
met by a fixed charge of £10,000 per year. 


THE report of Commissioner of Patents Duell 
for the fiscal year ended June 30th last shows a 
total of 25,540 patents granted, including re- 
issues and designs. The receipts of the office 
were $1,358,228, and a surplus of $110,402 
was turned into the treasury. 


For the past two months an installation of 
wireless telegraphy has been in operation at 
the lighthouse at Borkum and the light ship 
20 miles away. Communication is established 
with the North German Lloyd Steamship 
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse in its voyage into 
and out of Bremenhaven and other shipping 
news is transmitted. This is the only wireless 
telegraphy installation transmitting ordinary 
intelligence on a commerical footing. 


THE Chancellor of the German Empire has 
issued an ordinance to the effect that the 
Réaumur thermometer will not be admitted to 
official control after January 1, 1901. This 
will lead to the exclusive use of the centigrade 
thermometer in Germany. 


LIEUTENANT PEARY’s relief steamer Wind- 
ward, has entered the harbor at Port au Bas- 
ques, at the southwest extremity of the island, 
with part of her machinery disabled. Pieces 
to replace the broken sections have arrived, 
but it will probably require a few days to 
make the necessary repairs. The delay may 


Aveust 3, 1900.] 


seriously disarrange the ship’s plans for reach- 
ing the far north. 


THERE is again a new universal language to 
rival Volapik and Spokil, and which calls itself 
Bolak, in English the ‘blue language’ or 
‘the language colour of heavens.’ We quote 
from the English circular issued from Paris. 
This language appears to be the joint produc 
tion of Léon Bollack and Raoul de la Grasserie. 
The following extract is from the same circular : 

““To give to all the possibility of receiving news 
from whole the world and of understanding them 
without any translator. 

“To give to all the possibility of crossing whole the 
world and of making themselves understood without 
any interpreter. 

‘“And a more generous IDEAL may be reached, 
owing to the coming of an INTERNATIONAL LAN- 
GUAGE which, letting remain the native idiom of each 
one, would become: the unique FOREIGN LANGUAGE 
for ALL. 

“Tt is indeed obvious to understand that this 
Facility of comprehension between persons of different 
nationalities will forcibly raise a Holy Communion 
of thoughts and of pacification among peoples dealing 
together.’’ 

But we of the English tongue naturally ask 
why not adopt English as the universal lan- 
guage, since it is already more universal than 
any language has ever been in the history of 
the world ? 


THE daily papers report that Indians hunting 
on the east coast of Hudson Bay, north of Fort 
George, in the early spring, have a story that 
may eventually give the history of the fate of 
Andrée and his companions. Mr. George Ren- 
ison, returning from Moose Factory, the Hud- 
son Bay Company’s post on the west coast of 
James Bay, says that the last packet from 
York Factory brought word that the Indians 
had found a quantity of wreckage, the bodies of 
two men and a man in the last stages of death. 
The Indians could not understand the language 
he spoke, but it was not English. He died 
while they were there, and they returned to 
their post without bringing away any evidence 
of the strange occurrence. As the Indians had 
never seen a balloon, the nature of the wreck- 
age was judged only from descriptions given by 
them, but Mr. Renison says they described ac- 


SCIENCE. 


199 


curately a car and other fixtures that could be- 
long to nothing else. Hudson Bay Company 
officers are firmly convinced that it is the An- 
drée party, and have sent out men, guided by 
the same Indians, to find and bring back evi- 
dence to establish the identity of the party. 


A BritisH Parliamentary paper has been pub- 
lished giving details of experiments performed 
on living animals in 1899. It appears from the 
abstract in the London Times that the total 
number of licenses in England and Scotland 
was 250, of whom 72 performed no experiments. 
Tables I. and II. give the names of all persons 
who held licenses during 1899. These tables 
afford evidence (1) that licenses and certificates 
have been granted and allowed only upon the 
recommendation of persons of high scientific 
standing; (2) that the licensees are persons 
who, by their training and education, are fitted 
to undertake experimental work and to profit 
by it; (8) that all experimental work has been 
conducted in suitable places. Table III. shows 
the number.and the nature of the experiments 
performed by each licensee mentioned in Table 
I., specifying whether these experiments were 
done under the license alone or under any 
special certificate, so that the reader may 
judge which experiments (if any) were of 
a painful nature. Table III. is divided into 
two parts, A and B, for the purpose of 
separating experiments which are performed 
without anesthetics from experiments in which 
anesthetics are used. The only experiments 
performed without anesthetics are inoculations, 
hypodermic injections, vaccinations, and simi- 
lar proceedings, in which the pain inflicted is 
not greater than the prick of aneedle. No 
experiments requiring anything of the nature 
of a surgical operation, or that would cause the 
infliction of an appreciable amount of pain, 
are allowed to be performed without an anes- 
thetic. The total number of experiments in- 
cluded in Table III. (A) is 1656. Of these 
there were performed under license alone 820, 
under certificate C 182, under certificate B 449, 
under certificate B+ EE 205. In experiments 
performed under the license alone, or under 
certificate C, the animal suffers no pain, be- 
cause it is kept under the influence of an anzs- 
thetic from the beginning of the experiment 


200 


until it is killed. In experiments performed 
under certificate B (or EE or F linked with B) 
the animal is anesthetized during the opera- 
tion but is allowed to recover. The number 
of inoculations for the diagnosis of rabies 
performed in 1899 was 164, the steady de- 
crease during recent years noticed in the re- 
port for 1898 having been maintained. Table 
Ill. (B) is devoted entirely to inoculations, 
hypodermic injections, and some few other 
proceedings performed without anesthetics. 
It includes 6818 experiments. The total 
number of experiments (8469) is somewhat 
less than in 1898 (9151). The licensees were 
found in all cases to be desirous of acting 
in strict accordance with the spirit as well as 
the letter both of the Act and of the special 
conditions attached to their licenses. In Ire- 
land nine licenses were in existence during 1899. 
Of these four expired, one was renewed, and 
two new licenses were granted. The experi- 
ments performed were 227 in number, 79 being 
under license alone and 148 under certificates. 
Two licensees performed noexperiments. The 
animals experimented on were 171 rabbits, 43 
dogs, 12 guinea-pigs, and one rat. The experi- 
ments appear to have been of a useful character, 
and either painless or painful only to a slight 
extent. The bulk of them were inoculations 
for the diagnosis of diseases, such as canine 
rabies and tuberculosis. 


THE Moscow Society of Physiologists, a 
branch of the Imperial Society of Friends of 
Natural Science, has, according to the British 
Medical Journal, undertaken to issue a journal 
entitled Le Physiologiste Russe, which is intended 
to make the work of members of the Society in 
physiology, physiological chemistry, histology, 
embryology, general pathology, and pharma- 
cology known to that large section of the sci- 
entific world to which Russian is an unknown 
tongue. Original papers will be published in 
French or German; and summaries of all Rus- 
sian work appearing elsewhere will be given in 
French. The first volume, which has already 
been issued, contains papers from the laboratories 
of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw and Tomsk. 
Among the writers are Professor Morokowitz, 
head of the Physiological Institute of Moscow, 
and editor of the journal; Professors Setschenow, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 292. 


Bogdanoff, Salaskine, Chalfeieff, and Kulagin. 
La Physiologiste Russe is sent gratuitously to all 
institutes of physiology, pathology, and phar- 
macology. As giving some idea of the relative 
numbers ofsuch institutes in different countries, 
it is interesting to note that Austria receives 31 
copies, Great Britain, 23, Germany 46, France 
42, other European countries 59, the United 
States 29, South America 4, Asia 5, Australia 3, 
Africa 1. Le Physiologiste Russe is published 
and distributed with the help of contributions 
from friends of biological science, who have 
subscribed a capital sum of £2000 for the pur- 
pose. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


LoRD CALTHROPE and his son have given to 
the University of Birmingham about 25 acres 
of land for its scientific department. The site 
is very suitable, permitting the establishment 
of the department nearer to the center of the 
city than would otherwise have been possible. 


Mr. Ewan RICHARDS FRAZER, of Balliol Col- 
lege, is announced as the donor of £5000 for a 
pathological laboratory at Oxford. 


TRINITY COLLEGE has received from Mr. J. 
M. Allen, of Hartford, a complete set of the 
Proceedings of the American Asssociation for 
the Advancement of Science. 


THE trustees of Iowa State College in their 
annual session made the following additions to 
the faculty of the college: H. J. Burt of the Uni- 
versity of Illinois, assistant professor of civil en- 
gineering, this being anew chair; B.S. Lampear 
of Cornell University, assistant professor in elec- 
trical engineering; Lewis E. Young of Penn- 
sylvania State College, instructor in mining 
engineering ; I. A. Williams of Iowa State Col- 
lege, 1898, instructor in mining engineering. 


THE vacancy at Toronto University caused 
by the retirement of Professor Pike from the 
chair of chemistry has been filled by the ap- 
pointment of Mr. William R. Lang, who has 
for some years filled the position of lecturer in 
organic chemistry at Glasgow University. 


PROFESSOR BRIEGER has been appointed to 
the newly established chair of hydrotherapy at 
Berlin University. 


Scale NCE 


EDITORIAL ComMITrTEE: S. NEwcomB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopDWARD, Mechanics; E. ©. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. 8. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircn, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aueust 10, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


Certain recent Attempts to test the Nebular Hypoth- 
esis: PROFESSOR T. C. CHAMBERLIN, Dr. F. 


Fe MMI OULTONGcsesesccccs sosccnen cocsucsein sce tecageavescs 201 
The Illusory Dust Drift—A Curious Optical Phe- 
nomenon : PROFESSOR A. H. PIERCE.............-- 208 


Rafinesque’s Western Minerva, or American An- 
nals of Knowledge and Literature: Wms J. 
JOOS conossococtenqosacdn oacosotpoEscoAoEeaneEdanodcadasongde 211 

The International Catalogue of Scientific Literature.. 215 

The American Microscopical Society: PROFESSOR 
TeDRNGRN? TBE \WWAIR Dees Socessedbecnasobaosnd-easbeosee0 222 

Scientific Books :— 5 
Meyer and Wiglesworth on the Birds of Celebes : 
Dr. J. A. ALLEN. A Monograph of Christmas 
Island: Dr. W.H. DAL. The Humanities in 
PET ORPECULLUNCE MIN ef rL sasceececes sce ceccncmcecssnesesecer: 223 

Scientifie Journals and Articles.........-.ssseceeseeeees 227, 

Societies and Academies :— 

Zoological Club of the University of Chicago: Dr. 
C. M. Cuinp. The Botanical Club of Canada: 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Hermaphroditism among the Docoglossa: PRo- 
MESSOR) MAC) WILCOX. 00.5. cteccsesseceesacceseens 230 
Some Recent Reports of Foreign Museums: F. A. L. 231 
Recent Progress in the Examination of Foods and 
Drugs; New Plants and Drugs; Plant Con- 


stituents: DR. HENRY KRAEMER............ 232 
President’s Address before the Society of Chemical 

SNGUSUTC aretacneaecceecase eee sda DbaDsoLoR ARO Lee NAORE AUS AE 234 
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition.........02..000..00. 235 
Scientific! Notes and News, .0ve.c-+--ccseece eeesceec-eee se 236 
University and Educational News............0..00esese0e 240 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. MeKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


CERTAIN RECENT ATTEMPTS TO TEST THE 
NEBULAR HY POTHESIS.* 

Ir is a far cry from the glacial period to 
the nebular hypothesis, but yet it is not 
beyond the view hulloa of logic. Glacial 
periods have certainly been dependent on 
atmospheric states, whatever else may have 
been concerned in causing them. Surely 
no one will imagine glaciation in the air of 
the putative molten earth, nor in the warm 
dense atmosphere currently assigned to the 
early ages, nor yet in the later periods when 
figs and magnolias grew in Greenland. If 
carbon dioxide has the thermal qualities 
which eminent physicists assign it, conti- 
nental glaciation could scarcely have oc- 
curred while it was a large constituent of 
the atmosphere. Now theatmosphere has, 


* This paper, prepared at the request of the editor 
of SCIENCE, is little more than an abstract of the fol- 
lowing three papers : 

I. ‘A Group of Hypotheses bearing on Climatic 
Changes,’ by T. C. Chamberlin ; Journal of Geology, 
Vol. V., No. 7, 1897, pp. 653-683. 

II. ‘An Attempt to test the Nebular Hypothesis 
by the Relations of Masses and Momenta,’ by T. C. 
Chamberlin ; Journal of Geology, Vol. VIII., No. 1, 
January-February, 1900, pp. 58-73. 

Ill. ‘An Attempt to Test the Nebular Hypothesis 
by an Appeal to the Laws of Dynamics,’ by F. R. 
Moulton ; Astrophysical Journal, Vol. XI., No. 2, 
March, 1900, pp. 103-130. 

By ‘ nebular hypothesis’ the gaseous hypothesis of 
Laplace is always to be understood in this article. 
The arguments, for the greater part, apply also to 
all spheroidal hypotheses in convective equilibrium, 
whether gaseous or meteoroidal. 


202 


during its history, contained many thou- 
sands of times its present amount of carbon 
dioxide, as is implied by the vast stores 
of carbon and carbonates that have been 
removed from it. We are thus driven to 
_assume either that the early atmosphere 
was very rich in carbon dioxide, and has 
been impoverished as the ages have gone 
on, or that the loss has been made good by 
supplies received concurrently. In the for- 
mer case glaciation and similar phenomena 
dependent on an impoverished atmosphere 
should be confined to the later ages. But 
the most extraordinary glaciation of which 
we have any knowledge took place near 
the close of the Carboniferous period, or, 
in other words, far back in the geological 
series. Vast beds of limestone, coal, and 
other carbonaceous deposits have since been 
formed at the expense of the atmosphere’s 
carbon dioxide. Much oxygen and some 
nitrogen have also been consumed, but we 
need not dwell on these. If all this carbon 
dioxide had been in the atmosphere at that 
time there is reason to doubt whether the 
glaciation of India, Australia and South 
Africa could have taken place. Besides, 
in the Permian and Triassic periods great 
salt and gypsum beds were laid down over 
many degrees of latitude and longitude on 
both continents. These imply an aridity 
of surprising extent, duration, and intensity, 
reaching to latitudes not at present affected 
by appreciable excess of evaporation over 
precipitation. If the atmosphere had been 
rich in carbon dioxide, which is believed to 
equalize temperature and humidity, there 
is reason to doubt whether these deposits 
could have been formed. But even still 
earlier, as far back as Silurian times, before 
the coal of the Carboniferous period or the 
carbon dioxide of the great limestones 
of the Subearboniferous and the Devonian 
times had been taken out of the atmosphere, 
widespread and thick salt beds were formed 
in the St. Lawrence basin where now the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


excess of precipitation forms. great lakes 
and a mighty river. Nor is even this the 
earliest evidence of notable aridity. 

Now these and allied phenomena, which 
imply extraordinary inequalities of atmos- 
pheric states, call for a reconsideration of 
inherited views regarding the constitutional 
history of the atmosphere. To suppose 
simply that the atmosphere was once ex- 
ceedingly rich in carbon dioxide and has 
been steadily impoverished does not seem 
to fit the phenomena. But when oncea 
reconsideration is undertaken there is no 
stopping place short of the original state of 
the atmosphere, and we are at once in- 
volved in the pros and cons of the nebular 
hypothesis. 

If the nebular hypothesis is approached 
from the atmospheric side, we must carry 
into the inquiry the modern kinetic theory 
of gases or give reasons for dissenting from 
its validity. In framing the nebular hy- 
pothesis a century ago Laplace could not 
call to his aid the present dynamic concep- 
tion of gases, and, while this absolves him 
from responsibility, it makes it the more fit- 
ting that the hypothesis should be tested by 
the kinetic views that have grown out of re- 
searches since his day. These views may 
perhaps require modification in the future, 
but such modification is more likely to 
involve intensified molecular activity than 
the opposite. 

Led thus to the subject, we have at- 
tempted to make a test of the nebular hy- 
pothesis by a comparison of the molecular 
velocities of the essential gases with the 
gravitative power of the earth, and its an- 
tecedent nebulous ring, to control these at 
the temperatures assigned them by the hy- 
pothesis. We have followed the general 
method employed by Dr. Johnstone Stoney 
in discussing the atmospheres of planets and 
satellites.* The essence of the method is 


**On the Cause of the Absence of Hydrogen from 
the Earth’s Atmosphere and of Air and Water from 


Aueust 10, 1900. ] 


this : The molecules of gases beat upon each 
other and rebound with great frequency and 
high velocities. Both the frequency and the 
velocities rise with temperature. The mo- 
lecular velocity of a gasis inversely propor- 
tional to the square root of its molecular 
weight and hence for the lighter gases it is 
very high. The velocity of a particular 
molecule at any instant depends on the 
nature of the last previous collision, being 
sometimes much higher than the average 
velocity and sometimes much lower. Now 
it is obvious that if a molecule on the 
outer border of the atmosphere collides with 
another and rebounds outwards with a ve- 
locity so great that the attraction of the 
earth cannot overcome it, the molecule 
will fly away into space and be lost. Dr. 
Stoney has attempted to show that on ac- 
count of the high velocities thus frequently 
attained, hydrogen and even helium are 
not permanently retained by the earth under 
present conditions. He has also endeavored 
to prove that the moon and other small 
bodies cannot retain any of the atmospheric 
gases, and that this is the reason they are 
without atmospheres, and this latter view is 
now quite generally accepted. 

Mr. 8. R. Cook, however, has attempted 
to show by mathematical analysis that the 
rate of loss of hydrogen from the earth is at 
present too small to be effective,* but he has 
based his computations on the theoretical 
parabolic velocity of the earth and not on 
its available power of control in competition 
with the sun and other bodies of the solar 
system, and he also neglected the ionization 
of the gases and the peculiar conditions 


the Moon,’ by Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, Royal Dub- 
lin Society, 1892, and ‘Of the Atmospheres upon 
Planets and Satellites,’ by G. Johnstone Stoney. 
Trans. Royal Dublin Society, Vol. IV., Part B, Oct., 
1897. See also Paper I. above cited, pp. 653-683. 

**On the Escape of Gases from Planetary Atmos- 
pheres according to the Kinetic Theory,’ by S. R. 
Cook. Astrophysical Journal, Vol. XI., No. 1, Janu- 
ary, 1900, pp. 36-43. 


SCIENCE. 


2038 


of the upper atmosphere.* We have en- 
deavored to show that whatever doubt there 
may be about the precise competency of 
molecular velocities to cause loss of the 
lighter gases at present, their retention 
would be put in jeopardy if the temperature 
of the earth were raised to 3500° or 4000° 
C. as would be necessary to restore the earth 
to the original gaseous condition postulated 
by the Laplacian hypothesis. At such tem- 
peratures water would be dissociated into 
hydrogen and oxygen, if not ionized to a 
higher degree; the molecular velocities of 
these gases would be exalted by the intense 
heat} and, in such a state of gaseous ex- 
tension, the outer part would be far from the 
center of gravity where the control would 
be enfeebled.{ Under such conditions it 
seems highly improbable that hydrogen 
could be retained, and hence, the inference 
that if the earth had passed through such a 
history it would be deficient in hydrogen 
compounds. Not only the atmosphere but 
the ocean would seem to be put in jeopardy. 

But this is by no means the crucial ap- 
plication of the test. The Laplacian hy- 
pothesis assumes that the material of the 
earth and moon was detached from the solar 
mass as an equatorial ring whose diameter 
was essentially that of the earth’s orbit. 
Now the gravitation at any point on the 
surface of such a ring would be very feeble 
—very much feebler indeed than that on 
the present surface of the moon where no 
atmosphere is retained. At the same time, 
by hypothesis, the temperature of the ring 
was very high, and this high temperature 
would only prevail if there were frequent 
and intense collisions. But the rebound 
from such intense collisions would carry 


* See reply of Dr. Stoney ‘On the Escape of Gases 
from Planetary Atmospheres according to the Kinetic 
Theory.’ J.G. Johnstone Stoney, Astrophysical Jour- 
nal, p. 251, May, 1900. Ibdid., II., June, 1900, p. 357. 


+See table, Paper I., above cited, p. 661. 
{ Paper I, pp. 659-661. | 


204 


the molecules beyond the control of the 
feeble gravity of the ring, and its dispersion 
and cooling would seem to be inevitable.* 
There seems therefore no good ground for 
supposing that such a ring could maintain 
either its coherence or its temperature. 

But if the ring were dispersed and cooled 
might it not be reheated to the gaseous con- 
dition in subsequently collecting into the 
globular form? Although a rigorous dem- 
onstration is beyond the reach of present 
mathematical processes, it is possible to 
make a sufficient approach to a valid con- 
clusion respecting the rate at which such a 
ring would collect into a globe as to render 
it improbable that it would heat itself to the 
requisite temperature or any close approach 
to it. It is indeed a question whether ag- 
gregation would take place at all as the 
direct result of its own gravitation. Bear- 
ing upon this, one of us has attempted to 
solve a series of specific cases purposely 
made most favorable for aggregation.f It 
was assumed, regardless of the probabili- 
ties, that an aggregation had already pro- 
gressed so far as to form a large body hay- 
ing essentially the full gravitative power of 
the earth and yet it seemed improbable that 
this body could bring to itself infinitesimal 
particles from portions of the ring more 
than 60° distant from itself in heliocentric 
longitude, unless this were accomplished 
by other than the simple gravitative force 
of the earth, the sun and these particles. 
From this it is concluded that the tradi- 
tional idea of a hot gaseous ring breaking 
at some point and gathering into a gaseous 
globe while still hot enough to maintain the 
refractory substances of the earth in a 
gaseous condition, is not tenable, both be- 
cause of the molecular difficulties and the 
gravitative incompetencies. 

Pursuing this line further, we have in- 
quired whether any single or dominant 


* Paper II., before cited, pp. 658-665. 
+ Paper III., before cited, pp. 115-117. 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


condensation would take place in a ring of 
tolerable homogeneity.* Students of the 
subject are aware that the rings of Saturn 
are composed of particles of discrete non- 
gaseous matter and cannot aggregate into 
satellites because of the differential attrac- 
tion, or tidal strain, of the planet. They 

do not illustrate gaseous rings of the La- — 
placian type on the way to the formation of 
satellites as once supposed, but quite the 
reverse. If satellites of equal masses were 
substituted for them, they would be torn 
into fragments by the tidal pull of Saturn, 
and probably redistributed into meteoric 
rings. The rings appear to represent a 
state of equilibrium and nota state from 
which rapid aggregation should naturally 
proceed, as assumed in the case of the La- 
placian rings. The limiting distance within 
which this power of disruption is exercised 
by the planet is dependent on its gravita- 
tive power and is known as Roche’s limit. 
For Saturn it lies a little outside of the 
outer ring; for the earth, according to G. 
H. Darwin, it lies about 11,000 miles from 
the earth’s center. We attempted to ap- 
ply and extend the principles of Roche to 
cases arising under the nebular hypothesis 
and in the course of this devised a new cri- 
terion of similar nature, applicable to at- 
tenuated gases in the form of ellipsoids and 
rings such as are postulated in the Lapla- 
cian hypothesis. For the precise nature of 
this the reader must be referred to the 
original paper.+ It will suffice here to say 
that while Roche determined the limits, 
under assumed conditions, within which 
disruption would take place, the new cri- 
terion assigns the limits, under assumed 
conditions, within which the aggregation of 
attenuated or dispersed matter would not 
take place as the result of its own gravita- 
tion, in the presence of the superior differ- 
ential gravitation of the sun. The conclu- 


* Paper III., above cited, pp. 118-129. 
ft Paper III., above cited, pp. 122-126. 


Aueust 10, 1900. ] 


sion reached by this inquiry was that a 
Laplacian ring could not have contracted 
directly into a gaseous globe, and that the 
nebula out of which the solar system was 
evolved must have been one of great hetero- 
geneity rather than one of the pronounced 
homogeneity assumed in the Laplacian hy- 
pothesis. 

The further question whether the equa- 
torial matter of a spheroid of gas whose 
rotation was increasing would separate in- 
termittently as rings or go off continuously 
is not new, but it was thought worth while 
to reconsider it in the light of modern con- 
ceptions of the outer border of an atmos- 
phere or of a globe of gas. This outer 
border is not now regarded as a defined 
surface where gravity and ‘repulsive force’ 
balance; on the contrary, the outer portion 
is somewhat like a fountain in which indi- 
vidual molecules are thrown by the rebound 
from collisions to varying heights, from 
which they return in elliptical paths, possibly 
to be thrown back again or to assist in pro- 
jecting other particles through like paths. 
There is no theoretical limit to the extent 
of these excursions short of escape from the 
control of the main body. The actions of 
the molecules in this outer portion are 
therefore more individual and free than 
those of the denser mass, and in the course 
of their long free curving paths they may 
collide in such a way as to become satellites 
to the main body. 

Now the extreme tenuity of the Lapla- 
cian nebula seems not to have been con- 
sidered in connection with ring-formation. 
One of us has computed that the average 
density of the solar nebula, when extended 
to the orbit of Neptune, would be 1/191,- 
000,000,000 of that of water.* The tenu- 
ity of the extreme outer portion must there- 
fore have been quite ‘beyond the limits of 
the imagination. In view of this extreme 
tenuity and the peculiar constitution al- 

* Paper III., above cited, pp. 114. 


SCIENCE. 


205 


ready cited, it is scarcely possible that there 
could have been any effective cohesion to 
prevent the separation of the peripheral 
portion particle by particle as the individual 
centrifugal force of each came to equal the 
centripetal force. Itis clear that in a mass 
of gas densest at the center the centrifugal 
force would overtake the centripetal force 
first at the equatorial surface.* The con- 
clusion is therefore that the peripheral 
matter would have been left behind con- 
tinuously and that separate rings would not 
have formed. 

Some minor arguments that merely touch 
the probability of the Laplacian hypothesis 
may be passed by.} 

Arguments of the foregoing class, though 
they seem entitled to great weight, lack 
something in rigor, for, at present, exhaust- 
ive data cannot be commanded and treated 
by precise mathematical methods. We, 
therefore, had recourse to lines of attack of 
a more mechanical sort. These were found 
in the relations of mass and momenta. We 
attempted (1) a comparison of the moment 
of momentum of the supposed nebular sys- 
tem with the moment of momentum of the 
actual system, and (2) a study of the ratios 
of masses to momenta. 

1. It is a firmly established law of me- 
chanics that any system of particles rotat- 
ing about a common axis retains a constant 
moment of momentum whatever change of 
form may take place as the result of its 
own evolution. The evolution of the solar 
system under the Laplacian hypothesis is 
such a case. If, therefore, we can restore, 
theoretically, the supposed nebulous system 
and compute its moment of momentum, it 
must be found at all stages the same as at © 
present. The only serious difficulty of the 
method lies in determining the distribution 
of density through the postulated nebu- 
lous mass. Fortunately this has been at- 


* Paper III., above cited, pp. 114, 115. 
t Paper III., pp. 107-111. 


206 


tempted, under some limitations regarding 
the motions, by some of the ablest of math- 
ematicians and physicists, among whom 
are Lane, Ritter, G. W. Hill, George H. 
Darwin, and Lord Kelvin.* The results 
reached by all are in substantial agreement, 
though somewhat different analytical meth- 
ods were followed. The distribution of 
density computed by Darwin was used in 
our computations. 

The present moment of momentum of the 
whole system, sun, planets and satellites in- 
cluded, was found to be 22.7666, reckoning 
the sun as homogeneous, which gives too 
large results but favors the nebular hy- 
pothesis. The unit isa convenient arbitrary 
one. The moment of momentum of the 
solar nebula when it reached the orbit of 
Neptune and had the angular velocity of 
Neptune, which would be necessary to sepa- 
rate the Neptunian ring, was by compu- 
tation 4848.055.; These momenta, which 
should be equal, stand in the ratio of 1: 213. 
Furthermore the ratios are different at dif- 
ferent stages of the evolution ; for example, 
for the stage just preceding the separation 
of the earth the ratio of the nebular mo- 
mentum to the actual momentum was found 
to be 1 to 1208, and for the stage just before 
the separation of Mercury, 1t0754. Larger 

*Lane, ‘On the Theoretical Temperature of the 
Sun under the Hypothesis of a Gaseous Mass main- 
taining its Volume by Internal Heat, and depending 
on the Laws of Gases as known to Terrestrial Exper- 
iments.’ Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. XLIX., pp. 56~74, 
1870. 

Ritter, ‘Untersuchen iiber die Héhe der Atmo- 
sphiare und die Constitution gasformiges Weltkorper,’ 
Wiedmann’s Annalen, New Series, Vol. LXVI., 1882, 
p. 166. 

G. W. Hill, ‘Annals of Mathematics,’ Vol. IV., 
1888. 

Darwin, ‘On the Mechanical Condition of a Swarm 
of Meteorites, and on the Theories of Cosmogony.’ 
Trans. Phil. Soc., 1888. 

Kelvin, ‘On the Origin and Total Amount of the 
Sun’s Heat,’ Popular Lectures and Addresses, 1891. 
Constitution of Matter, pp. 370-429. 

+ Paper III., pp. 127-128 and Paper II., p. 64. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 293. 


discrepancies would have been found if the 
Laplacian hypothesis had not been given 
the benefit of every doubt as to the struc- 
ture and of all margins in computation. If 
for example, the sun be assigned an increase 
of density toward the center, according to 
Laplace’s law, which is probably near the 
truth, the last two ratios would be 1 to 
1801, and 1 to 1127, instead of the figures 
given. 

For a discussion of the question whether 
these discrepancies can be due to a radical 
error in the law of density, the reader must 
be referred to the original paper.* It can 
only be stated here that the probable 
variations from the accepted law of density 
seem rather more likely to increase the dis- 
crepancies than to diminish them, and 
further that the discrepancies are so enor- 
mous that the law must be supposed to. 
quite break down to bring them into har- 
mony. Furthermore it must break down 
irregularly, for the figures run 

Neptunian stage 
JOVIAD StAGE........cecceceeceesncneceeeeesneees 
Terrestrial stage 
Mercurial stage 
Present Stage..........cccsescereesswseeeenes 1 


To satisfy the laws of mechanics all these 
should be unity. 

2. As the foregoing comparison involves 
the distribution of density in the supposed 
gaseous nebula, concerning which there is 
some doubt, it was obviously desirable tofind 
some mode of comparison which should not 
involve this factor. This was sought ina 
comparison between the ratios of the plan- 
etary masses to their parent nebula, and 
the ratios of the planetary momenta to the 
nebular momenta. In this case the nebular 
momenta were obtained by adding together 
the component planetary momenta which 
they must have equaled under the laws of 
mechanics. The momenta of the satellites 
were reckoned in with their respective 


* Paper II., pp. 65-67. 


Av@ust 10, 1900. ] 


planets, the estimates of Darwin being used 
throughout. 

Just previous to the supposed separation 
of the Jovian ring, the moment of momen- 
tum of the parent nebula, reckoned from 
the present moments of momenta of the 
bodies derived from it, was 14.1816. Now 
Jupiter has 13.469, or about 95%, of this. 
Butthe mass of Jupiter is only 1/1047 of 
the parent nebula, or less than one-tenth 
of one per cent. Neglecting for the moment 
any transfers of momentum that may have 
taken place afterwards, it appears that, by 
hypothesis, the Jovian ring carried away less 
than one-thousandth of the mass of the nebula, 
while at the same time it took off 95% of the mo- 
ment of momentum. Is such a thing possible 
in a gaseous spheroid evolving under gas- 
eous laws, or evolving in any form of con- 
vective equilibrium? One nineteen-thou- 
sandth more of the mass thrown off with an 
equal proportion of momentum would have 
left none in the central body ! 

A similar comparison in the case of the 
other planets reveals not only very extra- 
ordinary ratios but such large and irregu- 
lar variations in the ratios as could, hardly 
be expected in the systematic evolution of a 
gaseous body. 

To the inquiry whether these discrep- 
ancies can be due to subsequent transfers 
of momentum by tidal friction, the compu- 
tations of G. H. Darwin have given an 
emphatic negative; and these are supported 
by other considerations.** 

The general conclusion from these several 
attempts to test the nebular hypothesis of 
Laplace is altogether adverse to its tena- 
bility. It is equally adverse to any meteor- 
oidal hypothesis which assumes a quasi-gas- 
eous behavior, or an aggregation controlled 
by the laws of convective equilibrium, 
as set forth by G. H. Darwin in his mem- 
oir ‘On the Mechanical Conditions of a 
Swarm of Meteorites and on Theories of Cos- 

* Paper II., pp. 70-71. 


SCLENCE. 


207 


mogony.’ The inquiry into the relations 
of masses and momenta points to an un- 
symmetrical distribution of matter and en- 
ergy quite inharmonious with an original 
spheroidal form of any kind. On the con- 
trary, it seems to indicate that the origin of 
the system was such that the outer part acquired 
all but a trivial part of the momentum while it 
possessed only a trivial part of the mass. In 
specific terms, the outer or planetary part 
now embraces only about 1/700 of the mass, 
while it carries more than 97% of the 
moment of momentum. Thesunhas nosuch 
residual rotatory momentum as to imply 
that he ever ‘threw off’ any planets from 
his equator. If the solar system were con- 
verted into a gaseous nebula controlled by 
Boyle’s law and given the existing moment 
of momentum and allowed to contract, the 
centrifugal force would not overtake the 
centripetal until long after the orbit of Mer- 
cury had been passed. 

The ratios of masses to momenta and the 
discrepancies of the system clearly have a 
high value in the construction of a tenable 
hypothesis, whatever that may prove to be; 
for they are specific criteria which must be 
met. In an attempt to construct such a 
hypothesis, the matter of the system must be so 
brought together as to give low mass, high mo- 
mentum and irregular distribution to the outer 
part, and high mass, low momentum and spher- 
icity to the central part. In speculation in 
this direction the possibility of the initia- 
tion of the system by the peripheral collis- 
ion of a very small nebula upon a large one 
has seemed worthy of consideration. As- 
suming that the collision was essentially 
due to mutual gravitation, the smaller 
nebula must, from the nature of the case, 
have had a relatively high velocity, and 
hence a high ratio of momentum to mass, 
while the larger nebula may have had little 
initial rotation, or may even have had a 
rotation contrary to the present one, which 
was reversed by the impact, or the recur- 


208 


ring series of impacts, of the smaller neb- 
ula. So far as we can now see, the most 
serious difficulty in framing a consistent 
hypothesis along this line lies in the ap- 
proximate circularity of the present plane- 
tary orbits, but as circularity may result 
from the combination of a large number of 


constituents having elliptical orbits, this | 


difficulty may not prove insuperable. 

We naturally turn to the heavens for 
nebule whose evolution might give a sys- 
tem of low mass and high momentum in 
the outer part and high mass and low mo- 
mentum in the central part. The spiral 
nebule offer the greatest promise of con- 
forming to these demands for they seem to 
present attenuated outer matter irregularly 
dispersed and perhaps in relatively high 
motion, while the central portions are usu- 
ally denser and seem to possess less momen- 
tum relatively, but this is little more than 
pure conjecture based on their forms, for 
nothing is positively known of the dynamics 
of these masses. Professor Keeler has shown 
by recent photographic researches that 
spiral nebule are the dominant forms among 
the smaller class. This justifies us in giv- 
ing them precedence in attempts to find 
analogies for the origin of our system. This 
suggestion may really be identical with the 
preceding, for, in the absence of any knowl- 
edge of the origin of spiral nebulz, it is 
possible to conjecture that they arose from 
peripheral collisions of antecedent nebule. 

T. C. CHAMBERLIN, 
F. R. Mouton. 


UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, 
July 9, 1900. 


THE ILLUSORY DUST DRIFT. A CURIOUS 
OPTICAL PHENOMENON. 

Ir is of course improbable in the highest 
degree that the phenomenon here to be 
described has entirely escaped notice hith- 
erto, but the writer at least is unaware of 
any existing description of the same. The 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


conditions under which the illusion arises 
are so easy to fulfill, and the resulting 
appearance is so odd in many ways, that 
the readers of ScleNCE may be interested in 
a brief description of the matter. The only 
‘apparatus’ required is a set of black and 
white lines and a dark background near by. 
The best results, perhaps, are obtained by 
using a square yard of common black cloth 
bearing narrow white lines not more than 
two millimeters apart. Such cloth may be 
obtained at any large dry goods store. If 
now this be hung upon the wall in a strong 
light, and asquare of dull black cardboard 
be placed above it, or at the side, every- 
thing is ready for the observation. Picking 
out some point near the center of the cloth, 
let this be fixated steadily for not less than 
twenty seconds. Then transfer the gaze 
quickly to the black cardboard, and the 
illusory dust drift willappear. The appear- 
ance is that of a thin cloud of fine white dust 
moving across the field of vision. Or the tiny 
particles seen may be likened to the motes 
in a sunbeam, since they much resemble 
these in density. A steady fixation of the 
eyes is at no time absolutely essential. 
They may roam freely over the cloth and 
then later over the dark background, though 
the illusion under these circumstances is 
diminished in strength. The best results 
are unquestionably secured by as resolute 
a fixation of the cloth as possible. The 
necessary duration of this fixation seems to 
depend upon the retinal sensitiveness of the 
observer. Probably 5 sec. is the minimum 
for any noticeable after effects, while no 
advantage seems to be gained in any direc- 
tion by prolonging the fixation beyond a 
period of 30 sec. In practice, successive 
renewals of the illusion may be accomplished 
by very brief fixations, provided only that 
the time of the first fixation be moderately 
long. 

The duration of the illusion seems also to 
be an individual matter. One observer can 


Aveust 10, 19006. ] 


still see traces of the ‘ dust’ after a lapse of 
30 sec., while in another case everything 
had disappeared at the end of 4 sec. Per- 
haps 10 sec. would be a fair average dura- 
tion. At about this time the regular after- 
image is apt to make its appearance, and 
this tends strongly to drive the illusion 
away. 

But the really interesting point in the 
matter is the direction of the moving drift. 
This turns out to be directly dependent 
upon the direction of the lines in the field 
of fixation. The most general statement of 
the matter is that, however these lines may 
lie, the illusory dust currents run in a di- 
rection perpendicular to them. Quite often, 
however, it is impossible to speak of the 
direction as strictly perpendicular, since the 
course of the drift may be along curved lines, 
as if a tiny whirlwind had caught up a bit 
of light, fluffy snow. Or, further—and this 
is perhaps most often the case—there are 
secondary currents visible whose directions 
do not coincide with that of the main stream. 
Nevertheless some particular direction is 
almost invariably more prominent than any 
other, and the statements of various ob- 
servers show that the direction of the most 
vivid stream is most decidedly perpendicu- 
lar to that of the lines. If the lines are 
vertical, the drift is usually to the left, 
though some subjects see it always to the 
right. If the lines are horizontal, the 
tendency to see the drift running downwards 
seems to be slightly more marked. Nearly 
as many subjects, however, see an upward 
drift, and quite often currents are seen to 
run side by side in both directions. 

If the experiment be so arranged that 
half the field of fixation is occupied by ver- 
tical and the other half by horizontal lines, 
two clearly separated currents will appear in 
the illusion with horizontal and vertical 
directions respectively. Orifthe usual field 
of fixation be divided by a vertical strip of 
some uniform color, no ‘ drift’ will be seen 


SCIENCE. 


209: 


in that portion of the field corresponding to 
the strip. If the centre of a set of concen- 
tric black circles upon a white ground be 
fixated, the resulting illusion suggests a 
confused boiling movement, sometimes run- 
ning in converging lines towards the cen- 
ter, sometimes passing in diverging lines 
towards the periphery of the field. 

Now the oddity of this illusion consists 
precisely in this: that without inten- 
tional movement either of eyes or of object, 
there is yet an after-effect in the form of 
a definite and unmistakable perception 
of motion. An ordinary after-image of 
motion requires a previous objective move- 
mentofsomesort. Here, on the other hand, 
we can only say that the resulting percep- 
tion is as if there had been a previous and 
actually perceived motion. And this latter 
is exactly the case with another peculiarity 
not directly connected with the illusion 
itself. After steadily viewing the cloth for 
say 30 sec., the closely set lines begin to 
appear beaded. They are no longer straight, 
but wavy. And even the after-image when 
it appears presents the same aspect. Now 
this result is identical with that produced 
by actual movement of parallel lines across 
the retina.* Accordingly we have in con- 
nection with this illusion, two phenomena 
that ordinarily follow actual movement. 
This fact would seem to indicate the direc- 
tion in which an explanation is to be sought. 
For while there is no intended movement 
of the eyes during the fixation of the cloth, 
there are certainly impulses to movement 
aroused by the various lines about the fix- 
ation-point. Every one knows how hard it 
is to let the eyes come to rest in a field 
occupied by such lines. Hach one of the 
latter solicits the center of fixation to rest 
upon it. The impulses to movement are 
then in directions perpendicular to the lines, 

*This has been well described by von Fleisch], 


Sitzungsber. d. Weiner Acad. 1882, Bd. 86, III. Abth. 
Ss. 8. 


210 


in other words, in the same directions as 
the currents of the illusory dust-drift. And, 
taking all into account, it cannot be very 
far out of the way to conjecture that the 
same fundamental factors are at work here 
as in the familiar cases of the artificial 
waterfall and the rotating spiral. Mere 
impulses to movement have taken the place 
of actual movements in the production of 
after-effects. 

An attempt to obtain the illusion with 
monocular vision is attended with quite sur- 
prising results. For even after a full min- 
ute’s fixation of the cloth, no ‘ drift’ is to be 
seen on the black background. And the result 
is the same whether both eyes, or the one 
eye only, be open at the moment of trans- 
ferring the gaze to the black surface. There 
is instead an interesting set of phenomena 
which do not appear in the binocular ex- 
periments. Now the illusory dust-masses 
come to view during the fixation. They are 
not wholly like those above described, but 
present rather the appearance of fine meshes 
formed of light gray cobwebby lines. Some- 
times these meshes appear to lie slightly in 
front of the cloth, and if the effort is made 
to fixate them they temporarily disappear. 
Movements are by no means wanting, but 
there is an intermittence about them which 
the binocular phenomena never show. A 
closer examination of this net-work charac- 
ter of the illusion reveals the fact that each 
eye, the closed as well as the open, is con- 
tributing to the total effect. This may be 
readily demonstrated as follows. Let either 
eye, the left for example, be entirely screened 
from the cloth by a tiny box, or something 
similar, blackened within, the eye remain- 
ing open and free to move. Let the right 
eye fixate the lines. Now while this right 
eye remains open, the most prominent illu- 
sory movements are decidedly those run- 
ning perpendicular to the direction of the 
lines. This is true no matter how the lines 
may lie in the field of vision. But if this 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


right eye be closed after a brief fixation, an- 
other set of movements is seen projected 
into the dark field of the covered left eye. 
Thesemovements, though possessing neither 
vigor nor great vividness, are invariably in 
the same direction as the objective lines. 
That which moves here is less a dust-cloud 
than a set of fleecy or worsted-like bands, 
in the midst of which the ‘ crossed’ after- 
image of the lines of the cloth soon appears. 
In addition then to the regular transfer- 
rence of an after-image to the field of 
the unstimulated eye, we have here the 
transference also of an illusory after-effect. 
The illusion is to be sure not wholly the 
same for the two eyes, but neither are 
crossed after-images entirely identical in 
character with the direct after-images. The 
interesting features then of the monocular 
experiments are that the illusion appears 
for the stimulated eye during the period of 
fixation only, and that the unstimulated eye 
also presents illusory effects of the same 
general character as those experienced by 
the open eye. 

It can hardly be said with full certainty 
that these monocular phenomena have 
contributed anything decisive towards the 
explanation of the binocular form of the 
illusion. Nevertheless there is a point of 
difference between the two forms which 
cannot be wholly without meaning. There 
is, namely, in the monocular experiments 
a relative absence of the feeling of unrest 
during the period of fixation. The single 
eye seems to fixate the chosen point with 
far less effort. Solicitations to its move- 
ment are noticeably absent, and the time 
of stimulation can be prolonged without 
discomfort to a point where the binocular 
stimulation would have become exceedingly 
disagreeable. Now whether this absence of 
vivid impulses to movement may be re- 
garded as alone responsible for the difference 
in the illusion ean of course not be affirmed 
with complete confidence. But it seems 


Avaeust 10, 1900. ] 


probable on the whole that the ultimate 
explanation of this, as of all after-images 
of motion, will be somehow formulated in 
terms of impulses to movement aroused by 
the particular stimulation that precedes. 
Perhaps the experiments here recorded may 
contribute their mite towards this final ex- 
planation, if that ever comes. 
A. H. PIERce. 


AMHERST COLLEGE. 


RAFINESQUE’S WESTERN MINERVA, OR 
AMERICAN ANNALS OF KNOWLEDGE 
AND LITERATURE. 

Iv has been the writer’s good fortune to 
discover in the library of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences of Philadelphia a copy of 
Rafinesque’s Western Minerva, or American 
Annals of Knowledge and Literature, of which 
the only information possessed had been 
taken from the prospectus published as an 
advertisement in the Kentucky Reporter of 
1820. The great rarity of the work is ex- 
plained by its author in his ‘A Life of 
Travel ’ (1836), page 66, as follows: ‘‘ Hver 
since 1821 I had proposed to publish a 
literary and learned journal, the Western 
Minerva; subscribers were procured, the 
printer had also made a contract with me, 
and the first number was printed ; when he 
dared to suppress it, at the request of 
some secret foes of mine, who probably paid 
him for it. I only saved three copies 
Ofpitice meen 

The copy now under observation is a 
small quarto, with a page measurement of 
113x183 millimeters (exclusive of margins). 
The matter is printed in two columns to the 
page, and consists of vi-+ 82 pages, of 
which the preface and dedication are not 
double-columned, and pages 81-88 are with- 
out doubt original proof sheets, as they are 
printed on one side only, and bear cor- 
rections in ink of typographical and other 
errors, with such notes as “I must see 
another proof,” etc. 


SCIENCE. 


211 


Aside from the rarity of the work, it 
contains several articles of extreme interest 
to naturalists, as new names for plants are 
proposed which have not as yet been noted 
in synonymy, or else have not been given 
such an early date in scientific nomencla- 
ture. In bringing these matters to the at- 
tention of those interested it has seemed 
advisable to describe the work from the 
beginning, referring to the non-scientific 
articles, or the apparently least interesting 
of these, by title only. 

Western Minerva, | or | American Annals | 
of Knowledge and Literature,| Un peu de 
tout, | Food for the Mind, | first volume, | 
for 1821, | Lexington, Kentucky. | Pub- 
lished for the editors, by Thomas Smith, 
in quarterly num- | bers, four of which 
form a volume, at $2 per annum. | 1821. 

Page ii. Blank. 

Page iii. Dedication, ‘‘ To the Trustees, 
President, Professors and Tutors of Tran- 
sylvania University * * **,” 

Page iv. Blank. 

Pagesv, vi. Preface [Dated Lexington, 
January, 1821]. 

Page 7. Headed with the title as on 
title-page to the word literature, with the 
addition of the following: Containing orig- 
inal essays upon Science, the Arts, Litera- 
ture, and subjects connected with the Civi] 
and Natural history of the Western States. 
Vol. I. Lexington (Ky.), January, 1820. 
No. 1. 

Pages 7-11. Under the heading Legis- 
lation, is Principles of Political Wisdom, 
* > & Translated from the Greek by Ben- 
jamin Franklin. 

Pages 11-18. Ethics, or Moral Philoso- 
phy. The Moral Decameron * * * Trans- 
lated from the Greek * * * by Benjamin 
Franklin. 

Pages 18-22. Metaphysics. Theory of 
the Creation or Emanation of Beings, etc. 
[Signed, Leibnitz and dated Lexington, 
October, 1820]. 


212 


Pages 22-26. Astronomy. Enquiries 
on the Sidereal, or Upper Spheres, by Pro- 
fessor C. 8. Rafinesque. [Among other 
things the author recognizes three kinds 
of comets, and brings forward the names 
Dromets and Tychomets. For ‘revolving 
stars’ he proposes Geophosies. Dated, Tran- 
sylvania University, 22d October, 1820]. 

Pages 27-29. Meteorology. Letter on 
Atmospheric Dust, addressed to Governor 
De Witt Clinton, Albany. [Signed by C. 
8. Rafinesque, Transylvania University, 1st, 
October, 1820]. 

Pages 29-31. Physics. Ona New Prop- 
erty in Light, by Captain Forman. With 
Notes, by C. 8. Rafinesque [pp. 29, 30]. 
Synopsis of some Discoveries on Heat, 
made in 1818 [pp. 30, 31. Signed M.]. 

Pages 31-33. Mathematics. On Des- 
criptive Geometry [p. 31. Signed M.]. On 
Isomerical Numbers, or Common Multiples 
[pp. 31-33. Signed Archimedes]. 

Pages 34-37. Chemistry. Synopsis of 
the Principal Discoveries, etc., made in 
1818 [p. 34. Signed M.]. Chemical Art 
of Converting pure Woody Substances 
into Gum and Sugar, ete. (Abridged by 
Professor Rafinesque) [pp. 35-37]. Selec- 
tion of late European Discoveries in Chem- 
istry [p. 87. Signed M.]. 

Pages 37-38. Mineralogy. New Min- 
eral Species discovered or ascertained in 
1818 [pp. 37,38. Signed M.]. Notice on 
the Hydraulic Limestone, by H. De Witt 
Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, 
etc., in a letter to Professor Rafinesque. 
[p. 38. Letter signed by D. C., and dated 
Albany, September, 1820. The chemical 
analysis of the limestone is given by Clinton 
as follows: 35 parts carbonic acid, 25 lime, 
15 silex, 16 alumine, 2 water, 1 oxide iron, 
6 loess = 100. An appended note by Rafin- 
esque further describes the material. | 

Pages 38-40. Original Scientific Intelli- 
gence, or Discoveries and Remarks on Na- 
tural Sciences ; extracted from a letter of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


Dr. John Torrey, * * * to Professor Rafin- 
esque. [One of the large tuckahoes from 
the southern States is given the name of 
Sclerotium giganteum, being the largest spe- 
cies known; the substance of the fungus 
is a new principle for which the name 
‘Sclerotin’ is proposed. The discovery of 
Datholyte at Paterson, N. J., is recorded, 
and a new mineral from Schooley’s Moun- 
tain, N. J., is described and named Sidero- 
graphite. Oryzopsis melanocarpa Muhlenb. 
and O. asperifolia Mich. are differentiated ; 
the latter is not an Oryzopsis, and Muhlen- 
berg’s species is referred as a synonym to 
Milium racemosum Smith. The letter is 
signed J. T., and dated N. York, 28th 
July, 1820.] 

Pages 40-43. Botany. Botanical Discov- 
eries made in Kentucky in 1820, by Professor 
Rafinesque, extracted and translated from a 
letter to Professor Decandolle of Geneva, 
* + [pp. 40-42. Dated Lexington, 1st De- 
cember, 1820. The genera Enemion and 
Stylypus are characterized, the latter evi- 
dently the same as Stylipus Raf. (1825), the 
type being S. vernus, in both instances. A 
new genus allied to Sedum, but differing in 
‘having 4 unequal petals and 4 monosper- 
mous capsules,’ is named Aectyson, with A. 
sagittatum, which has ‘ cylindrical scattered 
leaves, sagittate at the base, the flowers in a 
polystachyous umbel, the petals white lan- 
ceolate carinate acute,etc., as the type.’ The 
author suggests that this plant is close to 
Sedum pulchellum and the latter may be con- 
generic. The relationship of Jeffersonia binata 
to the ‘ family of Berberides’ is noted; that 
Rhamnus lanceolatus Pursh, belongs to the 
genus Frangula; that two species of Buck-eye 
trees are blended under the name of Pavia 
pallida, which he calls P. ochroleuca and P. awil- 
lata, but gives no descriptions. The genus 
Cubelium is named for Viola concolor, which 
makes the date of establishment of the 
genus 1821, instead of 1824, as has been 
quoted. He has ascertained more than 


Aveust 10, 1900. ] 


twenty new species of plants, among which 
he mentionsRanunculus mutabilis, Trillium 
revolutum, Monarda pratensis, Hupatoriwm 
serotinum, Silene fistulosa, Cactus mesocan- 
tha, Hepatica parviflora, etc., none of which 
he describes. The name Hupatoriwm ser- 
otinum was used by Michaux in 1803. 
Other proposed names which have not 
found their way into synonymy are Genti- 
ana glauca, Pediculars [sic] villosa, Martynia 
rotundifolia, Veronica connata, Zigadenus awn- 
gulosus. It is pointed out that Gentiana 
amarelloides Michaux is not the same as G. 
quinqueflora Linné, with which Pursh had 
confused it. Among some plants received 
‘from some ladies,’ three new ones are 
mentioned: Lysimachia (Trydinia) glauca, 
Gentiana azurea, and Trillium reflexum, the 
latter ‘ differing from 7. sessile, by its petio- 
lated leaves, reflexed calyx and pale purple 
petals.’ Some new names for plants from 
Missouri are Gnaphalium nemocladum, Me- 
lothria alba, Asplenium glauwcum, A. falca- 
tum, but which are also not described. 
Melothria nigra Raf. ‘is common near Nat- 
chez.’ And the following are recorded 
from Kentucky presumably for the first 
time: Pancratium liriosme Raf., Iris brevi- 
caulus Raf., Ptelea trifoliata, Arenaria divari- 
cata, Lobadium trifoliatum Raf. (Rhus aroma- 
ticum Ait.), Triosteum minor, Nelumbium pen- 
tapetalum, Agave virginica, Iris cristata, ete. 
In a postscript Rafinesque states that 
a new genus, Geminaria, must be formed 
for Phyllanthus Carolinianus Walter and 
Michaux (called P. obovatus by Wildenow, 
Persoon, Pursh, and Nuttall). Signed C. 
Ss. Ri. 

On the several species of the genus Clin- 
tonia, addressed to Dr. Samuel LL. Mitch- 
ell, in a letter dated September 26, 1819 
[pp. 42, 48. This is a review of the 
genus. The author reverses his former 
opinion that Dracena borealis Aiton, and 
Convallaria umbellulata Michaux are synony- 
mous. Four species are recognized as fol- 


SCIENCE. 


213. 


lows: ‘1. Sp. Clintonia nutans. Leaves 
with ciliate margin, keel smooth: umbel 
sub-corymbose, pedicels smooth naked nod- 
ding unequal, perigone campanulate, sepals 
oblong sessile subacute.—Dracena borealis 
Ait. Wild. Pers. etc., flowers lerge [sic] 
yellowish inodorous. New York to Canada 
on mountains. Var. 1. Prolifera. Corymb 
proliferous.—Var. 2. Fascicularis, flowers in 
separate fascicles. 3. Obovata. Leaves 
nearly obovate. 4. Dasistema, scape pubes- 
cent. 5. Macrostema. Scape longer than 
the leaves. Var. 6. Uniflora, ete.” 

“2. Sp. Clintonia podanisia. Leaves with 
ciliate margin, keel smooth ; scape pubes- 
cent longer than the leaves; umbel erect, 
pedicels unequal pubescent naked, the 
longest erect, the others incurved : perigone 
semi-campanulate, sepals oblong, sessile, 
acute.—Discovered in July, 1819, on the 
Laurel ridge in Pennsylvania. Flowers 
pretty large whitish, inodorous. Var. 1. 
Biflora, with only 2 flowers, the shortest 
with incurved pedicel, leaves narrow, semi- 
cuneate. Var. 2. Glabrata. Scape smooth. 
Var. 3. Fascicularis. 2 umbels, the second 
lateral, each with 3 or 4 flowers. Var. 4. 
Phyllostema. One small lanceolate and acute 
leaf on the scape.” 

‘¢3. 8. Clintonia parviflora. Leaves with 
pilose margin and keel, scape pubescent, 
equal to the leaves; umbel creet [sic]** 5-8 
flore, pedicels equal, naked pubescent erect, 
perigone semi-rotate, sepals semi-onguicu- 
lated [sic], claws erect, disk oboval obtuse. 
Discovered in July, 1819, on the top of the 
Allegheny Mountains in Maryland. Flow- 
ers small, perfectly white, nearly inodorous. 
Var. 1. Plicata. Leaves folded falcated. 
Var. 2. Abortiva. Some abortive sessile 
flowers in the umbel.”’ 

“4. Sp. Cintonia [sic] odorata. Leaves 
oblong-oval, with ciliate margin and keel ; 
scape pubescent, umbel erect, pedicels brac- 
teated.— Convallaria umbellulata Mx. Pers., 


* Erect ? 


214 


ete. This character is from the imperfect 
account of Michaux, who did not mention 
- the shape of the perigone nor sepals ; but 
the bracteated white fragrant flowers appear 
to entitle it to be deemed a peculiar species. 
Native of the Alleghany Mountains. Var. 
1. Punctata. Flowers with red dots inside.” 
Signed C. S. Rafinesque, and dated Lex- 
ington, 10th September, 1819. ] 

Pages 43-46. Agriculture. Practical Re- 
marks and Results on the Agriculture of the 
Western States, or on the Cultivation of 
Corn, Wheat, Hemp and Tobacco in 1820. 
[Signed Agricola; dated Fayette county, 
Ky., 16th November, 1820.] 


Pages 47, 48. Manufactures. On the 
various Manufactures from Flour. [Signed 
Agricola. ] 


Pages 49-52. Statistics. Statistical View 
of the Town of Lexington in Kentucky, in 
December, 1820 [p.49. Signed M.]. View 
of the Public Institutions for Instruction in 
Spain and the United States [p. 50. Anony- 
mous]. United States of America [p. 51. 
Signed Mentor]. Remarks on Public In- 
struction in the State of New York [pp. 51, 
52. Signed Mentor]. 

Pages 53-57. Archeology. Alleghawee 
Antiquities of Fayette County, Ky., in a 
letterof Professor Rafinesque to the 
American Antiquarian Society. [Signed 
C. S. R. and dated Lexington, 3d January, 
1821.] 

Pages 57-59. Medicine. On some spe- 
cific remedies for Mortification, Consump- 
tion, Hydrophobia, ete. [pp. 57, 58. 
Signed D. R.] Notices of Materia Medica, 
or new medical properties of some Ameri- 
can Plants [pp. 58, 59. Medicinal prop- 
erties are ascribed to Hrythronium albidum, 
Helonias angustifolia, Helenium autumnale, 
Evonymus atropurpureus, Euphorbia peploides, 
Triosteum major, Tr. minor, Sabatia angularis, 
Gentiana amarelloides. Rafinesque states 
that he has found the Bear-grass, Helonias 
angustifolia Michaux to be different from 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


Helonias and calls it Cyanoteris pratensis: 
Signed C. S. R.]. 

Pages 59-60. Discoveries. Selection of 
late American Discoveries. [Signed W. M.] 

Pages 60-80. Literature and Varieties 
The Sifter.—No. 1. [pp. 60-62. Signed Z.]. 
The Querist.—No. 1. [pp. 62-64. Signed 
W.M.]. Female Free-Masonry.—No. 1. 
[pp. 64,65. Signed O. I.]. Western Lit- 
erature. Works published in the Western 
States in 1820 [pp. 66,67. Signed W. M.]. 
The Sphynx.—No. 1. [p. 67. Signed Oedi- 
pus]. Polygryphs [p. 67. Signed Con- 
stantine]. The Monkeys.—No. 1. [pp. 68, 
69. Signed P. Hystrix, M.D.]. Future 
Epitaphs. By Doctor Porcupine Hystrix, of 
Cincinnati [pp. 69, 70]. Fragments of 
Correspondence, containing Fragments of a 
letter of Mr. Bory St. Vincent * * * to 
Professor Rafinesque, [dated Bruxelles, 10 
August, 1820], ‘ Annals of Physical Scien- 
ces’ [p. 71]. Zoological Illustrations, by 
W. Swainson [pp. 71, 72]. Fragments of a 
letter to Mr. Bory St. Vincent at Paris 
* * > on various subjects * * * [Dated 
Lexington, 7th January, 1821. Rafinesque 
takes occasion to refer to his antagonists as a 
‘set of unfortunate individuals, who have 
two eyes; but cannot see; their minds are 
deprived of the sense of perception; they are 
astonished and amazed at my discoveries, 
and are inclined to put themin doubt and 
even toscoffatthem * * * our catfish, eels, 
shads [sic], sturgeons, etc., are for them 
mere fish to fill their stomach! and more- 
over they are all of European breed, and 
were carried here by Noah’s flood direct 
from the Thames, the Seine and the Rhine! 
—I let them rail to their hearts’ content, 
and I laugh at them * * *’’ and further 
he continues, ‘It is only in Hurope that 
my labors and discoveries may be appreci- 
ated: here I amlike Bacon and Galileo, 
somewhat ahead of the age and my neigh- 
bors; * * *”? and further, ‘‘The Western 
Minerva has been threatened before her 


Auvcust 10, 1900. ] 


birth” Signed C.S. Rafinesque]. Fragments 
of letters from Lexington. By a Lady [pp. 
77-79. Deals with social life in Lexington. 
Signed Lavinia]. A view of some Ameri- 
can Universities and Colleges in 1820 [pp. 
79, 80. Signed W.M.]. 6. Transylvania 
University [p. 80. Signed W. M.]. 

Pages 81-88. Poetry. The Western Muse, 
or, Original Poetry. Les Rives de 1’ Ohio. 
Poeme en deux chants [pp. 81-82. Signed 
C. S. R.]. Couplet pour Silvie [p. 83. 
Signed C. S. R.]. A Melody, My Heart is 
Gone [p. 83. Signed M. T.]. A Melody. 
The Man I'll Love [p. 83. Signed Vir- 
ginia]. La Double Aurore. Ode Anacreon- 
tique [pp. 83, 84. Signed C. 8. R.]. Le 
Reveil d’ Irma. Ode Anacreontique [p. 84. 
Signed C. S. R. and dated October, 1819]. 
L’ Enfant etl’ Epouse Endormis. Romance 
[p. 84. Signed C. 8. R. and dated October, 
1819.] Preceptes Moraux. 1. Le Secret 
d’ etre hereux. 2. Amour et Jealousie [p. 
84. Signed C. §. R.]. The Blind Lover 
[p. 85. Signed Milton]. Lines to Maria. 
Who asked me if I should like to Love in 
a Cottage [p. 85. Signed Constantine]. 
To Silvia [pp. 85,86. Signed J. R.]. Trifles. 
By Billy Tickler of Frankford [p. 86. 
Signed B. T.]. Italian Stanzas. Un Con- 
siglio d’Amore [p. 86. Signed Constan- 
tine]. Epigrams [p. 87]. The Elysian 
Dream. To my Sister [p. 87. Signed 
Eleonora]. To the Sun. To the Moon. 
On the Loss of a Friend [p. 88. All three 
signed Eleanora]. One Word and Only 
One. To Eliza. To Miss M——, who 
wished to know what she should read 
[p. 88. Both signed Oscar]. 

The copy of the work before me bears 
the autograph of S.S. Haldeman, one of 
the early members of the Academy of Nat- 
ural Sciences of Philadelphia. Itis known 
that Rafinesque advertised a copy for sale 
at $5.00, stating it to be unique, and it is 
not unlikely that the present one is that 
copy, which has been in the Academy’s 


SCIENCE. 


215 


library for many years, although nothing 
is known of its history. 
Wm. J. Fox. 


ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 
OF PHILADELPHIA. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIEN- 
TIFIC LITERATURE.* 


I.—OBJECT AND NATURE OF THE CATALOGUE. 
THE object and nature of the Catalogue 
were defined by means of the following 
resolutions of the 1896 Conference, which 
were agreed to nemine contradicente. The 
resolutions are re-numbered, but the orig- 
inal numbers are given in brackets :— 

1. [12] That it is desirable to compile 
and publish by means of some international 
organization a complete Catalogue of Scien- 
tific Literature, arranged according both to 
subject-matter and to authors’ names. 

2. [13] That in preparing such a Cata- 
logue regard shall, in the first instance, be 
had to the requirements of scientific inves- 
tigators, to the end that these may, by 
means of the Catalogue, find out most 
easily what has been published concerning 
any particular subject of inquiry. 

3. [17] That in indexing according to 
subject-matter regard shall be had, not 
only to the title (of a paper or book), but 
also to the nature of the contents. 

4, [18] That the Catalogue shall com- 
prise all published original contributions 
to the branches of science hereinafter men- 
tioned, whether appearing in periodicals or 
in the publications of Societies, or as inde- 
pendent pamphlets, memoirs or books. 

5. [25] That a contribution to science 
for the purposes of the Catalogue be consid- 
ered to mean a contribution to the mathe- 
matical, physical, or natural sciences, such 
as, for example, mathematics, astronomy, 
physics, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, 
botany, mathematical and physical geogra- 


*Scheme of publication approved by the Inter- 
national Conference of 1900. 


216 


phy, zoology, anatomy, physiology, general 
and experimental pathology, experimental 
psychology and anthropology, to the exclu- 
sion of what are sometimes called the ap- 
plied sciences. 

Technical matters of scientific interest 
shall, however, be included in the Catalogue, 
but shall be referred to under the appropri- 


ate scientific headings. (Rep. Comm., 

p. 5.) 

II.—THE CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT OF THE 
CATALOGUE. 


The control and management of the Cat- 
alogue has been provided for by the Con- 
ferences of 1896 and 1898 as follows :— 


Definitions of the International Council, Inter- 
national Bureau, Regional Bureaus, and 
International Convention. 

[The supreme control over the Catalogue 
is vested in an International Convention, 
which shall meet at regular intervals. 

In the interval between two successive 
meetings in the Convention, the adminis- 
tration of the Catalogue is vested in an 
International Cowneil, the editing and pub- 
lication being carried on by a Central In- 
ternational Bureau. 

The materials out of which the Catalogue 
is formed are to be furnished to the Central 
Bureau by Regional Bureaus. | 
6. That the administration of the Cata- 
logue be entrusted to a representative body, 
hereinafter called the International Coun- 
cil, the members of which shall be ‘chosen 
as hereinafter provided. 

7. That the final editing and the publi- 
cation of the Catalogue be entrusted to an 
organization, hereinafter called the Central 
International Bureau, under the direction 
of the International Council. 

8. That any country which shall declare 
its willingness to undertake the task shall 
be entrusted with the duty of collecting, 
provisionally classifying, and the transmit- 
ting to the Central Bureau, in accordance 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


with rules laid down by the International 
Council, all the entries belonging to the 
scientific literature of that country. 

[The organizations created for the above 
purpose are called hereafter Regional Bu- 
reaus. Each region in which a Regional 
Bureau is established, charged with the 
duty of preparing and transmitting slips to 
the Central Bureau for the compilation of 
the catalogue, is called a ‘ constituent re- 
gion.’ (’98.26.) | 

9. In 1905, in 1910, and every tenth year 
afterwards, an International Convention 
shall be held in London (in July) to recon- 
sider and, if necessary, revise the regula- 
tions for carrying out the work of the cata- 
logue authorized by the International Con- 
vention of 1898. 

Such an International Convention shall 
consist of delegates appointed by the re- 
spective governments to represent the con- 
stituent regions, but no region shall be 
represented by more than three delegates.: 

The decisions of an International Con- 
vention shall remain in force until the next 
convention meets. (’98.26.) 


Of the International Conventions. 


10. The rules of procedure of each Inter- 
national Convention shall be as follows : 

(a) That English, French, German, and 
Italian be the official languages of the con- 
vention, but that it shall be open for any 
delegate to address the convention in any 
other language, provided that he supplies 
for the proces verbal of the convention a 
written translation of his remarks into one 
or other of the official languages. 

(6) That there shall be Secretaries for 
the English, French, German, and Italian 
languages. (’98.3.) 

(c) That the Secretaries, with the help 
of shorthand reporters, be responsible for 
the proces verbal of the proceedings of the 
conference in their respective languages. 
798.4.) 


Avuaust 10, 1900.] 


(d) That each contracting body (as 
hereinfter defined) shall have a vote in de- 
ciding all questions brought before the con- 
vention. 


Of the International Council. 


11. Hach Regional Bureau shall appoint 
one person to serve as a member of a body 
to be called The International Council. 

The International Council shall, within 
the regulations laid down by the Interna- 
tional Convention, be the Governing Body 
of the Catalogue. 

The International Council shall appoint 
its own Chairman and Secretary. 

It shall meet in London, once in three 
years at least, and at such other times as 
the Chairman, with the concurrence of five 
other members, may specially appoint. 

It shall, subject to the regulations laid 
down by the Convention, be the supreme 
authority for the consideration of and de- 
cision concerning all matters belonging to 
the Central Bureau. 

It shall make a report of its doings, and 
submit a balance sheet; copies of which 
shall be distributed to the several Regional 
Bureaus, and published in some recognized 
periodical or periodicals, in each of the con- 
stituent regions. (’98.27.) 

Each Contracting Body shall have one 
vote in deciding all questions brought be- 
fore the Council. 

[Pending the constitution of the Inter- 
national Council a Provisional Committee 
was appointed. | 


Of the Central Bureau. 

12. The Central Bureau shall be located 
in London. (’96.24.) 

13. The Paid Staff shall consist of— 

(i) A General Director who, under the 
International Council, and in accordance 
with the regulations of the Convention, 
shall direct, supervise, and be responsible 
for all the operations of the Central Bureau. 


SCIENCE. 


217 


(ii) Expert Assistants skilled in the lit- 
erature of various branches of science. 

Gii) Such ordinary Clerks as may be 
necessary. 

If the International Council so decide, 
there shall also be a Consultative Commit- 
tee, appointed by the International Council, 
consisting of persons representing the sev- 
eral sciences, and residing in or near Lon- 
don. The Director shall be the Chairman 
of this committee. (Report of the Royal 
Society, p. 2.) 


Of International Committees of Referees. 


14. The following recommendations re- 
lating to International Committees of Ref- 
erees are referred for consideration to the 
International Council when constituted. 
798.22.) 

The International Council shall appoint 
for each science included in the Catalogue 
five persons skilled in that science, to form 
an International Committee of Referees, 
provided always that the Committee shall 
be as far as possible representative of the 
constituent regions. The members shall be 
appointed in such a way that one retires 
every year. Occasional vacancies shall be 
filled up by the Committee itself, subject to 
the approval of the Chairman of the Inter- 
national Council, and a member thus ap- 
pointed shall hold office as Jong as the 
member whose place he fills would have 
held office. 

It shall be the duty of the Director of the 
Central Bureau to consult the appropriate 
Committee or Committees, by correspon- 
dence or otherwise, on all questions of 
classification not provided for by the Cata- 
logue Regulations ; or, in cases of doubt, as 
to the meaning of those Regulations. 

In any action touching classification the 
Director shall be guided by the written de- 
cision of a majority of the appropriate Com- 
mittee, or by a minute if the Committee 
meets. 


218 


Provided always that when any addition 
to or change of the schedule of classification 
in any one branch may seem likely to 
affect the schedule of classification of some 
other branch or branches, the Committees 
concerned shall have been consulted; and 
provided also that in all cases of want of 
agreement within or between the Commit- 
tees, or of other difficulty, the matter shall 
have been referred for decision to the Inter- 
national Council. 

All business transacted by the Commit- 
tees shall be reported by the Director to the 
International Council at their next ensuing 
meeting. 

Of the Regional Bureaus. 

15. In all countries in which, or where- 
ever, a Regional Bureau is established, as 
contemplated in Regulation 8 (above), the 
Regional Bureau shall be responsible for the 
preparation (in accordance with Regula- 
tions hereinafter laid down) of the slips 
requisite for indexing all the scientific litera- 
ture of the region, whatever be the language 
in which that literature may appear. 

Each Regional Bureau shall transmit 
such slips to the Central Bureau as rapidly 
and as frequently as may be found con- 
venient. 

In the case of countries in which no 
Regional Bureau is established, the Central 
Bureau, failing other arrangements, shall, 
upon special mandate, endeavor to under- 
take the work of a Regional Bureau. 
(98.24. ) 


III.—OF THE SUBJECT-MATTER OF THE CATA- 
LOGUE. 

16. The following branches of science 
shall be included within the scope of the 
Catalogue, and shall be indicated as follows 
by the letters of the alphabet in consecutive 
order as Registration Letters. 

A. Mathematics. 


B. Mechanics. 
C. Physics. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 293. 


. Chemistry. 

. Astronomy. 

. Meteorology (including Terrestrial Magne- 
tism ). 

. Mineralogy (including Petrology and Crys- 

tallography ). 

. Geology. 

Geography (Mathematical and Physical). 

Paleontology. 

General Biology. 

. Botany. 

Zoology. 

. Human Anatomy. 

. Physical Anthropology. 

. Physiology (including Experimental Psy- 
chology, Pharmacology and Experimental 
Pathology ). 

R. Bacteriology. 

Technical matters of scientific interest 
shall be included in the Catalogue, but 
shall be referred to under the appropriate 
scientific headings. (798.14 and Rep. 
Comm., p. 4.) 

17. Schedules shall be approved by the 
International Council, in which the subject- 
matter of each of the above sciences is 
grouped under a convenient number of 
headings, each of which shall be indicated 
by-an appropriate symbol. ('98.11, 15 and 
21.) 

In the first instance the schedules pre- 
pared by the Provisional International 
Committee shall be adopted, subject to 
such minor modifications of detail as may 
be found to be necessary in preparing the 
first volumes of the Catalogue. The sym- 
bols adopted to indicate the headings shall 
in the first instance be the numbers used 
for that purpose in those schedules. (’98. 
20, and Rep. Comm., p. 5.) 

After the publication of the first issue of 
the Book Catalogue, the Director of the 
Central Bureau shall consult the Commit- 
tee of Referees as to the desirability of 
making changes in the classification, and 
shall report thereon to the International 
Council, who shall have power to authorize 
such changes to be made as they may think 
expedient. © (’98.25.) 


Shao 


SHOZEH AGH @ 


Auaust 10, 1900. ] 


IV. OF THE FORM AND ISSUE OF THE 
CATALOGUE. 


18. The International Council is in- 
structed not to issue a Card Catalogue in 
the first instance, but if the finances permit, 
a Card Catalogue may be undertaken in 
future if approved by a special vote of an 
International Convention. 

A Book Catalogue shall be issued in the 
form of at least one annual volume for each 
science, but parts may be issued at shorter 
intervals as the International Council may 
determine. 

The International Council is instructed 
to proceed to the issue of bi-monthly or 
quarterly parts only if experience shows 
that such a course is desirable and finan- 
cially practicable. (See Rep. Comm., p. 5, 
and 798.10. ) 

[Subject to any modifications which the 
experience of the Central Bureau may show 
to be desirable, Regulations 19 and 20 are 
submitted as embodying a scheme of publi- 
cation. | 

19. Since it is desirable to distribute the 
work of the Central Bureau and the print- 
ing of the Catalogue evenly over the entire 
year, the volumes shall be published in four 
groups as soon as possible after the first of 
January, April, July and October respec- 
tively. 

[As an illustration, the two following 
schemes have been drawn up for considera- 
tion. The first,on the assumption that 
there will be a smaller number of editors 
than subjects, distributes the work in cog- 
nate subjects over the year. 

The second is based on the assumption 
that there will be a larger staff of editors, 
so as to enable the volumes on cognate 
sciences to be published simultaneously. 

Scheme 1.—To be published as soon as 
possible after— 


January 1. A. Mathematics. D. Chemistry. 
G. Mineralogy. L. General Biology. 


P. Physical Anthropology. 


SCLENCE. 


219 


April 1. B. Mechanics. H. Geology. M. Botany. 
Q. Physiology. 
July I. C. Physics. J. Geography. N. Zo- 
ology. 
R. Bacteriology. 
October 1. E. Astronomy. F. Meteorology. 


K. Paleontology. O. Human Anatomy. 

Scheme 2.—To be published as soon as 
possible after— 

Mathematics. B. Mechanics. 
Physics. E. Astronomy. 
. Meteorology. 
. Chemistry. G. Mineralogy. 
. Geology. J. Geography. 
. Paleontology. lL. General Biology. 
. Botany. N. Zoology. 
October1. O. Human Anatomy. 
P. Physical Anthropology. 
Q. Physiology. R. Bacteriology. ] 

20. The titles to be indexed in each vol- 
ume shall be those (not having been in- 
cluded in a previous volume) received at 
the Central Bureau from the Regional Bu- 
reaus not less than three calendar months, 
or such shorter period as the Central Bureau 
may fix, before the first day of the month 
in which the volume is to be published. 

The first group of volumes shall be issued 
in July, 1901. 

The second, third and fourth groups of 
volumes shall be issued in October, 1901, 
and in January and April, 1902. 

The first literature to be included in the 
Catalogue is that of January, 1901. 

21. The annual volume for each science 
shall contain :— 

(1) The schedule of that science with the author- 
ized registration symbols (see 17 above). 

(2) An alphabetical index to the schedule, with 
the registration symbols attached. (Rep. Comm., 
p. 5.) 

(3) An Authors’ Catalogue. 

(4) A Subject Catalogue (see 1 above). 

22. The schedules and alphabetical In- 
dices shall be printed either in English, 
French, German, or Italian, under condi- 
tions laid down hereafter (see 40 below). 
(Rep. Comm., p. 5.) 

23. The Authors’ Catalogue shall be ar- 


January 1. 


April 1. 


July 1. 


SA te tor 


220 


ranged according to the alphabetical order 
of the authors’ names, the full titles of the 
the memoirs or books of each author fol- 
lowing his name in the order of the regis- 
tration symbols by which they are indi- 
cated. 

These titles shall be given in the original 
language alone if that language be either 
English, French, German, Italian or Latin. 

In the case of other languages, the title 
shall be translated into English, or such 
other of the above five languages as may 
be determined by the Regional Bureau con- 
cerned (see 8 and 15 above) ; but in such 
case the original title shall be added, either 
in the original script, or transliterated into 
Roman script. 

The title shall be followed by every nec- 
essary reference, including the year of pub- 
lication, and such other symbols as may be 
determined. In the case of a separately 
published book, the place and year of pub- 
lication, and the number of pages, ete., 
shall be given. (’98.18 and 25.) 

24. The entries in the Subject Catalogue 
shall be primarily arranged in the order of 
the appropriate registration symbols in the 
schedules. 

The order of arrangement in the final 
subdivisions shall in general, be in the 
alphabetical order of the authors’ names, 
unless the subject demand other treatment. 
(Rep. Comm., p. 3.) 

25. Hach entry in the Subject Catalogue 
shall consist (4) of the author’s name 
(798.18, i); () of the title of the paper, 
or of a modified title describing the con- 
tents of the paper [or that portion of the 
contents of the paper to which the entry 
specially refers] better than the title itself 
(Rep. Comm., p. 4); (7) of an adequate 
reference to the journal or other publica- 
tion. (’98.18, i.) 

The titles or modified titles in the Subject 
Index shall be given only in English, French, 
German, Italian or Latin. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


If the title of the paper is not in one of 
these languages, the name of the language 
in which it was published shall be added, 
but the title or transliterated title in the 
original language shall be given in the Au- 
thor’s Catalogue only (see 23 above). 


V.—OF THE LIST OF JOURNALS, COMMUNICA- 
TIONS TO WHICH ARE TO BE CATA- 
LOGUED. 


26. Each Reginal Bureau shall, before 
November 30, 1900, furnish to the Central 
Bureau a list of the Journals, the contents 
of which it proposes to catalogue. Such 
Journals to be arranged in a list according 
to the order of the 17 sciences (see 16 above), 
which form the subject-matter of the Cata- 
logue. 

Journals dealing with science generally 
are to be placed under a special heading of 
“General Science.’ 

Journals dealing with a limited number 
of sciences are to be placed under a special 
heading of ‘Several Sciences,’ and the sci- 
ences with which they deal clearly indicated 
by the registration letters of Section 16 
above. 

27. On receipt of the above lists the Cen- 
tral Bureau shall prepare for each of the 17 
sciences a list of the Journals (whether 
special or general) dealing with that sci- 
ence, together with the abbreviated titles 
which it proposes to use. 

Copies of these lists shall be furnished to 
each of the Regional Bureaus before Janu- 
ary 1, 1901, and the abbreviated titles 
therein given shall alone be used by the 
Regional Bureaus in the slips (see 15 above) 
communicated by them to the Central Bu- 
reau. 

28. A general list of journals indexed in 
the Catalogue, with the abbreviations to be 
used as references, shall be issued with the 
first edition of the Catalogue. A supple- 
ment, giving the additions to this list, shall 
be issued annually with a new edition at 
the end of five years. (Rep. Comm., p. 5.) 


Aveust 10, 1900.] 


VI.—OF THE PREPARATION OF THE MATERIAL 
FOR THE CATALOGUE, 


29. On and after January 1, 1901, or as 
soon after that date as the International 
Council may decide, the Regional Bureaus 
shall transmit to the Central Bureau the 
material to be indexed in the Catalogue, 
arranged on slips. 

Unless otherwise ordered by the Interna- 
tional Council— 

30. The slips shall be of the character 
prescribed by the Central Bureau, and (ex- 
cept in the case of titles given in languages 
which do not employ Roman script) the 
entries thereon shall be either printed, type- 
written or legibly written in Roman script. 

31. At the head of each slip shall be given 
the letter and registration number indicat- 
ing the science and subdivision of that sci- 
ence under which the material referred to 
on the slip is to be catalogued. 

32. Unless the International Council de- 
cide otherwise, for each book or memoir to 
be catalogued, the Regional Bureau shall 
supply. 

1. At least one copy of the entry for the Authors’ 
Index, containing the material prescribed in Section 
23 above. 

2. At least one copy of each entry for the Subject 


Index, containing the material prescribed in Section 
25 above, and Section 34 below. 


The Regional Bureau shall retain dupli- 
lates until the volume containing the entries 
is published. 

33. A paper or book shall be entered in 
the Subject Catalogue in more places than 
one Only when this is rendered desirable by 
its scientific contents. 

No exact limits to the number of entries 
to be allowed to single papers can at present 
be fixed. This must be determined by the 
Central Bureau, after adequate experience. 
Until such limits are determined, if the 
Central Bureau is of opinion that in the re- 
turns made by any Regional Bureau the 
numbers of entries to single papers do not 


SCIENCE. 


221 


correspond to the scientific contents, it 
shall be its duty to intervene; such inter- 
vention, however, to be based, not on indi- 
vidual cases, but upon an average. (Rep. 
Comm., p. 3.) 

34. The International Council is 
structed to direct the Central Bureau to 
aim at keeping the total number of entries » 
in the Authors’ and Subject Catalogues 
within 160,000, and not to exceed 200,000 
entries without the permission of the Inter- 
national Convention. (See Appendix I.) 

[Lists of species (see 16 above) must be 
reckoned according to the space occupied , 
as may be arranged by the Central Bureau. | 

The Central Bureau is therefore 
structed to reject less important entries, if 
this step is necessary to keep within the 
limits above laid down. 


in- 


in- 


VII.—OF THE FINANCES OF THE CATALOGUE. 


35. Any Body which establishes a Re- 
gional Bureau shall be termed a Contract- 


‘ing Body. 


36. The number of copies of the cata- 
logue due to each Contracting Body shall 
be sent to that Body, or to the correspond- 
ing Regional Bureau as such Body may 
direct, and shall be disposed of by that 
Body, by gift or sale, at its own discretion. 

37. The Provisional Committee referred 
to at the end of paragraph 11 is instructed 
to negotiate with the several Contracting 
Bodies with reference to the sale in their 
respective regions of copies other than those 
subscribed for by the Contracting Bodies. 

38. The various Contracting Bodies shall 
distribute the copies of the catalogue due 
to them in their own constituent regions. 

39. Prices shall be fixed for the different 
volumes by the Central Bureau, and at the 
request of any Contracting Body, conveyed 
to the Central Bureau before a date to be 
fixed by the Central Bureau in any sear, 
different numbers of the different volumes 
may be supplied to it during that year, pro- 


222 


vided always that the total value of such 
volumes does not exceed the value of the 
subscriptions received from that Contract- 
ing Body. 

Unless a request to the contrary is re- 
ceived by the Central Bureau before the 
date fixed as above provided, the copies of 
the catalogue supplied in that year to any 
Contracting Body shall be a specified num- 
ber of complete sets, 7. e., shall contain an 
equal number of all the volumes allotted to 
the different sciences. 

If any Contracting Body requires a larger 
number of volumes than are covered by its 
subscriptions, such volumes may be sup- 
plied to it at specified prices to be fixed by 
the Central Bureau. 

40. Any Contracting Body shall have the 
right to have the schedules and alphabetical 
indices prefixed to the volumes allotted to 
it inreturn for its subscription printed in 
English, French, German or Italian, as it 
may prefer. 

If no request is made to the contrary, the 
language of the schedules and indices shall 
be English. ( 96.29.) 

41. The total number of copies of the 
Catalogue printed in each year shall be in 
excess of the number allotted to the dif- 
ferent Contracting Bodies to an extent to 
be fixed by the International Council. 

The price at which the volumes are sup- 
plied to the Contracting Bodies shall be 
such as to cover the cost of production of 
such excess volumes, which, if wanted 
thereafter by any of the contracting bodies, 
shall be supplied to them at specified 
prices. 

42. If the sale of the Catalogue or of the 
additional volumes result, in any year, in a 
profit, this profit shall be allowed to accum- 
ulate, and may be used by the International 
Council to cover a deficit in any other year; 
provided always that neither the scope of 
the Catalogue shall be increased, nor the 
total number of 200,000 entries exceeded, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


without the direct permission of the Inter- 
national Convention. 

If the Catalogue shows a profit after 
several years’ working, the International 
Convention shall decide how the profit is 
to be applied, whether to increase the scope 
or the bulk of the Book Catalogue, or to 
the issue of a Card Catalogue. 

43. The publication of the Catalogue 
shall not be undertaken unless the shares 
taken up cover the estimated cost of the 
catalogue. 

44, The publication, if undertaken, shall 
be an experiment for five years. All the 
Contracting Bodies shall agree to continue 
their subscriptions for five years, and the 
International Council shall not make con- 
tracts extending beyond that period. 


THE AMERICAN MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 

TuE twenty-third annual meeting of the 
Society was held in New York City, June 
28, 29 and 30, 1900. The regular sessions 
were held in Schermerhorn Hall, at Colum- 
bia University, and while the attendance 
was not large there was no lack of interest 
and of good papers. 

The afternoon session of Thursday was 
confined to reports of the Curator, Secre- 
tary and Treasurer, and to a brief business 
session whereupon the Society adjourned 
to accompany Section F of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence on a trip to the New York Zoological 
Garden. 

In the evening the Society convened at 
the rooms of the New York Microscopical 
Society, 64 Madison Avenue, to listen to the 
annual address of the President, Professor 
A.M. Bleile, on ‘The Detection and Recog- 
nition of Blood,’ after which the visitors 
present were tendered an informal recep- 
tion by the New York Society. 

The morning session of Friday, June 
29th, was devoted to the reading of papers 
after a short business meeting. The read- 


AvuaustT 10, 1900.] 


ing of a tribute to Herbert R. Spencer was 
the occasion of discussion regarding the 
Spencer Tolles Fund which had grown to 
nearly eight hundred dollars. It was the 
general opinion that a united effort should 
be made to bring this fund at once to a 
point where its income would be available 
for the encouragement of research, and a 
committee was appointed to carry out the 
plan. 

The Report of the Limnological Commis- 
sion and papers on various subjects of fresh 
water biology occupied the afternoon session 
of Friday, and this program aroused active 
interest and discussion of the plan offered. 

On Saturday morning the reading of 
papers was concluded, and the final busi- 
ness session closed the meeting. The fol- 
lowing officers were elected : 

President, Professor C. H. Higenmann, 
Bloomington, Ind.; First Vice-President, 
Chas. M. Vorce, Esq., Cleveland, Ohio ; 
Second Vice-President, Edward Pennock, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 

Election Members of the Executive Com- 
mittee. Dr. C. A. Kofoid, Urbana, IIl.; 
John Aspinwall, New York, N. Y.; Dr. A. 
G. Field, Des Moines, Iowa. 

After the installation of the President 
and the customary resolutions of thanks, 
the Society adjourned. 

The following papers were presented at 
the meeting in the order given: 


“Photographing the Spectra of Colored Fluids,’ by 
Dr. Moses C. White, New Haven, Conn. 

“A Method for the Measurement and Demonstra- 
tion of Size of Minute Bodies,’ by Professor Henry B. 
Ward, Lincoln, Nebr. 

* Herbert Spencer’s Work,’ by Henry R. Howland, 
Buffalo, N. Y. 

‘Methods in Embryology,’ by Professor S. H. 
Gage, Ithaca, N. Y. 

‘A Comparison of the Development of the Larynx 
in Frogs and Toads,’ by Professor S. H. Gage, Ithaca, 
IW We 

‘On the Distribution of Growths in Surface Water 
Supplies and the Method of Collecting Samples for 
Examination,’ by Dr. F. S. Hollis, Boston, Mass. 


SCIENCE. 


223 


“The Necessity of maintaining a System of Field 
Work on Surface Water Supplies,’ by H. N. Parker, 
Boston, Mass. 

“The Cladocera of Nebraska,’ by Dr. Chas. Fordyce, 
University Place, Nebr. 

‘Biological Work at the Mount Prospect Labora- 
tory,’ by G. C. Whipple, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

“Some New Forms in the Cave Fauna,’ by Professor 
C. H. Eigenmann, Bloomington, Ind. 

“The Modern Conception of the Structure and 
Classification of the Desmidiaceae,’ by Professor 
Chas. E. Bessey, Lincoln, Nebr. 

‘Some North American Hydrachnidae hitherto 
Undescribed,’ by Dr. R. H. Wolcott, Lincoln, Nebr. 

‘Limnological Studies at Flathead Lake,’ by Pro- 
fessor M. J. Elrod, Missoula, Mont. 

“Methods of Producing Color and Tone Effects in 
Lantern Slides’ (illustrated by a series of lantern 
slides), by John Aspinwall, New York, N. Y. 

‘Some Notes on Bibliographic Methods in Micro- 
scopical Work,’ by Dr. R. H. Ward, Troy, N. Y. 

“A New Ear Fungus of Man,’ by Dr. Roscoe 
Pound, Lincoln, Nebr. 

‘Methods in Killing and Staining Protozoa,’ by 
Professor M. J. Elrod, Missoula, Mont. 

‘Synthetic Alcohol as a Fixing Agent for Tissues,’ 
by Dr. T. E. Oertel, Savannah, Ga. 

Henry B. Warp, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Birds of Celebes and Neighbouring Islands. 
By A. B. MEYER and L. W. WIGLESWORTH. 
Two Volumes. 4to. Berlin, R. Friedlander 
& Sohn. 1898. Vol. I., pp. i-xxxii, 7-130, 
1-392, pll. 17 (14 colored), and 7 colored 
maps; Vol. II., pp. 393-962, pll. 28, colored. 
Meyer and Wiglesworth’s ‘Birds of Cele- 

bes’ marks an era in the history of East India 

ornithology. It consists of two volumes in 
quarto, with over eleven hundred pages of 
text and fifty-two plates and maps, nearly all 
colored. Although published in Berlin, by the 
well-known German publishers R. Friedlander 

& Sohn, it is in excellent idiomatic English, 

and should thus be especially welcome to Eng- 

lish readers. In scope and character it is all 
that could be desired, being in short just the 
kind of work we should anticipate from such 

a source, the senior author especially having 

many years since attained an enviable promi- 

nence among the leading ornithologists of the 
world. 


224 


The field embraced in the present work is 
the East Indian Archipelago, or ‘the island- 
world from Sumatra to the Solomon Islands 
and from the Philippines to the Lesser Sun- 
das,’ as shown in maps 1 and 2 accompany- 
ing the work. This area extends from Lat. 
2° N. to 6° S., and from Long. 118° to about 
127° E. It thus includes not only Celebes, but 
‘the Talaut Islands in the north, the Sulu 
Islands in the east, and the Djampa Group in 
the south.’ It thus extends to the Philippines 
on the north, to Borneo on the west, and to 
Papuasia on the east. The Introduction (pp. 
7-130) includes a summary of ‘ Travel and Lit- 
erature,’ from the visit of Labillardiére in 1798 
to the expedition of Waterstradt to the Talaut 
Islands in 1897, with a special list of the litera- 
ture on Celebes. Next are discussed the ‘Sea- 
sons and Winds in the Hast Indian Archipelago’ 
(with maps 3 and 4), in relation to their effect 
upon the dispersal, distribution, and climatic 
variation of the birds. This chapter gives a 
vast amount of information regarding the sea- 
sons and general climatic conditions of the 
various groups of islands from Borneo to New 
Guinea. 

Under the heading ‘ Migration in the Kast 
Indian Archipelago’ the general subject of mi- 
gration is most intelligently considered, as well 
as the local movements and migration proper of 
the birds in the various islands. Although there 
is here a true migration of marked proportions, 
little as yet appears to be known as to its de- 
tails, owing to the lack of competent resident 
observers. 

‘Variation’ is considered under the follow- 
ing five heads: 1. Individual Variation; 2. 
Geographical Variation; 3. Seasonal Changes ; 
4. Sexual Differences; 5. Changes depending 
upon Age. Under ‘Geographical Variation’ 
these authors so well express the general con- 
census of ornithologists respecting the origin 
of new forms through geographic influences that 
the following statements seem of sufficient in- 
terest to warrant transcription: ‘‘ Although it 
is conceivable, and indeed likely, that a new 
species may sometimes owe its origin to di- 
morphism * * * it is nevertheless far more cer- 
tain that the great majority of the peculiar 
forms of Celebes and the neighboring islands 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 293. 


are what are termed geographical species or 
local races, which have developed their distine- 
tive characters while geographically isolated 
from one another. In the Celebesian area there 
are about 150 species of this description now 
known, not to speak of a large number of par- 
tially formed races. The latter are in many 
respects the most interesting, as they show 
species in the first stages of their differentia- 
tion, and their study holds out the best hope of 
solving the problem of the origin of species— 
or at least of the majority of species. The dif- 
ferences seen are often very small, but of a very 
palpable description ***, These differences 
may be due to an inherent tendency in the indi- 
viduals in question to evolve in a certain direc- 
tion * * * | or they may be caused by local 
influences. For some cases the former assump- 
tion appears unavoidable ; for other cases there 
is satisfactory evidence of the effect of local 
influences, though the exact nature of this 
latter is almost always uncertain; as a rule, 
probably, both causes operate together, but it 
very rarely happens that an opinion either way 
is permissible at present.’? Following this 
many instances of ‘correlated geographical 
variation’ in size and coloration are cited as 
characterizing representative forms in different 
groups of islands. 

The subject of ‘Sexual Differences,’ so pro- 
lific of hypotheses, is treated at length, and 
with admirable conservatism. Hight of the 
leading ‘theories of the origin of secondary 
sexual characters’ are stated and made the sub- 
ject of comment; six of them are presumed to 
have been ‘actually operative in nature, work- 
ing alone or more likely in different combina- ° 
tions and degrees.’ Reasons are also advanced 
in support of ‘the opinion that mutilations of 
feathers—and hence of other parts—if repeated 
for generations— are inherited.’ 

Under the caption ‘ Changes dependent upon 
Age’ are discussed such interesting topics as 
‘ancestral characters,’ ‘hereditary effects of 
shelter and exposure,’ ete., including the 
origin of ‘ racket-feathers’ in groups of birds 
of very diverse affinities. 

Some fifty pages are devoted to ‘Geograph- 
ical Distribution,’ in which ‘ Wallace’s Line’ 
is considered at length. He leaves the prob- 


Avuaust 10, 1900. ] 


lem undecided, and considers it, in the absence 
of geological evidence, a ‘waste of time to 
speculate on it with the help of an up-and- 
down system for the islands and continents, 
just as required.’ The local distribution of 
the Celebesian birds is presented in great de- 
tail by means of a series of tables, etc. Among 
the novelties of the work is an attempt to esti- 
mate the ‘ value of the affinities of the peculiar 
species of Celebes’ ; in other words, it is recog- 
nized that the various genera and species are 
not units of equal value in computing the re- 
lationship of the Celebesian avifauna to that 
of other neighboring countries. The conclu- 
sion reached is that the avifauna of Celebes 
‘thas far stronger connections with the Philip- 
pines than with any of the other neighboring 
lands, and that the relation of its birds with 
the Oriental Region is more than twice as 
strong as with the Australian Region.’’ 

The systematic part includes 393 species, and 
probably about 150 additional subspecies, all 
treated with the detail, as regards their bibliog- 
raphy, plumage, distribution, life-history, and 
affinities, that would be expected in a special 
faunal work of the magnitude and sumptuous 
character of the present admirable monograph. 
Dr. Meyer, the senior author, in addition to 
his high standing as an ornithologist, has the 
advantage of knowing personally the region to 
which the present work relates, he having spent 
three years (1870-73) in Celebes and neighboring 
islands, collecting much of the material (about 
4000 specimens, now in the Dresden Museum) on 
which the ‘ Birds of Celebes’ is based. He thus 
had an an opportunity of becoming familiar 
through actual field work with the geographical 
and climatic characteristics of the East Indian 
Archipelago. The numerous colored plates of 
previously unfigured species are well executed 
and form a fitting accompaniment to a work of 
high general excellence, and, moreover, a work 
which closes an important gap in ornithological 


literature. 
J. A. ALLEN. 


A Monograph of Christmas Island. London, 
British Museum (Nat. History). 1900. Pp. 
xvi-+ 337. 8vo. 22 plates, map and cuts. 
Christmas Island is asmall body of land com- 


SCIENCE. 


225 


prising about 43 square miles, situated in about 
latitude 10°, 30’ south, nearly 200 miles south- 
west of the western part of Java, from which 
it is separated by a depression of the sea floor 
some 3000 fathoms in depth. Though known to 
navigators since the middle of the seventeenth 
century, it has remained uninhabited until very 
recently, having been explored by Captain Pel- 
ham Aldrich R. N., in 1887, and annexed to 
the British crown in 1888. 

It seemed highly desirable that this virgin 
island should be carefully examined and de- 
scribed by a competent naturalist and geologist 
before being opened up by Europeans for agri- 
cultural and commercial purposes. Accord- 
ingly it was arranged with the Trustees of the 
British Museum that Mr. C. W. Andrews, of 
the Geological Department, should be granted 
leave to carry out this exploration, the expenses 
of which were defrayed by Sir John Murray, 
Mr. Andrews spent ten months of 1897-98 upon 
the island and carried out the work with great 
success. The reports upon the geology and 
physical conditions of the island in this volume 
are from his pen, while the various subdivisions 
of the fauna and flora have been treated by 
a body of experts to whose descriptions Mr. 
Andrews has added many notes taken on the 
spot. The result forms perhaps the most elabor- 
ate account of an oceanic island ever published. 
Sir John Murray, who is interested in the com- 
pany which has obtained a lease of the island 
for the purpose of developing its agriculture 
and deposits of phosphate of lime, intends to 
watch carefully the effects produced by the 
immigration of civilized man upon the fauna 
and flora, and record comparisons in the future 
for which the present-volume will serve as a 
basis. 

The island is of a roughly triangular form 
with projecting headlands and deep water for 
the most part close up to the cliffs or the nar- 
row fringing reef which encircles most of the 
shore. It is in fact the flattish summit of a 
submarine mountain more than 15,000 feet high 
which rises some 1200 feet above the sea. The 
submarine slopes are about two in five, a depth 
of 6600 feet occurs in less than three miles from 
the shore and the foot of the mountain within 
twenty miles. The geological structure in brief, 


226 


consists of (1) a central core of older volcanics 
and Eocene or Oligocene limestones ; (2) beds 
of basalt, volcanic ash and thick masses of Or- 
bitoidal (Miocene) limestones enwrapping the 
core; (8) masses of talus derived mainly from 
the Miocene rocks and covered by (4) a thick 
detrital limestone which is derived from the 
wear of the reefs which cover the higher por- 
tion of the island; (5) a raised reef of much 
later date which covers the foot of the different 
slopes composed of 4; and finally (6) the late 
Pleistocene or recent limestones bordering the 
sea which cling to the base of any of the older 
formations which may be exposed. 

The history of the island seems to include the 
deposition of several hundred feet of Eocene 
limestone on a bank with a volcanic basis; the 
gradual deposition, with slow depression, of 
masses of Miocene limestone; then a gradual 
elevation, with oscillations, during which guano 
was deposited on low atolls, forming the origin 
of the present masses of phosphate of lime ; and 
finally the attainment of the present status of 
an elevated limestone island with interbedded 
volcanic layers surrounded by a narrow fring- 
ing reef of coral. 

The prevalent wind on the island is the south- 
east trade, which blows on the average 300 days 
in the year, with occasional violent northerly 
storms. As it is the violent rather than the 
regular winds which transport exotic organisms 
to isolated islands, it is natural that a large part 
of the life on the island should be, as it is, in- 
timately connected with the Malaysian types. 
Nevertheless, there is a recognizable portion 
of the fauna which is related to that of Ceylon 
and another to that of Australia, though the 
latter country is over 900 miles away. 

Of the 319 species of animals recorded, about 
45 per cent. are regarded as endemic, though a 
better knowledge of the fauna of Java may 
diminish this number. Of the plants about 10 
per cent. appear to be peculiar to the island. 
Of both plants and animals not peculiar many 
have a widespread distribution. 

Of the five mammals, two rats and two bats 
are peculiar to this island; while the shrew is 
regarded as a variety of a species inhabiting 
farther India. Thirty-one species of birds are 
noted, of which seven land birds are endemic. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vot. XII. No. 293. 


The other vertebrates include one snake (Typh- 
lops), three skinks and two geckos, of which one 
skink and one gecko occur elsewhere. The 
pelagic species are not counted in the fauna, 
though three of them visit the island. 

Of the landshells fourteen species are enumer- 
ated, of which six are local, but all belong to 
groups widely distributed in the Oriental re- 
gion. Three out of nine butterflies, ten of 
the sixty-five moths, six of the nine Microlepi- 
doptera, nine out of eleven Hymenoptera, 
fifty-six of ninety-four Coleoptera, four out 
of six Hemiptera, two of the five Neuroptera, 
fourteen of the twenty-two Orthoptera, three 
of the twelve Arachnids, and two of the four 
earth-worms are regarded as peculiar to the 
island. 

The illustrations of the work are first-class, 
and the authorities of the Museum, Mr. An- 
drews and Sir John Murray, are to be congrat- 
ulated on the manner in which the description 
of the island and the census of its organisms 
have been carried out. The work will doubtless 
long serve as a model for such investigations 
and it.is to be hoped is the pioneer of many 
other monographs of a similar character. 

Wo. H. DAtt. 


THE HUMANITIES IN HORTICULTURE. 


THE second volume of the ‘Cyclopedia of 
American Horticulture,’* of which the first 
volume was noticed in ScrENCE for June Ist, 
sustains the high character evidenced in that 
volume, and is of more than usual interest to 
the general reader because it happens to in- 
clude such general topics as greenhouses, herba- 
ceous borders, horticulture, house-plants, labels, 
landscape-gardening and lawns. These are all 
so handled as to be interesting and suggestive 
as well as instructive. Plates 14 (the formal 
garden at Mt. Vernon), 15 (a modern informal 
garden), and 16 (a modern cemetery with land- 
scape planting) are especially commendable 
illustrations. 

W. T. 


*Bailey, L. H. and Miller, W. Cyclopedia of 
American Horticulture, in four volumes. Vol. 2. 
E.-M. New York, The Macmillan Company. 1900. 
$5.00. 


Aveust 10, 1900.] 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The American Naturalist for July has for its 
first article some ‘ Notes on a Species of Pelo- 
myxa,’ by H. V. Wilson, which he names P. 
carolinensis. HH. L. Osborn describes at length 
‘A Remarkable Axolotl from North Dakota,’ 
but omits to give it a name, while W. M. 
Wheeler makes an important contribution to 
our knowledge of the driver ants under the 
caption ‘The Female of Eciton Sumichrasti 
Norton,’ with some Notes on the Habits of 
Texan Ecitons.’ James A. G. Rehn discusses 
‘The Linnzean Genera Myrmecophaga and Di- 
delphis,’ concluding that Myrmecophaga is the 
generic name for the tree ant-eater, M. tetra- 
dactyla and proposing the name Falcifer for the 
great ant-eater, while Didelphis opossum is the 
type of that genus. C. R. Eastman reviews 
‘Karpinsky’s Genus Helicoprion,’ and in Part 
XI. of ‘Synopses of North American Inverte- 
brates,’ Mary J. Rathbun furnishes the keys 
for ‘The Catometopous or Grapsoid Crabs.’ 
The Reviews are numerous and good. 


In The Plant World for July, Alice Carter 
Cook concludes her series of papers on ‘ Coffee 
Growing and Coffee Drinking’; Frank E. Mc- 
Donald describes ‘A Sand Dune Flora of Cen- 
tral Illinois’; C. F. Saunders propounds the 
query, ‘Does the Catch-fly Grass catch Flies ?’ 
and H. J. Hill describes the habitat of ‘ Primula 
Mistassinica.’ A. H. Curtiss discusses ‘Some 
Nameless Plants’ of Florida, and C. F. Saun- 
ders in the ‘Htymology of Columbine,’ suggests 
that it may come from columbarius, a dove cote. 
In the supplement devoted to ‘The Families 
of Flowering Plants,’ Charles L. Pollard con- 
tinues a description of those of the order Fari- 
nose. 


THE June number of the Ottawa Naturalist 
which constitutes No. 8 of Volume XIY. has 
just been issued by the Ottawa Field-Natural- 
ists’ Club. Among the interesting articles it 
contains we note one by Mr. Frank T. Shutt, 
chemist to the Dominion Experimental Farms, 
on ‘Soils and the maintenance of their fer- 
tility through the growth of legumes.’ This 
paper draws attention to investigations car- 
ried on in the fields and laboratories of the 
Experimental Farm with signal success. The 


SCIENCE. 227 


improvement of soils through the growth of 
legumes has yielded results of the highest 
value to those who wish to maintain or re- 
cover the productiveness of their land. The 
next paper describes ‘The Labrador Fly- 
ing Squirrel.’ Mr. J. D. Sornborger, of Cam- 
bridge, Mass., received three specimens of a 
flying squirrel from Rey. W. W. Perrett, of 
Makkovik, Labrador. These specimens on 
examination proved to be distinct from other 
species and have received the following name, 
constituting the new sub-species the ‘ Labrador 
Flying Squirrel’ (Sciuropteros sabrinus Mak- 
kovikensis). Myr. Walter S. Odell, of Ottawa, 
contributes an article on ‘The two-lined sala- 
mander ’ (Spelerpes bilineatus). A short note of 
the occurrence of the Squid in St. John Har- 
bour, N. B., by Dr. Ami then follows, in which 
the writer points out that in Sept., 1899, the 
harbor of St. John and shores adjoining were 
literally infested with an unprecedentedly large 
school of squid. The same writer adds a brief 
note on some British American Echinodermata 
recorded in the Chalienger Report on these 
organisms. 


The Canadian Record of Science for January, 
1900, which forms No. 3 of Volume VIII., con- 
tains the following papers and contributions to 
science : ‘Sir John William Dawson,’ by Profes- 
sor Frank D. Adams, being an able though brief 
sketch of the life of that great Canadian scien- 
tist. It is followed by a letter from Sir J. 
William Dawson to the corresponding secretary 
of the Natural History Society and forms the 
last communication which he gave to that So- 
ciety which for so many years he upheld by 
virtue of his own hard work and energies. 
‘Notes on some of the formations belonging to 
the Carboniferous system in Hastern Canada,’ 
by H. M. Ami, in which the author discusses 
some of the problems involved in the classifica- 
tion of the different members of the Carbonif- 
erous in Nova Scotia. ‘ The flora of the Rocky 
Mountains,’ by Rev. Robt. Campbell, M.A., isa 
contribution to botany of the Canadian Rocky 
Mountain belt in the broadest acceptation of 
the term. ‘North American Goldenrods,’ by 
Rev. Robt. Campbell, enumerates the different 
species and varieties of the genus Solidago con- 
tained in the herbarium of the Natural History 


228 


Society Montreal, most of which were obtained 
inCanada. Twospecies of the genus Euthamia, 
E. graminifolia, the bushy goldenrod, and E. 
Caroliniana, a slender fragrant goldenred, were 
added. A review of Dr. Whiteaves’s paper on 
the ‘Devonian System in Canada,’ by Dr. H. 
M. Ami, and one on ‘Dr. A. E. Barlow’s re- 
port on the geology and natural resources of 
the Lake Nipissing and Lake Temiscaming dis- 
trict of Ontario and adjoining portions of Que- 
bec,’ by Dr. F. D. Adams are then given. 
These are followed by a review of Mr. Lambe’s 
‘contributions’ to Canadian paleontology, Vol. 
4, Pt. 1, on paleozoic corals, by Dr. F. D. 
Adams, and a synopsis of the annual report of 
the Geological Survey of Canada, Vol. 10, by 
Dr. H. M. Ami. The volume concludes with 
the abstracts of meteorological observations 
taken at McGill College Observatory, Montreal, 
for the year 1899. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL CLUB, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 
MEETINGS OF THE SPRING QUARTER, 1900. 

AT the first meeting of the quarter, April 
11th, Professor C. B. Davenport read a paper 
entitled ‘ Variation in Pectinella’ giving the 
results of a statistical study of the spines of 
the statoblasts. An abstract of this paper has 
appeared in an earlier number of SCIENCE. 
The session of April 25th was devoted to a 
paper by Dr. C. M. Child on ‘ Abnormalities in 
Cestodes.’? The abnormalities described were 
selected from a number of specimens of the 
sheep tape-worm Moniezia expansa, most of 
them occurring in a single specimen in which 
over a hundred abnormal proglottids were 
found. The proglottids of this species are very 
short and wide with a set of genital organs and 
a pore on each side. The variations range 
from the simple incomplete separation of pro- 
glottids to long spiral proglottids, making seven 
turns about the body. In many cases very dif- 
ferent form-relations occur upon the dorsal and 
ventral surfaces. The most interesting point 
in connection with the abnormal segments is 
the structure of their genital organs. All the 
organs show a very distinct correlation in form 
and structure with the form of the proglottid, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


i. e., a high degree of adaptation. In the in- 
completely separated segments, conditions are 
found ranging from the normal, with two com- 
plete sets of organs in each segment, through 
forms where the pores of two proglottids are 
approximated, or the ducts of two sets of 
organs are united and open through a common 
pore, to forms in which a proglottid of nearly 
double the normal length contains only one set 
of organs on each side, the different conditions 
being the result of differing degrees of union 
between the segments. So close is the corre- 
spondence between the form of the proglottid 
and the structure of the contained organs that, 
in cases where the form-relations are not alike 
on dorsal and ventral slides, the genital organs 
of the dorsal side (vas deferens, vagina and 
testes) correspond in position with the form- 
relations of the dorsal side, while the organs 
situated ventrally (ovary, vitellarium and sem- 
inal receptacle) conform to the relations on the 
ventral side. 

In general each particular portion of the 
genital organs tends to occupy as nearly as 
possible its normal position with respect to the 
boundaries of the proglottid in its immediate 
vicinity. Abnormal form of the proglottid thus 
causes abnormal position and form in the genital 
organs, this being sometimes so great as to pre- 
vent the organs from being functional. 

On May 9th, at the third session of the Club, 
Mr. E. R. Downing read a paper entitled ‘ The 
Spermatogenesis of Hydra,’ giving the results 
of his study of this form. 

The principal points of Mr. Downing’s paper 
are as follows: The somatic cells divide ami- 
totically usually, probably always. The sperm- 
atogonia arise by amitotic division from the 
interstitial cells and from the ectoderm cells. 
They divide mitotically to form the spermato- 
cytes of which there is a single generation. 
These form the spermatids by mitosis. Pre- 
ceding each mitotic division the nucleus and 
cell both increase in size, especially the former. 
After division the daughter cells become cor- 
respondingly smaller. The spermatocytes and 
spermatids contain six chromosomes, the sperm- 
atogonia twelve. In the prophase of mitosis 
the nuclear reticulum becomes more coarsely 
meshed, and the chromatin gathers into a num- 


Aveust 10, 1900. ] 


ber of karyosomes, which later become chrom- 
omeres. There are twenty-four of these in 
the spermatocytes and forty-eight in the sperm- 
atogonia. The spireme consists of a single 
linin thread connecting these chromomeres and 
forming a spiral which winds about the nucleus 
just beneath the nuclear membrane. At this 
stage the nucleus is an ellipsoid of revolution. 
The spireme makes three complete whorls 
about the spermatocyte nucleus; but six 
such whorls are formed in the nucleus of the 
spermatogonium. The centrosome appears at 
one side of the nucleus in the plane of its 
minor axis. The nucleus changes next to an 
oblate spheroid with the centrosome over the 
pole. The arcs of the spiremes form merid- 
ians. There are, therefore, six such meridians 
in the spermatocytes and twelve in the sperm- 
atogonia. Each has four chromomeres. The 
spireme now divides at the poles into six and 
twelve segments respectively. These contract, 
forming spherical chromosomes at the equater. 
In the chromosomes the individual chrom- 
omeres are indistinguishable. Twenty-four 
karyosomes are to be made out in the late met- 
aphase of the spermatogonic divisions. 

The spermatid nucleus assumes the ellipsoid 
shape. The cytoplasm immediately about it 
changes so that it will not stain and a small 
drop of non-staining material forms at one end 
of the nucleus. This grows in size as the cyto- 
plasm appears to be altered by the nucleus, 
absorbed by it and stored. This droplet in- 
creases until the nuclear wall which covers it, 
touches and fuses with the cell wall. A slight 
projection appears at this point of fusion. It 
rapidly elongates to make the tail. The drop- 
let which forms the middle piece decreases cor- 
respondingly. Meantime the cytoplasm and 
cell wall have completely disappeared. The 
centrosome appears within the middle piece. 
From it anteriorly and posteriorly runs the 
axial fibre. Within the head of the sperm six 
dumbbell-shaped bodies are apparent, the per- 
sistent chromosomes. 

The next meeting was held on May 29th and 
was devoted to two papers. The first of these 
‘Variation in Daphnia hyalina’ was read by 
Miss M. M. Enteman. The following is a brief 
abstract : 


SCIENCE. 


229 


The shell of D. hyalina is extremely variable. 
For the head crest a range of variation is ob- 
served covering forms characteristic for many 
different species of the genus Daphnia. The 
principal forms described for Europe are a low- 
rounded and a high-rounded crest, and a crest 
terminating in a more or less acuminate apex. 
In America, the species, as far as studied, shows 
the same variations, and, in addition, a triangu- 
lar and an extremely recurved crest. Further 
it is to be noted, that while the European varie- 
ties resemble other European species in the 
form of the shell, the American varieties re- 
semble the American representatives of these 
species. A study of local variation shows widely 
differing conditions for related regions, some 
lakes possessing a single stable form, while 
others furnish all transitions between extreme 
varieties. Finally, however, different the sum- 
mer varieties, they are all represented by a 
uniformly low-crested form in the winter. The 
species abounds in our clear northern lakes, 
and these considerations ought to make it a 
favorable subject for the determination of en- 
vironmental influences. 

The second paper of the session was a review 
by Mr. R. H. Johnson of the paper ‘On the 
Reactions of Daphnia magna Strauss to Certain 
Changes in its Environment’ by E. Warren 
(Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci., Vol. XLIII., Pt. 2, 


1900). 
C. M. CHILp. 


THE BOTANICAL CLUB OF CANADA. 


THE Botanical Club of Canada was organized 
by a committee of section four of the Royal 
Society of Canada, at its meeting in Montreal, 
May 29, 1891. The object is to promote by 
concerted local efforts and otherwise the ex- 
ploration of the flora of every portion of Brit- 
ish America, to publish complete lists of the 
same in local papers as the work goes on, to 
have these lists collected and carefully exam- 
ined in order to arrive at a correct knowledge 
of the precise character of our flora and its 
geographical distribution, and to carry on sys- 
tematically seasonal observations on botanical 
phenomena. The intention is to stimulate 
with the least possible paraphernalia of consti- 
tution or rules, increased activity among botan- 


230 


ists in each locality, to create a corps of col- 
lecting botanists wherever there may be few or 
none at present, to encourage the formation of 
field clubs, to publish lists of local floras in the 
local press, to conduct from year to year exact 
phenological observations, etc.; for which pur- 
poses the secretaries for the provinces may ap- 
point secretaries for counties or districts, who 
will be expected, in like manner, to transmit 
the same impetus to as many as possible in their 
own spheres of action. Members and secre- 
taries, while carrying out plans of operation 
which they may find to be promising of success 
in their particular district, will report as fre- 
quently as convenient to the officer under whom 
they may be immediately acting. Before the 
end of January, at the latest, reports of the 
work done within the various provinces during 
the year ended December the 31st, previous, 
should be made by the secretaries for the 
provinces to the general secretary, from which 
the annual report to the Royal Society shall be 
principally compiled. By the first of January, 
therefore, the annual reports of county secre- 
taries and members should be sent in to the 
secretaries for the provinces. 

The annual report of the club for the year May 
20, 1898, to May 20, 1899, issued asa part of Vol. 
V., Trans Roy. Soc. Can., second series, 1899— 
1900, contains a sketch of the history of ‘ Phe- 
nological Observations in Canada.’ It also in- 
dicates the progress of botanical research, points 
out the results obtained in Newfoundland, as 
well as in Labrador, Prince Edward Island and 
Nova Scotia. Thisis followed by ‘ Observations 
in a Wild Garden,’ by Dr. G. U. Hay, of St. 
John, New Bruuswick, besides notes on work 
done in Ontario. Professor Macoun’s researches 
in the ‘Cryptogamic Flora of Ottawa,’ pub- 
lished in The Ottawa Naturalist, and Mr. James 
M. Macoun’s ‘Contributions from the Her- 
barium of the Geological Survey of Canada’ 
have been published in The Canadian Record of 
Science and in The Ottawa Naturalist. 

Full descriptions of the new species of Ottawa 
Violets were given with excellent plates in The 
Ottawa Naturalist of January, 1899, No. 10, 
Vol. XII., and reference is also made to Viola 
Watsoni Greene, from Prince Edward Island, 
and another new species from British Columbia, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


besides notes on the genera Antennaria and Fra- 
garia. 

From Alberta, Assiniboia and British Colum- 
bia reports are also sent in. The teachers of 
the Department of Public Instruction in Nova 
Scotia, of which Dr. A. H. MacKay is Superin- 
tendent, have been most active in recording 
phenological observations, from which excellent 
results were gathered. 

The officers of the Botanical Club of Canada 
for the ensuing year are: 

President: John Macoun, M.A., F.L.8., Ottawa. 

General Secretary-Treasurer: A. H. MacKay, LL.D., 
Halifax. 

Secretaries for the Several Provinces : Newfoundland, 
Rey. A. C. Waghorne, Bay of Islands. 

Prince Edward Island, Principal John McSwain, 
Charlottetown. 

Nova Scotia, Dr. A. H. MacKay (General Secre- 
tary-Treasurer), Halifax. 

New Brunswick, George U. Hay, M.A., Ph.B., St. 
John. 

Quebec, Professor D. P. Penhallow, B.Sc., McGill 
University, Montreal. 

Ontario, Principal Wm. Scott., B.A., Normal 
School, Toronto, Toronto. 

Manitoba, Rev. W. A. Burman, B.D., Winnipeg. 

Assiniboia, Thomas R. Donnelly, Esq., Pheasant 
Forks. 

Alberta, T. C. Willing, Esq., Olds, N. W. T. 

Saskatchewan, Rev. C. W. Bryden, Willoughby. 

British Columbia (Mainland), J. K. Henry, B.A., 
High School, Vancouver. 

Vancouver Island, A. J. Pineo, B.A., High School, 
Victoria. 


H. M. A. 
Orrawa, June, 1900. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
HERMAPHRODITISM AMONG THE DOCOGLOSSA. 


In a recent number of SCIENCE (ix, 914) Dr. 
Dall gives a brief account of the newly dis- 
covered Bathysciadium conicum, in the course of 
which he remarks that should the animal prove 
to be really hermaphrodite, it will be the first 
of the Docoglossa to exhibit this character. 
This statement is one of Dr. Dall’s rare slips ; 
hermaphroditism has already been recorded in 
the case of Patella vulgata (Gemmill, Anat. Anz., 
xii, 392-4, 1896), and of Acmexa fragilis (Willcox, 
Jen. Zeitschr., xxxii, 441 et seg., 1899). Gemmill 
believes that this condition in Patella is excep- 


AuaGust 10, 1900. ] 


tional ; in A. fragilis it seems to be the normal 
condition. My reason for this opinion is that 
the nephridial papilla, which appears to func- 
tion as a penis, is present in all individuals. 
This papilla is much larger in A. fragilis than 
in any other Acmza with which lam acquainted, 
reaching even in the contracted state almost to 
the edge of the mantle; it is highly muscular 
and richly provided with large blood sinuses. 
These facts point to its use as an intromittent 
organ and if this be conceded, then its uni- 
versal presence would indicate that every in- 

dividual is at some time functionally a male. 
But however this may be, hermaphroditism 
either as a regular or as an exceptional condi- 
tion has already been described in two Doco- 
glossa so that the case of Bathysciadium is the 

third rather than the first recorded instance. 

M. A. WILLCOox. 

Woop’s Hon, MaAss., July 25, 1900. 


SOME RECENT REPORTS OF FOREIGN 
MUSEUMS. 


THE report of the South African Museum for 
1899 notes the completion of anew wing and 
the opening of a new hall containing a collec- 
tion of South African rocks, minerals and fos- 
sils, while the number of visitors was over 
88,000, a gain of 7000 over the previous year. 
As the appropriation for the Museum is only 
£2500 the increase of the collections is mainly 
dependent on gifts, and although a special ap- 
propriation of £2000 for the purchase of speci- 
mens was made in 1895 this is now exhausted. 
The progress made is as rapid as could be hoped 
for under the circumstances, but one can well 
sympathize with the remark of Mr. Peringuey, 
in charge of the entomological collections, that 
the chance of obtaining a thorough representa- 
tion of the insect fauna of South Africa during 
the modest span of life usually allotted to man, 
seems to grow more and more distant. 

The Museum has just issued the first part of 
the second volume of its Annals which is de- 
voted to ‘A Collection of Slugs from South 
Africa, with Descriptions of New Species’ by 
Walter EK. Collinge. Two well-known species 
are added to the fauna of South Africa while 
four species are described as new; Amalia pon- 


SCIENCE. 231 


senbyi, Apera natalensis, Oopelta flavescens and 
O. granulosa. 


THE report of the Museum of Oxford Univer- 
sity for 1899 indicates much progress in educa- 
tional work and scientific research, as well as 
in the growth and arrangement of the collec- 
tions. Three new buildings are in course of 
construction, the Laboratory of Animal Mor- 
phology and Botany, the Pathological Labora- 
tory and the Radcliffe Library. Accessions to 
the well-known Pitt-Rivers Museum of Eth- 
nology have been the most numerous, although 
exceeded in number of individual specimens by 
the insects added to the Hope Collection in 
charge of Professor Poulton. Our own scientific 
schools may derive some comfort from the small 
number of students who seem to have attended 
many of the courses of lectures, and when Pro- 
fessor Tylor reports a class varying from four 
to six undergraduates others have little reason 
to expect more. 


ParT one of volume three of the Boletim do 
Museu Paraense contains the report of the Direc- 
tor for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1898, 
together with other papers. The Zoological and 
Botanical Gardens of Para are included in this 
report and these, as wellas the Museum proper, 
seem to be in a flourishing condition, while as 
the visitors during the year numbered some- 
what over 75,000, the Museum would seem to 
be appreciated by the public. The average 
number of animals in the Garden has been 
something over 400, representing 130 species, 
and the Botanic Garden gives a list of 531 
species of plants. Attention is called to the 
fact that the Museum publications represent but 
a portion of the work of the staff as numerous 
articles are published in foreign scientific 
journals. 


THE Para Museum has just issued as the first 
of its memoirs, in quarte form, an account by 
the Director, Dr. Goeldi, of the exploration of 
the mortuary vaults constructed by a former 
race of Indians on the banks of the Rio Cunany, 
and of the pottery found therein. These vaults 
or pits were about seven feet deep and half 
that in diameter, closed above by a granite 
disk, and at the bottom expanding into a 
somewhat hemispherical chamber in which the 


232 


pottery was found. This consisted of a number 
of vases and flattened dishes of quaint and 
graceful shapes decorated with elaborate pat- 
terns in red. These are admirably depicted in 
the plates accompanying the memoir and indi- 
cate a very degree of art in the part of their 
designers. F. A. L. 


RECENT PROGRESS IN THE EXAMINATION 
OF FOODS AND DRUGS. 


NEW PLANTS AND DRUGS. 


THEODORE PECKOLT has been continuing his 
work upon the medicinal and economical plants 
of Brazil (see Berichte d. deutsch Pharm. Ges.). 
Duyk likewise continues his communications 
upon Mexican drugs (Bull. Soc. Pharm. Bruz., 
XLITI., and Bull. Comm., XXVIII.). In the 
consideration of the useful plants of Mexico, J. 
N. Rose (contribution, U. S. Nat. Herbarium, 
V., No. IV) treats of the plants of Mexico 
which are employed for making beverages, 
seasoning, flavoring, soap, tanning, dyeing as 
well as those of a strictly medicinal applica- 
tion. J. S. Ward has described some new 
West African plants in Pharm. Jour., 1900. 
Several Indian plants have been examined by 
S. Camphuijo (see Nederl. Tidjschr. v. Pharm., 
1899). The arrow poisons of Wagogos are ob- 
tained, according to Schellman, by boiling the 
bark of two trees of the N. O. Euphorbiaceae. 
Pilocarpus racemosus, of the French Antilles, is 
given by Rocher as a new source of Jaborandi. 
The leaves contain 0.6 per cent. of pilocarpine 
and 0.4 per cent. of jaborine. David Hooper 
has shown that the ancient eastern medicine, 
Akakia, is an astringent extract of an acacia. 
Schumann has added to our knowledge of the 
kola exported between Senegal and Angola. 
All kola seeds are wrapped with the leaves of 
Cola cordifolia. The large seed (nguru) is ob- 
tained from Cola vera; whereas the small seed 
(kotofo) is the product of C. acuminata. The 
natives of Bali also employ the seeds of C. lepi- 
dota and C. anomala. According to the inyesti- 
gations of Hendrickx and Coremans, the leaves 
of Theobroma kalagua may be employed as sub- 
stitutes for kola and cacao. 

H. Moeller does not consider that Rheum 
Franzenbachii furnishes any of the commercial 
rhubarb. Ergot from rice, cultivated by the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 293. 


Indians in Northern Wisconsin, has been ex- 
amined by R. H. Denniston. Heckel and 
Schlagdenhauffen find quassin and saponin in 
the seeds of Brucea Sumatrana (N. O. Simarub- 
aceae). These seeds known as kosam seeds 
are used in China and India for dysentery. 
Bertrand and Physalix believe the activity to 
be due to a glucoside which they call kosamin. 
A new rubber plant of Lagos (Fantumnia elas- 
tica) is described by Staff. F. africana (syn. 
Kicksia africana) does not appear to yield any 
rubber. 

Cathaedulis contains according to Schaer large 
quantities of caoutchouc, an ethereal oil, alka- 
loid and tannin. Large edible tubers, called 
‘native yams’ are yielded by Parsonia paddi- 
sont (N. O. Apocynaceae). Piralahy rubber 
(Madagascar) is the product of Landolphia peri- 
ert H. Jumell. Altamassano has extracted 
from Coniza, one of the Mexican composite, a 
glucoside which he calls lennesine. Several 
pecies of Polygala (P. violacea St. Hil. and P. 
caroeasana H. B. K.), have been found by 
Dethan in commercial ipecacuanha. Small ja- 
borandi leaves have been utilized as an adult- 
erant in coca. A new spurious senna has been 
described by Greenish while Micko has discov- 
ered another false cinnamon bark. This is 
yielded by an unknown species of Cinnamo- 
mum, but does not contain the aromatic cinna- 
mon oil. 

PLANT CONSTITUENTS. 

The investigations of Hesse on the Solana- 
ceous alkaloids show that the active principles 
of Hyoscyamus are chiefly hyoscyamin with 
some atropin and hyoscin; while Belladonna 
root contains an excess of atropine; and Scopola 
rhizome contains chiefly hyoscin with some 
atrosin. The two last mentioned bases are 
found in the scopolamin of commerce. 

Hesse finds as a result of an investigation 
of the yarious commercial rhubarbs that the 
Chinese rhubarb contains chrysophanic acid, 
emodin, rhabarberon and rhein; Austrian rhu- 
barb (Rheum rhaponticum) and English rhubarb 
(R. palmatum) contain chrysophanic acid and 
rhapontin; Rumex nepalensis and R. palustris 
contain chrysophanic acid and nepodin ; Rumex 
obtusifolia contains chrysophanic acid, nepodin 
and lopodin. 


Aveust 10, 1900. ] 


Tschirch holds that the emodin of aloes and 
frangula are isomeric and that they can be dis- 
tinguished by certain color reactions as well as 
by other tests as shown by the investigations 
of Oesterle. Tschirch further holds that all 
methylanthraquinone derivatives, containing 
one or more oxy-groups, are purgative. The 
emodins, being tri-oxy-compounds, seem to be 
the most active. It is suggested that these 
oxy-derivatives of methylanthraquinone will 
eventually replace the drugs as aloes, rhuharb, 
etc., which contain them. 

According to H. A. D. Jowett the following 
alkaloids are present in Jaborandi: pilocarpine, 
iso-pilocarpine (pilocarpidine of Petit and Pol- 
onowski), pilocarpidine (Harnack and Merck). 
Jaborine does not appear to be present in ja- 
borine leaves and the commercial jaborine is 
said to be a mixture of these three alkaloids. 
The alkaloid in Mandragora root is, according 
to Wentzel, hyoscine (C,,H,,NO,). In an in- 
vestigation of the constituents of the wall-flower 
of the gardens, Reeb has isolated a principle 
(cheiranthin) resembling digitalis in its physio- 
logical action and has found in the seeds an 
alkaloid (cheirinine) which resembles quinine 
in its properties. The active principle in Cap- 
sicum has been further investigated by Micko, 
who insists that it is odorless and that the 
vanilla-like odor ascribed to it by Morbitz is 
due to the action of reagents employed. An 
emetic principle has been isolated by Herberger 
from melon root and other Cucurbitaceae. The 
toxic effects of tobacco is ascribed by Thoms 
to a phenol-like body resembling creosote. A 
new oily alkaloid (C,H,,NO), which is miscible 
with water, has been isolated by A. Piccinni 
from pomegranate bark. The daturine in the 
seeds of Datura stramonium L. is considered by 
J. Thomann to be in the nature of a reserve 
product. The flowers of Datura alba contain 
hyoscine which Hesse says may supersede the 
mixture known as scopolamine salt. Investiga- 
tions seem to show that there is no caffeine in 
the leaves of any species of Psathura (N. O. 
Rubiaceae). 

Pommerhue has succeeded in making a num- 
ber of crystalline compounds of the alkaloid, 
damascenin, extracted by Schneider from Ni- 
gella damascena. It has been found by H. 


SCIENCE. 233 


Meyer that anemonin forms compounds of the 
maleic and fumaric types. According to 
Hausman, aspidin is found in Aspidium spinu- 
losum, whereas filicic acid is present in Aspidium 
filix-mas and Athyrium filix famina. A crys- 
talline non-glucosidal principle (gossypol) ob- 
obtained from cotton seeds has been examined 
by Marchlewski. The bitter principle of 
Plumiera lancifolia, investigated by Boorsma 
and Merck with discordant results, is shown by 
Franchimont to vary in its M. P., according to 
the amount of water of crystallization that it 
possesses. According to Léger, nataloin and 
homonataloin give a green coloration with sul- 
phuric acid and manganese dioxide or potas- 
sium di-chromate ; and a violet color with a solu- 
tion of soda containing ammonium persulphate. 
The inyestigations of Busse seem to indicate 
that in the unripe vanilla fruit there exists a 
glucoside, which on treatment with ferments 
(emulsin) or mineral acids, yields vanillin. 
The arrow poison of Wakamba (German East 
Africa) appears to be a glucoside and resembles 
Arnaud’s ouabain. According to the investiga- 
tions of Hilger, while the coloring principle of 
saffron is a glucoside, the glucoside, picrocrocin 
(or saffron bitter) is really a mixture of color- 
ing principles, one of which resembles carotin. 
Malabar kino has been shown by David Hooper 
to possess in dry substance over 90 per cent. of 
tannin. Hymeneo coubaril contains 23.8 per 
cent. catechutannic acid and 2.7 per cent. of 
catechin. A. G. Perkin has been continuing 
his studies on the tannin and allied coloring 
principles of a number of plants. A yellow 
coloring principle has been isolated by Adrian 
and Trillat from the digitalin obtained from 
Digitalis lutea. The authors believe it to be 
different from the digito-flavone of Fleischer. 
The green and red pigments of Amanita mus- 
caria have been subjected to a chemical exami- 
nation by A. B. Griffiths. A. Nestler believes 
that the change in color in the ripening of Juni- 
per berries is due toa fungus. The investigations 
of Charabot on the formation of lavender oil 
seems to indicate that the oil contained in the 
flower buds and mature flowers is richer in 
esters ; whereas in the withered flowers it is the 
alcohols which preponderate. According to G. 
Spampani, the oil in olive is produced in the 


234 


cells of the mesocarp in particular, during the 
activity of the protoplasm and not on account 
of the degeneration of the latter. The malic 
acid in the berries of Hippophe rhamnoides is 
identical with the acid in Pyrus aucuparia. 
Greshoff has investigated the Pisang wax, the 
product of an unknown plant of Lower India. 
The carbohydrates of Tragacanth have been re- 
investigated by Widstoce and Tollens. Xylose 
was obtained from the white and arabinose from 
the brown varieties respectively. Dulcite and 
not mannite has been found by Hoehnel in 
Euonymus atropurpureus. The same carbohy- 
drate is present in H. Europzus. 

According to the investigations of J. Gruss, 
the enzyme in Penicillium glaucum acts less 
powerfully on starch or, reserve cellulose, but 
more energetically on cane sugar, than malt 
diastase. Semnase, the ferment in leguminous 
seeds possessing a horny albumin, differs from 
malt diastase in that its action is less active on 
starch, but more active on the albumin of the 
locust bean than diastase. An enzyme (hadro- 
mase) has been found by Marshall Ward in the 
fungi (Pleurotus pulmonarius and Merulius lach- 
rymans) which destroys the lignified cells of 


timbers. 
HENRY KRAEMER. 


PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 


THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS BEFORE THE 
SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. 

THE annual general meeting of the Society 
of Chemical Industry took place on July 18th 
in the lecture theater of the Royal Institution, 
London. After the transaction of some formal 
business, including the presentation of the 
council’s report, which showed that the society 
has now 38459 members, the president, Pro- 
fesssor C. F. Chandler, of Columbia University, 
delivered his address. According to the ab- 
stract in the London Times he said that on 
looking over the addresses of past presidents he 
found that almost every chemical topic—theo- 
retical, practical and historical—had already 
been dealt with, and his only hope of being 
able to say anything that was not already 
thoroughly familiar rested in the presentation 
of matters purely American. Treating, first, of 
chemical and technical education in the United 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 293. 


States, he described its beginnings and develop- 
ment, paying special attention to the Columbia 
School of Mines, afterwards merged in the 
Columbia University. He ascribed the prompt 
success of this school to the fact that a fixed 
and definite progressive course of study was 
offered for each profession, from which no de- 
viation wasallowed. ‘The faculty decided what 
subjects were necessary for a student to pursue 
in order to qualify him for his profession, and 
did not permit him to select the studies which he 
happened to find most interesting. While Co- 
lumbia was developing her system of professional 
education in the applied sciences many other 
institutions were doing the same. The most 
striking feature of the American system of 
higher and technical education was to be found 
in the fact that most of the institutions had 
been founded and maintained by liberal gifts 
of money from wealthy citizens, in many cases 
made during the donor’s lifetime, and that only 
a small number had been endowed or supported 
by the public funds. Thus in 1899 over 33 
million dollars were given in this way, the 
largest sum being the 15 million dollars given 
by Mrs. Leland Stanford, together with large 
tracts of land, to which as yet no precise value 
could be attached, to complete the endowment 
of the Leland Stanford Junior University. There 
were in all 174 donors, averaging $190,000 
each. 

Schools of chemistry were now so numerous in 
the United States that it was almost impossible 
to state their exact number, but he was safe in 
saying it was more than 100. In all there 
were 480 universities and colleges, and 48 tech- 
nical schools not included in this list. In 1899 
it was stated that there were 9784 students pur 
suing professional courses in the schools of 
engineering, while 1487 graduated that year, 
receiving the degree of civil, mechanical, elec- 
trical or mining engineer. No one could esti- 
mate the value to the industrial development of ~ 
the United States of such an army of thoroughly 
trained engineers’ and chemists. Professor 
Chandler next referred to what had been done 
by the chemical societies in benefiting and con- 
solidating the profession in America, and went 
on to speak about the original investigation 
carried on by American chemists. He said he 


Aveust 10, 1900. ] 


could present a long list of valuable contri- 
butions to chemical science from American 
laboratories but it was a regrettable fact that 
many of their teaching chemists were so over- 
burdened with the duties of instruction and 
the business of managing large laboratories 
that they could find but little time for original 
work. 

The president next gave an account of the 
many important investigations in agricultural 
chemistry which had been conducted by the 
chemical division of the United States Agricul- 
tural Department, among those mentioned being 
the practical determination of the number and 
activity of the nitrifying organisms in soil], the 
influence of a soil rich in nitrogen on the nitro- 
gen content of a crop, the manufacture of sugar 
from the sorghum plant, and the comparative 
study of typical soils of the United States. Of 
agricultural experiment stations there were 
now 59, and the 148 chemists connected with 
them had done a large amount of original in- 
vestigation in subjects more or less closely 
allied to agricultural and physiological chem- 
istry. One of the most important purposes of 
these stations was the protection of the farmer 
from the cupidity of the dealers in artificiay 
manures, every fertilizer sold being now sub- 
jected to careful analysis, of which the results 
were published from time to time. Many other 
researches in this branch of chemistry were 
enumerated in the address, which went on to 
refer to the work of the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey and to the progress of sanitary 
chemistry in America. Professor Chandler 
next gave a long and comprehensive account of 
the chemical industries of the United States. 
Beginning with a statement of the raw materials 
produced by the country, he passed on to speak 
of the various ways in which they were util- 
ized, and gave an immense amount of informa- 
tion respecting the manufacturing processes in 
use. 

In particular he referred to the progress 
made in electro-chemistry, and described the 
methods now adopted for the reduction of 
aluminium at Niagara and also for the manu- 
facture of carborundum and artificial graphite. 
Speaking of water gas he described the opposi- 
tion which had been brought to bear against its 


SCIENCE. 


235 


introduction for illuminating purposes. The 
question came before the Health Department 
of New York, of which he was at the time 
president, and after careful investigation the 
department decided that the gas was such an 
improvement in quality and price while the in- 
creased danger as compared with that from old- 
fashioned coal gas was so slight, that it was not 
wise to interfere with it. The water gas in- 
dustry had now taken almost complete posses- 
sion of the whole country. It seemed safe to 
say that there were at least 500 gas companies 
using water gas wholly or in part, and it was 
estimated that in 1899 three-quarters of the en- 
tire consumption, or 52,500 million cubic feet, 
consisted of carburetted water gas. The price 
of this was reduced ultimately to $1 per 1000 
cubic feet, the average quality being between 
26 and 27 candle power, as against bituminous 
coal gas at $3.75 per 1000, with an illuminat- 
ing power of 16 or 17 candles. 


THE JESUP NORTH PACIFIC EXPEDITION.* 
Messrs. WALDEMAR JOCHELSON AND WAL- 
DEMAR BoaGoras, of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 
pedition of the American Museum, have recently 
started for the northeastern part of Asia, by 
way of San Francisco and Vladivostok, to con- 
tinue the work of the Expedition in Siberia. 
The region which Messrs. Jochelson and 
Bogoras are about to visit is situated northeast 
of the Amoor River. They will study the rela- 
tions of the native tribes of that area to the in- 
habitants of the extreme northwestern part of 
America, and also to the Asiatic races visited 
by Dr. Laufer, under the auspices of the Mu- 
seum, and to those living farther west. It is 
expected that in this manner they will succeed 
in clearing up much of the racial history of 
these peoples, and it is hoped that the question 
as to the relations between the aborigines of 
America and Asia will be definitely settled. 
Thus the work of these explorers is part of the 
general plan of the Jesup North Pacific Ex- 
pedition, which was organized for the invyesti- 
gation of the relations between the tribes of 
Asia and America. It is fortunate that this in- 
quiry has been taken up at the present time, 
since the gold discoveries along the coast of 


* From the American Museum Journal. 


236 


Bering Sea are rapidly changing the conditions 
of native life; so that within a few years their 
primitive customs, and perhaps the tribes them- 
selves, will be extinct. 

The expedition, after leaving Vladivostok, 
will go by sea to the northeastern part of the 
Sea of Okhotsk, where they will establish their 
winter quarters. Mr. Jochelson expects to 
spend the winter among the tribes of this coast, 
part of whom belong to the great Tungus 
family which inhabits the greater part of Si- 
beria, while others belong to a little-known 
group of tribes inhabiting the extreme north- 
eastern portion of Asia. Mr. Bogoras will 
make a long journey by dog-sledge across that 
part of the country which is north of the 
peninsula of Kamtchatka, and willspend much 
of his time among the Chukchee, whose mode 
of life is quite similar to that of the Eskimo 
of the Arctic coast of America. Mr. Bogoras 
is exceptionally well prepared for this work, 
since he has spent several years among the 
western Chukchee, who are a nomadic tribe, 
and subsist on the products of their large herds 
of reindeer. There is also a small tribe of 
Eskimo living on the Siberian coast, whom 
Mr. Bogoras expects to visit. 

Mr. Jochelson, after finishing his work on 
the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, will proceed 
northwestward, crossing the high mountains 
which stretch along the coast, on a trail never 
before visited by white men. Over this route 
he expects to reach the territory of another iso- 
lated tribe, the Yukagheer. Ona former expe- 
dition Mr. Jochelson visited a western branch 
of this tribe, whom he reached starting from 
Irkutsk, in southern Siberia. Owing to the 
difficulties of the passage, Mr. Jochelson will 
not return to the coast of the Okhotsk Sea, but 
will continue his journey westward through 
Asia, and reach New York by way of Moscow 
and St. Petersburg. 

Both Mr. Jochelson and Mr. Bogoras have 
carried on a series of most remarkable investi- 
gations in Siberia, which are at present being 
published by the Imperial Academy of Sciences 
in St. Petersburg. The results of their previous 
investigations embrace a mass of information 
on the customs, languages, and folk-tales of the 
tribes whom they visited. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


It may be expected that their journey, which 
will extend over a period of two years, will re- 
sult in a series of most interesting additions to 
the collections of the Museum, and in an im- 
portant advacement of our knowledge of the 
peoples of the world. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
A MOVEMENT has begun in London to arrange 


for the erection of a memorial in honor of the 
late Sir William Flower. 


THE Royal Society of Surgeons of England 
has elected, in connection with the celebration 
of its centenary, a number of honorary fellows, 
subject to their attendance at the celebration. 
These include Dr. I. H. Cameron, Toronto 
University ; Dr. William §. Halsted, Johns 
Hopkins University ; Sir W. H. Hingston, Laval 
University ; Dr. W. W. Keen, Jefferson Med- 
ical College; Dr. T. G. Roddick, McGill Uni- 
versity ; Dr. J. C. Warren, Harvard University, 
and Dr. R. F. Weir, Columbia University. 

PROFESSOR CAMILLO GOLGI, eminent for his 
researches on the nervous system, has been 
made a senator of the kingdom of Italy. 


PROFESSOR RupOoLF LIPCHITZ, professor of 
mathematics in the University at Bonn, has 
been elected a correspondent of the Paris 
Academy for the section of geometry. 

Sir JoHN Evans has been elected chairman 
of the Society of Arts, London. 
©" Mr. GRANT-OGILVIE, principal of the Heriot- 
Watt College, has been appointed director of 
the Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh. 


LorpD KELYIN has been elected Master of 
the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers for 
the year 1900-1901. 

THE steamship Queen which arrived at Vic- 
toria on August 4th from Alaska had among its 
passengers W. F. King, the British Alaskan 
Boundary Commissioner ; O. H. Tittman, the 
American member of the Commission, and O. 
B. French, assistant. They have concluded 
their work on White, Chilkoot and Chilkat 
passes. 

Dr. W. J. HOLLAND, of the Carnegie Museum, 
sailed for Europe on August 7th. He will be 
absent for four weeks. 


Auaust 10, 1900. ] 


Mr. 8S. WARD LOPER, curator of the museum 
of Wesleyan University, has gone to Cape Briton 
Island under the auspices of the U. S. Geological 
Survey to study the pre-Cambrian geological 
formation discovered by Dr. F. 8. Mathew. 


Dr. GEORGE A. DorsEy, curator of anthro- 
pology in the Field Columbian Museum, has re- 
turned from explorations in the southwest and 
has gone to Paris as a delegate to the Interna- 
tional Congress of Anthropology. 


Dr. L. E. GRirFin, Bruce fellow at the 
Johns Hopkins University, is at present in Ja- 
maica carrying on researches in animal mor- 
phology. 

A LETTER has been received in Moscow from 
Dr. Swen Hedin narrating an excursion into 
Thibet. He reached Lake Lob Nor on the 
shores of which he discovered extensive ruins. 


THE Madras Government has given an addi- 
tional grant of 800 rupees to Captain R. H. 
Elliott for the continuation of his researches on 
snake venom. 


Dr. S. A. Knorr of New York City, has re- 
ceived the prize of 4000 Marks offered by the 
Tuberculosis Congress at Beriin for the best 
essay on the subject ‘How to Fight Tubercu- 
losis as a Disease of the Masses.’ 


Dr. T. G. BRopIE has been awarded twenty- 
five guineas from the Goldsmiths’ Research 
Grant of the Royal College of Physicians in 
recognition of his work on the separation of 
diphtheria antitoxins. 


THE Society of Chemical Industry has awarded 
its medal to Dr. Edward Schunck for his inves- 
tigations on natural coloring matters and other 
researches in technical chemistry. 


Dr. Rupour of Strasburg, has received the 
Engelmann award (2500 Marks) of the Univer- 
sity for geographical exploration. 

A BoAarD of Medical Officers has been ap- 
pointed to meet at Camp Columbia, Quemados, 
Cuba, for the purpose of pursuing scientific 
investigations with reference to the infectious 
diseases prevalent on the Island of Cuba. The 
Board will act under instructions from the 
Surgeon-General of the Army. The members 
of the Board are Major Walter Reid, Surgeon 
U.S. A., and Acting Assistant Surgeons, James 


SCIENCE. 237 


Carroll, Aristides Agramonte, and Jesse W. 
Lazear. It is understood that the Board will 
devote attention chiefly to the investigation of 
yellow fever. 

THE Berlin Academy of Science has made the 
following grants: Professor Adolf Schmidt, of 
Gotha, for the collating and publication of 
material on terrestrial magnetism, 750 Marks ; 
Dr. Leonhard Schultze, of Jena, for investiga- 
tions on the heart of invertebrates, 2000 Marks ; 
Professor Emil Ballowitz, of Greifswald, for in- 
vestigations on the structure of the organs of 
smell of vertebrates, 800 Marks; Dr. Theodore 
Boveri, of Wurzburg, for experiments in cytol- 
ogy, 500 Marks; Professor Maxime Braun, of 
K6nigsberg, for studies on the Trematodea, 
970 Marks; Dr. Paul Kuckuck, of Heligoland, 
for investigations on the development of Pho- 
sporese, 400 Marks; Dr. Wilhelm Solomon, of 
Heidelberg for his geological and mineralog- 
ical investigations in the Adamello mountains, 
1000 Marks; Professor Alexander Tornquist, of 
Strasburg, for the publication of his work on 
the mountains of Vicenza, 1100 Marks; Pro- 
fessor Alfred Voltzkow, of Strasburg, for the 
drawings of his work on the development of the 
crocodile, 1000 Marks; Professor Johannes 
Walther, of Jena, for the publication of his work 
on deserts, 1000 Marks. 

WE regret to note that Dr. Gustav Born, 
professor of anatomy at the University at 
Breslau, died on July 6th, aged 49 years, and 
that Dr. Wiltheiss, associate professor of mathe- 
matics at Halle, died on July 9th. 


THE contest of the will of the late Dr. Thomas 
W. Evans has been compromised by the pay- 
ment of $800,000 to the heirs. This, it is said, 
will leave about $3,000,000 for the dental col- 
lege and museum to be established at Philadel- 
phia. 

SuURGEON-GENERAL STERNBERG states that 
100 additional medical officers are wanted by 
the government for duty in the Philippines and 
in China. 

THE schooner Grampus, of the U. S. Fish 
Commission, which returned on August 1st 
from a trip to the tile fishing grounds, reports a 
greater abundance of tile fish than ever before. 

THE British Medical Association held its 68th 


238 


- annual meeting at Ipswich from the 31st of July 
to the 8d of August, under the presidency of 
Dr. John Ward Cousins. According to the an- 
nouncement of the program the general ad- 
dresses were as follows: Address in Medicine, 
by Philip Henry Pye-Smith, M.D., F.R.S., con- 
sulting physician, Guy’s Hospital ; Address in 
Surgery, by Frederick Treves, surgeon extra- 
ordinary to H.M. the Queen; Address in Ob- 
stetrics, by William J. Smyly, examiner in mid- 
wifery, Royal College of Physicians, Ireland. 
The Association met in thirteen sections, in- 
cluding one on navy, army and ambulance, 
established this year for the first time. This 
section and the one on tropical diseases have 
especially full programs. 


THE Swiss Scientific Society holds its 83d an- 
nual meeting at Thusis on the 2d, 3d and 4th of 
September. With it meet the Geological, Bo- 
tanical and Zoological Societies of Switzerland. 
A uumber of interesting excursions have been 
arranged in connection with the meeting to 
which foreign men of science are invited. 


THE International Society of the Psychical 
Institute is the name of a society recently 
established in Paris for the purpose of obtaining 
money to establish a museum and library at 
Paris, to encourage research, to publish a jour- 
nal, etc. The society wishes to cover the whole 
field of psychology, but will apparently espec- 
ially concern itself with those more or less oc- 
cult phenomena in which societies for psychical 
research have chiefly interested themselves. 
The American members of the committee en- 
dorsing the program are Professor J. Mark 
Baldwin, Professor J. Howard Gore and Mr. 
Elmer Gates. 


Mr. J. E. S. Moors, of the Royal College 
of Science, London, has returned from Cen- 
tral Africa, where he has been engaged in 
explorations under the auspices of the Royal 
Geographical Society. Among the results of 
his expedition are the ascent of one of the 
Mountains of the Moon, about 16,500 feet high; 
the more exact location of Lake Tanganyika, 
which is said to be fifty miles west of its as- 
cribed position, and the discovery that Kivu is 
a much larger lake than had been supposed. 


THE construction of the vessel designed by 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 293. 


Mr. W. E. Smith, one of the chief constructors 
to the Admiralty, for the National Antarctic 
Expedition is, as we have already noted, in ac- 
tive progess at the yard of the Dundee Ship- 
builders’ Company. The Times states that the 
ship, which is to be named the Discovery, is to 
be barque-rigged and to have three decks. Ac- 
commodation for those on board will be pro- 
vided under the upper deck. The stem will be 
of the ice-breaker type, with strong fortifica- 
tions. The length of the vessel between per- 
pendiculars is 172 feet; beam, 34 feet; and 
depth, 19 feet. The timbers are of oak, dowelled 
and bolted together, and the keel, deadwoods, 
the stem, and the stem-posts are also of oak. 
The planking is of American elm and pitch 
pine, and the inside beams are of oak. With 
the object of avoiding the magnetic influence of 
iron on the scientific instruments on board, it 
has been decided that for a considerable radius 
amidships the knees and fastenings shall be of 
naval brass. In case the Discovery should 
have to winter in the ice, a heavy wagon cloth 
awning of strong woollen felt is to be provided. 
The fittings and equipment of the vessel will 
be of the most modern type. The engines, 
which are to indicate 450-horse power, are to 
be constructed by Messrs. Gourlay Brothers 
and Co., Dundee. 


WE learn from the London Times that another 
addition to the numerous existing processes de- 
signed to prevent decay in wood is now being 
introduced into England by the Xylosote 
Company in the shape of the Hasselmann sys- 
tem. In this the timber to be treated is en- 
closed in a cylindrical vessel in which a fairly 
high vacuum can be produced by a suitable air- 
pump. When the sap has been drawn out of 
the pores under the diminished pressure a solu- 
tion of metallic and mineral salts is allowed to 
flow into the vessel, and the wood is steeped in 
this for some hours under a certain pressure of 
steam and at a temperature of about 130 degrees 
C. Then, after being dried, it is ready for use. 
The impregnating liquid is a solution of the 
sulphates of copper and iron, whose preserva- 
tive properties are generally acknowledged, to- 
gether with some aluminium, potassium, and 
magnesium salts. The inventor of the process 
maintains that the copper destroys any germs 


Avueust 10, 1900. ] 


of decay that may be present, while the iron 
combines with the cellulose, or woody fiber, to 
form a compound which is insoluble in water 
and hence cannot be washed out by the action 
of rain. The salts in this way are made to 
permeate the substance of the wood, and are 
not merely deposited mechanically as minute 
crystals in the pores by the evaporation of the 
solvent. It is claimed for the process, which, 
apart from the drying, takes about four hours, 
that it greatly reduces the inflammability of the 
wood, enables it to take a brilliant polish, and 
increases the hardness of certain soft woods to 
such an extent as to render them available for 
purposes to which formerly they could not be 
applied. Another advantage attributed to it is 
that it saves the expense of seasoning in the 
ordinary way, since perfectly green wood after 
treatment neither shrinks nor warps. The proc- 
ess appears already to have gained consider- 
able recognition abroad; thus it is stated that 
the Bavarian State railways and post-office have 
contracted to have all their sleepers and poles 
up to 1905 treated by it, while the Swedish 
Government has adopted the system and 
ordered 600,000 sleepers preserved by its use. 


FIGURES have been issued in regard to immi- 
gration at the port of New York for the year 
ending June 30th, from which it appears that 
341,711 emigrants passed through the port dur- 
ing the year. This is an increase of nearly 
100,000 over last year. The following table 
shows the arrivals of some of the races: 


Race. 1898-99. 1899-1900. 
Bohemian and Moravian .............. 1,935 2,329 
Croatian and Slavonian ................ 6,837 8,906 
English 4,346 
Finnish 6,783 
Brenchiecsssesscesee 1,956 
German 23,382 
(GME) !S G ododdcasosdadcososooaddsoddaeodosoeeNs 3,734 
B&O) hi figenecaonansacotcdacdoucanosbatceac: 27,086 44,520 
Trish O08 21,637 25,200 
Italian (northern)...................00. 13,008 16,690 
Italian (southern)................00..064 63,481 82,329 
Lithuanian 6,033 9,170 
Magyar........ 4,517 11,351 
Polish.......... 26,015 36,855 
RUbhenianeeseesesceecoiermescesseenc esse 1,371 2,653 
Scandinavian ................cseeeeeeeeees 16,034 22,847 
RSTKOWEES 306 “nb onandecddieanceacbabogecocedco 13,550 25,392 


SCIENCE. 


239 


THE Sydney correspondent of the British 
Medical Journal describes the various means 
which have been taken to prevent the spread 
of the plague in that city. As soon as a case 
is notified to the Board of Health a medical 
officer is despatched, and if he confirms the 
diagnosis the patient is at once removed to the 
quarantine hospital as well as all the other 
residents in the house. The house is then 
thoroughly disinfected under the supervision 
of the Board of Health officials. The contacts 
are kept in quarantine for five days, and if no 
suspicious cases occur among them they are 
then allowed to return to their home. Large 
areas of the city have been quarantined in suc- 
cession, all the residents are kept inside the 
barriers and not allowed to go to their business. 
Each house is then cleaned and disinfected ; all 
sanitary fittings and drains attended to, and all 
rubbish removed and burnt. This process has 
now been gone through in a large part of the 
city, so that it is probably cleaner than it has 
been for a very long time. There has also 
been an organized crusade against rats, and a 
capitation grant of 6d. is now made for all rats 
brought to the incinerator. This has resulted 
in a very large number of these animals being 
destroyed. The Government has decided to 
resume a large part of the wharfage in Darling 
Harbor and practically rebuild it with stone 
facings. Citizens’ Vigilance Committees have 
also been organized in the various electoral dis- 
tricts of the city and suburbs, with the object 
of assisting the Board of Health and the local 
municipal councils in cleaning and disinfecting. 
Hitherto in every case all the contacts have 
been removed to quarantine ground, but it is 
now recognized that this is not necessary in 
every case, and at a special meeting of the New 
South Wales Branch of the British Medical As- 
sociation it was resolved to appoint a deputa- 
tion to wait upon the Premier to point out that 
in the opinion of the members of the Branch 
the indiscriminate quarantining of contacts is 
unnecessary. 

A GREAT deal of important scientific investi- 
gation says the London Times is being carried 
on at different marine biological stations 
around the coast. Admirable work has been 
done at the Marine Biological Laboratory at 


240 


Plymouth, and it is much to be regretted tha 
more liberal funds cannot be provided to allow 
the Association to carry on its investigations 
on a more extended scale. The purpose of that 
Association was stated by the late Professor 
Huxley to be that of ‘‘ establishing and main- 
taining laboratories on the coasts of the United 
Kingdom where accurate researches may be 
carried on leading to the improvement of zo- 
ological and botanical science and to an increase 
of our knowledge as regards the food, life con- 
ditions, and habits of British food-fishes and 
molluses.’? At the request of the Devon Sea 
Fisheries Committee, Mr. W. Garstang, of the 
Plymouth Association, some time since pre- 
pared a report on the efficacy of the methods 
heretofore adopted in sea fishery hatchers, to- 
gether with an account of recent experimental 
work bearing upon the rearing of the fry of sea 
fishes, and of the bearings of experiments upon 
practical proposals for artificially increasing the 
stock of fish on depleted fishing grounds. In 
the report in question Mr. Garstang expresses 
the opinion that in no case has the utility of any 
past operations in sea fish hatching been satis- 
factorily demonstrated. He contends that the 
methods heretofore adopted and the scale upon 
which they have been carried out have been al- 
together inadequate for the production of the 
results which in all cases have been aimed at, 
and which in several cases have been claimed 
to have been attained. He believes that no 
useful results can be expected to accrue from 
sea fish hatcheries until the problem of feeding 
and rearing the fry to a more advanced stage 
has been satisfactorily solved. While he con- 
siders that there is a fair prospect of an early 
solution of this difficulty, he advises that in the 
meantime, the most useful measure to adopt 
would be to promote the artificial propagation 
of sea fishes on board the fishing boats during 
the spawning season, fertilized eggs to be re- 
turned at once to the sea. Mr. Garstang al- 
ludes to the sea fish hatcheries which claim to 
have conducted their operations on more than 
an experimental scale. These include the cod 
fish hatcheries in Norway, the United States 
Fish Commission’s hatcheries at Woods Holl 
and Gloucester, and the Newfoundland Govern- 
ment hatchery at Dildo Island. In regard to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 293. 


the latter he says: ‘‘The inconsistency of the 
claims made for the work of this hatchery have 
been exposed by Mr. Fryer in several recent 
reports of the inspectors of fisheries, so that, 
beyond expressing my conviction of the fairness 
and accuracy of his criticisms, I need not dwell 
upon the merits of this case.”’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Sir JAMES CHANCE has given £50,000 to the 
endowment fund of the University of Birming- 
ham, which now amounts to about $2,000,000. 


THE residuary estate of the late James Gar- 
land is left to Harvard University in the event 
of no grandchildren surviving. The contin- 
gency is perhaps rather remote, but the amount 
of money involved is said to be several million 
dollars. 


It appears that one of the nephews of the 
late Jonas Clark is taking steps to dispute the 
will leaving money to Clark University, but an 
appeal has not yet been made to the court. 


THE new building for the first chemical lab- 
oratory of the University of Berlin was dedi- 
cated on July 14th. Professor Emil Fischer, di- 
rector of the laboratory, made an address after 
which the new building was thrown open for 
inspection. There were present the minister 
of instruction, the rector of the University, the 
permanent secretary of the Academy of Sci- 
ences and a number of delegates from foreign 
universities. 


Dr. CHARLES A. Kororp, assistant professor 
of zoology in the University of Illinois and sup- 
erintendent of the Natural History Survey of 
that State, has been appointed assistant profes- 
sor of histology and embryology in the Univer- 
sity of California to begin work January 1, 
1901. 


Mr. R. 8S. Cray, late lecturer in physics at 
the Birkbeck Institution, has been appointed 
principal of the Wandsworth Technical Insti- 
tute, London. 


Dr. Epwin Kuss has resigned the profes- 
sorship of pathology in the Rush Medical Col- 
lege of the University of Chicago. 


SCIE 


EDITORIAL ComMitTEEe: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics ; 


CE 


R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 


Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THuRSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ContTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; 
W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpircH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGS, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WeEtcH, Pathology ; 


J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Auacust 17, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


Work of the U. S. Geological Survey, 1899-1900 : 
LYNG \WABTI Sh -cosboscbonosododocoosbacpeeunsoccBecaca 


Second Report of the Committee of the German 
Chemical Society on Atomic Weights: J. L. H.... 246 


The Fossil Shells of the Los Angeles Tunnel Clays : 


ROBE E. (Ch STHARNS Sconce sessile esseclraesiinciee 247 
The Royal College of SuUrgeons........1...csesseeereeoes 250 
The Development of Surgery: SiR WILLIAM MAc- 

(CLOTRIVIAG, caaciooadocscnncccnonocoqtnqocoSPEcdooobacnbacacc 254 
Chemistry at the New York Meeting of the American 

Association: PRorESSOR A. A. NOYES...........+ 263 
Anthropology at the New York Meeting of the Amer- 

ican Association: DR. FRANK RUSSELL........... 265 
Scientific Books :— 

Vermorel’s Etude sur la gréle: PROFESSOR E. 

W. Hinearp. Scudder’s Guide to the Com- 

moner Butterflies: DR. W. J. HOLLAND......... 269 
Scientifie Journals and Articles.........-...c00eseseeeee 270 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

International Catalogue of Scientific Literature: 

Dr. RICHARD RATHBUN. The Buffalo Expo- 

SIMO Are BENEDICT cccsscesciesceseccnseseases+ 270 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H............-+- 272 
The International Association of Academies........... 273 
Defective Vision of Board School Children............ 274 


Protection of Wild Animals in Africa 
Scientific Notes and News. .....1.c0c.ees006 oes 
University and Educational News............0.sesesesers 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


WORK OF THE U. 8S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
1899-1900.* 

Appropriations.—The appropriations for 
the U.S. Geological Survey for the fiscal 
year 1899-1900 amounted initially to the 
sum of $817,190. During the winter of 
1900 additional appropriations were made 
for special purposes, making the total 
amount available for the year $889,740.89. 
For the fiscal year 1900-1901 the appropri- 
ations passed by the last Congress amount 
to $969,690, there having been important 
increases in response to public demand for 
work. The Division of Mineral Resources 
receives an advance of $20,000, raising its 
appropriation to $50,000; the Division of 
Hydrography receives $100,000 in lieu of 
$50,000 last year, and the demand for geo- 
logic work is recognized by an increase of 
that appropriation from $110,000 to $150,- 
000. 

Topographic Work.—The federal appropri- 
ation for topographic work remained the 
same as during the past year, namely 
$240,000, except that there was a consider- 
able increase for the Alaskan surveys, the 
amount available for geologic and topo- 
graphic investigations being $60,000. The 
list of states co-operating was increased by 
the addition of Ohio, the legislature having 
provided $25,000 for topographic mapping. 

From the appropriation for surveying the 
forest reserves an allotment of $90,000 was 


* Published by permission of the Director. 


242 


made by the director for the continuation. 


of topographic mapping within and adja- 
cent to the reserves, including triangula- 
tion and spirit leveling and the marking of 
certain reserve boundaries, and under this 
allotment operations will be conducted in 
the following reserves: Bighorn, Black 
Hills, Lewis and Clarke, Flathead, Uinta, 
Gila River, Prescott, Sierra, Pine Moun- 
tain and Zaca Lake, San Jacinto, San Ber- 
nardino, Washington, and Mount Rainier. 

The general topographic operations con- 
templated for the present year include the 
mapping of about 40,000 square miles. This 
area is distributed through about eighty- 
five quadrangles on two scales, and twenty- 
seven States. 

The topographic mapping is progressing 
steadily if slowly, as is indicated by the 
fact that for the past five years the per- 
centage of surveyed area has been in- 
creased each year approximately one per 
cent. the total percentage at the end of the 
fiscal year 1900 being twenty-eight. If this 
rate is not increased it will require over 
seventy years to complete the survey of the 
United States, to say nothing of the colo- 
nial acquisitions, but it is hoped that this 
period may be reduced. That the present 
rate of appropriation is inadequate is evi- 
dent from the fact that in making up the 
plans for the current fiscal year it was nec- 
essary to deny applications for work cover- 
ing about as much territory as that for 
which surveys were provided. These ap- 
plications came, not only from the officers 
of the surveys engaged in geologic, hydro- 
graphic, and forestry investigations, but 
from the business interests of the country 
generally. 

Geologic Work.—During the spring of 1900 
the Director has planned, with the ap- 
proval of the Secretary of the Interior, an 
important reorganization of the Geologic 
Branch. In order that the significance of 
this step should be appreciated in all its 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


bearings, itis desirable briefly to review the 
history of the administrative and scientific 
control within the Survey. In the First 
Annual Report, Mr. King set forth a plan 
of organization based on grand geographic 
and geologic provinces. The work being 
then restricted to the national domain west 
of the 101st meridian, four divisions were 


-established, that of the Rocky Mountains 


under KEmmons, that of the Colorado under 
Dutton, that of the Great Basin under Gil- 
bert, and of the Pacific under Hague. Hach 
of these divisions corresponded to a province 
within which the geological phenomena had 
a certain unity of history and character, 
and it was wisely argued that the work in 
each should be directed by a geologist 
familiar with the special problems of the 
area entrusted to him. At the same time, 
the limited appropriations of the Survey 
and the adopted policy of surveying the 
most important mining districts led to a 
concentration of effort upon Leadville, Ku- 
reka, and the Comstock Lode, so that ini- 
tially comparatively little progress was 
made in solving the broad geologic prob- 
lems presented to each division. The 
principal contributions which the West 
yielded to the philosophy of the science 
were made by the surveys through whose 
consolidation the Geological Survey was 
created. With the growth of the Sur- 
vey and the addition to its corps of 
many of the leading minds in American 
geology, more numerous geographic divi- 
sions were established and their limits be- 
came more artificial. Thus in the Sixth 
Annual Report we find enumerated, in ad- 
dition to the ones first established, the 
Division of Glacial Geology (Chamberlin), 
the Division of Voleanic Geology (Dutton), 
the Division of the Crystalline Schists of 
the Appalachian and Lake Superior Regions 
(Pumpelly and Irving respectively), the 
Appalachian Region (Gilbert), and the 
Yellowstone Park (Hague). As divisions 


Aveust 17, 1900.] 


became more numerous and restricted, the 
administrative machinery became more 
complex, and the opportunities afforded the 
geologists in charge to study broad problems 
became more and more limited. Finally, 
it was found that the administrative rela- 
tions were not only difficult but expensive, 
since they involved the maintenance of in- 
dependent offices and clerks, and in the in- 
terests of economy and efficiency the system 
of geographic divisions was abolished in 
1893. In its place was substituted an or- 
ganization by parties, of which there were 
at first twenty and subsequently nearly 
double that number, each acting independ- 
ently of the other except in so far as they 
were all brought into co-operation through 
the Director and the Assistant in Geology. 
Broad co-ordination of scientific work was 
for the time being subordinated to the accu- 
mulation of facts, especially in the form of 
geologic maps, rather than to the consider- 
ation of philosophic problems. After six 
years of this activity in the working out of 
special problems, the time has come for 
broader supervision and co-ordination of 
work, and to this end the following ap- 
pointments have been made: Geo. F. 
Becker, Geologist in charge of Physical 
and Chemical Research ; T. C. Chamberlin, 
Geologist in charge of all Pleistocene Geol- 
ogy; S. F. Emmons, Geologist in charge 
of Investigation of Metaliferous Ores; C. 
Willard Hayes, Geologist in charge of In- 
vestigation of Non-Metaliferous Economic 
Deposits; T. W. Stanton, Paleontologist in 
charge of Paleontology; C. R. Van Hise, 
Geologist in Charge of Pre-Cambrian and 
Metamorphic Geology; Bailey Willis (As- 
sistant in Geology to the Director), Geol- 
ogist in charge of Areal Geology. 

The field of supervision of each geologist 
in charge is coextensive with the work of 
the Geological Survey and relates to all 
parties engaged in work connected with 
his special subject. His assistance in field 


SCIENCE. 


243 


or office work may appropriately be offered 
or invited. His opinion is to be considered 
authoritative in subjects under his super- 
vision, and his approval to any report may 
be required. This authority, however, is 
restricted to the scientific aspects of the 
work. Administrative direction remains 
as heretofore wholly in the hands of the 
director, and the work of the survey will 
proceed after the manner which has been 
found successful—of authorization of plans 
of operations after full consideration and 
conference upon estimates submitted by 
geologists in charge of parties. 

Under the organization now adopted, 
each geologist is at liberty to make full use 
of the facts which he observes within his 
field of operations, the degree of super- 
vision exerted by the geologist in charge of 
any particular subject to be duly credited 
in an appropriate manner. For the geolo- 
gists in charge the plan affords an oppor- 
tunity to study a special subject in all its 
aspects throughout the field of operations 
of the survey, either directly by personal 
observation or by conference with asso- 
ciates. This opportunity is unequaled in 
both multiplicity and magnitude of the 
phenomena presented to each specialist. 

In Scrence, Volume X., No. 242, August 
18, 1899, was given a somewhat detailed 
account of the geologic work of the survey. 
The following notes refer to extension of 
the work there described: 

In the Atlantic Coastal Plain work in 
the Mesozoic and later formations has been 
carried out in the Cape Cod district (Sha- 
ler), and in Maryland and Virginia (W. B. 
Clark). 

The investigations of Bascom, Dale, Em- 
erson, Hobbs, Keith, Kemp, Mathews, Wil- 
liams, and Wolff in the pre-Cambrian and 
metamorphic rocks of the Appalachian 
Range have been continued at various 
points from New England to Georgia. 

In the belt of folded Paleozoic strata of 


244 


the Appalachian Valley and Allegheny 
ranges no field work is now in progress ex- 
cept incidentally to the investigation of the 
Coal Measures. Folios of the Geologic 
Atlas, for which the data have been on 
hand, have recently been advanced to pub- 
lication. The detailed surveys of the Ap- 
palachian coal field (Campbell and David 
White) have, however, been pushed ener- 
getically in West Virginia, Kentucky, and 
Ohio. 

In the Lake Superior region the studies 
of the iron-bearing ranges begun under 
Irving are approaching completion. The 
work on the Vermillion Range, Minnesota 
(Van Hise and others) is nearly accom- 
plished, and the Mesabi district alone re- 
mains to be surveyed. The results of the 
survey of the Menominee district are pub- 
lished as a folio of the Geologic Atlas. 

The long continued investigation of the 
glaciated region is now bearing fruit ina 
series of monographs by Mr. Leverett, one 
of them having been published, another 
being ready for the printer, and the work 
on others being planned. 

The geology of Indian Territory is being 
studied in prosecution of surveys having 
for their initial purpose the determination 
of the stratigraphy and structure of the 
coal field. Three folios of the Geological 
Atlas have been prepared (Taff), and data 
for others are accumulating. 

The Black Hills has long been a center of 
much geologic interest. Detailed strati- 
graphic surveys of the Paleozoic and Mes- 
ozoic formations around all but the northern 
portion of the Hills have been very success- 
fully and carefully carried out (Darton), 
and there has resulted a report to be pub- 
lished in the twenty-first Annual, in which 
the facts of stratigraphy and structure are 
set forth with much detail and clearness. 

The detailed investigation of the Spear- 
fish and Sturgis quadrangles in the vicinity 
of Deadwood has resulted in an important 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 294. 


contribution to our knowledge of laccolithic 
intrusions (Jaggar), and the mining dis- 
tricts have been carefully examined (Em- 
mons and Iriving). 

The investigating of the Butte, Montana, 
mining district has been facilitated by the 
workings opened up during litigation, and 
advantage has been taken of this fact 
to study that interesting region exhaus- 
tively. A survey was also made of the 
Elkhorn district (Emmons and Weed). In 
connection with the examination of the 
copper deposits in general, those of the Ap- 
palachian Range have also been visited. 

In the San Juan Mountains of Colorado 
the work begun several years ago continues 
with accuracy and energy, and in con- 
nection with it special investigations have 
been made of the Silverton and Rico min- 
ing districts (Cross, Spencer, and Ransome). 
The publication of the Telluride folio marks 
a departure in the character of the Geologic 
Atlas, in as much as it contains a detailed 
record of the geologic facts (Cross, Puring- 
ton). 

In the Great Basin province, southern 
Nevada was traversed during a prolonged 
reconnaissance, the purpose of which was 
to secure data for the geologic map of the 
United States (Spurr). 

Where the Rio Grande traverses the 
mountain region of Texas it flows through 
a grand canyon, from which several parties, 
including those of the Boundary Surveys, 
turned back after vain efforts to traverse 
it. In the autumn of the past year this 
canyon was successfully studied and an 
important contribution to the geology of 
western Texas was thus made (Hill). 

In Washington the surveys of the Cas- 
cade Range were extended by the survey 
of the Mount Stuart quadrangle and the 
partial survey of the Snoqualmie quadrangle 
and the Tacoma folio was completed and 
published (Willis, Smith, and Mendenhall). 

In Oregon work in the Roseburg and 


Auaust 17, 1900. ] 


Coos Bay quadrangles having been com- 
pleted and the reports advanced to publi- 
cation, surveys were continued in the Port 
Orford quadrangle, covering the southwest- 
ern portion of the Klamath Mountains 

(Diller). 

‘In the Sierra Nevada and adjacent 
ranges, a survey was made of the Silver 
Peak quadrangle, Nevada, and additional 
work was done on the Yosemite and Mount 
Lyell quadrangles, California, in prepara- 
tion for final survey (Turner). 

In the vicinity of San Francisco the study, 
of the Coast Ranges was continued, and 
material prepared for publication as folios 
(Lawson). A reconnaissance was made 
of the Santa Lucia Range from Monterey 
to San Luis Obispo (Willis, Fairbanks). 

Alaska.—In the autumn of 1899 all the 
Alaskan parties returned after having suc- 
cessfully accomplished the tasks laid out 
for them without serious accident. Messrs. 
Peters and Brooks had traversed the 
northern foothills of the St. Elias Range, 
finding one of the most interesting features 
of the region to be a recently abandoned 
broad valley, trending northwest and south- 
east, across which the present streams now 
flow. The geology of the region, includ- 
ing formations from tke ancient metamor- 
phie schists to Tertiary deposits and asso- 
ciated igneous rocks, was studied along the 
route of progress, and occurrences of cop- 
per on the northern side of the Wrangel 
Alps were located. North of the Yukon a 
traverse was carried from Hagle City to the 
Koyukuk, and the headwaters of that 
stream, far beyond the Arctic Circle, were 
explored by Mr. Schrader. The general 
surface of the Yukon plateau was traced 
into the summits of high mountain ranges, 
and the distribution of the various geologic 
formations along the route made out. The 
reports of these expeditions are included in 
the Twenty-first Annual. Late in the au- 
tumn both Schrader and Brooks, hearing of 


SCIENCE. 


245 


the Cape Nome excitement, proceeded to 
Nome, and there, in spite of the wintry 
season, gathered data for a report, which 
was published as a special document during 
the winter. Plans for Alaskan work dur- 
ing the current fiscal year were matured as 
early as ‘Congressional action permitted, 
and at the present time Schrader, Spencer 
and Gerdine are entering the Copper River 
region to undertake a detailed topographic 
and geologic survey of the Chettyna dis- 
trict, while Messrs. Barnard, Peters, Brooks 
and Mendenhall, with a strong corps of as- 
sistants, are en route in the Coast Survey 
steamer Pathfinder to Golofnin Bay, to un- 
dertake a topographic and geologic survey 
of the Seward Peninsula, of which Nome 
is now the center of interest. In the prepara- 
tion and execution of these plans the Coast 
and Geodetic Survey and the Geological 
Survey have cordially co-operated to the 
great advantage and economy of the work. 

Hydrographic Work.—This branch of the 
Geological Survey is making systematic ex- 
amination of the water resources of the 
United States, considering water as a min- 
eral of fundamental economic importance. 
Not only are the fluctuations of surface 
streams being investigated, but the occur- 
rence of water underground, especially 
where reached by deep or artesian wells. 
During the past year this work has at- 
tracted widespread public attention, and the 
demand for data, both published and in proc- 
ess of completion, has been notable. This 
has come from all parts of the United States, 
but especially from the Appalachian region 
where water powers are being utilized, and 
from the arid region of the far West, where 
agricultural development depends upon ir- 
rigation. Engineers and investigators ap- 
preciate the importance of accurate data 
concerning the flow of streams and their 
fluctuations from season to season and from 
year to year. The recent disaster to the dam 
at Austin, Texas, which cost, with its acces- 


246 


sories, one and one-half millions of dollars, 
has lent tragic emphasis to this point. 

In 1888 the Director of the Geological 
Survey was authorized by Congress to ex- 
amine the arid region with reference to re- 
clamation of agricultural lands by irriga- 
tion. The initial appropriation of $100,000, 
which was raised to $250,000 in 1889, was 
discontinued for several years thereafter ; 
but having been restored in part, it has 
been from time to time increased, and of 
the $100,000 appropriated for hydrographic 
work a large part is expended in ascertain- 
ing the service of streams, in surveying 
reservoir sites, and determining the possi- 
bilities and cost of flood water storage in 
the West. 

During the present year a notable in- 
crease in hydrographic work is being made 
in the State of New York in co-operation 
with the office of the State Engineer and 
Surveyor. Streams tributary to the Mo- 
hawk and upper Hudson are being meas- 
ured, the data having importance not 
only in water power development, but alse 
in consideration of the quantity available 
for the deep waterway across the State. 
In the Southern Appalachian region the 
amount of water coming from the area 
which it is proposed to include within a 
National Park is being ascertained, this 
work being in addition to systematic meas- 
urement of streams entering the Atlantic 
Ocean, such for example as the Delaware, 
Susquehanna, Potomac, James and Savan- 
nah. Various important streams are also 
being measured along the head waters of 
the Ohio and Mississippi. 

Through co-operation of the Hydro- 
graphic and Geologic branches, the investi- 
gation of artesian water conditions about 
Black Hills is being continued, and plans 
are under consideration for similar studies 
of southern California and of the southern 
coastal plain of the Atlantic and Gulf 
States. BatLeEy WILLIs. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


SECOND REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE 
GERMAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY ON 
ATOMIC WEIGHTS. 

In 1897 a committee was appointed by 
the German Chemical Society to consider 
the subject of atomic weights with especial 
reference to securing uniformity for practi- 
cal analytical work. As a matter of fact 
two distinct standards were in use, H=1 
and O=16, and as the latest determina- 
tions of Morley had reduced the atomic 
weight of oxygen to 15.87 (H = 1) it made 
a decided difference in the atomic weights 
of the heavier elements which standard 
was used. This committee consisted of 
Landolt, Ostwald and Seubert, and to the 
surprise of many, their first report in No- 
vember, 1898, was unanimous in favor of 
the standard O=16. Up to this time 
Seubert himself had used and advocated 
H = 1 and the same was true of most Ger- 
man chemists. The two chief arguments 
for O=16 are: (1) many of the atomic 
weights are determined with reference to 
oxygen or readily reduced to oxygen stand- 
ard with little error, while reduction to hy- 
drogen brings in a new and unnecessary 
error, and necessitates a recalculation and 
new table every time the hydrogen-oxygen 
ratio is corrected, as it has been several 
times in the past few years; (2) if O= 16 
is taken, a large number of most frequently 
used atomic weights approximate very 
closely to whole numbers, simplifying cal- 
culations. 

A second point advocated by the com- 
mittee in the first report was that only 
so many figures should be given in the 
atomic weight of an element, as that the 
last figure should be correct within half a 
unit. In this report the suggestion was 
made of the desirability of international 
agreement, and a little later the society di- 
rected its committee to invite the co-opera- 
tion of the chief scientific bodies of the 
world who might be specially interested in 


Avaust 17, 1900. ] 


chemistry. Favorable responses were made 
and twenty different committees appointed. 
There were from America two (American 
Chemical Society and American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences) ; Belgium, two; Ger- 
many, five; England, one; Holland, one; 
Japan, one; Italy, one; Austro-Hungary, 
four; Russia,one; Sweden, one; Switzerland, 
one. Denmark, France and Norway alone 
made no response to the overtures. Alto- 
gether there were fifty-six members of the 
international committee. 

On December 15, 1899, a circular was ad- 
dressed to these members asking for opinions 
upon three points : 

1. Shall O = 16 be adopted as the stand- 
ard of atomic weights ? 

2. To how many decimal places shall the 
atomic weights be given? 

3. Is a smaller permanent committee on 
atomic weights desirable? 

Forty-nine replies were received. As re- 
gards the standard, forty favored O = 16, 
seven H=1, while Cannizzaro desired 
both, and Fresenius preferring O=16 
would be satisfied with either. It is inter- 
esting to note that six of the votes for 
H=1 were German, six other Germans 
voting for O=16. The only other vote for 
H=1 was from Professor Mallet. Of the 
other Americans Richards, Gibbs, Remsen 
and Smith, voted for O = 16, while Clarke 
and Morley made no reply. 

On the second point opinions differed so 
widely, that the committee was constrained 
to leave the décision to the smaller perma- 
nent international committee to be later 
appointed. Of the Americans, Richards, 
Gibbs and Remsen favor stating one figure 
which is uncertain by more than a unit, 
while Smith and Mallet would give only so 
many decimals that the last figure should 
be correct to less than half a unit. 

Views were practically unanimous in 
favor of a small permanent committee and 
the committee recommended the appoint- 


SCIENCE. 


247 


ment of a permanent committee of three 
chemists who have given special attention 
to the subject of atomic weights. 

In conclusion the committee express a 
desire to receive the opinions of chemists 
outside of the international committee as 
to their preferences for the standard. Such 
replies should be sent before November 
15th, to Professor Landolt, Berlin, N. W. 
Bunsenstrasse, 1. 

In this connection it is interesting to 
note that the work of this committee is the 
final outcome of an agitation which was be- 
gun in this country in 1889 by Dr. F. P. 
Venable ina paper published in the Jowrnal 
of Analytical Chemistry (3: 48), and which 
was taken up the following year by Dr. 
Brauner, of Prague, and very warmly dis- 
cussed before the German Chemical Society 
by Ostwald, V. Meyer, Seubert and Brauner. 
At that time Meyer and Seubert advocated 
H = 1 for the standard and this view has 
had many supporters in Germany but few 
elsewhere. The argument in its favor 
seems to be the impossibility from a didac- 
tic standpoint of taking sixteen as a unit. 
In his first paper Venable pointed out 
clearly the distinction between the idea of 
standard and unit, showing that a standard 
need not be a unit, and this view has been 
generally adopted by most chemists outside 


of Germany. 
ee Os is 


THE FOSSIL SHELLS OF THE LOS ANGELES 
TUNNEL CLAYS. 

Tue detection of a species of Radiolites, 
by Mr. Homer Hamlin, in the clays perfor- 
ated in the course of drifting the Third 
Street tunnel in the city of Los Angeles is 
a discovery of noteworthy importance by 
reason of its bearing upon the question of 
the geologic age of the region hereabout. 
These clays, which will be more fully 
described by Mr. Hamlin or myself when 
the tunnel excavation is completed, have 


248 


yielded other interesting forms—many ex- 
amples of a new species of Lima (L. Ham- 
lint Dall) of unusual size and of quite dis- 
tinct characteristics, as well as two of the 
three species of ‘Plagiostoma,’ described and 
figured by the late Dr. John B. Trask in 
the Proc. California Acad. Sciences in 1856. 
They were assigned by him to ‘the Cre- 
taceous rocks of Los Angeles’ County. 
These are listed (? as one and the same 
species) under the head of ‘Tertiary and 
Quaternary Mollusca,’ in Dr. J. G. Coop- 
er’s ‘Catalogue of Californian Fossils,’ * as 
Pecten Pedroanus Trask, Mioc.—‘San Pedro,’ 
with the remark, ‘may be an Aucella and 
Cretaceous.’ 

Dall + refers to Trask’s species ‘ P. Pedro- 
anus + P. annulatus’ and ‘ P. truncata’ in 
his comments on the Pectens of the West 
Coast in the ‘Tertiary Fauna of Florida,’ 
qualifiedly referring them to the Miocene. 
Dr. Cooper in his prefatory remarks to the 
Catalogue above quoted, says, ‘‘ It must be 
remarked that the exact geological position 
of many fossils in the Tertiary and Creta- 
ceous strata is still unsettled, there not be- 
ing such distinct divisions between them 
in California as in some other countries.”’ 

The Hippuritidee which Woodward placed 
in his Section B, Family VIII. of the Con- 
chifera, includes the genera, Hippurites and 
Radiolites of Lamarck as well as other more 
or less closely related groups, in the Order 
Rudistes of Lamarck. As these forms are 
but little known, it may be well to quote 
Woodward’s description of Radiolites, which 
is based on examples from the chalk beds of 
Europe, of which he has given figures in his 
Manual :{ ‘Shell inversely conical, biconic, 
or cylindrical; valves dissimilar instructure; 
internal margins smooth or finely striated, 


* Seventh Ann. Rep. State Mineralogist of Cal., 
1887-88, pp. 221-308. 

{ Trans. Wagner Free Inst. 
705, April, 1898. 

+ Recent and Fossil Shells. Ed., 1880, pp. 446-7. 


Part IV., Vol. III., p. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No, 294. 


simple, continuous ; ligamental inflection 
very narrow, dividing the deep and rugose 
cartilage pits; lower valve with a thick outer 
layer often foliaceous ; its cavity deep and 
straight, with two dental sockets and lateral 
muscular impressions; upper valve, flat or 
conical with a central umbo; outer layer 
thin radiated; umbonal cavity inclined to- 
wards the ligament; teeth angular, striated, 
supporting curved and subequal muscular 
processes.”’ 

The examples from the tunnel clays con- 
sist of the remains of four individuals, being 
portions of the lower valves of two, and the 
nearly perfect upper valve of a third. The 
fourth, also an upper valve, is in still better 
condition ; all are bedded in the clay, but 
are too fragile to admit of separation from 
the matrix. The upper valve is discoidal 
in shape and moderately convex, the umbo 
central ; the surface in the third example 
somewhat rugose, and exhibiting concentric 
growth-ridges and radiating sculpture; its 
diameter is about 47 mm., or an inch and 
three quarters. Inthe fourth (upper valve) 
the concentric sculpture is absent and the 
radiating feature more conspicuous; this 
consists of closely set thread-like ridges, 
which extend from the umbo to the extreme 
periphery of the valve, projecting somewhat 
beyond, forming a pectinated edge or mar- 
gin, as seen in certain finely sculptured 
Limpets and Siphonarias. The diameter 
of this last is slightly in excess of the other, 
being 49 mm. These upper valves were 
found at points so distant from the lower 
valves, as to warrant the conclusion that 
they were never connected, but are parts of 
separate individuals. 

But little is left of the lower valves; 
their concavity is shown by the casts in the 
clay. Portions of the curious foliaceous 
lamelle remain intact, so that their char- 
acter and relation to the outer surface of 
said valve is indicated. 

The umbos are central or nearly so, in 


Avueust 17, 1900. ] 


both upper and under valves, and the con- 
cavity of the latter is about twice as great 
as the convexity of the upper valve. 

Perhaps a better idea of the form and 
other features of the lower valve may be 
understood by the following: Take an 
elevated limpet-shell that is circular, or 
nearly so in marginal outline with an 
apex that is central. Cover the outside 
with closely-set radiating lamelle much 
elevated or produced, standing up at a 
right angle from the surface of the shell; 
the lamelle as thin as writing paper and 
projecting beyond the extreme margin or 
periphery. Now reverse this limpet-shell 
so that the concavity will be uppermost, 
and press it firmly into a rather compact 
clayey sea-bed and the general aspect of the 
lower valve of the Radiolite we are consid- 
ering, when in situ will be seen, and the 
function of these external lamelle sug- 
gested. Whether the lamelle, which are so 
closely set that the interspaces are about 
as narrow as the lamell are thin, are of 
calcareous or chitinous matter is a point for 
discussion. The texture of their surfaces, 
character of fracture, slight prismatic re- 
flections and the fact that they are ap- 
parently less perishable than the other por- 
tions, favor the latter or chitinous character. 

There are no indications tending to show 
that the lamellz were inclosed by an ex- 
terior wall, which would make them septs 
or partitions, and the inter-spaces cells. 
The lamellar as well as the other exposed 
parts are much discolored by ferro-oxide 
making it difficult to determine, so far as 
color is involved, whether the lamellx are 
of a calcareous or ligamentary substance, 
though the latter is suggested. 

“The foliations of the lower valve,’ of R. 
fleuriausus, according to Woodward, ‘‘are 
sometimes as thin as paper and several 
inches wide.”’ 

In the remains from the tunnel these are 
about five-eighths of an inch in width. 


SCIENCE. 


249 


In the related Chamade we find the 
various species fix their shells (lower 
valves), by means of a limey deposit, the 
same as the substance of their shells, to 
hard surfaces, cobble-stones, boulders, fixed 
rock, coral-fronds and to the surfaces of 
other shells. The grain, texture and lack 
of density in the ordinary clays are not 
favorable to attachment by a flat or hori- 
zontal caleareous deposit. The remarkable 
lamellar development in the Radiolites 
whether epidermidal or calcareous, meets 
this character of sea-bed, by the projection 
of the lamelle into the clay, and furnishes 
an interesting illustration of special adapta- 
tion to peculiarities of habitat or station, for 
by these lamelle which cover the entire 
surface (presumably) of the under valve, 
fixity is obtained in an effective manner. 

These forms probably lived where patches 
of the sea-bed of a clayey character pre- 
vailed, at a depth below the agitation of 
the water during storms. 

For a more thorough determination of 
the characters of this Radiolite, which for 
convenience may be called R. Hamlin, 
further material is awaited. While the 
conditions of the specimens thus far ob- 
tained does not admit of a complete diag- 
nosis, they are nevertheless sufficient to in- 
dicate the generic relations. These tunnel 
fossils point to relationship between the 
clays in which they occur, and the Walalla,* 
Mendocino county beds visited by Dr. G. 
F. Becker. The Walalla beds were found 
to contain fragments of the rare Corallio- 
chama Orcutti White, previously discovered 
by Mr. C. R. Oreutt at Todos Santos Bay, 
Lower California. C. Orcutti occurs at La 
Jolla, San Diego county, where specimens 
were collected some years ago by Mr. Ham- 
lin. 

Dr. Becker’s Walalla collection included 
other species as well as Coralliochama, and 


* Walalla is the Indian name: Gualalla, the U. S. 
Postoffice title. 


250 


these, in connection with the Orcutt and 
La Jolla localities, to quote the comments 
of Dr. White,* ‘seem to represent the 
fauna of a cretaceous formation, which has 
not heretofore been recognized,’ though 
Dr. Trask’s assignment of his species of 
‘ Plagiostoma’ to the Cretaceous should be 
borne in mind. 

Examples of Radiolites Hamlini have also 
been met with in the Broadway tunnel exca- 
vation. These tunnels which are several 
blocks apart, run in different directions ; 
that on the line of Third street being an 
east-and-west tunnel, while the Broadway, 
follows a northerly and southerly course ; 
both penetrate the high ridge overlooking 
the city, known as Fort Hill, the site of the 
earthworks thrown up by Fremont at the 
time of the ‘conquest’ of Southern Cali- 
fornia. 

The clays excavated on Shatto Heights 
in the preparation of a site for the Shatto 
mansion on Orange street are perhaps of a 
later age than those of the tunnels. The 
Shatto clays contained shells and sharks’ 
teeth ; the former were not saved by Mr. 
Shatto, and were covered up by the graders 
just before my visit in 1887. 

Rop’t E. C. Stearns. 

Los ANGELES, June 12, 1900. 


THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.{ 

Tuts year marks the completion of a cen- 
tury since the Royal College of Surgeons 
received its Royal charter of incorporation 
from George III.; and the centenary of 
that event, which, to be precise, happened 
March 22, 1800, has just been celebrated. 
But, though the present corporation can 
only claim a lifetime of 100 years, it can 
count its descent in a direct line back to a 
much more remote antiquity, for a Guild 
of Surgeons, whether technically incorpor- 

*Vide Bulletins 15 and 18, U. S. Geological 


Survey. 
t From the London Times. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


ated or not, seems to have been in existence 
in London more than six centuries ago, and 
to have existed ever since in one form or 
another. In 1368 mention occurs of the 
surgeons as a distinct body ; and the license 
without which they could not, apparently, 
practice in the City of London enjoins upon 
them, among other things, that they serve 
the people well and truly in their cures and 
only charge reasonable fees. The associa- 
tion of barbers and surgeons also dates from 
the same early times, and seems to have 
been a result of ecclesiastical influence. It 
would naturally be supposed that the 
Church would be the repository of the sur- 
gical knowledge of the day, just as it was 
of other science and art, and such indeed 
appears to have been the case until Inno- 
cent III. forbade priests to perform surgical 
operations, on the ground that the Church 
‘abhoret a sanguine.’ But the prohibition 
was not sufficient to make them give up 
all attempts to control surgical practice, 
and when they were shut off from em- 
ploying direct methods they had recourse 
to indirect ones. They began to ‘ push’ the 
barbers—a class of men of whose services 
they had, of course, constant need, and who 
were in the habit of performing minor 
surgical operations—and gradually erected 
them into a fellowship of barber-surgeons, 
a Barbers’ Guild being referred to as early 
as 1808 in the records of the City of Lon- 
don. As may easily be imagined, the cry 
of unqualified practitioners soon made itself 
heard, and various regulations were asked 
for to prevent unskilful persons from prac- 
ticing the art both by the surgeons and by 
the better sort of barber-surgeons, who evi- 
dently became differentiated from the others 
who were barbers pure and simple. 

Among the most important events in the 
history of this Guild of Surgeons were its 
combination with the physicians and the 
incorporation, about 1423, of the two into 
one distinct body to control all persons en- 


AvuGusT 17, 1900.] 


gaged in the practice of medicine and sur- 
gery. This commonalty of physicians and 
surgeons drew up elaborate regulations for 
the guidance of its members in the exercise 
of their profession, and sought to improve 
the standard of their knowledge by requiring 
them to pass examinations before they could 
be admitted to practice ; but it cannot have 
been a great success, for in a few years all 
traces of it disappear, and the previous cha- 
otic state of affairs is re-established. About 
1423 the Guild of Surgeons is heard of as a 
separate body making stringent professional 
regulations for its members, while in 1461 
the Barbers’ Company obtained a Royal 
Charter, in which various rights and privi- 
leges concerning the mystery or craft of 
surgery were confirmed to it, without any 
mention of the Guild of Surgeons. But 
the latter was far from extinet. In 1492 it 
obtained a grant of arms, the original of 
which is still in the Barbers-hall, and in 
1511 it was concerned in getting an Act 
passed which restricted any one from prac- 
ticing in the City of London or within 
seven miles of it unless examined and ap- 
proved by the Bishop of London, or the 
Dean of St. Paul’s assisted by professional 
assessors. But the surgeons got little 
thanks for their pains; they were accused 
of ‘minding only their own lucres’ and 
vexing ‘ divers honest persons, as well men 
as women, whom God hath endued with 
that knowledge of the nature, kind and 
operation of certain herbs, roots and waters,’ 
and in the end the statute was so modified 
as to be practically, abrogated. In 1540 
the surgeons and the barbers were united 
into one company, both, as the Act says, 
exercising surgery, but the latter incor- 
porated, the former not. The privileges 
granted to the barbers by their charter 
were confirmed and others were added— 
é. g., they were allowed to take the ‘ Bodyes 
of ffoure condemned persons yerely for 
Anatomies,’ while it was also enacted that 


SCIENCE. 


251 


‘“‘no manner of person within the City of 
London, suburbs and one mile therefrom 
using any barbery shall occupy any surgery, 
letting of blood, or any other thing belong- 
ing to surgery except drawing of teeth, nor 
any practising of surgery shall use any 
shaving.’ This shows clearly that, though 
the company was a union of the two 
bodies, the two professions were not merged 
together. At the same time constant efforts 
were evidently needed to keep them dis- 
tinct, and the surgeon part of the company 
was often troubled by attempts on the part 
of the barbers to usurp its functions. But 
the arrangement subsisted for over 200 
years, in spite of monetary embarrass- 
ments, difficulties in coping with quackery, 
and disputes with the physicians, who ob- 
jected to the surgeons giving internal medi- 
cines and declined to consult with them. 
In time, however, it began to be felt that 
the ‘union of the surgeons with the per- 
sons altogether ignorant of the science or 
faculty of surgery (as the Barbers are) ’ 
was not an advantage, and in 1684 a peti- 
tion was presented for the dissolution of 
the company. This was unsuccessful, and 
it was not till 1745 that a Bill to make the 
barbers of London and the surgeons of 
London separate and distinct corporations 
was agreed to by Parliament and received 
the Royal assent. 

The proper style of the new corporation 
was the ‘Masters, Governors, and Com- 
monality of the Art and Science of Sur- 
gery.’ It consisted of 21 assistants, of 
whom one was master, two were wardens, 
and ten were examiners. The master and 
wardens were elected annually ; but the as- 
sistants were appointed for life from the 
freemen. One of the first acts of the com- 
pany, which was not able to take anything 
from the Barber-surgeons in the way of hall, 
books, or plate, was to lease a piece of 
ground in the Old Bailey—conveniently 
contiguous to Newgate—and erect a lecture 


252 


theater thereon. This was first used in 
1751, the meetings of the court of assistants 
being meanwhile held in the hall of the 
Stationers’ Company. The company started 
in favorable circumstances; its fees were 
lower than was possible in the old com- 
pany, and its members were relieved from 
the onerous and expensive civic offices 
which formerly they were liable to serve. 
But for all that it did not prosper very 
greatly the cause being to a large extent 
mismanagement. At first its available 
funds were scanty, and in 1780 it was 
nearly insolvent. A new clerk, who was 
engaged at this time, affected a great change 
in this respect; but as the finances im- 
proved new methods of spending money 
were discovered—e. g., assistants attending 
punctually at the meetings of the court 
were rewarded with half-a-crown, later 
with half-a-guinea, while meetings of the 
courts, in some years held almost once a 
fortnight, were supplemented with expen- 
sive dinners at the sole cost of the com- 
pany. Yet while this sort of thing was 
going on the lecture theater was without 
lectures, and the library without books. 
In 1796 the buildings were found to be 
very much out of repair, and it was sug- 
gested that rather than spend money on 
them it would be better to sell the lease of 
the land on which they stood and purchase 
freehold ground elsewhere on which to 
erect new premises. Accordingly bids were 
invited, but at the very meeting at which 
it was announced that no one of them 
reached the amount fixed on, the company, 
by a final act of mismanagement, succeeded 
in destroying itself. On July 7, 1896,a 
court, not constituted according to the Act, 
assembled and transacted business, the re- 
sult being to determine the corporation’s 
legal existence. Attempts were made to 
legalize the irregularity by a new Act 
which also conferred new powers, but they 
were defeated by the opposition of persons 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


who were in practice without holding the 
diploma of the company. In the mean- 
time the property in the Old Bailey was 
sold and a freehold house in Lincoln’s-inn- 
fields—on the site of which stands part of 
the present Royal College—was purchased. 
But, as the result of the rejection of its 
Bill, the company found itself very awk- 
wardly situated, for its business was ata 
standstill, it could hold no examinations, 
and many of its members declined to pay 
their dues. Ultimately a compromise was 
affected between the court of assistants 
and the opponents of the Bill, and it was 
agreed that a new Act should be sought 
converting the old company into a college. 
All practitioners in England and Wales 
were to be subject to its examinations, 
lectures on anatomy were to be given on a 
more extended scale, and a library and 
museum were to be formed. After these 
terms had been arranged it occurred to 
some one that a Royal charter was prefer- 
able to an Actof Parliament. Accordingly 
a charter was sought and granted, March 
22, 1800. 

In this way was constituted the ‘ Royal 
College of Surgeons in London,’ for the 
promotion of the study and practice of the 
art and science of surgery. The number of 
members in 1800 was about 230, all those 
who belonged to the old company having 
the right to become members, though sub- 
sequent candidates for membership had to 
pass a prescribed examination. The court 
of examiners, whose members held office 
for life, had also to examine all Army 
and Navy surgeons, their assistants and 
mates, and also to inspect their instru- 
ments. This constitution remained prac- 
tically unaltered until 1843, the changes 
introduced by the supplementary charter 
of 1822 being merely the substitution of 
the titles of president and vice-presidents 
for the old ones of master and governors, 
and the permission to the college to hold 


Aveust 17, 1900.] 


land and rents in mortmain to the annual 
value of £2000 instead of £1000. It was 
not, however, completely satisfactory to 
the general body of members, and it was 
felt to be somewhat too narrow and oli- 
garchical in character. The governing 
body, though it had very great authority 
in the affairs of the college, was small and 
self-elected, and its members held their 
position for life; it was composed of sur- 
geons connected with the metropolitan 
hospitals, and teachers in private and pro- 
vincial schools did not think they enjoyed 
all the privileges to which they were fairly 
entitled. But, though a Parliamentary 
committee investigated the matter in 1834, 
nothing was done until 1843, when a new 
charter established a more democratic form 
of government. The title was altered to 
the Royal College of Surgeons of England, 
and a new class of ‘ Fellows’ was created. 
The council, which was to be selected from 
among these, was increased to 24, and the 
three senior members were to retire every 
year, though they were eligible for re-elec- 
tion. No Fellow practicing pharmacy or 
midwifery could be on the council. The 
constitution of the court of examiners also 
was altered; its members were to be se- 
lected from the general body of Fellows 
and not exclusively, as formerly, from the 
council, while the office was to be held not 
for life but at the pleasure of the council. 
The charter ordained that between 250 
and 300 members should be selected to be 
Fellows within three months, and it gave 
the council further powers to appoint a 
number of other members to be Fellows 
within the succeeding nine months. The 
first Fellows, of whom three still survive, 
were appointed on December 11, 1843, 
mainly from the surgeons and lecturers 
at metropolitan and provincial hospitals, 
while in August, 1844, a further batch of 
242 were selected, including a number of 
representatives of the naval, military and 


SCIENCE. 


253 


Indian forces. Of these also three survive. 
All subsequent Fellows were admitted only 
after examination. Some slight modifica- 
tion of these arrangements was brought 
about by the charter of 1852, which gave 
the council power to elect members of 15 
years’ standing to the Fellowship without 
examination, provided they had obtained 
their diplomas of membership before 1848 ; 
also to elect two Fellows annually who 
were members of over 20 years’ standing 
without restriction as to the date of their 
diplomas. A supplementary charter in 
1859 regulated the appointment of exam- 
iners in dental surgery, and a fresh one in 
1888 increased the annual value of the 
land that might be held by the college to 
£20,000. The final modification in the 
constitution took place this year, when the 
council was empowered to elect honorary 
Fellows to a number not exceeding 50. 
The first of these is the Prince of Wales. 

Since 1800 there have been 61 masters or 
presidents of the college, who have included 
the most distinguished surgeons of the time. 
The great majority only held office for a 
year, but in six cases the term was three 
years and in one four; Sir William Mac- 
Cormac, therefore, who is now the president, 
has exceeded all his predecessors in length 
of service, for the present centenary year 
marks his fifth year of office. John Hun- 
ter, perhaps the greatest surgeon that has 
ever lived, was never a member of the col- 
lege, because he died before its incorpora- 
tion; yet he may be accounted its greatest 
ornament. His famous anatomical collec- 
tions, greatly enlarged, but still arranged 
on the simple plan he devised, are housed 
within its walls. At his death Parliament, 
tardily enough, voted £15,000 for their pur- 
chase and entrusted them to the keeping of 
the old Corporation of Surgeons. When 
this was dissolved they were handed over to 
the custody of the present college, which 
has proved itself worthy of the trust. The 


\ 


254 


museum as Hunter left it contained 13,682 
preparations arranged in two divisions— 
normal structures and abnormal structures ; 
now the number of preparations has been 
doubled, though the museum is still only an 
expansion of Hunter’s. Over and over 
again—notably in 1835, 1847, and 1888— 
the college has added new buildings to ac- 
commodate the ever-increasing collections, 
and in the successive conservators it has 
appointed—W. Clift, Richard Owen, J. T. 
Quekett, William Flower and Charles Stew- 
art—it has had the good fortune to find 
men of the highest scientific attainments 
who have watched over them with unceas- 
ing care. To the first of these, admirers of 
Hunter are specially indebted, for he was 
the means of preserving a great part of 
Hunter’s anatomical writings. Originally 
included with the collections, they were 
borrowed by Sir E. Home, Hunter’s execu- 
tor, who used them for the manufacture of 
papers and lectures, to which he attached 
his own name, and then burnt them so as to 
remove the evidence of his dishonorable 
conduct. Clift, however, had made copious 
extracts from the MSS., and in this way an 
authentic record of about half their sub- 
stance has been preserved. The college 
possesses many memorials of Hunter, in- 
cluding a very fine portrait of him by Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, his consulting chair, 
clock, pocket-scales, lancet-case, etc. His 
‘name and fame’ are celebrated by a bien- 
nial ‘Hunterian Oration,’ while numerous 
Hunterian lectures are delivered in ac- 
cordance with the conditions on which the 
collections were entrusted to the college. 
Another service rendered to the cause of 
surgical knowledge by the college is to be 
found in the splendid library it has formed 
and maintains. This originated in a small 
grant of £50 made at the very beginning of 
this century; it now contains 50,000 vol- 
umes, including journals and transactions 
of scientific societies. Finally, reference 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


must be made to the college’s important 
share in examining and licensing physicians 
and surgeons to practice. This portion of 
its functions is carried on jointly with the 
Royal College of Physicians—a return to an 
arrangement 400 years old—the examina- 
tions being mostly held in the examination 
hall built on the Thames Embankment in 
1886, at the joint expense of the two bodies. 
Here not only is medical knowledge tested 
but its sum increased, for the hall includes 
extensive laboratories for original research, 
where materials are supplied at the expense 
of the colleges to any of their Fellows or 
members who obtain permission to work in 
them. In addition anti-toxic serum is pre- 
pared for the hospitals of the Metropolitan 
Asylums Board and for various general and 
children’s hospitals, the cost of the latter 
supply being defrayed by a grant from the 
Goldsmiths’ Company. 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF SURGERY.* 

One hundred years have passed since the 
charter granted by King George III. in- 
corporated the surgeons of England into a 
Royal College, whereby the art and science 
of surgery might be the better cultivated 
aud the commonweal of the people of this 
kingdom benefited. 

We meet to-day in order to celebrate the 
centenary of our incorporation, and the oc- 
casion compels us to reflect how far the 
College has fulfilled its high mission and 
merited the public consideration and confi- 
dence it enjoys, and, as we believe, deserves 
to enjoy, through unselfish service to the 
State. 

My first and most pleasant duty is to 
welcome our illustrious guests who have 
come from many and distant countries to 
do honor to our College. Amongst them 

* Address of welcome on the occasion of the cente- 
nary festival of the Royal College of Surgeons of Eng- 


land, delivered by the president, Sir Willlam Mac- 
Cormac and published in the British Medical Journal. 


Aveust 17, 1900.] 


are great surgeons from almost all nations, 
men who not only hold the highest pro- 
fessional position in their respective coun- 
tries, but whose public record has made 
their name familiar to us all, while many 
of them are dear personal friends. 

We have guests, too, our own country- 
men, whom we delight to honor, dignitaries 
of the Church and of the Law, and heads 
of our ancient seats of learning. Although 
I cannot enumerate all, I can and do ex- 
tend to each and every one the most cor- 
dial welcome, and would wish to express 
our grateful appreciation of their presence 
amongst us. 

An occasion like this possesses historic 
interest. We contrast our present position 
with that of our predecessors, and rightly 
congratulate ourselves on our greater knowl- 
edge and opportunities, on the facilities we 
enjoy for investigating the mystery of dis- 
ease, and for its more effective treatment. 

The comparison enables us to realize, as 
only such a comparison can, the extent of our 
gains and our increased opportunities for 
doing good. It leads us at the same time to 
recognize, as we ought, how large a debt we 
owe to the workers who have preceded us 
for so many of those happy results which 
are now matters of daily accomplishment. 

The progress of surgery has been greater 
during the present century, more especially 
in the latter portion of it, than in all the 
preceding centuries combined, and it is of 
especial interest to us to note that this 
period of rapid advancement exactly cor- 
responds with the life-history of our Col- 
lege, whose Centenary we are assembled to 
commemorate. 

If we look back—and it is well to look 
back sometimes—we find in the labors of 
the old masters of surgery much to en- 
lighten, to widen, and to confirm our views. 
A knowledge of the history of our art and 
science tends to make us juster judges both 
of our own work and that of others. 


SCIENCE. 


255 


When we search the history of the de- 
velopment of scientific truth we learn that 
no new fact or achievement ever stands by 
itself, no new discovery ever leaps forth in 
perfect panoply, as Minerva did from the 
brow of Jove. 

Absolute originality does not exist, and 
a new discovery is largely the product of 
what has gone before. 


We may be confident that each forward step is not 
ordered by one individual alone, but is also the out- 
come in a large measure of the labors of others. The 
history of scientific effort tells us that the past is not 
something to look back upon with regret—something 
lost, never to be recalled—but rather as an abiding 
influence helping us to accomplish yet greater suo- 
cesses. 


Again and again we may read in the 
words of some half-forgotten worthy the 
outlines of an idea which has shone forth 
in later days as an acknowledged truth. 

We see numerous instances of this in the 
history of surgery. Some fellow-worker in 
years long past has discovered a new fact 
or indicated the path leading to a fresh 
truth. It is forgotten, and a century later 
something nearly the same, or mayhap a 
little better, is discovered afresh. The 
psychological moment has arrived, and the 
discoverer reaps the reward, not only of his 
own labors, but of those of his predecessors 
as well. 

The countless trials and experiments 
which ended in the general use of ether 
and chloroform in surgery, that trebly- 
blessed discovery of asure relief from pain, 
were guided by the experience of previous 
trials, half successful, half failures. 

The patient labor of our distinguished 
Fellow, Lord Lister, now President of the 
Royal Society, has been rewarded by a suc- 
cess to which all the world does homage, 
and which will crown his head with im- 
perishable laurels. Yetnone will be readier 
than Lord Lister to acknowledge how much 
the antiseptic methods of wound treatment 


256 


owe to the researches and discoveries of 
Pasteur. 

If we examine the old books we may find 
again and again something very near to 
what is the accepted doctrine of the present 
time. History, it is said, repeats itself, and 
so very certainly does surgery. The diffi- 
culty of discovering anything new is as 
great in surgery as in other branches of 
knowledge. Hippocrates (460 B.C.), the 
Father of Medicine, classified injuries of 
the skull in much the same way as that 
adopted in our modern text-books. He 
spoke of contusions of the cranium without 
fracture or depression, of simple fractures, 
depressed fractures, indented fractures in- 
volving the outer table alone, and fractures 
at a distance from the seat of injury which 
we now style fractures by contre-coup, a 
classification which leaves but a small mar- 
gin for improvement. 

Many of the surgical instruments found 
in Pompeii are precisely similar in principle, 
if not quite equal in workmanship, to those 
now in use, and Pompeii was destroyed 
1800 years ago (A. D. 79). 

Heliodorus, who lived at the beginning 
of the second century A. D., in the time of 
the Emperor Trajan, was a surgeon of much 
originality, and appears to have been famil- 
iar with some of our modern methods and 
discoveries. He knew, for instance, of the 
ligature of arteries, of the radical cure of 
hernia by extirpation of the sac, and of 
the excision of a rebellious stricture of the 
urethra. 

Oribasius, who flourished in the middle 
of the fourth century, A. D., was the friend 
and physician of the Emperor Julian. He 
has preserved for us the work of Antyllus, 
whose treatment of aneurysm by ligature of 
the vessel above and below the sac, with 
subsequent incision and evacuation of its 
contents, has of late years been revived with 
success, and is still considered by many of 
our surgeons as the best method of treat- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


ment in certain cases. One might cite other 
examples of old methods consciously or un- 
consciously revived, but these may perhaps 
suffice. : 

The modern specialist finds his prototype 
in very ancient times, and what we are apt 
to regard as a recent development is in re- 
ality a survival. Herodotus tells us that 
in Egypt there were as many branches of 
the profession as there are parts of the hu- 
man body. 

In Europe, until the rise of the Italian 
Universities, surgery was mainly in the 
hands of peripatetic charlatans, who cut 
for stone and operated on hernia. They 
travelled from town to town, kept their 
methods secret, and handed them down as 
family property to their descendants. 

The Hippocratic oath restricted the per- 
formance of lithotomy to those who had es- 
pecially devoted their whole energies to the 
cultivation of this operation, and may partly 
serve to explain this remarkable survival. 
Some of these ‘ cutters’ were skilful men, 
but all were of necessity very ignorant. 

A very famous ‘cutter,’ whose name we 
do not know, died in Genoa in 1510, and 
Senerega, the Genoese historian, tells us 
that his method was to introduce an iron 
rod along the urethra into the bladder un- 
til it touched the stone, which he then ex- 
tracted through a perineal wound. It has 
been suggested that this Genoese taught 
his method to John of Cremona, who is 
credited with the invention of the grooved 
staff. 

One of the most celebrated ‘ cutters’ was 
Pierre Franco, who was born in Provence 
about 1500, A. D. He used a staff and cut 
on the gripe as well, and employed instru- 
ments for the purpose of crushing large 
stones. He was a man of determination 
and resource, for he relates a case of a 
boy in whom having failed to remove a 
stone by way of the perineum, he success- 
fully performed the suprapubic operation. 


Auaust 17, 1900.] 


The stone was the size of a hen’s egg, and 
the patient subsequently made a good re- 
covery. 

Colot was appointed lithotomist to the 
Hotel Dieu of Paris in 1556. He had learnt 
what is known as the ‘ Marian operation’ 
from an itinerant quack, and he practiced 
the method with, it is said, much success. 
The office and the secret descended to his 
son and to his grandson. 

In the great Metropolitan Hospitals—in 
St. Bartholomew’s and St. Thomas’s for 
instance—persons were at one time specially 
appointed for the purpose of cutting for 
stone. 

John Bamber, who lived during the reigns 
of William III., Queen Anne, George I. and 
George II., was the last of the special lithot- 
omists at St. Bartholomew’s. He resigned 
his office in 1730 and his duties were trans- 
ferred to the surgeons of the hospital, who 
were specially paid a small stipend each 
year as lithotomist until 1868. Bamber’s 
portrait by Verelst may be seen at Hatfield 
House, and Lord Salisbury inherits some 
portion of his property through an heiress 
of this line who married a Marquess of Salis- 
bury. 

At St: Thomas’s Hospital certain of the 
surgeons were specially appointed to cut 
for stone, but before the year 1730 there 
appears to have been a special ‘surgeon for 
the stone,’ and the first of these was James 
Molins, who held a similar office at St. 
Bartholomew’s. There is, indeed, no end 
to the matters of interest in the history of 
our art. 

The great French surgeon, Guy de Chau- 
liac, who was born about 1300 A. D., studied 
at the three most famous centers of learning 
of that time—Bologna for anatomy, Paris 
for its surgery, and Montpelier for medicine. 
He travelled much, but finally settled at 
Avignon, where he became physician in 
succession to Pope Clement VI., and after- 
wards to Pope Innocent and Urban. It 


SCIENCE. 


207 


was in Avignon that he wrote his ‘ Great 
Surgery,’ and in a special chapter of this 
work he records opinions which have an 
application even in the circumstances of 
our own times. ‘‘ Formerly,” he says, “all 
medical writers were both physicians and 
surgeons—that is to say, well educated 
men; but since then surgery has become a 
separate branch and fallen into the hands 
of mechanics.”’ 

It is interesting to find from Guy that 
there were in his day exponents of that 
modern foolishness called ‘ Christian Sci- 
ence.’ These Guy describes as ‘ consisting 
of women and many fools.’ They refer 
the sick of all diseases to the saints, saying : 

Le Seigneur me I’a donné ainsi qu’il Luia plu. Le 
Seigneur me l’ostera quand il Lui plaira, le nom du 
Seigneur soit benit. Amen. 

As a striking instance of my thesis I may 
take the great French military surgeon, 
Ambroise Paré. We know his title to fame 
in substituting the ligature of arteries for 
the use of the hot iron in the arrest of heem- 
orrhage. We know also the story of how 
he forbade the barbarous practice of pour- 
ing boiling oil into gunshot wounds, due to 
the then prevailing belief that these wounds 
were poisoned, a belief revived with almost 
every war, even the latest war in South 
Africa. Paré had been apprenticed to a pro- 
vincial barber at the age of 9. Soon after- 
wards he came to Paris, attended lectures at 
the Faculty of Medicine, and gained admis- 
sion to the Hétel Dieu. He lived there asa 
dresser for three years, ‘ seeing and knowing 
a great variety of diseases constantly being 
brought there.’ He was only 19 when he 
accompanied the King, Francois I., into 
Provence to meet the army of Charles Y. 
He was attached to the Courts of four Kings 
of France, and, although a Huguenot, was 
spared at the Massacre of St. Bartholomew 
by the direct intervention of Charles IX. 

Itis interesting to learn that Dionis, more 
than one hundred years after Paré’s time, 


258 


was urging at the Hotel Dieu the adoption 
of arterial ligature in place of the caustic 
even then in vogue. Dionis too, although 
he advised the Marian operation for stone, 
considered that the risks of the suprapubic 
method had been overestimated, an opinion 
revived and insisted on by Sir Henry 
Thompson in our own time. 

Weall remember J. L. Petit (1674-1750), 
who invented the tourniquet known by his 
name in the early part of the last century, 
and Anel, who tied the branchial artery 
for traumatic aneurysm at the bend of the 
elbow, upon which procedure a claim was 
based for priority over Hunter, though 
Hunter’s operation is wholly distinct in the 
principle involved. 

Towards ‘the end of the eighteenth cen- 
tury Desault, who nearly lost his life in the 
Revolution, was the leading French sur- 
geon. He was accused of poisoning the 
wounds of some of his revolutionary pa- 
tients in the Hétel Dieu, and to be accused 
was in those times almost the same thing 
as being condemned. Desault, whose fame 
has been eclipsed by the brilliance of his 
pupil Bichat, was the first surgeon to teach 
surgical anatomy after the modern manner, 
although the great French hospital where 
he practiced was described at that time as 
‘the oldest, largest, richest, and worst hos- 
pital in Kurope.’ I need not refer to more 
recent and greatly honored names—Dupuy- 
tren, Velpeau, Nélaton, and many others. 

In Germany, even so recently as 100 
years ago, surgery was at a low ebb. 
George Fischer tells us that quacks of all 
kinds, ‘ cutters’ for stone and hernia, cata- 
ract operators, and bonesetters, flourished 
intheland. The public executioner, whose 
business it was to fracture bones and dis- 
locate joints on the rack, was supposed 
thereby to have acquired a knowledge of 
disorders of these parts, and was consulted 
freely about them—so much so that Freder- 
ick the Great in 1744 published a decree 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


limiting the powers of these men, and while 
permitting them to treat fractures, wounds 
and ulcers, forbade them to practice medi- 
cine. Hildanus (1560-1634), who lived in 
Germany at the end of the sixteenth and 
beginning of the seventeenth century, has 
been called the Father of German surgery. 
He was a voluminous writer, a bold operator 
and his Opera Omnia was a work of refer- 
ence for many years. Heister (1683-1758), 
a surgeon of much note in the eighteenth 
century, wrote a General Surgery, which en- 
joyed much repute, and was translated into 
English. Bilguer (1720-1796), a surgeon- 
general in the German army was noted for 
opposing the indiscriminate amputation of 
limbs then in vogue for gunshot fracture 
of the extremities, which his predecessor 
Schmucker had warmly advocated and 
practiced to an inordinate extent. 

Towards the end of the eighteenth cen- 
tury Von Siebold (17386-1807), a famous 
surgeon, who enjoyed great repute as a 
clinical teacher and operator, taught anat- 
omy at Wurzburg and about the same 
time Richter (1742-1812) was Professor of 
Surgery at Gottingen. Richter had tray- 
elled much, was familiar with the work 
done in England and France, and was the 
best writer and teacher of hisday. He was 
the first to place surgery in Germany ona 
truly scientific basis. Of those German 
surgeons whose names still fill our ears with 
their fame, and whose loss we have recently 
deplored —Stromeyer, Langenbeck, Bill- 
roth, Volkmann, Thiersch, Nussbaum and 
others—I could only repeat what all of you 
know as well as or better than I. 

The first English surgeon of whom we 
possess any definite knowledge, and whose 
writings are still in existence, is John of 
Arderne. He was born in 1307. He must 
have been an accurate and close observer, 
to judge by the graphic description he 
furnishes of cancer of the rectum. He 
Says: 


Aveust 17, 1900.] 


It breeds within the fundament with great hard- 
ness, but with little pain. After a time it is ulcerat, 
oftentimes all the circumference, and the excrement 
goeth out continuallie. 


He gives a true and telling description of 
how the condition is to be diagnosed, and of 
the progress and termination of the disease. 

It is noteworthy how many of the older 
surgeons who attained eminence spent part 
of their career in the army or navy. Wil- 
liam Clowes (1540-1604), who was Surgeon 
to St. Bartholomew’s, had been surgeon in 
the navy, and wrote A Proved Practice for 
all Young Chirurgeons concerning Burnings 
with Gunpowder and Wounds made with Gun- 
shot, and he refers to Ambroise Paré in 
terms of admiration. 

The greatest English surgeon of the 
seventeenth century was Richard Wiseman 
(1622-1676). He served in the Dutch 
navy till 1644, and then entered the army 
of Charles I. Afterwards he spent three or 
four years in the Spanish navy, and on the 
Restoration joined the forces of Charles II., 
by whom he was appointed one of his sur- 
geons. He published many treatises, which 
exercised a considerable influence on Eng- 
lish surgery, but were little known abroad. 

William Cheselden (1688-1752) was a 
surgeon of great renown in England in the 
early part of the eighteenth century. He 
was Surgeon and Lecturer at St. Thomas’s 
Hospital. In 1723 he published a treatise 
on the high operation for stone, but he 
soon abandoned this for the lateral method, 
which he so much perfected and improved 
that the operation remains at the present 
time much as he left it. 

Percivall Pott (1714-1788) was the 
famous English surgeon of the middle por- 
tion of the last century. He was Surgeon 
to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and made 
many and most important contributions to 
surgery, especially on hernia and on injuries 
to the head. His name remains attached 
40 many surgical disorders. 


SCIENCE. 


259 


Of John Hunter (1728-1793) no detailed 
mention is required here. His memory and 
his methods continue a living influence 
amongst us. He made our surgery a science, 
and has given to us in our Museum an im- 
perishable memorial of his industry. In it 
are illustrated those marvellous powers of 
observation which had never before been 
equalled, and will never in all probability 
be surpassed. So long as surgery continues, 
Hunter’s influence must be felt. It is wit- 
nessed in the creation of so many disting- 
uished disciples imbued with his principles 
and able to expound his doctrines. He 
embodies and represents the glory of our 
science, our College, and our country. 

The historical summary I have attempted 
would not be complete without some ac- 
count of the connection existing between 
the Surgeons and the City of London, which 
appears to have continued quite without 
interruption since the middle of the four- 
teenth century until the foundation of the 
Surgeons’ Company in 1745. There are 
many entries in the City records of the ad- 
mission by the Lord Mayor of surgeons and 
master surgeons to practice in the City of 
London, and the license thus granted ex- 
acted a promise “ that they should well and 
truly serve the people in their cures, and 
report to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen 
any surgeon neglecting his patients.” 

In 1416 the Craft of Barbers practising 
surgery petitioned the Lord Mayor and A1- 
dermen “to provide a sure remedy against 
unskilful persons who indiscreetly pretend- 
ed to be wiser than the Masters of Surgery, 
and who expose the sick to the greatest 
danger of death or maim by their presump- 
tion.”’ The City took immediate and, as 
we learn, successful action on this petition. 

The City recognized the distinction be- 
tween barbers and surgeons, for they ap- 
pointed masters of surgery to control 
those practising surgery only, and other 
masters were annually selected to super- 


260 


vise those practising barbery. Early in the 
fifteenth century the surgeons appear as a 
distinct body, and in 1423 a College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, which had been 
founded chiefly through the influence of 
John Morstede, a surgeon who accompanied 
Henry V. to Agincourt, was formally sanc- 
tioned by the Lord Mayor, and powers 
granted to it to examine and control per- 
sons practising medicine and surgery in 
the City of London. The Livery Company 
of Barber-Surgeons was founded in 1540, 
and its Hall in Monkswell Street is still 
standing, and it escaped destruction in the 
Great Fire of London. The famous picture 
of Hans Holbein of Henry VIII. delivering 
the Charter of the Company to the as- 
sembled barber-surgeons is still there, where 
until recently one might see the old theater, 
where lessons in anatomy were read upon 
the bodies of executed malefactors. 

Thomas Vicary (149(?)-1561), Sergeant- 
Surgeon to the King, the first Master of this 
Company, was a wise and honest gentle- 
man. He held a unique position at St. 
Bartholomew’s, and there is in Holbein’s 
picture at the Barber Surgeons’ Hall a 
characteristic portrait of him. Vicary was 
succeeded by Thomas Gale(1507-1587), who 
had served with the army of Henry VIII. 
in France in 1544, and under Philip II. of 
Spainin 1577. In his Institutions of Chirur- 
geons there is an account of wounds made 
by gunshot. He opposed the view that 
they are poisoned, and gives cases to prove 
that bullets may be left for long in the 
body without danger. 

The Barber-Surgeons appear to have 
borne their due share in the City pageants. 
At one given at the Restoration, the Lord 
Mayor and aldermen appointed that the 
Company should provide ‘twelve of the 
most grave and comlyest personages, ap- 
pareled with velvet coats, sleeves of the 
same, and chaynes of gold, to attend the 
Lord Mayor on horseback.’’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 294. 


Mr. Edward Arris, an Alderman and 
Barber-Surgeon, had a great desire to in- 
crease the knowledge of Chirurgery, and to 
this intent bequeathed to the Company a 
sum to found lectures, in 1645, on anatomy, 
on condition that a ‘humane’ body should 
once in every year be publicly dissected. 
The Gale Lecture was founded by John 
Gale a little later, in 1655,and Havers, well 
known for his description of the canals in 
bone, since called Haversian, was appointed 
the first reader. The Arris and Gale Lec- 
tures are still annually delivered in this 
College, for when the Surgeons finally sepa- 
rated from the Barbers in 1745 they carried 
nothing with them but the Arris and Gale 
bequests. The hall, library, and plate re- 
mained the property of the Barbers, and 
the new Company of Surgeons had to make 
a fresh start in the world. 

The Act of Parliament separating the Sur- 
geons from the Barbers became a law in 
1745, and a Corporation was established 
consisting of a master, governors, and Com- 
monalty of the Art and Science of Surgery 
in London. 

John Ranby, one of the prime movers in 
effecting the change, became the first Mas- 
ter. He was Sergeant-Surgeon to George 
II., and accompanied that monarch to 
the battle of Dettingen in 1743. The 
other active mover was Cheselden, Sur- 
geon to Queen Charlotte’s, to Chelsea, and 
St. Thomas’s Hospitals. The first meeting 
of the new Company was held in the Sta- 
tioners’ Hall, July 1, 1745. Mr. Ranby, 
as Master, occupied the chair, and Mr. 
Cheselden and Mr. Sandford were his 
wardens. 

Ten examiners were appointed to conduct 
the examinations of those seeking the di- 
ploma of the newly-constituted Company, 
and this number is continued in the present 
Court of Examiners. Part of their duty 
was to examine surgeons for His Majesty’s 
army and navy, and the examination of 


Avaust 17, 1900. ] 


surgeons for those services, which had been 
instituted in the reign of Henry VIII., was 
continued for a long time by the Court of 
Examiners until other arrangements were 
made at a comparatively recent date. It 
was for this examination, I may note in 
passing, that Oliver Goldsmith presented 
himself in order to qualify as a naval sur- 
geon’s mate, December 21,1758. He was 
unsuccessful, and it was well perhaps, 
since he could scarcely have written The 
Vicar of Wakefield in the cockpit of a man- 
of-war. In Roderick Random we possess a 
graphic and probably fairly correct descrip- 
tion of one of these examinations, derived, 
doubtless, from Smollett’s personal experi- 
ence, as he obtained the Company’s diploma 
for a post of surgeon in His Majesty’s navy. 

The Surgeons established themselves in 
the Old Bailey, and there they built a 
theater. In 1753 Percivall Pott and John 
Hunter were chosen as the first Masters in 
Anatomy, and no more brilliant choice 
could have been made. It is recorded that 
immediately after this election the Court 
proceeded to discuss how they should dis- 
pose of the bodies of three persons who 
were to be executed a few days afterwards 
for ‘murder,’ and then sent to the College 
theater to be dissected. Amongst these 
brought in this way was that of Lord Fer- 
rers, executed in 1760 for killing his stew- 
ard. It was not, however, dissected, but 
buried in Old St. Pancras Churchyard at 
the intercession of Lady Huntington. 

On July 7, 1796, Henry Cline the elder 
was elected a member of the Court, but, as 
it subsequently turned out, the meeting at 
which this occurred was irregular, and its 
proceedings illegal, a properly constituted 
quorum not being present. Although only 
a technical illegality had taken place, this 
incident led to the final extinction of the 
Company of Surgeons, for a bill shortly 
afterwards introduced into Parliament to 
legalize the proceeding was thrown out, 


SCIENCE. 


261 


and the Company was thereupon dissolved. 
The bill passed the Commons, but was re- 
jected in the Lords, mainly through the 
influence of Lord Thurlow, who was bit- 
terly opposed to Mr. Gunning, a very dis- 
tinguished surgeon, and at the time Master. 
“There is no more science in surgery,’’ Lord 
Thurlow is reported to have said, ‘ than 
there is in butchery.” ‘‘Then,’’ replied 
Gunning, ‘‘I heartily pray your lordship 
may break your leg and have only a butcher 
to set it, and my lord will then find out the 
difference between butchery and surgery.” 

In 1796 the Surgeons migrated from the 
Old Bailey to Lincoln’s Inn Fields. In 
that year a new bill they sought for was 
rejected in the Lords on the ground that 
the College premises were too far removed 
from the place of execution, and that it 
would be indecent and improper to carry 
the bodies of deceased criminals so long a 
distance through the streets of London. Fi- 
nally, the Court in 1797 decided to apply to 
the Crown, and not to Parliament, for a new 
charter, and, although opposition was again 
offered, it proved unsuccessful, and March 
22, 1800, the Royal College of Surgeons in 
London was established by charter of King 
George III. This charter gave the College 
its former rights on condition of resigning 
its municipal privileges. The titles of Mas- 
ter and Governors were retained for a time, 
but a supplementary charter from King 
George IV. in 1821 replaced these by those 
of President and Vice-Presidents. In 1843 
another charter, granted by Her Majesty 
Queen Victoria, changed the title to that 
of ‘ Royal College of Surgeons of England,’ 
with a President, two Vice-Presidents, 
Couneil, Fellows, and Members, as they 
exist at the present time. Thus it was 
that the Royal College of Surgeons of 
England was created. 

During the century of its existence this 
College has witnessed discoveries which 
have profoundly changed the character of 


262 


surgical practice and the scope of surgical 
aspirations. An immense development has 
been effected in the operative surgery of 
every region of the body, and the victories 
of the surgeon over disease and death are 
without end. 

John Hunter, and many of the older 
surgeons, regarded operations as somewhat 
of an opprobrium to surgery, and as a con- 
fession of failure. How far otherwise it 
is now! Intracranial, intrathoracic, and 
intra-abdominal operations are successfully 
carried out, many of them by proceedings 
which had never previously been imagined, 
even by the boldest amongst us. A great 
impetus has been given to conservative 
methods in surgery, and the preservation 
of life and limb is now attainable in cases 
innumerable, and of the most different de- 
scription, where conservation was previ- 
ously regarded as impossible. 

How largely also have physicians and 
surgeons alike developed and cultivated that 
highest form of conservation, the conser- 
vation of the race in the happiness and 
vigor which are associated with physical 
health ! 

Plastic methods have been perfected in an 
extraordinary degree. I would only men- 
tion as a striking, although common ex- 
ample, the union of the ends of an accident- 
ally divided nerve and the re-establishment 
of its function. 

Although the number and variety of 
operations have multiplied a hundredfold, 
the skill and fertility of resource exhibited 
in their performance have equally increased 
and the measure of success which has been 
realized, whilst it rewards and gratifies the 
surgeon, will appear even to the educated 
layman as little short of miraculous. In 
the early part of the century the surgeon 
knew of but a limited number of opera- 
tions, and for the most part those only were 
performed which appeared to be inevitable. 
He knew by sad experience how generally 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 294. 


fatal important operations and cases of 
severe injury were when treated in hospital 
wards. His patients were more then de- 
cimated by infective diseases—pycemia, 
septicemia, erysipelas, tetanus, and by 
suppuration, hectic and gangrene. He rec- 
ognized and could to some extent control 
these scourges, but of any effective manner 
of dealing with them he knew nothing. 
Now we possess an intimate knowledge of 
the essential causes of many of these 
diseases, and if we cannot always cure 
them we can do much to prevent them. 
Some things have hitherto baffled our efforts. 
The cause and the cure of cancer are as yet 
unknown. We possess some crude ideas 
about the exciting causes of the disease, 
and attempt with indifferent success to cure 
it by timely extirpation. Let us hope that 
the new century will still be young when 
some surer means of dealing with this ter- 
rible and increasing malady is discovered. 

A notable feature of our time is the de- 
velopment of the museums which are now 
attached to most of our public institutions. 
Those which more immediately concern 
ourselves illustrate everything within the 
range of biological science, and foremost 
amongst them all is our own great collec- 
tion. 

Much more might one say—and much 
certainly there is to say—but I will only 
repeat that our welcome to you all is sin- 
cere and heartfelt, and most especially so 
to our foreign colleagues. Our science 
knows no narrow national boundary. Itis 
the common property of us all. We de- 
sire to sympathize with our fellow-workers 
abroad, and to appreciate their work, as we 
trust and believe that they appreciate ours. 

In this address I have ventured to urge 
that we are much beholden to those who 
have gone before. In but a few years all 
who are now present will also belong to the 
past. Let us hope that, as we have not 
altogether forgotten those who preceded us, 


AvuGust 17, 1900. ] 


we too may be remembered a little by those 
who are to follow. 

On great occasions like the present, the 
older seats of learning and other public in- 
stitutions had power to grant honorary dis- 
tinctions. Formerly we possessed no such 
faculty, but by the act of Her Gracious 
Majesty we, too, have recently obtained 
permission to grant a certain number of 
Honorary Fellowships of this College. The 
Fellowship is the greatest distinction it is 
in our power to bestow, and we regard it as 
the highest purely surgical qualification ob- 
tainable in this country. It is, therefore, a 
great privilege and pleasure for me to pre- 
sent, on behalf of this College, this high 
honor to those distinguished men who are 
about to receive it. 

I am sure also all present will be gratified 
to learn that His Royal Highness the Prince 
of Wales has graciously consented to become 
the first of our Honorary Fellows. His 
Royal Highness has always shown his 
interest in the College, and has evinced a 
special care for the success of its Centenary. 
Itis quite fitting, therefore, that his Royal 
Highness, who is the patron of so many 
learned and scientific societies, should add 
the lustre of his name to the Royal College 
of Surgeons of England. 

Witiiam MacCormac. 


CHEMISTRY AT THE NEW YORK MEETING 
OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 

As has been the practice for a number of 
years Section C met throughout the New 
York meeting in joint session with the 
American Chemical Society. The sessions 
took place in Havemeyer Hall, Columbia 
University, with the exception of those on 
the second day of the meeting, which were 
held at the Chemists’ Club of New York 
City by special invitation of its officers. 

At the opening session of the Section, after 
the election of the usual officers, a report of 
the Committee on Indexing Chemical Liter- 


SCIENCE. 


263 


ature was presented,in which the completion 
of some new important indexes was an- 
nounced. This report has been already 
published in this Journau. A resolution 
relating to the establishment of a National 
Standards Bureau, submitted by the Presi- 
dent of the American Chemical Society, 
was endorsed by the Section and referred 
to the Council of the Association. 

The address of the Vice-President, Dr. 
Jas. Lewis Howe, on the ‘ Highth Group of 
the Periodic System and some of its Prob- 
lems,’ has been already published in full in 
Scrence (see the July 6th number). 

A large number of valuable scientific 
papers were presented. As is always the 
case, many of them, though important, 
were of a specialized or technical character. 
Only a few of those having a more general 
interest can be referred to here. 

First may be mentioned the address of 
Dr. W. A. Noyes on the ‘Structure and 
Configuration of Camphor and its Deriva- 
tives,’ consisting of a historical review of 
the previous work bearing on the subject 
and a brief account of his own remarkable 
and difficult syntheses of compounds closely 
related to camphor, and of the establishment 
of their identity with products obtained 
directly from it. By his investigations, the 
correctness of the formule. for camphor and 
camphoric acid suggested by Bouveault and 
Perkin respectively, viz : 


‘H, CH, ‘H, CH, 
CH -¢ — G — CO and CH,—C — jee 
CH, CH—CH, CH, C—COOH 
S SS 
CH, cH, 


seems to have been placed beyond a reason- 
able doubt. Two other points connected 
with the investigation deserve special men- 
tion ; first, the isolation of an optically ac- 
tive acid containing no asymmetrical carbon 
atom, its activity being due to the asym- 
metrical structure of a ring containing a 
double-union; and, second, the method 


264 


used for establishing the identity of two 
compounds from different sources consist- 
ing in determining whether any change of 
melting point occurs on mixing the two sub- 
stances—a far more reliable criterion than 
mere identity of melting point. Though 
this method has been used before it is not 
commonly employed. 

Reference should also be made to the 
beautiful investigation of Dr. A.S. Wheeler 
on the reduction-products of dehydromucic 
acid, who has prepared the various stereo- 
isomers of the hydrogenated acids ; also to 
the extended researches of Professor C. F. 
Mabery and his co-workers on the composi- 
tion and characteristics of the products ob- 
tained from petroleums of different origins. 

An interesting account was given by Mr. 
C. L. Reese of the recently developed proc- 
ess of manufacture of sulphuric acid by 
the direct union of sulphur dioxide and 
oxygen through contact with finely divided 
platinum. The preparation and regenera- 
tion of the contact-mass was minutely de- 
scribed, as well as other details of the man- 
ufacture, which is at present being carried 
on industrially on a fairly large scale. 
Samples of the contact-mass were exhibited, 
and a striking lecture experiment illustrat- 
ing the formation of the trioxide by means 
of it was shown by the speaker. 

Professor W.O. Atwater gave an interest- 
ing description of the results obtained with 
his respiration calorimeter on the income 
and outgo of matter and energy in the bodies 
of men under experiment, proving that the 
Law of the Conservation of Energy is ap- 
plicable to the human organism. 

Much discussion was excited by the papers 
read by Professor Louis Kahlenberg who 
presented a series of experimental results 
of various kinds, with which, according to 
his interpretation, the Theory of Electro- 
lytic Dissociation is inconsistent. The 
validity of his arguments was, however, 
called in question, and the great value and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294, 


wide scope of that theory strongly empha- 
sized by some other members of the section. 

The following is a complete list of the 
titles of the articles presented : 


Some Results of Experiments with the Respiration Calori- 
meter: By W. O. ATWATER, Middletown, Conn. 
Experiments with some Substituted Benzoie Acids and 
their Nitriles: By MArston TAYLOR BoGeERt and 

Auaust HENRY GOTTHELF. 

The Direct Synthesis of Ketodihydroquinazolins from 
Orthoamido acids: By MARSTON TAYLOR BOGERT 
and AuGUST HENRY GOTTHELF. 

The Direct Preparation of Imides of the Bibasic Acids 
from the Corresponding Nitriles: By MARSTON TAY- 
LOR BOGERT. 

On Certain Reactions in Liquid Ammonia: By EDWARD 
C. FRANKLIN and ORIN F. STAFFORD, Lawrence, 
Kan. 

Notes on the Constituents of Ligament and Tendon: By 
WILLIAM J. Gres, New York City. 

The Adulteration and Methods of Analysis of the Arseni- 
cal Insecticides: By J. K. HAYwoop, Washington, 
D. C. 

The Composition and Analysis of London Purple: By 
J. K. HAywoop, Washington, D. C. 

On some Derivatives of Phenyl Ether : 
HILLYER, Madison, Wis. 


By H. W. 


A Plea for the Use of the Thermostat for the Laboratory 


Room: By ARTHUR JOHN Hopkins, Amherst, Mass. 
Orystallization of Copper Sulphate for Quantitative Anal- 
ysis: By ARTHUR JOHN HopkKINsS, Amherst, Mass. 
Apparatus for dispensing with the Assistant during Cal- 
ibration by Telescope: By ARTHUR JOHN HOPKINS, 
Amherst, Mass. 

The Theory of Electrolytic Dissociation as viewed in the 
Light of Facts recently ascertained: By LOUIS KAHL- 
ENBERG, Madison, Wis. 

The Toxic Action of Solutions of Acid Sodium Salts on 
Lupinus Albus: By Louis KAHLENBERG and ROL- 
LAN M. Austin, Madison, Wis. 

The Toxic Action of Solutions of the Leech and the Vin- 
egar Eel: By LOUIS KAHLENBERG and JOHN B. 
EMERSON, Madison, Wis. 

The Toxic Action of Electrolytes upon Fishes: By Louis 
KAHLENBERG and Huco F. MEHL, Madison, Wis. 

Differences of Potential between Metals and Non-aque- 
ous Solutions of their Salis: By Louis KAHLEN- 
BERG, Madison, Wis. 

I. The Chlorine Derivatives of the Hydrocarbons in Cal- 
ifornia Petroleum. 


AvuausT 17, 1900. ] 


IL. Determination of the formulas of the Hydrocarbons 
and Chlorine Derivatives of Pennsylvania, California, 
Japanese, and Canadian Petroleum by Molecular Re- 
fraction: By C. F. MaBrery and O. J. SIEPLEIN 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

I. Composition of the Hydrocarbons in Pennsylvania 
Petroleum, Liquids and Solids, above 216°. 

II. Composition of the Hydrocarbons in California 
Petrolewn, Liquids. 

III. Composition of the Nitrogen Compounds in Cali- 
fornia Petroleum: By CHARLES F. MABERY, Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

Composition of the Hydrocarbons in Japanese Petroleum : 
By C. F. MaABERY and§, TAKANO, Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Sulphur Compounds and their Oxidation Products 
and Unsaturated Hydrocarbons in Canadian Petro- 
leum: By C. F. MABERY and W. O. QUAYLE, 
Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Structure and Configuration of Camphor and its 
Derivatives: By W. A. Noyes, Terre Haute, Ind. 

Some Compounds of Methyl Sulphide with Metallic 
Halides: By FRANcIS C. Puruuies, Allegheny, Pa. 

The Reaction of Potassium Hydroxide on Chloroform : 
By A. P. SAUNDERS, Clinton, N. Y. 

Application of Chemical Methods to the testing of Wheat 
Flour: By Harry SNYDER, St. Anthony Park, 
Minnesota. 

A New Volumetric Method for the Determination of 
Silver: By LAUNCELOT W. ANDREWS, Iowa City, 
Iowa. (The paper will be published in the Amer- 
ican Chemical Journal. ) 

Method for the Analysis of Glass: By E. C. UHLIG. 

Notes on the Ferrocyanides of Lead and Cadmium: By 
EpMuUND H. MILLER, and HENRY FISHER. 

Notes on the Determination of the Spontaneous Com- 
bustion of Oils when Mixed with Wool Waste: By 
LEONARD P. KINNICUTT and HERMAN W. HAYNEs, 
Worcester, Mass. 

Investigation as to the Nature of Corn Oils. Second 
paper : Determination of the Constitution: By HER- 
MAN T. VULTE and HARRIETT WINFIELD GIBSON. 

Notes on the Determination of Phosphorus as Phospho- 
molybdic Anhydride: By H. C. SHERMAN and H. 
S. J. HyDE. 

New Methods for the Separation of some Constituents of 
Ossein: By WM. J. GIES. 

Texas Petroleum: By H. W. HARPER. 

The Hydrogen Reduction Products of Dehydromucic 
Acid: By A. S. WHEELER, Cambridge, Mass. 

ArtHoUR A. Noyss, 
Secretary, Section C. 


SCIENCE. 


265 


ANTHROPOLOGY AT THE NEW YORK MEET- 
ING OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 
THE anthropologists met for organization 

in Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia Univer- 

sity, on Monday, June 25th, at twelve 
o’clock, Vice-President Amos W. Butler, of 

Indianapolis, presided at this and subse- 

quent sessions excepting that of Tuesday 

morning. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Miss 

Alice C. Fletcher and Mr. M. H. Saville 

were elected members of the Sectional Com- 

mittee; Professor Joseph Jastrow—whose 
resignation later caused a vacancy that was 
filled by the election of Mr. Stansbury 

Hagar—was elected a member of the Gen- 

eral Committee, and Mr. George G. Mc- 

Curdy was elected press secretary. As 

Vice-President Butler’s address is to be de- 

livered at the meeting of 1901, the Section 

adjourned on Monday afternoon to allow 
the members an opportunity to hear the 

Vice-Presidential addresses that were given 

at three and four o’clock before other Sec- 

tions. 

Arrangements having been made for a 
meeting with the American Psychological 
Association, the morning session of Tues- 
day, June 26th, was presided over by Pro- 
fessor Joseph Jastrow, president of that 
Association, and four papers upon psycho- 
logic subjects were read. The undesirability 
of meetings of Section H. being held in con- 
junction with those of the Psychological 
Association has been ably shown by the 
secretary of the Columbus Meeting in his 
report in this Journau. In the opinion of 
the present writer and that of the majority 
of the Sectional Committee it is eminently 
desirable that close affiliation continue 
between the Anthropologists and the Psy- 
chologists; but the presentation of papers 
whose subject matter ranges from experi- 
mental psychology to metaphysics before 
the anthropologic Section has not proved 
satisfactory. If the psychologists are to 
continue in the Association they should 


266 


have a separate section. In college curric- 
ula psychology is much more widely recog- 
nized than is anthropology, there would 
seem to be no logical grounds for making 
psychology an outrider for Section H in 
the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science. 

Henry Davies read a paper upon ‘ Meth- 
ods of Aisthetics’; Edward Thorndike one 
upon ‘ Practice.’ J. McK. Cattell illustrated 
a new method of demonstrating physiolog- 
ical processes that are dependent upon men- 
tal conditions. The stereopticon was used 
to show upon the screen the tracings made 
upon a revolving disk of smoked glass. 
Thus the quantitative character of breath- 
ing, muscular fatigue, etc., were shown to 
the audience as they took place. Charles 
H. Judd reported upon his ‘ Studies in Vocal 
Expression.’ Records upon smoked paper 
were shown that had been made by a dia- 
phragm and enlarging lever. Measure- 
ments of two hundred and fifty metrical 
feet, English hexameter, demonstrated that 
the theory that English metrical feet are 
all of uniform temporal quantity must be 
rejected. 

The afternoon session opened with a paper 
by Dr. Thomas Wilson upon ‘Criminology.’ 
He traced the historical development of his 
subject from the time of John Howard down 
to the present. The speaker expressed his 
dissatisfaction with the manner in which 
crime had been treated in America. It has 
been clearly defined and the criminal pun- 
ished, but due heed has not been given to 
causes and methods of prevention. Dr. 
Wilson argued that Lombroso’s theories, 
associating certain types of crime with defi- 
nite physical characters, were based upon 
unreliable statistics. It would be more 
correct to say that crime determines the 
physical structure than vice versa, that en- 
vironment is more responsible for crime 
than hereditary character. In conclusion, 
accurate and extensive statistics are desired. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


Methods for securing these are being de- 
veloped, such, for example, as described in 
the succeeding paper by Vice-President 
Butler. 

In an exposition of ‘A Method of Regis- 
tration for certain Anthropologie Data,’ Mr. 
Butler outlined the developments of a 
method of obtaining and recording facts re- 
garding defectives, delinquents, and de- 
pendents. The system was developed and 
is in use in the office of the Indiana Board 
of State Charities. Samples of the blanks 
and records were shown. 

Professor Otis T. Mason’s paper upon 
‘The Trap: a Study in Aboriginal Psy- 
chology’ contained a classification of the 
various forms of instruments employed by 
the aboriginal Americans to secure animals. 
The mental capacities of the inhabitants of 
the several culture areas, as determined by 
their skill in devising, killing or capturing 
apparatus, were compared. 

W. H. Holmes gave a brief exposition of 
‘The Ancient Aztec Obsidian Mines of the 
State of Hidalgo, Mexico.’ The use of ob-. 
sidian for the manufacture of implements 
was very common throughout Mexico. The 
only mine of importance so far discovered is 
that of Hidalgo, a hundred miles northeast 
of the City of Mexico. The work on this 
site has been very extensive and the pit- 
tings cover at least one square mile. The 
quarries were worked mainly for the secur- 
ing of cores or nuclei for making flake 
knives, thousands of the rejected cores being 
found in the quarries. That the mines 
were worked by Aztecs is shown by the fact 
that typical Aztec pottery is distributed 
through the debris of the work-shop. 

Geo. G. MacCurdy followed with a paper 
upon ‘The Obsidian Razor of the Aztecs.’ 
The differences between the fracture of 
flint and obsidian were described and the 
excellence of obsidian as a material for the 
manufacture of knives and razors was dem- 
onstrated by lantern views. 


Auaust 17, 1900. ] 


A paper by Dr. Washington Matthews 
gave a brief account of the progress made 
by the Navahos in the art of weaving 
blankets and then called attention to a new 
style of weaving that is described by his 
title—‘ A two-faced Navaho Blanket.’ The 
web has totally different figures on the two 
sides. These blankets are not numerous 
and the art of weaving them is not en- 
couraged by the traders to whom the Nava- 
hos sell the products of their looms. 

Harlan I. Smith reported upon the prog- 
ress made by the party of archeologists 
under his direction working in the interests 
of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition in 
1899. Shell heaps, cairns and graves were 
examined in Washington and British Co- 
lumbia. The results of these investigations 
were described and in part illustrated by 
lantern views. 

A second paper by Mr. Smith described 
the cairnsof southeastern Vancouver Island 
and the adjacent coasts. These cairns con- 
sist of rude stone vaults containing flexed 
skeletons that have been buried without the 
implements and utensils that are usually 
deposited with the dead by the aborigines. 

Alice C. Fletcher presented a valuable 
paper entitled ‘Giving Thanks; a Pawnee 
Ceremony.’ The ceremony was witnessed 
by the speaker, May 20, 1900, in a Pawnee 
camp in Oklahoma Territory. The rite is 
described and three points indicated upon 
which it throws light. (1) The native be- 
lief as to the causes which secure efficacy to 
the medicine administered. (2) The inter- 
mediary position of the doctor. (3) The 
meaning and purpose of the fees given him 
for his services. 

The paper by Francis La Flesche de- 
scribed the proceedings of ‘The Shell So- 
ciety among the Omaha,’ as witnessed by 
the author when a boy and as he under- 
stood it from the accounts of the secret 
ritual during the past year by the older 
members of the Society. 


SCIENCE. 


267 


Mrs. Zelia Nuttall exhibited a cast of 
Kollmann’s reconstruction of the head of a 
woman of the Swiss Lake-Dweller type, and 
commented upon the difficulties in the way 
of a successful reproduction. 

The program for Wednesday closed with 
the paper by Roland Steiner upon ‘ Braziel 
Robinson ; possessed of two spirits.’ This 
account of a negro superstition is but one of 
several- score of interesting follx-lore tales 
that Dr. Steiner has collected. 

W J McGee opened the morning session 
of Thursday with an address upon ‘ The Re- 
sponsivity of Mind,’ a discussion of cultural 
coincidences in the Old World and the 
New that lend support to the doctrine of 
mental unity among mankind. 

‘The Law of Conjugal Conation’ was 
explained by the same speaker, who em- 
phasized the importance of the réle played 
by personal affection in human develop- 
ment. 

Charles E. Slocum exemplified the thesis 
that ‘ A Civilized Heredity is stronger than 
a Savage Environment,’ in the story of 
Frances Slocum abducted by the Delaware 
Indians, at the age of five years, and re- 
maining with them until her death, sixty- 
eight years afterward. Her character fur- 
nishes strong evidence in favor of the im- 
portance of heredity. ‘‘She was plain and 
practical in outward display, while in the 
midst of those inclined to gaudiness; she 
was free from enervating habits, though 
in the midst of indulgences ; industrious, 
where idleness abounded; cleanly, while sur- 
rounded by squalor; accumulative, among 
a wasteful race; considerative and sound 
of judgment, in the midst of impulsiveness ; 
and patient in doing her duty according to 
the best of her knowledge.’”’ Thus it was 
shown that her English ancestry was a 
stronger factor in molding her character 
than her savage environment. 

‘The Sedna Cycle, a Study in Myth Evo- 
lution,’ waspresented by H. Newell Wardle. 


268 


The aim of this study was to show the real 
character of the ideas that the Inuit fancy 
has woven into the song and story of the 
Sedna group, to trace their changes from 
tribe to tribe and to learn the reasons for 
their variation. 

The author comes to the conclusion that 
subsequent to the rise of the proto-Sedna 
myth, the crossing of the arctic circle 
brought the diurnal and annual myths into 
close relation when the recognition of their 
affinity resulted in a mutual borrowing. 

‘The Peruvian Star-chart of Suleamay- 
hua’ was discussed by Stansbury Hagur. 
About thirty years ago a group of manu- 
scripts relating to early Peruvian culture 
was discovered in the National Library of 
Madrid. Among them was an account of 
the antiquities of Peru, written about 1610 
by Salcamayhua, and containing a stellar 
chart which is a veritable key to the sym- 
bolical astronomy of the Inca empire. 

The two oblique lines at the top represent 
the sky. Immediately below appear the 
five stars of the Southern Cross, and below 
them the figure of a large egg, symbol of 
the Universal Spirit. On the left is seen 
the sun as a man above the morning star, 
and on the right the moon asa woman with 
the evening star beneath. On the lower 
part of the chart are the twelve signs of the 
zodiac. 

W. K. Moorehead gave a brief review of 
the facts that he had recently ascertained 
regarding ‘ The Bird Stone Ceremonial.’ <A 
more detailed study of this class of orna- 
ments was urged and their peculiarities in- 
dicated by an exhibition of original speci- 
mens. 

‘A Navaho Initiation’ was described by 
Washington Matthews. The Navahos 
rarely punish their children, but they 
frighten them with the masked characters 
of the Night Chant, the principal one of 
which is the Yayhichy or maternal grand- 
father of the gods. When children are 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


naughty they tell them that this person 
will punish them. At their initiation “ they 
are subjected to a symbolic punishment, 
after which the supposed gods unmask and 
show themselves to be ordinary individuals 
masquerading.’”’ The children are then 
permitted to look through the eyeholes and 
learn the nature of the mask. They ac- 
quire certain privileges at this time. 

The sessions on Friday, June 29th, were 
held in the lecture room of the Department 
of Anthropology of the American Museum 
of Natural History. M. H. Saville read a 
paper upon the ancient tombs at Mitla, 
Mexico. 

Mrs. Zelia Nuttall explained the ‘ mean- 
ing of the ancient Mexican calendar stone,’ 
showing that a single primitive, cosmical 
scheme and plan of government prevailed 
throughout ancient America. The author 
has furthermore ascertained that the Amer- 
ican scheme is identical with that carried 
out in remotest antiquity by the peoples of 
the old world. The great calendar stone 
was shown to be the most elaborate repre- 
sentation known of the cosmical plan, 
which formed the common basis of the an- 
cient civilizations of the old and new 
worlds. 

F. W. Putnam exhibited a ‘new type of 
pottery from Texas.’ 

The remainder of the day was devoted 
to the examination of the collections of the 
museum, which were explained by the cur- 
ator and his assistants. 

On Thursday morning, June 28th, the 
Council voted to change the name of the 
‘Committee upon the Study of the White 
Race in America’ to the ‘ Anthropometric 
Committee.’ This committee provided 
means for taking measurements upon mem- 
bers of the Association during the meeting. 

The ‘Committee upon the Introduction 
of Anthropologic Teaching’ was made a 
standing committee of the Association by 
the Council. Section H was given authority 


AvuaustT 17, 1900. ] 


to hold a winter meeting at such time and 
place as the Sectional Committee should de- 


cide. 
FRANK RUSSELL, 


Secretary. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Etude sur la gréle. Défense des recoltes par le 
tir du canon. By V. VERMOREL. Librairie 
du Progrés Agricole et Viticole ; Villefranche. 
July, 1900. 

In this pamphlet of 77 pages the well-known 
viticultural expert and director of the station 
at Villefranche gives an account of the latest 
(up to July 1st) phase of the subject of Wetter- 
schiessen—the protection of crops from hail by 
means of the vertical firing of specially con- 
structed cannon at the threatening clouds. 
Chapter 1 gives a résumé of the various theories 
of hail-formation, affording striking proof of 
the uncertainty still existing in this regard, and 
especially as to the part played by atmospheric 
electricity in the most damaging hailstorms, 
viz, those of summer. There follows a brief 
discussion of the possible explanations of the 
action of the vertical projection of the annular 
whirl, which seems to be essential to the produc- 
tion of the effect, and e. g., tears a paper target 
placed 100 meters from the gun, and according 
to trigonometric measurements may reach a 
height of over two kilometers. The claim made, 
and sustained by an overwhelming number of 
observations, is that the commotion caused by 
these whirls in the hail-clouds, if produced in 
time, will cause rain to fall in place of hail. 

Chapter 2 gives abstracts of the reports made 
to the congress of Italian hail-protection syndi- 
cates held at Casale Monteferrato in November, 
1899, which was attended by three delegates 
from France, the author among the number. 
The reports are from the provinces of Vicenza, 
Treviso, Verona, Padua, Udine, Pavia, Ber- 
gamo, Alexandria and Novara. From all of 
these regions the reports are very encouraging, 
in part enthusiastic. The Bergamo reporter 
sums up by saying that ‘‘ those who have done 
the shooting. are desirous of continuing it ; 
those outside the defended area regret not hay- 
ing done it. The results obtained this (last) 


SCIENCE. 


269 


season could not be more encouraging, and will 
enable us to complete the means of defense.’’ 
This appears to be substantially the consensus 
of opinion of those attending the congress. 

Chapter 3 gives the details of the construction 
and handling of the cannon, which does not 
differ materially from the original prescriptions 
of Stiger, except in making the gun breech- 
loading. 

Chapter 4 gives details of the desirable or- 
ganization of the shooting stations, as now 
established in the Beaujolais, Rhone Valley. 
Isolated guns are of little value unless placed 
on high points. Each gun can defend 25 hec- 
tares (62 acres); rapid and continuous firing is 
especially important at the first approach of the 
cloud. A code of signals is provided to insure 
concerted and promptaction. The government 
supplies powder for the purpose at reduced 
rates. The expense of establishing a station is 
placed at 11 francs ($2.15) per hectare, or a little 
less than $1 per acre; current annual expense, 
about 65 cents per acre, estimating that 500 
shots may have to be fired. 

Among the striking points noted is that from 
2000 stations last year, fifteen thousand are in 
operation in Italy thisyear. Moreover, the in- 
surance companies heve reduced the premiums 
38 per cent. for the areas provided with shoot- 
ing stations. 

Is it not about time that some experiments 
in the same line were set on foot in our thunder- 
storm-ridden Middle West? If, as someallege, 
this is merely a passing popular delusion, it isa 
remarkably persistent one, backed by very 
heavy pecuniary investments, and not defi- 
nitely assailable on scientific grounds. 

E. W. HILGARD. 


A Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the 


Northern United States and Canada. By 
SAMUEL HUBBARD ScUDDER. New York, 
Henry Holt & Co. 1899. Pp. xi+ 210, 22 


plates of wood-cuts, 10 cuts in text. 

This book is a reprint of the first edition of 
the work, published by the same house in 1893, 
and so far as the reviewer is able to ascertain, 
is not different in any respect from the first 
edition, save in the addition of the plates, 
which were taken for the most part from the 


270 


plates, contained in Mr. Scudder’s monumental 
work upon the Butterflies of New England. 

The book is a very convenient manual for 
use on the part of beginners residing in New 
England and the Middle States, the species 
treated being for the most part the butterflies 
commonly found in these sections of our coun- 
try. The instructions for collecting, rearing, 
and studying butterflies are brief, but most ex- 
cellent. 

The interest in the study of natural science is 
rapidly increasing, ‘nature study,’ so-called, 
having found a prominent place in the work of 
our common schools. Such brief compends as 
these, which are strictly accurate, and adapted 
to the wants of the ordinary teacher and pupil, 
are therefore certain to receive favorable at- 
tention, and more and more to attract a widen- 
ing circle of readers and purchasers. The book 
has already proved its worth, as have all the 
writings of its learned author, and the issue of 
this second edition should be cause for congrat- 
ulation alike to author and publishers. 

W. J. HOLuAnD. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Popular Science Monthly for August has 
for its frontispiece a portrait of Professor R. 8. 
Woodward, President of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, while the 
first article, ‘Rhythms and Geologic Time,’ by 
G. K. Gilbert, is the address of the recent Presi- 
dent of the Association. R. W. Wood de- 
scribes ‘The Photography of Sound Waves,’ 
Havelock Ellis discusses ‘The Psychology of 
Red,’ Simon Newcomb continues his ‘ Chapters 
on the Stars,’ and James Collier has the third 
of his papers on ‘Colonies and the Mother 
Country.’ Carl H. Higenmann discusses the 
‘Causes of Degeneration in Blind Fishes,’ 
stating that all indications point to use and dis- 
use as the effective agents in moulding the eye. 
William Baxter, Jr., treats of ‘The Evolution 
and Present Status of the Automobile,’ and A. 
W. Greely summarizes the ‘Scientific Results 

‘of the Norwegian Polar Expedition.’ The De- 
partments of Discussion and Correspondence, 
Scientific Literature, and The Progress of Sci- 
ence are well filled. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 294. 


Bird Lore for August opens with the first in- 
stalment of a paper on ‘The Orientation of 
Birds,’ by Capt. Gabriel Reynaud, of the French 
Army, who takes the ground that there is a 
‘sense of direction.’ William Brewster con- 
tributes ‘A Study of a Lincoln’s Sparrow,’ and 
Harry 8. Warren treats of ‘The Birds that 
Pass in the Night.’ There are numerous notes 
and book notices. The Editor discusses the 
proposed agreement with the Millinery Mer- 
chants’ Protective Association regarding the use 
of American birds, and Mabel Osgood Wright 
treats of the same subject under the reports of 
Audubon Societies, taking the ground that no 
compromise can be made, that unless all birds 
can be protected none should be. It is to be 
feared that we are, on a smaller scale, to have 
a repetition of the differences existing between 
prohibitionists and advocates of high license on 
the liquor question. u 

HERR BARTH, Leipzig, has begun the publica- 
tion of a journal entitled Zeitschrift fiir Tuber- 
kulose und Heilstdttwesen edited by Professors 
Gerhardt Frankel and von Leiden. The first 
number contains a series of important articles, 
including contributions in French and English. 

Dr. J. C. ArtHuR, Purdue University, has 
retired, owing to ill health and pressure of work, 
from the position of responsible editor of the 
Botanical Gazette which he has filled for the 
past fourteen years. The journal is now edited 
by Professor John M. Coulter and Professor C. 
R. Barnes, with other members of the botanical 
staff of the University of Chicago. Professor 
Arthur becomes an associate editor, the other 
American associate editors being Professor 
Robert A. Harper, University of Wisconsin ; 
Professor Volney M. Spalding, University of 
Michigan; Professor Roland Thaxter, Harvard 
University, and Professor William Trelease, 
Missouri Botanical Garden. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 
LITERATURE. 

To THE Epiror oF SCIENCE: I am author- 
ized by the Secretary to bring to your attention 
the fact that, after a number of discussions by 
scientific representatives of nearly all nations, 


Avucust 17, 1900.] 


it was decided at an International Conference 
held in London in June, 1900, to publish, be- 
ginning with the year 1901, an International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature, which is to 
be issued only in the form of annual volumes 
at first. The Catalogue is to include both an 
author and a subject index. It will comprise 
the following subjects: Mathematics, Mechan- 
ics, Physies, Chemistry, Astronomy, Meteor- 
ology (including Terrestrial Magnetism), Miner- 
alogy (including Petrology and Crystallogra- 
phy), Geology, Geography (Mathematical and 
Physical), Paleontology, General Biology, Bot- 
any, Zoology, Human Anatomy, Physical An- 
thropology, Physiology (including Experimental 
Psychology, Pharmacology and Experimental 
Pathology), and Bacteriology ; in all 17 sub- 
jects. At least one volume will be given to 
each subject, and it is proposed that not all the 
volumes shall be issued at once, but in four 
groups, as soon as possible after the first of 
January, April, July and October respectively. 
The subscription price for a complete set of 
the whole Catalogue in 17 volumes is £17, say 
$85.00. 

The Smithsonian Institution has provisionally 
undertaken to represent the interests of the Cat- 
alogue in the United States, and will receive 
promises of subscriptions. The publication of 
the Catalogue cannot be undertaken unless sub- 
scriptions for about 300 complete sets a year 
(equivalent to about £5000) for five years be 
guaranteed beforehand. Germany has guaran- 
teed subscriptions to the extent of 45 complete 
sets (or £750), and the Royal Society of London 
has guaranteed the same for Great Britain and 
Treland ; it is hoped that at least an equal num- 
ber of subscriptions will be guaranteed in the 
United States. It is most important that the 
necessary guarantee for subscriptions should be 
completed before September 30th, at the very 
latest, hence it is desirable that promises of 
subscriptions in the United States should be 
sent in before September 15th. 

The prices of individual volumes will be 
eventually fixed by the Central Bureau, and 
will vary, but so that the aggregate of the in- 
dividual volumes will amount to £17. In Eng- 
land the Royal Society is making arrangements 
by which, in the case of special institutions de- 


SCIENCE. 


201 


siring only parts of the whole Catalogue, the 
subscription for a complete set may be divided 
among them. It is learned that subscriptions 
to about 90 sets are yet required, and of 
these, besides the 45 sets guaranteed by the 
Royal Society, a Fellow of that Society has 
guaranteed 45 additional sets on condition that 
the United States would subscribe for a like 
amount. It thus appears that the success of 
this undertaking now depends upon the sub- 
scriptions received in this country. 
Very respectfully yours, 
RICHARD RATHBUN, 
Assistant Secretary. 
SMITHSONIAN INsTITUTION, August 6, 1900. 


THE BUFFALO EXPOSITION. 


To THE EpiTor OF ScIENCE: I should be 
glad if you would let me call the attention of 
your readers to the Department of Ethnology 
and Archeology of the Pan American Exposi- 
tion. 

The exposition has provided a circular build- 
ing 128 feet in diameter, and has also arranged 
for a ‘Six Nation’ Indian exhibit on the 
grounds, with a representation of the typic 
‘Long House’ of the Iroquois and an attend- 
ance of some 60 Indians, who will be engaged 
in such industries as basket-making, wood- 
work, etc. As these Indians are pagans, and 
have preserved to a great degree their ancient 
customs, they will celebrate in appropriate 
seasons their various thanksgiving festivals, 
dances and other rites. 

Every precaution will be taken to protect 
exhibits against fire or theft and loss in packing 
and unpacking. It is expected, therefore, that 
a large amount of valuable archzeologic ma- 
terial will be placed at the disposal of this 
department by museums and individual col- 
lectors. In fact, it is not too early to assure 
the public that the promises of such institutions 
as the American Museum of Natural History, 
The Peabody Museum, University of Pennsy]l- 
vania, University of Chicago and the Buffalo 
Society of Natural Sciences as well as the 
friendly co-operation of the Ministers of the 
South American Republics, guarantee the suc- 
cess of this department. At the same time, 
there is always room for more, and as the aim 


272 


of this Department is not so much to get to- 
gether a large miscellaneous collection of relics 
as to afford a means of popular instruction in 
American archeology, it is desired that stu- 
dents from all parts of the country shall send 
exhibits or memoranda descriptive of results 
obtained in their special fields of labor. For 
example, one exhibit will show the animals 
domesticated by the Aborigines of the Western 
Continent, and will explain why the lack of 
large useful animals capable of domestication 
hampered the development of civilization in 
the New World. 

Through the co-operation of the Department 
of Agriculture and Horticulture, exhibits will 
be made of the plants cultivated in both North 
and South America before the discovery. 

Often the placard is of as great value as the 
specimen, and one of the features of the ex- 
hibit will be cases describing in brief various 
types of stone age implements and the methods 
of manufacturing them. Any student of Amer- 
ican archeology who has elaborated some spe- 
cial phase of the subject and wishes to place 
his work before the public may send on manu- 
script, and placards will be made from it, with 
due credit to the investigator. 

A. Li. BENEDICT. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

THE first installment of the promised revision 
of the atomic weight of iron by Professor Theo- 
dore W. Richards has appeared in the Zeitschrift 
fiir anorganische Chemie, the work being done in 
conjunction with Dr. Gregory P. Baxter. The 
method used is the reduction of ferric oxid by 
hydrogen, the temperature used being 900°. 
The oxid was formed in two different ways: 
first, by precipitation from ferric nitrate of the 
hydroxid, which was dehydrated at 900°; 
second, by direct heating of the nitrate at 900°. 
The first method gave in two experiments the 
figure 55.90. The series by the second method 
—five experiments— gave 55.883. This is 
slightly lower than the generally accepted 
figure, 56.0, and the paper discusses briefly 
possible sources of error in earlier determina- 
tions. Further work on other compounds is to 
be carried out. 


A FEW years ago Kriger described a red solu- 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 294. 


tion formed by leading chlorin into an alka- 
line solution of copper, which was supposed 
to contain a salt of a cupric acid. This work 
has been repeated by F. Mawrow and described 
in the Zeitschrift fiir anorganische Chemie. So 
far from getting the above results, a brown 
powder resulted, having the approximate com- 
position of 6 CuO, H,O. The proportion of 
active oxygen was never more than a small 
fraction of a per cent., whether the experiment 
was carried out at a boiling temperature, or 
cooled by ice. 


In the Annales de chimie et de physique, G. 
Baudran describes a very considerable series ot 
‘tartar emetics,’ double tartrates of metals and 
alkalies, corresponding to the ordinary tartar 
emetic, potassium antimonyl tartrate. They 
are generally formed by dissolving the hydroxid 
of the metal in tartaric acid, and treating the 
product with an alkaline tartrate. The emetics 
of manganese, bismuth, iron, aluminum, and 
chromium were formed, as well as borotartaric 
acid and potassium borotartrate. 


As far back as 1829 a salt was discovered by 
Zeise, formed by the action of alcohol upon 
platinum chlorid, which he called acechlorpla- 
tin and to which he gave the formula (in mod- 
ern nomenclature) KCl, C,H,, PtCl,, H,O. For 
a few years this compound, combustible chlorid 
of platinum as it was sometimes called, excited 
much attention, and Liebig and others attacked 
unsuccessfully the composition- proposed by 
Zeise; but standing alone as it did, with no 
compounds of analogous character, for more 
than half a century few workers have noticed 
it, though Birnbaum in 1868 proved the cor- 
rectness of Zeise’s proposed composition. In 
1844 Reiset formed a compound by the action 
of ammonium nitrate on the salt of Magnus 
which he considered to be platosammin chlorid, 
Pt(NHs),Cl., but which Cossa proved fifty years 
later was salt of a platosemiammin chlorid, 
PtNH;Cl,. Now in the last number of the 
Zeitschrift fiir anorganischen Chemie, S. M. Jor 
gensen, who has so enlarged our knowledge of 
the platinum and other metallic bases, shows the 
complete analogy between these salts of Zeise 
and of Cossa, the latter giving a double alkali 
salt of formula KCl, NHs;, PtCl,,H.0, which 
corresponds exactly to a salt of Zeise in which 


Aua@ust 17, 1900. ] 


ethylene is replaced by ammonia. A number 
of other compounds of these salts were formed 
and in every case were analogous, in crystal- 
lographical character as well as in chemical 
composition. It is interesting to see two com- 
pounds, each of which had appeared for half a 
century or more to be unique, thus shown to be 
of the same type, and it is by no means impos- 
sible that other salts of this type may yet be 
discovered. 

In 1886 Linnemann claimed to have discov- 
ered in orthite a new metal which he named 
austrium, but this work was never confirmed. 
Richard Pribram has recently repeated the 
work of Linnemann and concludes, as had 
Lecog de Boisbaudran, that austrium is ident- 
ical with gallium. But he also concludes from 
a very thorough spectroscopic examination of 
the same orthite, that there is a new element 
present which has not yet been isolated, which 
is entirely distinct from Linnemann’s austrium, 
and to which Pribram proposes to give the 


earlier name austrium. 
do, dba) 180, 


THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
ACA DEMIES.* 


THE Academy will recall the fact that at the 
conclusion of the mission entrusted to M. Mois- 
san and myself, consent was given to the ‘ Pro- 
jet de Statuts pour |’ Association internationale 
des Académies,’ drawn up by the delegates of 
the nine Academies represented at the Confer- 
ence held at Wiesbaden early in October last, 
at the invitation of the Academy of Berlin. 

The international Association is now consti- 
tuted ; and it includes the eighteen following 
Academies : 


1. Academy of Sciences.............. Amsterdam. 
2. Prussian Academy of Sciences..Berlin. 
3. Academy of Sciences, Litera- 


ture and the Fine Arts........ Brussels. 
4. Hungarian Academy of Sci- 

GIVES) pocsnoccodoudocaogadeenedoadedgos Budapest. 
5. Academy of Sciences.............. Christiania. 
6. Society of Sciences................ Gottingen. 


* Translation in Nature of a report made to the 
Paris Academy of Sciences by M. Darboux, perma- 
nent Secretary of the Academy, and published in 
the Comptes rendus. 


SCIENCE. 


2738 

7. Academy of Sciences of Den- 

TAT Kasha seceteebenscterserns: Copenhagen. 
8. Academy of Sciences of Saxony. Leipzig. 
9. Royal Society...............sssesee+ London. 
10. Academy of Sciences of Ba- 

WEENIE) EesocundadodcoDSoacoaHaetagEcdos Munich. 
11. Academy of Inscriptions and 

DTM) EN AW BAS panqecoodécoocacooHeAdeS Paris. 
12. Academy of Sciences.............. Paris. 
13. Academy of Moral and Polit- 

ical Sciences...............-0s..+. Paris. 
14. Academy of Sciences.............. St. Petersburg. 
15. Academy dei Lincei.............. Rome. 
16. Sweedish Academy of Sciences Stockholm. 
17. Academy of Sciences.............. Washington. 
18. Academy of Sciences.............. Vienna. 


Amongst the Academies invited to join, one 
only, the Royal Academy of History of Madrid, 
has as yet not replied to the request of the 
Wiesbaden Conference. 

The provisional rules take into consideration 
the possibility of the addition of other learned 
societies, and in ? 2 the conditions and form- 
alities are indicated which will be necessary for 
the admission of a new Academy. 

The Association comprises two Sections, the 
Section of Literature and the Section of Science. 
The work will be carried out by general meet- 
ing and committee. In principal, the general 
meeting will be held every three years, and each 
Academy will send as many delegates as it may 
deem necessary, but each Academy will have 
only one vote, which should be given by one of 
the members of the delegation. 

In the interval between two general meet- 
ings, the Association is represented by the com- 
mittee, each Academy being represented on this 
by one member only, if it concerns itself with 
only one of the Sections of Literature or Science; 
it will send two delegates when it is concerned 
with both Sections. Amongst the eighteen 
Academies, twelve belong to both Sections and 
consequently will send two delegates to the 
committee. Of the other six, four, namely the 
Royal Society of London, the Academy of 
Sciences of Paris, the Academy of Stockholm, 
and the National Academy of Washington, be- 
long to the Section of Science alone, and two, 
the Academy of Inscriptions and Literature, and 
the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, 
belong to the Section of Literature. Hence the 


274 


committee will consist of thirty delegates, of 
which sixteen will belong to the Section of 
Science, and fourteen to that of Literature. In 
full committee the two delegates of one Academy 
will have only a single vote. After delay, in 
such cases, all the Academies, with the excep- 
tion of two or three, have sent in the names of 
their delegates. The delegates of the principal 
Academy will take the chair at the committee 
of the Association, the principal Academy being 
that of the place in which it is proposed to hold 
the next general meeting. 

The Conference of Wiesbaden having decided 
on a resolution to which we can here only draw 
attention, that the first general meeting of the 
International Association should be held in 
Paris this year, a difficulty has arisen not fore- 
seen when the provisional rules were drawn up. 
Three Parisian Academies have joined the As- 
sociation, it is necessary to decide to which 
shall be assigned the presidency on this occa- 
sion. The delegates of the three Academies of 
the Institute of France have met, and have 
unanimously decided to confer for this year the 
presidency of the Association upon the Acad- 
emy of Sciences, which was the first to join the 
Association, and moreover, has taken an active 
part in the discussions, at the conclusion of 
which the Association was constituted. 

It has been further decided that the first ses- 
sion of the committee shall be held in Paris to- 
wards the end of July, the first meeting being 
fixed for Tuesday, July 31st, at 9:30 a. m., at 
the Palais de |’ Institut. 

The agenda for the first meeting will include 
the preparation of a scheme of government for 
the committee, the settlement of the exact date 
and the order of the day for the next general 
meeting. The Royal Society of London, which 
has taken so active a part in the formation of the 
Association, has already announced a scheme 
which it proposes to submit for approval to this 
next general meeting ; it concerns the measure- 
ment of an extended arc of a meridian in the 
interior of Africa. 

The Academy, by the act of joining, has sub- 
scribed to the rules of the new Association. 
There is no occasion to recall here with what 
prudence and moderation they have been drawn 
up. The object of the Association is to prepare 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


and promote scientific work of general interest 
which may be proposed by one of the constitu 
ent Academies, and generally to facilitate sci- 
entific relations between different countries. In 
any particular case, each Academy reserves to 
itself the right to give or refuse its support, or 
decide the choice of methods and the means to 
be employed. 

If these principles are followed, the Associa- 
tion will become a powerful instrument of 
study, of concord and of scientific progress; it 
will rapidly take its place in the front rank of 
those international scientific associations, the 
role of which must necessarily be satisfactory. 

Faithful to the principles which they have 
always followed, the three Academies of the 
Institute of France, called by the nature of their 
studies into the Association, will strive to as- 
sure it the success and influence which have 
been desired for it by its promoters. 

Finally, attention may be directed to a par- 
ticular clause in the rules which will interest 
some of our colleagues. For taking into con- 
sideration the study or preparation of scien- 
tific enterprises or researches of international 
interest, upon the proposition of one or more of 
the associated Academies, special international 
commissions may be instituted either by the 
general meeting or one of its two Sections or, in 
the interval between two general meetings, by 
the committee or one of its two sections. 


DEFECTIVE VISION OF BOARD SCHOOL 
CHILDREN.* 

THE London School Board have just tabu- 
lated the results of a test of the eyesight of 
school children in the Board schools. The ob- 
ject of the test was not to obtain statistical in- 
formation or to satisfy scientific curiosity, but 
to achieve the practical end that children whose 
distant vision is defective should be placed in 
the front benches in the class room where they 
are required to see what is written or drawn on 
the blackboard. Some interesting results, how- 
ever, have been obtained which are well worth 
the consideration of the medical profession and 
the attention of the parents of the children. 
The School Board at the end of last year re- 
quested the teachers to test the eyesight of the 


* From the London Times. 


Aveust 17, 1900.] 


children by means of certain testing cards, and 
to record the results. Sir Charles Elliott, who 
has taken great interest in the examinations, 
has appended an explanatory note to the re- 
turn which has been made. 

The manner in which the eyesight test was 
conducted, he states, was to hang up on the 
wall of the school, in a good light, the test card 
for distant vision and to mark on the floor a 
line at a distance of 20 feet from the wall. At 
this distance the children were required to read 
certain lines of letters. It appears, from a 
summary of the results, that of 338,920 chil- 


dren tested, 259,523, or 76.6 per cent., were ~ 


found to have good sight, and 79,167, or 23.3 
per cent., defective vision. The large number 
of 2675 children were only able to see the 
enormous top letter of the test card at a dis- 
tance of 20 feet—a letter which is meant to 
be read at a distance of about 200 feet. The 
79,167 children were given notices to their 
parents that they were suffering from ‘serious 
defective vision’ and advised to consult an 
oculist without delay. Taking the figures in 
the tables by School Board divisions it is seen 
that by far the largest percentage of defective 
vision is found in the city, where only 56.6 per 
cent. of the children have good sight. The 
other divisions where sight is below the average 
are Westminster (where the percentage of those 
having good sight is 67.7), Hackney (73.0), 
Tower Hamlets (74.0), Finsbury (74.3), and 
Southwark (74.9). Those in which the eye. 
sight are above the average are Greenwich 
(which has a percentage of 82.2 having good 
sight), East Lambeth (78.7), West Lambeth 
78.9), Chelsea (77.3), and Marylebone (77.1). 
In these latter divisions the houses are less 
dense and there are larger open spaces than 
elsewhere. 

The figures, therefore, as far as they go, seem 
to bear out the hypothesis of ‘ town vision’ ex- 
pounded by Mr. Brudenell Carter in 1895, or, 
in other words, it points to the injury to the 
sight being caused by living in thickly-popu- 
lated areas, where the eye has little oppor- 
tunity of being exercised in distant vision. 
Another curious result of the test is that the 
proportion of good sight increases as the 
children rise in the different standards, which 


SCIENCE. 


275 


broadly coincide with the ages of the children. 
The percentage of good vision in Standard I. is 
70.8; in Il., 74.9; in III., 77.0; in IV., 78.9; 
in V., 80.3; in VI., 81.3; in VII., 82.9; and in 
ex-VII., 83.7. So that without a single break 
the ratio rises with the standard as the age of 
the children increases. But it may be doubted 
whether this means an increase in the power 
to see or only in accuracy of reading. Sir 
Charles Elliott expresses the belief that the re- 
corded rise is contrary to general medical 
experience, and throws some doubt on the 
value of the whole statistics. Mr. Bland, of 
the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, he 
says, suggests the explanation that the bad re- 
sults are partly due to weak power of reading 
rather than weak sight. ‘‘The trained eye is 
better able to discern letters than the untrained 
eye, and it is probable that the children in the 
higher standards achieved better results partly 
on account of their training.’’ 

The eyesight of girls appears to be inferior 
to that of boys, and Mr. Carter, in the inquiry 
made by him, seems to have arrived at similar 
results and to be inclined to account for them 
by the strain of needlework on the eyes of girls. 
Professor W. Smith, in a note appended to the 
Board’s return, states that he had seen Mr. E. 
Clark, surgeon to the London Ophthalmic Hos- 
pital, in connection with the results, and they 
agreed that a similar return should be made of 
the available figures for near vision; that the 
figures were most interesting and valuable as 
giving the first experience ona large scale of 
the extent of defect of vision amongst children 
of school age ; and that the figures showed that 
rather more than a fourth of the children suf- 
fered from defective vision. The London 
School Board proposes to repeat the test, year 
by year, in order to secure a correct record 
being kept of the progressive improvement, or 
the reverse, in the children’s power of distant 
vision. 


PROTECTION OF WILD ANIMALS IN AFRICA. 
THE London Times has received the following 
letter, dated May 10th, from a correspondent 
at Beira, Hast Africa : 
I venture to bring before your notice the 
pressing danger that before long the districts 


276 


which lie behind Beira, and which formerly 
teemed with game, will be denuded of all game 
through indiscriminate shooting. When the 
railway was commenced between Beira and 
Umtali buffalo existed in vast herds, and 
hartebeeste, wildebeeste, sable antelope, eland, 
and many other antelope existed in profusion. 
The railway is now completed and is simply a 
line running through the veldt, and would not 
of itself interfere with the game. At present 
there is but little game close to the line, but 
game of all sorts still exists in great but much 
diminished numbers some few miles away. 
The reasons for the disappearance of the game 
are as follows :— 

1. The shooting of game for food by the em- 
ployés of the line and the reprehensible practice 
of shooting for mere slaughter or for horns. In 
so far as shooting for the pot is concerned this 
is legitimate, as fresh meat cannot otherwise be 
obtained. Unfortunately the use of the .3038 
rifle is harmful, as animals are more frequently 
wounded by this rifle than killed, and go off 
into the veldt to die. Even with the soft-nosed 
or Jeffrey split bullet the shock is not severe 
enough to always bring the animal down and 
therefore this rifle compares unfavorably with 
the old Martini-Henry. The magazine .303 is 
simply a temptation to slaughter. During the 
past two years there have been a large number 
of employés, and the canteens have been pushed 
for food. It is the practice of canteen keepers 
at Bamboo Creek, which is in the center of the 
game district, to send not only white hunters 
but also natives to shoot ; obviously the result 
is disastrous. 

2. The advent of numerous hunting parties 
in the season, which extends from about June 
to December, during the early part of which 
many of the antelope are in young. These 
parties without exception go in for indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter, and if allowed to continue will 
denude the whole country of game. 

3. The rinderpest, which visited this country 
in 1898, killed off thousands of the buffalo, and 
nearly exterminated the eland and sable ante- 
lope. 

The district in question is not cultivated and 
can only be of use asa hunting district. I have 
reason to believe that if properly approached, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


the Mozambique Company would be willing to 
establish a close season, or even close down the 
shooting for four or five years. There has now 
been established in Beira a cold storage com- 
pany which will shortly commence operations, 
and thus every one on the line will obtain 
meat. Also after this year, the contract for 
the railway having been completed, there 
will be a far smaller population requiring 
meat. 

Last year, owing to a very prolonged rainy 
season and the disturbed state of South Africa, 
there were very few hunting parties, and this 
year there will be practically none, owing to 
the war, so that the game have now a chance 
of increasing in number; but unless another 
five years of close time are allowed, followed 
by a rational system of close seasons, they will 
have but a small chance of getting up to the 
number they were at only three years ago. 
This applies especially to the buffalo, eland 
and sable antelope. 

I would suggest that the hunting parties be 
strictly supervised and limited to a small num- 
ber of heads; also that a long close season be 
established, and that buffalo, eland, and sable 
antelope be made Royal game for some years 
to come; also that natives be prevented from 
shooting. 

I have reason to believe that the Mozambique 
Company would not object to employ game- 
keepers, but there is no hope of the company 
ever doing anything on their own initiative. 

This part is one of the few accessible spots 
where the larger kind of antelope can be found 
and it is more than a pity to see these beautiful 
animals slaughtered as they are now. In the 
interest of true sport the indiscriminate shoot- 
ing of the past three years should be stopped. 
The months November and December should 
be the only months in which shooting is al- 
lowed. ‘The grass having been burnt off there 
is less likelihood of wounding instead of killing, 
and by this time all the young have been 
dropped. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
WE wish to call special attention to the letter 
from Dr. Richard Rathbun, on the International 
Catalogue of Scientific Literature published 


A veust 17, 1900.] 


above. It is absolutely necessary that forty- 
five sets be subscribed for in America, and it is 
desirable that this be done before the beginning 
of October. 


THE judges who are to select 100 eminent 
Americans, whose names are to be engraved in 
the Hall of Fame of the New York University, 
are ready to receive nominations. The follow- 
ing men of science have been proposed : John 
Adams Audubon, Spencer F. Baird, Alexander 
D. Bache, Nathaniel Bowditch, William Chau- 
venet, Henry Draper, James P. Espy, Asa Gray, 
Robert Hare, Joseph Henry, Edward Hitch- 
cock, Isaac Lea, Matthew Fontaine Maury, 
Marie Mitchell, Benjamin Peirce, David Ritten- 
house, Benjamin Silliman, Benjamin Thomp- 
son, John Torrey. Are any of the readers of 
this JOURNAL prepared to suggest how many 
men of science should be included among the 
100 most eminent Americans no longer living, 
and who they should be? 


Dr. CARL GEGENBAUR, professor of anat- 
omy at the University of Heidelberg, has re- 
tired from the active duties of his professorship. 


Ir will be remembered that at the Twelfth 
International Medical Congress, held at Mos- 
cow in 1897, the city established a prize of 
$1000 to be conferred at each Congress on the 
one who since the preceding Congress had done 
the medical work of the greatest benefit to hu- 
manity. The first award of the prize was to 
M. Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross 
Society. At the present Congress, the award 
has been made to Professor Ramen y Cajal, for 
his researches on the minute structure of the 
neryous system. 


THE Faculty of Science of the University of 
Rome proposes to publish by subscription a 
complete collection of the works of the late 
Professor Kugenio Beltrami. It will extend to 
three or four large volumes, and will be sent 
to those subscribing $10 or more towards the 
cost of publication. 

THE Berlin Academy of Sciences has made 
further grants as follows: Dr. Holtermann, 
Berlin, for a botanical expedition to Ceylon, 
4000 Marks; Professor Ludolf Krehl, Greifs- 
wald, for experiments on respiration, 1500 
Marks; Professor Julius Tafel, Wurzburg, for 


SCIENCE. 


217 


the continuation of his work on electrolysis, 
100 Marks; Dr. Benno Wandolleck, Dresden ; 
for the investigation of the morphology of 
diptera, 800 Marks. i 

Prorressor B. E. Fernow, of the Cornell 
College of Forestry, has been appointed delegate 
to the International Forestry Congress of the 
Paris Exposition. 

PROFESSOR FELIPE VALLE, of Mexico City, 
connected with the Tacubaya Observatory, is on 
his way to Europe, where he will represent the 
Mexican Government at certain of the con- 
gresses held during the Paris Exposition. 


THE Royal College of Physicians has made 
the following appointments: Professor Clifford 
Allbutt, regius professor of physic at Cam- 
bridge, will deliver the Harveian oration on 
October 18th (St. Luke’s Day); and Dr. A. BE. 
Garrod, of St. Bartholomew’s, the Bradshaw 
lecture in November. Dr. Henry Head has 
been appointed the Goulstonian, Dr. J. Frank 
Payne the Lumleian, and Dr. Halliburton the 
Croonian lecturer for 1901, and Dr. J. W. 
Washbourn the Croonian lecturer for 1902. 


Dr. ADALAR RICHTER, professor of botany at 
the University at Klausenberg, has been made 
director of the Botanical Institute and of the 
Botanical Garden. 

THE Moxon gold medal, of the Royal College 
of Physicians, founded in 1886 in memory of the 
late Dr. Walter Moxon, and awarded every 
third year for distinction in clinical medicine, 
was awarded to Sir William Tennant Gairdner, 
M.D., F.R.S., emeritus professor of medicine in 
the University of Glasgow. 

Dr. HermMAnN A. Loos died of yellow fever 
on the steamship Chile on July 17th, while on 
his way to South America. Dr. Loos received 
the degree of doctor of philosophy from Co- 
lumbia University this year for work in chem- 
istry and was offered the position of assistant 
in the University. He was only 24 years of age. 

WE regret also to note the deaths of Dr. 
Johann Kjeldahl, director of the chemical lab- 
oratory at Karlsberg, and of Dr. Wilhelm Keck, 
professor of engineering at Hanover. 

THE Comptroller of the City of New York 
has refused to pay most of the bills presented 


278 


by experts in the Mollineux trial. Some of the 
bills are as follows: Dr. R. A. Witthaus, 
chemist, $18,550; HE. J. Lederle, chemist, 
$3800; E. 8S. Potter, a physician, $2450; Dr. Per- 
sifor Fraser, handwriting expert, $2181. There 
are some eight handwriting experts who pre- 
sent bills each larger than a thousand dollars. 


THE annual meeting of the Corporation of 
the Marine Biological Laboratory was held at 
Woods Holl, on Tuesday, August 14th. 


THE New York Medical Record contains a 
cabled report of the 138th International Med- 
ical Congress which met at Paris from the 2d to 
the 9th of August. M. Lannelongue, president 
of the Congress, made an opening address 
which was followed by speeches by the presi- 
dents of the National Committees, including 
Lord Lister, Professor von Bergmann, of Ber- 
lin, and Professor Kitasato, of Japan. General 
addresses before the Congress were made by 
Professor Virchow, of Berlin, Professor Burdon- 
Sanderson, of Oxford, and Professor A. Jacobi, 
of New York. The registration at the Congress 
numbered 6170 of which 412 were Americans. 


WE have already called attention to the first 
International Congress of Physics which opened 
at Paris on August 6th. The Congress was di- 
vided into the seven following sections, which 
met in the rooms of the Société francaise de 
Physique: (1) general questions, instruction, 
measurements; (2) mechanical and molecular 
physics ; (8) optics; (4) electricity and mag- 
netism ; (5) magneto-optics, radio-activity, dis- 
charges in gases; (6) cosmical physics; (7) 
biological physics. Nature states that among 
the subjects dealt with by British physicists are : 
the movements produced in an indefinite solid 
by the displacement ofa material body, by Lord 
Kelvin ; the constant of gravitation, by Mr. 
C. V. Boys; the propagation of electricity, 
by Professor Poynting; electric discharges in 
gases, by Professor J. J. Thomson ; properties 
of alloys, by Sir’ W. C. Roberts-Austen ; and 
the unit of heat, by Mr. E. H. Griffiths. In 
addition there are contributions by Professors 
Lorentz, van’t Hoff, Warburg, Voigt, van der 
Waals, H. Poincaré, Cornu, Lippmann, Potier, 
Becquerel, Arrhenius, Exner, Spring, and 
others. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 294. 


A TELEGRAM has been received at the Har- 
vard College Observatory from Professor J. E. 
Keeler, at the Lick Observatory, stating that 
the following elements and ephemeris of comet 
1900b were computed by Perrine from observa- 
tions on July 25th, July 30th and Aug. 4th. 


Time of passing perihelion = T= Aug. 3.21 


Perihelion minus node =O 129 By 
Longitude of node == awe il” 
Inclination =2=] OP 3 
Perihelion distance = q = 1.0148. 
Ephemeris. 
1900. 1900. 
Aug. 10, R.A. 3515™16s Decl. + 63° 41’ Light 0.83 
“14, “© 334 44 6472 «17 
OSvnake}, 8 Lil) BS} «+79 11 
CU 22 oor Gned. «6+ 84 «611 Light 0.43 


THE U.S. council at St. Gall, Mr. Du Bois, 
sends to the Department of State the following 
account of the trial of the Zeppelin air ship: 
At the invitation of Count Zeppelin, I was pres- 
ent at the trial ascent of his air ship on the 
afternoon of July 2d at Manzell, on Lake Con- 
stance. At 7 o’clock the great ship, 407 feet 
long and thirty-nine feet in diameter, contain- 
ing seventeen separate balloon compartments 
filled with hydrogen gas, was drawn out of the 
balloon house securely moored to the float. At 
the moment of the ascent the wind was blowing 
at a rate of about 26 feet per second, giving the 
operators a good opportunity of testing the 
ability of the air wheels to propel the great ship 
against the wind. The cigar-shaped structure 
ascended slowly and gracefully to about 30 feet 
above the raft. The balances were adjusted so 
as to give the ship an ascending direction. The 
propellers were set in motion, and the air ship, 
which has cost considerably over $200,000, 
started easily on its interesting trial trip. At 
first, the ship moved east against the wind for 
about two miles, gracefully turned at an eleva- 
tion of about 400 feet, and, making a rapid sail 
to the westward for about five miles, reached 
an altitude of 1300 feet. It was then turned 
and headed once more east, and traveling about 
a mile against the wind blowing at the rate of 
twenty-six feet per second, suddenly stopped ; 
floating slowly backwards three miles to the 
west, it sank into the lake, the gondolas rest- 
ing safely upon the water. The time of the 
trip was about fifty minutes ; distance traveled, 


Aueust 17, 1900. ] 


about ten miles; fastest time made, five miles 
in seventeen and one-half minutes; highest 
possible revolution of the propellers, 600 per 
minute. The cause of the sudden stoppage in 
the flight of the ship was proved to be a slight 
mishap to the steering apparatus, but the colos- 
sus floated gently with the wind until it settled 
upon the surface of the lake without taking 
any water. The raft was then brought up and 
the ship was easily placed upon it and brought 
back to the balloon house. The weight is 
200 centners (22,000 pounds). 


A CORRESPONDENT writes to the London 
Times: The International Congress of Hygiene 
and Demography is to meet this year in Paris 
from the 10th to the 17th of August, corres- 
ponding exactly in date with the meeting held 
nine years ago in London. Forming as it does 
one of a succession of congresses that are being 
held in Paris during the Exposition, it cannot 
perhaps be expected to arouse the same atten- 
tion as the meeting in 1891, under the presi- 
dency of the Prince of Wales and the chair- 
manship of Sir Douglas Galton. During the 
nine years that have passed since the London 
meeting the science of hygiene has steadily de- 
veloped, and the reports to be presented to the 
Paris meeting include questions that had hardly 
been formulated in 1891, and many that have 
claimed a great deal of attention in the past 
few years, such as bacteriology, prevention of 
tuberculosis, preservatives in food, and school 
hygiene. The program set out for the nine 
sections into which the work of the congress 
is divided covers a very wide field, show- 
ing how intimately hygiene enters into every 
branch of life. The several sections include 
—(1) bacteriology; (2) hygiene of alimenta- 
tion, and chemical and veterinary science ; 
(8) engineering and architecture; (4) per- 
sonal hygiene and the hygiene of communities 
(schools, hospitals, prisons), cremation; (5) 
hygiene of professions and trades (unhealthy 
dwellings) ; (6) military, naval and colonial hy- 
giene; (7) general and international hygiene, 
infectious diseases and sanitary legislation and 
administration; (8) hygiene of travelling and 
communications (railways, ships, public con- 
veyances); and (9) demography. It is to be 
wished that there had also been a section for 


SCLENCE. 


279 


the discussions of poisons used in personal dec- 
oration and not only of those used for hair dyes, 
etc., but of the poisons used in boot polish, es- 
pecially that for brown boots, by means of 
which feet have been seriously injured. In view 
of our recent and present experience of armies 
in the field, the section dealing with military 
hygiene should offer a good opportunity for the 
elucidation of various vexed questions in field 
organization and equipment. The late Sir 
Douglas Galton would have seized such an occa- 
sion for the deduction of practical results. His 
position on the Army Sanitary Committee of the 
War Office enabled him to effect many reforms, 
but he would have availed himself to the utmost 
of the opportunity which the Paris congress 
now offers to call attention to the many points 
in our South African experience which seem to 
demand further improvement. The Prince of 
Wales, in his admirable address at the opening 
of the congress in 1891, dwelt in forcible terms 
upon the lessons which might be learned in 
every life, private as well as public, from the 
study of the causes of the insidious progress of 
enteric fever, and it is especially interesting at 
the present moment to recur to those facts and 
to note with what acute perception His Royal 
Highness foresaw the perils of that illness which 
has assumed such formidable proportions, and 
which has caused such loss of life in our 
forces. It is a matter of great satisfaction that 
the president of the Hygiene Congress at Paris 
this year is M. Brouardel. No one will com- 
mand greater confidence from his wide and 
scientific knowledge of hygiene. M. Brouardel 
was present at the congress of 1891 and he also 
attended the meeting of the British Association 
at Dover in 1899. He is therefore well known 
to the British public. Under the auspices of 
so able a president the Congress of Hygiene at 
Paris should maintain the high position in which 
it was placed by Sir Douglas Galton at the 
Congress of 1891. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


CoLoRADO COLLEGE has secured $100,000 for 
a new science building. 


Lorp Bute has offered to give $20,000 to the 


280 


University of St. Andrews for the endowment 
of a chair of anatomy. His gift is made under 
the condition that the University make ade- 
quate provision for the first two years of a 
course in medicine. Mr. Musgrove, the present 
holder of the lectureship of anatomy at St. 
Andrew’s, is to be the first incumbent of the 
new chair. 


THE Nation quotes from the Zeitschrift fir 
Philosophie und Pddagogik certain conditions 
prevailing at the German universities regarding 
admission to the examinations for the degree of 
Doctor of Philosophy. In all the twenty-one 
universities of the Empire, the gymnasium 
graduates are permitted to take examinations 
in all the departments of the philosophical 
faculty, while there is no agreement, not even 
in the universities of the same country, with 
reference to the promotion of the graduates of 
the Realgymnasia or the Oberrealschulen; the 
Real or purely scientific non-classical graduates 
being nowhere allowed to become candidates 
for degrees. Those who have completed the 
semi-classical Realgymnasia are admitted to 
examinations in twelve universities (of these 
six are in Prussia), in all departments of the 
philosophical faculty, while eight admit them 
in modern languages, mathematics, and nat- 
ural sciences; and one, the University of 
Erlangen, only in mathematics and natural 
sciences. The Oberreal-school graduates 
(in those institutions the scientific studies 
strongly predominate) are admitted to the 
philosophical doctorate in all sections only by 
Greifswald, in five universities only in natural 
sciences and mathematics ; and in ten (among 
these six are in Prussia) they are not admitted 
to a degree at all. Two universities have not 
yet taken final action in the matter. In view 
of this, the action of the German Realschul 
Association, representing the interests of the 
higher non-classical education in Germany, at 
the recent convention in Berlin is of interest. 
At this meeting, attended by more than three 
hundred philologians, a petition, originally 
drafted by the National German Society of En- 
gineers, and signed by 12,000 names, was 
adopted, asking that the graduates of all the 
nine-year secondary schools, 7. e., the Gymna- 
sia, the Realgymnasia, and the Oberrealschulen, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 294. 


should alike and without discrimination be ad- 
mitted to university privileges and degrees, 
and that in future the lowest three classes in 
all the schools of this kind should have the 
same non-Latin courses. This petition has been 
presented to the Cultus-Minister of Prussia. 


Dr. ALWYN 8S. WHEELER, Ph.D. (Harvard), 
has been elected to the assistant professorship 
of chemistry in the University of North Caro- 
lina. 


THE following have been elected professors 
and lecturers of Royal College of Surgeons 
of England for the ensuing collegiate year: 
Hunterian Professors, Mr. Charles Stewart, 
M.R.C.S. Eng., F.R.S., Mr. Perey Furnivall, 
F.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Lond., and Mr. Chris- 
topher Addison, F.R.C.S. Eng., M.D., B.S. 
Lond., L.R.C.P., Lond., Arris and Gale lec- 
turer, Mr. T. G. Brodie, M.R.C.S. Eng., M.D. 
Lond,, L.R.C.P. Lond., Erasmus Wilson, lec- 
turer, Mr. Walter Edmunds, F.R.C.S. Eng., 
M.B., M. C. Cantab. Mr. S. G. Shattock, 
F.R.C.S. Eng., was re-elected pathological 
curator, and Mr. R. H. Burne was re-elected 
anatomical assistant in the museum. 


THE registration at the first summer session 
of Columbia University was 417. The attend- 
ance consisted of 114 men and 303 women of 
whom about 80 per cent. were teachers. 


Mr. F. P. SPALDING, a graduate of Lehigh 
University, who has been instructor in that 
University and in Cornell University and has 
recently been acting as a professional engineer, 
has been appointed professor of civil engineer- 
ing in the University of Missouri. 


Dr. J. C. SHEDD, instructor in physics at the 
University of Wisconsin, has accepted the pro- 
fessorship of physics at Colorado College, to suc- 
ceed Dr. S. J. Barnett, who goes to Stanford 
University. 


Dr. WALTER HE. GARREY formerly assistant 
in the department of physiology of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, has been elected to chair of 
physiology in Cooper Medical College, San Fran- 
cisco, Cal. This summer he was one of the in- 
structors in the course in physiology at the 
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Holl, 
Mass. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. ToursTon, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany ; C. 8S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownprrcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WittrAM H. WeEtcH, Pathology; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aueust 24, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The Mission of Science in Education: PROFESSOR 


JOHN M. CoOULTER...... speodaoDCDGCCedOUND 281 
The Zeeman Effect: DR. HERBERT M. REESE... 293 


European Apple Tree Canker in America: W. 


IPADIDOOES sh bgcobocooeddo0gns0QNODCDE bo0005 297 
Zoology at the American Association: PROFESSOR 

C. H. HIGENMANN..........- .--.0-.00 - 299 
Scientific Books :— 

Bourne’s Introduction to the Comparative Anat- 

omy of Animals: PROFESSOR J. S. KINGSLEY. 

Professor Mosso’s Lectures at the Clark Univer- 

sity Decennial: PROFESSOR G. V. N. DEAR- 

BORN Get teeteleratsiatsiateleialaieleleetteaialeveltrel-isicierbieters 311 
Scientific Journals and Articles..............0.- 313 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Three forgotten names for Birds: WILLIAM J. 

IMO poonvoovscoudedee Selietedelekelefeteteteyevetetetorere . 314 
Notes on Inorganie Chemistry: J. L. H......... . 314 
The University of Birmingham: PROFESSOR R. H. 

FURS DON Patera arstatate\ctieireisieteraleicteiavcioleiste © 315 
The Prevention of Hail Storms.....,.......+. coo BG 
The British Congress on Tuberculosis..........-.- 316 
Scientific Notes and News... 5.22.22. :20..0c. sce 317 
University and Educational News................ 320 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE MISSION OF SCIENCE IN EDUCATION.* 

THE average graduate from an American 
university needs no counsel as to his con- 
duct when he comes to face ‘the untried 
world.’ He has had his eyes open, and has 
tried the world more or less, often too much; 
and has already been surcharged with ad- 
vice from those of larger experience. If he 
does not know the elements of success, it is 
not because he has failed to hear of them ; 
and it only remains for him to receive the 
teaching which comes from experience. I 
address these graduates, therefore, with the 
consciousness that it is too late to add ef- 
fective advice, and too early to appeal to 
their experience. I come, therefore, not to 
youths who are about to be sent away for 
the first time from the fostering care of a 
mother, but to university men and women, 
interested in whatever concerns higher edu- 
cation, and I wish to speak to them of the 
mission of science in education. 

In its broadest sense science includes all 
knowledge, but the reference here made is 
to the ordinary application of the word in 
schemes of education. Perhaps even this 
needs limitation, if by chance any one has 
confused reading about science with scien- 
tific training ; for reference is made to science 
taught by the laboratory method, which 
merely means direct and personal contact 
with the subject matter. 


* An address delivered at the annual commence- 
ment of the University of Michigan, June 21, 1900. 


282 


The advent of science, as thus defined, 
into schemes of college and university edu- 
cation, was unpromising. It was like one 
born out of due season, for whom there is 
no place or preparation. The courses of 
study were already filled with subjects, all 
of which naturally seemed to be far more 
important than the interloper, who had to 
be content for a time with the crumbs which 
fell from the already crowded table. Scraps 
of time and information rather than train- 
ing was not a happy combination to de- 
velop an educational result from any sub- 
ject, and least of all from science. The 
general attitude at first towards the labor- 
atory method is well illustrated by the ex- 
perience of Rafinesque, the first teacher west 
of the Alleghanies who attempted to intro- 
duce it. From 1823 to 1826 he was profes- 
sor of modern languages and the natural 
sciencesin Transylvania University, in Lex- 
ington, Kentucky. In his botanical in- 
struction he ventured to bring plants into 
the recitation room, which was objected to 
by the Faculty as ‘tending to produce dis- 
order among the students, and to convert a 
serious recitation into the mere examination 
of curiosities, thus wasting valuable time.’ 

After science had secured a definite place 
in the colleges and was making its first 
feeble attempts at laboratory work, it was 
confronted by an obstacle more serious than 
scraps of time, an obstacle which still exists 
in certain quarters, either in fact or in 
spirit. Instead of being admitted to equal 
rights in a republic of subjects, it was de- 
graded by the organization of so-called scien- 
tific courses, which were confessedly inferior 
to the others; and as if to insure a weak 
result the scientific course was often made 
shorter than the others. In my own col- 
lege, but a type of the great majority of 
colleges in those days, a student who was 
not strong enough to graduate in four years 
in the classical course could graduate in 
three years in the scientific course. No 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


self-respecting student could afford to be a 
‘scientific’ under such conditions, so that 
only the weaklings, with three-fourths of 
the legitimate time at their command, be- 
came the exponents of the advantages of 
scientific training! All those who are mid- 
dle-aged can testify to a similar college ex- 
perience, and the result was a deep-seated 
distrust of the value of science in education, 
an honest contempt for its results, which 
distrust and contempt have been handed 
down to the children now in college, so far 
as they are being influenced by parental 
advice. This result is natural, and I have 
no word of blame for those who possess the 
feeling, but the conditions which developed 
it were simply inexcusable. 

In spite of the unfortunate conditions 
which accompanied the advent and much 
of the history of science in education, it 
has now become firmly established, has a 
reasonable rank and allotment of time, and 
is ina position to show what it has done 
and what it can do for education. Time 
enough has not yet elapsed, and absolute 
equality has not yet been sufficiently at- 
tained to permit the fullest expression of 
legitimate results, but in some degree and 
at some universities the results are begin- 
ning to be apparent. Itis hard for one to 
appreciate ‘the mighty power of what has 
been over the frail form of what might be,’ 
so that sentiment as yet unconsciously in- 
fluences the judgment even of the fair- 
minded. But certain results of the presence 
of science in education seem to be evident 
enough, and a few of these I propose to 
present in the form of definite propositions. 

1. Science has revolutionized educational 
methods.—This proposition needs no special 
defence, as it seems to be well nigh uni- 
versally admitted. In fact, itis the pride 
of almost every subject to-day that it is 
taught by the laboratory method. This 
simply means that the old recitation, which 
was the retailing of second-hand informa- 


Auaust 24, 1900.] 


tion as to facts, and of second-hand opin- 
ions concerning them, has given place to 
the direct observation of facts and the ex- 
pression of individual opinion concerning 
their significance. As a result, students 
are sought to be made thinking rather than 
memorizing machines, with the initiative 
power developed rather than the imitative. 

Even in the study of literature, the very 
stronghold of the cult organized by the hu- 
mauities, the books about literature have 
been banished, and the contact is with lit- 
erature itself. The legitimate offspring of 
the laboratory is the seminar, and even in 
the most elementary work the laboratory 
idea of presentation prevails. In short, the 
introduction of the laboratory started the 
movement which has resulted in more ra- 
tional methods of teaching in every depart- 
ment of college activity. It was my good 
fortune to be a member of the college asso- 
ciation of a neighbering State during the 
whole period of thi. :volution of methods, 
and it well exemplified the three successive 
attitudes of mind which Agassiz said were 
always apparent when a new and some- 
what startling conclusion of science was 
announced. At first people say it is not 
true; later itis contrary to religion; and 
last everyone knew it before. So in the 
later stages of my experience I have been 
interested in hearing that every real teacher 
uses the laboratory method, and that sci- 
ence has no special claim upon it. And 
this is true in the sense that its claim is 
now merely a historic one. Every result 
which comes merely from the method may 
be duplicated by non-scientific subjects, for 
teaching in general has become scientific. 
The present and future value of science in 
education, therefore, cannot come from its 
peculiar methods, but from something in- 
herent in the subject itself. Iam glad to 
make this statement emphatic, for it is 
often said that the mission of science in 
education is to teach the laboratory method. 


SCIENCE. 283 


Incidentally it did fulfill this mission, but 
if that were all it could now be banished 
without weakening our schemes of educa- 
tion. 

1. Tt develops the scientific spirit.By the 
scientific spirit I mean a certain attitude of 
mind. What this attitude is may be indi- 
cated by noting some of its characteristics. 

(1) Jt is a spirit of inquiry.—In our ex- 
perience we encounter a vast body of estab- 
lished belief in reference to all important 
subjects, such as society, government, edu- 
cation, religion, ete. It is well if our en- 
counter be only objective, for it is generally 
true, and a more dangerous: fact, that we 
find ourselves cherishing a large body of 
belief, often called hereditary, but really 
the result of early association. Nothing 
seems more evident than thatall this estab- 
lished belief which we encounter belongs 
to two categories: (1) the priceless result 
of generations of experience, and (2) heir- 
loom rubbish. Unfortunately, the discoy- 
ery of the latter has often resulted in weak- 
ening the hold of the former. The young 
inquirer, or the non-logical inquirer is in 
danger of condemning all the conclusions 
of the past when one is found wanting. 
Towards this whole body of established be- 
lief the scientific attitude of mind is one of 
unprejudiced inquiry It is not the spirit 
of iconoclasm, as some would believe ; but 
an examination of the foundations of belief. 
The spirit which resents inquiry into any 
belief, however cherished, is the narrow 
spirit of dogmatism ; and is as far removed 
from the true scientific attitude as the 
shallow-minded rejection of all established 
beliefs. The childhood of the race accu- 
mulated much which its manhood is com- 
pelled to lay aside, and the world needs a 
thorough going over of its stock in trade. 
Such work cannot be done all at once, or 
once for all, for it must be a gradual slough- 
ing off as the spirit of inquiry becomes 
more generally diffused. It must become 


284 


evident that this spirit is diametrically 
opposed to intolerance, and that it can find 
no common ground with those who confi- 
dently and sometimes violently affirm that 
the present organization of society is as 
good as it can be; that the present repub- 
lies of the world represent the highest pos- 
sible expression of man in reference to gov- 
ernment ; that the past has discovered all 
that is best in education ; that the mission 
of religion is to conserve the past rather 
than to grow into the future. This is not 
the spirit of unrest, of discomfort, but the 
evidence of a mind whose every avenue is 
open to the approach of truth from every 
direction. Like the tree, it is rooted and 
grounded in all the eternal truths that the 
past has revealed, but is stretching out its 
branches and ever renewed foliage to the 
air and the sunshine, and taking into its 
life the forces of to-day. 

Dogmatism still finds numerous victims, 
for education has not yet touched the ma- 
jority, but everyday the possible victims 
are becoming fewer in number, and those 
who seek to lead opinion must presently 
abandon the method of bare assertion. The 
factors in this general intellectual progress 
are perhaps too subtle and interwoven to 
analyze with certainty, but conspicuous 
among them is certainly the development 
of scientific training. 

For fear of being misunderstood, I hasten 
to say that this beneficent result of scien- 
tific training does not come to all those who 
cultivate it, any more than is the Christ- 
like character developed in all those who 
profess Christianity. I regret to say that 
even some who bear great names in science 
have been as dogmatic as the most rampant 
theologian. But the dogmatic scientist 
and theologian are not to be taken as exam- 
ples of ‘the peaceable fruits of righteous- 
ness,’ for the generel ameliorating influence 
of religion and of science are none the less 
apparent. It is not the speech of the con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


spicuous few that is thus leavening the 
lump of human thought, but the quiet 
work of thousands of teachers. 

(2) The scientific spirit demands that there 
shall be no hiatus between an effect and its 
claimed cause, and that the cause claimed shall 
be adequate.—It is in the laboratory that one 
first really appreciates how many factors 
must be taken into the count in consider- 
ing any result, and what an element of un- 
certainty an unknown factor introduces. 
In the very simplest cases, where we have 
approximated certainty in the manipulation 
of factors to produce results, there is still 
lurking an element of chance, which simply 
means an unknown and hence uncontrolled 
factor. Even when the factors are well in 
hand, and we can combine them with rea- 
sonable certainty that the result will ap- 
pear, we may be entirely wrong in our con- 
clusion as to what in the combination has 
produced the result. 

For example, we have been changing the 
forms of certain plants at will, by supply- 
ing in their nutrition varying combinations 
of certain substances. By manipulating 
the proportions of these substances we pro- 
duce the expected results. It was per- 
haps natural to conclude that the chemical 
structure of these particular substances 
produces the result, and our  prescrip- 
tion was uarrowed to certain substances. 
Now, however, it is discovered that the re- 
sults are not due to the chemical nature of 
the substances, but to a peculiar physical 
condition which is developed by their com- 
bination, a condition which may be de- 
veloped by the combination of other sub- 
stances as well; so that our prescription is 
much enlarged. In this operation we are 
thus freed from slavery to particular sub- 
stances, and must look only to the develop- 
ment of a particular physical condition. It 
seems to me that there is a broad applica- 
tion here. In education, we are in danger 
of slavery to subjects. Having observed 


Avuaust 24, 1900.] 


that certain ones may be used to produce 
certain results, we prescribe them as essen- 
tial to the process, without taking into ac- 
count the possibility that other subjects 
may produce similar results. 

In religion, we are in danger of formulat- 
ing some specific line of conduct as essential 
to the result, and of condemning those who 
do not adhere to it. This is the essence of 
formalism, and its logical outcome, un- 
checked by common sense, is illustrated 
by the finai expression of Jewish temple 
worship. 

That there may be many lines ofapproach 
to a given result, if that result be a general 
condition, is a bard lesson for mankind to 
learn. 

Tf it is so difficult to get at the real fac- 
tors of a simple result in the laboratory, 
and still more difficult to interpret the sig- 
nificance of factors when found, in what 
condition must we be in reference to the 
immensely more difficult and subtle prob- 
lems which confront us in social organiza- 
tion, government, education, and religion, 
especially when it is added that the vast 
majority of those who have offered answers 
to these problems have had no conception 
of the difficulties involved in reaching abso- 
lute truth. Itis evident that in the vast 
problems which concern human welfare in 
general we are but groping our way, and 
that our answers as yet are largely empir- 
ical. The proper effect of such knowledge 
is not despair, butareceptivemind. Inmy 
judgment, therefore, the diffusion of the sci- 
entific spirit will make it more and more 
difficult for any one with a nostrum to get a 
hearing. 

The prevailing belief among the untrained 
is that any result may be explained by some 
single factor operating as a cause. They 
seem to have no conception of the fact that 
the cause of every result is made up of a 
combination of interacting factors, often in 
numbers and combinations that are abso- 


SCIENCE. 


285 


lutely bewildering to contemplate. An en- 
thusiast discovers some one thing which he 
regards and perhaps all unprejudiced and 
right-thinking people regard as an evil in 
society or in government, and straightway 
this explains for him the whole of our pres- 
ent unhappy condition. This particular 
tare must be rooted up, and rooted up im- 
mediately, without any thought as to the 
possible destruction of the plants we must 
cultivate. The abnormal tissue must be 
destroyed without reference to the fact that 
the method of destruction may debilitate 
the norma! tissue. 

This habit of considering but one factor, 
when perhaps scores are involved, indicates 
a very primitive and untrained condition of 
mind. In the youth of science it often 
threw its votaries into hostile camps, each 
proclaiming rival factors; when the prob- 
lem really demands all the factors they all 
had and many more besides. 

It is fortunate when the leaders of public 
sentiment have got hold of one real fac- 
tor. They may overdo it, and work damage 
by insisting upon some special form of action 
on account of it, but so far as it goes it is 
truth. It is more apt to be the case, how- 
ever, that the factor claimed holds no rela- 
tion whatsoever to the result. Thisis where 
political demagoguery gets in its most un- 
righteous work, and preys upon the gulli- 
bility of the untrained, and is the soil in 
which the noxious weeds of destructive 
socialism, charlatanism, and religious cant 
flourish. 

It is needless for me to enlarge the horizon 
of illustration, by including numerous fields 
of human thought and activity, for your 
own thought outruns my statement, and 
recognizes the conditions in every direction. 
It is to such blindness that scientific training 
is slowly bringing a little glimmer of light, 
and when the world one day really opens 
its eyes, and it is well if it opens them grad- 
ually, the old things will have passed away. 


286 


(3) The scientific spirit keeps one close to the 
facts—One of the hardest things in my 
teaching experience has been to check the 
tendency of many students to use one fact 
as a starting point for a flight of fancy 
which is simply prodigious. Such a tend- 
eucy is corrected of course when facts ac- 
cumulate somewhat, and flight in one direc- 
tion is checked by a pull in some other 
direction. But most of us have the tend- 
ency, and the majority are so unhampered 
by facts that flight is free. This exercise is 
beautiful and invigorating if it is recognized 
to be just what it is, a flight of fancy; but 
if it results in a system of belief it is a de- 
ception. Thereseems to be abroad a notion 
that one may start with a single well-at- 
tested fact, and by some logical machinery 
construct an elaborate system and reach an 
authentic conclusion, much as the world has 
imagined for more than a century that 
Cuvier could do if a single bone were fur- 
nished him. Theresultis bad, even though 
the fact have an unclouded title. But it too 
often happens that great superstructures 
have been reared upon a fact which is 
claimed rather than demonstrated. 

We are not called upon to construct a 
theory of the universe even upon every well- 
attested fact, and the sooner this is learned 
the more time will be saved and the more 
functional will the observing powers remain. 
Facts are like stepping stones ; so long as 
one can get a reasonably close series of them 
he can make some progress in a given di- 
rection, but when he steps beyond them he 
flounders. As one travels away from a fact 
its significance in any conclusion becomes 
more and more attenuated, until presently 
the vanishing point is reached, like the rays 
of light from a candle. A fact is really 
only influential in its own immediate vicin- 
ity; but the whole structure of many a sys- 
tem lies in the region beyond the vanishing 
point. 

We must wonder what lies beyond, we 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


must try our wings in an excursion now 
and then, but very much stress must never 
be laid upon the value of the results thus 
obtained. 

Such ‘ vain imaginings’ are delightfully 
seductive to many people, whose life and 
conduct are even shaped by them. I have 
been amazed at the large development of 
this phase of emotional insanity, commonly 
masquerading under the name of subtle 
thinking. Perhaps the name is expressive 
enough, if it means thinking without any 
material for thought. And is not this one 
great danger of our educational system, 
when special stress is laid upon training? 
There is danger of setting to work a mental 
machine without giving it suitable material 
upon which it may operate, and it reacts 
upon itself, resulting in a sort of mental 
chaos. An active mind turned in upon 
itself, without any valuable objective ma- 
terial, can certainly never reach any very 


._ reliable results. 


It may not be that the laboratory in 
education is the only agency, apart from 
common sense, which is correcting this ten- 
dency: but it certainly teaches most im- 
pressively, by object lessons which are con- 
crete and hence easiest to grasp, that it is 
dangerous to stray away very far from the 
facts, and that the further one strays away 
the more dangerous it becomes, and almost 
inevitably leads to self-deception. 

There is no occasion for a further analy- 
sis of the scientific spirit or attitude of 
mind. It could be followed out into vari- 
ous ramifications of greater or less impor- 
tance, but enough has been said to indicate 
its tendency. Nor is any further claim 
made at this point than for the laboratory - 
method, for the scientific spirit is now be- 
ing developed by subjects which are not 
grouped among the sciences as defined in 
this paper. It simply follows from the 
laboratory method, but as this came in by 
way of the sciences, and is still of easiest 


Aveust 24, 1900.] 


and most direct application in connection 
with them; so the characteristics of the 
scientific spirit indicated above are more 
easily and effectively developed in contact 
with the peculiar materials of science. 

But I have still stronger claim to make 
for science as an essential constituent of 
all education, and that is 

2. It gives a training peculiar to itself, and 
one that is essential in every well-balanced edu- 
cation.—The real educational significance 
of the training in laboratories devoted to 
science is very commonly overlooked, both 
by those who know nothing about it from 
personal experience, and even by those who 
are teachers of science. Many learn to go 
through the motions without appreciating 
the substratum of educational philosophy. 
Moreover, the knowledge of the educa- 
tional significance of this special form of 
training has been slowly developed as the 
results have appeared. 

Perhaps the earliest, and of course the 
most superficial form of statement explain- 
ing the purpose of scientific study was that 
it teaches the laboratory method. The in- 
ference was that the sciences are of no 
particular educational advantage in them- 
selves, but are merely useful in teaching a 
valuable method. In so far as this empha- 
sized the fact that reading or reciting about 
science cannot be regarded as training 
in science, and in so far as it recognized 
that science is to be credited with introduc- 
ing a revolutionary and invaluable educa- 
tional method, the statement is true enough; 
but to regard these purely incidental results 
as being in any sense the end of scientific 
training is far enough fromthe mark. The 
laboratory method holds no more relation 
to science than do algebraic symbols to 
algebra ; they both merely represent useful 
machinery for getting at the real results. 
And further, as has been shown, if the 
teaching of a method is the only function 
of science in education, when this method 


SCIENCE. 


287 


has been learned and has become univer- 
sally applied, the mission of science in ed- 
ucation is at an end. 

Another commonly stated advantage of 
training in science is that it cultivates the 
power and habit of observation. This is 
certainly true, but with equal certainty this 
result is not peculiar to scientific training, 
for it belongs to the laboratory method, and 
appears whenever the method is applied to 
any subject. It may be claimed that the 
most direct and tangible materials for ob- 
servation fall within the province of sci- 
ence, but this is a difference of degree rather 
than of kind, and therefore the result may 
be obtained apart from science. It is true 
that in the elementary stretches of educa- 
tion the methods are still prevailingly con- 
ventional, and therefore, stunt the natural 
powers of observation. The fine tentacles 
of inquiry which are put out in every di- 
rection by the child thus become atrophied, 
so that when later in his educational ex- 
perience he is introduced into the labora- 
tory he is as helpless as though transferred 
to a totally different set of life conditions. 
It takes almost a surgical operation to open 
his eyes, and he is apt to have lost not only 
the power but with it also the desire of 
observation. This wholesale and criminal 
mutilation of natural powers, however, is 
not the fault of the subjects studied, but of 
the conventional methods employed, which 
demand faith rather than sight, memory 
rather than reason, the sacrifice of truth to 
conventional ideas. To keep these impor- 
tant powers functional may still be an im- 
portant mission of science in elementary ed- 
ucation, but when the conventional method 
has been replaced by the natural in all sub- 
jects of study, this mission also will have 
been fulfilled, and will be recognized merely 
as an incident in scientific training. 

Those who are accustomed to look a lit- 
tle beneath the surface before formulating 
a statement are very apt to be content with 


288 


saying that the study of science trains in 
the power of analysis. This is certainly 
getting the subject upon higher ground, and 
suggests a result which is worthy of every 
effort. The power of analysis is one of im- 
mense practical importance, and the value 
of its cultivation will not be denied. To 
imagine, however, that analysis is the ulti- 
mate purpose of science, is not to go very 
much farther than to say that the ultimate 
purpose is the laboratory method. The lat- 
ter is the method, the former is but the first 
step in its application. But even this step 
is by no means peculiar to science, for it is 
the initial one in the teaching of every sub- 
ject. In our search, therefore, for the pe- 
culiar benefits of science in education, we 
are again compelled to look further. 
Beyond analysis lies synthesis, and this 
certainly represents the ultimate purpose 
of science. The results of analysis are as 
barren as a bank of sand until synthesis 
lays hold of them. It is just here that a 
large amount of science teaching fails, for 
to many teachers the accumulation of un- 
related facts seems to be the end of scien- 
tific study, and the results of the laboratory 
may be represented by a chaotic pile of 
brick rather than some definite structure 
dominated by an idea. Almost anyone 
may accumulate facts, but to relate them, 
to distinguish the significant and the insig- 
nificant, to recognize that they are merely 
external expressions of something general, 
belongs to the highest stretches of scientific 
training. May I be permitted to say, with- 
out being misunderstood, that the potent 
influence of the German laboratories upon 
American establishments has resulted in 
general in making our best investigators 
and our worst teachers. The influence is 
beneficent to the last degree in so far as it 
lays hold of a disposition to careless work 
and hasty generalization and holds it down 
to the patient collection of facts and their 
very cautious collection ; but when it re- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


sults in mere Gradgrind teaching all inspi- 
ration has evaporated, and the laboratory 
touches no more the finer mental powers 
than does a factory. The difference indi- 
cated finds its illustration in some of our 
best known texts, which are merely expres- 
sions of styles of teaching. In the one case 
the facts are presented in the helter-skelter 
fashion, solid and substantial enough, but 
a regular mob, with no logical arrangement, 
no evolution of a controlling idea. Details 
are endless, no emphasis brings out certain 
things into prominence and subordinates 
others, and the whole subject is as feature- 
less as a plain, where the dead level of 
monotony kills off every one but the drudge. 
It is the spirit of analysis, a dead body of 
facts without a vitalizing spirit. In the 
other case fewer facts are presented, but 
they are the important ones, and marshal- 
led in orderly array, battalion by battal- 
ion, they move as a great whole towards 
some definite object. The facts may fade 
away, even the battalions may grow dim, 
but the great movement remains definite 
and clear as a memory which is an inspira- 
tion. Instead of a level plain, there are 
mountain peaks and valleys, there is a per- 
spective and there are vistas from every 
point of view. This is the spirit of syn- 
thesis, which vitalizes the great body of 
facts and makes them glow. To the teacher, 
in his work of training, an unrelated fact is 
worse than useless. 

But even synthesis is not peculiar to sei- 
ence. To pass by the incidental and tem- 
porary and reach the real and permanent 
contribution of science to education is to 
discover that it lies not in teaching the lab- 
oratory method, in developing the power of 
observation, in cultivating the spirit of 
analysis, or even in carrying one to the 
heights of synthesis; but.in the mental at- 
titude demanded in reaching the synthesis. 
In this regard the demands of science are 
diametrically opposed to those of the hu- 


Avaust 24, 1900. ] 


inanities, for instance, using this loose term 
to express the great region of literature and 
its allies. The humanities have been and 
must continue to be a noble course of in- 
tellectual development, without which an 
education is certainly incomplete. It is 
the most ancient and best known form of 
culture, and being ancient and bound up 
with the intellectual development of man- 
kind is must necessarily continue to hold 
high rank. The general effect of the hu- 
manities in a scheme of education may be 
summed up ina single word appreciation. 
They seek so to relate the student to what 
has been said or done by mankind, that his 
critical sense may be developed, and that 
he may recognize what is best in human 
thought and action. To recognize what is 
best involves a standard of comparison. In 
most cases this standard is derived and 
conventional; in rare cases it is original 
and individual ; in no case is it founded in 
thé essential nature of things, in absolute 
truth, forit is apt to shift. In any case the 
student injects himself into the subject ; 
and the amount he gets out of it is meas- 
ured by the amount of himself he puts into 
it. It is the artistic, the esthetic, which 
predominates, not the absolute. It is all 
comparative rather than actual. The ability 
to read between the lines is certainly the 
injection of self into the subject-matter, 
and the whole process may be regarded 
as one of self-injection in order to reach 
the power of appreciation. My claim is 
that any education which stops with this 
result is an incomplete one, and that 
there is another mental attitude which 
is a necessary complement before a full- 
rounded education can be claimed ; and that 
this complementary mental attitude is de- 
veloped by a proper study of the sciences. 
Tf the study of nature is conducted so as to 
cultivate merely a sentimental appreciation 
of natural objects, it does not fall within the 
category I am considering, and can in no 


SCIENCE. 


289 


way be considered as a study which acts as 
a complement to the humanities. It is 
merely more of the same thing. If the 
proper intellectual result of the humanities 
is appreciation, whose processes demand selj- 
iyection, the proper and distinctive intellec- 
tual result of the sciences is a formula, to 
obtain which there must be rigid self-elimi- 
nation. Any injection of self into a scientific 
syuthesis vitiates the result. The standard 
is not a variable, an artificial one, developed 
from the varying tastes of man, but absolute, 
founded upon eternal truth. 

Two such distinct mental attitudes as self- 
injection and self-elimination must receive 
attention in education, which cannot be 
complete without both. They are not con- 
tradictory, but complementary, and it takes 
both to make the ‘all-round’ man. The 
exclusive cultivation of either one must re- 
sultin alop-sided development. Persistent 
self-injection tends to mysticism, a confu- 
sion of ideals or even vagaries with realities, 
a prolific cause of all irrational beliefs. 
Persistent self-elimination narrows the vis- 
ion to a horizon touched by the senses and 
clips the wings that would carry us now and 
then beyond the treadmill of life into a freer 
air and a wider outlook. 

The one needs the other as a check. In 
their combination self-injection is held back 
from dangerous flights by the demand to 
feel something solid beneath the feet; and 
self-elimination is compelled to raise its 
eyes now and then from the ground and 
sweep the heavens. 

In our analysis, however, we strip off the 
flesh and lay bare the skeleton, and are apt 
to lose sight of the fact that the contour is 
acomposite result. Although the skeletons 
of the humanities and of the sciences may 
differ from each other in the fundamental 
way described, I cannot conceive of the re- 
sulting contour of the one as distinct from 
combination with the other. The self- 
eliminating result of science must be asso- 


290 


ciated with the self-injecting result of the 
humanities, even though science alone be 
studied ; and the power of appreciation de- 
veloped by the humanities must always be 
tempered by the scientific spirit. And yet, 
the two processes and the two results are so 
distinct and so complementary that any 
scheme of education which does not provide 
for the definite cultivation of these two 
mental attitudes, and which leaves the com- 
plementary part merely to the chances of 
methods of teaching and mental structure, 
is in constant danger of resulting in mental 
distortion. 

I have indicated in this very general way 
the broad principles involved in the mission 
of science in education. Numerous details 
might be presented which would justify the 
claims that have been made, and perhaps 
such details would have made my thesis 
more clear, and would have left me in less 
danger of being misunderstood ; but neither 
the time nor the occasion will permit them. 

There is a factor of such overwhelming 
importance in the effectiveness of the mis- 
sion of science in education that I cannot 
forbear the mention of it, and that is the 
teacher. Ihave presented the possible, the 
ideal results, but they can be approximated 
only by the thoroughly competent teacher. 
The problem of the teaching of science in 
the universities is becoming a serious one. 
There is no need to include in this discus- 
sion the teaching of science in the schools, 
for those engaged in it are devoting their 
whole time and knowledge to its develop- 
ment. It is sadly true that as a rule they 
need more time and far more knowledge, 
but this need is being gradually met, and 
every year the teaching in the schools is 
becoming better. On the contrary, I am 
tempted to say that every year the teaching 
of science in the universities is becoming 
worse. Perhaps the statementis too strong, 
but it expresses a tendency, that must be 
checked. The university instructor is con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


fronted by two serious duties; he is to in- 
struct, and he is to produce. In the consti- 
tution of American universities the primary 
function of the instructor is to instruct; and, 

if time and strength permit, the secondary 
function is to produce. From the theoret- 
ical standpoint production is essential to a 
thoroughly good university instructor, for 
production makes all the difference between 
a pump and a perennial spring. There is 
no special inspiration in the continual re- 
tailing of second-hand information. Prac- 
tically, however, the conscientious teacher 
must expend all his energy, or at least 
all his effective energy upon teaching and 
faculty duties. The logical outcome is that 
teachers who wish to investigate cease to be 
conscientious as teachers. Production be- 
comes the principal thing, and instruction 
amere incident. It might be expected that 
these unconscientious teachers would be 
gradually eliminated, but there are two facts 
which not only prevent the elimination but 
increase the evil. The first is that in large 
universities the tenure of office is practically 
unlimited, and if the instructor is making a 
name through production his tenure of office 
is not likely to be terminated, however bad 
his teaching. The second fact is that in 
the appointment of new instructors the uni- 
versities to-day are looking more for produc- 
tive power than for teaching power. This 
latter fact reacts seriously upon those who 
are preparing for university positions, and 
their whole training is upon problems con-- 
nected with their subject, to the entire ex- 
clusion of those connected with its presen- 
tation. In short, my claim is that in the 
universities our instructors have been 
trained to investigate rather than to teach. 

I have never met such wretched teaching 

anywhere as is daily permitted in the great- 
est universities. Under such conditions the 
instructor for a few years makes a spasmodic 
effort to teach, presently loses his interest 
in it, and gradually lapses into indifference. 


2 


AvuGusT 24, 1900. ] 


It is a common statement that large uni- 
versities are no places for undergraduates, 
as they are turned over to the younger in- 
structors and do not meet the heads of de- 
partments. Theoretically this is a serious 
charge, but practically it is a wise arrange- 
ment, for in general it is true that the un- 
dergraduate would do well to beware of the 
old instructor, unless it is his wish to be 
neglected. The instructor who is a noviti- 
ate will work hard for him, even to the 
point of drudgery, even if he does not al- 
ways work effectively. 

I must not be misunderstood. Those 
who are born to teach will always teach 
when placed before a class, and every uni- 
versity has its share of such teachers, and 
the older they get, the more effective do 
they become; but I think I am right in 
claiming that the majority of instructors 
who have been brought into the universi- 
ties within the last decade or two are teach- 
ing as an incident to investigation. I am 
not blaming these instructors, for I enter 
into their feelings most sympathetically. I 
am merely stating a problem which must 
be solved. We must have production or 
teaching will become a treadmill and real 
universities will have no reason for exist- 
ence ; but we must also have effective teach- 
ing. The problem is, how can we have 
both? The answer is simple, but hard of 
application, for it involves the natural lim- 
itations of men, which they are slow to 
recognize. Some are born to teach and 
some are born to produce, and these two 
classes should be recognized and utilized by 
the University, but self-recognition is more 
difficult. As it is, every instructor feels 
upon himself a pressure to produce, for it 
is in the atmosphere to-day; but in the 
majority of cases yielding to this pressure 
involves a waste of valuable time and 
energy without any adequate result. Such 
instructors are unwilling to acknowledge, 
even to themselves, that they have not 


SCIENCE. 


291 


the initiative for profitable investigation, 
whatever may have been their prepara- 
tion. 

On the other hand, the born investigator 
is nearly as slow to recognize that he is 
probably not a successful teacher. With 
born teachers trying to investigate, and 
born investigators trying to teach, and still 
others born to do neither, the average uni- 
versity becomes a good illustration of mis- 
directed energy. If in any way the lines 
could be drawn so that the two classes 
could be recognized by themselves, as they 
already are by their associates, the problem 
would be solved. 

In my judgment it would be fatal abso- 
lutely to restrict either to his own field, for 
the teacher, in his own interest rather than 
that of his subject, must produce enough 
to retain and develop his inspiration, and 
to appreciate the methods and results of 
investigation; while the investigator, in 
his own interest rather than that of his 
students, must teach enough to retain his 
breadth of vision and to cultivate the power 
of clear and apt expression. 

In connection with any claim for the 
great and peculiar contributions of science 
to education, it seems pertinent to refer to 
a complaint heard now and then that the 
encroachment of science upon university 
attention has changed the atmosphere from 
one that is literary to one that is commer- 
cial. A common phrase is: ‘the commer- 
cializing tendency of modern education.’ 
The idea seems to be that a certain fine 
flavor of thought and expression is becom- 
ing less evident, and that the somewhat 
indefinite but soaring balloon is being re- 
placed by the locomotive. Without calling 
attention to the fact that if one wants to 
get anywhere at any definite time the loco- 
motive is more effective than the balloon, 
and without inquiring into the personal 
training or idiosyncracies of those who 
make the complaint, I wish to call atten- 


292 


tion to a probable explanation of the imag- 
inary change. 

The old education, which is reputed to 
have had such beneficent results, was a 
maenificent training; but it must never be 
forgotten that it was an example of extreme 
specialization. A narrow round of subjects 
was continually studied and all that can be 
claimed for specialization appeared in the 
result. Like all specialization, however, 
its effective application depended upon the 
mental aptitude of the student. As these 
aptitudes are quite varied, the old special- 
ized education selected from the mass the 
few to whom it was adapted, and these be- 
came really educated and dominated the 
university atmosphere, their more numer- 
ous fellows falling out unnoticed in the un- 
equal race. And so the flavor which be- 
longs to this special kind of education 
became the universal flavor of the educated. 

When new subjects appeared, and courses 
began to be multiplied, other students be- 
gan to beselected from the mass and joined 
the society of the educated, and the old 
flavor ceased to be one peculiar to educa- 
tion in general. 

The change, therefore, is simply that more 
students than formerly are reaching what 
may be called an education, and the differ- 
ence is one of proportion, not of actual 
number. Opportunity for the old educa- 
tion is still with us, and those who are 
adapted still take advantage of it, and their 
number is greater than ever before. But 
they are compelled to acknowledge as 
brothers in the fraternity of the educated a 
host who had been excluded before through 
lack of opportunity. There is no longer an 
aristocracy in education, and the democracy 
of to-day demands that all who are trained, 
by whatever method, shall strike hands as 
brothers and equals. 

In conclusion, may I be permitted to say 
that the full significance of scientific train- 
ing will appear only when it begins in some 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


form in the primary schools and touches 
the student at every stage of progress. Ap- 
pealing as it does to the most natural ten- 
dencies of childhood, its greeting at the 
threshold of school experience is that of the 
one familiar friend, whose presence relates 
the young to things which they can see and 
handle, and saves them from that desola- 
tion of spirit and mental warping which 
comes from exclusive contact with the con- 
ventional and the intangible. The univer- 
sity owes a great service to the schools in 
this particular, and the tentacles of its in- 
fluence must constantly be reaching deli- 
eately and inquiringly into school instruc- 
tion. What the schools can do or cannot 
do, what they should do or should not do, 
are questions which cannot be answered in 
ex cathedra fashion. The wilful ignorance of 
many university instructors in reference to 
the work of schools upon which they depend 
is amazing. The university as a whole rec- 
ognizes and encourages the intimate rela- 
tionship, but only an instructor here and 
there interests himself in discovering the 
real situation. The result of this appears 
usually in requirements for admission, 
which are often adapted to some theoretical 
university position rather than to the pos- 
sibilities of the modern American high 
school. In the debates upon these admis- 
sion requirements a large faculty is apt to 
be divided, and the line of division usually 
separates those who know the schools from 
those who do not. If the latter be in the 
majority, the university is at once effect- 
ively handicapped. There is much talk of 
forcing schools to university standards, but 
this forcing is necessarily artificial and 
temporary if it runs counter to the in- 
evitable tendencies which one who knows 
recognizes in the American school sys- 
tem. This system is more impregnable 
than the universities, for it is more exten- 
sive and better adapted to the peculiar con- 
ditions of American civilization. Itis only 


AucGust 24, 1900. ] 


a question of time when every university 
will recognize the fact that it must adapt 
itself to the possibilities of the schools, and 
that ancient or artificial standards can be 
maintained only so long as they approve 
themselves to the experience of the school- 
master. The mountain will never come to 
Mahomet. To compel schools to differen- 
tiate early a small and select and expensive 
class for entrance to the universities is un- 
fair both to school and to the university, 
and seriously checks the diffusion of higher 
education. To deny the privilege of breath- 
ing the university atmosphere to any prod- 
uct of a good secondary school involves 
such a narrow conception of education that 
one dislikes to associate it with the univer- 
sity. It has always seemed an anomaly 
that universities are inclined to rate them- 
selves more upon the basis of their raw 
material than their finished product. A 
fine-meshed screen is set up at the begin- 
ning of the university career, when it would 
seem far more logical to set it up at the 
othér end. This matter of entrance has 
much to do with the opportunity given to 
science to express itself in education. If its 
most promising and best trained material 
is turned back or handicapped when at- 
tempting to enter the university, a certain 
kind of educational theory may command 
the result, but it is a blockade against the 
general progress of education, in so far as 
it cuts off a great agency from operating 
upon the legitimate material. 

A statement summarizing the claims set 
forth in this paper may be formulated as 
follows: The introduction of science among 
the subjects used in education has revolu- 
tionized the methods of teaching, and all 
subjects have felt the impulse of a new 
life ; it has developed the scientific spirit, 
which prompts to investigation, which de- 
mands that belief shall rest upon a foun- 
dation of adequate demonstration, which 
recognizes that the sphere of influence sur- 


SCIENCE. 


293 


rounding facts may be speedily traversed 
and that everything beyond is as uncertain 
as if there were no facts ; it has introduced 
a training peculiar to itself, in that it teaches 
the attitude of self-elimination, an attitude 
necessary in order to reach ultimate truth, 
and thus supplements and steadies the other 
half of life, which is to appreciate. To ob- 
tain these results, there must be teachers 
who can teach, whose background and source 
of supply is the investigator. Moreover, the 
results are immensely desirable, inasmuch 
as they do not interfere with anything that 
is fine and uplifting in the old education, 
but simply mean that the possibilities of 
high attainment and high usefulness are 
open to a far greater number. 
Joun M. Covutter. 


THE ZEEMAN EFFECT. 

Ear ty in the year 1897 a paper was pub- 
lished in several journals by Dr. P. Zee- 
man, describing a series of experiments to 
determine the effect of magnetism upon the 
spectrum of a source of light placed in the 
magnetic field. The electromagnetic theory 
of light indicated in a general way that 
there would probably be some effect, and 
several investigators had already sought 
for it without success. The most note- 
worthy of these was Faraday, who made it 
the object of one of his last researches, and 
in this country Rowland made an exami- 
nation with a Rutherford grating, before 
he had himself begun to rule the more per- 
fect gratings of the present day. Zeeman 
himself had made an earlier unsuccessful 
attempt, and Fievez really observed what 
may have been the same phenomenon 
which Zeeman finally discovered, but he 
failed to understand its true character. 

With the aid of a strong magnet and 
better spectroscopic apparatus than any of 
his predecessors had used, Zeeman attacked 
the problem the second time with success. 
He placed a Bunsen flame containing com- 


294 


mon salt between the poles of the electro- 
magnet and focused the light on the slit of 
his spectrometer, arranging the flame so 
that the D-lines were sharply defined. As 
soon as the magnet was excited both lines 
widened out very much. By a careful 
series of subsidiary experiments he showed 
that the widening was due directly to the 
action of the field and was not a secondary 
effect such as might be caused by changes 
of density in the flame. 

These results were communicated before 
publication to Professor Lorentz, who 
showed Dr. Zeeman that the widening could 
be predicted from Lorentz’s theory that 
light is generated by the vibrations of elec- 
trically charged particles or ions; and that 
the same theory indicated that the edges of 
the widened lines should be plane-polarized 
or circularly-polarized according as the 
light falling upon the slit came from the 
source in a direction perpendicular or par- 
allel to the lines of magnetic force, and that 
the amount of the widening would give the 
ratio of the charge to the mass of the lumi- 
nous particles. Zeeman was able to verify 
fully the predictions as to polarization, and 
deduced from Lorentz’s equations, as a 
rough value for the ratio e/m, the value 
10°. 

The substance of the reasoning which led 
Lorentz to his conclusions is this: the mo- 
tion of any ion can be resolved into a 
rectilinear component along the lines of 
force and two circular components in oppo- 
site senses in a plane normal to the same 
lines. These moving charges constitute 
currents, and consequently there are elec- 
tromagnetic forces acting on the particles 
carrying the charges, owing to the presence 
of the magnetic field. The component 
along the lines of force is unaffected, while 
one of the circular components is accel- 
erated and the other retarded by an equal 
amount. Hence we have present three dis- 
tinct vibrations: one linear, along the lines 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


of force, with the same period as the undis- 
turbed motion; and two circular, in oppo- 
site senses, having periods, one a little 
longer and the other a little shorter than 
the original. Hence if the difference of 
periods introduced is sufficient to resolve 
the three lines in the spectrometer, and the 
light falling upon the slit comes from the 
source in a direction parallel to the lines of . 
force, two lines instead of one will appear 
in the spectrum, one composed of right- 
handed and the other of left-handed polar- 
ized light; for the linear vibration can send 
no wave in its own direction. On the 
other hand, if the light proceeds directly 
across the lines of force to the slit, a triplet 
will be seen, consisting of a central com- 
ponent polarized in a plane normal to the 
lines of force and two lateral components 
polarized in a plane through the lines of 
force (bearing in mind that on the electro- 
magnetic theory of light the direction of 
electric force is normal to the plane of 
polarization). But, if the difference of 
period is smaller, the lines of the doublet 
in the one case and of the triplet in the 
other, being streaks of finite width and not 
lines in the mathematical sense, will over- 
lap, forming a single widened line whose 
edges alone show any definite polarization. 
Lorentz’s mathematical treatment, which 
we will omit here, leads to the expression 


ay @ del 


NO Soe SEE EET TI 
Re m 2nV 


where 4 is the wave-length of the original 
line, 4/ is the difference in wave-length in- 
troduced between the extreme components 
of the triplet by the external magnetic 
force H, eis the charge on the moving ion, 
m its mass, and V the velocity of light. 

It follows from this that if e/m is the 
same for all the luminous ions which give 
the spectrum of any one substance, the 
separation 4, is proportional to the square 
of the wave-length; but it became evident 


Avaust 24, 1900. ] 


as soon as the experimental study was ex- 
tended that no such general law could be 
laid down. For the same region in the 
spectrum of an element the separation may 
vary from apparently nothing up to an 
Angstrom unit or more for a moderately 
intense field. 

The high value of e/m indicated by 
this phenomenon is significant. It is 
of about the same order as that found 
for the cathode ray particles and the ions 
caused by uranium and Rontgen rays and 
ultraviolet light; but the value for electro- 
lytic ions is only about 400. 

Zeeman’s experiments were soon repeated 
by other investigators, including Lodge, 
Michelson, Preston and Cornu; and it was 
not long before magnetic fields were used 
of strength sufficient to fully resolve the 
several components. It then became known 
that the phenomenon was not nearly so 
simple as the first observations would in- 
dicate. Lodge* first noticed indications of 
a quadruplet in the case of the D-lines in- 
stead of a triplet, and later Preston} and 
Cornut observed unmistakable quadruplets 
both in the case of D, and in the spectra of 
cadmium and magnesium. A little later 
Beequerel and Deslandres§ discovered in 
the iron spectrum a new type of triplet in 
which the states of polarization of the inner 
and outer components were interchanged. 
In February, 1898, Michelson published in 
the Astrophysical Jowrnal a paper giving re- 
sults obtained with the interferometer, 
some of which are not in accord with those 
obtained before and since then with the 
grating. Among other things he said that 
all lines are divided into what may pro- 
visionally be called triplets of approxi- 
mately the same width, each member of a 
so-called ‘triplet,’ however, being itself 


*The Electrician, June 18, 1897. 

}+Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. 63, p. 26. 
tComptes Rendus, vol. 126, p. 181. 
2Comptes Rendus, April, 4, 1898, p. 997. 


SCIENCE. 


295 


complex, making the whole magnetic group 
formed from a single natural line quite 
complicated. As has already been stated, 
other investigators have found the degree 
of separation to vary quite strikingly even 
for neighboring lines, and although re- 
searches with the grating have discovered 
many complicated lines, the number of 
these is very small compared to those that 
appear as simple triplets. Professor Mich- 
elson maintains in defense of his methods 
that the resolving power of a grating is not 
sufficient to reveal the finer structure of 
the line as indicated by the interferometer. 
This last is no doubt true, but on the other 


-hand the interferometer method is exceed- 


ingly indirect, and one hesitates before 
accepting conclusions drawn from an esti- 
mated visibility-curve as to the distribu- 
tion of intensity in such a complicated 
source as he advocates. In any case, the 
assumption is involved that the source is 
symmetrical, and this certainly is not al- 
ways true. An example is found in the 
cadmium group 4678, 4800, 5086, and the 
similar group in the spectrum of zinc. 
Each of these lines in the spark-spectrum 
shows a decided shading on the red side, 
which is retained by each component when 
they are separated by the magnetic field, 
making the whole group quite asymmetri- 
cal. It has also been shown* that many 
triplets and quadruplets are asymmetrical 
in separation. It is quite possible that 
such cases may account for some of Pro- 
fessor Michelson’s results. 

It cannot be denied, however, that, al- 
though most lines become simple triplets 
in the field, many are more complicated 
than the simple theory would indicate, 
many being fourfold and some at least six- 
fold, while some seem not to be affected by 
the field. Several theories have been de- 

*Zeeman, Proc. Roy. Amst. Acad. Sci., Dec. 30, 


1899. Reese, J. H. U. Circulars, June, 1899; June, 
1900. 


296 


vised to account for these variations, which 
will be discussed later. 

Some attempts to classify the spectral 
lines according to the character and extent 
of their magnetic separation have met with 
partial success. Preston* found that in 
the spectra of magnesium, cadmium and 
zine corresponding lines of the homologous 
groups of three at the head of Kayser and 
Runge’s second subordinate series act in 
exactly the same way in the magnetic 
field. That is, the most refrangible line in 
each group becomes a sharp triplet with the 
value 10 (relatively speaking) for the ratio 
#/ 42, the middle line\a sextuplet with the 
value 11.5, and the least refrangible a 
rather diffuse triplet with the value 18. 

A magnetic effect has been noticed on 
some of the air-lines,} but, with the possi- 
ble exception of nitrogen peroxide, no effect 
has been observed on band-spectra, either 
by emission or absorption methods. 

On the continent of Europe most of the 
work has been done with absorption spec- 
tra, particularly with that of the sodium 
flame; and in this field several most im- 
portant discoveries have been made. 

Egoroff and Géorgiewsky { noticed that 
the light from a sodium flame in a mag- 
netic field is partially polarized as a whole, 
i. €., without being dispersed. Lorentz§ 
showed that this phenomenon can be ex- 
plained by absorption even when the field 
is uniform. 

Righi|| and Cotton 4] have shown how 
the Zeeman effect may be demonstrated 
without a spectroscope by passing a plane- 
polarized beam of white light through a 
magnetized sodium flame or absorbing gas. 


* Phil. Mag., vol. 47, p. 165. 

} Becquere] and Deslandres, Comptes Rendus, vol. 
127, p. 18. 

t Comptes Rendus, vol. 124, pp. 748, 949. 

@ Proc. Roy. Amst. Acad. Sei., vol. 6, p. 193. 

i| Comptus Rendus, vol. 127, p. 216. 

{| Comptus Rendus, vol. 125, p. 865. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


By this method, which is very sensitive, 
nitrogen peroxide was shown to be subject 
to magnetic separation. 

Macaluso and Corbino* discovered that 
a magnetized sodium plane rotates the 
plane of polarization to a very great extent 
for light whose wave-length is nearly that of 
one of the D-lines. Very close to the ab- 
sorption-lines the rotation amounts to as 
much as 315 degrees. The immediate de- 
pendence of this phenomenon upon the 
Zeeman effect is shown in a very beautiful 
way in Cotton’s little book ‘ Le Phénomene 
de Zeeman,’ although I believe the more 
general principle that magnetic rotation of 
the plane of polarization is dependent upon 
the optical dispersion of the medium com- 
bined with a sort of generalized Zeeman 
effect, is due to Fitzgerald. 

An analogous effect of the magnetized 
flame upon light passed through it across 
the lines of force was discovered independ- 
ently by Voigt { and Cotton§. They found 
that the flame acts like a uniaxial crystal ; 
that is, it introduces a phase-difference be- 
tween waves polarized parallel and perpen- 
dicular to the lines of force. This phase- 
difference increases very rapidly as the 
wave-length approaches that of one of the 
D-lines. The explanation of this is also 
given in Cotton’s book. 

When we review the experimental facts 
concerning the effect of magnetism upon 
light we find many things inconsistent with 
the elementary theory first given by 
Lorentz. The equation which he obtained 
indicated that all spectral lines should be- 
come triplets under the influence of the 
field, and that the separation should vary as 
the square of the wave-length and as the 
strength of the field. On the contrary we 
find a considerable number of lines which 


* Comptus Rendus, vol. 127, p. 548. 
t Proc. Roy. Soc., vol. 63, p. 31. 

{} Wied. Annal. No. 2, 1899, p. 345. 
¢ Comptus Rendus, vol. 128, p. 294. 


AvaGust 24, 1900. ] 


become more complicated than triplets as 
well as some that are apparently unaffected; 
moreover the separation is very far from 
varying as the square of the wave-length, 
and recent work has shown that in some 
cases at least it is not proportional to the 
strength of the field.* In spite of these 
inconsistencies, however, we do not feel 
called upon to abandon the theory of 
electrified ions, for we must bear in mind 
that Lorentz’s expression was deduced from 
assumptions which can hardly be realized 
in nature. He assumed a molecule of the 
simplest possible kind, consisting of a 
single positive or a negative ion acted upon 
by a central force proportional to its dis- 
placement and an electromagnetic force 
due to the external field equal in magnitude 
and direction to that which would act on a 
conductor carrying a current equal to the 
product of the velocity of the ion by the 
eharge which it carries. Now it seems 
reasonable to suppose that the central 
force varies directly as the first power of 
the displacement because if it varied as any 
other power the period of vibration would 
change with the amplitude, and the spec- 
tral lines would change their position when 
the source of light became brighter, which 
has never been observed. The assumption 
that the same forces act on a particle carry- 
ing a charge e with a velocity v as would 
act on a conductor carrying a current of 
strength ev in the same direction is justified 
for comparatively low velocities by Row- 
land’s experiment in Berlin in 1876. It 
seems utterly impossible, however, that a 
molecule should consist of a single ion, 
for in very few cases does the spectrum of 
an element contain less than twenty lines 
in the visible spectrum, and in the iron- 
spectrum there are thousands of them. A 
molecule which can vibrate in so many dif- 
ferent periods must be exceedingly compli- 


* Shedd, Phys. Rev., July, 1899, p. 1; Aug., 1899, p. 
86. Reese, J. H. U. Circulars, June, 1900. 


SOIENCE. 


297 


cated. It is not surprising, then, that our 
simple theory is inadequate to account for 
the facts. Lorentz, in fact, knew this and 
instituted * a theoretical research on more 
general grounds before its insufficiency had 
been shown by the discovery of the quad- 
ruplet and other complications. He found 
that if the molecule naturally possessed 
more than three equivalent modes of vibra- 
tion—that is, if it could vibrate in more 
than three ways with the same period— 
then the single spectral line corresponding 
to this period would become more than 
three-fold under the influence of magnetic 
force. Professor Lorentz does not regard 
this explanation as satisfactory, owing to 
the difficulty in conceiving a system having 
this property. 

More recently Voigt} has proposed a 
theory which accounts for all the observed 
phenomena and is especially interesting in 
that by it he predicted cases of asymmetry 
found by Zeeman and others. Unfortu- 
nately the theory does not give any me- 
chanical conception of the subject, merely 
consisting of the introduction into the equa- 
tions of motion of terms of arbitrary form, 
which have no apparent justification. 

It is comparatively easy to treat the case 
of a molecule composed of two ions carry- 
ing equal charges of opposite signs, and, in 
fact, Professor Rowland has lately given 
such a treatment before his students at 
Johns Hopkins University, but it leads: to 
no new results as regards the Zeeman ef- 
fect. Any case more general than this is 
very difficult. HERBERT M. REESE. 


EUROPEAN APPLE TREE CANKER IN 
AMERICA. 

SHortiy after bulletin No. 163 of this 
station, entitled ‘A New York Apple Tree 

* Wied. Annal., vol. 63, p. 278. Astroph. Jour., 
vol. 9, p. 37. 

ft Wied. Annalen, No. 2, 1899, p. 345 ; No. 6, 1899, 
p. 352; No. 9, 1899, p. 290; No. 2, 1900, p. 376, and 
p. 389. 


298 


Canker,’ was distributed, the writer re- 
ceived specimens of diseased apple limbs 
from various parts of the United States and 
Canada. Among the rest was a specimen 
from Nova Scotia which was noticeably 
different from any that I had yet seen. 
The injury was about six inches long on a 
limb two inches in diameter. Within the 
diseased area was a series of six ridges or 
convolutions in the wood surrounding a 
central starting point, each one of which 
evidently marked a year’s growth of a par- 
asitic fungus. The fungus, Spheropsis ma- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


no fungus fruit in evidence, and as I was 
unsuccessful in obtaining more specimens 
the matter was dropped for a time. 

In the latter part of May several speci- 
mens of diseased apple limbs were received 
from Hast Homer, Cortland County, N. 
Y., that were similar in appearance to 
the one from Nova Scotia, but in addition 
many portions of the dead bark and wood 
were thickly studded with the minute, 
deep red perithecia of a Nectria. Among 
the specimens were examples of recent in- 
fections as is shown at a,in the figure, as well 


lorum Peck., which has been shown to be 
the cause of the common New York apple 
tree canker, is more active in its growth. 
With this disease large areas of bark may 
be destroyed and the wood laid bare, or in 
other instances the bark may be much 
swollen and roughened, but the form of 
injury described above does not occur. 

The appearance of the diseased limb, 
which was similar to that shown in Fig. 
1 at c, strikingly resembled the work of 
Nectria ditissima as illustrated and described 
by European writers. However there was 


as cankers of several years standing. The 
perithecia were abundant on all these speci- 
mens, so there seemed little doubt but that 
the Nectria was the cause of the diseased 
condition. 

On visiting the locality it was found that 
the fungus was evidently confined to a 
small area and but few additional speci- 
mens were secured. 

Through the kindness of Professor F. C. 
Sears, Wolfville, N. S., more specimens of 
the diseased apple limbs were obtained 
from that locality in June and the perithecia 


AuGustT 24, 1900. ] 


of the Nectria were found to be abundant 
on them. Professor Sears writes that this 
form of canker is doing serious damage in 
some of the orchards of the Annapolis 
Valley. 

Specimens of the diseased branches were 
sent to Dr. R. Hartig, Munich, Germany, for 
identification, who writes that the cankers 
are caused by the fungus Nectria ditissima. 

So far as I know this fungus has not as 
yet been recorded as occurring on apple 
trees in America, and its appearance in our 
orchards is of great practical importance 
since it is a serious pest to European fruit 


growers. 
W. Pappocr. 
EXPERIMENT STATION, GENEVA, N. Y. 


ZOOLOGY AT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 

Tue following papers were presented be- 
fore Section F during the recent meeting at 
New York: 


Sketch of the History of Statistical Inquiry of 
Evolution: By C. B. DAvENPoRT, Univer- 
sity of Chicago. The paper will appear 
in full in ScrENcE. 

The Variation of Synapta: By ©. L. Ep- 
WARDS, Trinity College. In the absence 
of the author this paper was read by title. 

Variation among Hydromeduse: By CHARLES 
W. Hareirt, Syracuse, N. Y. To be 
published in Screncr. 

Variations in Jaws of Neries limbata: By 
Marian Herreran, University of Chi- 
cago. Presented by C. B. DaAvENPoRT. 
A quantitative study of variation made 

upon the species Neries limbata, collected at 

Cold Spring Harbor during the summer of 

1899, gave the following results : 

The character chosen for investigation 
was the number of teeth on the exsertile 
jaws. These number from 6-14 on each of 
the two jaws and were distinguished both 
for the sake of convenience and for pur- 
poses of comparison into definite teeth, 


SCIENCE. 


299 


those which occupy the distal half of the 
jaw and which are clearly separated from 
each other, and the indefinite teeth at the 
base of the jaw which are covered by a 
transparent horny layer. 

The typical condition of the total num- 
ber of teeth of 400 specimens of Neries lim- 
bata of Cold Spring Harbor is a curve of 
type I. or type IV., with a slight skewness 
in a negative direction from the mode 10. 
In case of the calculation of the right total 
teeth a transition from a curve of type LV. 
to an equally serviceable one of type I. 
could be made by dropping one extreme 
individual out of 400. The teeth on the 
right jaw appear to be slightly more vari- 
able than those on the left. The least 
variation is shown by the indefinite teeth. 
The degree of correlation between the two 
jaws is, on the whole, rather high, 0.820. 
Correlation is closer between the indefinite 
than between the definite teeth. A nega- 
tive correlation exists between the definite 
and indefinite of the same jaw, that is, a 
small number of definite teeth is associated 
with a large number of indefinite and vice 
versa. An inverse relation also exists be- 
tween the number of definite teeth and the 
age of the animal, older animals presenting 
fewer definite teeth. 

This result as well as those of observa- 
tion of many specimens showing many ir- 
regularities in the teeth, point to the con- 
clusion that a process of erosion of the ex- 
treme teeth forms a large factor in the 
variation of the definite and perhaps indi- 
rectly of the indefinite teeth. A difference 
in the number of teeth in respect to the age 
of the animal has rarely been recognized in 
description heretofore and would be natur- 
ally overlooked unless a large number of 
specimens was examined. Little value can 
thus be placed upon the statements made 
in regard to the number of teeth in a large 
number of species where only a few speci- 
mens were found. 


300 


Some Cases of Saltatory Variation: By C. H. 
EIGENMANN and Utysses Cox, Indiana 
University. 

1. A specimen of Rana pipiens 54 mm. long 
has the forearm and hand of the right side 
duplicated. This arm is carried in a sling 
formed of a loop of the skin of the breast 
4mm. wide. This is a pathological abnor- 
mality rather than a variation that leads 
to the mutation of species. 

2. A specimen of Ameiurus natalis 120 mm. 
differs from normal specimens in the total 
absence of all traces of the ventral fins. 
This is a saltatory variation which if pre- 
potent might give rise to a race of catfish 
without ventrals, which would be consid- 
ered generically different from the parent 
stock. This specimen is of interest in con- 
nection with the next case. 

3. A variation of great importance and 
no small interest is presented by nine speci- 
mens of Ameiurus melas. These were col- 
lected at random from among a large num- 
ber in Mitchell’s Cave, Kentucky. Each 
one possesses one or more supplemental 
nasal barbels. These might give rise to the 
supposition that they are the direct result 
of the cave life, but an examination of all 
the data makes it probable that we are 
dealing with a coincidence of a cave habitat 
and a prepotent saltatory variation that ap- 
pears adaptive to a cave existence. The con- 
clusions arrived at concerning these speci- 
mens are: (1) the variation is saltatory. 
(2) it is bilateral without reaching perfect 
‘bilateral correlation ; (3) it is improbable 
that the variation arose independently in 
each of the specimens ; (4) the variation 
probably arose in one of the ancestors of 
the specimens ; (5) admitting (4) the salta- 
tory variation arising in an ancestor was 
prepotent to a very high degree. 


Variation and Correlation in the Tibial Spines 
of Melanoplus: By C. B. DAvENPoRT, 
University of Chicago. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 295. 


This paper, embracing work done in con- 
nection with Miss Ora H. Hubbard gives 
the constants and their probable errors 
of the distributions of frequencies of the 
spines of the inner and outer rows of spines 
on the right and left-hand tibiz of Melano- 
plus femur-rubrum from Newport, Rhode 
Island. The correlations of the number 
of spines in the various rows was de- 
termined quantitatively and the interesting 
result obtained that there is a greater 
correlation between rows symmetrically 
placed with reference to the plane of sym- 
metry of the whole animal than there is 
between rows so placed with reference to 
the plane of symmetry of the single leg. 
Finally the range of individual variation is 
greater than the range of variation of the 
modes of various species of the genus 
Melanoplus ; consequently in the individual 
variation of the one species there is pro- 
vided material for the various typical num- 
bers of spines found in all species of the 
genus. 

Variationin Io: By CO. A. Adams. Tobe 
published in full. 


On the Origin and Distribution of Leptino- 
tarea decem-lineata Say, and the part that 
some of the Climatic Factors have played in 
their Dissemination: By W. L. Tower, 
University of Chicago. To be published 
in SCIENCE. 


A New Eyeless Isopod Crustacean from Meaxico : 
By A. 8. Packarp, Brown University. 
Some years ago I received through the 

kindness of Professor A. L. Herrera, of the 

City of Mexico, an isopod crustacean taken 

from a well at Monterey, Mexico. It ap- 

pears to be a true Conilera, and may be 
named Conilera stygia. 
It is totally eyeless, and adds another to 


- the blind fauna of our caves and wells. 


Hitherto the genus has been represented by 
but a single species, inhabiting the British 
coasts. Compared with Bates and West- 


AveGust 24, 1900.] 


wood’s figure of C. cylindracea, the body is 
longer, the antenne much longer, reaching 
to the middle of the first thoracic segment, 
those of the second pair nearly to the middle 
of the seventh thoracic segment. Only the 
first three pairs of legs are short, with a 
very thick hand ; the four hinder pairs of 
legs are long, slender. The two last divi- 
sions of the pleopods are unequal, the outer 
division very narrow, but a little more than 
half as long as the broad inner division or 
endopodite. Length of body 25 mm.; 
breadth 5 mm. 

This form is like most if not all other 
blind or eyeless arthropods in having a 
longer body, antenne, and legs in compen- 
sation for the loss of eyes. 


A Contribution to the Fauna of the Caves 
of Texas: By C. H. Eicnnmann, Indiana 
University. 

In the early part of September, 1899, IT 
visited San Marcos, Texas, to secure if pos- 
sible some living specimens of the cave 
Salamander occasionally thrown out of the 
Artesian well of the United States Fish 
Commission. This well taps an under- 
ground stream about 190 feet from the sur- 
face. No specimens of the Salamander 
Typhlomolge came to the surface during 
my stay, but I received two living speci- 
mens from Superintendent J. I. Leary. 

Besides the Salamander three species of 
Crustaceans had been secured from this 
well. These were described preliminarily 
by Mr. Benedict, Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., Vol. 
XVIII. One of these, Palemonetes antro- 
rum, is very abundant and many are thrown 
out from the well each day. The eyes of 
this species are degenerate far beyond those 
of the blind Cambarus pelucidus of the 
Mississippi valley caves. They will be de- 
scribed elsewhere. The second one Ciral- 
onides texensis is not nearly so abundant as 
the first. During my stay of three days I 
secured several specimens. It can readily 


SCIENCE. 301 


be seen in the receiving basin of the well 
when thrown out. 

The third Crangonyx flagellatus is much 
rarer and no specimen was secured during 
my stay. Instead however a single speci- 
men of a related species (Crangonyx bow- 
ersti) Was secured. 

These are all the species that can readily 
be seen with the naked eye, when swim- 
ming about the receiving basin. A screen 
of bolting cloth (No. 2) placed over the 
outlet for ashort time secured a number of 
additional species, viz, the front half of a 
new species of Cesidotea, two new species 
of Copepoda, a Cypridopsis and a Crusta- 
cean that defied identification and was later 
lost, as well as a flat worm. The evidence 
from the screening is that there is yet a 
rich subterranean fauna to be obtained 
from this well. 

There is near the well a spring arising 
evidently from the same source by the side 
of which the well is insignificant in its 
yield of water. No blind creatures have 
been recorded from this spring, and the 
difficulty in straining its output is much 
greater than that of straining the well. 
Through the liberal policy of the Honorable 
G. M. Bowers and Dr. Hugh M. Smith, of 
the United States Fish Commission, a 
plankton net is now in use at the San Mar- 
cos well, and we may expect other additions 
to the fauna of the well and the under- 
ground stream it taps. 

Near San Marcos are two small caves. 
Ezell’s cave was formerly open to the pub- 
lic and provided with steps and other facil- 
ities for entrance. The opening leads into 
a pit about forty feet deep, with one side, 
that nearest the entrance, quite perpendic- 
ular, but with some projecting rocks. At 
the bottom of this pit and at the side 
furthest from the entrance a smaller open- 
ing led downward to the water, which was 
said to be about one hundred feet from the 
entrance. The Texas variety of small boy 


302 


has found amusement in rolling rocks down 
the entrance thus smashing the steps and 
closing the former opening at the bottom of 
the first series of steps. It was necessary 
to take a side branch to reach the water. 
This side branch, for sufficient reasons, I 
did not take to its end, although my assist- 
ants managed to get through to the water 
without, however, securing any specimens. 
I was amply rewarded for not entering the 
deeper recesses by finding in the twilight 
of the entrance pit an abundant cave fauna. 

Not far from this cave is Beaver cave. 
This is a winding, twisting channel of no 
great height or width. All the available 
time was devoted to securing specimens 
and the cave was not followed to the end. 
There is no water except ina pit dug in the 
cave. 

Animals, though few in species, were sur- 
prisingly numerous in both these caves. 
The following species were secured in the 
well and caves: 


1. A flat worm sp.?—Artesian well. 
Mollusca. 
. Helicina orbiculata Say. 
. Vitrea petrophila, Bland, pale var. 
Bifidaria contracta Say. 
. Helicodiscus Higenmanni Pilsbry, 
n. sp. 


Ezell’s Cave. 


Or 09 


Crustacea. 


. Cypridopsis vidna obesa Brady ; 


fon) 


Robertson. 
7. Cyclops cavernarum 0. sp. Asticstom wlll, 
8. Cyclops Learii n sp. 
9. Cecidotza smithii n. sp. 
0. Ciralonides texensis Benedict. 
1 Ezell’s Cave. 


Beaver Cave. 


. Brackenridgia cavernarum 0. sp. 
and genus. } 

12. Crangonyx Bowersii n. sp. 

13. Palemonetes antrorum Benedict. i 

14. Larval crustacean, unidentified. 


Artesian well. 


Myriopoda. 
15. sp.?—Hzell’s Cave. Beaver Cave. 
Arachnida. 
16. Theiridium Eigenmanni Banks ) Ezell’s Cave. 
n. sp. } Beaver Cave. 
Thysanura. 
17. Degeeria cavernarum Pack. Ezell’s Cave. 
18. Nicoletia texensis n. sp. \ Beaver Cave. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


Orthoptera. 


? 
19. Ceutophilus palmeri Scudder. | cere 


Beaver Cave. 
Diptera. 


20. Larval Chironomus.—Artesian well. 


Vertebrata. ‘ 
21. Typhlomolge rathbuni Stejneger.—Artesian well. 


Convergent Evolutions as illustrated by the 
Blind Lizard Rhineura: By C. H. H1cEn- 
MANN, Indiana University. 

Living specimens of the blind lizard 
Rhineura show a great similarity in color, 
shape and method of progression to earth- 
worms which they also resemble in habits. 
Living specimens were exhibited. 


The Development of the Eyes in the Blind-fish 
Amblyopsis: By ©. H. Eicenmann, In- 
diana University. 

The eye is perfectly normally outlined. 
A lens is normally developed but does not 
become located within the iris. It degen- 
erates early, disappearing before the fish 
exceeds 10 mm. in length. The optic nerve 
is normally developed, and retains its con- 
nection with the eye and brain till matur- 
ity. It gradually becomes attenuated, and 
in the old a connection between the eye 
and brain cannot be traced. The vitreous 
body does not become developed to any ex- 
tent. The secondary optic cup at all times 
remains a shallow depression. An outer 
reticular layer does not develop and cones 
are uncertain in their development. 


The Eye of the Cave Salamander Typhlotriton : 
By C. H. Erennmann, Indiana University. 
The eyelids are closing over the eyes. 

The eye is normally developed. The retina 

is normal in the young but with the meta- 

morphosis or shortly thereafter the rods 
and cones disappear. 


Some of the Internal Changes which accompany 
Ecdysis in Insects: By W. L. Tower, Uni- 
versity of Chicago. 

The most important of the changes which 
precede ecdysis in insects is the develop- 


August 24, 1900.] \ 


ment of the exuvial glands. These are 
unicellular hypodermal glands, usually pear- 
shaped, with the smaller end prolonged into 
a tube which opens through a pore beneath 
the cuticula. Sometime before ecdysis 
these glands begin to grow larger,and the 
nuclei have well developed membranes with 
clearly defined chromatin skeins. In the 
few days immediately preceding ecdysis the 
glands enlarge rapidly, owing to the secre- 
tion of an albuminous fluid within the 
cells, and the nuclei become amceboid, some- 
times branching in fine dendritic processes 
among the globules of the exuvial fluid. 
The time for ecdysis having arrived the 
glands pour out their contents gradually 
until there is a thin layer of the exuvial 
fluid separating the old cuticula from the 
hypodermis. The hypodermis now rapidly 
secretes a new layer of cuticula, and thus 
the whole animal is covered with this fluid, 
which enables it to crawl out of its old 
shell with ease. 

These exuvial glands occur on all parts 
of the body, but are most numerous on the 
pronotum. After ecdysis they become 
small and rounded, with densely staining 
nuclei. 

The point of interest now is the secre- 
tion of the secondary layer of the cuticula, 
which forms the real strength of the in- 
sect’s skeleton. During ecdysis and for a 
short time thereafter the only cuticula is an 
extremely thin layer which is easily bent 
or torn, but about thirty minutes later the 
deposit on the secondary layer begins and 
continues until near the middle of the in- 
star. This layer is often ten times the 
thickness of the primary cuticula, and 
seems to be like a cellulose layer, giving in 
some cases a ‘ cellulose test.’ 


Sugar and Muscle Fatigue: By FREpERIC S. 
Lee, College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
New York. 

The origin of muscular energy, whether 


SCIENCE. 303 


from nitrogenous or non-nitrogenous sub- 
stance, has been disputed. There has like- 
wise been much discussion over the re- 
spective parts played by the two recognized 
causes of muscle fatigue, namely, the de- 
struction of substance necessary for con- 
traction and the poisoning of the muscle 
by so-called fatigue products. Recent ex- 
perimental evidence both for and against 
the idea that sugar is an important source 
of bodily energy has been brought forward 
by others. The author, together with Mr. 
C. C. Harrold, has studied the problem by 
experiments on cats which had been put 
under the influence of the peculiar drug, 
phlorhizin. It is known that this drug re- 
moves the carbohydrates from the body. 
Fasting animals were put under the in- 
fluence of the drug, were then killed, and 
the contractile power of the muscles, which 
continues normally for several hours after 
death was then tested. The muscles of 
well-phlorhizinized animals were found to 
have a contractile power much less than 
normal, and in this respect resembled 
muscles in a pronounced state of fatigue. 
That this result was due to the removal of 
carbohydrate from the muscles rather than 
to a mysterious specific action of the drug 
on the muscle protoplasm is rendered prob- 
able by the fact that if dextrose be given to 
an animal that is well under the influence 
of phlorhizin the fatiguing effect of the 
drug is counteracted and the contractile 
power of the musclesisrestored. It seems 
to be a legitimate conclusion that nor- 
mally sugar is a source of muscle energy 
and the destruction of it a cause of muscle 
fatigue. : 

The supposed connection between the 
oncoming of rigor mortis and the loss of 
carbohydrate is confirmed by these experi- 
ments. A well phlorhizinized animal may 
begin to go into rigor within five minutes 
after death, and the rigor is often complete 
within a half hour. 


304 


The Structure of the Poison Glands of Schilbeo- 
des gyrinus: By HucH Danie. REED, 
Cornell University. 

The poison gland is supposed to be in the 
axil of the pectoral fins. Itisin reality just 
beneath the epidermis and almost entirely 
surrounds the spine. Both dorsal and pec- 
toral spines have poison glands. The gland 
tissue is composed of large, coarsely-gran- 
ular, doubly-nucleated cells. Hach poison 
cell is surrounded by a layer of spindle- 
shaped epithelial cells. The clavate cells 
of the skin are identical in structure with 
the poison cells. They are wanting in 
those places which are entirely covered or 
protected by other organs. From their re- 
semblance in structure to the poison cells 
and their distribution, it is probable that 
their function is one of protection. The 
poison cells are regenerated from the cells 
of the epidermis. 

Before the poison can be effectual the 
cell membranes must be destroyed, for 
there is no duct leading from the gland to 
the exterior. The spine is entirely covered 
by epidermis which has to be punctured. 


Development and Relations between the Intesti- 
nal Folds and Villi of Vertebrates: By W. 
A. Hirzron, Cornell University. 

Folds, villi and valvole conniventes are 
conyvolutions of the mucosa alone, other 
foldings involving the muscular coats not 
being considered. Folds and villi are 
homologous, villi being more specialized 
and occurring usually in otherwise highly 
specialized vertebrates. Several influences 
upon size and form of villi are easily recog- 
nized, such as the influence of food and 
size of the animal. By phylogenetic and 
ontogenetic study of a number of species it 
is found that there are at least two ways in 
which the villi are formed from folds. The 
more usual way being like that which takes 
place with the chick, that is, straight folds 
becoming more and more wavy until very 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 295. 
zigzag folds are produced and villi formed 
from these by separations which take place 
at the tip of the fold angles downward. 

Villi are present in the large intestines of 
most mammals sometime before birth, and 
occur also in the appendix vermiformis of 
man before birth, possibly showing the ap- 
pendix of man to be an atrophied part of 
the ccecum. 


Hystolysis of Muscle in the transforming Toad 
(Bufo lentiginosus): By Louise Karz, 
Ithaca, N. Y. 

It is shown in this paper that while the 
outward changes in transformation are ex- 
ceedingly rapid, taking place in about three 
days, the internal changes are in process 
for a considerably longer period. The first 
sign of muscle change is a myotome near 
the base of the tail opposite the grow- 
ing legs. Here a few fibers, often but a 
single one, occur on each side. Later, 
when the legs are about . three-quarters 
grown, degenerating fibers are scattered all 
along the tail, but are most numerous at 
the tip. 

Forms of degeneration ; there are four 
quite well-marked types: 

1. Mass degeneration, in which the whole 
fiber degenerates in one or more large 
masses. 

2. Degeneration with transverse bands of 
degenerating substance, alternating with 
bands of normal muscle. 

3. Breaking of the fibrille into smaller 
fragments, the so-called sarcolytes. 

4. Transformation into transverse bands 
with intermediate gaps as if amen 
had taken place. 

In all the types the changes appear to be 
intrinsic in the muscle itself; homogeneous 
material is produced, reacting characteris- 
tically with the various stains and fixers, 
and disappearing by liquifaction in situ. 
Thus far I have found no evidence of frag- 
mentation of the nuclei, nor marked in- 


Aveust 24, 1900.] 


crease in protoplasm as described by various 
investigators. In many fibers, however, 
showing no other signs of degeneration, the 
nuclei were no longer evenly distributed, 
but collected in a longitudinal row near one 
end. Fat occurs as a late product of de- 
generation. There is no evidence that phag- 
ocytes play any part in the degeneration 
process occurring in the muscle. 


The Biogenetic Law from the Standpoint of 
Paleontology: By JAMES PERRIN SMITH, 
Stanford University, California. 

This paper was a general discussion of 
the repetition of ancestral characters in 
the ontogeny of the individual; difficulties 
of interpreting and correlating stages of 
growth of the individual- with ancestral 
genera with illustrations taken from the 
life history of fossil invertebrates and an 
exhibition of ontogenic series of fossil am- 
monites, and a discussion of the meaning 
of the stages of growth. 


Reconsideration of the Evidence for a Com- 
mom cinosaur-avian stem in the Permian: 
By Henry F. Ossorn, American Museum 
of Natural History, New York City. 
This paper will be printed in the Amer- 

ican Naturalist, August, 1900. 

Relation of Dinosaurs to birds as dis- 
cussed since 1864. 

History of opinion. 

Theory of descent from a common stem 
form, Huxley. 

Descent from Iguanodontia, Baur. 

Gradual reaction of opinion to the view 
expressed by Furbringer in ’88, that Dino- 
saurs and birds have descended from a com- 
mon reptilian ancestor. 

Review of all the osteological resem- 
blances between birds and Dinosaurs. 
Grounds for a reconsideration of the prob- 
lem. 

(a) The clawed quadrupedal ancestry of 
birds. 


SCIENCE. 


305 


(6) Structure of the Permian Progano- 
sauria. 

(c) Origin of the bipedal type. 

(d) Probability that birds and Dinosaurs 
sprang from a common bipedal type in the 
Permian period constituting dinosaur-avian 
stem. 


The Reptilian Origin of Mammals as illus- 
trated in the Structure of the Occipital Con- 
dyles: By Henry F. Osporn, American 
Museum of Natural History, New York 
City. 

Huxley’s theory of the amphibian origin 
of mammals recently revised by Hubrecht 
and Kingsley. 

Difficulties in the theory. 

Theory of derivation of mammals from 
the Anomodontia. 

Tripartite structure of the condyles in 
these reptiles. 

Essential tripartite structure of the con- 
dyles in certain mammals. 

Mammal condyle of amphibian and not 
of reptilian origin. 


Structure, Relationship and Habits of the Eo- 
cene Creodont, Patriofelis: By Hrnry F. 
Ossorn, American Museum of Natural 
History, New York City. 

This paper will be printed in Bulletin of 
the American Museum Natural History. 

Discovery of a complete skeleton of Pa- 
triofelis, Seeley by the American Museum 
Expedition. 

Full description of this skeleton by Dr. 
J. L. Wortman with theory of aquatic 
habits of the life and of the probable re- 
lationship of the aquatic carnivora. 

Re-study of the skeleton. 

(a) Skull and dentition of feline type. 

(6) Feet transitional between raccoon 
and feline type. 

(c) Probable terrestrial habits of this 
type. . 

(d) Insufficient ground for theory of re- 
lationship of the Pinnipedia. 


306 


Phylogeny of the Rhinoceroses of Europe: 
By Henry F. Ossorn, American Museum 
Natural History, New York City. 

This paper will be printed in the Bulletin 
of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory. 

Difficulties in a systematic arrangement 
of Rhinoceroses resulting from recent dis- 
coveries. 

Necessity of phylogenetic classification. 

Great antiquity of separate phyla. 

Our ignorance of the stem form. 

Revision of the family Rhinocerotide 
into seven subfamilies representing differ- 
ent phyla. 

Theory of migration from Africa. 


On the Inflection of the Angle of the Jaw in the 
Marsupialia and other Mammals: By B. 
ARTHUR BenstEy, Columbia Univer- 
sity, New York City. To be printed 
in SCIENCE. 


On a Phylogeny of the Marsupialia: By B. 
ArtTuur Brnstey, Columbia University, 
New York City. (Abstract withdrawn.) 


On the Composition of the Monotreme Skull: 
By B. Arruur BensiEy, Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York City. (By title.) 


Lymphosporidium trutte, nov. gen. nov. sp. 
The Cause of a Recent Epidemic among 
Brook Trout: By Gary N. Cauxins, Co- 
lumbia University, New York City. 

In October, 1899, my attention was called 
to a disastrous epidemic among the brook 
trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in a Long Is- 
land Hatchery. Investigation showed the 
cause of the trouble to be a new genus 
which I have placed provisionally with the 
Serumsporidia (lu. Pfeffer) among the Spor- 
ozoa, a class of parasitic Protozoa. 

The spores of the parasites accumulate 
in the lymph spaces of the fish and prevent 
normal nourishment of the tissues. This 
leads ultimately to ulcers of various shapes 
and sizes. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


The spores give rise to 8 sporozoites or 
germs each of which develop into an adult 
amceboid individual about 25 mu. (.001 
inch) in length. This penetrates the bundles 
of unstriped muscle cells of the digestive 
tract and becomes mature. At maturity a 
spore-forming cyst is developed in the 
lymph and the spores are carried through- 
out the entire animal. 

The epidemic which lasted from May 
until December, 1899, killed off all the 
fish in the hatchery. The origin, preven- 
tive measures and remedies were not dis- 
covered. 


The Primitive and Secondary Types of Verte- 
brate Embryos : By PRoressor CHARLEs S. 
Minor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 
Mass. 

This paper gives a comparison of the 
development in marsipo-branchs, ganoids, 
dipnoans and amphibians as representing 
the primitive type of vertebrate develop- 
ment. The Selachian, Teleost, Sauropsidan 
and mammalian types are regarded as 
secondary modifications. It also includes 
a comparative study of the form of the 
embryo in the Ichthyopside and Am- 
niota. 


A Partial Phylogeny of the Genus Cancer. 
By A. S. Packarp, Brown University. 
A comparison of the miocene tertiary 

species of cancer (Cancer Proavitus Pack.) 

with the two species now living in the 
waters of Vineyard Sound, brings out the 
interesting fact that the extinct species is 
the stem or ancestral form from which the 
recent species have apparently descended. 

Cancer Proavitus presents characters in 

which it resembles C. borealis as well as C. 

irroratus. It resembles C. borealis in the 

higher, more pointed granulations on the 
postero-lateral margin of the carapace, and 
in the quite high and sharp spines on the 
ridges of the hand as well as the numerous 
setiferous spines and hairs; on the other 


Av@ust 24, 1900. ] 


hand it is similar to C. irroratus in the 
shape of the nine teeth on the antero-lateral 
margin of the carapace, and in the straight 
postero-lateral margin of the same. It is 
rounder, narrower, the carapace more con- 
vex, and the body in general more hairy 
than either of the existing species. 

It thus seems most probable that the 
miocene species, being a more generalized, 
composite form, is the ancestor from which, 
either toward the end of the pliocene or 
the beginning of the quaternary period, the 
two living species sprang. C. irroratus has 
inherited the exact shape of the lateral 
teeth and the shape of the postero-lateral 
margin of C. proavitus, while C. borealis has 
retained the higher spine-like granulations 
or submuricate feature of the carapace and 
hand and the hairiness of the body. 

On the whole the evidence that our two 
northeastern species have descended from 
a much more rounded, convex, and hairy 
miocene form living in the same geograph- 
ical area seems to be well established. 

It would be most interesting to compare 
this fossil species with very young individ- 
uals of our living species, but after inquiry 
I find that they are not in existence in our 
museums. It is to be hoped that speci- 
mens of the very young may be collected 
and compared with the fossil species. It 
is known that in cancer the body grows 
wider with age. 


A Review of the Problem of Sex Cells in the 
HAydromeduse: By CHARLES W. Harairt, 
Syracuse University. 

A former paper before this section (Proc. 
A. A. A. S., 1889) set forth the view that 
for Hudendriwm ramosum the ova originate 
in the endoderm. This was not passed 
without controversy. As a preliminary 
contribution it was not emphasized at that 
time. After some years the problem was 
again taken up in connection with related 
problems and four species of Hudendride 


SCIENCE. 


307 


examined, namely, #. ramosum, E. racemo- 
sum, E. dispar, and E. tenue. 

As a result it may be said that while in 
E. ramosum and E. tenue the ova arise 
strictly in the endoderm, and never at any 
time find their way into the ectoderm, in 
the species racemosum and dispar these prod- 
ucts are found abundantly in both tissues. 
However, it must not be overlooked that in 
every case the primitive ova are found in 
the endoderm, and only during the process 
of growth do they migrate into the ecto- 
derm. In view of these facts it would seem 
to be a just inference that their origin is 
endodermal, though in these two species 
they may migrate into the ectoderm and 
complete development in that position. 

Any glance at the literature will show a 
a strange confusion as to data. Weismann 
himself has contributed to this, due in part 
to confusion arising in methods of work, 
done in part upon optical sections rather 
than actual. Similar errors have doubtless 
been due to similar methods by earlier as 
well as later observers. 

However, it seems that in Hydromedusze 
there is a great variation in this matter. 
For whether the hydroid or medusa be the 
more primitive, or likewise as to the more 
primitive character of hydro- or seypho- 
medusa, there must have been a time when 
there was a transition from the one to the 
other. If therefore such transitions have 
arisen phylogenetically, is it not possible 
that among the more plastic genera such 
transition may continue at the present time ? 

In any case it would seem to be extremely 
rash to predicate any such character as a 
diagnostic and distinctive difference be- 
tween the sub-classes Hydromeduse and 
Scyhhomedusz. 


The Mosaic of the Single and Twin Cones in 
the Retina of Micropterus salmoides: By 
GrorcE D. SHAFER, Indiana University. 
In the American Naturalist for February, 


308 


1900, Higenmann and Shafer described the 
different patterns of twin and single cones 
found by them in the retina of several dif- 
ferent species of fishes. No attempt was 
made by them to determine the modifica- 
tion of any of the patterns in different 
parts of the same eye of any species. 

The present paper deals with the modifi- 
cation of the pattern in the large-mouthed 
black bass, Micropterus salmoides. The ques- 
tions more particularly dealt with are: 

I. Is the pattern of the twin and single 
cones the same over the entire retina? 

II. What relation does the direction of 
the rows of cones which go to make up the 
pattern bear to the surface of the eye? 

III. What is the difference between the 
number and size of the elements in the 
young and old fish? 

Several series of tangential sections were 
cut from a band passing from the anterior 
edge of the cornea around the back of the 
eye to the posterior edge of the cornea ; 
other series were secured from a band pass- 
ing from the upper edge around the lower 
edge of the cornea. 

I. The variation of the pattern. 

The general variation in the twin and 
single cones in this species is that of Eigen- 
mann and Shafer’s pattern D. In this pat- 
tern the twin cones are so arranged that if 
the lines joining the centers of the compo- 
nents of a twin (7. e., the axes) were con- 
tinued they would form a square; a single 
cone is placed in the center of this square. 
The division lines separating the compo- 
nents of the twin cones thus point toward 
the single cone. That is, the division lines 
form right angles with the sides of the 
square. This ideal pattern for this species 
is most nearly approached over the an- 
terior and posterior surfaces of the eye. 
As we go from the anterior and posterior 
edges of the cornea toward the wider parts 
of the eye, the pattern changes from a 
square toa rhombus. Its area at the same 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


time increases until we approach the back 
of the eye itself, where the patterns are 
again smaller and closer together; even 
crowded. 

Immediately at the upper and lower 
edges of the cornea the division lines sepa- 
rating the two parts of the twin cones in- 
stead of pointing toward the single cones 
are turned until they point almost directly 
toward each other. At these points, the 
square has varied to a rhombus of which 
the two obtuse angles are almost one hun- 
dred and eighty degrees. The single cone 
remains in the center of this modification 
of the square. As we go from the upper 
and lower edges of the cornea toward the 
back of the eye, the rhombus is quickly 
changed into a square again. In other 
words the double cones soon have their di- 
vision lines turned again in the direction 
of the single cones. Except very near the 
cornea, the patterns in the band from the 
upper to the lower edges of the cornea are 
much more crowded than in other parts of 
the eye. 

II. The relation of the pattern to the eye. 
A study of the modification of the pattern 
as described in the first section shows that 
such a modification is brought about on the 
surface of the eye if the axes of the twin 
cones lie on two series of circles. The cen- 
ter of one of these series of parallel circles 
lies approximately at the upper edge of the 
iris, the center of the other approximately 
at the lower edge. These two series of cir- 
cles cut each other at right angles near the 
anterior and posterior edges of the iris and 
cut each other at more and more acute 
angles at the top and bottom of the iris. 
The extreme modification that would be 
brought about by the close adherence of the 
twins on these lines is relieved by the inter- 
polations of additional double rows of single 
and twin cones. 

III. The patterns in the young and old 
fish. A comparison of the eye of a young 


Avaust 24, 1900.] 


fish 60 mm. long which measured 3.8 mm. 
from cornea to optic nerve and 4.7 mm. 
longitudinally with the eye of a fish 335 
mm. long measuring 10 and 13 mm. respec- 
tively along the lines measured in the 
smaller specimen shows (1) that no new 
elements are added during the growth of the 
eye ; (2) the distance between the elements 
increases about in proportion to the in- 
crease in the surface of the eye. The ratio 
between the surfaces of the smaller and 
larger eye is about 1: 0.144, the average ratio 
between the distance from center to center 
of two elements of the pattern in the small 
and large eye is 1: 0.164 ; (8) on the average 
the ratio between the size of the elements in 
the small eye and large eye is 1:2. 


CONCLUSIONS. 


I. The pattern varies in shape from a 
square on the anterior and posterior edges 
of the eye to a rhombus on all other parts 
of the eye except where rows of cones have 
been interpolated ; and it is largest at the 
middle of the anterior and posterior faces 
of the eye. 

II. The cones are arranged in rows 
which correspond to circles formed on the 
surface of the eye by two sets of parallel 
planes. One set of these planes is perpen- 
dicular to an axis passing from the upper 
edge of cornea through the center of the eye 
to the back and the other set of planes is 
perpendicular to an axis passing in a similar 
manner from the lower edge of the cornea. 

III. As the surface of the eye increases 
in size toward old age the area of the pat- 
terns increases in about the same propor- 
tion. No new elements are added. 


Development of the Lungs in the Frogs, Rana 
Catesbiana, RK. silvatica, and R. virescens: 
By Mareurrite Hempsteap, Meadville, 
Pa. 

The principal features of the development 
of the lungs in the American frogs studied 
may be stated as follows: 


SCIENCE. 


309 


1. The formation of the respiratory ap- 
paratus is similar to that in the toad, but 
differs from the latter in having the com- 
munication with the pharynx formed very 
early in larval life instead of at the end as 
in the toad. 

2. The respiratory apparatus arises as a 
solid downgrowth from a solid portion of 
the pharynx, which is unlike the formation 
of the lungs in Bombinator as described by 
Goette, and unlike the description of the 
process in other European forms in all the 
accounts available for reference. 

3. The lung rudiment is single and solid, 
and not a pair of hollow evaginations as 
described by Marshall. 


Development of the Lungs in the Common Toad 
Bufo lentiginosus and in the Tree Toads 
(Hyla pickeringti and Hyla versicolor): By 
Srmon Henry Gages, Cornell University. 
With the tree toads the pharynx becomes 

hollow before the external gills are ab- 

sorbed, and the lungs become hollow and 
open into the pharynx before the external 
gills disappear. 

In Bufo the lungs and pharynx very early 
become hollow, but the larynx remains 
solid and has no communication with the 
pharynx until the tail is almost wholly ab- 
sorbed and the young toad is almost com- 
pletely transformed. The connection of 
the lungs with the pharynx seems to be one 
of the last acts of metamorphosis. When 
the larynx opens into the pharynx it is 
lined with ciliated epithelium, apparently 
the epithelium is non-ciliated before the 
opening is established. 

In the ciliation of the oral cavity and the 
pharynx of the toad (Bufo) the columnar 
ciliated epithelium spreads from the cesoph- 
agus into the pharynx and the mouth. 


The Chronological Distribution of the Elasmo- 
branchs: By O. P. Hay, American Mu- 
seum Nat. History, New York City. 
There is first presented a diagram which 


310 


shows, by means of curves, the number of 
species of fossil elasmobranchs which are 
known to have existed during each of the 
geological periods. 

There is also presented a table which 
contains lists of the genera of HElasmo- 
branchs which occur in each of the geo- 
logical periods. 

The portion of geological time occupied 
by each of the families is discussed. 

Some conclusions are drawn bearing on 
classification of the Elasmobranchs. 


The Lower Temperature Limits of Incubation 


for the Egg of the Common Fowl: By 
CHarues Lincotn Epwarps, Trinity 
College. 


Since the time of the Egyptians it has 
been known that warmth is the chief factor 
in incubation of eggs of birds. Modern 
investigators have established 35 degrees 
C. to 39 degrees C. as the normal tempera- 
turerange. Rauber (’84) gave as the opti- 
mum 38 degrees and minimum 25 degrees. 
It is well known that cold, if not too in- 
tense or too prolonged, will slow develop- 
ment. 

Dareste gives 28 degrees C. as the physi- 
ological zero for the hen’s egg, below which, 
of course, there is no development. 

Kaestner produced anomalies by inter- 
rupting the normal development through 
cooling the egg. 

Warynski showed that yolk rises because 
of change in specific gravity and sticks to the 
vitelline membrane, thus producing arrest 
of development and consequent monsters. 

Féré (’94) established the ratio of devel- 
opment at abnormal temperature to the 
stage at normal of 38 degrees, as follows: 


Temperature : 
CY RS 1 GYRA BS). HES BRO 49 hte 
Index of devel- 
opment: 0.65 0.80 0.72 ? 1.00 1.06 1.25 1.51 


In my experiments a Cyphers incubator 
together with a calibrated thermometer di- 
vided to one-fifths of a degree was used. 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 295. 


Incubation 1. In 12 eggs incubated at 
30.75 degrees C. for 7 days, 19 hours, chicks 
reached an average of about one-half the 
normal development. Over half of this 
clutch of eggs developed hydropic vesicles 
in the blastoderm. These arise from en- 
larged blood islands in the mesoderm, in 
which the primitive corpuscles degenerate 
and the space becomes filled with lymph. 

Incubation 2. In 6 eggs incubated at 
294 degrees C. for 5 days, 18 hours, the 
ontogenetic stage was from the 16- to the 
24-hour chick. The cephalic end of the 
neural groove was trifid in one variate. 
Lateral branches of primitive groove were 
developed posteriorly. 

Incubation 8. In 12 eggs incubated at 
281 degrees C. for 7 days the ontogenetic 
stage was from a central area of undifferen- 
tiated mesoderm to 27 hours. 

Incubation 4. In 10 eggs incubated at 
27 degrees C. for 6 days, with the exception 
of one uncertain anomaly, the greatest de- 
velopment was represented by a primitive 
streak 1.8 mm. long. Blastoderms vary 
from 4.5 mm. to 8 mm. in diameter. 

Incubation 5. In 9 eggs incubated at 26 
degrees C. for 7 days, 19 hours, showed a 
primitive streak 1.3 mm. long as the great- 
est development with the exception of one 
case with open neural folds 1 mm. long. 
Blastoderms vary from 4 mm. to 7 mm. 
long. 

Incubation 6. In 8 eggs incubated at 
25.5 degrees C. for 6 days there was a vari- 
ation from no development to a primitive 
streak and groove 1.7 mm. long. Blasto- 
derms vary from 5 mm. to 5.5 mm. in 
diameter. 

Incubation 7. 11 eggs at 25.5 degrees 
C. for 7 days, 2 hours, 8 developed from a 
central area of mesoderm cells to a primi- 
tive streak 2 mm.long. Of the other three 
one showed open neural folds and rudimen- 
tary brain, one 22 mesodermic somites and 
one wasa 3-day chick. The last three may 


Avaust 24, 1900. ] 


have been previously incubated. Blasto- 
derms vary from 4 to 11 mm. in diameter. 

Incubation 8. Nine eggs at 24.5 degrees 
C. for 6 days, 14 hours gave one primitive 
streak 1.5 mm. long as the greatest devel- 
opment. Blastoderms vary from 4 mm. to 
1 cm. in diameter. 

Incubation 9. 11 eggs at 24 C. for 6 
days, 19 hours. Blastoderms vary from 
5.4 mm. to 7 mm. in diameter. With the 
exception of a degenerated 2-days chick 
only 4 of the 11 blastoderms showed a trace 
of the primitive streak. 


The Fishes of Africa as Exponents of former 
Geographical Conditions: By THEODORE 
Git, Smithsonian Institution. 

The fishes of Africa represent two very 
different elements. One is composed of 
Asiatic types ; the other of South American 
types. The latter indicate a former con- 
nection direct or mediate with South 
America ; the latter are in conformity with 
the present association of the continents. 


The Moringuid Eels and their Geographical 
Distribution: By THnopore Gitn and 
Hues M. Smirx, Washington, D. C. 

The Moringuid eels are remarkable for 
their very elongate body disproportionally 
elongated abdominal cavity, and remote- 
ness of the heart from the branchial ap- 
paratus. The family had been supposed to 
be peculiar to the oriental seas, but a recent 
discovery has directed the attention of the 
authors to the American eels generally and 
it was recognized that 3 genera previously 
associated with Murznesocidae really be- 
long to the Moringuide. Stilbisews indeed 
is a synonym of the type genus, Moringua. 
A new species of the related genus Apthal- 
michthys has also been added to the Amer- 
ican fauna. 


The History of the Word Mammalia: By TuE- 
oporE GiLL, Smithsonian Institution. 
The word mammalia was first introduced 

by Linneeus, in 1758, as the expression of 


SCIENCE. 


dll 


a concept first appreciated by him. It was 
formed in analogy with animal. Simple as 
the explanation is it has never been recog- 


nized. 
C. H. EIGENMANN, 


Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


An Introduction to the Study of the Comparative 
Anatomy of Animals. By GILBERT C, BOURNE. 


Vol. I. London, George Bell & Sons; [New 
York, Macmillan]. 1900. 16mo. Pp. xvi + 
269. Price, $1.10. 


It is rather difficult to form an adequate es- 
timate of a work from its first volume. It is 
not easy to get the author’s perspective ; and 
then there are so many things left in doubt 
which the remainder of the series may straighten 
out. The plan of Mr. Bourne’s work is pecu- 
liar. It starts out with a general chapter 
which deals with fundamental morphological 
and physiological principles, and then takes up 
the frog, treating first of its anatomy and then 
of its histology. This last subject leads up to 
a consideration of the cell, and this is followed 
by a consideration of the early history of the 
frog. The remainder of the book is occupied 
by detailed accounts of several Protozoa, Hydra 
and Obelia. We are promised that the second 
volume will deal with the Celomate Metazoa. 

A rather careful examination shows few 
errors, yet there are several points on which 
the student will need fuller information than 
the volume affords, Thus terms are used 
without explanation or definition, while here 
and there comparisons are made which will 
not be intelligible because the student has no 
information as to one of the subjects of com- 
parison. While finding fault it might be well 
to ask why it is that many English writers 
persist in the use of the terms epiblast, meso- 
blast, and hypoblast. It is not easy to see how 
the work can be used in courses of comparative 
anatomy as usually given in America, except 
as a reference book for occasional use. Its 
wealth of detail concerning forms usually 
studied in the laboratory would be seized upon 
by many students as affording answers to the 
questions which they are asked and are ex- 
pected to obtain from the animals themselves. 


312 


On the other hand, it contains much informa- 
tion which is of value to the student and which 
the beginner might fail to find out for himself. 
The discussions of individuality, alternation of 
generations, and sexuality are especially good. 

The book is well printed and its fifty-three 
illustrations are well chosen and clear. 

J. S. KINGSLEY. 


PROFESSOR MOSSO’S LECTURES AT THE CLARK 
UNIVERSITY DECENNIAL. 


Two lectures were delivered by Professor 
Angelo Mosso at Clark University during its 
Decennial Celebration, in the summer of 1899, 
which seem to deserve wider publication than 
they will obtain through the volume. issued 
and distributed by the university in commem- 
oration of that event. This volume has been 
already reviewed in SCIENCE, without, how- 
ever, special reference to the contents of these 
addresses. 

The former of the lectures, of which notes 
are here presented, is called ‘ Psychic Proc- 
esses and Muscular Exercise.’ It would be 
difficult to exaggerate the importance of the 
ideas presented, although the campaign against 
present public opinion which a practical reali- 
zation of some of its consequences would de- 
mand might well discourage a Pestalozzi. The 
logical conclusion has, however, been arrived 
at both by the psychologist and by the medical 
man, as well as by the physiologist, who is 
both. ‘ 

One of the most important of the rising bex 
liefs of American medical men regarding com- 
mon school education is corroborated in this 
address by the eminent Italian. In it he 
sought to show ‘‘ how intimately related are 
mental processes and movements. If we de- 
sired to make a pedagogical application,’’ he 
says, ‘‘we might say that physical education 
and gymnastics serve not only for the develop- 
ment of the muscles, but for that of the brain 
as well.”’ 

Children should begin reading and writing 
only after they are nine years old, and it is be- 
coming evident that as much time should be 
devoted to muscular exercise as to intellectual 
exercise. No absolute local separation of move- 
ment and sensibility is demonstrable. Muscular 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


fatigue exhibits phenomena identical with intel- 
lectual fatigue. Internal reflex phenomena 
seem largely to condition attention which, 
therefore, isnot wholly within the will’s control. 
Nerve cells have only a small power of resistance 
and show, on the average, every ten seconds a 
tendency to rest. Itis probable that only part of 
the brain is active at a time—the various parts 
relieve each other. The structure of all nerve 
cells seems to be the same—it is only their re- 
lations which are different. The more mobile 
any animal’s extremities the more intelligent, 
other things being equal, he is: the most mo- 
bile parts are those which are the most sensi- 
tive. 

The other address, called by Professor Mosso 
‘The Mechanism of the Emotions,’ adds not a 
little to our knowledge of the somatic aspect 
of emotion, dealing especially with the sensi- 
tivity of the bladder—one of the most sensitive 
of the viscera. 

The seat of the emotions of joy and of sorrow 
seems to Professor Mosso to lie undoubtedly in 
the so-called sympathetic nervous system. In 
1881 he noticed (with Dr. Pellacari) the con- 
traction of the bladder during weak sensations. 
Besides those of the bladder, he has studied 
the movements of the stomach and intestines, 
including the rectum. 

The bladder’s movements are both active and 
passive, but the former are of chiefer interest 
and alone are considered here. The experi- 
ments were conducted both on dogs and on 
women. The instrument employed was his 
own plethysmograph, a very valuable hydraulic 
arrangement too well known to need descrip- 
tion here. This was connected with the blad- 
der by means of a ‘female catheter.’ The 
human subjects studied were young women 
in the hospitals, who, of course, volunteered 
their services. He recorded in the cases of 
both the women and the dogs the thoracic and 
abdominal respiration and the movements of 
the bladder independently. He considers that 
the bladder exhibits ‘the most delicate reflex 
movements which occur in the organism.’ The 
bladder contracted not only to very slight emo- 
tional stimuli, but also to changes in the or- 
ganism instigated by problems in mental arith- 
metic. 


Auaust 24, 1900.] 


In explanation, it is postulated that the 
blood pressure increases and the blood vessels 
and smooth muscular fibers contract in order to 
prevent the blood from collecting in the ab- 
dominal cavity, the brain requiring additional 
blood pressure for its additional activity—regu- 
lated by the sympathetic nervous system. 

Mosso is right in denying in this lecture tele- 
ology to the reflex phenomena of strong emo- 
tions, but he is wrong in statements as to 
Darwin’s theory, for this the latter never 
claimed for strong affective states. It is the 
excitement, and not the mode, of the emotion 
(pleasant or unpleasant) which, in case of the 
bladder, determines the loss of organic equi- 
librium. This is a conclusion easy to accept 
when we consider that one of the functions of 
the visceral blood vessels is to be a reservoir 
for blood necessarily expelled from other bodily 


parts. 
GEORGE V. N. DEARBORN. 


TuFTs CoLLEGE MmEpIcAL SCHOOL. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Journal of Comparative Neurology, May, 
1900. The first article, ‘Observations on Sen- 
sory Nerve Fibers in Visceral Nerves, and on 
their Modes of terminating,’ by Dr. G. Carl 
Huber, details observations made upon the in- 
nervation of the hollow viscera by means of 
methylene blue intra-vitam. This is followed 
by a short note by the same author on ‘Sensory 
Nerve Terminations in the Tendons of the Ex- 
trinsic Eye-muscles of the Cat,’ the organs 
being somewhat different from the ordinary 
neuro-tendinous spindles found in the other 
skeletal muscles. Dr. Huber and Mrs. Lydia 
M. DeWitt follow with a paper of 50 pages and 
six plates entitled ‘A Contribution on the Nerve 
Terminations in Neuro-tendinous End-organs,’ 
describing the structure of these sense organs 
as studied by the methylene-blue method in 
amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. In 
all cases the tendons are supplied with a special 
nerve end-organ consisting of several tendon 
fasciculi, embryonic in nature, which in birds 
and mammals are generally surrounded by a 
connective tissue capsule, while they are usu- 
ally not so surrounded in reptilia, and never in 
amphibia. They are generally, but not always, 


SCIENCE. 313 


innervated by a single non-medullated nerve 
fiber, which, after repeated branching, ends in 
one or many tufts of non-medullated fibers, the 
details of whose structure vary with the different 
animals studied. Dr. H. H. Goddard describes 
and figures a new brain microtome recently 
made at Clark University for cutting entire hu- 
man brains. F. J. Cole, of University College, 
Liverpool, gives a prospectus of ‘A Proposed 
Neurological Bibliography of the Ichthyopsida.’ 
‘The Number and Size of the Nerve Fibers 
Innervating the Skin and Muscles of the Thigh 
in the Frog,’ by Elizabeth Hopkins Dunn, 
M.D., demonstrates that the fibers innervating 
the thigh are more numerous and of greater 
average caliber than those innervating the rest 
of the Jeg. Hence in the frog the fibers of 
greater diameter run the shorter course. 
About 8 per cent. of the fibers which innervate 
the thigh divide, one division running on into 
the lower leg. Dr. H. Heath Bawden gives ‘A 
Digest and a Criticism of the Data upon which 
is based the Theory of the Amceboid Move- 
ments of the Neurone,’ accompanied by a bibli- 
ography of 115 titles. The usual book notices 
complete the number. 


THE July number (Vol. I., No. 3) of the 
Transactions of the American Mathematical So- 
ciety contains the following articles: ‘ Wave 
propagation over non-uniform conductors,’ by 
M. I. Pupin, of New York, N. Y.; ‘Ueber 
Systeme von Differentialgleichungen denen 
vierfach periodische Functionen Gente lei- 
sten,’ by M. Krause, of Dresden, Germany ; 
‘On linear criteria for the determination of the 
radius of convergence of a power series,’ by E. 
B. Van Vleck, of Middletown, Conn.; ‘On the 
existence of the Green’s function for the most 
general simply connected plane region,’ by W. 
F. Osgood, of Cambridge, Mass.; ‘‘D’ lines on 
quadries,’ by A. Pell, of Vermillion, So. Dak.; 
‘Sundry metric theorems concerning n lines in 
a plane,’ by F. H. Loud, of Haverford, Pa.; 
‘An application of group theory to hydrody- 
namics,’ by E. J. Wilezynski, of Berkeley, 
Cal.; ‘Determination of an abstract simple 
group of order 2".3°. 5. 7 holoedrically isomor- 
phic with a certain orthogonal group and with 
a certain hyperabelian group,’ by L. E. Dickson, 
of Austin, Tex, 


314 


Dr. JoHN GUITERAS, who resigned the chair 
of pathology in the University of Pennsylvania 
to fill a similar position in the University of 
Havana, has established there a journal enti- 
tled Revista de Medicina Tropical. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THREE FORGOTTEN NAMES FOR BIRDS. 


In Museum Leskeanum Regnum animale quod 
ordine systematico disposuit atque descripsit, D. L. 
Gustavus Karsten, Vol. I., Leipzig, are proposed 
three names for birds which appear to have 
been overlooked by ornithologists, at least since 
1817. The names are Certhia longicauda, Tro- 
chilus maximus, and Pipra tricolor, all of Karsten. 
Viellot (Nouveau Dictionnaire d’ Histoire Natur- 
elle, * * * Nouv. ed., T. VII. (1817), p. 364) re- 
fers to Trochilus maximus giving the proper refer- 
ence to Karsten’s work, but curiously enough 
gives Latham as the authority for the species. 

While these names have not been noted in 
recent works it seems they do not affect any 
now in use in ornithologic nomenclature. This 
statement is made on the authority of Mr. 
Witmer Stone of this Academy. 

From a bibliographic standpoint it would be 
interesting to know whether the Musewm Leske- 
anum Regnum Animale (1798) consists of one or 
two volumes. Most bibliographers, to whom I 
have referred, say two volumes ; but Cuvier (Le 
Regne Animal, nouy. ed., T. III. (1830) gives 
but one volume. In the library of the Acad- 
emy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia there 
is volume I. only of the work, which is divided 
into six classes, viz, Mammalia, Aves, Am- 
phibia, Pisces, Insecta, Vermes, the latter in- 
cluding the invertebrates except the insects, 
from which it will appear evident that nothing 
remains of Animalia to be treated in another 
volume. The first 44 pages (classes I.—-IV.) of 
the work are numbered in Roman, and parts 
VY. and VI. are numbered independently, and 
are in Arabic (pp. 1-320). To this difference 
in pagination may be due the statement that 
the work is in two volumes. Or the fact that 
Classes V., Insecta (pp. 1-186), was published 
in advance in 1788 with a separate title-page 
may account for the other volume. 

WILLIAM J. Fox. 
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, PHILADELPHIA. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

THERE has been a question frequently dis- 
cussed as to the delicacy of spectroscopic reac- 
tions as compared with the sense of smell. 
Kirchhoff and Bunsen were able by the spectro- 
scope to detect 1/14X10—°mg. of sodium; on 
the other hand, E. Fischer and Penzoldt could 
recognize the odor of 1/460 x 10—*mg. of mer- 
captan. It was clear, however, that the figures 
of Bunsen by no means represented the limit, 
and Professor F. Emich of the Technische Hoch- 
schule of Graz has lately devoted some time to 
the study of the problem. His results are pub- 
lished in the Sitzuwngsberichte of the Academy 
of Science of Vienna. His method is to use 
Geissler tubes with exceedingly fine capillary 
portion; these are filled with hydrogen under 
greatly diminished pressure. A slit at right 
angles to the capillary allows the light from a 
limited portion of substance to pass, the weight 
of which is easily calculated. The lowest 
pressure at which the line H is visible was ob- 
served and from this the calculation made. 
The results obtained in three observations were 
1X<10-"mg., 7X10-“mg. and 3 X10-" mg. 
It thus appears that, on the average, the quan- 
tity of hydrogen recognizable by the spectro- 
scope is ten thousand times less than that of 
mercaptan by the sense of smell. Emich calls 
attention to the fact that if, as Hutton affirms, 
the ordinary hydrogen spectrum is visible only 
when the gas contains a trace of oxygen, the 
quantity of oxygen thus detected by the spec- 
troscope becomes far more minute than the 
figures given for hydrogen. 

THE subject of the radio-active substances in 
pitchblende continues to excite the interest of 
chemists, and much work is being done by the 
two Curies, Giesel, Debierne, Becquerel, von 
Lengyel and others. The last number of the 
Chemical News contains a paper by Béla von 
Lengyel of Budapest, describing his efforts to 
prepare a radio-active barium synthetically. 
His process is to fuse together uranyl nitrate 
with two or three per cent. of barium nitrate, 
and then fuse the oxides obtained in the elec- 
tric arc. The fused mass is dissolved in nitric 
acid, much of the barium nitrate crystallized 
out, and the remainder of the barium precipi- 
tated as the sulfate. The sulfate thus obtained 


Aveust 24, 1900. ] 


is found to be radio-active, and from it the 
chlorid and the carbonate, both also radio- 
active, have been obtained. Early in his paper 
von Lengyel says: ‘‘It is obviously clear that 
the question of radium being a chemical ele- 
ment must be answered in the negative as soon 
as it is found possible to transform ordinary 
inactive barium into the radio-active variety.”’ 
In closing he says that his researches ‘‘ do not 
nearly suffice to decide the question as to 
whether radium is an existing chemical ele- 
ment or not, but these facts render doubtful the 
existence of radium.”’ 


FOLLOWING this work comes that of Becque- 
rel, described in the last Comptes Rendus, in 
which similar experiments are repeated from a 
different standpoint. Uranium chlorid is mixed 
with barium chlorid, the barium precipitated 
by sulfuric acid. The barium sulfate thus ob- 
tained is more or less radio-active, but the 
radio-activity of the uranium salt left has di- 
minished correspondingly. These experiments 
show the futility of trying to determine in this 
manner, whether the radio-activity resides in 
the uranium, or is due to an independent sub- 
stance which is an impurity in the uranium. 

J. L. H. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM. 

THE report of the Executive Committee of 
the Governors of the University of Birmingham, 
dated May 31, 1900, relative to the recent de- 
velopment of the work in applied science and 
engineering and the use of the recent gifts of 
Mr. Carnegie and others has been printed for 
distribution to friends of the university and its 
extended work. 

On May 12, 1899, the endowment fund col- 
lected by a canvassing committee amounted to 
£143,000. Mr. Carnegie, through Mr. Joseph 
Chamberlain, offered to contribute £50,000 for 
a special science department when a total of 
£250,000 should be pledged. This condition 
was fulfilled within a week. On February 28, 
1900, the sum had become £326,500, and at the 
date of the report it was £327,468. 

Mr. Carnegie requested Mr. Chamberlain to 
send a deputation to the United States which 
should ‘report on its return what more is nec- 
essary, to give Birmingham a first-class modern 


SCIENCE. 


315 


scientific college, modeled, as I have said, after 
Cornell ’—intending, presumably, a union of 
literary with scientific and professional work, as 
is usual in American State universities, and 
with a well-developed ‘practical’ side—‘ not 
necessarily big, but perfect of its kind.’ Pro- 
fessors Burstall, Renwick and Poynting were 
accordingly sent. They visited several of the 
principal eastern colleges of the United States 
and Canada. They conclude: 

‘We desire to express our admiration alike 
for the high ideal of scientific education which 
is the aim in American universities and for the 
enthusiasm in all classes which renders it pos- 
sible to approach so near that ideal. Every- 
where we found that the wealthier classes real- 
ize the importance of university education and 
encourage the universities by generous gifts and 
everywhere, both by teachers and by students, 
these gifts are being used for higher learning 
and research.”’ 

They ‘‘ believe that the system of engineering 
education existing at Cornell and other institu- 
tions we have visited and the system of Mining 
and Metallurgy at Boston and Montreal, all 
with their four year courses, are admirably 
planned and carried out.’’ They advise their 
adoption including laboratories and workshops 
for instruction which they found ‘‘ thoroughly 
practical and on such scale that the knowledge 
acquired there by the student would be of use 
in his subsequent professional life.” 

The proposed scale of salaries is very modest 
—£750 for professors, £300 to £400 for assistant 
professors, £150 for ‘demonstrators ’ in science 
and instructors in shops, and £100 and £70, re- 
spectively for minor appointments. The in- 
vestment of £155,000 is proposed in buildings 
and equipments for the new Technical College, 
and anticipates an annual operative expendi- 
ture something over £10,000 with a faculty of 
eighteen in all grades and presumably for a 
student body of about 200 in all classes. A 
‘commercial faculty’ is proposed, consisting of 
three officers and involving an expense of £6000 
in equipment and £2200 annually in mainte- 
nance. 

A four-year’s course is planned, in which the 
differentiation between the mechanical and 
electrical engineers will occur at the end of the 


316 


third year and between these and the civil en- 
gineers somewhat earlier. Mathematics and 
pure science and the modern languages will be 
given in the University proper. A good general 
education is expected to be secured in advance 
of entrance into the technical courses, which 
are made entirely professional, as is usual in 


law and medicine. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


THE PREVENTION OF HAIL STORMS. 

Mr. Joun C. Covert, U. 8. Consul at Lyons, 
writes to the Department of State: An effort 
is being made in this section of France to dissi- 
pate hail storms by firing cannon at the clouds. 
Fifty-two cannon, manned by 104 cannoneers 
and their chiefs, have been distributed over an 
area of 2500 acres of rich vine land. For the 
expense of the experiment, the Government 
appropriated 2000 francs ($386), the depart- 
mental council 1500 francs ($289), the National 
French Agricultural Society and a number of 
wealthy wine growers added 12,000 francs 
($2316) and furnished fourteen more cannon. 
The Minister of War supplied powder for 23 
cents per pound. 

A high point in the vine land to be covered 
by the experiments was selected as the central 
post of observation and a signal code adopted. 
When a shot is heard from the central post all 
the cannon are fired, at first twice per minute ; 
more slowly after the first ten shots. I trans- 
late the report of the first firing at the storm 
clouds this season : 

The farmers of Denicé were aroused at 1.30 
o’clock on the night of June 5th-6th. The storm 
was very severe. The artillerists, from 40 to 
50 strong, fired their guns and stopped the 
thunder and lightning. In the neighboring 
communes, the people saw columns of flames 
rise 300 feet above the cannon when the shots 
were fired. At several places, women re- 
charged the cartridges. 

The wine growers are organizing to attack 
the hail storms in many of the great wine- 
growing regions of France. The two experi- 
ments thus far reported are pronounced success- 
ful. A writer in one of the wine-grower’s 
organs says: 

The results obtained from these experiments 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


are such that organizations will be established 
at once in all the places that have heretofore 
been ravaged by hail. 

I am told that the practice of shooting at the 
clouds was known in France over a hundred 
years ago, and that it originated in Italy. Itis 
to be more extensively carried on this year than 
ever before. 


BRITISH CONGRESS ON TUBERCULOSIS.* 


Ir has already been announced in the British 
Medical Journal that a Congress on Tuberculo- 
sis is to be held in London next year. The 
date of meeting has been fixed for the last week 
of April. H.R. H. The Prince of Wales, is the 
President of the Congress, and among the Vice- 
Presidents are the Duke of Fife, the Marquis 
of Dufferin, K.P., Earl Spencer, K.G., Lord 
James of Hereford, Lord George Hamilton, 
P.C., Lord Reay, G.C.S.1I., Lord Lister, P.R.S., 
Sir John Burdon Sanderson, Sir Hermann 
Weber, the Presidents of the Royal Colleges of 
Physicians and Surgeons, the President of the 
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the Di- 
rector-General of the Medical Department of the 
Navy and the Chairman of the London County 
Council. The President of the Organizing Com- 
mittee is the Earl of Derby; the Chairman, Sir 
William Broadbent ; the Honorary Treasurers, 
Lord Avebury and Sir James Blyth ; the Chair- 
man of the General Purposes Committee, Pro- 
fessor Clifford Allbutt, and the Honorary Secre- 
tary-General, Mr. Malcolm Morris. The Prince 
of Wales has consented to open the Congress in 
person. In order to make the Congress as 
comprehensive as possible every colony and 
dependency in the Empire will be asked to 
send representatives, and distinguished guests 
will be invited from Europe, Asia and America. 
Authorities in these and other countries will be 
invited to take an active part in the work of 
the Congress. 

It is hoped that the Congress will be able to 
adopt practical resolutions which will serve to 
indicate the measures best adapted for the sup- 
pression of tuberculosis. The work of the 
Congress will be divided into Sections, as fol- 
lows : Section 1 (State and Municipal). Presi- 


* From the British Medical Journal. 


Aveust 24, 1900. ] 


dent—Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, 
M.P. Secretaries—Dr. Bulstrode, Dr. Arthur 
Newsholme, Dr. James Niven. Section 2 
(Pathological, including Bacteriology). Presi- 
dent—Professor Sims Woodhead, M.D. Secre- 
taries—Dr. Wethered, Professor Rubert Boyce, 
Dr. E. J. McWeeney. Section 3 (Tuberculosis 
in Animals). President—Sir George Brown, 
C.B. Secretaries—Professor Hobday, Royal 
Veterinary College; Messrs. Harold Sessions, 
F.R.C.S., Stuart Stockman (Glasgow), Frank 
Leigh (Bristol). Section 4 (Clinical and Thera- 
peutical, including Climatology and Sanatoria). 
President—Sir R. Douglass Powell, Bart, M.D. 
Secretaries—Sir Hugh Beeyor, Bart, M.D., Dr. 
Hector Mackenzie, Dr. R. W. Philip, Dr. Wil- 
liam Calwell (Belfast). The subscription for 
ordinary members will be £1. As the expense 
of the Congress will be very considerable, dona- 
tions to the Reception Fund are invited. Dona- 
tions of more than one guinea will be considered 
as including members subscription, and will 
entitle the donor, whether an individual or a 
corporation, to all the privileges of membership. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
PROFESSOR JAMES EDWARD KEELER, the 
eminent astronomer, director of the Lick Ob- 
servatory, died at San Francisco on August 
12th, from the effects of heart disease. He was 
born in La Salle, Ill., on September 8, 1857. 


PROFESSOR RUDOLPH VIRCHOW has been 
elected an honorary member of the Vienna 
Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Ernst Abbe, pro- 
fessor of meteorology and astronomy at Jena, 
Dr. Karl v. Zittel, professor of paleontology 
and geology at Munich, and Dr. Felix Klein, 
professor of mathematics at Géttingen, have 
been elected corresponding members of the 
same Academy. 

Mr. OvVERTON W. Pricu, of the Division of 
Forestry of the U. 8. Department of Agricul- 
ture, has been promoted to, the position of su- 
perintendent of working-plans and assistant 
chief, vacant by the appointment of Mr. Henry 
S. Graves to the professorship of forestry in 
Yale University. 

In response to a recent requisition from the 
Bureau of American Ethnology for an assistant 


SCIENCE, 


317 


ethnologist especially competent to deal with 
the Siouan languages, the Civil Service Com- 
mission held, on July 24th, a competitive ex- 
amination for the position. Only a single can- 
didate entered the competition—Mr. John R. 
Swanton, of Massachusetts, a recent student in 
Columbia University, where he took a special 
course in American linguistics under Dr. Boas ; 
he passed the examination most satisfactorily. 
His immediate field of work will include reser- 
vations of the Dakota and other Siouan Indians. 

THE Rolleston Prize, Oxford University, has 
been awarded to Gustay Mann, B.Se., New 
College, for his published ‘Research on the 
Histology of Vaccinia’ and for his unpublished 
‘Atlas of the Anatomy of the Brain of the 
Frog.’ 

PROFESSOR WILLIAM C. Stupss, director of 
the Audubon experiment station in Louisiana, 
has gone to Hawaii as a representative of the 
Agricultural Department to make a study of 
the sugar industry on the islands and to estab- 
lish a Government experiment station there. 


Dr. H1ipEzo IKEDA of Tokio has been sent 
to America by the Japanese Government to 
study the agriculture of this country, with 
special reference to tobacco and cotton. 


WE noted recently a movement for a memo- 
rial to the late Sir William Flower. We now 
learn from Nature that it is proposed that the 
memorial shall consist of a bust and a com- 
memorative brass ‘tablet to be placed in the 
Whaie Room of the Natural History Museum 
—one of the departments in which he was most 
interested, and to which he devoted special care 
and attention. Subscriptions (which must not 
exceed two guineas) should be paid to Dr. P. 
L. Sclater, treasurer of the Flower Memorial 
Fund, 3 Hanover Square, W. 

Dr. RupoLPpH HESSEL, who had charge of 
the propagating ponds of the U. 8. Fish Com- 
mission, died at Washington on August 16th 
from the effects of sunstroke. He was born in 
Baden 75 years ago, and became connected with 
the U. S. Fish Commission in 1877. 


PROFESSOR CHARLES ScoTT VENABLE, pro- 
fessor emeritus of mathematics at the Univer- 
sity of Virginia, died at his home in Charlottes- 
ville, Va., on Aug. 11th. He was born in Prince 


318 


Edward County, Va., on April 19,1827. Heheld 
professorships in the universities of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia and in Hampden-Sidney Col- 
lege. During the Civil War he was a lieuten- 
ant-colonel and aid-de-camp on the staff of 
General Robert E. Lee. In 1865 he was ap- 
pointed professor of mathematics in the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, and became emeritus profes- 
sor five years ago. 

Dr. ERicH NYMANN, a Sweedish naturalist 
from Upsala, has died at Munich on his return 
from a three year’s expedition to the Malay 
Archipelago and New Guinea. 


A FIELD party from the Botanical Department 
of the University of Chicago is making an eco- 
logical study of North Manitou Island, in the 
northern part of Lake Michigan. They will be 
at work during August and September. 


Mr. JAMES Mooney, of the Bureau of Amer- 
ican Ethnology, has recently gone to the old 
Cherokee country in North Carolina for the 
purpose of completing his studies of the tradi- 
tions, games, and medical practice of the Cher- 
okee Indians. He has an extended memoir on 
the creation myths and traditions of the tribe 
in the Nineteenth Report of the Bureau, which 
is now well advanced in the press ; and he has, 
in more or less advanced preparation, two or 
three additional memoirs on the tribe, one or 
more of which he plans to complete by aid of 
information to be obtained during the autumn. 


PROFESSOR C. E. BEECHER, of Yale Univer- 
sity, is conducting an expedition to the Grand 
Canyon of the Colorado and Arizona. 

Ir is reported that Dr. Riggs, of the {Field 
Columbian Museum, has discovered a nearly 
perfect skeleton of a dinosaur on the banks of 
Gunnison River, Colorado. 

Tuer American Chemical Society will hold its 
next general meeting in Chicago during Christ- 
mas week. A committee has been appointed 
to arrange for the celebration of the 25th anni- 
versary of the foundation of the Society which 
will occur on April 6, 1901. 

THE British Medical Association will hold its 
next annual meeting at Cheltenham under the 
presidency of Dr. G. B. Ferguson. 

THE members registered at the International 
Medical Congress numbered 6170, nationalities 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 295. 


being represented as follows: France, 2293; 
Russia, 805; Germany, 572; the United States, 
412; Italy, 324; Great Britain, 222; Spain, 219; 
Belgium, 147; Austria, 141; Argentine Repub- 
lic, 108; Switzerland, 101. 


Ar the Paris Electrical Congress, reports will 
be presented as follows: ‘Dynamo Electric Ma- 
chinery,’ Professor S. P. Thompson ; ‘ Units,’ 
M. Hospitalier; ‘Photometry,’ M. Violle; 
‘Asynchronous Generators and Compounding 
of Alternators,’ M. Leblanc; ‘ Rotary and Rec- 
tifying Converters,’ M. P. Janet ; ‘ Use of Con- 
densers,’ M. P. Boucherot; ‘Tramway Current 
Supply,’ M. Postel-Vinay ; ‘Electric Lamps,’ 
M. Blondel ; ‘ Electro-chemistry,’ M. Bouilhet ; 
“Calcium Carbide Furnaces,’ Gen. Sebert; 
‘Wireless Telegraphy,’ M. Blondel and Capt. 
Ferrié. 


A CIyIL SERVICE examination will be held 
sometime during September or October to fill 
the position of chemist in the U. S. Geological 
Survey at $1400 per year. Candidates will be 
examined in theoretical and physical, inorganic, 
organic and analytical chemistry, assaying, 
elementary mineralogy and scientific French 
and German. The duties of the position in- 
volve especially assaying and other branches of 
analysis relating to geological work. The 
positions of physicist and assistant physicist in 
the U. S. Geological Survey, at $1800 and $600 
respectively, are likewise to be filled upon ex- 
amination. The date of this examination has 
been postponed from August 21 to September 20. 


A PROSPECTIVE publication of the Bureau of 
American Ethnology is the extensive dictionary 
of the Natick (Indian) language of Massachu- 
setts, compiled by the late James Hammond 
Trumbull, and for some time preserved in the 
original manuscript by the American Anti- 
quarian Society, at Worcester. The vocabulary 
is of much interest and value as one of the two 
most extensive records of the language of the 
aborigines of New England—the other being 
the well known Eliot Indian Bible. It will 
form the initial number of a new series of bul- 
letins to be issued by the bureau in a superior 
style of publication ; the size, paper and binding 
correspond with those of the annual reports. 
The authority for this new series of publications 


Auaust 24, 1900. ] 


was granted during the last session of Congress 
at the instance of Honorable Ernest W. Rob- 
erts, of Massachusetts, for the purpose of af- 
fording suitable means of printing and distrib- 
uting the large collections of rare technical 
ethnologic matter now in the archives of the 
bureau or within its reach—of which the Trum- 
bull vocabulary is a typical example. The 
greater part of this vocabulary, which will in- 
clude an introduction by Dr. Edward Everett 
Hale, is already in type. 

Herr CARL MARHOLD, of Halle, announces 
a book by Professor Schenk under the title 
‘Aus meinem Universititsleben.’ It is a reply 
to the professors of the University at Vienna, 
whose memorial to the Austrian Government 
led to his dismissal from the university. 

Mr. JAMES G. CANNON, who has been en- 
gaged in the reorganization of the business of 
Messrs. D. Appleton & Company, has issued a 
statement to the effect that the plans have been 
perfected, and, though the Company will re- 
main for the present in the hands of the re- 
ceiver, all authors’ accounts will be paid in 
full. This will naturally be of interest to sci- 
entific men, as Messrs. D. Appleton & Com- 
pany publish a long list of scientific books. 
The relations of an author to a publisher who 
is unable to carry out his contracts is a some- 
what perplexing question. Messrs. Harpers 
Brothers have sold certain of their publications 
without the consent of the authors, and it 
seems doubtful whether they have a legal right 
to do this. There should probably be in Amer- 
ica, as there is in England, a society of authors 
which could give advice, and, if necessary, 
take legal proceedings. Perhaps a committee 
of the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science could perform this function for 
scientific men. 

A DECISION has been rendered by the British 
House of Lords which somewhat concerns 
scientific teachers and lecturers, and has prob- 
ably never been before the Courts in the United 
States. Certain speeches of Lord Roseberry’s 
were reported verbatim in the London Times 
and these were republished without the per- 
mission of the proprietors of the newspaper in 
question. Suit was brought to restrain the 
publication, and this was granted in the first 


SCIENCE. 


319 


Court. The decision was reversed in the Court 
of Appeal, but has now been re-affirmed by 
the highest court. This court holds that the 
verbatim reporter of a speech is the ‘author’ in 
the meaning of the copyright act. Perhaps the 
lectures given to a class of students or a paper 
read before a scientific society are not made 
public. But if so, according to this decision, 
they could be reported and published by any- 
one, and the report copyrighted, so that not 
even the author himself could use it. 


Nature states that the Botanical Museum of 
Florence has recently received a donation of 
considerable interest in connection with the 
history of botany in Italy, viz, the collections 
made by Micheli, by Bruno Tozzi, and by G. 
Targioni-Tozzetti in the 18th century, including 
the type-specimens of species named by these 
and other eminent botanists. The donation 
includes also Micheli’s and Targioni-Tozzetti’s 
collections of seaweeds. 


THE Commercial Cable Company’s new cable 
from the Azores to New York, via Novia Scotia, 
has been successfully laid by the cable steamers 
Faraday and Silvertown and is now completed 
and in working order. This line, which forms 
the Commercial Company’s fourth Atlantic 
cable, connects at the Azores with the system 
of the Europe and Azores Telegraph Company 
and was opened for business on August Ist. 


THE ‘Two-Penny Tube,’ as the Central Elec- 
tric Underground System of London has been 
named, as constructed and equipped by Amer- 
ican contractors, is making a great impression 
with its bright, porcelain-lined, electric-lighted, 
cleanly stations, brightly illuminated carriages 
and smooth and rapid service. The indications 
are that suburban transportation in Great Britain 
and on the Continent will be revolutionized by 
American methods. : 


WE take from Nature the following items: 
Mr. Leonard S. Loat, who is investigating the 
fishes of Egypt for the British Museum and the 
Egyptian Government, was last heard of at 
Korti, where he reports (on May 18th) a hot 
wind and a temperature of 115° in the shade. 
He had sent home upwards of 2200 specimens of 
Nile-fishes to the Natural History Museum, and 
as soon as the river had risen sufficiently would 


320 


proceed to Senaar and Khartoum. Mr. J. S. 
Budgett, who is engaged in collecting fishes on 
the River Gambia, dates his last letters (June 
22d) MecCarthy’s Island in the interior. There 
had been a disturbance in the colony, and one 
of the Commissioners and a party of police were 
believed to have lost their lives; but this had 
not affected Mr. Budgett’s operations, and he 
had a large number of Polypteri and Protopteri 
in floating cages in the river. He was in good 
health, and expected to be home in September. 


AT the recent annual meeting of the Victoria 
Institute, the address, ‘On our Coal Reserves 
at the Close of the Nineteenth Century,’ was 
given by Professor Edward Hall, F.R.S. The 
author had selected this subject for the annual 
address, because public attention had recently 
been directed to the question of coal re- 
serves, owing chiefly to the increased price of 
coal and to the unprecedented output of this 
mineral from British mines, amounting in 1899 
to 220,085,000 tons, being about 18,000,000 tons 
over that of the previous year. Referring to 
the Royal Coal Commission of 1866, presided 
over by the late Duke of Argyll, the author 
stated that the production had doubled since the 
Report of that Commission was issued in 1870 
—a result scarcely anticipated by the Commis- 
sioners—and the public were inquiring ‘ for how 
long a period our coal reserves would be able to 
bear the increasing drain.’ The author ad- 
vocated the imposition of an export duty on 
coal shipped to Continental states, which were 
taking from us about 40,000,000 tons annually, 
so as to form a fund towards the relief of in- 
creasing taxation, and he concluded by the 
proposal for a new Commission on coal re- 
sources, showing the subjects which would re- 
quire investigation. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THREE scholarships in music have been en- 
dowed in Yale University by Mr. Morris F. 
Steinert. Mr. Steinert has already endowed 
four scholarships in music at this institution, 
and has given it an important collection of 
musical instruments. 

A Girt of £1000 has been received by the 
University of London from the children of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 295. 


late Mr. William Lindley, in remembrance of 
their father. 

TuHE following additions have been made to 
the faculty of the engineering departments of 
the Iowa State College at Ames, Iowa: H. J. 
Burt (University of Illinois), assistant professor 
of civil engineering; Dr. Samphear (Cornell 
University), assistant professor of electrical 
engineering; L. J. Young (State College, Pa.), 
instructor in mining engineering, and I. A. 
Williams (Iowa State College and University 
of Ohio), instructor in ceramics. 

THE Montana School of Mines, at Butte, will 
begin its college year on the second Tuesday of 
September. A serious lack of funds has delayed 
the successful opening of the school for some 
time, but it is now hoped that the institution 
can open and offer the courses of study which 
its organizers have carefully arranged. The 
present faculty includes Nathan R. Leonard, 
acting president, and professor of mathematics, 
recently of the State University of Iowa; Wil- 
liam King, professor of chemistry and metal- 
lurgy, a graduate of the Western Reserve Uni- 
versity, and for sixteen years instructor in 
chemistry in the Case School of Applied Sciences 
in Cleveland and for two years in the College of 
Montana at Deer Lodge; and Dr. Chas. H. 
Bowman, professor of mechanics and mining 
engineering. 

Dr. W. D. Scott, Ph.D. (Leipzig), has been 
appointed to a newly created instructorship in 
psychology and pedagogy in Northwestern Uni- 
versity. 

Dr. NAGEL, docent in- physiology in the Uni- 
versity at Freiburg, i. B., has been promoted to 
an assistant professorship, and Dr. Ernst 
Weinschenk to an assistant professorship of 
petrography in the University of Munich. 

Dr. KARL BoEHM has qualified as docent in 
mathematics in the University of Heidelberg, 
and Dr. P. Rabe as docent in chemistry in the 
University at Jena. 

Dr. Le DANTEC, professor in the medical 
faculty of Bordeaux, has been appointed to 
give a course of instruction in tropical diseases. 
In Holland the teaching of tropical medicine 
has recently been inaugurated by Dr. J. H. 
Kohlbrugge, docent in the University of Utrecht. 


SetENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOsEPH LE ConTE, Geology ;,W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. Hart MERRIAM, Zoology ; S.H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitc, 


Physiology; J. 8S. BILLINGS, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Aueust 31, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
Doctorates Conferred by American Universities.... 321 
Inertia and Gravitation: PROFESSOR REGINALD 
Ake JIS SIOINDINN cogou cogs a6obonocougeoeooD 325 
The Work of the Society for A gricultural Education : 


PROFESSOR W. J. BEAL. ...--.ceesseeseeees 328 
The British Association...... pdeoaedoDddNdHo00%8 334 
Variation among Hydromeduse: PROFESSOR 

CHARGES Wier EUAIRGHIIT laterelelielallelatelelejeletstelate 340 
Lateral Line Organs in Eunica Auriculata n sp.: 

PROFESSOR AARON A. TREADWELL.......... 342 
Scientific Books :— 

Buckingham’s Outline of the Theory of Thermo- 

dynamics: PROFESSOR J. E. TREVOR. Jorgen- 

sen’s Microorganisms and Fermentation: H. W. 

CH PBookspReceiveds tera yspravetelekvelelsiese ties) joer 343 
Scientific Journals and Articles.... .......+..+- 345 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Eminent American Men of Science: PROFESSOR 

HENRY MONTGOMERY ..................... 346 
International Commission on Atomic Weights: J 

IUBAaaNomancodonoapobuCen Sood ods COUT Hae 346 
Plant Embryo-Sacs. DR. K. M. WIEGAND ..... 347 
Scientific Notes and News... 5.22. 2-..-c0s4....-- 347 
University and Educational News................ 352 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


DOCTORATES CONFERRED BY AMERICAN 
UNIVERSITIES. 


Reports received from official sources 
show that during the past year the degree 
of doctor of philosophy has been conferred 
by 22 universities on 233 candidates. The 
numbers given by each university in the 
humanities and in the sciences and a com- 
parison with the two preceding years are 
shown in the following table: 


E g |s 
Sa (3) ae So fer) @ 
g2|/ 53 |Sa|& | & 
35 rs So | mo 
isa MD a 
Chicago........ 18 19 37 24 36 
Harvard ....... 21 15 36 24 26 
Johns Hopkins../ 13 20 33 38 33 
Walemerie aaneall IG 10 26 30 34 
Columbia ...... 9 12 21 33 22 
Cornell ........ 8 11 19 7 19 
Clarkin eeccr 0 9 9 5 12 
Pennsylvania... 3 6 9 20 24 
New York...... 7 0 7 9 5 
Columbian ..... 2 3 5 0 1 
Michigan....... 4 1 5 4 2 
Wisconsin...... 4 i 5 7 5 
Brown......... 3 0 3 3 1 
Minnesota...... 2 1 3 2 1 
Princeton ...... 2 1 3 3 0 
Vanderbilt..... 2 1 3 0 0 
California...... 1 1 2 3 1 
Stanford........ 2 0 2 0 2 
Virginia ....... 2 0 2 2 0 
Bryn Mawr .... 0 1 1 3 3 
Nebraska ...... 0 1 1 1 2 
Mulanewerrclettrs 1 0 1 0 0 
Colorado....... 0 0 0 1 0 
Kansas ....... c 0 0 0 1 0 
Missouri ....... 0 0 0 1 0 
Syracuse ....... 0 0 0 1 0 
Washington... 0 0 0 2 0 
Motalieeriies 120 |} 113 | 233 | 224 | 234 


322 


The table shows that the degree was con- 
ferred nine times more often than last year, 
but once less often than in 1898. For the 
three consecutive years beginning with 
1898, the degree has been conferred in the 
sciences 105, 115 and 113 times; in the 
humanities 129, 109 and 120 times. Stu- 
dents are consequently pretty equally di- 
vided between the two divisions as here 
drawn. ‘The separation is, of course, some- 
what arbitrary. Psychology, sociology and 
education have been placed with the sci- 
ences, while philosophy and political econ- 
omy are included under the humanities. 
Yet a student of philosophy may have in- 
terests falling strictly under the sciences— 
in the sense of the natural and exact sci- 
ences in which this word must for conve- 
nience be used—while a student of educa- 
tion may have but few such interests. 

The degrees were in all cases the Ph.D.., 
with the exception of one D.Sc. from Har- 
vard. The University of Chicago conferred 
the degree of Ph.D. on nine students in the 
divinity school. These have not been in- 
cluded above as itis not certain that the 
work has been equivalent to that of the 
other candidates. The same holds, how- 
ever, for some of the degrees in education 
and in chemistry in which cases perhaps a 
technical or professional degree should be 
given. 

The University of Pennsylvania has dur- 
ing the year decided to require the printing 
of the doctors theses, and steps in this di- 
rection have been taken at Harvard. The 
degree seems not to have been given causa 
honoris by any important institution. 

It appears from the tables and from the 
data on which they are based that the hu- 
manities are favored at Harvard and Yale 
and the sciences at Johns Hopkins, Colum- 
bia and Cornell. Last year Johns Hopkins 
gave more than its proportionate share of 
degrees in chemistry, physics, zoology and 
physiology, Chicago in mathematics, geol- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


ogy, sociology and education, Harvard in 
physics, zoology and anthropology, Colum- 
bia in astronomy, botany, zoology and edu- 
cation, Yale in paleontology and psychol- 
ogy, Cornell in botany and psychology and 
Clark in mathematics, psychology and edu- 
cation. 

The distribution of students among the 
different sciences for 1900 and for the two 
preceding years is as follows : 


1900 | 1899 | 1898 
(Chemisthygeeemeete eer 26 32 27 
IDMWVANCS doogosenen abo0cQ0e00 15 7 11 
Botanyareeececeeeeeetiert 12 11 11 
Mathematics ...........-.... 11 13 11 
FASO? SoanocoonscnecnaoDS 11 11 12 
Rsycholopypaeceieeteeiteee ert 9 15 18 
INSEAM Gosonoccnoneoo0cee 8 5 = 
Cela? osancosopdocaoe0ssn0 5 5 6 
Astronomy .................- 4 2 3 
TATOO; oosooandaosdc0sece 4 1 4 
Sociology... 0... sce e ee eee ene 3 5 = 
Anthropology .......-....+-> 2 0 2 
Paleontology ........---++4:: 2 4 0 
Bacteriology .........---+--- 1 1 0 
Mineralogy... 2-3... 00-5--- 0 2 0 
Meteorology ........-..+e+-:- 0 1 0 

113 | 115 | 105 


The names of those on whom the doc- 
torate was conferred for work in the scien- 
ces and the titles of their theses are as 
follows: 

JoHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. 


Homer Van Valkenburg Black: The Permanga- 
nates of Barium, Strontium, and Calcium. 

William Martin Blanchard : The Chlorides of Para- 
bromorthosulphobenzoic Acid and some of their De- 
rivatives. 

Hall Canter: Orthophenylsulphonebenzoic Acid 
and related Compounds. 

Charles Edward Caspari: An Investigation of the 
Fatty Oil contained in the seeds of Lindera Benzoin. 
II. Lauric Acid and some of its Derivatives. 

Hardee Chambliss: The Permanganates of Mag- 
nesium, Zinc, and Cadmium. 

James Edwin Duerden: West-Indian Madrepora- 
rian Polyps. 

Luther Pfahler Eisenhart : Infinitesimal Deforma- 
tion of Surfaces. 

Wightman Wells Garner: Action of Aromatic 
Sulphonchlorides on Urea. . 

Lawrence Edmonds Griffin: The Anatomy of Nau- 
tilus Pompilius. 


Avaust 31, 1900.] 


Joseph Cawdell Herrick: The Influence of Varia- 
tion of Temperature upon Nervous Conductivity, 
studied by the Galvanometric Method. 

David Wilbur Horn: A Study of the Action of 
Carbon Dioxide on the Borates of Barium, and of the 
Action of Acid Borates on Carbonate of Barium at 
High Temperatures. 

William Bashford Huff : The Spectra of Mercury. 

Robert Edmund Humphreys : The Action of Phenol 
on the Chlorides of Orthosulphobenzoic Acid. 

Charles Ranald McInnes: Superosculated Sections 
of Surfaces. 

Austin McDowell Patterson: The Reduction of 
Permanganic Acid by Hydrogen and Ethylene and a 
Study of some of its Salts. 

Louis Maxwell Potts: Rowland’s New Method for 
measuring Electric Absorption and Energy Losses 
due to Hysteresis and Foucault Currents, and Detec- 
tion of Short Circuits in Coils. 

Albert Moore Reese : Structure and Development 
of the Thyroid Gland in Petromyzon. 

Herbert Meredith Reese: An Investigation of the 
Zeeman Effect with reference to Cadmium, Zinc, 
Magnesium, Iron, Nickel, Titanium, Carbon, Cal- 
cium, Aluminium, Silicon and Mercury. 

Richard Burton Rowe: The Paleodevonian For- 
mations in Maryland : a study of their Stratigraphy 
and Faunas. 

Elisha Chisholm Walden: A Plethysmographic 
Study of the Conditions during Hypnotic Sleep. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


John Charles Hessler: On Alkyl Malonic Nitrile 
Derivatives. 

William McPherson : The Constitution of the Oxy- 
azo Compounds. 

Henry Chalmers Biddle: Ueber Derivate des Ku- 
retins und der Formhydroxamsiure und ihre Bezie- 
hungen zur Knallsiure. 

William Gillespie: Determination of all Hyper- 
elliptic Integrals of the first kind of Genus 3 reduc- 
ible to Elliptic Integrals by Transformations of the 
Second and Third Degrees. 

Annie Marion MacLean: The Acadian Element in 
the Population of Nova Scotia. 

Forest Ray Moulton : A Particular Class of Periodic 
Solutions of the Problem of Three Bodies. 

Howell Emlyn Davies: The Occurrence of the Ty- 
phoid Bacillus in Typhoid Fever Patients. 

Jacob Dorsey Forrest : The Development of Indus- 
trial Organizations. 

Thomas Cramer Hopkins: The Genesis of Certain 
Limonite Ores of Pennsylvania. 

Gilbert Ames Bliss: The Geodesic Lines on the 
Anchor Ring. 


SCIENCE. 


323 


William Arthur Clark: Suggestion in Education. 

Robert Francis Earhart: Sparking Distances be- 
tween Plates for Small Distances. 

Walter Eugene Garrey : The Effect of Ion upon the 
Aggregation of Infusoria. 

Michael Frederic Guyer: The Spermatogenesis of 
Normal and Hybrid Pigeons. 

Derrick Norman Lehmer: Asymptotic Evaluation 
of certain Totient-Sums. 

William Newton Logan: A North American Epi- 
continental Sea of Jurassic Age. 

John Hector McDonald: Concerning the System of 
the Binary Cubic and Quadratic with application to 
the Reduction of Hyperelliptic Integrals to Elliptic 
Integrals by a Transformation of Order Four. 

Frank Lincoln Stevens : The Compound Oosphere 
of Albugo Bliti. 

Ella Flagg Young: Isolation in School Systems. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Harrison Hitchcock Brown: The Dialectic Con- 
stant of Water. 

Roland Burrage Dixon : 
Maidu Indians of California. 

Waldermar Koch : Orthobenzochinone and some of 
its Derivatives. 

Theodore Lyman: False Spectra from the Row- 
land Concave Grating. 

William Edward McElfresh : The Influence of Oc- 
cluded Hydrogen upon the Electrical Properties of 
certain Metals. 

George Thomas Moore: A Contribution to the 
Knowledge of the Structure and Development of cer- 
tain Unicellular Algae, with especial Reference to the 
Question of Polymorphism in the Chlorophyceae. 

Harry George Parker: On the Occlusion of Baric 
Chloride by Baric Sulphate; A Revision of the 
Atomic Weight of Magnesium. 

George Washington Pierce: Application of the 
Radio-Micrometer to the Measurement of Short 
Electric Waves. 

Charles William Prentiss : The Otocyst of Decapod 
Crustacea: Its Structure, Development, and Physi- 
ology. 

Herbert Wilbur Rand: A Study of the Regener- 
ating Nervous System of Lumbricidae, with special 
regard to the Centrosome of Nerve Cells. 

Charles Henry Rieber: Tactual Illusions: An Ex- 
perimental Proof of the Spatial Harmony of Sight 
and Touch. 

John Reed Swanton : The Morphology of the Chi- 
nook Verb. 

Alvin Sawyer Wheeler: The Reduction Products 
of Dehydromuciec Acid. 

Stephen Riggs Williams: Changes Incident to the 


The Language of the 


324 


Migration of the Eye in Pseudopleuronectes ameri- 
canus, together with some Observations on the Optic 
Tract and Optic Tectum. 

Amadeus William Grabau : Phylogeny of Gastro- 
poda: I. The Fusidae and their Allies. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


George Neander Bauer: The Parallax of  Cassio- 
peia and the Positions of 56 Neighboring Stars as de- 
duced from the Rutherfurd Photographic Measures. 

William Isaac Chamberlain: Education in India. 

Caroline Ellen Furness : Catalogue of Stars within 
One Degree of the North Pole, and Optical Distortion 
of the Helsingfors Astrophotographic Telescope, de- 
duced from Photographic Measures. 

August Henry Gotthelf: The Action of Nitrils on 
Organic Acids. 

Dayid Griffith : The North American Lordariacee. 

Tracy Elliot Hazen : The Ulothricacez and Chieto- 
phoraceze of the United States. 

Charles Judson Herrick: The Cranial and First 
Spinal Nerves of Menidia; a Contribution on the 
Nerve Components of the Bony Fishes. 

Aladine Cummings Longden : Electrical Resistance 
of Thin Films Deposited by Kathode Discharge. 

Hermann Andreas Loos : A Study on the Constitu- 
tion of Colophony Resin. 

Frederick Clark Paulmier : The Spermatogenesis of 
Anasa Tristis. 

Rudolph Rex Reeder : The Historical Development 
of School Readers and Method in Teaching Reading. 

Frank Clarence Spencer: The Education of the 
Pueblo Child : a Study of Arrested Development. 


CoRNELL UNIVERSITY. 


William Chandler Bagley : The Apperception of the 
Spoken Sentence. 

Charles Edward Brewer: 
Galein and Coerulein. 

Kary Cadmus Davis : A Taxonomic Study of North 
American Ranunculaceae as found in Gardens or 
Native. 

Stevenson Whitcomb Fletcher: 
Orchards. 

Charles Tobias Knipp: The Surface Tension of 
Water above 100° Centigrade. 

Gertude Shorb Martin: The Dying Out of Un- 
civilized Insular Peoples in Contact with Modern 
Civilization—a Study in Social Selection. 

William Fairfield Mercer : The Development of the 
Wings of the Lepidoptera. 

Wilhelm Miller: Chrysanthemums. 

Edward Charles Murphy: The Windmill: Its 
Efficiency and the Conditions of its Economic Use. 

William Alphonso Murrill: The Development of 


The Constitution of 


Pollination in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


the Archegonium and Fertilization in the Hemlock 
Spruce. 

Guy Montrose Whipple: An Analytic Study of the 
Judgment-Process in Discrimination of Clangs. 


YALE UNIVERSITY. 


Joseph Barrell : The Geology of the Elkhorn Dis- 
trict, Montana. 

Ernest William Brown: Contribution to the Chem- 
istry of the Formation of Uric Acid in Man. 

Alexander Cameron: Tactual Perception. 

Herdman Fitzgerald Cleland: A Study of Fossil 
Faunas in the Hamilton Stage of New York. 

Joseph Hall Hart: The Action of Light on Magne- 
tism. 

Herbert Edwin Hawkes: Examination and Ex- 
tension of Peirce’s Linear Associative Algebra. 

Cloyd North McAllister: Researches on Writing. 

William Kent Shepard: A new Solution for the 
Copper Voltameter. 

William Valentine: Researches on Substitution ; 
The Action of Bromine on Metachlor-, Metabrom-, 
and Metaiodanilines; The examination of Thiol- 
benzoic Acid in regard to its action on compounds 
containing Amido, Imido, and Hydroxyl Groups. 

George Reber Wieland: Osteology of Some Fossil 
Turtles; A Study of American Fossil Cycads: 1. 
Geological Distribution ; 2. Structure of the Leaf. 


CLARK UNIVERSITY. 

John S. French : On the Theory of the Pertingents 
to a Plane Curve. 

Frank B. Williams: Geometry on Ruled Quartic 
Surfaces. 

S. Elmer Slocum: On the Continuity of Groups 
Generated by Infinitesimal Transformations. 

Haleott C. Moreno : On Ruled Loci in n-fold Space. 

Thomas Rich Croswell : Amusements of Worces- 
ter School Children. 

Norman Triplett: The Psychology of Conjuring 
Deceptions. 

Frederick Eby : The Reconstruction of the Kinder- 
garten. 

Willard Stanton Small: Studies of the Psychology 
of the White Rat. 

Charles Herbert Thurber : The Principles of School 
Organization. 


UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
Morton Githens Lloyd : The Transversal Thermo- 
magnetic Effect in Bismuth. 
Anna Jane McKeag: The Sensation of Pain: an 
Experimental and Critical Analysis. ; 
George Ward Rockwell : An Electrolytic Study of 
Pyroracemic Acid. 


Aveust 31, 1900.] 


Charles Lawrence Sargent : Alloys of Tungsten and 
of Molybdenum obtained in the Electric Furnace. 

Charles Hugh Shaw : A Comparative Study of the 
flowers of Polygala polygama and P. pauciflora, with a 
Discussion of Cleistogamy. 

Albert Duncan Yocum: An Inquiry into the 
Fundamental Processes of Addition and Subtraction. 
CoLUMBIAN UNIVERSITY. 

Eugene Byrnes: Experiments on the direct Conver- 
sion of the Energy of Carbon into Electrical Energy. 
Charles Russel Ely : Investigation of Phenomenon 


of Deliquescence and of the Capacity of Salts toat- 


tract Water Vapor. 
Ernestine Fireman: The Action of Phosponium 
Todide on Tetra and Penta Chlorides. 


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Walter Charles Blasdale: A Chemical Study of the 
Indument found on the Fronds} of Gymnogramme 
triangularis. ~ 

Bryn MAWB COLLEGE. 

Florence Peebles: Experiments in Regeneration 

and in Grafting of Hydrozoa. 


UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 
Eugene Cyrus Woodruff: The Effects of Temper- 
ature on the Tuning Fork. 


UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. 
Bruce Fink: Contributions toa Knowledge of the 
Lichens of Minnesota. 


UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 
Charles Fordyce: The Cladocera of Nebraska. 


PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 
Henry Norris Russell: The General Perturbations 
of the Major Areis of Eros caused by the Action of 
Mars; with the corresponding Terms in the Mean 


Longitude. 
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY. 


J. Magruder Sullivan: Coal Tar Pitch and its 
High-boiling Fractions and Residue. 


UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 
Carl Edward Magnusson: The Anomalous Disper- 
sion of Cyanin. 


INERTIA AND GRAVITATION. 

Ir was shown by J. J. Thomson (‘ Effects 
produced by the Motion of Electrified 
Bodies,’ Phil. Mag., April, 1881), that a 
charged body has more inertia than an un- 
charged one.’ 

* The formula there given contains a slight slip in 


the numerical coefficient, as was first pointed out by 
Heaviside. 4 should be written for 73. 


SCIENCE. 325 


In 1890* and 18917} the writer intro- 
duced, for the first time, the conception 
that it was not only, as in the electrochem- 
ical theories of Davy, Berzelius, Helmholtz, 
and others, atoms in chemical combination 
or the dissociated components of a mole- 
cule, which had charges; but that all atoms, 
even in such substances as metallic copper 
and silver, possessed charges, and that the 
so-called neutral atoms were not devoid of 
charges, ‘but had equal quantities of both 
kinds of electricity.’ 

For practically a year it was found im- 
possible to secure publication of this theory, 
the two principal objections which the edi- 
tors to whom it was sent made to it being 
that in the first place it was a fundamental 
fact that all electric charges must reside 
on the outside of conductors, and that 
consequently the atoms of a conductor, 
such as copper, could not possibly have in- 
dividual charges, and secondly that ‘the 
atoms, being self-evidently conductors them- 
selves, or else the metal as a whole could 
not conduct,’ the postulated equal charges 
on the atoms would immediately neutralize 
each other. A brief note was finally pub- 
lished by the kindness of the editor of the 
Electrical World in that paper,{ but ac- 
companied with an editorial to the effect 
that though the numerical relations con- 
necting the elastic constants with atomic 
volume, discovered by the writer and ad- 
duced as proof of the theory, were no doubt 
interesting, the theory was probably wrong, 
and the efforts due ‘ to intermolecular forces 
just about sufficient to account for the par- 
ticular sort of strain which we know as an 
electric charge.’ 

The above is not mentioned for the pur- 
pose of discrediting the judgment of the 
editors referred to, for when even specialists 
did not, at a much later date, see that it 
could be reconciled with the physical facts, 


* Lecture, Elect. Soc., Newark, May, 1890. 
{_Elec. World., Aug. 8 and Aug. 22, 1891. 


326 


there is, of course, much excuse for those 
who were not specialists in this particular 
line. But attention is called to it as illus- 
trating the general trend of ideas at the 
time when the writer first attempted to 
introduce his theory. 

Some time later, in Europe, similar ideas 
were put forward by other writers, notably 
by Richartz, Lorentz, Chattock, Larmor 
and others, and at the present time the 
theory may be considered to be on a strong 
footing. 

The theory thus originated by me, that 
the ionic charge is always associated with 
the atom, in all conditions, naturally led to 
the conception that it might be the inertia 
effect of such a charge, acting in the way 
first shown by J. J. Thomson, which caused 
the inertia of matter. This idea was ad- 
vanced by several writers, amongst others 
by Dr. Kennelly. But it was easily shown, 
and had in fact been ascertained previously 
by the writer, and no doubt by others, that, 
with the known dimensions of the atom, 
this hypothesis was untenable, the effect so 
produced being only about 10° of that 
necessary. 

In subsequent papers,* the writer put 
forward the idea that ‘the atoms may be 
formed of vortex rings arranged in different 
kinds of space nets, with the direction of 
rotation of the vortex rings such as will 
make these combinations stable,” and that 
‘one might picture to one’s self a vast por- 
tion of the ‘atom dust’ from which Mr. 
Spencer develops his universe, made of vor- 
tices and splitting up in these 67 ways to 
form the elements.” 

This hypothesis had for some time no 
real foundation. During the past year, 
however, the wonderful work of J. J. 
Thomson has resulted in almost certain 
proof of the fact that the atom is really 
made up of a large number of what he 


* Articles on Insulation, Elect. World, March, 1893, 
et seq. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


calls ‘corpuscles,’ each possessing an elec- 
trie charge. In this paper (in the December 
number of the Phil. Mag., 1899), Thomson 
recurred to the question of inertia being an 
electrical effect, but considered that there is 
at present no evidence to decide whether 
the corpuscles are small enough. 

In 1891 the writer had shown that the 
atoms of a body in the solid state must be 
nearly touching each other, and that the 
phenomena which weresupposed to militate 
most strongly against this supposition could 
be accounted for in a very simple manner. 
In a later paper* (read before the A.A.A.S., 
Columbus meeting, August, 1899), I showed 
that though the atoms were nearly touch- 
ing each other, yet they really filled less 
than + per cent. of the space which they 
occupied to the exclusion of other atoms. 

From the two facts, i. e., Thomson’s dis- 
covery that the number of corpuscles in a 
hydrogen atom is of at least the order of 
one thousand, and the writer’s discovery 
that the real volume of the atom is but a 
small portion of the space occupied by the 
atom, we arrive at the conclusion that the 
atom must be made up of a large number 
of corpuscles separated from each other by 
distances considerably larger than their di- 
ameters. This gives us data for making an 
approximate estimate as to the ability of 
the corpuscular charges to account for the 
inertia of the atom, and on making this 
calculation, we find, as the writer has 
shown,} that it really is the probable cause. 

In other words, we may feel fairly con- 
fident that inertia is really not a separate 
and distinct thing, but merely a property 
due to the fact that the atom is made up 
of a very large number of electric charges. 

I have recently found that gravitation 
can also be accounted for as a property 


*¢ A Determination of the Nature of the Electric 
and Magnetic Quantities and of the Density and 
Elasticity of the Ether,’ Phys. Rev., January, 1900. 

ft ‘Inertia.’ Elect. World, 1900. 


AuaGust 31, 1900.] 


of these same corpuscular charges. It 
was first pointed out by Newton that if 
the density of the ether continually in- 
creased as we move away from a particle of 
matter, that we should obtain a gravita- 
tional effect. Later it was shown by other 
writers, notably by Kelvin, that the same 
result would follow if the density decreased. 
No way of accounting for this continuous 
variation of density has as yet been sug- 
gested. Again, it was shown by Maxwell 
that on any stressed medium theory of grav- 
itation, the stresses must be enormous, 
whilst the estimates given by Kelvin of the 
elastic constants for the ether were not such 
apparently as to permit of this. But the 
writer showed, in the paper above referred 
to, that the elasticity of the ether is im- 
mensely great, i.e, 6 x 10”. Now if we 
calculate, as I have done in one of the papers 
referred to, what the diameter of the cor- 
puscle must be, in order that it shall give 
the inertia effect, and from that calculate 
the electrostatic stress at the surface of a 
corpuscle, we find that it is of the order 
10”, and this stress acting on a medium 
whose elastic coefficients are as given, I 
have found, can produce a change of den- 
sity sufficient to give the observed gravita- 
tional attraction. 

We thus find that both inertia and gravi- 
tation are electrical effects and due to the 
fact that the atom consists of corpuscular 
charges. The constant ratio between quan- 
tity of inertia and quantity of gravitation, 
for a given body, is thus explained. We 
may state the theory thus : 

The inertia of matter is due to the electro- 
magnetic inductance of the corpuscular charges, 
and gravitation is due to the change of density of 
the ether surrounding the corpuscles, this change 
of density being a secondary effect arising from the 
electrostatic stresses of the corpuscular charges. 

A fuller paper on this subject is in course 
of preparation, but will be delayed for some 
time by pressure of other work. 


SCIENCE. 


327 


I may here mention that I have found 
that the equation 


U/L = M/LT x T/L, 


given in the paper in the Physical Review, 
above referred to, and stated to represent a 
phenomenon not yet discovered, really rep- 
resents Kerr’s electrostatic optical effect, 
and the above gravitational effect, and 
that this effect therefore varies directly 
with the elastic coefficient of the dielectric. 
As this is one of the remaining links neces- 
sary to complete the full chain of proof of 
the theory there given, this latter is thus 
put upon a still firmer footing.* 

The weight of matter in a gaseous state 
should be very slightly greater than in the 
solid state, and iron should weigh slightly 
less when dissolved. It is doubtful, how- 
ever, whether the experimental conditions 
are not too difficult. If the measurement 
could be made it would give an independ- 
ent method of arriving at the size of the 
corpuscle. 

The writer has pointed out that the Kel- 
vin-Maxwell theorem, deduced from the 
phenomenon of the electromagnetic rotation 
of light, that whenever we have a magnetic 
field we have also a rotation of the medium, 
is incorrect, in that it assumes that light 
consists of a certain kind of periodic mo- 
tion for which there is no evidence. The 
question arises: In spite of the fact that 
the supposedly general theorem is incorrect, 
is there any actual material rotation con- 
cerned in the electromagnetic rotation of 
light? The answer I would give is ‘yes, 
but not as a cause, merely as an effect.’ 
According to the theory advanced by the 
writer,; the rotation is a consequence of 
light absorption, and can only take place 
in an absorbing medium. When the light 
waves strike the atoms, if the period of vi- 

* A Determination of the Nature of the Electric and 


Magnetic Quantities. Phys. Rev., January, 1900. 
+ Ibid. 


328 : 


bration of the corpuscular groups is very 
different from that of the waves, there is 
no absorption, and the light passes through 
unchanged. But at or near synchronism 
the group is set in vibration and causes the 
electric displacement to lag behind the vol- 
tivity. Hence, the group being set in vibra- 
tion, and being in a magnetic field, it must, 
as was first pointed out by the writer,* and 
later by Lorentz, rotate. But this rotation 
is not a cause of the light rotation, but an 


effect. 
REGINALD A. FESSENDEN. 


THE WORK OF THE SOCIETY FOR AGRI- 
CULTURAL EDUCATION.+ 

Durine the sixties in the Agricultural 
College, with which I have long been con- 
nected, one professor taught classes in ag- 
riculture, animal physiology, veterinary, 
breeds of live stock, stock feeding, farm 
crops, civil engineering, and was superin- 
tendent of the farm. In recent times this 
work has been placed in the hands of a 
dozen or more persons. I need not enum- 
erate similar instances of the recent divis- 
ion of labor as exemplified in our universi- 
ties. This is a day of specialists and the 
end is not yet. 

The American Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, which we shall attend 
here next week, when first organized had 
no sections, but the members all met to- 
gether as long as the meetings continued. 
By degrees, as you all know, they increased 
till there are now nine sections, each with a 
full quota of officers, not to mention some 
sub-sections. 

Recently, as though this was not enough, 
there have been formed a considerable num- 
ber of distinct organizations, the programs 
of some of which contain much the same 
range of papers, presented mostly by the 

* Elect. World, May 18, 1895. 


} President’s Address at the Twentieth Meeting of 
the Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII No. 296. 


same members as those in the parent so- 
ciety. 

Meetings during this week and next will 
be held here by fifteen affiliated societies. 

In December, 1898, nine separate socie- 
ties met during the same week at this uni- 
versity, and nearly every paper presented 
would have been received by some of the 
sections of the American Association. 

The Fifth Congress of American Physi- 
cians and Surgeons was held at Washing- 
ton, D. C., on May Ist, 2d and 3d. Four- 
teen distinct societies joined in the triennial 
Congress. 

In much the same way journals occupy- 
ing special fields of science have multiplied. 

Previous to 1880, a number of American 
societies were organized for the discussion 
of agricultural topics and those of a kin- 
dred nature. For several reasons most of 
these survived only long enough to hold 
from one to three meetings. 

In 1880, at Boston, a new plan was tried, 
viz, that of organizing the Society for the 
Promotion of Agricultural Science, consist- 
ing of twenty-one persons. It was the de- 
termination of its members to strive for 
papers of genuine worth and make no effort 
to draw crowded houses or to make a great 
display in any manner, whatever. The So- 
ciety after continuing for twenty-one years 
has demonstrated beyond question that it 
is entitled to live and has important work 
to perform. In all, up to this time, there 
have been only one hundred and ten mem- 
bers. Those who have continued active, 
have been too conservative to suit a very 
few who were impatient for large num- 
bers and more display. To most of us, it 
seemed of first importance to become ac- 
quainted with each other and learn the 
peculiarities of the members. Some men 
are restive and never remain active in any 
society for a very long time. Such may be 
expected to drop out and others will be 
elected to fill the places left vacant. Had 


AvueusT 31, 1900.] 


the membership been offered to all who 
sought it, there is little doubt that the So- 
ciety would have scarcely survived long 
enough to hold ten annual meetings. As 
it is the membership has gradually increased 
and is larger than ever before, with other 
capable men ready to seek admittance. 
The Society was never so strong as it is 
to-day and the chances are that with 
wise management it will long continue to 
strengthen. 

Every person who has long been an ac- 
tive member of any of the societies above 
mentioned, and many others, must be aware 
that a few persons in each need to contin- 
ually exert themselves to prevent the death 
of the Society. 

Probably there is no exception to the 
general rule that, a society like a business 
enterprise, before meeting with any marked 
degree of success must pass through some 
trials, metaphorically, must have the 
mumps, the chicken pox, measles, whoop- 
ing cough, the grippe, after which, if it 
stand the strain well, it may be ready to 
engage in successful work. ; 

In 1887, Congress began appropriating to 
each state and territory $15,000 a year 
for conducting experiments in agriculture. 
During the same period, the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture has rapidly extended its 
work, covering almost every conceivable 
field of agriculture and even some beyond 
its limits. The chiefs, and assistants and 
students are usually most capable and num- 
ber all told over 600 persons. 

The work performed by the Department 
is stupendous, covering a range of topics 
in a most creditable manner, and the value 
to the country is beyond estimate. To fa- 
cilitate the work of experiment stations, 
including the agricultural colleges, and a 
small number from the department of agri- 
culture, an annual conference of delegates 
is held once a year. Not only are the 
traveling expenses of these delegates paid, 


SCIENCE. 


329 


but the proceedings are printed and widely 
distributed by the government. Some have 
said, ‘‘ Why isn’t this an ideal plan, and 
why cannot these delegates from college and 
station perform all that it was intended © 
should be done by the Society for the Pro- 
motion of Agricultural Science?” Here is 
the answer: (1) The presidents of the col- 
leges and the directors of the stations are 
almost the only persons who attend these 
conferences oftener than once or twice in 
five years or more, and most of those who 
perform the experiments are never sent to 
the meetings. This scarcely gives any op- 
portunity for the experimenters and profes- 
sors of the colleges to maintain a continued 
interest in committee work and in other re- 
spects. For these reasons and others, a con- 
siderable number of them have become dis- 
couraged and advise standing by the So- 
ciety for the Promotion of Agricultural Sci- 
ence. (2) Not two-thirds of our members 
are connected with any experiment station 
in the United States, and therefore, are in- 
eligible as delegates to the meetings. (3) 
The time for holding the meetings of the 
station delegates comes at a season of the 
year when the teachers are busy in labora- 
tory and class room. (4) Other reasons at 
this time need not be given. 

It is not only a pleasant privilege, but a 
duty, even a necessity for teachers of vari- 
ous sciences and arts in agricultural courses 
to meet occasionally for acquaintance, each 
helping the other. Every year new sub- 
jects are developed and new and improved 
methods are discovered for demonstration. 
He who does not continually exert himself, 
will soon fall behind the race. No where 
is this more apparent than in agricultural 
colleges and experiment stations, for their 
work is of recent origin. 

As athletics in these times interests nearly 
all students in a university, so the modern 
trend of agricultural education interests 
every one of our members. We are all in- 


330 


terested in aiming to shape good courses 
in agriculture, each championing his own 
department. 

Almost any one in short order can place 
on paper groups of studies for each term of 
four years and call it a course of study, but 
to begin at the right end, experimenting 
and working out all the details of each 
topic, assigning reasons for each, before 
generalizing, classifying and grouping into 
courses requires much time, patience, skill 
and mature judgment. Nor can we ever 
expect to secure a uniformity in courses of 
study for different colleges. These must 
vary in different states to correspond to the 
demands of the people, the views of the 
faculty, and the special fitness of the mem- 
bers of the faculty for teaching certain 
topics. For twenty-five years I have been 
at work adjusting courses in agriculture to 
suit the views of myself and many new men 
as they entered the faculty from time to time. 
No two professors of agriculture or horti- 
culture think alike. Besides great advances 
are all the time being made. There have 
come along one after the other or by twos 
and threes during thirty years, a host of new 
things, each clamoring for a place in the 
course, such as plant histology, parasitic 
fungi, the botanical study of grasses and 
other forage plants, the critical study of 
weeds from various stand points, forestry, 
the use of insecticides and fungicides, soil 
physics, stock feeding from the scientific side, 
growing beets and making sugar from them, 
making butter and cheese with scientific 
explanations for every step of the process, 
and smallest of all, though by no means 
of least importance, the little microbes as 
helps and hindrances to agriculture. 

Some of our members are especially 
trained for the work of adjusting courses of 
study from time to time, to keep up to date, 
but to plan a course of study in agriculture 
which shall remain satisfactory and up with 
the times for more than a year or two at a 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


time will be as disappointing as to attempt 
to deliver a course of lectures that shall not 
need remodelling in many particulars every 
year or two. 

This is the way President Eliot put the 
question in his annual report for 1888-1889 : 

‘« A problem has been pressing upon every 
member of the board, old or young, expe- 
rienced or unpracticed. During recent 
years every college teacher has been forced 
to answer anew the personal questions— 
What can I best teach, and how shall I 
teach it? Every man has really been 
obliged to take up new subjects and to treat 
them by new methods. Thereis nota single 
member of the faculty who is to-day teach- 
ing what he taught fifteen years ago as he 
then taught it. Each teacher has had to 
recast his own work, each department re- 
peatedly to modify and extend its series of 
courses, and the faculty as a whole, to in- 
vent, readjust, and expand the comprehen- 
sive framework within which all these rapid 
changes and steady growth have taken 
place.” 

Notwithstanding all this, we must keep 
diligently studying to perfect even for the 
time, a schedule of studies, approaching 


nearer and nearer the ideal, though we 


never attain perfection. 

University extension work has become a 
familiar phrase. Some professors and as- 
sistants in universities now devote all their 
time to the subject, while others devote a 
limited portion of time. The entire con- 
tents of magazines dwell on extension work. 

In 1857, the first students entered the 
oldest agricultural college now in existence 
in this country. That was 43 years ago in 
April last. Such colleges had no pattern to 
follow, no men trained to the work; most 
of the farmers from the start were confi- 
dent that such institutions would prove of 
no value; it was entirely against tradition. 
The colleges dwindled with a very short roll 
of students with no end of ridicule. What 


Aueust 31, 1900.] 


was to be done? If the farmers would not 
send their sons to the colleges nor encour- 
age their support, it was only a question of 
a few years when all such enterprises must 
be abandoned. Congress had made liberal 
endowments. If the farmers will not go to 
the colleges, then the colleges must go to 
the farmers. It was a matter of necessity. 
University extension is the taking of the 
university or college to the people, when 
the people cannot or will not go to the col- 
lege or university. 

According to H. B. Adams in the Forum 
for 1891, page 510, ‘“‘The movement origi- 
nated in the year 1867 in academic lectures 
to the school teachers and working men of 
the North England by Professor James 
Stuart of Cambridge, now member of Par- 
liament.”’ 

A course was given in Great Britain by 
some of the professors in Cambridge Uni- 
versity in 1873. 

So far as I know the following account 
explains the origin of extension work in 
this country, at least its connection with 
agricultural colleges. On August 30, 1871, 
the trustees of the Illinois Industrial Uni- 
versity, now known as the University of 
Illinois, passed a resolution that the regent 
and corresponding secretary be authorized 
to make such arrangements for holding, 
during the coming winter, Farmers’ Insti- 
tutes, at the University and in other parts 
of the State, as they might find advisable. 
Several institutes were held that year and 
others in succeeding years. The circular 
said, ‘‘ We want to bring the live practical 
men and the live scientific men together 
that all may be benefited.” 

The regent of the University, Dr. J. M. 
Gregory, was the leading spirit in starting 
institutes in Illinois. arly in 1876, Mich- 
igan Agricultural College held her first in- 
stitutes. Note that Illinois University 
began University extension two years be- 
fore Cambridge in England. The rapid 


SCIENCE. 301 


increase in the number and efficiency of 
institutes in most of the northern states is 
a subject familiar to all of you. A genera- 
tion of objectors to good Agricultural Col- 
leges has passed away and their places are 
occupied by those who are attentive and 
enthusiastic. Praise and support of the 
agricultural college has taken the place of 
apathy and criticism, and extension work 
has done it. More recently, beginning in 
1888 to 1890, a considerable number of 
universities and colleges in this country 
have undertaken extension work in variety. 
Perhaps some of them saw the benefit that 
followed such efforts, made by the agricul- 
tural colleges. Itinerant instructors have 
been employed to work among manufac- 
turers of butter and cheese in Canada and 
Wisconsin. In New York, special schools, 
enduring for a week, for giving instructions 
in horticulture, were held in many country 
school districts. 

Extension reading courses are accom- 
plishing something. Almost every plan 
conceivable has apparently been tried to 
arouse and attract men toward better meth- 
ods in agriculture as aided by a scientific 
education. One of the most recent of these 
movements in agricultural education is the 
introduction of what is known as ‘ Nature 
Study’ or ‘Elementary Science’ in the 
rural schools. We are most fortunate at 
this meeting in having with us an honored 
member who is brim full with experience 
and enthusiasm concerning this important 
subject. We are eager to listen to what he 
shall say. I am sure that I voice the opin- 
ion of every member of this Society when 
I say that we all favor a liberal education. 
None of us could dispense with mathemat- 
ics, one or more languages and other sub- 
stantial knowledge to be acquired in com- 
pleting a course of study in any college in 
the land. Mathematics, Latin, rhetoric, his- 
tory, physiology, English literature, polit- 
ical economy, ethics, chemistry, zoology, 


332 


botany and other branches of learning are 
placed in college courses, not necessarily 
because some of them give a better training 
than others, but because their study trains 
the person in different directions. A good 
course of study for the mind is comparable 
to a symmetrical training for the body, 
one develops many mental faculties, the 
other many of the muscles of the body. As 
the last echoes of the conflict between the 
champions of the classics and the natural 
sciences have not yet died away, will you 
permit me to refer briefly to the subject at 
this time? The opinions of educated men 
who lived eighty or ninety years ago are not 
to be taken in evidence in the matter, as 
there was no natural science in those days 
comparable to that of the present day. Nor 
can the opinions of philologists be taken 
without some degree of allowance, as their 
judgment is liable to be biased and one- 
sided, unless they have also had the bene- 
fit of a thorough training in botany and 
zoology for at least three years. They 
claim much for a study of Greek or Latin 
continued for four to five years, while they 
do not see great advantages in studying 
botany and zoology for one or two years. 
I will try to point out as fairly as I can 
some of the peculiar training afforded by 
three selected types of studies, viz, Mathe- 
matics, Latin and Botany. 

(1) The utility of the study of mathe- 
matics is granted by every educated per- 
son. (2) There is no substitute for mathe- 
matics as a training in exact reasoning. (3) 
By this study a student learns to use con- 
cise language. (4) A clear statement is 
given, and step by step an inevitable con- 
clusion is reached which is clear and accu- 
rate. (5) Here we find excellent examples 
of deductive reasoning. 

The study of Latin (1) cultivates and 
strengthens the memory. (2) The faculty 
of attention or mental concentration is de- 
veloped, that is, the successful student 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


learns the significance of genuine study. 
(3) The perceptive faculties are well trained. 
(4) The study of Latin should lead to clear 
and concise speech and help to a better un- 
derstanding of English. (5) Latin has an 
obvious etymological value, helping to un- 
derstand the meaning of many English 
words. (6) It gives a training in the use 
of synonyms. (7) Latin cultivates the 
power of interpretation. (8) It exercises 
skill of a peculiar kind to observe all the 
shades of meaning of each Latin word in a 
long and intricate sentence and then trans- 
late it into clear and elegant English. (9) 
It requires the most discriminating use of 
the eye, mental alertness, the imagina- 
tion, and the judgment. (10) There lies a 
thought clothed in Latin words ; it is to be 
expressed in correct English. (11) The 
study enables one to get some of the best 
thoughts at first hand. 

The advantages claimed for the study of 
botany are: (1) There is nothing better 
for training the powers of observation. (2) 
The comparison of one plant or one part of 
a plant with another cultivates the power 
of inductive reasoning. (3) In learning the 
definitions of new words, the memory is 
strengthened, the vocabulary enlarged. (4) 
There is nothing better to train the power 
of precise and brief description in using each 
word with a definite meaning. (5) To 
follow successive changes that take place in 
shape, proportion, size, color, as seen in one 
plant from seed to maturity, develops the 
observation, powers of description, and the 
judgment. (6) By experimenting to learn 
the results that follow changes in tempera- 
ture, light, moisture; by mutilating or re- 
moving certain parts, many facts may be 
obtained enabling one to arrive at certain 
correct conclusions. (7) To become ac- 
quainted with the minute anatomy of plants 
by the aid of sections made in different di- 
rections and seen with a compound micro- 
scope cultivates the imagination as well as 


Auaust 31, 1900.] 


the powers of observation and reasoning. 
(8) The preparation of materials for ex- 
amination trains the hand to precision as 
well as the eye and the judgment. (9) 
‘(In studying botany a student gains in 
analytic and synthetic powers,” T. C. 
Abott. (10) “It is the best system of 
practical logic, and the study exercises and 
shapes at once both the powers of reasoning 
and observation, more probably than any 
other pursuit,’’ Asa Gray, who possessed a 
good knowledge of mathematics and Latin 
as well as of botany. 

What shall I say of the value of training 
acquired by studying bacteria and lichens, 
by experimenting to demonstrate that cer- 
tain fungi, like wheat rust and many others, 
assume two distinct forms on each of two 
different host plants? Here is need of ex- 
treme care to eliminate all sources of error. 
Facts are at length acquired (not given) 
aud correct inevitable conclusions reached. 

Take one step into the domain of horti- 
culture. Selecting the parents and cross- 
ing one species or variety of plant with 
another, with the view of securing new and 
improved sorts, command the use of the 
eye, hand, imagination, keen judgment, and 
the experience of experts. 

In selecting and matching apples suitable 
to exhibit at a fair, the eye, the sense of 
smell and taste and feeling, as well as the 
judgment are called into action. 

Mathematics starts with definite indis- 
putable facts to demonstrate a proposition. 

Latin is based on usage and authority, 
not on proof. In botany the facts are first 
to be discovered and then a truth demon- 
strated. This is the process of reasoning in 
a large per cent. of all practical matters of 
life. Linguists claim that the student should 
devote four to five years to the study of 
Latin, while one or two years is considered 
ample time for botany. Let the student de- 
vote a year or two to Latin and four or five 
to botany and then make the comparisons. 


SCIENCE. 


330 


You might naturally expect me to quote 
a few statements from Herbert Spencer. 
Here they are, old, but good: 

“The education of most value for guid- 
ance, must at the same time be education 
of most value for discipline.”’ ‘‘One ad- 
vantage claimed for that devotion to lan- 
guage learning is that the memory is 
thereby strengthened. But the truth is, 
that the sciences afford far wider fields for 
the exercise of memory.’’ ‘‘ And when 
we pass to the organic sciences, the effect 
of memory becomes still greater.”” ‘While 
for the training of mere memory, science 
is as good as, if not better than language ; 
it has an immense superiority in the kind 
of memory it cultivates. In language the 
facts are in a great measure incidental ; in 
the acquirement of science, the connections 
of ideas correspond to facts that are mostly 
necessary. While the one exercises mem- 
ory only, the other exercises both memory 
and understanding. A great superiority 
of science over languages as a means of dis- 
cipline, is that it cultivates the judgment to 
a greater degree.” 

“The learning of language tends further 
to increase the already undue respect for 
authority. Quite opposite is the attitude 
of mind generated by the cultivation of 
science, which appeals to individual reason. 
Every step in a scientific investigation is 
submitted to the judgment. It exercises 
perseverance and sincerity.” “‘In all its 
effects learning the meaning of things, is 
better than learning the meanings of words.” 
I may have made a mistake in making this 
digression, but it is now all over. 

I think the most thoroughly educated 
people are now agreed that the method of 
pursuing a study is of more importance 
than the selection of a subject. They be- 
lieve that botany or zoology well taught, 
for the same length of time, affords as much 
discipline and culture as Latin, Greek or 
philosophy. But you may weary of this. 


334 


The programs of our meetings always 
announce some papers which have a scien- 
tific bearing on agriculture, forestry or some 
kindred line of business. As our members 
are specialists, it is fitting that we have 
each year a number of addresses of a gen- 
eral nature, such as summaries of prog- 
ress, methods of experimenting, methods of 
teaching certain subjects, short syllabi of 
courses of study, and new points of general 
interest. These will be understood and 
will interest all, and will be likely to pro- 
voke a general discussion by the members. 

The work of this Society during the past 
twenty years has apparently had a marked 
influence on the selection of subjects for 
discussion in some of the societies of this 
country. As an instance of the practical 
tendency of these subjects, if I may so ex- 
press it, I cite you the admirable address of 
Vice-President Gage a year ago before Sec- 
tion F, of the A. A. A. 8. at the Columbus 
meeting on ‘The Importance and Promise 
in the Study of Domestic Animals.’ Here 
are two sentences: “‘ It is most earnestly be- 
lieved, however, that in the whole range of 
zoology, no forms offer a greater reward for 
the study of the problems of life, especially 
in the higher groups, than the domestic ani- 
mals. The importance of the study cannot 
be over-estimated from a purely scientific 
standpoint, and certainly if the prosperity, 
happiness and advancement of the human 
race are put in the count the subject is of 
transcendent importance.”’ 

Reference of a like nature might be made 
to numerous programs of scientific societies, 
to courses of study in colleges and univer- 
ties, to contributions to the best scientific 
journals of the day, but no argument on the 
subject is needed at this time, for the rea- 
son that no observing person can be found 
in this audience who does not already rec- 
ognize the truth of the statement that I 
have last made. 

I thank you for the high honor of choos- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


ing me president for a third time, and con- 
gratulate you on the excellent prospects for 
a successful meeting on this, its twentieth 
year, and predict that a long and useful 
career yet remains for the Society for the 
Promotion of Agricultural Science. 

W. J. BEAL. 


AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MIcH. 


THE BRITISH ASSOCIA TION.* 

For the second time, after a lapse of 27 
years, the British Association will meet in 
Bradford in the beginning of September. 
Not a few of those who attended the first 
meeting are still alive, some of them be- 
ing among the most distinguished of our 
living men of science. There is no doubt 
that a certain number of those who at- 
tended the previous meeting will again be 
present in Bradford next month. They will 
notice a very great change in the town ; it 
has grown enormously ; it has been toa 
large extent rebuilt ; and it has been raised 
to the dignity of a city, while its popula- 
tion has probably doubled. Bradford will 
have much to show to those who are in- 
terested in the many practical applications 
of science. There will be abundant hos- 
pitality, receptions, dinners, a smoking 
concert, excursions to places of interest in 
the neighborhood, and other forms of en- 
tertainment for those—and they are many 
—who regard the annual British Associa- 
tion meeting as a gigantic picnic. 

The meeting of 1873 was presided over 
by Professor A. W. Williamson, the distin- 
guished chemist, whose presidential address 
consisted mainly of a review of the progress 
of chemistry up to that date. The advance 
in this, as in other directions, since then 
has been enormous. The president selected 
at the previous meeting had been the late 
distinguished physicist, Dr. Joule, but owing 
to the state of his health he had to forego 
the honor of presiding at the first Bradford 


* A forecast from the London Times. 


August 31, 1900.] 


meeting and his place was taken by Profes- 
sor Williamson. Among some of the well- 
know representatives of science who were 
present at the Bradford in 1873, and who 
are now no more, we may mention the 
names of Cayley, Clifford, H. J. 8. Smith, 
W. Spottiswoode, Clerk-Maxwell, Balfour 
Stewart, W. B. Carpenter, John Phillips, 
Gwyn Jeffreys, Rutherford Alcock and Dr. 
Beke. The economic section was presided 
over by W. E. Forster, and it is of some 
interest to note that the present popular 
assistant general secretary, Mr. George 
Griffith, occupied the same position in 1873 
that he does now, although for several 
years in the interval he ceased to be an of- 
ficer of the Association. The first Brad- 
ford meeting had an attendance of close on 
two thousand, and the grants made for 
scientific research reached the considerable 
sum of £1685. 

The second Bradford meeting will be pre- 
sided over by Professor Sir William Turner, 
who for so long has filled with such distinc- 
tion the anatomical chair of Edinburgh 


University. His address will consist of a. 


general review of the progress of Biology, 
with special reference to our knowledge of 
the structure and function of cells. The 
program of work in the different sections 
leads one to expect that the proceedings will 
be of considerable scientific interest. 

The president of Section A (Mathematical 
and Physical Science) will be Dr. Joseph 
Larmor, F.R.S. In opening the business 
of the section Dr. Larmor will review the 
change of ideas which has recently become 
current regarding the scope and method of 
physical explanation. The acceptance on 
the Continent, in consequence of the bril- 
liant work of Hertz, of the views originated 
in England regarding the nature of electric 
actions and their dependence on the ether 
has been largely accompanied by an elimi- 
nation of the dynamical explanations which 
formed a main feature of Clerk-Maxwell’s 


SCIENCE. 


399 


theory. This makes it a matter of funda- 
mental importance to determine, if possible, 
how far purely descriptive methods can 
avail without appeal to a dynamical founda- 
tion ; it involves consideration of the mode 
of representation of the physical activities 
of the material atoms; and it raises the 
question whether denial of direct action at 
a distance necessarily implies transmission 
by simple stress such as occurs in a material 
elastic frame. As chairman for the depart- 
ment of Astronomy, Dr. A. A. Common will 
give an address on Friday morning. Mon- 
day will be devoted to Meteorology and 
Pure Mathematics, while a discussion on 
ions will be introduced by Professor Fitz- 
gerald on Tuesday. 

Section B (Chemistry) will be presided 
over by the distinguished chemist Professor 
H. W. Perkin. The subject of his address 
will be ‘The Modern System of Teaching 
Practical Inorganic Chemistry, and its De- 
velopment’; and, after discussing the prog- 
ress which has been made in the teaching 
of practical chemistry in schools, he will 
point out that during the last thirty years 
very little similar progress has been made 
in teaching inorganic chemistry in univer- 
sities and colleges. Having shown that the 
system adopted at the present day is prac- 
tically the same as that taught thirty years 
ago, Professor Perkin will next proceed to 
give a historical sketch of the development 
of this system, and will conclude his ad- 
dress with a discussion of the question 
whether the present system is the best and 
most suitable for teaching practical inor- 
ganic chemistry, or whether it might not 
with advantage be considerably modified. 
The greater part of the time of the Section 
will be devoted to discussions on (1) the 
chemistry of camphor, to be opened by Dr. 
Lapworth; (2) the questions raised by re- 
cent work on metals and alloys, to be 
opened by Mr. W. H. Neville, F.R.S., of 
Cambridge, in the course of which it is 


2 


336 


to be hoped that the important question 
“What is a metal?’’ may be settled; (3) 
the.recent developments in connection with 
asymmetric structure in carbon and other 
compounds, to be opened by Mr. W. J. 
Pope, of the Central Technical College ; 
and (4) the recent improvements in the 
textile industries (including artificial silk, 
ete.), to be opened by Dr. Liebmann. 
Among other papers promised are: ‘Some 
Recent Work on the Diffusion of Gases 
and Liquids,’ by Mr. Horace T. Brown; 
‘Determination of the Spectra of Gases 
at 400° C.,’ by Professor Dixon ; and ‘On 
the Relationship between the Heating 
and Lighting Power of Coal Gas,’ by Mr. 
T. Fairley. A paper of great local in- 
terest will be one on the treatment of wool- 
combers’ effluents, by Mr. W. Teach ; while 
the relations of phosphorus, iron, and car- 
bon when present in iron and steel will be 
discussed by Mr. J. E. Stead, of Middles- 
brough. Papers have also been promised by 
Professor Smithells, Dr. Laurence, Dr. J. B. 
Cohen,and Mr. F.W.Richardson. Professor 
Ewing and Mr. Rosenhaim will show slides 
illustrating the effects of strain and anneal- 
ing on the crystalline structure of metals. 

The Geological Section (C) will have as 
its president one of the most unconven- 
tional and brilliant of the younger geolo- 
gists—Professor W. J. Sollas. The subject 
of his address will be ‘Evolutional Geol- 
ogy.’ The transformation of the science 
during the latter part of the 19th century, 
by which its scattered teachings have been 
organized into a compact body of doctrine 
and the whole science placed on a more 
philosophic basis, will be briefly alluded to. 
An account will be given of the develop- 
ment of the earth, including its early evolu- 
tional stages, which were once considered 
alien to geology. Its distribution in time 
will be particularly considered, and the 
dates of various critical periods in its his- 
tory will be discussed. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 296. 


As befits the locale of the meeting, the 
Section will devote especial attention to the 
carboniferous rocks, and particularly to the 
coal measures. One of the important events 
of the meeting will be a joint discussion 
with the Botanical Section (K) on the con- 
ditions which existed during the growth of 
the forest which supplied the material for 
coal. This is set down for Monday, Sep- 
tember 10th, and the discussion will be 
opened on behalf of the geologists by Mr. 
A. Strahan, of her Majesty’s Geological 
Survey (who for some time past has been 
engaged in supervising the mapping of the 
coal fields of South Wales), and Mr. J. E. 
Marr, F.R.S., a past-president of the sec- 
tion. It is expected that several other 
prominent geologists who have devoted 
attention to the coal measures will take 
part in this discussion. The same rocks 
will form the subject of a paper by Mr. 
Walcot Gibson, of her Majesty’s Geo- 
logical Survey, who will deal with their 
rapid changes in thickness and charac- 
ter in the North Staffordshire coal field ; 
and Mr. W. Cash, of Halifax, will also 
contribute a paper on the Lower Coal 
Measures of the West Riding. The fos- 
sil fishes of the local carboniferous rocks 
will be discussed in two papers by Dr. 
E. D. Wellburn, and the report of the 
committee for investigating life-zones in our 
carboniferous rocks will be presented by the 
secretary, Dr. Wheelton Hind. Another 
topic of general as well as of local interest 
which will receive the attention of the 
section is the underground water system in 
the carboniferous limestone districts of the 
West Riding. The Association last year 
made a grant of £40 to assist in the inves- 
tigation of the underground course taken 
by streams which disappear into crevices 
of the limestone in the neighborhood of 
Ingleborough. By the free use of chem- 
icals the committee appointed to carry out 
this investigation has traced the under- 


Avaust 31, 1900. ] 


ground course of some of these waters to 
their issue in springs at lower levels, with 
unexpected results, which throw much 
light on the general question of the per- 
colation of waters through rock-fissures. 
The committee will present its report dur- 
ing the meeting, and excursions are being 
planned to visit the site of the experiments. 
As usual, glacial subjects will receive due 
attention, among the papers already prom- 
ised being one on the glaciation of the Aire 
Valley by Messrs. H. Muff and A. Jowett, 
while others are expected on the glacial 
phenomena of Snowdon and on a similar 
subject in parts of the East Riding of 
Yorkshire. Three of the reports of com- 
mittees of research will also afford scope 
for the discussion of glacial matters, viz: 
That on the erratic blocks of the British 
Isles, that on the conditions of occurrence 
of Irish elk-remains in the Isle of Man, and 
that on the Pleistocene deposits of Canada. 
The last mentioned, which is the final re- 
port of a committee appointed at the To- 
ronto meeting of the Association, is likely 
to receive particular attention, as it em- 
bodies strong evidence in favor of the 
much-disputed occurrence of an inter-gla- 
cial period. It is expected that Professor 
A. P. Coleman, of Toronto University, who 
has been most active in the last mentioned 
committee, will attend in person to read 
the report. The same gentleman will also 
read a paper on the recent discovery of a 
ferriferous horizon in the Huronian rocks 
in Ontario, north of Lake Superior—a dis- 
covery which may eventually prove of great 
economic consequence. Cave-exploration 
in Ireland and at Uphill, near Weston- 
super-Mare, will be reported on by two 
committees of the Association. A further 
contribution to our knowledge of the geol- 
ogy of Anglesey will be made by Mr. E. 
Greenley, and Mr. Vaughan Cornish will 
bring forward the new results of his study 
of ripple-marks. In short, all the indica- 


SCIENCE. 


337 


tions point to a profitable and enjoyable 
week for the geologists who visit Bradford. 

Dr. R. H. Traquair will be president of 
Section D (Zoology), with which, on this 
occasion, Physiology willbecombined. Dr. 
Traquair in his address, will deal with the 
‘ Bearing of Fossil Ichthyology on the Doc- 
trine of Descent.’ Major Ronald Ross will 
contribute a paper on ‘ Malaria and Mos- 
quitoes’;- Messrs Gamble and Keeble on 
‘The Color Physiology of certain Marine 
Crustacea’; Professor L. C. Miall on ‘The 
Respiration of Aquatic Insects.’ In addi- © 
tion there will be, as usual, a number of 
communications of a more special character 
in all branches of natural history, together 
with the reports of various committees on 
the results of exploration and research. 

Section E (Geography) will be presided 
over by Sir George Robertson, whose ad- 
dress will deal mainly with certain geo- 
graphical aspects of the British Empire. 
He is likely to have much to say on the im- 
portant element of distance and its diminu- 
tion by means of improved communications. 
This Section is likely to be as attractive as 
usual. Sir Thomas Holdich will deal with 
the important subject of railway connection 
between Europe and Asia. Captain Deasy, 
Captain E. 8. Grogan, and Mr. Borchgre- 
vinek will repeat the story of their various 
expeditions in Asia, Africa and the Antarc- 
tic. Mr. EH. G. Ravenstein and Mr. B. V. 
Darbishire are both to deal with the subject 
of colonial and foreign surveys. Mr. G. 
G. Chisholm has undertaken to deal with 
the important subject of the probable eco- 
nomic relations of Siberia and China. 
There will be one or two papers on the po- 
sition of geographical teaching in Bradford 
and the neighborhood. Dr. H. R. Mill 
will deal with the geography of South-West 
Sussex, and Mr. E. Heawood with the com- 
mercial resources of Africa. 

Section F (EKeonomie Science and Sta- 
tistics) will have as its president Major P. 


338 


G. Craigie, of the Department of Agricul- 
ture. In his address he will probably dwell 
on the care necessary for the properly scien- 
tific use of statistics and, above all, on the 
caution required in making international 
comparisons, illustrating his text, probably, 
with some of the better-proved figures which 
enable us to measure the development or 
retrogression of agriculture in different and 
typical countries. Doubtless owing to the 
fact of Major Craigie’s being president, Sec- 
tion F this year will receive an unusual 
number of contributions relating to the 
economics of agriculture. Professor James 
W. Robertson, Dairy Commissioner of the 
Agricultural Department of the Dominion 
of Canada, and Professor William Saunders, 
LL.D., director of the Dominion experi- 
mental farms, will read papers, and Mr. A. 
D. Hall, of the Agricultural College of Wye, 
will deal with the economic possibilities of 
the growth of sugar beet in England, while 
a committee of the Section will at length 
present their report on the effect on prices 
of options and dealings in futures. There 
will be, as usual,a day devoted to what are 
roughly described as municipal subjects, 
and here Mr. Auberon Herbert is expected 
to condemn root and branch all attempts of 
local authorities to provide houses. Sev- 
eral interesting papers will be forthcoming 
on miscellaneous subjects. Mr. L. L. Price 
will deal with some economic consequences 
of the South African war, and the Hon. W. 
P. Reeves, Agent-General for New Zealand, 
will contribute a paper on the somewhat 
novel subject of ‘The Colonies as Money- 
lenders.’ Dr. Marcus Rubin, chief of the 
Royal Statistical Bureau of Denmark, will 
discuss some recent movements of popula- 
tion. There will also be several papers on 
questions of labor and wages. The his- 
torical school will be represented by Dr. W. 
Cunningham, who contributes a paper on 
North American paper currencies during 
the colonial period. 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


Sir Alexander Binnie will preside over 
Section G (Mechanical Science), and his 
address will take the form of an inquiry 
into the steps by which we have arrived at 
our modern conception of nature, when re- 
viewed from a scientific standpoint. He 
will point out the reasons why the philoso- 
phers of Greece missed the true interpreta- 
tion of nature, and, passing on to the Roman 
period and the dark ages, will show how 
there has gradually grown up the concep- 
tion with which we are all so well ac- 
quainted and with which before us, when 
studying natural phenomena, the mind is 
freed from all preconceived notions derived 
from other realms of study. The address 
will be illustrated by a chronological chart 
likely to prove useful to all scientific men. 
It extends from 1550 to the present time, 
and includes, collated with the births and 
deaths of the many distinguished men to 
whom we are indebted, the principal his- 
torical, scientific, and other data which mark 
the various periods, as well as the dates of 
discoveries and of publications bearing upon 
the subject. There is, as usual, a large 
number of papers down for reading in this 
Section. We can only refer to the more im- 
portant. The very fine waterworks belong- 
ing to Bradford will be described, on Thurs- 
day, by Mr. Watson, a local engineer. On 
Friday the papers will be mainly devoted 
to civil engineering. Professor Hele Shaw 
proposes to collect together, in his paper 
on ‘Resistance on Roads,’ all the known 
data on frictional resistance on common 
roads, and will, it is believed, strongly 
advocate the appointment of a committee 
of the Association to carry on some fur- 
ther experiments on rolling friction on 
common roads. The immediate value of 
the paper by Mr. J. H. Glass, on ‘ Pro- 
posed Railway Construction in China,’ is 
likely to be lessened by the terrible events 
which have happened there since his paper 
was promised. His plan is to describe the 


Avaust 31, 1900. ] 


great trunk line which it was intended to 
construct in Southern and Central China, 
and to give some account of the immense 
mineral wealth which lies there almost un- 
developed. The paper will be illustrated 
by many beautiful lantern slides reproduced 
from photographs. For Saturday there are 
down two papers, dealing with the great 
staple industry of Bradford and Yorkshire 
—textile manufacture. They will describe 
the more modern methods of mechanical 


and photo-mechanical designing for textile 


fabrics, and will be read by Professor 
Beaumont and Mr. Barker, who are both 
engaged locally in the technical teaching 
of textile work. Monday, as usual, will 
be given up to the electrical engineers. 
First on the program for the day comes 
the reading of the final report of the 
Small Screw Gauge Committee, which has 
now practically decided which form of 
thread it will advocate. Mr. A. Mallock 
will then deliver a paper paper on ‘ Resis- 
tance and Acceleration of Trains—Meas- 
urement of the Tractive Force,’ in which 
' he proposes to give an account of the recent 
experiments made by him on electric and 
other railways to determine the accelera- 
tion, the tractive force, and the running 
resistance to which trains are subjected. 
This will be followed by some interesting 
particulars about the ‘ Liverpool and Man- 
chester Electric High Speed Railway,’ 
contributed by Sir William Preece. Mr. 
Gibbings will deal with ‘The Design and 
Location of Electric Generating Stations ’ 
on a large scale for supplying electric power 
and lighting to large districts, and Mr. 
Barker will describe ‘A Maximum Demand 
Meter,’ the joint invention of himself and 
Professor Ewing. Tuesday, the last day 
on which the section meets, will begin with 
a paper by Mr. J. G. W. Aldridge, entitled 
‘The Automobile for Electric Street Trac- 
tion.’ Itis hoped that the cinematograph 
will be used—for the first time, it is be- 


SCLENCE. 


339 


lieved, at a British Association meeting— 
to illustrate this paper, which will deal 
with an actual service in operation in 
Paris, and will show how, under certain 
conditions, a tramway service may be or- 
ganized without the usual tramway lines. 
Professor Goodman will describe ‘A New 
Form of Corimeter for measuring the Wet- 
ness of Steam,’ which he has himself in- 
vented. Two other papers are of consider- 
able importance. In the first, Professor 
Arnold of Sheffield, will deal with what he 
terms ‘the internal architecture of steel,’ 
and will develop his theories on the ulti- 
mate molecular structure of steel and the 
micrographic analysis of steel in physical 
researches. The second, by Mr. EH. K. 
Clark, of the firm of Messrs. Kitson & 
Co., will deal, under the title of ‘Shop 
Buildings,’ with modern engineering, work- 
shop buildings, and methods of laying them 
out and organizing the work in them. 
Professor John Rhys, who will preside 
over Section H (Anthropology), will prob- 
ably deal in his address with the early 
ethnology of the British Isles, approaching 
the subject from the sides of language and 
folklore. Itis hoped that other contribu- 
tions to this subject, which are anticipated, 
may give opportunities of discussing some 
of the vexed questions which it includes. 
A discussion is also proposed on the subject 
of ‘Animal-cults: their Relation to Totem- 
ism,’ which has been variously interpreted of 
late years ; and on the present state of our 
knowledge of the origin of writing in the 
Mediterranean. Mr. Arthur Evans will 
describe the pictographic system of writing 
of which he has disinterred numerous 
specimens at Knossos in Crete; and Mr. F. 
Griffith offers a paper on the development 
of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Dr. Haddon 
will describe the results of the recent Cam- 
bridge expedition to Sarawak; and Mr. 
David Boyle, of Toronto, has a paper on 
recent revivals of native religious beliefs 


340 


among the aboriginal tribes of Canada. 
Professor Cunningham, Dr. Beddoe and 
Professor A. F. Dixon send papers dealing 
with questions of anthropometry, 

Professor Sydney H. Vines will preside 
over the Botanical Section (J). His ad- 
dress will deal with Botany in the 19th 
century, and will be a review of the more 
important advances made in the different 
departments of the science. As has already 
been stated, this Section will have a joint 
discussion with the Geological Section on 
the Coal Period Vegetation. A museum is 
being arranged to illustrate the Yorkshire 
Coal Measure Flora, etc., in connection with 
the discussion. Mr. Perey Groom, of Coop- 
ers Hill Engineering College, is to deliver a 
semi-popular lecture before the Section en- 
titled ‘ Plant-form in Relation to Nutrition.’ 
There will also be papers on Fossil Plants, 
Plant Anatomy, Plant Physiology, ete. 

The Friday evening discourse will be de- 
livered by Professor Gotch, the subject be- 
ing Animal Electricity, while that on Mon- 
day evening will be by Professor W. Stroud, 
whose subject will be ‘Range Finders.’ 
Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson will give 
the lecture to the operative classes on Sat- 
urday, and will take as his subject ‘ Elec- 
tricity in the Industries.’ 


VARIATION AMONG HYDROMEDUSZ.* 

THE announcement of Bateson in his 
‘ Materials for the Study of Variation ’ that 
medusz best illustrated the principle which 
he designated as ‘ Discontinuity of Meristic 
Variation’ led me, in connection with re- 
searches which have been under way for sev- 
eral years, to note more specially any indica- 
tions which might either confirm or discredit 
this statement. Accordingly I have from 
time to time made such collections of the 
Hydromeduse as might afford a means of 
testing the matter. While as yet these 


* Abstract of a paper presented before the Section 
of Zoology of the American Association. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 296. 


have not been extensive, except in a few 
genera, they seem to be sufficient to war- 
rant a brief summary of facts bearing upon 
the general problem of variation. The 
collections have been chiefly of the follow- 
ing genera: Hucope, Obelia, Margelis, Pen- 
naria and Gonionemus. 

The facts exhibited by Hucope have re- 
cently been published by Agassiz and Wood- 
worth, and while I have made observations 
upon those which I had collected in larger 
numbers than any other, they are yet so 
similar to those made by these observers that 
I shall make no particular reference to them 
at this time. Of the species of Obelia and 
Margelis I have as yet had no opportunity 
for extended study. Facts presented here 
will have reference only to the species of 
Pennaria and Gonionemus. 

Of Pennaria the meduse are very small 
and of a shape which renders rather diffi- 
cult an examination of the radial canals, a 
feature which, in my observations, has been 
among the most variable of structural char- 
acters. From the examination of only 
about a hundred specimens I have found 
no marked variation of this feature except 
in the direction of atrophy. The medusa 
of Pennaria seems to be in a somewhat 
degenerate condition. In many specimens 
the marginal canal is wholly atrophied and 
in some cases also the radials, to a greater 
or less extent. I have elsewhere* pointed 
out that in many cases the medusee of this 
species never become free, but discharge the 
generative products while remaining con- 
nected with the polyp. Another feature 
which may prove to be a variation is the 
appearance of small wart-like or vesicu- 
lar protuberances at various points of the 
exumbrella. Agassiz,inthe North American 
Acalephe, refers to a similar feature but ex- 
plains it as probably due to the distortion 
caused by ova in the subumbrellar cavity. 
This, however, I am strongly convinced is 

*Am. Nat., May, 1900. 


Aueust 31, 1900. ] 


a mistaken view, for the vesicles remain 
after the eggs have been discharged, and 
are quite as prominent in preserved speci- 
mens as in those alive and bearing eggs. 
As to variation in tentacles there seems to 
have been little. These organs are so rud- 
imentary that detection of variations in 
them would be extremely difficult. 

Upon the whole this species seems to be 
fairly constant in general structural fea- 
tures and only in the deeper and micro- 
scopic aspects are signs of degenerative vari- 
ation specially apparent. The variation in 
physiological habits to which reference has 
been made are, however, very marked and 
of quite as much significance as are those 
more conspicuous morphological features 
usually cited. I would offer this suggestion 
that in those cases in which the medusz 
perish early after discharging the ova, and 
specially those which do not become free 
at all, there may be some correlation be- 
tween the atrophy of the chymiferous 
eanals and this shortlived condition. 

It is among the species of Gonionemus 
that I have discovered the most notable 
and numerous variations. Of these more 
than five hundred specimens were exam- 
ined, all of which were taken at Woods 
Holl during the summers of 1897-99. At- 
tention was directed chiefly to a study of the 
gonads, radial canals and tentacles. Of the 
specimens examined only fifteen showed ab- 
normal or unusual genital features. In five 
specimens the gonads were atrophied upon 
one of the radial canals and equally devel- 
oped upon the others. One specimen showed 
the gonads developed only upon one of the 
canals. Six specimens showed no trace 
whatever of gonads though they were of 
full size and normal in every other respect. 
Another specimen showed only traces of 
gonads as two small knobs near the bases 
of two approximate canals. 

There was considerable variation in both 
the number and arrangement of tentacles. 


SCIENCE. 


341 


In reference to variation with age it was 
found that on the smallest specimen ex- 
amined measuring two mm. in diameter the 
tentacles were twenty-nine, while on the 
largest 19 mm. in diameter there were 68 
tentacles. The number, however, was not 
always proportional to the size. For ex- 
ample, one specimen of 4 mm. diameter had 
39 tentacles, while another of 6 mm. had 
but 30; the largest referred to above had 
68, while a specimen but 14 mm. in di- 
ameter had 71, and two others of 15 and 16 
mm. had 72 each. In only 11 of the 500 
specimens were the number of tentacles be- 
tween each radical canal equal and sym- 
metrical. In the order of appearance of 
new tentacles there did not seem to be any 
definite regularity. For example the fol- 
lowing from many observations may reveal 
this more clearly : 

(@Q) Ble OS, PL aire, @) Weal, Sell, 
7-1, 3-1, ete. (8) 11-1, 11-1, 11-1, ete. 
In each case the 1 indicating the new 
tentacle. 

In only a single specimen was there 
found any bifurcation of the tentacles which 
was sO conspicuous a feature in Hucope. 
In this specimen there were two tentacles 
arising from a single sensory bulb and two 
others showed bifurcation, one near the tip, 
the other near the base. 

In the number and character of the rad- 
ial canals there was the most marked exhi- 
bition of variation. In number the varia- 
tion was from two to six. Of the minimal 
number, two, only a single specimen was 
found, but it was in every way normal 
other than this, and the correlated fact 
that there were but two gonads. These 
canals were continuous and divided the 
body into halves. 

Of specimens with six canals several 
were found, some of which clearly showed 
the canals converging symmetrically to the 
gastric pouch, but in a few cases the extra 
two canals were found to result from an 


342 


apparent bifurcation of two of the primary 
canals at distances varying from a fourth 
to three-fourths of the distance toward the 
margins. 

Several specimens were likewise found 
with five canals. Indeed, this was a not 
uncommon feature and the medusa was di- 
vided into a regular pentamerous form, 
quite similar to reports made by several 
observers of pentamerous Aurelias. 

Of those with three canals several varie- 
ties were found, those with three symmet- 
rical canals dividing the bell into thirds, or 
making a trimerous form, the canals being 
at angles of 120 degrees. In other cases 
the one-half of the bell was equally di- 
vided by the third canal into quadrants 
while the other half remained undivided, 
showing that in this case there had been 
the total suppression of one of the canals. 

In a few cases a sort of aboral circular 
canal was present, the radials instead of 
entering directly into the gastric pouch en- 
tered a circular canal which surrounded it. 
Of these there were several forms which 
only diagrams can make clear. 

In conclusion it may be suggested that 
there was an apparent absence of any cor- 
relation of variation and also of any ‘ mer- 


istic ’ feature. 
CHARLES W. Hareitt. 
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY. 


LATERAL LINE ORGANS IN EUNICE 4URIC- 
ULATA n. sp. 

In a hitherto undescribed species of 
Eunice, to which I have given the above 
specific name, occurs a lateral line organ 
which, so far as I can learn, has not pre- 
viously been discovered in this family. The 
specimens were collected in Porto Rico by 
the U. 8. Fish Commission Steamer Fish 
Hawk during the winter of 1898-99. 

The parapodium, as is characteristic of 
this genus, is uniramous, only the notopo- 
dium remaining, not, Fig. 1. Dorsally this 


- SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


carries a long cirrus d.c.,and a gill gill at- 
tached to this cirrus. These gills are ab- 
sent from the most anterior segments and 
appear first on the parapodia of the 19th 
segment. The parapodium carries a single 


Fie. 1. 


stout, straight, aciculum, with several 
smaller ones, toothed at the ends, and 
crossing the first at an angle. A dorsal 
and a ventral bundle of fine sete are pres- 
ent. Anteriorly there is a thick ventral 
cirrus, which is much smaller toward the 
posterior end of the body (not shown in 
the figure.) A bundle of fine sets extends 
into the dorsal cirrus. 

The organ in question is situated on the 
outer side of the base of the dorsal cirrus, 
s.org., Fig. 1. It appears on the first segment 
as a slight swelling, which becomes more 


and more prominent posteriorly, until it 
reaches the condition shown in fig. 1. It 
is a rounded, smooth projection, slightly 


Avcust 31, 1900.] 


constricted at the base, and in preserved 
material, showing no trace of pigment. 

Examination of stained specimens shows 
that they apparently have the structure of 
the lateral line organs described by Hisig 
for the Capitellide.* There is the same 
arrangement of the nuclei, and the same 
radiations extending from the center toward 
the periphery (Fig. 2). No trace of cilia 
could be seen on preserved material, and 
the organ is apparently not capable of re- 
traction into special sacks in the body wall. 
The cuticle, also, is relatively more thick- 
ened on the outside of the organ than is 
represented by Hisig’s figures. 

I am unable to give any details of the 
finer anatomy of these organs. The ma- 
terial at my disposal is not well enough 
preserved for histological study, and macer- 
ations and sections have thus far yielded 
no results. My only excuse for presenting 
this incomplete note is that while it is de- 
sirable that the existence of the organ in 
the group should be noted, there seems no 
probability of securing more favorable ma- 
terial. 

Aaron L. TREADWELL. 


MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, 
Woops Hou, Aug. 10, 1900. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

An Outline of the Theory of Thermodynamics. By 
EDGAR BUCKINGHAM, PH.D. (Leipzig), As- 
sociate Professor of Physics and Physical 
Chemistry in Bryn Mawr College. New 
York, The Macmillan Co.; London, Macmil- 
lan and Co., Limited. 1900. 14x22 cm. 
Pp. xi + 205. 

In the preface of this newest book on thermo- 
dynamic theory, the author states his aim in 
the following words: ‘‘ In the course of study- 
ing thermodynamics IJ have found a considerable 
gap between the text-books available and the 
modern memoirs. This yolume has been writ- 
ten to spare other students some of the time 
which I have had to spend in bridging over the 


* ‘Fauna und Flora Golfes v. Neapel’ 16, p. 76, et seq. 


SCLENCE. 


343 


gap for myself. As the title indicates, it is not 
a book of applications, but a brief outline of 
the theory, the applications having been selec- 
ted solely with a view to their illustrative 
value.’? The book is evidently intended for 
the beginning student. 

The treatment begins with the necessary in- 
troductory concepts, then takes up successively 
the first and the second laws of thermodynam- 
ics, and concludes with a discussion of the cri- 
teria of thermodynamic equilibrium, and of the 
phase rule. 

Under the first of these general heads appears 
a lucid and brief chapter on thermometry, an 
elaborate analysis of the idea of a quantity of 
heat, and the statement that only systems that 
have equations of equilibrium are to be con- 
sidered. It is notemphasized, as it might well 
have been, that a quantity of heat is a purely 
auxiliary quantity, a convenient but wholly 
arbitrary mathematical fiction. In connection 
with the first law of thermodynamics, we find 
a simple discussion of the law, an exposition of 
the law of constant heat sums and of the rela- 
tion between heat of reaction and temperature, 
and astudy of specific heats. A recapitulation 
at this point completes the first half of the book. 

Passing to the second law of thermodynamics, 
we are introduced to: reversible processes and 
Carnot’s theorem; the ideas of absolute tem- 
perature and of entropy, derived from the prop- 
erties of ideal gases ; the combination of the two 
laws, to yield the differential of the energy of a 
system; and Gibbs’s fundamental equations, 
which result from changing the independent 
variables. This part of the book is completed 
by an admirably clear and consistent account 
of the theory of the porous-plug experiment, 
and a number of simple illustrative applications 
of the general theory. The final three chapters 
are devoted mainly to the criteria of thermody- 
namic equilibrium, and to the phase rule as ap- 
plied to systems in which no chemical combina- 
tion occurs. It is not made clear here that the 
criteria of equilibrium are consequences of the 
inductively reached principle of the spontaneous 
dissipation of work availability. 

In all this, Professor Buckingham has done 
pretty satisfactorily what hesetouttodo. The 
subject-matter is well arranged ; the book is 


344 


brief, as it should be for the beginner; and the 
details of the treatment have been carefully 
thought out and clearly written. The result is 
probably as satisfactory a student’s text as we 
have. 

But a general comment in conclusion seems 
to be called for. Many people like to have 
their thermodynamics developed as a sort of 
sub-topic of the theory of ideal gases. They 
appear to think it suitable that one of the most 
beautiful and wide-reaching branches of phys- 
ical theory should be developed largely from the 
properties of bodies that exist only in the imag- 
ination. In the reviewer’s opinion, this pro- 
cedure is neither necessary nor wise. There 
are two ways in which an exposition of theo- 
retical thermodynamics can be written. One 
can reach the absolute temperature and the 
entropy from the properties of ideal gases, as 
Professor Buckingham has done; or he can 
arrive at these functions from fundamental 
physical postulates. The latter method reaches 
true results from true premises; while the 
former jumps to true results from untrue prem- 
ises. The latter method, properly worked out, 
is fully as easy of comprehension as the former ; 
and it gives a broader view: for it parallelizes 
the thermodynamic temperature with other po- 
tentials, and the entropy with other quantity- 
co-ordinates; and it brings out the distinction 
between forces and potentials, and between 
spaces and quantity-co-ordinates. As a plain 
matter of fact, the theory of thermodynamics of 
the present day is a symmetrical mathematical 
analysis of the general problem presented by a 
small number of inductively established pos- 
tulates; and, in consequence, it cannot be 
grasped until it is comprehended as a logical 
system of mathematically developed theory. 

J. E. TREVOR. 


Microorganisms and Fermentation. Ry ALFRED 
JORGENSEN. Third edition. Translated by 
ALEX. K. MILLER and A. E. LENNHOLZ. 
The Macmillan Co. Pp. 318. 

A practical knowledge of the phenomena of 
fermentation has been possessed by man from 
time immemorable. Until the present century, 
however, this knowledge has been purely an 
empirical one, the real cause of the phenomenon 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 296. 


not being suspected. The present century has 
seen the development of the subject from a 
scientific standpoint, until to-day our knowledge 
of the process of fermentation is thoroughly 
systematic and based upon accurate experimen- 
tation. The development of our present knowl- 
edge upon the subject is properly divided into 
three periods. The first was that of the indefi- 
nite work of the early decades of the century, 
when Schwann and others were demonstrating 
that fermentative processes were closely related 
to the life activity of microérganisms. The 
second period was dominated by the revolu- 
tionary work of Pasteur. Under his influence 
not only wasit demonstrated that fermentations 
were caused by microorganisms, but various 
types of fermentation were recognized and 
found to be produced by different species of 
microorganisms. Under Pasteur’s influence the 
microscope came to be an aid to the fermenta- 
tive industries and many a valuable practical 
method was suggested and applied to the fer- 
mentative processes. The third period has been 
the most fruitful in results and in many respects 
the most important. This period has been 
dominated by Hansen, of Copenhagen. So 
valuable has the work of Hansen been to the 
brewing industry that a large brewery of Copen- 
hagen has erected for his use one of the best 
equipped laboratories in Europe, designed both 
for practical experiments and for pure scientific 
investigation. This third period of discovery 
has been dominated by the invention of methods 
of procuring absolutely pure cultures of yeasts. 
There is no one better able to write an ac- 
count of the relation of microorganisms to fer- 
mentation than the author of this work, who 
lives in close relation to Professor Hansen, and 
if his presentation of the subject is possibly 
unduly influenced by Hansen’s work it is 
not to be wondered at. The fact is that the 
whole subject of fermentation has been entirely 
changed in the last two decades as a result of 
the study of the strictly pure cultures obtained 
by Hansen’s methods. The earlier theories of 
fermentation have given place to the theory 
that fermentations are the results of enzymes 
produced by microérganisms. The knowledge 
of the yeast organism has been completely 
changed as the result of the study of pure cul- 


Avaust 31, 1900.] 


tures. The few species known to Pasteur have 
become many and distinct in the hands of mod- 
ern students. The diseases peculiar to fermen- 
tated products, attributed by Pasteur to bac- 
teria, have been found to be frequently due to 
yeasts which are present as impurities, and the 
whole method of conducting fermentations in 
the great breweries has been modified in con- 
sequence. All these facts are brought out in 
more or less detail in this work of Jorgensen, 
who shows on every page of his writing a 
knowledge of the facts at first hand. 

The whole work is not confined to the fer- 
mentations produced by yeasts. The growing 
knowledge of the significance of bacteria in fer- 
mentations has demanded attention, and the 
more important species of moulds are not over- 
looked. The treatment of this side of the sub- 
ject is much less satisfactory than the study of 
yeasts. In his discussion of the butyric fer- 
mentation, the lactic fermentation and other 
strictly bacteriological phenomena Professor 
Jorgensen is evidently not so much at home as 
when he is writing of yeasts. 

The most valuable part of the work is, there- 
fore, the review of our present knowledge of 
yeasts. He describes the methods of studying 
air and water; the most recent methods of 
obtaining absolutely pure cultures of yeasts, 
the methods of cultivating them and experi- 
menting with them. A considerable part of 
the work is taken up by a description and by 
figures of the many species of yeasts which have 
been differentiated from each other by modern 
study. Their methods of forming spores, of 
germinating, of forming films, and, in short, all 
of the characters of yeasts which are used to- 
day by the specialists in describing yeasts are 
carefully and fully discussed. Asa morpholog- 
ical and physiological study of this extremely 
important group of plants the present work is 
complete and unequaled. Certainly there is 
no work in English that contains such a com- 
prehensive account of the modern knowledge of 
yeasts and their relation to fermentation. 

The name of The Macmillan Company on the 
title page is a sufficient guarantee of the excel- 
lence of the press work, as the name of the au- 
thor is a guarantee for its scientific accuracy. It 
seems strange, however, that the author, the 


SCIENCE. 


345 


translators and the publishers should have al- 
lowed such a book to be published without an 
index. A book of this sort may perhaps be de- 
signed for consecutive reading, but it will be 
much more commonly used as a book of refer- 
ence. Asa book of reference its value would 
be doubled by the presence of a good index. 
No excuse can be given in these days of many 
books for omitting such an indispensable part 
as an index. The lack of the index is in part 
made up by a magnificent bibliography con- 
taining references to all the important works 
bearing directly or indirectly upon the problems 
of fermentation. This will be to the student 
perhaps the most useful part of the whole work. 
H. W. C. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Air, Water and Food from a Sanitary Standpoint. EL- 
LEN H. RICHARDS and ALPHEUS G. WOODMAN. 
New York, John Wiley & Sons ; London, Chap- 
man and Hall, Limited. 1900. Pp. iv+ 226. 
$2.00. 


Prehistoric Implements. WARREN K. MOOREHEAD. 


Cincinnati, The Robert Clarke Co. 1900. Pp. 
xv + 429. 
Die Chemie in tdglichen Leben. LASSAR-COHN. 


Fourth edition. Hamburg and Leipzig, Leopold 
Voss. 1900. Pp. viii 320. 4 Mark. 

A Brief Course in General Physics, Experimental and 
Applied. GEORGE A. HOADLEY. New York, The 
American Book Company. 1900. Pp. 463. $1.20. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The Journal of Physical Chemistry, April. ‘A 
Preliminary Investigation of the Conditions 
which determine the Stability of Irreversible 
Hydrosols,’ by W. B. Hardy; ‘On the Mech- 
anism of Gelation in Irreversible Systems,’ by 
W. B. Hardy ; ‘Isohydric Solutions,’ by W. D. 
Bancroft ; ‘ Vapor-pressure Relations in Mix- 
tures of Two Liquids,’ by A. BE. Taylor; ‘In 
Reply to a Statement made by Dr. R. Cohen in 
a Paper on the Theory of the Transition Cell of 
the Third Kind,’ by H. T. Barnes. 

May. ‘On the Weston Cell as a Transition 
Cell and as a Standard of Electromotive Force, 
with a Determination of the Ratio to the Clark 
Cell,’ by H. T. Barnes; ‘On the Electrolytic 
Deposition of Metals from Non-Aqueous Solu- 


346 


tions,’ by Louis Kahlenberg—Faraday’s law 
was found to hold approximately in such solu- 
tions; ‘ Vapor-pressure Relations in Mixtures 
of Two Liquids, II,’ by A. E. Taylor; ‘On the 
Determination of Transition Temperatures,’ by 
H. M. Dawson and P. Williams ; ‘The Driving 
Tendency of Physico-Chemical Reaction, and 
its Temperature Coefficient,’ by T. W. Rich- 
ards. 

June. ‘The Allotropic Forms of Selenium,’ 
by A. P. Saunders—an exhaustive contribution 
to an illy investigated subject. The author 
finds that selenium exists in three distinct 
forms : 

1. Liquid (including vitreous, amorphous, 
and soluble selenium). 

2. Crystalline red (including perhaps two 
closely allied forms). 

3. Crystalline gray or metallic. 

‘An Exposition of the Entropy Theory,’ by J. 
K. Trevor; ‘Entropy and Heat-Capacity,’ by 
J. E. Trevor; ‘The Relation of the Taste of 
Acid Salts to their Degree of Dissociation, IT,’ 
by Louis Kahlenberg—showing that the theory 
of electrolytic dissociation does not satisfactorily 
account for the phenomena connected with the 
sour taste of acid salts of weak acids. A re- 
joinder to the work of T. W. Richards and of 
A. A. Noyes. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


EMINENT AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In SCIENCE of 
August 17th I notice the names of about twenty 
eminent Americans proposed as suitable to be 
engraved in the Hallof Fame of the New York 
University and also your question as to how 
many men of science should be included, and 
who they should be. In response to the query 
I beg respectfully to suggest the following 
names: Professor O. C. Marsh, Professor E. 
D. Cope, Dr. James Hall, Dr. D. G. Brinton, 
Professor J. D. Dana, Professor Newberry, Pro- 
fessor Orton, and Professor Alexander Win- 
chell, in addition to those already mentioned. 
I do not see how these eight names could 
be omitted from such a list, nor do I see how 
the names of Henry, Silliman, Torrey, Gray, 
Hitchcock, and Baird could be left out. I 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 296, 


should think that at least thirty men of science 
should be included among the one hundred. 
HENRY MONTGOMERY. 
TRINITY UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, 
August 20, 1900. 


INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ATOMIC 
WEIGHTS. 

ScrencE for August 17th contained a resumé 
of the report of the committee of the German 
Chemical Society, giving the views of the In- 
ternational Commission on, Atomic Weights. 
On the chief point at issue, the selection of a 
standard for atomic weights, with the exception 
of six German members and one American 
(Professor Mallet), the commission was unan- 
imous for oxygen=16. This point, at least, 
would have seemed settled, but the German 
minority have in the last Chemical News re- 
opened the question. The essence of their 
argument for H —1 is comprised in the follow- 
ing paragraph : 

‘For the teacher, simplicity and clearness of 
the foundation seem specially important; in- 
struction must suffer no harm with regard to 
the enlightening construction of the law of 
volumes, no shadow of doubt must penetrate 
the doctrine of valency. Regard for the un- 
derstanding of prospective chemists will com- 
pel us therefore, under all circumstances, in 
teaching and in our text-books, to retain Dal- 
ton’s numbers, and Professor F. W. Clarke, 
the worthy editor of the Annual Atomic Weight 
Tables of the American Chemical Society, au- 
thorizes us to say that he recommends the re- 
taining of the standard H=1. For if numbers 
were used in practice which were unsuitable to 
use in teaching, confusion would be the natural 


consequence, instead of the unanimity desired 
by all.”’ 


The German minority therefore calls upon 
all teachers of chemistry in universities and 
technical high schools to take a definite posi- 
tion in regard to this matter, and to send their 
answers to the subjoined questions to Professor 
J. Volhard, Halle-a-S., Mihlpforte 1, at their 
earliest convenience. The editor of the Chem- 
ical News also desires to publish copies of these 
replies. The questions are as follows: 

1. Shall the unity of hydrogen be retained 
as the standard for reckoning atomic weights ? 

2. Shall the atomic weights be given approx- 
imately with two decimal places in which the 


August 31, 1900.] 


uncertain figures can be recognized by the 
type? 

3. Shall the International Atomic Weight 
Commission have the current table of atomic 
weights edited on this basis? 

In comment it may be mentioned that not all 
teachers are troubled by using O—16 asa 
standard, and that there is a very large body 
of chemists outside the ranks of teachers, to 
whom this standard offers the decided advan- 
tage, that with this a large share of the more 
commonly used atomic weights approximate 
very closely to whole numbers. dq! We, Jel. 


PLANT EMBRYO-SACS. 

SomE recent studies by the writer on the 
young ovules of the lily-of-the-valley, pond- 
weed (Potamogeton), and the garden canna 
have shown a number of interesting features in 
connection with the development of the embryo- 
sac. The first division of the nucleus in the 
hypodermal cell is heterotypic, while the next 
two represent the ‘reducing division’; hence in 
these plants this cell strongly suggests the pol- 
len-mother-cell of the anther. Apparent reduc- 
tion takes place as usual just previous to the 
heterotypic division. The reduced number of 
chromosomes in the lily-of-the-valley was 
eighteen, in pond-weed about eight, while in 
canna it was only three, one of the smallest yet 
recorded for plants. In the lily-of-the-valley 
and pond-weed only the heterotypic division is 
followed by a cell wall, thus resulting in an 
‘axial row’ of two binucleated cells; in canna 
all three divisions produce transverse walls and 
the axial row is therefore four celled. In the 
first named plant both cells enter into the for- 
mation of the embryo-sac, in pond-weed the 
lower only, while in canna only the lowermost 
of the row of four. Therefore in lily-of-the- 
valley the embryo-sac contains all four nuclear 
elements from the mother cell as in Liliwm, in 
pond-weed only two, and in canna only one. 
Can the embryo-sacs in these cases be homolo- 
gous structures, and should a macrospore con- 
tain more than one of these nuclear elements ? 
In pond-weed a membraneous pouch formed 
around the egg-apparatus at a very early period 
seems to preclude entirely the fusion of polar 
nuclei to form the endosperm mother nucleus. 


SCIENCE. 


o47 


In this plant also the chromatin is aggregated 
into a central ball during the resting stage as 
in some animal tissue. Those interested in the 
details of the work may find a fuller account in 
the Botanical Gazette for July of this year. 

K. M. WIEGAND. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE monument of Lavoisier, erected by in- 
ternational subscription, was unveiled at Paris 
on July 27th. There were present the members 
of the fourth International Congress of Chem- 
istry and a large number of scientific and pub- 
lic men. M. Berthelot who was to have pre- 
sided was unable to be present on account of 
ill health, and his address was read by M. Dar- 
boux. The monument was presented to the city 
of Paris by. M. Moissan, to whom M. Leygues, 
the minister of public instruction, responded. 

FAIRMAN RoGERS, formerly professor of civil 
engineering in the University of Pennsylvania 
and one of the original members of the Na- 
tional Academy of Sciences, died in Vienna on 
August 21st. He was born in Philadelphia in 
1838, graduated from the University of Penn- 
sylvania and was professor of civil engineering 
in that institution from 1855 to 1870. From 
1853 to 1865 he was also lecturer on mechanics 
in the Franklin Institute. On retiring from 
the professorship in the University of Pennsyl- 
vania he became a trustee, and gave later to 
the institution his valuable collection of works 
on engineering. Mr. Rogers served as an en- 
gineering officer in the civil war and was con- 
nected with the Coast and Geodetic Survey. He 
was the auther of ‘The Magnetism of Iron 
Vessels’ and of numerous papers on scientific 
and engineering topics. Mr. Rogers was for- 
merly prominent in Philadelphia and New York 
society, but has latterly lived abroad. 

THE Paris ‘ Conference Scientia’ has given a 
banquet to Lord Lister and will later entertain 
in a similar manner Lord Kelvin. 

M. DuHeEm has been elected a correspondent 
of the Paris Academy for the section of me- 
chanics. 

Dr. AuGusT LEPPLA has been appointed 
State geologist and Dr. Oskar Zeise district 
geologist in the Geological Institute at Berlin. 


348 


Dr. Kart Sock, of the University of 
Tubingen, has been appointed assistant in the 
Meteorological Institute at Munich. 

CAPTAIN GEORGE ELDRIDGE, a hydrographer, 
died on August 23d at Chatham, Mass., aged 
72 years. He was the author of a book on the 
tides and completed valuable charts of the coast 
from Chesapeake Bay to Belle Isle. In later 
years he made charts of the waters along the 
coast as far south as Florida. 


Sir WILLIAM SToKEs, the eminent Irish sur- 
geon, died on August 19th at Durban, having 
gone to South Africa as consulting surgeon to 
the British forces. He was born in Dublin in 
1839, being the son of Dr. William Stokes, 
regius professor of medicine in the University 
of Dublin. 

THE death is announced of Dr. August v. 
Strombeck, the geologist, in Braunschweig, at 
the age of 92 years. 

A MONUMENT in honor of Pelletier and Cav- 
entou, the chemists, to whom the discovery of 
quinine is due, was unveiled at Paris on August 
7th. An address was made by M. Moissan, 
president of the committee, who presented the 
monument of the city of Paris and by other 
speakers. There were a large number of phar- 
macologists present, as the dedication occurred 
at the time of the meeting of the Ninth In- 
ternational Congress of Pharmacology. The 
statue is by the sculptor, M. Lormier, and is 
on the Boulevard Saint Michel. 

THE Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, 
Mass., is trying to raise $50,000 for an addition 
to the Museum building. Already over $26,000 
has been pledged for the purpose. 

Tue New York Botanical Gardens at Bronx 
Park have received a valuable collection of 
plants from Miss Helen Gould. 


More than 900 geologists have become mem- 
bers of the International Congress now meeting 
at Paris. It appears that four subjects will be 
brought forward for special discussion : interna- 
tional co-operation in geology, by Sir A. Geikie; 
the establishment of definite classifications, by 
T. C. Chamberlin; the publication of a petro- 
graphic lexicon by a committee on the subject, 
and the republication by photography of types 
of fossil species by Professors (Ehrert and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


Kilian. Over 400 geologists will take part in 
the twenty-five excursions that have been ar- 
ranged. A guide, 1000 pages in extent with 
numerous figures and plates, has been compiled 
by the leading French geologists. 


Dr. W. H. WILEY has sent a notice to the 
effect that in harmony with the vote of the 
executive committee, the seventeenth annual 
meeting of the Association of Official Agricul- 
tural Chemists will be held in Washington, 
D. C., beginning Friday, November 16th, and 
continuing over Saturday and Monday, 17th 
and 19th, or until the business of the Associ- 
ation is completed. The authorities of Co- 
lumbian University have extended the courtesy 
of the use of the University lecture hall for the 
various sessions. The following order of busi- 
ness will be observed : The president’s address ; 
reports of the referees in the following order : 
on nitrogen, on potash, on phosphoric acid, on 
soils, on ash, on foods and feeding stuffs, on 
liquor and food adulteration, on dairy prod- 
ucts, on sugar, on tannin, on insecticides; 
reports of special committees (abstract com- 
mittee, food standards, fertilizer legislation, 
volumetric standards). 


A socIETy with 400 members has been or- 
ganized in Switzerland to study questions of 
school hygiene. Its first meeting has been 
held recently in Zurich under the presidency 
of Dr. Schmid, director of public hygiene. 
The next meeting will be at Lausanne. 


THE Electrical World reports that a confer- 
ence in New Haven has been called by Mayor 
Cornelius T. Driscoll, and Director Alexander 
Troup, of the Department of Public Works, in 
order to devise means of saving the old elms of 
the city. The prolonged drought has accen- 
tuated the evidences of general decay, and the 
city government has at last awakened to the 
necessity of action. The State Agricultural 
Experiment Station has for several weeks been 
at work on the matter. An expert from there, 
Dr. A. B. Jenkins, will, at a general conference 
of citizens, to be held shortly, give the result 
of his observations. ‘The officers of the street 
Electric Railroads, Electric Light Company and 
the Gas Distributing Company, have been in- 
vited as a body, and personal letters to leading 


Aveust 31, 1900.] 


citizens have gone out from the mayor’s office 
asking them to be present. Is it permanent 
pavements, or leakage from gas mains, or in- 
duction currents from the trolley wires, or the 
elm-tree beetle that killed the elms? these are 
the propositions to be discussed. In view of the 
fact that one-third of the elms on the Central 
Green are dead or dying, the matter is of great 
importance. 

THE San José scale has appeared in Brooklyn 
in many places, and it is feared that the insects 
may do much damage to fruit and shade trees. 


THE three surviving buffaloes of the Chey- 
enne River herd have been sent to Chicago, 
where they will be sold and perhaps slaught- 
ered. It will be remembered that an attempt 
was made to continue the herd at Pierre, S. D.., 
but without success. 


THE government of Chile has assigned a sum 
of $20,000 to the president of the National So- 
ciety of Agriculture to enable him to purchase 
agricultural machinery in foreign markets and 
sell it at cost price to members of the Society. 


A REUTER telegram from Liverpool says: 
The second malarial expedition of the Liver- 
pool School of Tropical Medicine has just wired 
home from Bonny, in Nigeria, news of a most 
important discovery, viz, that the parasite 
which causes elephantiasis has, like that which 
causes malaria, been found in the proboscis of 
the mosquito. Oddly enough, the same dis- 
covery has just been simultaneously made by 
Dr. Low in England in mosquitoes brought 
from Australia, and by Captain James in India. 
Hlephantiasis is a disease which causes hideous 
deformity in thousands, or rather millions, of 
natives in tropical countries, and sometimes in 
European residents. It is due to a small worm 
which lives in the lymphatic vessels and oc- 
cludes them. The fact that this worm can live 
also in the mosquito has long been known, but 
the discovery of it in the insect’s proboscis 
shows that it enters the human body by the 
bites of these pests. Huropeans in the tropics 
are indebted to mosquitoes not only for much 
discomfort but for two dreadful maladies— 
malaria and elephantiasis; and it is high time 
that the authorities should begin seriously to 
‘ consider Major Ross’s advice to destroy these 


SCIENCE. 


349 


insects or their breeding-places wherever prac- 
ticable. 


DuRING the present summer Professor F. E. 
Nipher, of Washington University, has been 
working on his methods of developing positive 
photographs in the light. The work has been 
done in the rooms of Professor Calvin. He 
finds that as the camera exposure is made 
shorter, the developing band must be more 
strongly illuminated. He is now developing 
clear pictures, with no trace of fog when the 
bath is placed in the direct sunlight, but cov- 
ered by transparent color screens. Good results 
have been obtained with ruby, and with pure 
yellow screens. The screens are made by fix- 
ing an unused photographic plate, and after 
drying the gelatin film, the plate is put ina 
water solution of red or yellow analine. 

Iris said that the returns of the census in- 
dicate a population of the United States of 
about 75,000,000. The cities already counted 
show the following results, the returns for this 
year being placed beside those of 1890, with 
the percentage of increase: 


Percentage 

Cities. 1900. 1890. increase 
Greater New York... 3,437,202 2,492,591 37.90 
Chicago ........... 1,698,575 1,099,850 54.44 
Philadelphia ....... 1,293,697 1,046,964 23.57 
Cleveland.......... 381,768 261,355 . 46.07 
Buffalo............ 352,219 255, 664 37.77 
Cincinnati. ........ 325, 902 296,908 9.77 
Milwaukee.,....... 285,315 204,486 39.54 
Washington........ 278,718 230,392 20.98 
Jersey City......... 206, 433 163,003 26.64 
Louisville.......... 204,731 161,129 27.06 
Minneapolis. ....... 202,718 164,738 23.05 
Providence. ........ 175,597 132,146 32.88 
Sis JPW ob oSwa dso 163,632 133,156 22.89 
Moledoveseyy-cieisitiers 131,822 81,434 61.88 
Columbus.......... 125,560 88,150 42.44 
OMe cobcoodddene 102,555 140,425 — 26.98 
Hoboken .......... 59,364 43,648 36.01 


THE fifth part of Professor William H. Dall’s 
important work on the Tertiary Fauna of Flor- 
ida, forming the fifth part of Vol. III. of the 
Transactions of the Wagner Free Institute of 
Science, will probably appear in September. 

Messrs. HENRY Hott & Co.’s preliminary 
fall announcement includes ‘An Agricultural 
Botany’ (theoretical and practical), by Professor 


390 


John Percival, of the Southeastern Agricultu- 
ral College of Wye, England, intended for 
practical farmers who have made no system- 
atic study of botany; ‘The Anatomy of the 
Cat,’ by Professor Jacob E. Reighard and Dr. 
Herbert S. Jennings, both of the University of 
Michigan ; ‘A Manual of the Flora of the 
Northern States and Canada,’ by Professor N. 
L. Britton, director of the New York Botanical 
Garden ; ‘Schenck and Gurber’s Human Phys- 
iology,’ translated by W. D. Zoethout, with a 
preface by Professor Jaques Loeb, of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago. Thesame publishers report that 
Professor James’s ‘Talks to Teachers on Psy- 
chology’ has gone to press for the eighth time. 


Av the anniversary meeting of the Royal 
Botanic Society, London, the chairman, in 
moving the adoption of the 61st annual report 
of the council, referred to the death of the 
Duke of Teck, who had been president of the 
Society for more than 30 years. The presidency 
had since been offered by the council to the 
Duke of York, who had been obliged to decline. 
It has been offered to the present Duke of Teck, 
who is now in South Africa. The report stated 
that the number of new Fellows and members 
elected during the year had been 203, and there 
was now a total of 2205 fellows and members, 
The Royal Botanic Gardens Club had pro- 
gressed in a very satisfactory manner, and the 
number of members was now 570. The School 
of Practical Gardening had been increased in 
number by the addition of ten more scholars 
from the London County Council Technical 
Education Board, and the Middlesex County 
Council had signified their intention of giving 
three scholarships. The Earl of Aberdeen and 
Viscount Curzon, M.P., were elected into the 
council. 


THE Annual Congress of the British Royal 
Institution of Public Health opened in Aber- 
deen on August 2d, with about 800 members in 
attendance. In the course of his presidential ad- 
dress, Lord Aberdeen reviewed the progress of 
sanitation, especially as represented by legisla- 
tion upon the subject. He remarked, according 
to the report in the London Times, that it was ex- 
actly 100 years ago since the first enactments 
were passed which could be described as the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von XII. No. 296. 


direct ancestry of modern sanitary legislation. 
The earlier Factory Acts, designed especially 
for the protection of the children, who were 
often herded together promiscuously within 
the actual factory buildings, might come under 
this category. Another kind of legislation 
which advanced concurrently took its origin in 
the necessity which had to be faced in crowded 
communities for an organized supply of water 
as distinguished from independent and casual 
pumps and wells. So, too, with sewerage. 
The measures dealing with these elementary 
needs were the parents of our local sanitary 
Acts as distinguished from the factory class of 
legislation which had throughout been adminis- 
tered under the authority of the Home Office. 
It would be difficult to over-estimate the im- 
portance of the new kind of administration as 
a whole, not merely in regard to its direct 
remedial operations, but as to its indirect and 
suggestive influence in education and enlight- 
enment as to health arrangements. There had 
been a great and growing advance in sanita- 
tion, but, reviewing the whole position, there 
was no cause for complacency. Contemplation 
of what had been accomplished, however, often 
in spite of prejudice and many obstacles, might 
assuredly give ground for encouragement and 
confidence as to future progress and attainment 
resulting from careful and persevering effort in 
dealing with the problems which still con- 
fronted sanitarians. Amongst these was over- 
crowding, and from every point of view—re- 
ligious, moral, and humanitarian—there was 
crying need for the alleviation of that evil. 
Happily, public attention was being increas- 
ingly drawn to the subject, and a certain amount 
of reform had been attempted, but they must 
feel that the subject had yet to be grappled 
with in all its complexity and magnitude. 
Another field of sanitary reform was in relation 
to consumption, regarding which they seemed 
to have reached an epochalstage. That it was 
a subject for prevention and control was a 
revelation, and the main course of action would 
have to be that of educative regulation. 

Ir is announced in the British Medical Jour- 
nal that the Liverpool School of Tropical Med- 
icine recently heard from the expedition it has 
sent to West Africa and America. Drs. Annett, 


Aveust 31, 1900.] 


Elliott and Dutton report from Bonny that 
they have visited Opobo, Slave, Trees, Bakana, 
Bugana, Degama, Abonnema and Egwanga. 
They intended to revisit the latter place to 
complete some experiments there initiated, and 
_ then proceed up the Niger as far as Lokoja. 
The expedition under Drs. Durham and Myer 
received a cordial welcome from the authorities 
at Washington and Baltimore, and at the special 
wish of Dr. Sternberg, Surgeon-General of the 
United States Army, has gone to Cuba with the 
American government expedition to study yel- 
low feverin Havana. The Brazilian govern- 
ment is preparing to receive the expedition at 
the end of this month. A letter has been re 
ceived at the Liverpool School of Tropical 
Medicine from Dr. J. Paes de Cavalho, Gover- 
nor of the State of Para, in reference to the 
expedition to study yellow fever. He writes: 
“¢ Appreciating the high and scientific value of 
the Liverpool School I hereby anticipate my 
thanks for the valuable services that scientific 
institution will render to Para, to Brazil, 
and, in fact, to humanity, thus contribu- 
ting to the study of a disease which, un- 
fortunately, has become endemic in some 
Brazilian ports, and every year destroys hun- 
dreds of precious existences, carrying discredit 
to our country and harming our progress. To 
such a mission I most gladly pledge this govern- 
ment’s assistance and co-operation, which I 
consider due to the noble intention of the said 
society. The State of Para will do its utmost 
to receive them with honor.’’ 

PrRoFEssoR E. Ray LANKESTER, director of 
the British Museum (Natural History), has 
addressed the following letter to the Times: 
Now that our army is guarding, for the most 
part peaceably, a line 1000 miles long from 
Cape Town to Pretoria, and that many of its 
members may be in want of occupation to fill 
their time, may I suggest that the opportunity 
might be taken to help our National Museum 
to obtain series of specimens illustrating the 
fauna and flora of the country? Even of the 
larger animals many of the commonest are 
still desiderata to our collections, while of the 
smaller things, from meerkats to mosquitoes, 
from squirrels and stoats to snakes and snails, 
there are none, however common locally, of 


SCIENCE. 


301 


which sets would not be of value and interest 
to our specific workers. It should be remem- 
bered that for the study of variation, individ- 
uals, seasonal and geographical, large series 
are wanted from as many different places as 
possible, so that no one, say, at Colesberg 
or De Aar, need think that his specimens 
will not be appreciated because some one else 
at Bloemfontein or Kroonstad is also sending 
specimens supposed to be of the same sort. 
Especially all the ‘ game’ animals are wanted, 
from antelopes to smaller buck of different 
sorts (steenbok, grysbok, etc.), hares, rock rab- 
bits, and other things that our ‘officers appear 
to be now frequently shooting. Also such ‘ ver- 
min’ as jackals, hyenas, monkeys, baboons, 
etc. Skins and skulls of all these, marked 
with locality, date, and a clear indication of 
which skull belongs to which skin, would be 
most acceptable. And the same with the 
smaller animals. I shall be glad to hear from 
persons of natural history tastes in South 
Africa (and, indeed, in any other part of the 
world where our countrymen may be), and to 
give them fuller particulars about any special 
branch of natural history to which they may be 
attracted. 


THE Englishman, of Calcutta, as quoted in 
the British Medical Journal, gives a summary 
of a resolution, extending over some 25 pages, 
which has been published in the Home De- 
partment on the chapters of the India Plague 
Commission dealing with the measures for the 
suppression of plague. Every aspect of the 
question is fully dealt with, and the main con- 
clusions appear to be as follows: The govern- 
ment of India thinks the obligations of private 
persons and medical practitioners to report 
cases of sickness can be relied on only in very 
exceptional circumstances, and that the house- 
to-house visitations are justifiable only when 
plague exists in small well-defined areas. The 
government agrees with a surveillance over 
persons arriving from infected areas, and be- 
lieves this means has been freely resorted to in 
rural areas, but does not favor the system of 
rewarding informers of plague cases. It pub- 
licly thanks the many volunteers who devoted 
themselves to the work of fighting the plague, 
and thinks the expense of special reporting 


302 


agencies are fully compensated for by their 
success. Much attention is devoted to the 
question of corpse inspection, but on a review 
of the whole case the government considers the 
compulsory examination of bodies a very un- 
popular measure and its object is likely to be 
defeated. With regard to the compulsory re- 
moval to hospitals the Governor-General ac- 
cepts the conclusion of the Commission, but 
desires that the removal should be compulsory 
only in places and under circumstances when 
it can be an effectual precaution. The re- 
moval of moribund patients is prohibited. 
Government agrees that the segregation of 
contacts should be abandoned as ineffective 
_ and harassing, except where special conditions 
are stated by the Commission to enable it to 
be carried out. The complete evacuation of 
villages and small towns when attacked is be- 
lieved to be the most effective safeguard against 
the spread of the disease yet discovered. The 
question of disinfection is dealt with at length, 
and Government considers the Commission’s 
advice generally excellent. Government and 
the Commission are in accord with the precau- 
tions taken regarding the annual pilgrimage to 
the Hedjaz, but the examination of the passen- 
gers from one infected port to another is now 
ordered to cease. With regard to the exam- 
ination of railway passengers, all local govern- 
ments are desired to report on the question of 
reducing the inspection stations, as from an 
economical point of view it is highly desirable 
now to maintain only those which are abso- 
lutely necessary ; and, acting on the advice of 
the Commission, all disinfection stations main- 
tained on the railways are ordered to be closed. 


ConsUL-GENERAL GUENTHER writes to the 
Department of State from Frankfort, July 24, 
1900: According to the Electro-Technical Gaz- 
ette, German electrical works show great in- 
crease. On March 1st last, there were in ope- 
ration 652 electrical works, against 489 the 
previous year. One hundred and twenty-two 
works were in progress of construction, of 
which 17 were to be ready for operation on 
July 1st. Twenty-seven were completed be- 
fore 1890; all the others were constructed 
within the last ten years. The number of 
places with electric light exceeds that of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 296. 


places illuminated by gas—900 against 850. 
The largest electrical plant is at Rheinfelden, 
with 12,360 kilowatts. Then follow one at 
Berlin, 9230 kilowatts; one at Hamburg, 
7290 kilowatts; one at Munich, 6110 kilo- 
watts; two others at Berlin of 5452 and 5312 
kilowatts, respectively; one at Strassburg, 
4955 kilowatts; two others at Berlin, of 4676 
and 4655 kilowatts, respectively ; one at Chor- 
zon, 4810 kilowatts; one at Frankfort, 4152 
kilowatts; one at Dresden, 3580 kilowatts; 
one at Stuttgart, 3208 kilowatts; and another 
at Hamburg, 3150 kilowatts. All the elec. 
trical works supplied last year 2,623,803 incan- 
descent lamps, 50,700 arc lamps, 106,368 horse- 
power for electromotors, ete. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

In the will of James F. Malcolm, a bequest 
of $10,000 to Rutgers College, is revoked by a 
codicil in which he says that his daughter will 
carry out his intentions as expressed by him to 
her prior to his death. 

THE will of the late Collis P. Huntington 
gives $100,000 to Hampden Institute, Virginia. 
His house on Fifth Avenue, of great value, is 
left to Yale University, in case his son has no 
children. 

THE trustees of the Lowell Textile School 
have received a gift from Mr. Frederick F. 
Ayer of $35,000 for the purchase of a site for 
the school which has been in operation three 
years on leased property. The State, by the 
last Legislature, provided $35,000 for the erec- 
tion of the buildings, on condition that land 
and machinery to like amount should be pro- 
vided, so the whole sum of $70,000 is now 
available for the establishment of the school in 
a permanent home. There are now five im- 
portant textile schools in the United States: 
Philadelphia, Lowell and New Bedford, Mass., 
Clemson, 8S. C., and Atlanta, Ga. 


THE Fayerweather will case has been once 
more reopened. It is said that the expenses of 
the suits have been about $500,000. 

PROFESSOR KARL AUWeERS, of Heidelberg, 
has been appointed director of the Chemical 
Institute of Griefswald, as successor to Pro- 
fessor Limprecht, who has retired. 


SiENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ContTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBORN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpircu, 
Physiology; J. S. BinLines, Hygiene; WILLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 

J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. forefront of astrophysical research. The 


CONTENTS: 


James Edward Keeler: PROFESSOR GEORGE E. 


Address of the President before the British Associ- 

ation (I.) : SIR WILLIAM TURNER............... 357 
Experiments of J. J. Thomson on the Structure of the 

Atom: PROFESSOR CHARLES A. PERKING...... 368 
Investigations at Cold Spring Harbor : PROFESSOR 

CAE PD AWENP OR Tee usernckensenersaeacestaaticcererscsas 371 
Scientific Books :— 

Tarr and McMurry’s Geographies: MARK S. 

W. JEFFERSON. Bottone on Wireless Teleg- 

raphy and Hertzian Waves: F. L. T.............. 373 
Scientific Journals and Articles..... 1.2.2.0 375 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 

Copyright of University Lectures: PROFESSOR 

R. M. WENLEY. Zhe International Psychical 


Institute: PROFESSOR WILLIAM JAMES......... 376 
The French Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

GRE S2coeecobecceosaaqgooNs0e cabo caocScoppsbaCoNSSOSONdHpGOO0C 376 
The Electrical Effect of Light upon Green Leaves... 377 
Science Research Scholarships........+++++++++++ 378 
Scientifie Notes and News.......... daddoo0000000 379 


University and Educational News..........-+2+++ 384 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


JAMES EDWARD KEELER. 

Tue sudden death of Professor James E. 
Keeler, Director of the Lick Observatory, 
which occurred at San Francisco on August 
12th, removes one who stood at the very 


advanced position occupied by the United 
States in the development of astrophysics 
is due as much to Keeler as to any other 
individual. The high quality of his own 
investigations, and the effect of his example 
on the work of others, have been factors of 
the first importance in building up the 
physical side of astronomy in this country. 
The shock caused by his wholly unexpected 
death has been felt by many, not least by 
some of those whose friendship for him grew 
out of a common interest in his own field of 
science. 

As he was still in his forty-third year, and 
had until recently enjoyed the best of health, 
there seemed to be every reason to expect 
that his important contributions to astro- 
physical literature would continue for many 
years to come. But a severe cold, con- 
tracted in the course of his recent work with 
the Crossley reflector, developed into pneu- 
monia, which was complicated with heart 
trouble. From the accounts which have so 
far reached us it appears that he withstood 
this first illness, and had just entered a 
hospital in San Francisco, when he was 
seized with an apoplectic stroke from which 
he did not rally. 

James Edward Keeler was born at La 
Salle, Illinois, on September 8, 1857. As 
a boy he was greatly interested in science, 
and I have often heard him speak of his 
early chemical experiments and astronom- 


304 SCIENCE. 


ical observations made with instruments of 
his own construction. His father, who was 
a paymaster in the navy, served with dis- 
tinction in the civil war, and was on board 
the Monitor during her memorable fight 
with the Merrimac. Keeler’s qualifications 
for scientific work clearly showed them- 
selves at the Johns Hopkins University, 
where he took an undergraduate course, and 
served as assistant to Professor Hastings, 
with whom he observed the total solar 
eclipse of 1878 in Colorado. His report on 
the eclipse, which is accompanied by a 
drawing of the corona, is a characteristic- 
ally clear and concise paper. 

Shortly after this he was appointed assist- 
ant at the Allegheny Observatory, where he 
had an important part in the long’ series 
of bolometric investigations carried on by 
Professor Langley, then Director of the 
Observatory. In July, 1881, he was a 
member of Professor Langley’s well-known 
expedition to Mount Whitney, in South- 
ern California, where an extensive re- 
gion in the extreme infra-red of the solar 
spectrum was discovered with the bolom- 
eter.* Later he studied for two years in 
Berlin and Heidelberg under Helmholtz and 
Quincke, and returned to the Allegheny 
Observatory, where he remained until ap- 
pointed a member of the staff of the Lick 
Observatory. His work on Mt. Hamilton 
commenced in 1886, and for some time he 
was the only astronomer at the Observatory, 
which was still in process of construction. 
In May, 1891, he was elected Professor of 
Astrophysics in the Western University of 
Pennsylvania and Director of the Allegheny 
Observatory. In June of the same year he 
married Miss Matthews, a niece of Captain 
Floyd, President of the Lick Trust, with 
whose family she had lived on Mt. Hamilton. 

Keeler’s work at the Lick Observatory, 
of which more will be said in what follows, 


*A peak in the Mt. Whitney range was named 
‘ Keeler’s Needle.’ 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


was continued in a most effective manner 
with the modest instrumental resources at 
Allegheny. His work here might well 
serve as an object lesson to those who com- 
plain of their inability to obtain useful re- 
sults because they do not happen to have 
instruments of the largest size at their dis- 
posal. Witha full understanding of the 
art of making the most of his means, he 
took up photography for the first time, made 
himself thoroughly familiar with photo- 
graphic processes, and then, with the aid of 
a spectrograph whose general design has 
been followed in the construction of the 
great modern spectrographs at Mt. Hamil- 
ton, Potsdam, Pulkowa and Williams Bay, 
he obtained the photographs of the spectra 
of red stars which excited so much interest 
at the dedication of the Yerkes Observatory. 
He also made an admirable series of draw- 
ings of Mars, which was published in the 
Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. 
In 1893 he accompanied the writer on an 
astrophysical expedition to Pike’s Peak, 
where his experience and assistance were 
invaluable. In the same year, in company 
with Professors Crew and Ames, he joined 
me in editing the astrophysical part of As- 
tronomy and Astrophysics. The Astrophysical 
Journal was established in 1895, and Keeler 
became joint editor with myself of the new 
publication. Until his returnto Mt. Ham- 
ilton in 1898, where distance prevented him 
from taking an active part in the editorial 
work, he gave much time to the Journal, 
which owes much to his labors. 

Keeler’s spectroscopic proof of the mete- 
oric constitution of Saturn’s rings was made 
at Allegheny in the spring of 1895. In 
October, 1895, at the writer’s request, he 
made at Cambridgeport the tests of the 40- 
inch object-glass of the Yerkes telescope 
which led to its final acceptance. Two 
years later, at the dedication of the Yerkes 
Observatory, he delivered an excellent ad- 
dress ‘On the Importance of Astrophysical 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


Research and the Relation of Astrophysics 
to other Physical Sciences.’ In the spring 
of 1898 he had practically decided to ac- 
cept a position on the staff of the Yerkes 
Observatory, and would have done so had 
he not just then been appointed Director 
of the Lick Observatory. Strenuous efforts 
were made by the citizens of Allegheny to 
retain him, and a project fora new Alle- 
gheny Observatory was set on foot by Dr. 
J. A. Brashear, who has since carried it to 
a successful conclusion, though at the time 
in question it was impossible to raise the 
necessary funds. At the Yerkes Observa- 
tory our regret in losing so able and genial 
a coadjutor was tempered by the feeling 
that the cause of science would undoubtedly 
be best advanced by placing such a man in 
charge of the great institution on Mt. Ham- 
ilton. 

This view has been most amply justified 
by the recent work of the Lick Observatory, 
which has attained the highest degree of 
efficiency under Keeler’s administration. 
The activity of the Observatory in various 
fields of research, and the uniform excel- 
lence of observations made by men work- 
ing under the inspiration of able leader- 
ship, have been recognized by all who keep 
in touch with astronomical progress. 

But Keeler’s recent work on Mt. Hamil- 
ton has not been confined to the direction of 
the affairs of a great sbservatory. The re- 
markable success of his experiments with 
the Crossley reflector, of which a full ac- 
count is fortunately preserved in the June 
number of the Astrophysical Journal, has im- 
pressed everyone who has seen the wonder- 
ful photographs of nebulee and star clusters 
made with this instrument. The.record of 
this work, like that of many other events 
in Keeler’s career, is full of instruction to 
those who aspire to achieve success as inves- 
tigators. When entering upon his duties 
at Mt. Hamilton, Keeler called together the 
members of the staff to confer upon the obser- 


SCIENCE. 


305 


vations to be undertaken. Itis customary to 
divide the nights of the week with the great 
telescope among several observers, each of 
whom is pursuing a certain class of observa- 
tions. When the division had been com- 
pleted it was remarked with surprise—for 
the privilege of using such a telescope is 
highly valued—that Keeler had taken no 
nights for himself. On the contrary, in- 
stead of benefiting by the advantages which 
must have resulted from the use of the 
powerful and perfect refractor, he had 
chosen the difficult and rather uninviting 
task of bringing into use the Crossley re- 
flector, an instrument of great optical power, 
but provided with a mounting of such de- 
sign and construction as to render it almost 
unfit for exacting work. Although trans- 
ferred from England to Mt. Hamilton sev- 
eral years before, no results had been ob- 
tained with this telescope in its new location. 
The reflector was best adapted optically for 
the photography of faint nebulz, but me- 
chanically it was not adequate for such 
work which more than any other demands a 
mounting of the highest stability and per- 
fection of detail. Thestory of how obstacle 
after obstacle was encountered and over- 
come is modestly told in the paper to which 
reference has been made. The resulting 
photographs of nebulee far surpass any sim- 
ilar photographs ever before obtained, and 
reveal new and unexpected features of 
the first importance. Hundreds of hith- 
erto unknown nebulze were discovered 
on the plates, and from an examination 
of these a fact of great significance was 
established, viz: that the majority of the 
nebule are spiral in form. It has long 
been known that certain of these cloud-like 
masses, from which the stars are supposed 
to be formed, show a spirai structure, but 
these were considered to be exceptions, and 
by no means type objects. As the result of 
Keeler’s work it does not appear improbable 
that future theories of stellar evolution will 


306 


start from the spiral rather than from the 
sphere of La Place’s nebular hypothesis. 
Of Keeler’s other contributions to science 
two in particular deserve present mention : 
his determination with the Lick telescope 
of the motion in the line of sight of the 
planetary nebule and his demonstration of 
the meteoric constitution of Saturn’s rings. 
The memoir which describes the first of 
these investigations already ranks as a clas- 
sic of astrophysical literature. From the 
well-known principle of Doppler, the lines 
in the spectrum of a moving luminous ob- 
ject are displaced toward the violet or red 
according as the motion is directed toward 
or away from the observer. The spectrum 
of the planetary nebule consists of a small 
number of bright lines, which under high 
dispersion are widely separated from one 
another, but vot greatly weakened in inten- 
sity. Keeler was the first to take advan- 
tage of this fact by using in the powerful 
spectroscope, designed by himself for the 
Lick telescope, a closely ruled Rowland 
grating. With the great dispersion of the 
fourth order spectrum, he was able to meas- 
ure the positions of the nebular lines with 
an accuracy far surpassing that attained in 
any previous observations of these faintly 
luminous objects. The resulting velocities 
of the nebule in the line of sight were on 
the average considerably smaller than the 
extreme values, of which the greatest mo- 
tion of approach was that of the nebula G. 
C. 4873, 40.2 miles per second, while the 
greatest motion of recession was 30.1 miles 
per second, for the nebula WV. G. C. 6790. 
It was also found that the distance between 
the Great Nebula of Orion and the Sun is 
increasing at the rate of about 11.0 miles 
per second. On account of the thorough 
manner in which this research was planned, 
the skill exhibited in designing the spectro- 
scope for the Lick telescope, the care taken 
in executing the measures and eliminating 
possible sources of error, and the complete- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 297. 


ness of the discussion of the observational 
material, Keeler’s memoir on this subject 
in Volume III of the Publications of the Lick 
Observatory takes rank with the best ex- 
amples of astrophysical literature. 

The spectroscopic demonstration of the 
meteoric constitution of Saturn’s rings is 
perhaps the most striking of the many ef- 
fective applications which have been made 
of Doppler’s fruitful principle. It has al- 
ready been pointed out that the displace- 
ment of a line is proportional to the velocity 
of the luminous source. If an image of Sat- 
urn is formed on the slit of a spectroscope 
placed parallel to the planet’s equator it is 
evident that all the lines in the photograph 
of the spectrum will be slightly twisted out 
of the vertical position they would occupy 
if the planet were not rotating on its axis. 
The displacement due to the rotation in- 
creases uniformly from the center of the 
disk to the circumference, and the lines, 
though inclined, remain perfectly straight. 
If the rings were solid, forming a contin- 
uous mass with the ball of the planet, it is 
evident that the spectral lines would be di- 
rect extensions of those due to the disk. 
But Keeler found from a study of his photo- 
graphs that in passing from the spectrum 
of the disk to that of the rings the lines 
were not only displaced as a whole, but 
twisted in the opposite direction. In other 
words, itappeared that the velocity of rota- 
tion of the inner edge of the ring is greater 
than that of the outer edge, a result evi- 
dently incompatible with the existence of a 
solid ring, but perfectly in harmony with 
what must be true if the rings consist of 
swarms of discrete particles. Careful meas- 
urements of the photographs furnished the 
first direct confirmation of the early theo- 
retical researches of Maxwell, who had 
shown mathematically that the rings could 
not exist as solid bodies. 

Much more might be said of Keeler’s 
work, but this should suffice to indicate its 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


lasting value. It is a satisfaction to add 
that its merit has been widely appreciated, 
as has recently been evidenced by the 
award of the Draper and Rumford medals. 
Keeler was president of the Astronomical 
Society of the Pacific and a councilor of the 
Astronomical and Astrophysical Society of 
America. 
the Royal Astronomical Society in 1898 and 
a member of the National Academy of 
Sciences at its last meeting. His kindly and 
genial manner, combined with unusual tact 
and rare judgment, drew to him many 
friends, who will long mourn his loss. 
GEorGE H. Hate. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT BEFORE THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.* 


I. 

TWENTY-SEVEN years ago the British As- 
sociation met in Bradford, not at that time 
raised to the dignity of a city. The meet- 
ing was very successful, and was attended 
by about 2000 persons—a forecast, let us 
hope, of what we may expect at the present 
assembly. A distinguished chemist, Pro- 
fessor A. W. Williamson, presided. On 
this occasion the Association has selected 
for the presidential chair one whose atten- 
tion has been given to the study of an im- 
portant department of biological science. 
His claim to occupy, however unworthily, 
the distinguished position in which he has 
been placed, rests, doubtless, on the fact 
that, in the midst of the engrossing duties 
devolving on a teacher in a great university 
and school of medicine, he has endeavored 
to contribute to the sum of knowledge of 

he science which he professes. It is a 
matter of satisfaction to feel that the suc- 
cess of a meeting of this kind does not rest 
upon the shoulders of the occupant of the 
presidential chair, but is due to the emi- 
nence and active co-operation of the men of 
* Given at Bradford on September 5, 1900. 


SCIENCE. 


He was elected an Associate of ' 


307 


science who either preside over or engage 
in the work of the nine or ten sections into 
which the Association is divided, and to 
the energy and ability for organization dis- 
played by the local secretaries and commit- 
tees. The program prepared by the general 
and local officers of the Association shows 
that no efforts have been spared to provide 
an ample bill of fare, both in its scientific 
and social aspects. Members and Associ- 
ates will, I feel sure, take away from the 
Bradford meeting as pleasant memories as 
did our colleagues of the corresponding 
Association Frangaise, when, in friendly 
collaboration at Dover last year, they testi- 
fied to the common citizenship of the Uni- 
versal Republic of Science. As befits a 
leading center of industry in the great 
county of York, the applications of science 
to the industrial arts and to agriculture 
will form subjects of discussion in the 
papers to be read at the meeting. 

Since the Association was at Dover a 
year ago, two of its former presidents have 
joined the majority. The Duke of Argyll 
presided at the meeting in Glasgow so far 
back as 1855. Throughout his long and 
energetic life he proved himself to be an 
eloquent and earnest speaker, one who gave 
to the consideration of public affairs a mind 
of singular independence, and a thinker 
and writer in a wide range of human 
knowledge. Sir J. William Dawson was 
president at the meeting in Birmingham in 
1886. Born in Nova Scotia in 1820, he de- 
voted himself to the study of the geology of 
Canada, and became the leading authority 
on the subject. He took also an active and 
influential part in promoting the spread of 
scientific education in the Dominion, and 
for a number of years he was principal and 
vice-chancellor of the McGill University, 
Montreal. 

SCIENTIFIC METHOD. 

Edward Gibbon has told us that dili- 

gence and accuracy are the only merits 


358 


which an historical writer can ascribe to 
himself. Without doubt they are funda- 
mental qualities necessary for historical re- 
search, but in order to bear fruit they re- 
quire to be exercised by one whose mental 
qualities are such as to enable him to ana- 
lyze the data brought together by his dili- 
gence, to discriminate between the false and 
the true, to possess an insight into the com- 
plex motives that determine human action, 
to be able to recognize those facts and inci- 
dents which had exercised either a primary 
or only a secondary influence on the affairs 
of nations, or on the thoughts and doings 
of the person whose character he is de- 
picting. 

In scientific research, also, diligence and 
accuracy are fundamental qualities. By 
their application new facts are discovered 
and tabulated, their order of succession 
is ascertained, and a wider and more inti- 
mate knowledge of the processes of nature is 
acquired. But to decide on their true sig- 
nificance a well-balanced mind and the ex- 
ercise of prolonged thought and reflection 
are needed. William Harvey, the father 
of exact research in physiology, in his mem- 
orable work ‘ De Motu Cordis et Sanguinis,’ 
published more than two centuries ago, 
tell us of the great and daily diligence which 
he exercised in the course of his investiga- 
tions, and the numerous observations and 
experiments which he collated. At the same 
time he refers repeatedly to his cogitations 
and reflections on the meaning of what he 
had observed, without which the compli- 
cated movements of the heart could not 
have been analyzed, their significance deter- 
mined, and the circulation of the blood in a 
continuous stream definitely established. 
Early in the present century, Carl Ernst 
von Baer, the father of embryological re- 
search, showed the importance which he 
attached to the combination of observation 
with meditation by placing side by side on 
the title page of his famous treatise ‘ Ueber 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S.- Vou. XII. No. 297. 


Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere’ (1828 ) 
the words Beobachtung und Reflexion. 

Though I have drawn from biological sci- 
ence my illustrations of the need of this com- 
bination, it must not be inferred that it 
applies exclusively to one branch of scien- 
tific inquiry ; the conjunction influences and 
determines progress in all the sciences, and 
when associated with a sufficient touch of 
imagination, when the power of seeing is 
conjoined with the faculty of foreseeing, of 
projecting the mind into the future, we may 
expect something more than the discovery 
of isolated facts ; their co-ordination and the 
enunciation of new principles and laws will 
necessarily follow. 

Scientific method consists, therefore, in 
close observation, frequently repeated so as 
to eliminate the possibility of erroneous 
seeing; in experiments checked and con- 
trolled in every direction in which fallacies 
might arise ; in continuous reflection on the 
appearances and phenomena observed, and 
in logically reasoning out their meaning 
and the conclusions to be drawn from them. 
Were the method followed out in its in- 
tegrity by all who are engaged in scientific 
investigations, the time and labor expended 
in correcting errors committed by ourselves 
or by other observers and experimentalists 
would be saved, and the volumes devoted 
annually to scientific literature would be 
materially diminished in size. Were it ap- 
plied, as far as the conditions of life admit, 
to the conduct and management of human 
affairs, we should not require to be told, 
when critical periods in our welfare as a 
nation arise, that we shall muddle through 
somehow. Recent experience has taught 
us that wise discretion and careful prevision 
are as necessary in the direction of public 
affairs as in the pursuit of science, and in 
both instances, when properly exercised, 
they enable us to reach with comparative 
certainty the goal which we strive to at- 
tain. 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900.] 


IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OF OBSERVATION. 

Whilst certain principles of research are 
common to all the sciences, each great di- 
vision requires for its investigation spe- 
cialized arrangements toinsure its progress. 
Nothing contributes so much to the ad- 
vancement of knowledge as improvements 
in the means of observation, either by the 
discovery of new adjuncts to research, or 
by a fresh adaptation of old methods. In 
the industrial arts, the introduction of a new 
kind of raw material, the recognition that 
a mixture or blending is often more service- 
able than when the substances employed 
are uncombined, the discovery of new proc- 
esses of treating the articles used in man- 
ufactures, the invention of improved ma- 
chinery, all lead to the expansion of trade, 
to the occupation of the people, and to the 
development of great industrial centers. In 
science, also, the invention and employ- 
ment of new and more precise instruments 
and appliances enable us to appreciate more 
clearly the signification of facts and phe- 
nomena which were previously obscure, and 
to penetrate more deeply into the mysteries 
of nature. They mark fresh departures in 
the history of science, and provide a firm 
base of support from which a continuous 
advance may be made and fresh conceptions 
of nature can be evolved. 

It is not my intention, even had I pos- 
sessed the requisite knowledge, to undertake 
so arduous a task as to review the progress 
which has recently been made in the great 
body of sciences which lie within the do- 
main of the British Association. As my 
occupation in life has required me to give 
attention to the science which deals with 
the structure and organization of the bodies 
of manand animals—a science which either 
includes within its scope or has intimate 
and widespread relations to comparative 
anatomy, embryology, morphology, zoology, 
physiology, and anthropology—I shall limit 
myself to the attempt to bring before you 


SCIENCE. 


309 


some of the more important observations 
and conclusions which have a bearing on 
the present position of the subject. As this 
is the closing year of the century it will 
not, I think, be out of place to refer to 
the changes which a hundred years have 
brought about in our fundamental concep- 
tions of the structure of animals. In sci- 
ence, as in business, it is well from time to 
time to take stock of what we have been 
doing, so that we may realize where we 
stand and ascertain the balance to our 
credit in the scientific ledger. 

So far back as the time of the ancient 
Greeks it was known that the human body 
and those of the more highly organized an-\ 
imals were not homogeneous, but were built 
up of parts, the partes dissimilares (ca 
dvdporo. wgon) of Aristotle, which differed 
from each other in form, color, texture, 
consistency and properties. These parts 
were familiarly known as the bones, mus- 
cles, sinews, blood-vessels, glands, brain, 
nerves, and soon. As the centuries rolled 
on, and as observers and observations mul- 
tiplied, a more and more precise knowledge 
of these parts throughout the animal king- 
dom was obtained, and various attempts 
were made to classify animals in accord- 
ance with their forms and structure. Dur- 
ing the concluding years of the last century 
and the earlier part of the present, the 
Hunters, William and John, in our coun- 
try, the Meckels in Germany, Cuvier and 
St. Hilaire in France, gave an enormous 
impetus to anatomical studies, and con- 
tributed largely to our knowledge of the 
construction of the bodies of animals. But 
whilst by these and other observers the 
most salient and, if I may use the expres- 
sion, the grosser characters of animal or- 
ganization had been recognized, little was 
known of the more intimate structure or 
texture of the parts. So far as could be de- 
termined by the unassisted vision, and so 
much as could be recognized by the use of 


360 


a simple lens, had indeed been ascertained, 
and it was known that muscles, nerves and 
tendons were composed of threads or fibers, 
that the blood- and lymph-vessels were 
tubes, and that the parts which we call 
fasciee and aponeuroses were thin mem- 
branes, and so on. 

Early in the present century Xavier 
Bichat, one of the most brilliant men of 
science during the Napoleonic era in France, 
published his ‘Anatomie Générale,’ in 
which he formulated important general 
principles. Every animal is an assemblage 
of different organs, each of which dis- 
charges a function, and acting together, 
each in its own way, assists in the preser- 
vation of the whole. The organs are, as 
it were, special machines situated in the 
general building which constitutes the fac- 
tory or body of the individual. But, fur- 
ther, each organ or special machine is 
itself formed of tissues which possess dif- 
ferent properties. Some, as the blood-ves- 
sels, nerves, fibrous tissues, etc., are gen- 
erally distributed throughout the animal 
body, whilst others, as bones, muscles, car- 
tilage, etc., are found only in certain defi- 
nite localities. Whilst Bichat had acquired 
a definite philosophical conception of the 
general principles of construction and of 
the distribution of the tissues, neither he 
nor his pupil Béclard was in a position to 
determine the essential nature of the struc- 
tural elements. The means and appliances 
at their disposal and at that of other ob- 
servers in their generation were not suffi- 
ciently potent to complete the analysis. 

Attempts were made in the third decen- 
nium of this century to improve the meth- 
ods of examining minute objects by the 
manufacture of compound lenses, and, by 
doing away with chromatic and spherical 
aberration, to obtain, in addition to magni- 
fication of the object, a relatively large flat 
field of vision with clearness and- sharp- 
ness of definition. When in January, 1830, 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


Joseph Jackson Lister read to the Royal 
Society his memoir ‘On some properties in 
achromatic object-glasses applicable to the 
improvement of microscopes,’ he announced 
the principles on which combinations of 
lenses could be arranged, which would pos- 
sess these qualities. By the skill of our 
opticians, microscopes have now for more 
than half a century been constructed which, 
in the hands of competent observers, have 
influenced and extended biological science 
with results comparable with those obtained 
by the astronomer through improvements 
in the telescope. 

In the study of the minute structure of 
plants and animals the observer has fre- 
quently to deal with tissues and organs, 
most of which possess such softness and 
delicacy of substance and outline that, even 
when microscopes of the best construction 
are employed, the determination of the in- 
timate nature of the tissue, and the precise 
relation which one element of an organ 
bears to the other constituent elements, is 
in many instances a matter of difficulty. 
Hence additional methods have had to be 
devised in order to facilitate study and to 
give precision and accuracy to our observa- 
tions. Itis difficult for one of the younger 
generation of biologists, with all the appli- 
ances of a well-equipped laboratory at his 
command, with experienced teachers to di- 
rect him in his work, and with excellent 
text-books, in which the modern methods 
are described, to realize the conditions under 
which his predecessors worked half a cen- 
tury ago. Laboratories for minute biolog- 
ical research had not been constructed, the 
practical teaching of histology and embry- 
ology had not been organized, experience 
in methods of work had not accumulated ; 
each man was left to his individual efforts, 
and had to puzzle his way through the 
complications of structure to the best 
of his power. Staining and hardening 
reagents were unknown. The double- 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


bladed knife invented by Valentin, held 
in the hand, was the only improvement 
on the scapel or razor for cutting thin, 
more or less translucent slices suitable for 
microscopic examination; mechanical sec- 
tion cutters and freezing arrangements had 
not been devised. The tools at the disposal 
of the microscopist were little more than 
knife, forceps, scissors, needles; with acetic 
acid, glycerine and Canada balsam as re- 
agents. But in the employment of the 
newer methods of research care has to be 
taken, more especially when hardening and 
staining reagents are used, to discriminate 
between appearances which are to be inter- 
preted as indicating natural characters, and 
those which are only artificial productions. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties attend- 
ant on the study of the more delicate tis- 
sues, the compound achromatic microscope 
provided anatomists with an instrument of 
great penetrative power. Between the years 
1830 and 1850 a number of acute observers 
applied themselves with much energy and 
enthusiasm to the examination of the min- 
ute structure of the tissues and organs in 
plants and animals. 


CELL THEORY. 

It had, indeed, long been recognized that 
the tissues of plants were to a large extent 
composed of minute vesicular bodies, techni- 
eally called cells (Hooke, Malpighi, Grew). 
In 1831 the discovery was made by the 
great botanist, Robert Brown, that in many 
families of plants a circular spot, which he 
named areola or nucleus, was present in 
each cell; and in 1838 M. J. Schleiden pub- 
lished the fact that a similar spot or nucleus 
was a universal elementary organ in vege- 
tables. In the tissues of animals also 
structures had begun to be recognized com- 
parable with the cells and nuclei of the 
vegetable tissues, and in 1839 Theodore 
Schwann announced the important general- 
ization that there is one universal princi- 


SCIENCE. 


361 


ple of development for the elementary part 
of organisms, however different they may be 
in appearance, and that this principle is the 
formation of cells. The enunciation of the 
fundamental principle that the elementary 
tissues consisted of cells constituted a step 
in the progress of biological science, which 
will forever stamp the century now draw- 
ing to a close with a character and renown 
equalling those which it has derived from 
the most brilliant discoveries in the physical 
sciences. It provided biologists with the 
visible anatomical units through which the 
external forces operating on, and the energy 
generated in, living matter come into play. 
It dispelled forever the old mystical idea of 
the influence exercised by vapors or spirits 
in living organisms. It supplied the physi- 
ologist and pathologist with the specific 
structures through the agency of which the 
functions of organisms are discharged in 
health and disease. It exerted an enormous 
influence on the progress of practical medi- 
cine. A review of the progress of knowledge 
of the cell may appropriately enter into an 
address on this occasion. 


STRUCTURE OF CHLLS. 


A cell is a living particle, so minute that 
it needs a microscope for its examination ; 
it grows in size, maintains itself in a state 
of activity, responds to the action of stim- 
uli, reproduces its kind, and in the course 
of time it degenerates and dies. 

Let us glance at the structure of a cell to 
determine its constituent parts and the réle 
which each plays in the function to be dis- 
charged. The original conception of a cell, 
based upon the study of the vegetable tis- 
sues, waS a minute vesicle enclosed by a 
definite wall, which exercised chemical or 
metabolic changes on the surrounding ma- 
terial and secreted into the vesicle its char- 
acteristic contents. A similar conception 
was at first also entertained regarding the 
cells of animal tissues; but as observations 


362 


multiplied, it was seen that numerous ele- 
mentary particles, which were obviously in 
their nature cells, did not possess an en- 
closing envelope. A wall ceased to have a 
primary value as a constituent part of a 
cell, the necessary vesicular character of 
which therefore could no longer be enter- 
tained. 

The other constituent parts of a cell are 
the cell plasm, which forms the body of the 
cell, and the nucleus imbedded in its sub- 
stance. Notwithstanding the very minute 
size of the nucleus, which even in the 
largest cells is not more than ;{,th inch 
in diameter, and usually is considerably 
smaller, its almost constant form, its well- 
defined sharp outline, and its power of re- 
sisting the action of strong reagents when 
applied to the cell, have from the period of 
its discovery by Robert Brown caused his- 
tologists to bestow on it much attention. 
Its structure and chemical composition ; its 
mode of origin; the part which it plays in 
the formation of new cells, and its function 
in nutrition and secretion have been in- 
vestigated. 

When examined under favorable con- 
ditions in its passive or resting state, the 
nucleus is seen to be bounded by a mem- 
brane which separates it from the cell 
plasm and gives it the characteristic sharp 
contour. It contains an apparently struc- 
tureless nuclear substance, nucleoplasm or 
enchylema, in which are embedded one or 
more extremely minute particles called 
nucleoli, along with a network of exceed- 
ingly fine threads or fibers, which in the 
active living cell play an essential part in 
the production of new nuclei within the 
cell. In its chemical composition the nu- 
clear substance consists of albuminous plas- 
tin and globulin; and of a special material 
named nuclein, rich in phosphorus and with 
an acid reaction. The delicate network 
within the nucleus consists apparently of 
the nuclein, a substance which stains with 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 297. 


carmine and other dyes, a property which 
enables the changes, which take place in 
the network in the production of young 
cells, to be more readily seen and followed 
out by the observer. 

The mode of origin of the nucleus and 
the part which it plays in the production of 
new cells have been the subject of much 
discussion. Schleiden, whose observations, 
published in 1838, were made on the cells 
of plants, believed that within the cell a 
nucleolus first appeared, and that around it 
molecules aggregated to form the nucleus. 
Schwann again, whose observations were 
mostly made on the cells of animals, con- 
sidered that an amorphous material existed 
in organized bodies, which he called cyto- 
blastema. It formed the contents of cells, 
or it might be situated free or external to 
them. He figuratively compared it to a 
mother liquor in which crystals are formed. 
Hither in the cytoblastema within the cells 
or in that situated external to them, the 
aggregation of molecules around a nucleolus 
to form a nucleus might occur, and, when 
once the nucleus had been formed, in its 
turn it would serve as a center of aggrega- 
tion of additional molecules from which a 
new cell would be produced. He regarded 
therefore the formation of nuclei and cells 
as possible in two ways: one within pre- 
existing cells (endogenous cell-formation), 
the other in a free blastema lying external 
to cells (free cell-formation). In animals, 
he says, the endogenous method is rare, 
and the customary origin is in an external 
blastema. Both Schleiden and Schwann 
considered that after the cell was formed 
the nucleus had no permanent influence on 
the life of the cell, and usually disappeared. 

Under the teaching principally of Henle, 
the famous Professor of Anatomy in Got- 
tingen, the conception of the free formation 
of nuclei and cells in a more or less fluid 
blastema, by an aggregation of elementary 
granules and molecules, obtained so much 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


credence, especially amongst those who were 
engaged in the study of pathological proc- 
esses, that the origin of cells within pre- 
existing cells was to a large extent lost 
sight of. That a parent cell was requisite 
for the production of new cells seemed to 
many investigators to be no longer needed. 
Without doubt this conception of free cell- 
formation contributed in no small degree to 
the belief, entertained by various observers 
that the simplest plants and animals might 
arise, without pre-existing parents, in or- 
ganic fluids destitute of life, by a process 
of spontaneous generation ; a belief which 
prevailed in many minds almost to the 
present day. If, as has been stated, the 
doctrine of abiogenesis cannot be experi- 
mentally refuted, on the other hand it has 
not been experimentally proved. The bur- 
den of proof lies with those who hold the 
doctrine, and the evidence that we possess 
is all the other way. 


MULTIPLICATION OF CELLS. 


Although von Mohl, the botanist, seems 
to have been the first to recognize (1835) 
in plants a multiplication of cells by di- 
vision, it was not until attention was given 
to the study of the egg in various animals, 
and to the changes which take place in it, 
attendant on fertilization, that in the course 
of time a much more correct conception of 
the origin of the nucleus and of the part 
which it plays in the formation of new cells 
was obtained. Before Schwann had pub- 
lished his classical memoir in 1839, von 
Baer and other observers had recognized 
within the animal ovum the germinal 
vesicle, which obviously bore to the ovum 
the relation of a nucleus toacell. As the 
methods of observation improved, it was 
recognized that, within the developing egg, 
two vesicles appeared where one only had 
previously existed, to be followed by four 
vesicles, then eight, and so on in multiple 
progression until the ovum contained a 


SOIENCE. 


363 


multitude of vesicles, each of which pos- 
sessed a nucleus. The vesicles were obvi- 
ously cells which had arisen within the 
original germ-cell or ovum. These changes 
were systematically described by Martin 
Barry so long ago as 1839 and 1840 in two 
memoirs communicated to the Royal So- 
ciety of London, and the appearance pro- 
duced, on account of the irregularities of 
the surface occasioned by the production of 
new vesicles, was named by him the mul- 
berry-like structure. He further pointed 
out that the vesicles arranged themselves 
as a layer within the envelope of the egg or 
zona pellucida, and that the whole embryo 
was composed of cells filled with the foun- 
dations of other cells. He recognized that 
the new cells were derived from the ger- 
minal vesicle or nucleus of the ovum, the 
contents of which entered into the for- 
mation of the first two cells, each of 
which had its nucleus, which in its turn 
resolved itself into other cells, and by a 
repetition of the process into a greater 
number. The endogenous origin of new 
cells within a pre-existing cell and the 
process which we now term the segmenta- 
tion of the yolk were successfully demon- 
strated. In a third memoir, published in 
1841, Barry definitely stated that young 
cells originated through division of the 
nucleus of the parent cell, instead of arising, 
as a produet of crystallization, in the fluid 
cytoblastema of the parent cell or in a blas- 
tema situated external to the cell. 

In a memoir published in 1842, John 
Goodsir advocated the view that the nu- 
cleus is the reproductive organ of the cell, 
and that from it, as from a germinal spot, 
new cells were formed. In a paper, pub- 
lished three years later, on nutritive cen- 
ters, he described cells, the nuclei of which 
were the permanent source of successive 
broods of young cells, which from time to 
time occupied the cavity of the parent cell. 
He extended also his observations on the 


364 


endogenous formation of cells to the carti- 
lage cells in the process of inflammation 
and to other tissues undergoing patholog- 
ical changes. Corroborative observations 
on endogenous formation were also given 
by his brother Harry Goodsir in 1845. 
These observations on the part which the 
nucleus plays by cleavage in the formation 
of young cells by endogenous development 
from a parent center—that an organic con- 
tinuity existed between a mother cell and 
its descendants through the nucleus—con- 
stituted a great step in advance of the views 
entertained by Schleiden and Schwann, and 
showed that Barry and the Goodsirs had a 
deeper insight into the nature and functions 
of cells than was possessed by most of their 
contemporaries, and are of the highest im- 
portance when viewed in the light of recent 
observations. 

In 1841 Robert Remak published an ac- 
count of the presence of two nuclei in the 
blood corpuscles of the chick and the pig, 
which he regarded as evidence of the pro- 
duction of new corpuscles by division of the 
nucleus within a parent cell; but it was 
not until some years afterwards (1850 to 
1855) that he recorded additional observa- 
tions and recognized that division of the 
nucleus was the starting-point for the mul- 
tiplication of cells in the ovum and in the 
tissues generally. Remak’s view was that 
the process of cell division began with the 
cleavage of the nucleolus, followed by that 
of the nucleus, and that again by cleavage 
of the body of the cell and of its membrane. 
Kolliker had previously, in 1843, described 
the multiplication of nuclei in the ova of 
parasitic worms, and drew the inference that 
in the formation of young cells within the 
ege the nucleus underwent cleavage, and 
that each of its divisions entered into the 
formation ofa new cell. By these observa- 
tions, and by others subsequently made, it 
became obvious that the multiplication of 
animal cells, either by division of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 297. 


nucleus within the cell, or by the budding 
off of a part of the protoplasm of the cell, 
was to be regarded as a widely spread and 
probably a universal process, and that each 
new cell arose from a parent cell. 

Pathological observers were, however, for 
the most part inclined to consider free cell- 
formation in a blastema or exudation by an 
ageregation of molecules, in accordance 
with the views of Henle, as a common 
phenomenon. This proposition was at- 
tacked with great energy by Virchow in a 
series of memoirs published in his ‘Archiv,’ 
commencing in Vol. I., 1847, and finally 
received its death-blow in his published 
lectures on ‘ Cellular Pathology,’ 1858. He 
maintained that in pathological structures 
there was no instance of cell development 
de novo; where a cell existed, there one 
must have been before. Cell-formation 
was a continuous development by descent, 
which he formulated in the expression 
omnis cellula e celluld. 


KARYOKINESIS. 


Whilst the descent of cells from pre-exist- 
ing cells by division of the nucleus during 
the development of the egg, in the embryos 
of plants and animals, and in adult vege- 
table and animal tissues, both in healthy 
and diseased conditions, had now become 
generally recognized, the mechanism of the 
process by which the cleavage of the nu- 
cleus took place was for a long time un- 
known. The discovery had to be deferred 
until the optician had been able to con- 
struct lenses of a higher penetrative power, 
and the microscopist had learned the use 
of coloring agents capable of dyeing the 
finest elements of the tissues. There was 
reason to believe that in some cases a direct 
cleavage of the nucleus, to be followed by 
a corresponding division of the cell into 
two parts, did occur. In the period be- 
tween 1870 and 1880 observations were 
made by Schneider, Strasburger, Butschli, 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


Fol, van Beneden and Flemming, which 
showed that the division of the nucleus 
and the cell was due to a series of very re- 
markable changes, now known as indirect 
nuclear and cell division, or karyokinesis. 
The changes within the nucleus are of so 
complex a character that it is impossible to 
follow them in detail without the use of 
appropriate illustrations. I shall{ have to 
content myself, therefore, with an elemen- 
tary sketch of the process. 

I have previously stated that the nucleus 
in its passive or resting stage contains a 
very delicate network of threads or fibers. 
The first stage in the process of nuclear 
division consists in the threads arranging 
themselves in loops and forming a compact 
coil within the nucleus. The coil then be- 
comes looser, the loops of threads shorten 
and thicken,and somewhat later each looped 
thread splits longitudinally into two por- 
tions. As the threads stain when coloring 
agents are applied to them, they are called 
chromatin fibers, and the loose coil is the 
chromosome (Waldeyer). 

As the process continues, the investing 
membrane of the nucleus disappears, and 
the loops of threads arrange themselves 
within the nucleus so that the closed ends 
of the loops are directed to a common cen- 
ter, from which the loops radiate outwards 
and produce a starlike figure (aster). At 
the same time clusters of extremely deli- 
cate lines appear both in the nucleoplasm 
and in the body of the cell, named the 
achromatic figure, which has a spindle-like 
form with two opposite poles, and stains 
much more feebly than the chromatic fibers. 
The loops of the chromatic star then ar- 
range themselves in the equatorial plane 
of the spindle, and bending round turn 
their closed ends towards the periphery of 
the nucleus and the cell. 

The next stage marks an important step 
in the process of division of the nucleus. 
The two longitudinal portions, into which 


SCIENCE. 368 


each looped thread had previously split, 
now separate from each other, and whilst 
one part migrates to one pole of the spindle, 
the other moves to the opposite pole, and 
the free ends of each loop are directed to- 
wards its equator (metakinesis). By this 
division of the chromatin fibers, and their 
separation from each other to opposite poles 
of the spindle, two star-like chromatin fig- 
ures are produced (dyaster). 

Each group of fibers thickens, shortens, 
becomes surrounded by a membrane, and 
forms a new or daughter nucleus (di- 
spirem). Two nuclei therefore have arisen 
within the cell by the division of that which 
had previously existed, and the expression 
formulated by Flemming—omnis nucleus e 
nucleo—is justified. Whilst this stage is in 
course of being completed, the body of the 
cell becomes constricted in the equatorial 
plane of the spindle, and, as the constric- 
tion deepens, it separates into two parts, 
each containing a daughter nucleus, so that 
two nucleated cells have arisen out of a 
pre-existing cell. 

A repetition of the process in each of 
these cells leads to the formation of other 
cells, and, although modifications in details 
are found in different species of plants and 
animals, the multiplication of cells in the 
egg and in the tissues generally on similar 
lines is now a thoroughly established fact 
in biological science. 

In the study of karyokinesis, importance 
has been attached to the number of chromo- 
somes in the nucleus of the cell. Flemming 
had seen in the Salamander twenty-four 
chromosome fibers, which seems to be a 
constant number in the cells of epithelium 
and connective tissues. In other cells again, 
especially in the ova of certain animals, the 
number is smaller, and fourteen, twelve, 
four, and even two only have been de- 
scribed. The theory formulated by Boveri 
that the number of chromosomes is con- 
stant for each species, and that in the 


366 


karyokinetic figures corresponding numbers 
are found in homologous cells, seems to be 
not improbable. 

In the preceding description I have in- 
cidentally referred to the appearance in the 
proliferating cell of an archromatic spindle- 
like figure. Although this was recognized 
by Fol in 1873, it is only during the last 
ten or twelve years that attention has been 
paid to its more minute arrangements and 
possible signification in cell-division. 

The pole at each end of the spindle lies 
in the cell plasm which surrounds the 
nucleus. In the center of each pole is a 
somewhat opaque spot (central body) sur- 
rounded by a clear space, which, along with 
the spot, constitutes the centrosome or the 
sphere of attraction. From each centro- 
some extremely delicate lines may be seen 
to radiate in two directions. One set ex- 
tends towards the pole at the opposite end 
of the spindle, and, meeting or coming into 
close proximity with radiations from it, con- 
stitutes the body of the spindle, which, like 
a perforated mantle, forms an imperfect 
envelope around the nucleus during the 
process of division. The other set of radia- 
tions is called the polar, and extends in the 
region of the pole towards the periphery of 
the cell. 

The question has been much discussed 
whether any constituent part of the achro- 
matic figure, or the entire figure, exists in 
the cell as a permanent structure in its rest- 
ing phase; or if it is only present during 
the process of karyokinesis. During the 
development of the egg the formation of 
young cells, by division of the segmentation 
nucleus, is so rapid and continuous that the 
achromatic figure, with the centrosome in 
the pole of the spindle, is a readily recog- 
nizable object in each cell. The polar and 
spindle-like radiations are in evidence dur- 
ing karyokinesis, and have apparently a 
temporary endurance and function. On 
the other hand, van Beneden and Boveri 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 297. 


were of opinion that the central body of the 
centrosome did not disappear when the di- 
vision of the nucleus came to an end, but 
that it remained as a constituent part of a 
cell lying in the cell plasm near to the 
nucleus. Flemming has seen the central 
body with its sphere in leucocytes, as well 
as in epithelial cells and those of other tis- 
sues. Subsequently Heidenhain and other 
histologists have recorded similar observa- 
tions. It would seem, therefore, as if there 
were reason to regard the centrosome, like 
the nucleus, as a permanent constituent of 
a cell. This view, however, is not uni- 
versally entertained. If not always capable 
of demonstration in the resting stage of a 
cell, it is doubtless to be regarded as po- 
tentially present, and ready to assume, 
along with the radiations, a characteristic 
appearance when the process of nuclear di- 
vision is about to begin. 

One can scarcely regard the presence of 
so remarkable an appearance as the achro- 
matic figure without associating with it an 
important function in the economy of the 
cell. As from the centrosome at the pole of 
the spindle both sets of radiations diverge, 
it is not unlikely that it acts as a center or 
sphere of energy and attraction. By some 
observers the radiations are regarded as 
substantive fibrillar structures, elastic or 
even contractile in their properties. Others, 
again, look upon them as morphological ex- 
pressions of chemical and dynamical energy 
in the protoplasm of the cell body. On 
either theory we may assume that they in- 
dicate an influence, emanating, it may be, 
from the centrosome, and capable of being 
exercised both on the cell plasm and on the 
nucleus contained init. On the contractile 
theory, the radiations which form the body 
of the spindle, either by actual traction of 
the supposed fibrillee or by their pressure 
on the nucleus which they surround, might 
impel during karyokinesis the dividing 
chromosome elements towards the poles of 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


the spindle, to form there the daughter 
nuclei. On the dynamical theory, the chem- 
ical and physical energy in the centrosome 
might influence the cell plasm and the nu- 
cleus, and attract the chromosome elements 
of the nucleus to the poles of the spindle. 
The radiated appearance would therefore be 
consequent and attendant on the physico- 
chemical activity of the centrosome. One 
or other of these theories may also be ap- 
plied to the interpretation of the significance 
of the polar radiations. 


CELL PLASM. 


In the cells of plants, in addition to the 
cell wall, the cell body and the cell juice 
require to be examined. ‘The material of 
the cell body, or the cell contents, was 
named by von Mohl (1846) protoplasm, 
and consisted of a colorless tenacious sub- 
stance which partly lined the cell wall 
(primordial utricle), and partly traversed 
the interior of the cell as delicate threads 
enclosing spaces (vacuoles) in which the 
cell juice was contained. In the proto- 
plasm the nucleus was embedded. Nageli, 
about the same time, had also recognized 
the difference between the protoplasm and 
the other contents of vegetable cells, and 
had noticed its nitrogenous composition. 

Though the analogy with a closed blad- 
der or vesicle could no longer be sustained 
in the animal tissues, the name ‘cell’ con- 
tinued to be retained for descriptive pur- 
poses, and the body of the cell was spoken 
of as a more or less soft substance enclosing 
a nucleus (Leydig). In 1861 Max Schultze 
adopted for the substance forming the body 
of the animal cell the term ‘protoplasm.’ 
He defined a cell to be a particle of proto- 
plasm in the substance of which a nucleus 
was situated. Heregarded the protoplasm, 
as indeed had previously beeen pointed out 
by the botanist Unger, as essentially the 
same as the contractile sarcode which con- 
stitutes the body and pseudopodia of the 


SCIENCE. 367 


Amoeba and other Rhizopoda. As the term 
‘protoplasm,’ as well as that of ‘ bioplasm,’ 
employed by Lionel Beale in a somewhat 
similar though not precisely identical sense, 
involves certain theoretical views of the 
origin and function of the body of the cell, 
it would be better to apply to it the more 
purely descriptive term ‘cytoplasm’ or 
‘cell plasm.’ 

Schultze defined protoplasm as a homo- 
geneous, glassy, tenacious material, of a 
jelly-like or somewhat firmer consistency, 
in which numerous minute granules were 
embedded. He regarded it as the part of 
the cell especially endowed with vital 
energy, whilst the exact function of the 
nucleus could not be defined. Based upon 
this conception of the jelly-like character of 
protoplasm, the idea for a time prevailed 
that a structureless, dimly granular jelly 
or slime destitute of organization, possessed 
great physiological activity, and was the 
medium through which the phenomena of 
life were displayed. 

More accurate conceptions of the nature 
of the cell plasm soon began to be enter- 
tained. Briicke recognized that the body 
of the cell was not simple, but had a com- 
plex organization. Flemming observed that 
the cell plasm contained extremely delicate 
threads, which frequently formed a net- 
work, the interspaces of which were occu- 
pied by a more homogeneous substance. 
Where the threads crossed each other, 
granular particles (mikrosomen) were situ- 
ated. Butschli considered that he could 
recognize in the cell plasm a honeycomb- 
like appearance, as if it consisted of exces- 
sively minute chambers in which a homo- 
geneous more or less fluid material was 
contained. The polar and _ spindle-like 
radiations visible during the process of 
karyokinesis, which have already been re- 
ferred to, and the presence of the centro- 
some, possibly even during the resting stage 
of the cell, furnished additional illustra- 


368 


tions of differentiation within the cell plasm. 
In many cells there appears also to be a 
difference in the character of the cell plasm 
which immediately surrounds the nucleus 
and that which lies at and near the peri- 
phery of the cell. The peripheral part 
(ektoplasma) is more compact and gives a 
definite outline to the cell, although not 
necessarily differentiating into a cell mem- 
brane. The inner part (endoplasma) is 
softer, and is distinguished by a more dis- 
tinct granular appearance, and by contain- 
ing the products specially formed in each 
particular kind of cell during the nutritive 
process. 

By the researches of numerous investi- 
gators on the internal organization of cells 
in plants and animal, a large body of evi- 
dence has now been accumulated, which 
shows that both the nucleus and the cell 
plasm consist of something more than a 
homogeneous, more or less viscid, slimy 
material. Recognizable objects in the form 
of granules, threads, or fibers can be dis- 
tinguished in each. The cell plasm and the 
nucleus respectively are therefore not of the 
same constitution throughout, but possess 
polymorphic characters, the study of which 
in health and the changes produced by dis- 
ease will for many years to come form im- 
portant matters for investigation. 

Witi1am TURNER. 
(To be concluded. ) 


EXPERIMENTS OF J. J. THOMSON ON THE 
STRUCTURE OF THE ATOM. 

Recent ideas as to the stability of the 
chemical molecule have been much modi- 
fied by the evidence that it is readily dis- 
sociated when a substance is dissolved in 
water. 

The researches now being carried on by 
J. J. Thomson and his assistants on the 
electrical conduction of gases seem to re- 
quire an even more radical and sweeping 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


change in our conception of the structure 
of the atom itself. 

Ordinary gases are perfect non-conductors 
of electricity of low electromotive force. 
Electricity may, however, pass through 
them, more or less readily, under certain 
conditions, viz: 

1. When the electromotive force is suffi- 
cient to produce a spark. 

2. When the pressure of the gas is much 
reduced and a sufficient electromotive force 
is applied; as in a ‘vacuum tube.’ 

3. When the gas is heated very hot, or 
has been recently in violent chemical ac- 
tivity, as in the region above a flame. 

4, When the negative electrode is illu- 
minated by ultra-violet light. 

5. When the gas has been very recently 
exposed to Rontgen rays or to the similar 
rays proceeding from uranium, radium, 
ete. 

Thomson’s investigations on the conduc- 
tion by sparks through gases at ordinary 
pressures, indicated that electrolysis took 
place somewhat as in solutions, and that 
the amount of decomposition was, in several 
cases, essentially the same as in the de- 
composition of solutions. In the case of 
hot gases and the gases in a vacuum tube, 
also there was evidence that the conduction 
was by means of ‘ions’ or portions of 
broken-down molecules which acted as car- 
riers for the current. 

When an electric current passes through 
a solution, it is a fundamental law that a 
univalent atom of any substance carries 
precisely the same charge as a univalent 
atom of any other substance, while a biva- 
lent atom carries just twice this charge. 
The exact charge carried by one atom can- 
not be known until we know the exact 
weight of the atom ; but the charge carried 
by 1 gramme of atoms (e/7) is about 10,000 
units in the case of hydrogen. For any 
other univalent substance, the weight re- 
quired to carry this charge is greater in 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


proportion as its atoms are heavier than 
those of hydrogen. 

Thomson has undertaken to find the 
charge carried by the gaseous ion as fol- 
lows : When the discharge of an induction 
coil is sent through a vacuum tube, there 

.is seen a luminous glow, stretching in a 
straight line from the electrode to the wall 
of the tube. This glow, called the ‘ cath- 
ode ray’ would seem to bea stream of nega- 
tively charged particles, from the cathode, 
or negative terminal in the tube, projected 
in a straight line until some solid obstacle 
is encountered. This cathode ray, when 
it meets the tube, or any body in its path, 
may produce fluorescence ; it always pro- 
duces heating, it also excites the vibrations 
called by Rontgen the X-ray. 

A magnet held near the cathode ray 
draws it to one side, as if it were a conduc- 
tor carrying an electric current. Professor 
Thomson has made use of this property to 
determine the ratio e/m for the electrified 
particles. Of course the more strongly the 
flying particles are charged, the more they 
will be drawn aside from their rectilinear 
path, while the heavier the particles, the 
more nearly would their inertia keep them in 
a straight line. The ratio of the charge to 
the mass of a particle determines its ve- 
locity at right angles to the original direc- 
tion. 

Again, the flying stream may be drawn 
aside from its course by an electrified plate 
at the side of the stream, by which it will 
be attracted or repelled according as the 
plate has a positive or negative charge. 

Both these methods for deflecting the ray 
were employed. The energy of the flying 
particles was also determined from the heat 
which they produced when directed upon a 
thermopile; and the ratio of the charge 
upon the particles to their mass was thus 
found to be about 10’, or nearly 1000 times 
as large as for the hydrogen atom in the 
electrolysis of solutions. 


SCIENCE. 369 


Again, when ultra-violet light falls upon 
an amalgamated zine plate, the gas near the 
plate becomes conducting. Here again if a 
magnetic field is produced near the plate, 
the path of the charged particles is changed. 
This path can no longer be seen, as in the 
cathode ray; it may, however, be inferred 
from the change of conduction, when the 
distance. between the electrodes is varied. 
The ratio of the charge to the mass of the 
particles is, in this case, the same as in the 
cathode ray, as above determined. 

If, as is believed, the electric current in 
these cases consists of a stream of charged 
particles, we are apparently shut up to the 
alternative that the charge of each ion is 
1000 times as great asis found in solutions, 
or that the mass of the ions is zy) as 
great as that of the hydrogen atom. Prob- 
ably the former supposition seems much less 
opposed to our preconceived ideas than the 
latter, but it is a question to be decided by 
experiment rather than by preconceived 
ideas. 

To make a direct measurement of the 
mass of the single ions, or particles taking 
part in electric conduction, Thomson ex- 
amined air which had been rendered con- 
ducting by exposure to Rontgen rays. The 
quantity of electricity carried by such air 
is measured without special difficulty. To 
count the number of ions taking part 
in the conduction is quite another matter. 
This counting has, however, been actually 
accomplished in the following manner: 
Damp air, which has been freed from dust 
by filtering, is exposed to the Rontgen rays 
and its conductivity determined ; itis then 
suddenly expanded to 14 times its volume. 
The expansion and consequent cooling, 
causes a fine fog or mist to form. It has 
been found that when such a mist is formed, 
there is at the center of each drop, a minute 
particle of dust, or other substance, upon 
which condensation has taken place. In 
this case, all the dust had been filtered out, 


370 


but the charged ions performed the same 
duty of allowing condensation to begin, and 
hence the number of water drops is the same 
as the number of ions present in the air. 
To count the number of drops, the weight 
of the cloud is determined by a sensitive 
balance. They are also allowed to settle in 
a bell jar, and the rate of settling is ob- 
served. The calculations of Stokes, based 
upon the viscosity of air, show at what rate 
drops of different size will fall, and from 
this, the size of the water drops is deter- 
mined. The size of the drops and the 
weight of the cloud give the total number 
of drops in the cloud, and hence the num- 
ber of ions present in the air. 

The result of this experiment turns out to 
be that the number of ions, carrying a unit 
quantity of electricity is perhaps a little less, 
certainly not very different, from the num- 
ber carrying a unit quantity in the case of 
solutions. The other alternative seems to 
be the true one, that the mass of each ion 
(or ‘ corpuscle’ as Thomson calls them) has 
about >>> the mass of the hydrogen atom. 
More than this, it seems to be the same for 
all the gases tried, instead of differing with 
their atomic weight, indicating that all these 
gases give off corpuscles of the’same mass. 

These results, revolutionary as they are, 
fit in well with some other facts. Thus, the 
stream of electrified particles constituting 
the cathode ray, is found to penetrate a mass 
of air much farther than would be expected 
if the ray were composed of particles as large 
as atoms, but just about as far as if they 
were ;j57 as large as hydrogen atoms. 
They also penetrate all gases in the inverse 
ratio of their densities. However, if the 
reason for this is to be found in the fact that 
their molecules are all built up of corpuscles 
of the same kind, it must also be true that 
the structure of the molecules is extremely 
porous, allowing the corpuscles to pass 
through them with great freedom. 

Further confirmation of this theory is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


found in a recent discovery by Zeeman in 
spectrum analysis. Whena luminous gasis 
between the poles of an electromagnet, the 
lines of its spectrum are found to be affected 
in such wise as to indicate that the parti- 
cles whose vibrations produce the light are 
electrified ; and the ratio of the charge to 
the mass of the particles is found to be the 
same as for Thomson’s ‘ corpuscles.’ Men- 
deléef, who has grouped the chemical ele- 
ments into a remarkable series of families, 
says ‘‘the periodic law together with the 
revelations of spectrum analysis, have con- 
tributed again to revive an old, but remark- 
ably long-lived hope, that of discovering 
* * the primary matter, which had its 
genesis in the minds of the Grecian philoso- 
phers, and has been transmitted, togethe! 
with many other ideas of the classic period, 
to the heirs of their civilization.” ‘From 
the failures of so many attempts at finding in 
experiment and speculation, a proof of the 
compound character of the elements, and of 
the existence of primordial matter, it is evi- 
dent, in my opinion, that this theory must 
be classed among mere Utopias.”’ 

It would seem that a beginning has been 
made in attaining this Utopia. The theory 
is too new and too extreme to have received 
the scrutiny and the criticism which it de- 
serves. It yet remains to be seen whether 
it is consistent with the low internal energy 
of gaseous molecules, or whether it will 
prove valuable in explaining the electrical, 
magnetic or chemical properties of bodies. 
Its author has already published a number 
of suggestive ‘speculations’ as to the part 
played by corpuscles in electrical and heat 
conduction, in the Thomson effect, in the 
magnetism of rotating matter (terrestrial 
magnetism?) and in a number of the other 
electrical properties of bodies, which at least 
indicate some of the possibilities of the new 
theory in the domain of molecular physics. 

Cuartes A. PERKINS. 

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE. 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


INVESTIGATIONS AT COLD SPRING HARBOR. 
THE investigations at this Laboratory 
during the present summer have covered a 
wide field as the following enumeration of 
subjects and abstracts shows. In Botany 
work is being done in the determination of 
the species of the rich cryptogamic flora of 
the vicinity, in the study of the tension zone 
where fresh water and marine species meet 
and in various other ecological matters. In 
Zoology, investigations are being carried 
out on the supermatogenesis of certain 
higher crustacea, on the development of 
Trematodes, of Squilla, of Phascolosoma, of 
Pectinatella and of Hemiptera. Studies on 
the development of color markings in in- 
sects have made good progress, the insect 
fauna is being systematically studied, and 
the food habits of fishes are being ana- 
lyzed. Quantitative variation"studies are 
being carried out on sea anemones, Daph- 
nia, Amphipoda, lamellibranchs, Myria- 
poda, several groups of insects and mice. 
The following brief statements give further 
details concerning some of these studies. 


Cryptogamic Studies at Cold Spring Harbor : 

By Dr. D. 8. Jonnson. 

The work accomplished in the study of 
the cryptogams, aside from class work, has 
been chiefly systematic, including a study 
of the distribution of the marine alge in 
various parts of Cold Spring Harbor, Hun- 
tington Harbor, and Smithtown Bay. Few 
new forms have been added to the flora, 
but forms hitherto known only from free 
fragments have been found abundantly in 
their natural habitat. Many notes have 
also been made as to the different species 
preponderating in the same locality in dif- 
ferent years. Fungi have been much re- 
stricted in distribution and numbers because 
of the dry season, but several interesting 
finds have been made. Of the Myxomy- 
cetes, Mr. D. N. Shoemaker has added 
twelve additional genera and thirty-eight 


SCLENCE. 


371 


additional species to those reported from 
other sources in Jelliffe’s list of Long Island 
plants and only one species mentioned by 
Jelliffe has not been seen here. Several 
specimens of Dictyophora (Ravenellii?) ap- 
parently new to the Island have been 
found and a group of over twenty speci- 
mens of Simblum rubescens, of which four 
had double stipes and an elongated recep- 
taculum. 


Studies in Ecology: By Dr. Henry O. Cow es. 

The work in this department has been 
chiefly along two lines. Considerable at- 
tention has been paid to variations in form, 
especially in leaves, with a view to the sug- 
gestion of a series of hypotheses, which may 
be made the basis of further observation 
and experiment on these matters. Perhaps 
the most fruitful field of study has been in 
relation to the development of the Long 
Island vegetation in connection with the 
physiography. The succession of plant so- 
cieties along the xerophytic shores strik- 
ingly resembles that along the Great Lakes. 
The genetic relations of salt, brackish and 
fresh swamps have been looked into, and 
one student has taken up this problem as a 
special field for research. Another student 
is preparing to make a comparative chem- 
ical analysis of forms which grow in both 
maritime and inland conditions. Two other 
students are contemplating leaf variation 
studies. Our present plans also include a 
series of culture experiments on halophytes 
conducted in the interior under various soil 
conditions. 


Trematode Studies: By Dr. H. 8. Pratt. 
The adult form of Apoblema (Distoma) 
appendiculatum has been found in consider- 
able numbers in the menhaden, attached to 
the wall of the stomach. Immature forms 
of this worm have been plentiful at Cold 
Spring Harbor during the past five years, 
although they have not been observed at 
any other part of the Atlantic coast of this 


372 


country. They occur in the body-cavity of 
copepods and also free-swimming in the 
plankton. 

Three species of Trematodes have been 
observed on the gills of Fundulus heterocli- 
tus. Two of them are minute monogenetic 
Trematodes belonging to the genera Tetra- 
onchus and Gyrodactylus which have not be- 
fore been observed in North America. The 
species of Tetraonchus is undoubtedly a new 
one. It is found attached to the gills, 
from one to three individuals usually occur- 
ring on each fish. The species of Gyro- 
dactylus was rare, but four individuals 
being found during five weeks on the 
large number of fishes examined. The 
species is probably new although it may 
prove to be identical with G. Groenlandicus 
Levinsen. 

In addition to these monogenetic Tre- 
matodes large numbers of an encysted 
distomid worm belonging to the genus 
Echinostomum were also found. The cysts 
are oval in shape, each containing a single 
worm. ‘These were found in all stages of 
development, the largest showing the two 
suckers, the digestive and excretory tracts, 
and the characteristic oralspines. In quite 
small fishes the cysts were either absent or 
contained very young worms, and numerous 
minute ciliated organisms, which were prob- 
ably the miracidia of Echinostomum were 
found swimming rapidly over the surface 
of the gills or lying closely applied to 
them. 


Development of Squilla Empusa: By Dr. C. 

P. SigERFoos. 

This interesting form has been found in 
great numbers and is apparently much 
more abundant than usual. It lives at low 
tide mark in muddy sand to soft mud, in 
burrows one to four feet or more in length 
and open at both ends. Observations on 
the development arein progress. The eggs, 
very numerous and less than a millimeter 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S Von. XII. No. 297. 


in diameter, are cemented into a large plate, 
which is rolled into a bunch and carried in 
a basket formed by the anterior thoracic 
appendages. The incubation seems to be 
slow, and the larve are about all hatched 
before August 1st. The new-hatched larva 
is two and a half millimeters long and of 
much more advanced organization than in 
the forms described by Claus. It moults 
in three days. The later stages have been 
taken in the tow-net and at this writing 
(August 11th), are seven millimeters long 
and in perhaps the sixth or seventh stage. 
The smallest adults found are over ten 
centimeters long indicating that this size is 
attained in one year. 


Variations in Color pattern produced by Changes 
in Temperature and Moisture: By W. L. 
TOWER. 

The relations which exist between the 
variations of the color pattern, moisture 
and temperature conditions have been tested 
experimentally during the last two years in 
Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say, the Colo- 
rado potato beetle. Extremely abnormal 
conditions were avoided and only such devi- 
ations from the normal were used as might 
be encountered in different parts of North 
America. In several series of experiments 
known deviations of temperature and moist- 
ure were used and the results derived by 
quantitative methods. 

The series of experiments show that a de- 
viation above the normal (+ ) of either tem- 
perature or moisture, or both, up to a certain 
critical maximum, will produce melanism ; 
but a deviation of either factor beyond this 
maximum will produce albinism. A devia- 
tion below the normal (—) produces albi- 
nism if both factors are —; but a + temper- 
ature and a — humidity produce albinic 
specimens ; and a — temperature and a + 
humidity produce melanism up to the crit- 
ical point where the opposite color vari- 
ations begin to predominate. 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


A Study of the Variations in the Number of 
Grooves upon the Shells of Pecten irradians 
(Lam.): By Frank KH. Lurz. 

The material for this study was gathered 
from Hast Beach, Northport Bay, L. I., 
during the scallop season of 1899-1900. 
The Beach is an extremely well-protected 
one in an almost land-locked harbor. The 
results given by a count of five hundred 
specimens of each valve were as follows: 

Lower valve.—Average = 17.456 = 0.022; 
Standard Deviation = 0.726 + 0.015 ; Co- 
efficient of Variability = 4.163% = 0.888%. 

Upper valve.—A verage = 17.110 = 0.027 ; 
Standard Deviation = 0.922 + 0.019; Co- 
efficient of Variability = 5.388% + 0.115%. 

The curves obtained in both cases were 
nearly normal—that of the lower valve 
approaching the closer. The shells show 
the least variability of any Pectens yet 
studied. 


Statistical Studies on Sand Fleas: By MABEL 

HE. SMALLWoop. 

Five hundred sand fleas (Talorchestia), 
apparently adult, were gathered from the 
Sand Spit at Cold Spring Harbor. They 
ranged in length from 15 mm. to 27.5 mm. 
The length of the antennee ranged from 5.5 
mm. to 24.4 mm., the average was 13.01 
mm. + 0.14 mm. and the standard deviation 
was 4.67. Attempts to fit a theoretical 
unimodal curve were unsuccessful. From 
inspection of the distribution of frequencies 
it seems probable that the observed curve is 
multimodal with two principal modes placed 
so near together that their distinctness is 
hidden, and that these two modes corre- 
spond to two moultings. The length of 
the tentacle is proportionately much longer 
in the larger individuals and it seems prob- 
able that the two recognized species—T. 
megalopthalma and T. longicornis are merely 
two different moults of the same species. 
Breeding experiments are now in progress 
to test this conclusion. 


SCLENCE. 


373 


Pedigree Mouse Breeding: By C. B. DAvVEN- 

PORT. 

Quantitative data are being collected 
from a colony of fifty mice of different races 
concerning inheritance of color and other 
measurablecharacteristics. Especially note- 
worthy are the relative prepotency of dif- 
ferent races, reversion, the skipping of a 
generation in inheritance, the localization of 
white patches and of the other parental 
color-markings on particular parts of the 
body of the offspring. The results are not 
yet ready for publication. 

C. B. DAVENPORT. 


CoLpD SPRING HARBOR, L. I., 
August, 1900. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Tarr and McMurry’s Geographies. First Book— 
Home Geography and the Earth as a Whole. 
Pp. xiii + 279. Second Book—North Amer- 
ica, with an especial full treatment of the 
United States and its dependencies. By 
RaupH §. TARR and FRANK M. McMurry. 
New York, Macmillan. 1900. Pp. xviii + 
469. 

The first volume is a disappointment. The 
authors call it ‘a radical innovation,’ but the 
claim does not seem well founded. Apparently 
they have meant to make the Home Geog- 
raphy and the maps the features. 

Home Geography is a misnomer for the book. 
The idea that the child ought to begin with the 
study of forms about him is good, but not new, 
and the idea is not realized in this volume. A 
few sentences connect hills and valleys and 
soils with environment; the mountains are said 
to look like clouds on the horizon. The rest is 
descriptive and not Home Geography at all. 

Suggestions for further home study are ap- 
pended to the chapters, 8 or 10 pages in the 
280, but they are subordinate and will be neg- 
lected by most teachers as such, especially as 
teachers are still untrained in outdoor work. 

For instance, the first suggestion is, ‘‘ Find a 
place where men are digging a ditch or cellar, 
to see how the dirt looks below the surface ’’— 
an admirable thing to do, but the inertia of the 


374 


ages is against its realization. The children 
will not do that part of the work unless it is 
talked of in class and the teacher cannot make 
anything of it unless she goes and does the 
work herself. She will not go without stronger 
urgings than these footnote-like suggestions. 
There is no evidence in this book that the 
authors have ever tried to teach children to 
look about them, and it does not appear that 
teachers trained in books only will be inspired 
by this one to begin outdoor studies for them- 
selves. 

Putting aside the pretence of basing the book 
on home study, the introduction on Physical 
Geography is good, though Frye is a predecessor 
in that line, and a worthy one. 

The portion of the volume that treats of the 
United States is interesting and admirable, 
brightened continually by bits of realistic de- 
scription from personal knowledge that are 
very effective. The pictures here, too, are ad- 
mirable, for instance, the cowboy and horse at 
page 182. 

The basing of descriptions on Physiography 
might be better. Thus in accounting for the 
greatness of New York City the hollow across 
the Appalachians in which the Mohawk flows 
is not mentioned and the real connection of 
New York with the interior not pointed out. 
For anything pointed out in the book the Mo- 
hawk might enter the Hudson by a narrow 
cafion. Yet canal and railroads are but utiliza- 
tions of the open valley. Again, ‘sinking of 
the land’ cannot be bluntly stated to children 
as an intelligent reason for the embayed coast. 
The idea is one they have difficulty in grasping 
with much explanation, and to simplify by 
omitting explanation is unsatisfactory. So, too, 
cross-sections are used to explain mountain 
building without elucidation, as in Fig. 90, 
called a valley sliced through. Apart from the 
careless drawing of the diagram it is likely to 
remain a queer picture until the pupils’ minds 
are prepared for it. Theidea is yet geometric 
and even grown teachers have considerable 
trouble in understanding it on first acquaint- 
ance. Several pages are devoted to ‘ Reasons 
why Philadelphia is a great City,’ and after 
reading them one is inclined to ask: ‘ Well, 
why ?’? The text does not make it clear why 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


Trenton, for instance, did not take the greater 
growth. 

The geography is constantly connected with 
history and this is done with much judgment. 
In describing Turkey a word might have been 
devoted tothe presence of the Turks in Europe. 
Reference to p. 271 for height of the Spanish 
plateau (p. 230) fails to obtain information. 
Manitoba, described in the text is not on any 
of the maps. Under caravans (p. 234) a good 
opportunity was passed to show why camels 
travel in groups. The Manila house, p. 2538, 
should be compared with the similar houses in 
the West Indies. If the Chinamen in this coun- 
try are worth mentioning and their exclusion 
of foreigners from their territory, surely it was 
in order to note the present restrictions placed 
on their immigration here by our government. 
On p. 201 thetimpression is likely to be obtained 
that Spanish is spoken in Brazil and at 205 
that Lima, eight miles from the Pacific, is an 
interior city. 

The second part of the ‘innovation’ in this 
volume is in maps which by their small size 
allow the volumes to take the handy duodec- 
imosize, ‘unimportant names’ being excluded. 
Comparison is challenged in the statement of 
belief that the ‘maps are the best thus far 
printed in an American geography.’ 

Now the small size is no innovation of Tarr 
and McMurry. Professor Davis adopted it two 
years ago in his ‘Physical Geography ’ and his 
long teaching of the adequacy of small maps for 
many purposes is not unknown to his pupils. 
Some of the maps here are very good indeed but 
they hardly surpass some of those in the Amer- 
ican Book Company’s new geographies, while 
some of the maps in the present volume are un- 
pardonably bad, e. g., the hemispheres, Fig. 119, 
Europe in Fig. 120, where simplicity of names is 
attained by representing Europe’s chief cities as 
London, Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Constan- 
tinople and Gibraltar (!). The two-page Hurope, 
Fig. 183 has an orography worthy of the mid- 
dle ages, the Alps being in northern Italy while 
Pyrenees, Apennines and Carpathians have al- 
together insignificant relief. The introduction 
of the map idea by the sketches in Fig. 91 is 
entirely amiss. The fundamental distinction 
between pictures and maps is the introduction 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


of perspective in a picture. But the pretended 
views of Fig. 91 are not views at all but maps 
differently colored. The Nova Scotia St. Law- 
rence view for instance shows no foreshortening 
with distances, but the same defect is present 
in the first sketch. Itis an attempt to teach 
by trickery ; for being false maps they cannot 
convey the idea of what a map really is. 

Now that the objections have been stated let 
me hasten to express a hope that the small size 
geography has come to stay. 

The maps of North America, Fig. 123, and the 
New England States, Fig. 125, seem to me very 
beautiful maps, but will Brockton and Haverhill 
agree that Plymouth is more important in New 
England geography than they? The make-up 
of the book is attractive, but it should be much 
revised before being offered to the schools. 

The good features of the volume are devel- 
oped in the admirable Second Book, ‘ North 
America.’ After occupying a quarter of their 
space with a hastily written account of gen- 
eral physical geography, the authors present a 
splendid picture of the varied life and indus- 
tries of different parts of this country, profusely 
illustrated. This portion of the book is admir- 
able. Where older or briefer books have con- 
tented themselves with stating occupations and 
products, Tarr and McMurray describe industries 
so vividly and realistically that the interest is 
absorbing. Professor Tarr’s books make ‘ easy 
reading,’ and this one is no exception. It is 
to be hoped the use of the volume will be wide- 
spread. The teacher’s part will be easy. His- 
tory and industry are both referred to a geo- 
graphic basis. | 

Each volume is closed by statistical tables 
and a pronouncing vocabulary. The latter 
would be more valuable did it not attempt a 
closeness of sound reproduction that demands 
special knowledge of languages and sounds for 
proper handling. Some inconsistencies and 
mispronunciatious result. Accent and sounds 
of Spanish words need special revision. Tus- 
con for Tucson is the only misprint noted in the 
two volumes though a number of errors in the 
pronunciation are very likely chargeable to the 
printer. The maps are admirable apart from 
the hemispheres and Mercator repeated from the 
First Book. Mark 8. W. JEFFERSON. 


SCIENCE. 


375 


Wireless Telegraphy and Hertzian Waves. By 
S. R. Borrone. Whittaker & Co., London. 
Cloth. Pp. 116. 35 illustrations. 

This little book contains a brief account of 
the phenomena of Hertzian waves and of the de- 
velopment of the system of transmitting sig- 
nals known as wireless telegraphy. The first 
chapter is intended for readers who are not 
familiar with even the more elementary ideas 
concerning electrical phenomena. The second 
chapter gives a brief account of the historical 
development of wireless telegraphy, and the 
next chapter on Hertzian waves describes in a 
very simple manner the methods of generating 
these waves and some of the methods of detect- 
ing them, especially those employing the co- 
herer. The chapter on constructional details, 
which comprises nearly half the book, contains 
directions for making in an inexpensive way 
the apparatus required for experiments in the 
field of wireless telegraphy. 

The comparison which the author makes be- 
tween the action of a coherer and the action of 
iron filings in a helix through which an electri- 
cal current is passing is rather a misleading 
one, and the impression is given that it is nec- 
essary to have the coherer circuit carefully 
tuned to the transmitting circuit in order to 
have the coherer respond. Otherwise for a 
simple presentation of so difficult a subject the 
book contains very few misleading statements. 

1M, IL, Ab 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

In the September number of The American 
Journal of Physiology J. Van Denburgh and O. 
B. Wright present a carefully prepared account 
of their experiments ‘On the physiological ac- 
tion of the poisonous secretion of the Gila 
Monster (Heloderma suspectum).’ They find 
that the poison is essentially like the various 
snake venoms in its effects. The rate of respi- 
ration, the activity of the heart, the irritability 
of the sensory apparatus, the rapidity of coagu- 
lation of the blood, all suffer first an increase, 
and later a retardation with a gradual total 
loss of function. This primary quickening and 
secondary paralysis is not seen in the vaso- 
motor center; instead, the poison causes im- 
mediately a great fall in blood pressure due to 


316 


vascular dilatation. The motor nerves are en- 
tirely unaffected. The red blood corpuscles 
are often rendered spherical by the poison, 
and, outside the body at least, the blood may 
be laked. The secretion of urine is stopped. 
Death usually results from respiratory paral- 
ysis, though, in case artificial respiration is 
maintained, death ensues from cardiac failure. 
Lafayette B. Mendel communicates four brief 
contributions to physiological chemistry from 
the Sheffield Laboratory of Yale Univer- 
sity. In the first of the papers Professor Mendel 
gives an analysis of three species of West 
Indian corals examined for iodine and declares 
that for many organisms iodine is as essential 
an element as is chlorine for others. The 
second paper, ‘Glycogen formation after inulin 
feeding,’ by R. Nakaseko, concludes with the 
statement that for the rabbit at least, the gly- 
cogen-forming properties of inulin must still be 
regarded as uncertain or minimal. G. A. Han- 
ford’s work on ‘ The influence of acids on the 
amylolytic action of saliva,’ shows the im- 
possibility of designating any percentage of 
acid or alkali which inhibits salivary digestion 
in a definite degree. The absolute amount of 
saliva and the attendant variation in the quan- 
tity of proteid matter present determine the 
character of the action. Free hydrochloric 
acid is certain to cause more or less complete 
inhibition of salivary action. The fourth con- 
tribution, by J. H. Goodman, ‘ On the connec- 
tive tissue in muscle’ is an account of experi- 
ments proving that the substance in muscle 
connective tissue described by Schepilewsky as 
mucin, is neither a glycoproteid nor a nucleo- 
proteid, but resembles the stroma substance de- 
scribed by J. von Holmgren. B. Moore and 
W. H. Parker report a study of the effects 
of complete removal of the mammary glands 
on the formation of lactose. This research 
consists of an examination of the urine for 
sugar during gestation and at the time of 
parturition after complete extirpation of the 
mammary glands. If lactose be formed else- 
where than in the mammary glands it should 
appear in the blood at parturition and hence in 
the urine. The mammary glands of two goats 
were removed after several weeks of gestation. 
Parturition took place normally in both cases 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


and the urine contained no reducing sugar. 
The authors believe that lactose is formed in 
the cells of the mammary gland and not from 
any intermediate substance carried to the gland 
by the blood. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE COPYRIGHT OF UNIVERSITY LECTURES. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In comment- 
ing on the decision of the House of Lords in 
the Times vy. Lane case, you say (SCIENCE, 
Aug. 24, p. 319), ‘‘ Perhaps the lectures given to 
aclass of students, * * * arenotmade public.’ 
On appeal from the Supreme Court of Scotland, 
this was, however, decided by the House of 
Lords just fifteen years ago, in the famous case 
of Caird vy. Sime. Sime was a second-hand 
bookseller in Glasgow, who sold many text- 
books to the students of that University. He 
conceived the idea that he might turn a penny 
by getting the lectures of Edward Caird, pro- 
fessor of moral philosophy, then the most in- 
fluential teacher in the University, and publish- 
ing them. He didso. The Scotch Courts de- 
cided against Caird, but on appeal to the House 
of Lords the decision was reversed, and a pro- 
fessor or lecturer was held to have his own 
copyright. It is curious to note, looking to the 
decision of the Scottish Court in the Caird case, 
that the minority in the Times case in the House 
of Lords was the Scottish member of the Court 
of Final Appeal. R. M. WENLEY. 


THE INTERNATIONAL PSYCHICAL INSTITUTE. 

To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Observing that 
my name figures in Bulletin No. 1, July, 1900, 
of the ‘Institut Psychique International’ as 
the member of the Council cf Organization for 
America, I find myself compelled to state pub- 
licly that this appearance of my name is unau- 
thorized. WILLIAM JAMES. 

NAUHEIM, August 24, 1900. 


THE FRENCH ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 

Iv appears difficult to secure any information 
in regard to the French Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. We have been unable to 
get programs by addressing the officers of the 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900.] 


Association, and the French Scientific Journals 
do not contain any regular announcements or 
reports of the meetings. The address of the 
President, General Sebert, before the Paris 
meeting is, however, published in several jour- 
nals and the report of the Treasurer is printed 
in full in the Revue Scientifique. 

M. Sebert reviewed the progress of mechan- 
ical science, and devoted the last third of his 
address to an international catalogue of scien- 
tific literature. It is rather curious that he 
does not in any way refer to the International 
Catalogue, but states that the problem is being 
solved by the Institut International de Biogra- 
phie, established by MM. Lafontaine and Otlet 
in Brussels in 1895. The Dewey system of 
classification is adopted by them, and M. Sebert 
devotes a considerable part of his address to 
explaining the system which he advocates in 
warm terms. 

The finances of the French Association are of 
interest. The capital amounts to 1,326,917 fr., 
chiefly due to legacies such as the American 
Association has never received. The income 
last year was about $17,000,-of which nearly 
$7000 was income from the capital and about 
$10,000 represented the dues of members. 
These figures apparently are much more favor- 
able than those of the American Association, in 
which the income from permanent funds was 
last year $233 and receipts from,;members 
$6216. It appears, however, that, owing to 
the cost of the volume of proceedings and of 
administration, the expenses of the French 
Association are considerably larger than the 
receipts from the annual dues of members, 
whereas, during the past two years, the Ameri- 
can Association has been able to transfer to the 
permanent funds a portion of the dues received 
from members. 

Although about half of the interest on the 
capital is used for current expenses, there is 
still a considerable sum—about $3000—which 
is annually awarded for the promotion of re- 
search. Among the larger grants made last 
year were: $300 to M. Giard for the publica- 
tion of papers from the laboratory at Wimereux ; 
$300 to M. Deniker for the publication of his 
book on the races of Europe; $240 to M. 
Lacaze-Duthiers towards repairing the steam- 


SCIENCE. 


377 


boat of the zoological laboratory at Arago, and 
$200 to M. Turpain for researches in tele- 
graphy by Hertzian waves. 


THE ELECTRICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHT UPON 
GREEN LEAVES.* 

In the preliminary communication recently 
made to the Royal Society, the author shows 
how, from the study of the electrical effects of 
light upon the retina, he was led to ask whether 
the chemical changes aroused by the action of 
light upon green leaves are also accompanied 
by electrical effects demonstrable in the same 
way as the eye currents. The question is 
tested in the following way: A young leaf 
freshly gathered is laid upon a glass plate and 
connected with a galvanometer by means of 
two unpolarizable clay electrodes A and B. 
The half of the leaf connected with A is shaded 
by a piece of black paper. An inverted glass 
jar forms a moist chamber to leaf and elec- 
trodes, which are then enclosed in a box pro- 
vided with a shuttered aperture through which 
light can be directed. A water trough in the 
path of the light serves to cut out heat more or 
less. Under favorable conditions there is ob- 
tained with such an arrangement a true elec- 
trical response to light, consisting in the estab- 
lishment of a potential difference between il- 
luminated and non-illuminated half of a leaf, 
amounting to 0.02 volt. 

The deflection of the galvanometer spot dur- 
ing illumination is such as to indicate current 
in the leaf from excited to protected part. The 
deflection begins and ends sharply with the 
beginning and end of illumination ; it is pro- 
voked slightly by diffuse daylight, more by an 
electric arc-light, most by bright sunlight. It 
is abolished by boiling the leaf, and by the 
action of an anesthetic, carbon dioxide. 

The first experiments, made at the end of 
March, were upon iris leaves taken from plants 
about six inches high, and the response to light 
was then between 0.001 and 0.002 volt in value. 
Experiments upon similar leaves were resumed 
early in May, when it appeared that the exter- 
nal condition in which the state of the leaf is 

* Abstract of a paper presented before the Royal 
Society by Augustus D. Waller, M.D., F.R.S., and 
published in Nature. 


378 


most obviously governed is temperature. On 
warm days the response ranged from 0.005 to 
0.02 volt; on cold days it did not rise above 
0.005, and was sometimes nil. Some tests upon 
leaves in a warmed box gave satisfactory re- 
sults, which may thus be summed up: The 
normal response at 15°-20° C. is diminished or 
abolished at low temperature (10°) augmented 
at high temperature (30°), diminished at higher 
temperature (50°), and abolished by boiling. 

As the month of May advanced, the iris 
leaves, even in the warm box, became more 
and more inert, and by the 23d inst., when the 
plants were mostly full grown and in flower, 
no satisfactory leaf could be found. Leaves of 
iris appear to give more marked response at or 
about mid-day, than at orabout6p.m. Tested 
by Sach’s method the leaves give no evidence 
of starch activity during isolation. 

On the failure of the iris leaves to react, 
other leaves were sought for which should give 
evident differences of reaction in correlation 
with evident differences of state. Leaves of 
tropzeolum and of mathiola gave a response to 
light contrary in the main to the ordinary iris 
response, viz, ‘positive’ during illumination, 
and subsequently ‘negative.’ In these two 
cases leaves empty of starch acted better than 
leaves laden with starch. Leaves of begonia 
gave a variety of responses strongly suggestive 
of the simultaneous action of two opposed 
forces effecting a resultant deflection in a + 
or — direction. Leaves of ordinary garden 
shrubs and trees, etc., e. g., lilac, pear, almond, 
mulberry, vine, ivy, gave no distinct response ; 
this is possibly due to a lower average metabo- 
lism in such leaves as compared with the ac- 
tivity of leaves of small young plants in which 
leaf-functions are presumably concentrated 
within a smaller area. The petals of flowers 
gave no distinct response, which indicates that 
chloroplasts are essential to the reaction. 

The effect of carbon dioxide upon the iris 
leaf was abolition of response during and 
after passage of the gas, with subsequent aug- 
mentation. Upon mathiola and trapzolum, 
augmentation of response followed on applying 
air containing 1 to 8 per 100 of carbon dioxide, 
and prompt abolition resulted from a full stream 
tun through the leaf-chamber. On the air 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


supply being kept clear of carbon dioxide there 
was gradual abolition of response, followed by 
gradual recovery on the re-admission of a small 
amount of carbon dioxide. 

‘Fatigue’ effects may be produced if the 
successive illuminations (of five minutes dura- 
tion) are repeated at short intervals (10 min- 
utes). At intervals of one hour, successive 
illuminations of five minutes produce approxi- 
mately equal effects. With the leaf of mathiola, 
periods of illumination of two minutes at in- 
tervals of 15 minutes were used without pro- 
voking any obvious sign of fatigue. 


SCIENCE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS. 


THE Commissioners for the Exhibition of 
1851, as we learn from the London Times, have 
made the following appointments to Science 
Research Scholarships for the year 1900 on the 
recommendation of the authorities of the re- 
spective universities and colleges. The scholar- 
ships are of the value of £150 a year, and are 
ordinarily tenable for two years (subject to a 
satisfactory report at the end of the first year) 
in any university at home or abroad, or in some 
other institution approved of by the Commis- 
sioners. The scholars are to devote themselves 
exclusively to study and research in some 
branch of science, the extension of which is 
important to the industries of the country. A 
limited number of the scholarships are renewed 
for a third year where it appears that the re- 
newal is likely to result in work of scientific 
importance. 


Nominating Institution. 


Scholar. 


University of Edinburgh. . 
University of Glasgow...... 
University of Aberdeen..... 
Yorkshire College, Leeds... 
University Coll., Liverpool.. 
University College, London 
Owens College, Manchester. 
Univ. Coll., Nottingham.... 
Uniy. Coll. of South Wales 

and Monmouthshire, Car- 

Gli? socsonadcononocoonaasSood 
Royal Coll. Science, Dublin. 
Queen’s College, Galway.... 
University of Toronto. ..... 
Queens University, Kings- 

ton, Ontarion. Saco see 
Dalhousie University, Hali- 

fax, Nova Scotia. 
University of Sydney........ 


Charles E. Fawsitt, B.Sc. 
Vincent J. Blyth, M.A. 
James Moir, M.A., B.Sc. 
William M. Varley, B.Sc. 
John C. W. Humfrey, B.Se. 
Samuel Smiles, B.Sc. 
Norman Smith, B.Sc. 
Lorenzo L. Lloyd. 


Alice L. Embleton, B.Sc. 
John A. Cunningham, B.A. 
William S. Mills, B.A. 

John Patterson, B.A. 


| William C. Baker, A.M. 


James Barnes, M.A. 
John J. E. Durack, B.A. 


The following scholarships granted in 1898 
and 1899 have been continued for a second year 


SEPIEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


SCIENCE. 


on receipt of a satisfactory report of work done 


during the first 


year : 


Nominating Insti- 
tution. 


Scholar. 


Place of Study. 


Uniy. St. Andrews.. 

Mason Univ. Coll., 
Birmingham. 

Univ. Coll., Bristol. 


Yorkshire College, 
Leeds. 
Univ. Coll., Liver- 


pool. 
Uniy. Coll., London 


Owens Coll., Man- 
chester. 

Durham Coll. Sci., 
Newcastle - upon- 


yne. 

Uniy. Coll., Not- 
tingham. 

Univ. Coll. Wales, 
Aberystwith. 


Uniy. Coll. of North 
Wales, Bangor. 
Queens Coll., Bel- 

fast. 
ga Uniy., Mon- 


treal. 
Uniy. of Melbourne 


Queen’s Coll., Cork. 
Univ. of New Zea- 


land. 
Univ. Coll., London 


J. C. Irvine, B.Sc.” 

Henry L. Heath 
cote, B.Sc. 

Winif. E. Walker, 
B.Se. 

Fred. W. Skirrow, 
B.Se. 

Charles G. Barkla, 
B.Se. 

Harriette Chick, 
B.Se. 

Frank A. Lidbury, 


B.Se. 
William Campbell, 
B.Se. 


Louis Lownds, B.Sc. 


James T. Jenkins, 
B.Sc. 


Robert D. Abell, 
Se. 

William Caldwell, 

William B. McLean, 
B.Sc. 

Bertram D. Steele, 


~5C. 
Ed. J. Butler, M.B. 
Joseph W. Mellor, 


IBSECs 
Louis N. G. Filon, 
M.A. 


Uniy. of Leipzig. 
Uniy. of Leipzig. 
Coll., Lon- 
Univ. of Leipzig. 
Cavendish La»., 
Cambridge. 
Thompson- Yates 
Lab., Uniy. Coll., 
Liverpool. 
Univ. of Leipzig. 


Royal Coll. of Sci., 
S. Kensington. 


Uniy. of Berlin. 


Univ. of Kiel and 
Biol. Institution, 
Heligoland. 

Uniy. of Leipzig. 


Univ. Wurzburg. 


Owens Coll., Man- 
chester. 
Uniy. of Breslau. 


Uniy. of Freiburg. 

Owens Coll., Man- 
chester. 

King’s Coll., Cam- 
bridge. 


The following scholarships granted in 1898 
have been exceptionally renewed for a third 


year : 


Nominating Insti- 
tution. 


Scholar. 


Place of Study. 


Mason Uniy. Coll., 
Birmingham. 
Yorkshire College, 


Leeds. 
Royal Coll. of Sci., 
ublin. 
Dalhousie _ Univ., 
Halifax, N. 8. 


A. H. H. Buller,) Univ. of Munich. 


B.Se., Ph.D 
Harry T. 


‘Calvert, | Uniy. of Leipzig. 


B.Sc. 
Rob. L. Wills, B.A.| Cavendish  Lab., 


Cambridge. 


Eben. H.Archibald,| Harvard Univ. 
M.Sc. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
PROFESSOR A. MICHELSON, of the University 
of Chicago, has been awarded the grand prize of 
the Paris Exposition for his Echelon spectro- 


scope. 


Iris reported that Professor Haeckel, of Jena, 
is about to start for Java to conduct explora- 
tions in search of Pithecanthropus erectus. 


In the matter of the vacancy arising from the 
death of Professor James HE. Keeler, the presi- 
dent and board of regents of the University of 
California have authorized astronomer W. W. 


O19 


Campbell to discharge the duties of the director 
of the Lick Observatory, ad interim. 

M. M. OvsTaLeT and DEPOUSARQUES have 
been nominated by the Paris Academy of Sci- 
ences for the chair of zoology in the Muséum 
d’Histoire naturelle, rendered vacant by the 
death of Professor Milne-Hdwards. One of 
these candidates will be selected by the minister 
of public instruction. 

Mr. THoMAS LARGE has been appointed assist- 
ant in charge of the Fresh Water Biological Sta- 
tion of the University of Illinois, at Meredosia, 
Illinois, to succeed Dr. C. A. Kofoid, who, as we 
have already announced, has accepted a call to 
the University of California. 

Mr. J. STIRLING, Government geologist of 
Victoria, is at present in London, and will ad- 
dress several scientific societies during his stay 
in England. 

Surcron A. R. THomas of the U. 8. Marine 
Hospital Service has been sent to Glasgow to 
investigate the bubonic plague which appears 
to be increasing in that city. 

THE Government of Queensland has engaged 
Dr. Maxwell, the sugar expert of Honolulu, for 
five years’ service on the Food Commission at 
a salary of $20,000 a year. 

Dr. F. RoEMER, assistant in the Zoological 
Institute at Breslau, has been made curator in 
the Senckenbergischen Museum at Frankfurt- 
on-the-Main. 

Proressor K. LAMPERT, of Stuttgart, has 
been made curator of the Royal Natural His- 
tory collections. 


Dr. D. Morris, the British Commissioner 
of Agriculture for the West Indies, is at pres- 
ent in Great Britain for the purpose of report- 
ing to the Colonial office. 

Dr. C. VircHow has been appointed chemist 
in the geological bureau at Berlin. 

Tuer tomb of Sir Humphrey Davy, at Geneva, 
which for some years was in a neglected state, 
has recently been renovated. 

Dr. JoHN ANDERSON, M.D., F.R.S., has 
died at Buxton at the age of 66 years. He was 
appointed superintendent of the Indian Mu- 
seum, Calcutta, in 1865, and made several ex- 
peditions to China. He was the author of 


380 


numerous and important contributions to zo- 
ology and the literature of scientific explora- 
tions. 


WE regret to learn of the death of Professor 
Henry Sidgwick, who was recently compelled 
by ill health to resign the professorship of 
moral philosophy at Cambridge University. 
Professor Sidgwick was born in Yorkshire on 
May 31, 1838, and was educated at Rugby and 
Trinity College. He was elected a fellow of 
Trinity College, but resigned owing to the re- 
ligious tests then imposed. He was, however, 
elected an honorary fellow of Trinity in 1881, 
and in 1883 became Knightbridge professor of 
moral philosophy. Professor Sidgwick pub- 
lished numerous and important books on eth- 
ical and economic subjects which united in a 
rare degree genius and scientific caution. 


FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE, the philos- 
opher and man of letters, died on August 25th 
at Weimar, where for eleven years he had been 
living hopelessly insane at the home of his sister. 
Nietzsche was formerly professor of oriental 
languages at Basle, but later gave this up to 
travel and to write his remarkable books which 
showed genius of a destructive rather than of a 
constructive character. They are of interest to 
men of science, because he was greatly influ- 
enced by modern theories of biological evolu- 
tion. 

THE death is announced of Sir John Bennett 
Lawes, F.R.S., at the age of 86 years. He was 
educated at Hton and Oxford, and early began 
the study of scientific agriculture, being one of 
the first to use bone dressing and artificial fer- 
tilizers. He was the author of over one hun- 
dred papers on the scientific aspects of agricul- 
ture. 

Sir MALCOLM FRASER, a civil engineer, form- 
erly Surveyor-general and Colonial Secretary of 
Western Australia, died at Clifton on August 
17th, aged 66 years. 

THE Fourth International Congress of Psy- 
chology opened at Paris on August 20th with 
an attendance of about 400 and a long list of 
papers on its program. ‘The first general ad- 
dresses were given by M. Ribot, professor in 
the Collége de France and Professor Ebbing- 
haus of Breslau. Among the Americans in 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


attendance were Professor Ladd of Yale Uni- 
versity, Professor Munsterberg of Harvard Uni- 
versity, Professor Bryan of the University of 
Indiana, and Professor Warren of Princeton 
University. 

THE annual meeting of the English Arbori- 
cultural Society, says Nature, was held at 
Manchester recently. Professor Somerville 
was appointed president for the ensuing year. 
Reports were read from the judges upon essays 
on ‘Foreign versus Native Timber,’ ‘ Agricul- 
tural and Woodland Drainage,’ and ‘ Thinning.’ 
The silver medal for the first essay was awarded 
to Mr. George Cadell, late of the Indian Forest 
Department, and bronze medals for the other 
essays were given to Mr. D. A. Glen, of Kirby, 
near Liverpool, and Mr. A. Dean, of Egham. 


THE Governing Body of the Jenner Institute 
announce their intention of awarding three 
studentships of £150 each, tenable by British 
subjects for one year from January Ist next, 
and renewable for a second year at the option 
of the Governing Body, for the purposes of re- 
search at the Institute. Applications from can- 
didates must be sent in by November 1st. 


Tur Berlin Academy of Sciences offers its 
prize on the Steiner foundation for the solution 
of some important problem connected with the 
theory of curved surfaces, preferably related 
to the work of Steiner. The prize is of the 
value of 4000 Marks with a second prize of 2000 
Marks. The paper must be handed in by the 
end of the year 1904, and may be written in 
English. 

MAJor GIBBONS has reached Omdurman after 
a trip through Africa extending to about 13,000 
miles. Among the objects attained were the 
mapping of Marotseland, 200,000 miles in area; 
the accomplishment of the first steam naviga- 
tion of the Middle Zambesi, and the tracing of 
the whole course of the river, the discovery of 
its source and the determination of its water- 
shed. Thence the route of the expedition was 
eastward and by way of the Great Lakes to the 
Nile. It is understood that Major Gibbons has 
brought with him valuable collections. 

DURING the summer the Ohio State Archzo- 
logical and Historical Society, under the direc- 
tion of the curator, Wm. C. Mills, carried on 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


explorations at the Baum prehistoric village 
site, near Bourneville, Ross County, Ohio. 
The work was very successful; more than 60 
skeletons were found and photographed in 
place. This village site is especially rich in 
fine implements of bone, shell and stone, of 
which several thousand were taken from the 
ash pits together with the bones of the elk, 
deer, bear, wolf, raccoon, wild turkey and 
Indian dog. 


THE French Minister of War, as we learn 
from Nature, has invited the Paris Academy of 
Sciences to advise as to the precautions to be 
adopted in selecting and planting trees in the 
neighborhood of powder magazines, in order 
to secure the best protection from lightning. 


THE United States Civil Service Commission 
announces that it has been informed by the 
Department of Agriculture that there is an op- 
portunity at this time for appointment to two 
or three positions in the office of Public Road 
Inquiries of persons qualified as practical road 
builders and who have a knowledge of rural 
engineering, geology, mineralogy, and kindred 
subjects. Persons who desire to become eli- 
gible will not be required to appear at any 
place for examination but should file with the 
Commission a properly certified statement as 
to the length of time spent in college, the 
studies pursued, the standing in those studies, 
and the special qualifications they have for 
such work mentioned above together with a 
thesis upon the subject mentioned, or in lieu of 
this thesis literature upon this subject pub- 
lished over their own signatures. At the re- 
quest of the Department applications will not be 
accepted from other than graduates of colleges 
receiving the benefits of grants of land or 
money from the United States. The length of 
time any scientific aid may serve in the Depart- 
ment is limited to two years. The salary shall 
not exceed $40 per month. The subjects and 
weights of this examination will be as follows: 


Subjects. Weights. 

1. College course with bachelor’s degree............ 50 
2. Post-graduate course and special qualifica- 

GLONS esas eessencescresecascascaertatanertceeesece se 25 

3. Thesis or other literature.................00ceeeeeee 25 

Total dies sss Soks Pec satteabancteeameesees atone yes 100 


SCIENCE. 


381 


A REMARKABLE meteor is reported by ob- 
servers in New England. As seen from the 
mouth of the Damariseotta River, Maine, its 
altitude, when, at 8 P. M., it burst into view, 
was about thirty degrees and its direction north 
by west, color a rich copper green, and magni- 
tude and brilliancy so great as to light up the 
whole country with a flash of great intensity, 
the light persisting about two seconds before 
final extinction. The mass was pear-shaped, 
larger end downward. ‘The smaller end shaded 
from green to yellow. A little later, a bright red 
meteorite was seen north by west of smaller size. 
We hope that our correspondents will supply 
more precise data. 


DETAILS have been published in regard to the 
plague at Hong-Kong which show that the 
epidemic has not been quite so severe this year 
as last, and is now abating somewhat. The 
deaths during the past six years have varied 
in a curious way, being as follows: 1894, 2485, 
1895, 836; 1896, 1078; 1897, 19; 1898, 1175; 
1899, 1428. The deaths are chiefly among the 
Chinese, the mortality being excessive—per- 
haps in part due to the fact that cases which 
did not result fatally were not reported. Last 
year the total number of cases was 1455, and 
the number of deaths 1407. 


” THE fastest regular trains in the world are, as 

we have already noted, those running over the 
Philadelphia and Reading and Pennsylvania 
Railroad from Camden to Atlantic City. By 
the former line the 553 miles is traversed at 
the rate of 66.6 per hour. The Empire State 
Express, of the New York Central Railroad, 
however, no longer holds the record for long 
distance trains. It runs from New York to 
Buffalo—440 miles—at the rate of 53.33 miles 
per hour. The Sud Express on the Orleans 
and Midi Railway now runs from Paris to Ba- 
yonne, a distance of 486} miles, at the rate of 
54.13 miles per hour. 


THE London Daily Graphic, as quoted in 
Nature, states that the Norwegian government 
has built and fitted out a steam vessel for the 
express purpose of marine scientific research, 
and has placed her, as well as a trained staff of 
assistants, in charge of Dr. J. Hjort as leader 
of the Norwegian Fishery and Marine Investi- 


382 


gations. The vessel herself, the Michael Sars, 
has been constructed in Norway on the lines of 
an English steam trawler—that type of boat 
being regarded as the most seaworthy and suit- 
able for such an expedition—but considerably 
larger, being 182 feet in length, 23 feet beam, 
and fitted with triple expansion engines of 
300 horse-power. The fishing gear includes, 
inter alia, trawls, nets, and lines of all kinds, 
with massive steel hawsers and powerful steam 
winches to work the heavy apparatus, while 
the numerous scientific instruments are of the 
very best and latest description. The expedi- 
tion left Christiana in the middle of July, on 
what may be termed its trial trip along the 
Norwegian coast (accompanied for part of the 
time by Dr. Nansen, who was desirous of test- 
ing various instruments in which he had made 
improvements), and has just sailed from Troms6 
on a lengthy cruise to the North Atlantic and 
Arctic Oceans. Dr. Hjort has already’added 
so much to the knowledge of pelagic fishes, 
their life, habits, and the causes affecting their 
migrations, that, with the means now at his 
disposal, a considerable amount of valuable in- 
formation will probably be gained which will 
prove of service to the fishing industry of all 
nations. 


THE Queen Regent of Spain has signed a de- 
cree establishing the method of accounting time 
in the kingdom as follows: 

(1) In all railway, mail (including telegraph), 
telephone, and steamship service in the Peninsula 
and the Ballearic Islands, and in all the ministerial 
offices, the courts, and all public works, time shall be 
regulated by the time of the Greenwich Observatory, 
commonly known as western European time. 

(2) The computation of the hours in the above-men- 
tioned services will be made from the hour of mid- 
night to the following midnight in hours from 1 to 
24, omitting the words tarde (afternoon) and noche 
(night), heretofore in customary use. 

(3) The hour of midnight will be designated as 24. 

(4) The interval, for instance, between midnight 
(24) and 1 o’clock will be designated as 0.05, 0.10, 
0.59. 

THE report of the Zoological Gardens of 
Ghizeh, near Cairo, for the year 1899 is sum- 
marized in Nature. Under its present director, 
Captain Stanley Flower, it has become a popu- 
lar place of resort for the European visitors to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 297. 


Egypt, as well as for the Cairenes. The re- 
ceipts for 1899 were 3033/., of which 968/. were 
for gate-entrances, and the expenditure was 
30197. The list of donors includes many well- 
known names, amongst them those of Sir 
William Garstin, Prince Omar Tousson, Sir F. 
Wingate and Lord Kitchener. The govern- 
ment of India presented an elephant. Various 
new buildings were erected, and others were 
reconstructed in 1899. The number of animals 
in the collection on October 1st of that year was 
473, against 270 at the corresponding date in 
1898. A list of wild birds that inhabit the 
Ghizeh Gardens, and in many eases breed there, 
enumerates nineteen species, amongst which is 
the European song-thrush (Turdus musicus). 
Two proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), pre- 
sented by the government of the Netherlands, 
East Indies, unfortunately did not live long. 
Since the report was issued Captain Flower has 
succeeded in bringing to the Ghizeh Gardens 
from the Sudan a fine young giraffe, presented 
by the Sirdar. 

A CORRESPONDENT writes to the London 
Times: At this week’s meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society a fruit was exhibited for 
the first time which bids fair to become very 
useful. From a botanical point of view also it 
is of considerable interest, the plant bearing it 
being a hybrid between the raspberry and the 
common blackberry. As the ‘Mahdi,’ as it has 
been called, was raised by Messrs. Veitch, its 
origin is well authenticated, the seed parent 
being a variety of the raspberry known as 
‘Belle de Fontenay.’ The same cannot be 
said for the Logan berry trailing from the 
other side of the Atlantic, for which a some- 
what similar parentage has been claimed. A 
high authority, however, is of opinion that 
the raspberry plays no part in its composition, 
and that both its parents were an American 
species of Rubus instead of only one. The 
‘Mahdi’ has very much the habit of the black- 
berry, and in cultivation it is trained in the 
same way. Its fruit recalls to some extent the 
dewberry of our hedges. There is the same 
bloom, but the number of fruitlets is greater. 
Careful scrutiny will reveal many intermediate 
characters ; the taste of the ‘berry’ combines 
a preponderant flavor of the dewberry with a 


SEPTEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


suspicion of that of the raspberry. Most im- 
portant is the time of fruiting as regards the 
future of the plant economically, for it comes 
into bearing as the raspberries are failing and 
before the blackberries are ripe. The ‘Mahdi’ 
is very prolific and has considerable claims to 
be a decorative plant ; it will not, however, be 
placed upon the market for probably another 
twelve months at least. 


A SUMMARY of the work done by the Reichs- 
anstalt from February, 1899, to February, 
1900, has been published in the Zeitschrift fur 
Instrumentenkunde. According to an abstract 
in the Electrical World the comparison of the 
two sets of standard resistance coils showed 
good agreement; the variations during seven 
years amount only to a few hundred thou- 
sandths of the original value. Preliminary ex- 
periments were made for determining the capac- 
ity of an air condenser. A greater number of 
zine and cadmium standard cells were made for 
testing purposes ; renewed measurements gave 
results in good agreement with the figures pub- 
lished last year. The exact investigation of 
the conductivity of aqueous solutions has been 
concluded for the chlorides and nitrates of 
alkaline metals. The instruments, storage 
batteries, primary cells, cut-outs, insulating and 
conducting materials, are lamp carbons, fuses 
which have been tested, are given in a table. 
Statistical material on the use of electric meters 
in practice has been collected ; according to the 
information given by the central stations, about 
60,000 meters are at present in use in Ger- 
many, while about twice as many is the num- 
ber estimated by the manufacturers. The ap- 
paratus for testing alternating current in- 
struments was completed. A new resistance 
material of Heraeus was tested, the} investiga- 
tion of the resistance devised by Kundt was 
continued. One hundred and eleven Clark and 
22 Weston cells were tested. The variation 
from the normal e. m. f. was below 0.0003 volt 
for 83 Clark cells, between 0.0004 and 0.0006 
volt for 23 cells, 0.001 volt for 1 cell and 
greater than 0.001 volt for 4 cells. The agree- 
ment of the commercial Weston cells was 
found to be very satisfactory. The magnetic 
properties of 25 samples of steel and iron were 
tested.. An investigation was made of the dif- 


SCIENCE. 383 


ference between continuous and interrupted 
magnetization. Also preliminary measure- 
ments were made to investigate the influence 
of repeated annealing upon the magnetic prop- 
erties of different samples of iron. 


Some of our Consuls in South America, says 
the London Times, refer in their last reports to 
the virtues ascribed to the tea made from yerba 
maté, a herb which takes the place to some ex- 
tent of tea and coffee, and which is derived 
from the leaves of the Ilex Poraguariensis, a tree 
of from twelve to twenty feet in height. The 
Consul in Paraguay says this tea is consumed 
by a large proportion of the populations of Bra- 
zil, the Argentine, Uruguay, Chili and Para- 
guay. The leaves are gathered every two or 
three years and dried over a slow fire ; they are 
then pounded in mortars in the ground, and 
finally packed in fresh skins and dried in the 
sun. The tea is made by pouring boiling 
water on the leayes, which serve for several 
infusions. The taste is bitter, but not unpleas- 
ant, and the effects are asserted to be invig- 
orating. It is said that it would be valuable 
as a restorative to troops on the march and 
on active service, and the French Govern- 
ment have ordered a shipment of maté for 
the colonial troops and some samples have 
also been sent to Germany for experimental 
purposes. An attempt is also being made 
to introduce it into the United States as 
a suitable beverage for the working classes. 
When analyzed the tea is shown to contain 
caffeine and cafetannic acid in important pro- 
portions. The Council-General at Rio also re- 
fers to the subject as one of commercial interest. 
It is claimed, he says, on behalf of the tea that 
it possesses superior stomachic properties to tea 
and coffee, in that, while it is refreshing and 
invigorating and favorable alike to mental and 
physical exertion, it does not disturb the nery- 
ous system. But even Brazilians are not agreed 
as to its merits, some alleging that by its aid the 
most arduous work can be done, such as forced 
marches of troops on short rations ; others as- 
serting that in war coffee has proved much 
more sustaining. However this may be, it is 
largely consumed in South American countries 
when the prices of low grade China teas are 
too high to admit of their shipment to South 


384 


America, and it is therefore possible that it has 
some good qualities to recommend it. 


THE South African Native Races Committee 
have, as we learn from the London Times, ad- 
dressed a letter to the Colonial Secretary sub- 
mitting certain points for his consideration on 
which they believe that there is need for an in- 
quiry connected with the black and colored 
population of South Africa. It is stated that no 
recent public investigation into this subject has 
been made. Even with regard to Cape Colony 
and Natal the time seems to have come for 
further inquiry with reference to many points of 
importance, such as the overcrowding of loca- 
tions ; the provision of land for surplus popula- 
tion; the practical effect of the Glen Grey act; 
the working of the Pass Laws; the question of 
native education, and other matters. In other 
parts of British South Africa the need for a 
thorough investigation of native questions is 
still greater. The committee urge on her 
majesty’s government the expediency of in- 
quiries being instituted at as early a date as 
possible, with regard to some at least of the 
following matters: (1) Laws, customs, and 
land tenure of the natives in districts which 
were not the subject of examination by the 
Cape Government Commission ; (2) the opera- 
tion of the existing tribal system, and the 
expediency of maintaining it; (8) the ad- 
visability of setting aside large areas (such as 
the whole or part of the Zoutpansberg district 
and Swaziland) to be administered for the ex- 
clusive use and benefit of the native tribes; (4) 
the condition of existing native locations and 
reserves, the terms upon which lands are se- 
cured to the natives, and the need and method 
of providing further lands for the surplus native 
population ; (5) the provision of further facili- 
ties for the flow of labor to centers of industry, 
and, if practicable, for the migration of families 
to such centers, the supervision of contracts of 
service, the securing of safe and healthy condi- 
tions of labor in the mines and other occupa- 
tions ; (6) the provision of advice and assistance 
for natives at industrial centers, and of facilities 
for the deposit and transmission of their earn- 
ings; (7) the need for further Government aid 
for native education and for reforms in the 
present system; (8) the effects of existing 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 297. 


methods of taxation on the economic and social 
condition of the natives ; (9) the working of the 
Pass Laws, with a view to ascertaining whether 
their mitigation or abolition is practicable ; (10) 
the administration of the Liquor Laws. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE fact that under the new constitution of 
the University of London the registered grad- 
uates have a larger share than before in the 
government of the University has led to the 
formation of the University of London Grad- 
uates Union. Dr. K. P. H. Pye-Smith, F.R.S., 
has been elected president. 

PRESIDENT CHARLES F. THWING, of West- 
ern Reserve University, Cleveland, is at present 
delivering a course of lectures at the Univer- 
sity of Virginia on ‘The American University,’ 
treating its organization and administration, its 
chief executive, the university and patriotism, 
and the place of the university in American life. 


Dr. GEORGE P. DREYER, Ph.D. (Johns Hop- 
kins), associate professor of physiology in the 
Johns Hopkins Medical School, has been elected 
professor in charge of the physiological depart- 
ment of the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons (Chicago), the medical department of the 
University of Illinois. 

THE vacancy in the chair of mathematics in 
Haverford College caused by the removal of 
Dr. Frank Morley to Johns Hopkins University 
has been filled by the appointment of Dr. A. 
W. Reid, A.B. (Johns Hopkins) Ph.D. (Got- 
tingen), instructor in mathematics at Princeton 
University. The vacancy at Princeton has been 
filled by the appointment of Dr. L. P. Hisen- 
hart who received this year the doctorate at 
the Johns Hopkins University. 

Dr. TH. ZIEHEN, associate professor of psy- 
chiatry in the university at Jena, has been ap- 
pointed professor in the University of Utrecht. 

WE notice also the following appointments in 
foreign universities: Dr. Pfeiffer professor of 
agricultural chemistry in the university at Jena 
has been called to Breslau; Professor P. Curie, 
of Paris, has been appointed professor of general 
and experimental physics in the University at 
Geneva; Dr. Zehander, has qualified as docent 
in physics in the university at Munich. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE : §S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwarRpb, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. DAvis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. Brssry, 


N. L. 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGS, 


Britron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpircH, 
Hygiene ; 


WiLLiAmM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


Address of the President before the British Associ- 
ation for the Advancement of Science (II.): Str 
Viet Ae MG OAPI, ccoodascoconacdacécaqdooeecbsdonecod 385 


Original Investigations by Engineering Schools a 
Duty to the Public and to the Profession: PRo- 


FESSOR A. MARSTON.......... anu apaveheneaseeescanes 397 
The Development of the Conger Eel: PROFESSOR 

CARL H. EIGENMANN.......-..0cecesecececcecseeeeees 401 
Heat-engine Diagrams: PROFESSOR R. H. THURS- 

IYO} fadacosmeobodbUceaT BOSS COOBSOOC HE CCOSOAuCHCB LOBE OSBUOOSOCD 402 
Herman Andreas Loos: DR. MILTON C. WHI- 

GBT eaoopc0ddadag0dedbonqBodoHOddes Goa bhoosabacueEodond 403 
Scientific Books :— 


Stine on Photometrical Measurements: PROFESSOR 
FRANK P. WHITMAN. Liverpool Marine Bio- 
logical Committee’s Memoirs: PROFESSOR WM. 
I CRUTUM Bs eeeera nace neces ctcsnics asecak ets ecscrenestcstes 403 


Scientific Journals and Articles...........secseceseeeens 405 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Note on the Siluro-Devonic Boundary : PROFES- 
soR JOHN M. CLARKE. The Problem of Color : 
C. LADD FRANKLIN. A Large Crystal of Spo- 
dumene: PROFESSOR HENRY MoNTGOMERY.... 406 


Units at the International Electrical Congress......... 410 
The Proposed National Standards Bureau............ 412 
Scientific Notes and -NeWSsnedevecsse esses -eeeeseseseeeee 413 
University and Educational News.........0...02cs1e0sees 416 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT BEFORE THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. 


II. 


FUNCTION OF CELLS. 


Ir has already been stated that, when new 
cells arise within pre-existing cells, division 
of the nucleus is associated with cleavage of 
the cell plasm, so that it participates in the 
process of new cell-formation. Undoubt- 
edly, however, its réle is not limited to this 
function. It also plays an important part 
in secretion, nutrition, and the special 
functions discharged by the cells in the 
tissues and organs of which they form mor- 
phological elements. 

Between 1838 and 1842 observations 
were made which showed that cells were 
constituent parts of secreting glands and 
mucous membranes (Schwann, Henle). In 
1842 John Goodsir communicated to the 
Royal Society of Edinburgh a memoir on 
secreting structures, in which he estab- 
lished the principle that cells are the ulti- 
mate secreting agents ; he recognized in the 
cells of the liver, kidney and other organs 
the characteristic secretion of each gland. 
The secretion was, he said, situated be- 
tween the nucleus and the cell wall. At 
first he thought that, as the necleus was the 
reproductive organ of the cell, the secretion 
was formed in the interior of the cell by the 
agency of the cell wall; but three years 
later he regarded it as a product of the 


386 


nucleus. The study of the process of sper- 
matogenesis by his brother, Harry Good- 
sir, in which the head of the spermatozoon 
was found to correspond with the nucleus 
of the cell in which the spermatozoon arose, 
gave support to the view that the nucleus 
played an important part in the genesis 
of the characteristic product of the gland 
cell. 

The physiological activity of the cell 
plasm and its complex chemical constitution 
soon after began to be recognized. Some 
years before Max Schultze had published 
his memoirs on the characters of proto- 
plasm, Bricke had shown that the well- 
known changes in tint in the skin of the 
Chameeleon were due to pigment granules 
situated in cells in the skin which were 
sometimes diffused throughout the cells, 
at others concentrated in the center. Sim- 
ilar observations on the skin of the frog 
were made in 1854 by von Wittich and 
Harless. The movements were regarded as 
due to contraction of the cell wall on its 
contents. In a most interesting paper on 
the pigmentary system in the frog, pub- 
lished in 1858, Lord Lister demonstrated 
that the pigment granules moved in the 
cell plasma, by forces resident within the 
cell itself, acting under the influence of an 
external stimulant, and not by a contrac- 
tility of the wall. Under some conditions 
the pigment was attracted to the center of 
the cell, when the skin became pale ; under 
other conditions the pigment was diffused 
throughout the body and the branches of 
the cell, and gave to the skin a dark color. 
It was also experimentally shown that a 
potent influence over these movements was 
exercised by the nervous system. 

The study of the cells of glands engaged 
in secretion, even when the secretion is 
colorless, and the comparison of their ap- 
pearance when secretion is going on with 
that seen when the cells are at rest, have 
shown that the cell plasm is much more 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


granular and opaque, and contains larger 
particles during activity than when the cell 
is passive ; the body of the cell swells out 
from an increase in the contents of its 
plasm, and chemical changes accompany 
the act of secretion. Ample evidence, 
therefore, is at hand to support the position 
taken by John Goodsir, nearly sixty years 
ago, that secretions are formed within 
cells, and lie in that part of the cell which 
we now say consists of the cell plasm ; that 
each secreting cell is endowed with its own 
peculiar property, according to the organ in 
which it is situated, so that bile is formed 
by the cells in the liver, milk by those in 
the mamma, and so on. 

Intimately associated with the process of 
secretion is that of nutrition. As the cell 
plasm lies at the periphery of a cell, and 
as it is, alike both in secretion and nutri- 
tion, brought into closest relation with the 
surrounding medium, from which the pabu- 
lum is derived, it is necessarily associated 
with nutritive activity. Its position en- 
ables it to absorb nutritive material di- 
rectly from without, and in the process of 
growth it increases in amount by intersti- 
tial changes and additions throughout its 
substance, and not by mere accretions on 
its surface. 

Hitherto I have spoken of the cell asa 
unit, independent of its neighbors as re- 
gards its nutrition and the other functions 
which it has to discharge. The question 
has, however, been discussed, whether in a 
tissue composed of cells closely packed 
together cell plasm may not give origin to 
processes or threads which are in contact 
or continuous with corresponding proc- 
esses of adjoining cells, and that cells may 
therefore, to some extent, lose their indi- 
viduality in the colony of which they are 
members. Appearances were recognized 
between 1863 and 1870 by Schron and 
others in the deeper cells of the epidermis 
and of some mucous membranes which 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


gave sanction to this view, and it seems 
possible through contact or continuity of 
threads connecting a cell with its neigh- 
bors, that cells may exercise a direct influ- 
ence on each other. 

Nageli, the botanist, as the foundation 
of a mechanico-physiological theory of de- 
scent, considered that in plants a net- 
work of cell plasm, named by him idio- 
plasm, extended throughout the whole of 
the plant, forming its specific molecular 
constitution, and that growth and activity 
were regulated by its conditions of tension 
and movements (1884). 

The study of the structure of plants with 
special reference to the presence of an 
intercellular network has for some years 
been pursued by Walter Gardiner (1882— 
97), who has demonstrated threads of cell 
plasm protruding through the walls of 
vegetable cells and continuous with similar 
threads from adjoining cells. Structurally, 
therefore, a plant may be conceived to be 
built up of a nucleated cytoplasmic net- 
work, each nucleus with the branching cell 
plasm surrounding it being a center of 
activity. On this view a cell would retain 
to some extent its individuality, though, as 
Gardiner contends, the connecting threads 
would be the medium for the conduction of 
impulses and of food from a cell to those 
which lie around it. For the plant cell, 
therefore, as has long been accepted in the 
animal cell, the wall is reduced to a sec- 
ondary position, and the active constituent 
is the nucleated cell plasm. Itis not un- 
likely that the absence of a controlling 
nervous system in plants requires the plasm 
of adjoining cells to be brought into more 
immediate contact and continuity than is 
the case with the generality of animal cells, 
so as to provide a mechanism for harmon- 
izing the nutritive and other functional 
processes in the different areas in the body 
of the plant. In this particular, it is of 
interest to note that the epithelial tissues 


SCIENCE. 


387 


in animals, where somewhat similar con- 
necting arrangements occur, are only in- 
directly associated with the nervous and 
vascular systems, so that, as in plants, the 
cells may require, for nutritive and other 
purposes, to act and react directly on each 
other. 
NERVE CELLS. 

Of recent years great attention has been 
paid to the intimate structure of nerve 
cells, and to the appearance which they 
present when in the exercise of their func- 
tional activity. A nerve cell is not a se- 
creting cell; that is, it does not derive 
from the blood or surrounding fluid a pabu- 
lum which it elaborates into a visible, palpa- 
ble secretion characteristic of the organ of 
which the cell is a constituent element, to 
be in due course discharged into a duct 
which conveys the secretion out of the 
gland. Nerve cells, through the metabolic 
changes which take place in them in con- 
nection with their nutrition, are associated 
with the production of the form of energy 
specially exhibited by animals which pos- 
sess a nervous system, termed nerve energy. 
It has long been known that every nerve 
cell has a body in which a relatively large 
nucleus is situated. A most important dis- 
covery was the recognition that the body 
of every nerve cell had one or more proc- 
esses growing out from it. More recently 
it has been proved, chiefly through the re- 
searches of Schultze, His, Golgi, and Ramon 
y Cajal, that at least one of the processes, 
the axon of the nerve cell, is continued into 
the axial cylinder of a nerve fiber, and that 
in the multipolar nerve cell the other proc- 
esses, or dendrites, branch and ramify for 
some distance away from the body. A nerve 
fiber is therefore an essential part of the 
cell with which it is continuous, and the 
cell, its processes, the nerve fiber and the 
collaterals which arise from the nerve fiber 
collectively form a neuron or structural 
nerve unit (Waldeyer). The nucleated 


388 


body of the nerve cell is the physiological 
center of the unit. 

The cell plasm occupies both the body of 
the nerve cell and its processes. The inti- 
mate structure of the plasm has, by im- 
proved methods of observation introduced 
during the last eight years by Nissl, and 
conducted on similar lines by other investi- 
gators, become more definitely understood. 
It has been ascertained that it possesses two 
distinct characters which imply different 
structures. One of these stains deeply on 
the addition of certain dyes, and is named 
chromophile or chromatic substance ; the 
other, which does not possess a similar 
property, is the achromatic network. The 
chromophile is found in the cell body and 
the dendritic processes, but not in the axon. 
It occurs in the form of granular particles, 
which may be scattered throughout the 
plasm, or aggregated into little heaps which 
are elongated or fusiform in shape and ap- 
pear as distinct colored particles or masses. 
The achromatic network is found in the 
cell body and the dendrites, and is con- 
tinued also into the axon, where it forms 
the axial cylinder of the nerve fiber. It 
consists apparently of delicate threads or 
fibrille, in the meshes of which a homo- 
geneous material, such as is found in cell 
plasm generally, is contained. Inthe nerve 
cells, as in other cells, the plasm is without 
doubt concerned in the process of cell nu- 
trition. The achromatic fibrillee exercise 
an important influence on the axon or 
nerve fiber with which they are continuous, 
and probably they conduct the nerve im- 
pulses which manifest themselves in the 
form of nerve energy. The dendritic proc- 
esses of a multipolar nerve cell ramify in 
close relation with similar processes branch- 
ing from other cells in the same group. 
The collaterals and the free end of the axon 
fiber process branch and ramify in associ- 
ation with the body of a nerve cell or of its 
dendrites. We cannot say that these parts 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


are directly continuous with each other to 
form an intercellular network, but they are 
apparently in apposition, and through con- 
tact exercise influence one on the other in 
the transmission of nerve impulses. 

There is evidence to show that in the 
nerve cell the nucleus, as well as the cell 
plasm, is an effective agent in nutrition. 
When the cell is functionally active, both 
the cell body and the nucleus increase in 
size (Vas, G. Mann, Lugaro); on the other 
hand, when nerve cells are fatigued through 
excessive use, the nucleus decreases in size 
and shrivels; the cell plasm also shrinks, 
and its colored or chromophile constituent 
becomes diminished in quantity, as if it 
had been consumed during the prolonged 
use of the cell (Hodge, Mann, Lugaro). It 
is interesting also to note that in hibernat- 
ing animals in the winter season, when their 
functional activity is reduced to a mini- 
mum, the chromophile in the plasm of the 
nerve cells is much smaller in amount than 
when the animal is leading an active life in 
the spring and summer (G. Levi). 

When a nerve cell has attained its normal 
size it does not seem to be capable of repro- 
ducing new cells in its substance by a proc- 
ess of karyokinesis, such as takes place 
when young cells arise in the egg and in the 
tissues generally. It would appear that 
nerve cells are so highly specialized in their 
association with the evolution of nerve en- 
ergy, that they have ceased to have the 
power of reproducing their kind, and the 
metabolic changes both in cell plasm and 
nucleus are needed to enable them to dis- 
charge their very peculiar function. Hence 
it follows that when a portion of the brain 
or other nerve-center is destroyed, the in- 
jury is not repaired by the production of 
fresh specimens of their characteristic cells, 
as would be the case in injuries to bones 
and tendons. 

In our endeavors to differentiate the func- 
tion of the nucleus from that of the cell 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


plasm, we should not regard the former as 
concerned only in the production of young 
cells, and the latter as the exclusive agent 
in growth, nutrition, and, where gland cells 
are concerned, in the formation of their 
characteristic products. As regards cell 
reproduction also, though the process of 
division begins in the nucleus in its chromo- 
some constituents, the achromatic figure in 
the cell plasm undoubtedly plays a part, 
and the cell plasm itself ultimately under- 
goes cleavage. 

A few years ago the tendency amongst 
biologists was to ignore or attach but little 
importance to the physiological use of the 
nucleus in the nucleated cell, and to regard 
the protoplasm as the essential and active 
constituent of living matter; so much so, 
indeed, was this the case that independent 
organisms regarded as distinct species were 
described as consisting of protoplasm desti- 
tute of a nucleus; also that scraps of pro- 
toplasm separated from larger nucleated 
masses could, when isolated, exhibit vital 
phenomena. There is reason to believe 
that a fragment of protoplasm, when isolated 
from the nucleus of a cell, though retaining 
its contractility and capable of nourishing 
itself for a short time, cannot increase in 
amount, act as a secreting structure, or re- 
produce its kind : it soon loses its activity, 
withers and dies. In order that these 
qualities of living matter should be re- 
tained, a nucleus is by most observers re- 
garded as necessary (Nussbaum, Gruber, 
Haberlandt, Korschelt), and for the com- 
plete manifestations of vital activity both 
nucleus and cell plasm are required. 


BACTERIA. 


The observations of Cohn, made about 
thirty years ago, and those of De Bary 
shortly afterwards, brought into notice a 
group of organisms to which the name ‘ bac- 
terium’ or ‘microbe’ is given. They were 
seen to vary in shape: some were rounded 


SCIENCE. 389 


specks called cocci, others were straight rods 
called bacilli, others were curved or spiral 
rods, vibrios or spirille. All were charac- 
terized by their extreme minuteness, and 
required for their examination the highest 
powers of the best microscopes. Many bac- 
teria measure in their least diameter not 
more than ;;4,,th of an inch, ;{,th the di- 
ameter of a human white blood corpuscle. 
Through the researches of Pasteur, Lord 
Lister, Koch, and other observers, bacteria 
have been shown to play an important part 
in nature. They exercise a very remark- 
able power over organic substances, especi- 
ally those which are complex in chemical 
constitution, and can resolve them into 
simpler combinations. Owing to this prop- 
erty, some bacteria are of great economic 
value, and without their agency many of 
our industries could not be pursued ; others 
again, and these are the most talked of, ex- 
ercise a malign influence in the production 
of the most deadly diseases which afflict man 
and the domestic animals. 

Great attention has been given to the 
structure of bacteria and to their mode of 
propagation. When examined in the living 
state and magnified about 2000 times, a bac- 
terium appears as a homogeneous particle, 
with a sharp definite outline, though a mem- 
branous envelope or wall, distinct from the 
body of the bacterium, cannot at first be 
recognized ; but when treated with reagents 
a membranous envelope appears, the pres- 
ence of which, without doubt, gives pre- 
cision of form to the bacterium. The sub- 
stance within the membrane contains gran- 
ules which can be dyed with coloring agents. 
Owing to their extreme minuteness it is 
difficult to pronounce an opinion on the 
nature of the chromatine granules and 
the substance in which they lie. Some 
observers regard them as nuclear material, 
invested by only a thin layer of protoplasm, 
on which view a bacterium would be a 
nucleated cell. Others consider the bac- 


390 


terium as formed of protoplasm containing 
granules capable of being colored, which 
are a part of the protoplasm, itself, and not 
a nuclear substance. On the latter view, 
bacteria would consist of cell plasm enclosed 
in a membrane and destitute of a nucleus. 
Whatever be the nature of the granule- 
containing material, each bacterium is re- 
garded as a cell, the minutest and simplest 
living particle capable of an independent 
existence that has yet been discovered. 

Bacteria cells, like cells generally, can 
produce their kind. They multiply by 
simple fission, probably with an ingrowth 
of the cell wall, but without the karyo- 
kinetic phenomena observed in nucleated 
cells. Hach cell gives rise to two daughter 
cells, which may for a time remain attached 
to each other and form a cluster or a chain, 
or they may separate and become independ- 
ent isolated cells. The multiplication, 
under favorable conditions of light, air, 
temperature, moisture and food, goes on 
with extraordinary rapidity, so that in a 
few hours many thousand new individuals 
may arise from a parent bacterium. 

Connected with the life-history of a bac- 
terium cell is the formation in its substance, 
in many species and under certain condi- 
tions, of a highly refractile shiny particle 
called a spore. At first sightaspore seems 
as ifit were the nucleus of the bacterium 
cell, but it is not always present when mul- 
tiplication by cleavage is taking place, and 
when present it does not appear to take 
part in the fission. On the other hand, a 
spore, from the character of its envelope, 
possesses great power of resistance, so that 
dried bacteria, when placed in conditions 
favorable to germination, can through their 
spores germinate and resume an active ex- 
istence. Spore formation seems, therefore, 
to be a provision for continuing the life 
of the bacterium under conditions which, 
if spores had not formed, would have been 
the cause of its death. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


The time has gone by to search for the 
origin of living organisms by a spontaneous 
aggregation of molecules in vegetable or 
other infusions, or from a layer of formless 
primordial slime diffused over the bed of 
the ocean. Living matter during our epoch 
has been, and continues to be, derived from 
pre-existing living matter, even when it 
possesses the simplicity of structure of a 
bacterium, and the morphological unit is the 
cell. 

DEVELOPMENT OF THE EGG. 

As the future of the entire organism lies 
in the fertilized egg cell, we may now briefly 
review the arrangements, consequent on the 
process of segmentation, which lead to the 
formation, let us say in the egg of a bird, 
of the embryo or young chick. 

In the latter part of the last century, C. 
F. Wolff observed that the beginning of the 
embryo was associated with the formation 
of layers, and in 1817 Pander demonstrated 
that in the hen’s egg at first one layer, called 
mucous, appeared, then a second or serous 
layer, to be followed by a third, interme- 
diate or vascular layer. In 1828 von Baer 
amplified our knowledge in his famous 
treatise, which from its grasp of the sub- 
ject created a new epoch in the science of 
embryology. It was not, however, until 
the discovery by Schwann of cells as con- 
stant factors in the structure of animals 
and in their relation to development that 
the true nature of these layers was deter- 
mined. We now know that each layer 
consists of cells, and that all the tissues 
and organs of the body are derived from 
them. Numerous observers have devoted 
themselves for many years to the study of 
each layer, with the view of determining 
the part which it takes in the formation of 
the constituent parts of the body, more es- 
pecially in the higher animals, and the im- 
portant conclusion has been arrived at that 
each kind of tissue invariably arises from 
one of these layers and from no other. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


The layer of cells which contributes, both 
as regards the number and variety of the 
tissues derived from it, most largely to the 
formation of the body is the middle layer 
or mesoblast. From it the skeleton, the 
muscles, and other locomotor organs, the 
true skin, the vascular system, including 
the blood, and other structures which I 
need not detail, take their rise. From the 
inner layer of cells or hypoblast, the prin- 
cipal derivatives are the epithelial lining of 
the alimentary canal and of the glands 
which open into it, and the epithelial lin- 
ing of the air-passages. The outer or epi- 
blast layer of cells gives origin to the epi- 
dermis or scarf skin and to the nervous 
system. It is interesting to note that from 
the same layer of the embryo arise parts so 
different in importance as the cuticle—a 
mere protecting structure, which is con- 
stantly being shed when the skin is sub- 
jected to the friction of a towel or the 
clothes—and the nervous system, including 
the brain, the most highly differentiated 
system in the animal body. How com- 
pletely the cells from which they are de- 
rived had diverged from each other in the 
course of their differentiation in structure 
and properties is shown by the fact that 
the cells of the epidermis are continually 
engaged in reproducing new cells to replace 
those which are shed, whilst the cells of 
the nervous system have apparently lost 
the power of reproducing their kind. 

In the early stage of the development of 
the egg, the cells in a given layer resemble 
each other in form, and, as far as can be 
judged from their appearance, are alike in 
structure and properties. As the develop- 
ment proceeds, the cells begin to show dif- 
ferences in character, and in the course of 
time the tissues which arise in each layer 
differentiate from each other and can be 
readily recognized by the observer. To use 
the language of von Baer, a generalized 
structure has become specialized, and each 


SCIENCE. 391 


of the special tissues produced exhibits 
its own structure and properties. These 
changes are coincident with a rapid multi- 
plication of the cells by cleavage, and thus 
increase in size of the embryo accompanies 
specialization of structure. As the process 
continues, the embryo gradually assumes 
the shape characteristic of the species to 
which its parents belonged, until at length 
it is fit to be born and to assume a separate 
existence. 

The conversion of cells, at first uniform 
in character, into tissues of a diverse kind 
is due to forces inherent in the cells in each 
layer. The cell plasm plays an active 
though not an exclusive part in the special- 
ization ; for as the nucleus influences nu- 
trition and secretion, it acts as a factor in 
the differentiation of the tissues. When 
tissues so diverse in character as muscular 
fiber, cartilage, fibrous tissues, and bone 
arise from the cells of the middle or meso- 
blast layer, it is obvious that, in addition to 
the morphological differentiation affecting 
form and structure, a chemical differen- 
tiation affecting composition also occurs, as 
the result of which a physiological differ- 
entiation takes place. The tissues and 
organs become fitted to transform the energy 
derived from the food into muscular energy, 
nerve energy, and other forms of vital ac- 
tivity. Corresponding differentiations also 
modify the cells of the outer and inner 
layers. Hence the study of the develop- 
ment of the generalized cell layers in the 
young embryo enables us to realize how all 
the complex constituent parts of the body 
in the higher animals and in man are 
evolved by the process of differentiation 
from a simple nucleated cell—the fertilized 
ovum. A knowledge of the cell and of its 
life-history is therefore the foundation- 
stone on which biological science in all its 
departments is based. 

If we are to understand by an organ in 
the biological sense a complex body capable 


392 


of carrying on a natural process, a nucle- 
ated cell is an organ in its simplest form. 
In a unicellular animal or plant such an 
organ exists in its most primitive stage. 
The higher plants and animals again are 
built up of multitudes of these organs, each 
of which, whilst having its independent life, 
is associated with the others, so that the 
whole may act in unison for a common pur- 
pose. Asin one of your great factories each 
spindle is engaged in twisting and winding 
its own thread, it is at the same time inti- 
mately associated with the hundreds of 
other spindles in its immediate proximity, 
in the manufacture of the yarn from which 
the web of cloth is ultimately to be woven. 

It has taken more than fifty years of 
hard and continuous work to bring our 
knowledge of the structure and develop- 
ment of the tissues and organs of plants 
and animals up to the level of the present 
day. Amidst the host of names of investi- 
gators, both at home and abroad, who have 
contributed to its progress, it may seem in- 
vidious to particularize individuals. There 
are, however, a few that I cannot forbear 
to mention, whose claim to be named on 
such an occasion as this will be generally 
conceded. 

Botanists will, I think, acknowledge 
Wilhelm Hofmeister as a master in mor- 
phology and embryology, Julius von Sachs 
as the most important investigator in veg- 
etable physiology during the last quarter 
of a century, and Strasburger as a leader 
in the study of the phenomena of nuclear 
division. 

The researches of the veteran professor 
of anatomy in Wirzburg, Albert von Kol- 
liker, have covered the entire field of ani- 
mal histology. His first paper, published 
fifty-nine years ago, was followed by a suc- 
cession of memoirs and books on human 
and comparative histology and embryology, 
and culminated in his great treatise on the 
structure of the brain, published in 1896. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 298. 


Notwithstanding the weight of more than 
eighty years, he continues to prosecute his- 
tological research, and has published the 
results of his latest, though let us hope not 
his last, work during the present year. 

Amongst our own countrymen, and be- 
longing to the generation which has almost 
passed away, was William Bowman. His 
investigations between 1840 and 1850 on 
the mucous membranes, muscular fiber, 
and the structure of the kidney together 
with his researches on the organs of sense, 
were characterized by a power of observa- 
tion and of interpreting difficult and com- 
plicated appearances which has made his 
memoirs on these subjects landmarks in 
the history of histological inquiry. 

Of the younger generation of biologists 
Francis Maitland Balfour, whose early 
death is deeply deplored as a loss to Brit- 
ish science, was one of the most distin- 
guished. His powers of observation and 
philosophic perception gave him a high 
place as an original inquirer, and the charm 
of his personality-—for charm is not the 
exclusive possession of the fairer sex—en- 
deared him to his friends. 


GENERAL MORPHOLOGY. 

Along with the study of the origin and 
structure of the tissues of organized bodies, 
much attention has been given during the 
century to the parts or organs in plants and 
animals, with the view of determining 
where and how they take their rise, the 
order of their formation, the changes which 
they pass through in the early stages of 
development, and their relative positions 
in the organism to which they belong. In- 
vestigations on these lines are spoken of as 
morphological, and are to be distinguished 
from the study of their physiological or 
functional relations, though both are neces- 
sary for the full comprehension of the liv- 
ing organism. 

The first to recognize that morphological 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900.] ~ 


relations might exist between the organs of 
a plant, dissimilar as regards their function, 
was the poet Goethe, whose observations, 
guided by his imaginative faculty, led him 
to declare that the calyx, corolla, and other 
parts of a flower, the scales of a bulb, etc., 
were metamorphosed leaves, a principle 
generally accepted by botanists, and indeed 
extended to other parts of a plant, which 
are referred to certain common morpholog- 
ical forms although they exercise different 
functions. Goethe also applied the same 
principle in the study of the skeletons of 
vertebrate animals, and he formed the opin- 
ion that the spinal column and the skull 
were essentially alike in construction, and 
consisted of vertebree, an idea which was 
also independently conceived and advocated 
by Oken. 

The anatomist who in our country most 
strenuously applied himself to the morpho- 
logical study of the skeleton was Richard 
Owen, whose knowledge of animal structure 
based upon his own dissections, was un- 
rivalled in range and variety. He elabor- 
ated the conception of an ideal, archetype 
vertebrate form which had no existence in 
nature, and to which, subject to modifica- 
tions in various directions, he considered 
all vertebrate skeletons might be referred. 
Owen’s observations were conducted to a 
large extent on the skeletons of adult ani- 
mals, of the knowledge of which he was a 
master. As in the course of development 
modifications in shape and in the relative 
position of parts not unfrequently occur and 
their original character and place of origin 
become obscured, it is difficult, from the 
study only of adults, to arrive at a correct 
interpretation of their morphological signifi- 
cance. When the changes which take place 
in the skull during its development, as 
worked out by Reichert and Rathke, became 
known and their value had become appre- 
ciated, many of the conclusions arrived at 
by Owen were challenged and ceased to be 


SCIENCE. 


393 


accepted. It is, however, due to that emi- 
nent anatomist to state from my personal 
knowledge of the condition of anatomical 
science in this country fifty years ago, that 
an enormous impulse was given to the study 
of comparative morphology by his writings, 
and by the criticisms to which they were 
subjected. 

There can be no doubt that generalized 
arrangements do exist in the early embryo 
which, up to a certain stage, are common to 
animals that in their adult condition present 
diverse characters, and out of which the 
forms special to different groups are evolved. 
As an illustration of this principle, I may 
refer to the stages of development of the 
great arteries in the bodies of vertebrate 
animals. Originally, as the observations of 
Rathke have taught us, the main arteries 
are represented by pairs of symmetrically 
arranged vascular arches, some of which 
enlarge and constitute the permanent ar- 
teries in the adult, whilst others disappear. 
The increase in size of some of these arches, 
and the atrophy of others, are so constant 
for different groups that they constitute 
anatomical features as distinctive as the 
modifications in the skeleton itself. Thus 
in mammals the fourth vascular arch on the 
left side persists, and forms the arch of the 
aorta ; in birds the corresponding part of the 
aorta is an enlargement of the fourth right 
arch, and in reptiles both arches persist to 
form the great artery. That this original 
symmetry exists also in man we know from 
the fact that now and again his body, instead 
of corresponding with the mammalian type, 
has an aortic arch like that which is natural 
to the bird, and in rarer cases even to the 
reptile. A type form common to the ver- 
tebrata does therefore in such cases exist, 
capable of evolution in more than one di- 
rection. 

The reputation of Thomas Henry Huxley 
as a philosophic comparative anatomist 
rests largely on his early perception of, 


394 


and insistence on, the necessity of testing 
morphological conclusions by a reference 
to the development of parts and organs, 
and by applying this principle in his own 
investigations. The principle is now so 
generally accepted by both botanists and 
anatomists that morphological definitions 
are regarded as depending essentially on 
the successive phases of the development 
of the parts under consideration. 

The morphological characters exhibited 
by a plant or animal tend to be hereditarily 
transmitted from parents to offspring, and 
the species is perpetuated. In each species 
the evolution of an individual, through the 
developmental changes in the egg, follows 
the same lines in all the individuals of the 
same species, which possess therefore in 
common the features called specific char- 
acters. The transmission of these charac- 
ters is due, according to the theory of Weis- 
mann, to certain properties possessed by 
the chromosome constituents of the segmen- 
tation nucleus in the fertilized ovum, named 
by him the germ plasm, which is continued 
from one generation to another, and im- 
presses its specific character on the egg 
and on the plant or animal developed 
from it. 

As has already been stated, the special 
tissues which build up the bodies of the 
more complex organisms are evolved out of 
cells which are at first simple in form and 
appearance. During the evolution of the 
individual, cells become modified or differ- 
entiated in structure and function, and so 
long as the differentiation follows certain 
prescribed lines the morphological charac- 
ters of the species are preserved. We can 
readily conceive that, as the process of spec- 
jalization is going on, modifications or var- 
jations in groups of cells and the tissues 
derived from them, notwithstanding the 
influence of heredity, may in an individual 
diverge so far from that which is character- 
istic of the species as to assume the ar- 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 298. 


rangements found in another species, or 
even in another order. Anatomists had in- 
deed long recognized that variations from 
the customary arrangement of parts occas- 
ionally appeared, and they described such 
deviations from the current descriptions as 
irregularities. 


DARWINIAN THEORY. 


The signification of the variations which 
arise in plants and animals had not been ap- 
prehended until a flood of light was thrown 
on the entire subject by the genius of 
Charles Darwin, who formulated the wide- 
reaching theory that variations could be 
transmitted by heredity to younger gener- 
ations. In this manner he conceived new 
characters would arise, accumulate, and be 
perpetuated, which would in the course of 
time assume specific importance. New spe- 
cies might thus be evolved out of organisms 
originally distinct from them, and their spe- 
cific characters would in turn be trans- 
mitted to their descendants. By a contin- 
uance of this process new species would 
multiply in many directions, until at length 
from one or more originally simple forms 
the earth would become peopled by the in- 
finite varieties of plant and animal organ- 
isms which have in past ages inhabited, or 
do at present inhabit, our globe. The Dar- 
winian theory may therefore be defined as 
Heredity modified and influenced by Vari- 
ability. It assumes that there is an hered- 
itary quality in the egg which, if we take the 
common fowl for an example, shall continue 
to produce similar fowls. Under condi- 
tions, of which we are ignorant, which oc- 
casion molecular changes in the cells and 
tissues of the developing egg, variations 
might arise, in the first instance probably 
slight, but becoming intensified in succes- 
sive generations, until at length the de- 
scendants would have lost the characters 
of the fowl and have become another 
species. No precise estimate has been ar- 


“SEPTEMBER 14, 1900.] 


rived at, and indeed one does not see 
how it is possible to obtain it, of the length 
of years which might be required to con- 
vert a variation, capable of being trans- 
mitted, into a new and definite specific 
character. 

The circumstances which, according to 
the Darwinian theory, determined the per- 
petuation by hereditary transmission of a 
variety and its assumption of a specific 
character depended, it was argued, on 
whether it possessed such properties as en- 
abled the plant or animal in which it ap- 
peared to adapt itself more readily to its 
environment, 7. ¢., to the surrounding con- 
ditions. If it were to be of use the organ- 
ism in so far became better adapted to hold 
its own in the struggle for existence with 
its fellows and with the forces of nature 
operating on it. Through the accumulation 
of useful characters the specific variety was 
perpetuated by natural selection so long as 
the conditions were favorable for its exist- 
ence, and it survived as being the best fitted 
to live. In the study of the transmission 
of variations which may arise in the course 
of development it should not be too exclu- 
sively thought that only those variations 
are likely to be preserved which can be of 
service during the life of the individual, or 
in the perpetuation of the species, and 
possibly available for the evolution of new 
species. It should also be kept in mind 
that morphological characters can be trans- 
mitted by hereditary descent, which, 
though doubtless of service in some bygone 
ancestor, are in the new conditions of life 
of the species of no physiological value. 
Our knowledge of the structural and func- 
tional modifications to be found in the 
human body, in connection with abnormal- 
ities and with tendencies or predisposition 
to diseases of various kinds, teaches us that 
characters which are of no use, and indeed 
detrimental to the individual, may be he- 
reditarily transmitted from parents to off- 


SCIENCE. 395 


spring through a succession of genera- 
tions. 

Since the conception of the possibility of 
the evolution of new species from pre-exist- 
ing forms took possession of the minds of 
naturalists, attempts have been made to 
trace out the lines on which it has pro- 
ceeded. The first to give a systematic ac- 
count of what he conceived to be the order 
of succession in the evolution of animals 
was Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, in a well- 
known treatise. Memoirs on special de- 
partments of the subject, too numerous to 
particularize, have subsequently appeared. 
The problem has been attacked along two 
different lines: the one by embryologists, 
of whom may be named Kowalewsky, Ge- 
genbaur, Dohrn, Ray Lankester, Balfour 
and Gaskell, who with many others have 
conducted careful and methodical inquiries 
into the stages of development of numerous 
forms belonging to the two great divisions 
of the animal kingdom. Invertebrates, as 
well as vertebrates, have been carefully 
compared with each other in the bearing of 
their development and structure on their 
affinities and descent, and the possible se- 
quence in the evolution of the Vertebrata 
from the Invertebrata has been discussed. 
The other method pursued by paleontol- 
ogists, of whom Huxley, Marsh, Cope, Os- 
born and Traquair are prominent authori- 
ties, has been the study of the extinct forms 
preserved in the rocks and the comparison 
of their structure with each other and with 
that of existing organisms. In the at- 
tempts to trace the line of descent the im- 
agination has not unfrequently been called 
into play in constructing various conflict- 
ing hypotheses. Though from the nature of 
things the order of descent is, and without 
doubt will continue to be, ever a matter of 
speculation and not of demonstration, the 
study of the subject has been a valuable 
intellectual exercise and a powerful stimu- 
lant to research. 


396 


We know not as regards time when the 
fiat went forth, ‘Let there be Life, and 
there was Life.’ All that we can say is 
that it must have been in the far-distant 
past, at a period so remote from the present 
that the mind fails to grasp the duration 
of the interval. Prior to its genesis our 
earth consisted of barren rock and desolate 
ocean. 

When matter became endowed with life, 
with the capacity of self-maintenance and 
of resisting external disintegrating forces, 
the face of nature began to undergo a mo- 
mentous change. Living organisms mul- 
tiplied, the land became covered with 
vegetation, and multitudinous varieties of 
plants, from the humble fungus and moss 
to the stately palm and oak, beautified its 
surface and fitted it to sustain higher kinds 
of living beings. Animal forms appeared, 
in the first instance simple in structure, to 
be followed by others more complex, until 
the mammalian type was produced. The 
ocean also became peopled with plant and 
animal organisms, from the microscopic 
diatom to the huge leviathan. Plants and 
animals acted and reacted on each other, 
on the atmosphere which surrounded them 
and on the earth on which they dwelt, the 
surface of which became modified in char- 
acter and aspect. At last Man came into 
existence. His nerve-energy, in addition 
to regulating the processes in his economy 
which he possesses in common with ani- 
mals, was endowed with higher powers. 
When translated into psychical activity it 
has enabled him throughout the ages to 
progress from the condition of a rude sav- 
age to an advanced stage of civilization ; 
to produce works in literature, art and the 
moral sciences which have exerted, and 
must continue to exert, a lasting influence 
on the development of his higher Being; 
to make discoveries in physical science ; to 
acquire a knowledge of the structure of the 
earth, of the ocean in its changing aspects, 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XIL No. 298. 


of the atmosphere and the stellar universe, 
of the chemical composition and physical 
properties of matter in its various forms, 
and to analyze, comprehend and subdue 
the forces of nature. 

By the application of these discoveries 
to his own purposes Man has, to a large 
extent, overcome time and space; he has 
studded the ocean with steamships, girdled 
the earth with the electric wire, tunneled 
the lofty Alps, spanned the Forth with a 
bridge of steel, invented machines and 
founded industries of all kinds for the pro- 
motion of his material welfare, elaborated 
systems of government fitted for the man- 
agement of great communities, formulated 
economic principles, obtained an insight 
into the laws of health, the causes of in- 
fective diseases, and the means of control- 
ling and preventing them. 

When we reflect that many of the most 
important discoveries in abstract science 
and in its applications have been made 
during the present century, and indeed 
since the British Association held its first 
meeting in the ancient capital of your county 
sixty-nine years ago, we may look forward 
with confidence to the future. Every ad- 
vance in science provides a fresh platform 
from which a new start can be made. The 
human intellect is still in process of evo- 
lution. The power of application and of 
concentration of thought for the elucida- 
tion of scientific problems is by no means 
exhausted. In science is no hereditary 
aristocracy. The army of workers is re- 
cruited from all classes. The natural am- 
bition of even the private in the ranks to 
maintain and increase the reputation of the 
branch of knowledge which he cultivates 
affords an ample guarantee that the march 
of science is ever onwards, and justifies us 
in proclaiming for the next century, as in 
the one fast ebbing to a close, that Great 
is Science, and it will prevail. 

Wituiam TURNER. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS BY ENGINEER- 
ING SCHOOLS A DUTY TO THE PUBLIC 
AND TO THE PROFESSION. 

THE function of the modern university 
includes much more than the mere impart- 
ing of instruction to its students. In a 
newly recognized, important sense, the en- 
tire public must be considered university 
students, and by frequent publications, ad- 
dressed to different classes of people, by 
extension lectures. and possibly by corre- 
spondence instruction, the modern univer- 
sity must seek to educate this greater stu- 
dent body. Besides this no university, no 
department even, of a university can be 
considered to be doing living, vital work, 
unless in addition to its routine of instruc- 
tion it is carrying on original investigations. 
Otherwise its work will be merely mechan- 
ical, No student can be properly educated 
without bringing him into such close con- 
tact with veiled truth that he feels the 
very throb of her pulse, and receives direct 
from her the inspiration to become himself 
a searcher after truth. 

It is the object of this paper to make a 
plea that the function of the modern tech- 
nical school should be, in its particular 
field, closely similar to that of the univer- 
sity, as outlined above. The author believes 
that in addition to educating engineers, the 
technical school should, by special courses 
supplying special equipment, train leaders 
for all the industrial and commercial work 
of modern civilization. More than this, 
he believes that by the publication and 
distribution of frequent bulletins on tech- 
nical, industrial and commercial subjects, 
by its faculty taking part in the meetings 
and conventions of the various technical, 
industrial and commercial interests and so- 
cieties, and eventually perhaps by syste- 
matic extension lectures and correspondence 
courses, the technical school should seek to 
educate the industrial and commercial public 
in the applications of science to their work. 


SCIENCE. 


397 


It is the special object of this paper, how- 
ever, to make a plea for systematic, original 
investigation in technical schools. The 
necessity for work along this line has been 
so great and so plainly apparent that a 
great deal has already been accomplished. 
The term original investigation should be un- 
derstood to include much besides experi- 
mental research. The writing of good 
technical books, for example, involves a 
large amount of original study and research, 
for such books should never be mere com- 
pilations. In the columns of one of our 
principal technical journals 73 technical 
books were reviewed during the year 1899, 
and 25 of these were written by professors 
in engineering schools. There is not a 
single technical journal, and perhaps not 
an important technical society publication 
in the country to whose columns frequent 
contributions are not made by engineering 
educators. The current of progress of tech- 
nical education is sweeping engineering 
professors farther and farther away from 
the old exclusive devotion to class room in- 
struction, and more and more bearing them 
into active participation in the daily outside 
work of their professions. 

The development of original investiga- 
tion at technical schools has been especi- 
ally rapid in late years along the line of 
experimental research. The modern meth- 
ods of instruction require extensive and 
expensive laboratory equipment, which is 
also available for experimental research. 
The multitude of subjects pressingly need- 
ing such research is so great that energetic 
engineering instructors are naturally led 
into experimental investigations. Frequent 
reports of the results of such work are seen 
in the technical society proceedings. Also 
most engineering schools maintain regular 
publications, in which the results of many 
experimental investigations by both faculty 
and undergraduates are reported. It is 
impossible to mention here many of the 


398 


numerous important experimental investi- 
gations which have been madeat American 
engineering schools, but attention will be 
called to two cases: first, all are familiar 
with the important work in connection with 
paving brick which has been done at the 
universities of Ohio and Illinois, and which 
has been accepted as authoritative by both 
engineers and manufacturers; second, the 
great hydraulic laboratory at Cornell has 
required the most lavish expenditure of 
money devoted exclusively to preparation 
for experimental research in a single line of 
work yet seen at an American technical 
school. 

The great value of such investigations to 
the engineering profession is readily ap- 
parent. The value in connection with the 
instruction of engineering students is also 
great. Bringing the student into personal 
contact with the progress of such investiga- 
tions, carried on by his instructors, does 
much to awaken in him professional enthu- 
siasm and an ambition to become himself a 
contributor in the future to the common 
stock of technical knowledge. The student 
is led to see that there is much more in en- 
gineering education than the mere absorp- 
tion of knowledge, and much more to en- 
gineering practice than the mere routine 
of carrying out pre-established methods. 
He sees that he must learn to think for 
himself in his future work, and to investi- 
gate for himself the problems which he will 
encounter. In the simpler work connected 
with experimental investigations bright, re- 
liable students can often be employed to 
advantage. This is especially true in work 
suited to thesis investigations. The author 
knows of no more valuable training a stu- 
dent can have than to carry out successfully 
an experimental research, overcoming all 
the unforseen difficulties sure to be en- 
countered, and at the end completely diges- 
ting the results obtained. The author be- 
lieves, however, that all experimental work 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


by undergraduates should be done under 
very close supervision by a skilled instruc- 
tor. Much valuable thesis work has been 
done in this way at engineering schools. 

While much has already been accom- 
plished in orginal investigationsat American 
technical schools, such work has heretofore, 
with few important exceptions, been carried 
on spasmodically, with no systematic pre-ar- 
ranged plan. The author believes that this 
should now be changed, and that wherever 
possible technical schoolsshould deliberately 
plan for investigations as a part of their reg- 
ular work. Hach school should decide what 
lines of work are best suited to its location 
and circumstances. Proper space and equip- 
ment should be provided. The faculty 
should be made large enough to permit the 
necessary time to be devoted to the work. 
Funds should be provided to meet the ex- 
penses. Arrangements should be made for 
the regular publication of the results. 

Investigations which can be carried out 
at engineering schools are of two kinds: 
first, those mainly of professional interest 
and value; and second, investigations 
whose results have a considerable commer- 
cial, industrial and public, as well as pro- 
fessional value. 

As to investigations of the first kind it 
may be said that the practicing engineer 
frequently encounters problems which ought 
to be investigated experimentally, but it 
is seldom the case that he can command 
the necessary laboratory equipment or the 
time for such work, or induce his employers 
to furnish the necessary funds. Such prob- 
lems should be referred to the schools and 
there investigated. Thus the schools may 
perform their duty to the profession, and 
may ask in return, as they do even now, 
that the practicing expert shall give them 
the benefit of his experience, in non-resi- 
dent lecture courses. There will result that 
co-operation and close association between 
the engineering educator and the practicing 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


engineer which is so essential to the best 
interests of the profession. 

As regards investigations having a com- 
mercial and industrial value, attention may 
be called to the prominence which has re- 
cently been given to discussion of the value 
of scientific technical training for the lead- 
ers and workers in our manufacturing and 
commercial industries. The mono-technic 
and the trade schools of Germany have 
been held up as models for the world. The 
author believes that, under American con- 
ditions, the first decisive step towards solv- 
ing this problem should be taken at the 
technical schools, especially the state col- 
leges and state universities which are the 
beneficiaries of the Morrill government aid 
laws. The nearest approach now made to 
systematic technical education for one in- 
dustry in this country is seen at our agri- 
cultural schools and experiment stations. 
At the best of these schools not only are 
the students given a thorough scientific 
education and training for leaders in agri- 
cultural work, but also extensive scientific 
agricultural experiments and investigations 
are continually being carried on. The re- 
sults are systematically published and dis- 
tributed in bulletins. The faculties attend 
the regular meetings of the institutes and 
conventions of agricultural interests, and 
there inform the public concerning the re- 
sults of the college work and the principles 
of scientific agriculture. The author be- 
lieves that similar training and aid should 
be given by our technical schools to Amer- 
ican manufacturing, commercial and other 
industrial interests. At least, investiga- 
tions helpful to these interests should be 
undertaken, and the results systematically 
published. The school which will under- 
take such work will receive hearty support 
from the industrial interests of the country, 
and means for carrying on the work will 
not be lacking. 

In a new and rapidly developing country 


SCIENCE. 399 


like ours there are many yet untouched 
resources. It would greatly accelerate the 
development of these if scientific investiga- 
tions of their possibilities were made by the 
technical schools. For example, in the case 
of quarries,deposits of cement materials and 
clay deposits, both the raw materials and 
the finished products can be carefully tested 
and their qualities published. Again, in 
processes of manufacture, the effect of dif- 
ferent processes in the quality of the prod- 
uct can be studied. New applications of 
botany, chemistry and physics to manufac- 
turing processes can be found. 

In fact the subjects suitable for inves- 
tigation at engineering schools are very 
numerous, and no attempt will be made 
here to give an exhaustive list. The fol- 
lowing may be mentioned : 

Theoretical Mechanics.—Experimental stud- 
ies, accompanied by mathematical investi- 
gations of the theory, may be made of such 
problems as the actual pressure against re- 
taining walls, the theory of concrete and 
steel combinations, problems in hydraulics, 
and many others. 

Materials of Construction—The methods 
for testing the materials of construction 
need extensive experimental investigation, 
and should be completely standardized. 
The properties of both long used and of 
new materials may be studied and made 
known. Standard specifications may be 
prepared for the properties developed by 
the standard tests. 

Sewage Disposal and Water Supply.—The 
methods of analysis of sewage and water 
need careful experimental study to deter- 
mine the best methods and the interpreta- 
tion to be placed on the results. Analyses 
of sewage and water can be made for 
the municipalities and corporations of the 
state. Many sewage and water purification 
problems can be studied experimentally, 
and systematic examinations and reports 
can be made of existing plants in the State 


400 


Steam and Electrical Engineering.—Labor- 
atories can be provided for tests of different 
kinds of machinery, and for the experi- 
mental investigation of problems of correct 
design. LEfficieney tests of outside plants 
can be made. 

Mining Engineering.—Geological studies 
of deposits of building stones, cement ma- 
terials, clays, fuels and ores can be made, 
and the qualities tested. 

Manufacturing.—Applications of science 
to manufacturing and the comparative val- 
ues of different processes can be studied, as 
already mentioned. With the aid of sta- 
tistics, political economy as related to 
manufacturing, can be studied. 

Transportation.—Good roads and road ma- 
terials in the State can be studied. Labor- 
atories can be established, fitted for tests of 
transportation machinery. The political 
economy of transportation problems can be 
studied. if 

The author does not claim that any one 
school should undertake all of the above 
lines of work. On the contrary, the work 
undertaken by any one school should be 
restricted to what it can carry on for a long 
period of time, and so extensively and 
thoroughly that the results shall be con- 
clusive. Particular schools would natur- 
ally become authorities in particular lines, 
and their work would not be duplicated by 
others, although many lines of work would 
need to be carried on by several schools, 
because local conditions differ. 

As an illustration of a modest and im- 
perfect beginning of such work, made under 
many difficulties, the author would say 
that at the school with which he is con- 
nected the following lines of work are now 
under way : 

The college has a sewage disposal plant 
which purifies about 50,000 gallons per day. 
Regular analyses in connection with this 
plant are made, complete records are kept, 
and investigations with the plant are under 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


way. Special tests with smaller apparatus 
are planned. The college has just co-oper- 
ated with a neighboring city, securing and 
publishing at the expense of the city the 
preliminary data for the design of a purifi- 
cation plant for 2,000,000 gallons of sewage 
per day. The college proposes to examine 
and report upon sewage disposal plants as 
fast as they are installed in the State. In 
connection with the clay interests of the 
State quite a large number of plants have 
been visited, samples of clay and brick 
secured for tests, the clays and processes of 
manufacture studied, and several thousand 
tests are under way. Samples of new clay 
deposits are frequently received, analyzed 
and reported upon. An appropriation has 
been made for starting a ceramic labora- 
tory, modelled after the one at the Ohio 
State University. A set of tests of the heat- 
ing properties of the coals of the State is 
under way. ‘Tests of the building and 
paving materials of the State are being 
made, and extensive statistics of brick pav- 
ing collected. Special investigations of 
timely interest are taken up as opportunity 
permits. It is proposed to extend this 
work. 

It is obvious that if the extension of the 
work of the modern technical school advo- 
cated in this paper could be made to the ut- 
most possible extent, the status of the tech- 
nical school would be greatly changed from 
what itnow is. Nolonger could the schools 
be considered as existing simply for the 
benefit of its students. All practicing en- 
gineers would equally consider it theirs, 
and the great industrial and commercial 
interests of the country would consider it 
theirs. Such a technical school would be 
one of the most potent agencies imaginable 
for the betterment of the welfare of the 
people, and for the progress of modern civ- 
ilization. 

A. MArRsTon. 

IowA STATE COLLEGE. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900.] 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONGER EEL.* 


On July 31st, Dr. Porter E. Sargent, 
while on the U. S. Fish Commission vessel 
Grampus on the tile-fish banks (about 40 
miles south of South Shoal), secured a 
number of species of pelagic fish eggs. One 
of these is very probably that of the Conger 
eel. 

I have followed the development of this 
egg, and the larvee hatched from it during 
two weeks. In view of the fact that no 
ripe eel eggs had been seen except in a lim- 
ited region of the Mediterranean, a brief 
résumé of the results of my work on these 
eges may be of interest. But first a note 
on the modern phase of the eel question 
will not be out of place. 

In 1888, Raffaele figured and described 
a number of species of pelagic eggs which, 
on account of the shape of the larve they 
produced, he referred to various species of 
eels without a further attempt to refer 
them to definite species. 

In 1897, Grassi published his series of 
epoch-making works on the eel question. 
He also found the eggs described by Raffaele, 
but of more importance was his identifica- 
tion of various species of Leptocephali as 
the normal larval stages of various eels. 
His conclusions in brief were: Ist, that the 
eges of eels mature at great depths, 500 
meters; 2d, that the eggs, except occasion- 
ally, develop at great depths ; 3d, that the 
eggs give rise to a pree-larva, that this gives 
rise to a larva (the Leptocephalus), that 
this in turn gives rise to a hemilarva which 
finally is metamorphosed into the definitive 
adult which may be much shorter than the 
Leptocephalus from which it arose; 4th, 
that the egg of the common eel is without 
an oil globule. 

The eggs secured during this summer are 


* By permission of Dr. H. C. Bumpus, director of 
the Woods Holl Laboratory of the U. 8. Fish Com- 
mission. The details will be published by the Fish 
Commission. 


SCIENCE. 


401 


very nearly, if not quite like one of those 
described by Raffaele. They have all the 
characters of a pelagic egg, and Grassi was 
probably mistaken when he stated that 
these eggs come to the surface only occa- 
sionally. They are large, measuring from 
2.4 to 2.75 mm. from membrane to mem- 
brane. The yolk is in segments, and meas- 
ures 1.75 to 2 mm. in diameter, thus leav- 
ing a large perivitelline space. There are 
usually several oil globules, one of which 
is very much larger than the others. Some 
of these eggs hatched on the fourth day, 
others not until several days later. There 
are several distinct and unique features in 
the development, most of which have been 
well described and figured by Raffaele. (1 
have not seen Grassi’s illustrated work.) 

First among the peculiar features is the 
shape of the yolk. This in later stages of 
development becomes a long, slender mass 
reaching from the heart along the base of 
the alimentary canal to near the anus. 
This mass becomes constricted in places 
and the last seen of the yolk is a series of 
small disconnected bead-like masses dis- 
tributed at intervals along the base of the 
alimentary canal. The yolk mass in the 
yolk sack diminishes very rapidly, partly 
by absorption, and partly, no doubt, by 
becoming located in the sub-alimentary 
yolk mass. A constriction is formed be- 
tween it and the posterior yolk to which it 
forms a sort of handle. The oil spheres 
remain in the handle of the yolk mass. 
This elongation of the yolk is a definite 
adaptation to the elongate body and eeling 
progression of the larva. 

The number of abdominal protovertebree 
is exceptionally large, numbering between 
65 and 71 in the present case. 

The medulla becomes early and remains 
late a large, conspicuous, thin-roofed ves- 
icle. 

The color appears late. 
ments appear. 


Only black pig- 
In the last stages reached it 


402 


consists of a series of ten spots along the 
region of the alimentary canal and lower 
part of the tail, a black spot about the end 
of the tail and another at the tip of the 
lower jaw, with a few cells on the upper 
jaw. 

Especially noteworthy is the develop- 
ment of enormous fang-like teeth, four pairs 
in each jaw. The upper decrease in length 
from the front backwards, while those of the 
lower jaw are nearly of uniform size. 

When first hatched the larve floated verti- 
cally, near the surface, heads up, tails down. 
Later they assumed the horizontal position 
and explored all parts of the vessel in which 
they were contained, progressing in ap- 
proved eel fashion and biting at nearly 
everything touched. 

The evidence that the eggs are those of 
the Conger is not positive. If Grassi is 
right, these eggs cannot belong to the 
common eel. The Conger eel is the only 
other one abuudant in the region in which 
the eggs were collected and was caught in 
numbers at the time the eggs were col- 
lected. The serious objection to referring 
them to the Conger is the large number of 
segments in front of the anus. Since, how- 
ever, according to Grassi, the anus mi- 
grates to near the end of the tail during the 
changes to the Leptocephalus stage, the 
number of segments in front of the anus is 
probably not positively available in the 
identification of the larva. 

Cart H. HIGENMANN. 

Woops Houu, Mass., August 25, 1900. 


HEAT-ENGINE DIAGRAMS. 

THE accompanying diagram, in which are 
shown the possible compositions of the four 
standard thermodynamic, lines in the for- 
mation of heat-engine diagrams or thermo- 
dynamic cycles, has been found so useful 
during twenty years’ experience in its em- 
ployment that it has seemed possible that 


SOCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XIE. No. 298. 


it may prove deserving of extended publi- 
cation. It has just been engraved in this 
particular form for illustration of a new edi- 
tion of the ‘Manual of the Steam-engine.’ 
Gas-engine cycles are seen to number no 
less than seventeen, of which a large pro- 
portion are mechanically and kinematically 
practical, and a half-dozen of which have 
been adopted or designed by engineers. 
The Carnot, or Sterling—J, a b ec d—and 
its equivalent, a b n m, or V, the regenera- 
tor cycle, only, it is recognized, can yield 
maximum efficiency, as'a thermodynamic 
Joule and Brayton 


MIKA 


“VEL EG 


ator 


1 T3 ¢ Vo 
Carnot. Rankine and Clausins 


proposition; but the Joule, or Brayton, and 
the Ericsson, among the gas-engine cycles 
and the Rankins and Clausius among vapor- 
engine cycles have been found available by 
designers and builders, and it is probable 
that, among the infinite number of con- 
ceivable cycles outside the class here illus- 
trated, many may be found capable of 
meeting the demand of the engineer for a 
practical union of thermodynamic, me- 
chanical and kinematic closed cycles. 

The production of the cycle of Carnot is . 
not a difficult task as a matter of design 
but, in the case of the gas-engine, it in- 
volves +00 extensive a variation of volume 
to find place in application. It is far more 
practicable with vapor-engines and Cotterill 
long since suggested a practical approxima- 
tion of which the engineers of our own day 
are beginning to avail themselves. 


R. H. THURSTON. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


HERMAN ANDREAS LOOS. 

Tue death of Dr. Herman Andreas Loos 
which has already been noticed in these 
columns, adds another to the long list of 
men of science whose lives have been blot- 
ted out by the scourges of the tropics. 

Dr. Loos, though a very young man, was 
a chemist of exceptional promise. He was 
granted the degree of Bachelor of Science 
by the College of the City of New York in 
1895. In 1897 he entered the School of 
Chemistry of Columbia University. When 
temporary business reverses removed the 
ayailable funds for the completion of his 
education, he put his shoulder to the 
wheel and for two years before he entered 
Columbia taught in both the day and the 
night schools of this city. While doing 
his graduate work in the University he 
ably filled the instructorship in Chemistry 
in the Hast Side Evening High School. As 
an honor for his ability and perseverance he 
was awarded the University Fellowship in 
Chemistry for 1899-1900. 

His principal contributions to the litera- 
ture of chemistry are: ‘The Electrolytic 
Determination of Zine in Amalgam’ (the+ 
sis for M. A.) ; ‘A Study on the Metallic 
Carbonyls and their Decomposition ( School 
of Mines Quarterly 21, 182) ; ‘The Decom- 
position of Nickel Carbonyl in Solution’ 
(Journal American Chemical Society 22, 144 ) ; 
“A Study on Colophony Resin’ ( thesis 
for Ph.D.). In the study on Colophony 
Resin he has decided two controverted 
points, viz: that abietic acid will form an 
anhydride on heating, and that it is not an 
oxidation product of turpentine. He has 
also developed a new method for the prepa- 
ration of pure abietic acid and established 
its formula by anumber of analyses. Many 
new salts were prepared and their decom- 
position both by water and sunlight, noted. 
The whole work is of great theoretical and 
practical interest. 

Immediately after receiving his degree 


SCIENCE. 


403 


Dr. Loos was appointed assistant in analyt- 
ical chemistry in Columbia University. He 
resigned this position, however, to accept a 
flattering offer from the Copper Corporation 
of Chili, and it was while en route to Chai- 
aral that he was stricken with yellow fever, 
of which he died July 17th. 

At the age of twenty-four, by his own ef- 
forts, he had earned an education and es- 
tablished for his name an honorable place 
in the literature of his profession. No finer 
tribute can be paid to his energy and ability 
and ambition. Strange indeed must be 
one’s thoughts when it is realized that the 
victims of yellow fever on board the steam- 
ship Chili were Italians or Chinese laborers 
with the one exception, the brilliant, ener- 
getic, educated Dr. Loos. 

Mitton C. WHITAKER. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, 
September 1, 1900. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Photometrical Measurements and Manual for the 
general Practice of Photometry with espe- 
cial Reference to the Photometry of Are and 
Incandescent Lamps. By WiLBuR M. STINE, 
Ph.D. New York, The Macmillan Company. 
The scope of this little manual is indicated 

in its subtitle. The arrangement and propor- 

tioning of the material look always toward 
electric light photometry. Subjects which have 

a scientific, rather than an industrial interest, 

like spectrophotometry, are briefly dealt with, or 

omitted altogether, and the gas-engineer will 
find no reference to the special problems with 
which he has to struggle. Within the limits 
set by himself, Dr. Stine has produced a useful 
book. less compact than Kriss, less compre- 
hensive than Palaz, it is perhaps more directly 
adapted to the student than either. The ma- 
terial is judiciously selected, the discussions are 
elear and careful, the bibliographical references 
amply sufficient for the purposes of the book. 

Some two-thirds of the volume are occupied 
in discussion and criticism of photometric din- 
struments and standards of light, thirty or 
forty pages are given to general and theoretical 


404 : 


considerations, and the remainder is devoted to 
practical suggestions and directions. 

In the discussions of photometric apparatus, 
such types have been selected as have been 
shown by experience to be really useful. 
Among these, the Bunsen screen holds easily 
the first place, from actual use, convenience, 
and sensitiveness, though attention might well 
have been called to its two notable weaknesses : 

1. That it violates a fundamental principle 
of photometric construction, namely, that the 
portions of the photometric screen which are 
used for comparison should be illuminated each 
by one only of the lights to be compared, and 
not by both. The violation of this principle 
renders it possible, as is shown in the analytic 
discussion, to make settings in any one of three 
ways, which may give quite different readings, 
so that agreement is only obtained (and not 
surely even so) by reversing the instrument. 
How many users of the Bunsen screen for in- 
dustrial purposes habitually reverse their pho- 
tometers ? 

2. That the ordinary binocular use of this in- 
strument is attended by the possibility of a 
considerable constant error. This is indeed 
pointed out on page 210, but is of sufficient im- 
portance to deserve mention in the description 
of the photometer itself. 

It is questionable also whether the old shadow 
photometer is not too hardly dealt with. The 
illustration on page 54, though similar to that 
generally given in books on the subject, affords 
no idea of the proper use of the instrument. 
When arranged in the most advantageous man- 
ner this photometer becomes convenient in use 
to an extent hardly approached by any other 
form, and sufficiently sensitive for most work. 

The bolometer, as a photometer, is dismissed 
with a few lines, yet it is worth noting that 
while energy measurers—like the bolometer— 
which can be made to register their results 
mechanically, do not measure the physiological 
sensation of light, yet for certain purposes they 
may be most useful. The variation in bright- 
ness of a light, within not too large limits, 
takes place generally without changing materi- 
ally the character of the light, and hence is 
proportional to the corresponding change in 
energy. Such questions as the steadiness of a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


standard can be investigated by means of a bo- 
lometer with far more precision than by any 
photometric arrangement. No photometric in- 
dictment against the standard candle has ever 
approached in severity the curves obtained by 
Nichols and Sharp, in the work referred to by 
the author. 

The method is recommended in the chapter 
on are light photometry, of calibrating an in- 
candescent lamp at white heat, by comparing 
in succession lights of higher and higher in- 
candescence, starting with the ordinary yel- 
lowish standard, until through a series of steps 
the required limit is reached. This is a ques- 
tionable method in practice. As the change of 
color in the successive steps is always in the 
same direction, from yellow toward white, 
errors made on account of the differing colors 
of the lights are likely to be always in the same 
direction, and therefore cumulative. I have 
found it very difficult to make a series of 
measurements of this kind tally in their final 
results with a direct comparison between the 
limits of the series made with a flicker pho- 
tometer. 

But these are small questions and affect but 
little the value of a book which may be recom- 
mended to students of the subject as a safe and 


efficient guide, 
FRANK P. WHITMAN. 


LIVERPOOL MARINE BIOLOGICAL COMMITTEE’S 
MEMOIRS. 


Numepers II. and III. of the Liverpool 
Marine Biological Committee’s memoirs have 
recently come to hand. It was hardly to be 
expected that the standard of scientific excel- 
lence set by No. I. of the series, on Ascidia 
(see SctENCE, January 19, 1900), written by the 
most experienced ascidiologist living, could be 
reached by all succeeding numbers. If, how- 
ever, the two now under review may be ac- 
cepted as establishing the quality of those that 
are to be prepared by specialists less distin- 
guished than is Professor Herdman, the writer 
of the first number and editor of the series, a 
set of very valuable little books is to be the 
outcome of this unique undertaking. 

Their usefulness will be by no means re- 
stricted to English laboratories of elementary 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


instruction, but will extend to the reference 
libraries of many professional zoologists. 

Number II., by Mr. J. Johnstone, is on Car- 
dium ; and number III., by H. C. Chadwick, is 
on Echinus. The former contains 84 pp. and 7 
pls.; the latter 28 pp. and 5 pls. 

In Cardium the sections, ‘General Organiza- 
tion, Mantle and Foot,’ ‘Shell,’ ‘ Alimentary 
Canal,’ ‘Branchia,’ ‘Vascular System,’ and 
‘Course of the Circulation,’ are particularly 
well done. One rarely finds in works on the 
lamellibranchs of the general scope and purpose 
of this the crystalline style and the method of 
extending the siphons and foot better treated 
than here. The renal, neryous and reproduc: 
tive systems do not fare quite so well, rela- 
tively. The histology of the nervous system, 
for example, is not touched upon at all, while 
it is entered into with some detail for all the 
other systems. 

The treatment of the renal system is some- 
what deficient in illustration, and consequently 
lacks to some extent in clearness. And here 
one wonders why the terms ‘ organ of Bojanus’ 
and nephridia, so well established in lamelli- 
branch morphology, are not even mentioned. 

The absence of any reference to the ccelon, 
at least under that name, is strange. 

A feature of this particular monograph, and 
one which will undoubtedly both extend and 
enhance its local value, is an appendix on 
‘The Economy of the Cockle, with special refer- 
ence to the Lancashire Sea-Fisheries District.’ 

The Echinus, though perhaps not reaching at 
any point quite so high a level of descriptive 
excellence as does Cardium in a few sections, is 
more even. It is good throughout. 

Both monographs contain much evidence that 
their authors have not only a large fund of 
first-hand knowledge of their subjects, but have 
also wide acquaintance with the original litera- 
ture bearing upon them. 

One constantly wishes that zoological treatises 
of this general type might contain more physi- 
ology and natural history with the morphol- 
ogy than they do; but here the desiderata 
are usually beyond the power of the authors to 
remedy. ‘The three numbers of this series thus 
far put out are certainly less defective in this 
way than are many general works. 


SCIENCE. 


405 


None of the numbers thus far issued have 
either tables of contents or indexes, and they 
should certainly have both; their value would 
be greatly enhanced thereby. 

I would again express regret that the vol- 
umes cannot be more securely bound. A num- 
ber of forms in the copy of Cardium that has 
come into my hands are now nearly ready 
to fall out, and the book has had no hard usage. 
The. educational worth of the books certainly 
ought to insure them a place in many labora- 
tories and reference libraries ; and their useful- 
ness ought not to be impaired by defective con- 


struction. 
Wm. E. RITTER. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


Popular Astronomy for August and September, 
published at Northfield, Minn., contains, as 
leading articles, views of some prominent as- 
tronomers, about the present opposition of the 
planet Eros as favorable for a study of this new 
planet’s parallax. If its parallax can be ob- 
tained, micrometrically and photographically as 
accurately as is now believed, the result will 
help to a better knowledge of the solar parallax. 
Such knowledge would improve most of the 
constants of the solar system. §S. J. Brown, 
Astronomical Director of the United States 
Naval Observatory, has prepared the first and 
second articles. The first is on the feasibility 
of obtaining the solar parallax from simultane- 
ous micrometric observations of Eros, and the 
second is a translation from the French of two 
circulars issued by the International Astro- 
photographie Conference at its meetings in July 
and August last, giving instructions to all the 
astronomers of the world who are expected to 
co-operate in observing Eros during Septem- 
ber and October. Director Brown gives useful 
comments on these circulars. Other articles 
are: ‘Ptolemy’s Theorem on the apparent En- 
largement of the Sun and Moon near the 
Horizon,’ by Dr. T. J. J. See, Washington, D. 
C.; ‘Total Eclipse of May 28, 1900,’ by Pro- 
fessor M. Moyé, University at Montpellier, 
France ; an illustrated article on the same sub- 
ject by the editor; ‘The Propagation of the 
Tidal Wave,’ by Dr. T. J. J. See; ‘The Planet 
Jupiter,’ by G. W. Hough, and an obituary 


406 


notice of ‘ Piazzi Smyth,’ by Ralph Copeland. 
Notes as usual are published on variable stars, 
planets and current spectroscopic work. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
NOTE ON THE SILURO-DEVONIC BOUNDARY. 


In the recently published bulletin of the U. 
S. Geological Survey, No. 165, entitled ‘Con- 
tributions to the Geology of Maine,’ Professor 
H.S. Williams has again defined his attitude 
on the question of the Siluro-Devonic boundary 
in America. Here the critical argument ad- 
vanced with some emphasis for the construction 
of the Helderbergian as a Siluric fauna is given 
in the following words (p. 25) : 


‘““The boundary between the Silurian and Devonian 
systems was first made in the Welsh series, in which 
the transition was from calcareous sedimentation, 
with rich and purely marine faunas, into sandstones 
of great thickness containing land plants and fishes 
whose habitat was, presumably, fresh or brackish 
waters. 

““The New York section, from the Lower Helder- 
berg limestones through the Oriskany, Cauda-galli, 
and Schoharie grits back again into limestones, does 
not pass out of marine conditions. In the Gaspé 
region, however, there isa complete change (as there 
was on the other side of the Atlantic Basin) at the 
point where the Oriskany fauna wasevolved. [NoTE 
A.] In these Silurian faunas of the eastern province 
there is also much closer resemblance to the Wen- 
lock-Ludlow series than is found in the faunas of the 
Appalachian province in New York. The correlation 
of the passage beds at the top of the Silurian of Wales 
is clearly to be recognized in the passage from the 
limestones to the Gaspé sandstones of the eastern 
province of America. This Gaspé transition is also to 
be traced with precision to the horizon of the intro- 
duction of the Oriskany fauna into the basins farther 
west and southwest, in which no direct passage into 
Old Red sandstone condition is apparent. 

““Wehave thus in America a means of determin- 
ing where the Silurian boundary belongs in purely 
marine series of beds and among marine faunas of un- 
broken succession. The Lower Helderberg in the in- 
terior of the American continent, as the Koniprusien 
F, fauna in the Bohemian Basin of Europe, is closely 
related in its species to what succeeds, because there 
was no radical disturbance of the conditions of marine 
life. Nevertheless, it is not the Lower Helderberg 
species that mark the conditions corresponding to the 
beginning of the Old Red sandstone ; but the changes 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


which that fauna suffered during the passage into the 
Oriskany time are evidences of a general disturbance 
which resulted in the lifting of large areas of marine 
surface above the level of the sea.’? [NorE B.] 


Note A.—This statement is wholly inaccurate. 
In the Gaspé limestones the Oriskany fauna 
manifests itself pronouncedly with Hipparionyx 
proximus, Rensseleria ovoides, Megalanteris, Ca- 
marotechia pliopleura, Rhipdomella, cf. musculosa, 
Meristella cf. lata, etc., at the base of Logan’s 
limestone No. 8, and above this horizon is the 
great thickness of 500-600 feet of pure lime- 
stone beds with chert bands, surprisingly sim- 
ilar in lithologic aspect to the gray and choc- 
olate-colored Onondaga limestones of New 
York, and throughout these beds such Oris- 
kany species are found in association with a 
profusion of others not represented in the in- 
terior basin Oriskany and many of them closely 
comparable to species of the Helderbergian. 
The plane of reappearance of certain Oriskany 
species in the Gaspé sandstone above, was 
shown by Logan to be 1100 feet above the top 
of these limestones and to be restricted to a 
comparatively slight vertical range. The fos- 
sils of the sandstone are not abundant nor is 
the fauna diversified. To any one studying 
these relations on the ground it is clear that 
they represent a brief return of the fauna of 
the limestone with evidences of progression 
and the further intermixture of species from 
the interior province (Rensselxria ef. ovoides, 
Chonostrophia dawsont and Chonetes melonica 
(both of the latter in the New York Oriskany), 
Leptostrophia blainvilli, cf. Oriskany species, 
Orthothetes becraftensis, Phacops probably iden- 
tical with P. anceps). The evidence from the 
Gaspé series is potent and conclusive that the 
introduction of the Oriskany fauna was accom- 
panied by the deposition of pure calcareous 
sediments which were continued for a pro- 
tracted period and nearly equal in actual thick- 
ness, the sum total of the Helderbergian and 
Onondaga limestones in the New York area of 
the interior basin. The species cited are in 
themselves evidence of the wide transgression 
during Oriskany time which is especially no- 
ticeable in the distribution of the sediment in 
New York. No tectonic change disturbs the 
succession in the 2000 feet of Gaspé limestones. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


The fauna alone shows that during the earlier 
part of the period of their deposition the east- 
ern province was more completely secluded 
from the interior sea than during its later 
stages. The Canadian geologists have ex- 
pressed the probability that the 7000 feet of 
arenaceous sediments comprising the Gaspé 
sandstone may represent the major part of all 
subsequent Devonic deposition in that region. 

Note B.—The fauna of the Helderbergian 
passes upward into the deposits of the Oriskany 
without abrupt or profound change. Its species 
perdure, but progress and definition are evinced 
in the later fauna by the introduction of many 
distinct types. 

The prevailing conception of the Oriskany 
as a purely arenaceous deposit and which 
figures largely throughout this argument is 
one which needs readjustment. The normal 
fauna of the Oriskany of New York is that of 
the calcareous beds of the eastern part of the 
basin. These beds always contain a considera- 
ble content of silica in the form of sand, but 
they are clearly the deeper water deposits of 
which the sandstone beds of the typical Oris- 
kany section and the intermediate thin bands 
of altered sandstone (quartzite) are the shallow 
water shore-line deposits. The sandy layers 
of the Oriskany only share the fauna of the 
calcareous beds, and it is quite clear that their 
species have been derived from the deeper 
water centers of dispersion largely through 
mechanical agency. It is therefore not compe- 
tent to argue a lower calcareous Oriskany and 
an upper arenaceous Oriskany, as, in New 
York, at least, there is but one Oriskany fauna, 
and the formation is not divisible into facies 
except geographically. 


The foregoing notes indicate that the argu- 
ment cited is built upon the sand. Neverthe- 
less it is throughout that which served de Ver- 
neuil and Murchison above fifty years ago and 
through that agency produced its effect upon 
Hall’s correlation of the Oriskany and Lower 
Helderberg. It is that argument too with no 
additions, summed up in the statement that 
Siluric time was closed with a general world- 
wide crustal elevation initiating rapid base- 
leveling and the accumulation of sandy deposits 


SCIENCE. 


407 


at the opening of the Devonic in all countries. 
To the recrudescence of this ancient doctrine 
the labors of Kayser, Frech, Tschernyschew 
and other European geologists upon the cal- 
careous facies of the earliest Devonian in the 
Harz, Westphalia, Bohemia and the Urals af- 
ford no balm. The old hypothesis of cycles of 
sedimentation loses force when applied simul- 
taneously to every part of the earth’s surface, 
and cycles of sedimentation are not a basis of 
geologic classification save as some element 
therein indicates widespread orographic de- 
rangement. The argument as here constructed 
seems to be as follows: The grand event which 
terminated the Siluric was the universal eleva- 
tion of the land, the erosion of which supplied 
the materials for the sandy sediments of the 
opening stages of the Devonic. This opening 
Devonic stage in the marine succession is im- 
pregnated with species of Oriskany type ; ‘ the 
Lower Helderberg is therefore proven to belong 
to the typical Silurian system of the American 
Continent’ (op. cit., p. 26). Both premises 
limp and the conclusion falls. The deposition 
of sandy sediment was not contemporaneous -n 
the early Devonic, but, however widespread, it 
may have been upon the epicontinental plateau, 
calcareous sediments of contemporary origin 
must have been present in the greater and less 
disturbed depths, retaining some of the pre- 
existing types, but showing freely the pro- 
gressed and differentiated types of the new era. 
These relations of coeval faunas can be deter- 
mined only upon the most careful analysis of 
organic content, and such analysis has cogently 
shown the intimate affinity of the Helderbergian 
with the caleareous Oriskany of which it is the 
immediate and purest calcareous predecessor in 
the vertical series. As in the Gaspé succession, 
so.in New York, the species of Helderbergian 
time, notably unlike in the two separated prov- 
inces, pass, in each, into association with those 
of the Oriskany when by transgressing sedi- 
mentation and freer intercourse between the 
provinces a consequent commonalty of species 
was effected. 

The succession in the Gaspé peninsula like 
that of the basins of Bohemia and the Urals 
again declares the ultimate and final authority 
of the fauna, its variations, progression and 


408 


specialization, in pronouncing upon a critical 
question in the classification of the fossiliferous 


rocks. 
JOHN M. CLARKE. 


THE PROBLEM OF COLOR. 


ALTHOUGH I don’t accept Professor Cattell’s 
contention, in the last number of the Psycholog- 
ical Review, that the nugatory process by which 
two colored lights (if properly chosen in hue 
and in intensity) disappear for sensation and 
leave behind a sense of grayness only is due to 
a cortical and not to a retinal physiological 
process, I am nevertheless willing (in the in- 
terest of fair play) to furnish him with one 
more reason on his side. When a colored ob- 
ject is mirrored in a piece of colored glass 
(say red in blue), we get in general a color blend, 
that is, for consciousness, a reddish-blue sensa- 
tion. In case the colors chosen are a pair 
which, on fusing, are transformed into some- 
thing else (yellow and blue into white, or red 
and green into yellow), this is, according to all 
the non-psychical color-theories, because two 
counteracting color-processes in the retina are 
exactly balanced, or else because two partial 
photo-chemical molecular dissociations unite to 
complete each other and to produce an un- 
differentiated gray-process,—either of these 
suppositions being sufficiently plausible in 
itself. But—and this is the fact, if it is a fact, 
which works upon Professor Cattell’s side— 
there are occasions upon which, according to 
Helmholtz and to Wundt, this antagonism, or 
this completion, fails to take place. Onesome- 
times sees, they say, one color through the 
other; guided by the belief that the red sensa- 
tion is due to the presence of a red book, e. g., 
one cannot help but see the redness of the book 
through the sea of blue. They do not dwell 
upon the colors which they used in making the 
experiment—so long as these are red and blue 
there is nothing strange in the differing inter- 
pretations ; but if, under these circumstances, 
blue and yellow should not give white (and red 
and green should not give yellow), then it 
would seem to follow that the antagonistic or 
the completing processes are not of the nature 
of chemical changes in the retina—such could 
not be so easily undone by the reasoning, or the 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


perceiving, Psyche. Hering denies with great 
warmth the contention of Helmholtz and of 
Wundt that these exceptional cases occur ; or 
rather, he says that if they do occur it is owing 
to spots or unevennesses in one or the other of 
the two surfaces. But even though she be as- 
sisted by any ulterior aids whatever, it would 
not seem that the Psyche can undo, in the in- 
terests of reasonable interpretation, a chemical 
change that has already taken place. Perhaps 
she can, however; but in that case her powers 
must also suffice to undo an actual white (or yel- 
low) and separate it into its possible components. 
If, in the case of a blue book seen in a yellow 
glass, for a portion in the center of the surface 
of the book a gray of equal brightness be sub- 
stituted, and alike gray for an exactly coincid- 
ing portion of the yellow reflector, then it is 
possible that self-deception would go so far as to 
enable us to see a continuous blue book in a 
continuous yellow mirror. The experiment is 
perhaps worth trying. 

On the other hand (to be equally fair to my 
own side, in turn), the fact that binocular color 
mixture does not occur to any great extent— 
that is, does not occur for colors far apart in 
the spectrum—is at once destructive to any 
hypothesis which relegates the fusion of colors 
to the perception-forming centers of the brain. 
Whether an overlapping blue and yellow are 
mediated by one eye or by two can have nothing 
to do with the case if their mutual quenching 
is an affair of perception. Helmholtz, after a 
long series of the most painstaking experiments, 
declared absolutely that binocular color-fusion 
does not take place.* This shows, in passing, ” 
the unprejudiced character of his work, for the 
fact, as I have said, is quite destructive to his 
theory that the mutual suppression of blue and 
yellow into white is merely a matter of the 
judgment: it cannot make any difference 
whether we know that we see blue and yel- 
low at once through one nasal half-retina, or 
through a nasal and a temporal half-retina to- 
gether—the more so as we have in general 


* Binocular color-fusing of two complementary 
colors many be obtained with the Hering color-mixer 
by ‘long and steady gazing,’ but this is the sufficient 
condition for turning each color into a dead gray, 
when looked at by itself. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900.] 


absolutely no consciousness as to which eye we 
are seeing anything with. 

It is customary to speak of color-mixing as 
if it were the same sort of thing throughout the 
whole spectrum, but in reality it is of two very 
different kinds. When a unitary green and 
blue are mixed to produce a blue-green, the 
phenomenon is purely a psychological one (and 
there is nothing strange in the fact that such 
mixtures work binocularly as well as monocu- 
larly); we can see in the blue-green the blue 
and the green of which it is composed (and we 
have not even in this case taken the trouble to 
devise a separate name for it). But if a spec- 
tral red and a spectral green in neither of 
which any trace of yellow can be detected be 
seen together (and even if one of them is a 
trifle bluish), a yellow is produced which has 
not any perceptible falling off, even in satura- 
tion, from the yellow of the spectrum (as has 
just been stated explicitly by Breuer and von 
Kries); and a correspondingly strange event 
results from the mixing of blueand yellow. To 
say that such a transformation-scene as this is 
the work of judgment (the judgment being led 
to it by no motive whatever—it cannot be any- 
thing in reality, it would seem, but the pure 
spontaneous play of fancy, rather than the work 
ofa reasons-obeying judgment, or perception)— 
this is to make a serious draft upon the powers 
with which we need to endue that faculty, or, to 
use the more modern term, that cortical center. 
At all events, the two occurrences are very dif- 
ferent, and my object now is merely to suggest 
that they should be called by different names. 
When green and yellow producing ether-radia- 
tions are thrown together upon the retina, I 
would propose that the yellow-green sensation 
which results, be called a color-blend, and that 
the two colors be said to be blended. But when 
yellow and blue unite to make gray, I should 
say, using in fact a term of Helmholtz’s, that 
the process is one of mutual color-quenching 
(and in the same way red and green may be 
said to quench each other when they result in 
yellow). Color-blending is plainly a psycho- 
logical matter ; color-quenching it is far more 
natural, in the first instance, to attribute to a 
peculiarity of the photo-chemical processes 
which we know to be going on in the retina. 


SCIENCE. 


409 


Farther—still in the interest of mutual com- 
prehensibility between the adherents of different 
schools, who speak at present languages which 
have too little in common—I would propose to 
call red, yellow, blue, and green, not primary, 
nor elementary, nor fundamental colors—that 
commits one to one or other of the rival 
schools; not ‘ principal’ colors—that is purely 
an esthetic designation; but unitary colors. 
Since the admirable discussion of this subject 
by Professor Elias Muller (Zisch. f. Psychol., 
Vols. X. and XIV.) no one can doubt—even of 
those who doubted it before—that these partic- 
ular ether-radiations have for consciousness a 
peculiar character—that of being the end-mem- 
bers of ‘rectilinear’ color-series (Series such 
that each member differs from the one before 
it in the same way in which that differs from 
the one next preceding); in other words, they 
are not, for consciousness, of the nature of 
color-blends. Yellow-green and green-blue are 
—on their faces—color-blends. Orange and 
violet have secured unitary names for them- 
selves (though they are nothing but a reddish 
yellow and a reddish blue)—doubtless on ac- 
count of the excessive interest which attaches to 
reds in nature as compared with greens; but that 
is not sufficient to make them unitary colors. 
This nomenclature commits one to no theory 
whatever—whether retinal or cortical ; it is 
simply the expression of the psychological fact 
that there are four very characteristic points in 
the color gamut, red, yellow, green and blue, 
their character being sufficiently described by 
the word unitary. That this is true will easily 
be seen by any one who will take the trouble 
to spread out for himself in order in a circle as 
many different color-hues (all of the same satu- 
ration and the same brightness—the spectrum 
will not do, therefore), as can be procured. 

To conclude, a color-blend is then surely a 
psychological product; an instance of color- 
quenching is either psychical or physiological 
according to the theory which one is pleased to 
adopt. How hard it is for the physicists to 
understand this point of view is evidenced by 
the fact that they are constantly affirming that 
fresh proof has been adduced of the Young- 
Helmholtz theory, because it has been shown 
that all the colors of the rainbow and white 


410 


besides can be made out of the physical mixture 
of red and green and blue. That fact has been 
put beyond doubt, once for all, by the exceed- 
ingly exact measurements of Professor Konig, 
made by means of an instrument of very in- 
genious construction (and so expensive that it 
has been duplicated for hardly any other labor- 
atories). There is nota psychologist who denies 
this physical fact, and for the physicist to con- 
stantly re-affirm it, and to say that it has received 
fresh proof (see the report of the last meeting 
of the scientific societies in New York) is 
much the same as if he should valiantly af- 
firm that one side of a shield is of silver by way 
of opposition to those who say that the other side 
is of gold. What the psychologist denies is not 
that gray results when blue and yellow are 
mixed upon the color wheel—he has admitted 
that long ago, and it will be found as an elemen- 
tary statement in every text-book of psychol- 
ogy. But he refuses to admit, nevertheless, 
that white is an even red-green-blue sensation 
in the same sense in which purple is an even 
red-blue sensation. It is here that the adher- 
ents of the Young—Helmholtz theory should 


attack him. 
C. LADD FRANKLIN. 


A LARGE CRYSTAL OF SPODUMENE. 


To THE EDITOR oF SCIENCE: There has 
recently appeared in some scientific journals a 
notice of a crystal of spodumene stated 
to be about twenty-nine feet long, and to be 
the largest known. It may be of interest to 
your readers to learn that a much larger 
crystal has been observed. In the year 1885 
while studying the tin ore or cassiterite 
localities of the Black Hills of Dakota I saw 
and measured, in the Etta tin mine near 
Harney’s Peak, a spodumene crystal thirty- 
eight feet and six inches in length and thirty- 
two inches in thickness. This thirty-eight and 
a half foot crystal was almost perfect, and was 
situated within a few yards of the surface. 
Owing to its size and the difficulties of trans- 
portation at that time, the railway being one 
hundred and thirty miles distant, I made no 
attempt to have the crystal removed. I, how- 
ever, collected other crystals of spodumene in 
the vicinity, and some of these measured from 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


two to six feet in length. Subsequently, ina 
public lecture upon the Black Hills, given in 
the University of North Dakota in February, 
1886, I announced the discovery of the afore- 
said gigantic crystal ; but, because of the pres- 
sure of teaching and other numerous duties, 
that discovery has not been reported in the 
regular scientific journals. 

For the benefit of some readers it may per- 
haps be well to state that spodumene is a 
grayish-white or pink mineral of considerable 
hardness, being nearly as hard as quartz, and 
that it consists of silica, alumina and lithium. 

Henry MONTGOMERY. 

TRINITY UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, 

July 17, 1900. 


UNITS AT THE INTERNATIONAL ELEC- 
TRICAL CONGRESS.* 

Ar the suggestion of Professor Hospitalier, 
Section I. of the Congress agreed that the fol- 
lowing should be the members of the Commis- 
sion on Units: Messrs. Ayrton (Great Britain), 
De Chatelain (Russia), Dorn (Germany), De 
Fodor (Hungary), Eric Gérard (Belgium), 
Hospitalier (France), Lombardi (Italy), Ken- 
nelly (United States) ; and at the first meeting 
of the Commission, on August 21st, which was 
attended also by Professor F. Kohlrausch and 
Sir W. Preece—whose names had been added 
to the list of the government delegates for Ger- 
many and England—a report presented to the 
Congress by the American Institute of Elec- 
trical Engineers was taken into consideration. 
This report had been drawn up for that Insti- 
tute by a committee appointed for this purpose, 
and it contained the following resolutions : 

(1) We consider that it is necessary to give 
names to the absolute units in the electromag- 
netic and electrostatic systems, as well as con- 
venient prefixes to designate the decimal multi- 
ples and submultiples of these units in addition 
to those already in use. 

(2) The International Congress of Electricians, 
which will take place this year in Paris, should 
be invited to choose the names and the prefixes. 

(3) A great advantage would be gained by 
a rationalization of the electric and magnetic 


*From Nature. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


units, and the Congress should be invited to 
find ways and means to obtain such a rational- 
ization. 

The proposition to rationalize the units—that 
is, to change them so that the coefficient 47 
should not appear—was withdrawn by Dr. 
Kennelly on behalf of the United States; as 
well as the suggestion regarding the employ- 
ment of prefixes, and it was resolved that : 

The Commission will only deal with proposi- 
tions that will introduce no change in the de- 
cisions arrived at at previous congresses. 

A long discussion then took place as to 
whether it was really necessary to give names 
to the C. G. S. units either in the electrostatic or 
the electromagnetic systems, and finally it was 
agreed to withdraw the proposition so far as it 
dealt with the electrostatic system. 

The desirability of giving a name to the unit 
of magnetic field and to the unit magnetic flux 
was strongly urged, and as the names of Gauss 
and Weber had been employed for some years 
in America for these units respectively, the ad- 
vantage of adopting these names for the C. G. S. 
units of field and flux was advocated. On the 
other hand, the resolution arrived at by the 
Electrical Standards Committee of the British 
Association in 1895 to employ those names re- 
spectively for other units was pointed out. 
Finally, the Commission, at the end of their 
second sitting, on August 22d, recommended the 
following :— 

“The Commission is not of opinion that it is 
necessary to give names to all the electromag- 
netic units. 

‘¢ However, in view of the use already of 
practical instruments which give the strength 
of a magnetic field directly to C. G. 8. units, the 
Commis:ion recommends that the name of Gauss 
be assigned to this unit in the C. G. S. system. 

“The Commission proposes to assign to the 
unit of magnetic flux, of which the magnitude 
will be subsequently defined, the name of Maa- 
well.”’ 

These resolutions were brought before Sec- 
tion I. of the Congress on August 24th, and 
led to a long discussion. M. Mascart opposed 
the giving a name to the C. G. S. unit of mag- 
netic field. The employment of practical instru- 
ments for the direct measurement of the strength 


SCIENCE. 


411 


of magnetic fields in C. G. 8. units was not, in 
his opinion, a sufficient reason for assigning a 
name to that unit. Besides, this decision of the 
Commission appeared to be contrary to the 
spirit of the Congresses of 1881 and 1889, which 
did not give the names of men to the C. G. S. 
units. He admitted that the name of a man 
might be given to the practical unit. In any 
case the name of ‘Gauss’ seemed to him liable 
to give rise to confusion, for Gauss was the 
originator of the first absolute system employed, 
viz, that of the ‘millimetre-milligramme-sec- 
ond’ system, and that system, as distinguished 
from the ‘centimetre-gramme-second’ system, 
was still in actual use in certain cases—for the 
measurement of the earth’s field, for example. 

Professor Kohlrausch said that the ‘absolute 
units’ were enough for the physicists, but that, 
if the engineers felt the need of practical units, 
Dr. Dorn and he did not see that any incon- 
venience would arise from names being given 
to them, such as those of Gauss and of Max- 
well, for example. The German delegates 
could not, however, commit their Government 
in the matter, and they considered that the 
Congress should limit its recommendations to 
the use of these new names without seeking 
that legal sanction should be given to them. 

Professor Ayrton agreed with M. Mascart, 
and mentioned that during the past five years 
many ‘ Ayrton-Mather Field Testers’ had been 
constructed to read off the strength of a mag- 
netic field directly in C. G. S. units, but that no 
need for any special name for that unit had 
been felt in connection therewith. He added, 
however, that, while holding the opinion ex- 
pressed by M. Mascart that it was not desirable 
to give the names of persons to the C. G. S. 
units, the units of field and flux had this 
peculiarity, that without any multipliers they 
were the practical units adopted. 

To this M. Mascart replied that the word 
‘practical’ in this connection was ambiguous, 
since, although it was true that the C. G.S. units 
of magnetic field and flux were employed in 
practice, they did not belong to the so-called 
‘practical system.’ 

M. Hospitalier appealed to the Section to 
give names to the unit of field and the unit of 
flux. He did not ask for any legal decision in 


412 


the matter, for the names were put forward as 
a simple recommendation to the Section. 

After a discussion in which Messrs. Ayrton, 
Carpentier, Dorn, Hospitalier, Kohlrausch, 
Mailloux, Mascart, A. Siemens, Silvanus, 
Thompson and others took part, Professor Eric 
Gérard stated that in his opinion it was desir- 
able to come first to a decision that names 
should be given to the C. G.S. units of magnetic 
field and to flux of magnetic induction. 

M. Mascart, expressing his approbation of 
this idea, the president of the Section, M. 
Violle, put the following proposition formally 
to the meeting : 

‘(The Section reeommends the adoption of 
specific names for the C.G.S. units of magnetic 
field and of magnetic flux.’’ This proposition 
being adopted, with only two dissentients, the 
meeting was adjourned for a short time to en- 
able the members to exchange their views 
regarding the exact names that should be em- 
ployed. On the meeting reassembling, the 
president put the two following propositions 
successively: 

(1) The Section recommends the adoption of the 
name of GAusS for the C. G.S. unit of magnetic 
field. 

(2) The Section recommends the adoption of the 
name of MAXWELL for the C. G. S. unit of magnetic 
Siux, 
both of which were adopted with only two dis- 
sentients. 

On the same afternoon these resolutions of 
Section I. were submitted to the Chamber of 
Government Delegates to the Congress and 
adopted, and finally, at the closing meeting of 
the Congress on Saturday, August 25th, the ac- 
tion which had been taken in the matter was 
formally reported by M. Paul Janet, one of the 
two secretaries of the Congress. 


THE PROPOSED NATIONAL STANDARDS BU- 
REAU. 

THe American Philosophical Society has 
adopted the following resolution in regard to 
the proposed National Standards Bureau : 

Whereas, In the conduct of accurate scien- 
tific ‘investigations, the use of apparatus of 
guaranteed accuracy is a need recognized by 
all scientists ; and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


Whereas, In foreign countries, notably in 
Germany, in France, and in England, such 
guarantee is furnished by standardizing bu- 
reaux under the control of the respective gov- 
ernments ; and 

Whereas, At present the United States Office 
of Standard Weights and Measures does not 
possess appliances necessary for this verifica- 
tion of as wide a range of apparatus as seems 
essential, nor the working force required to 
comply with legitimate demands for the veri- 
fication and stamping of the various scientific 
apparatus designed for measurements of pre- 
cision, thus compelling the importation of for- 
eign-made articles when such official certifica- 
tion is desired ; and 

Whereas, This state of affairs is not only un- 
satisfactory to all investigators in both pure 
and applied science, but also works injustice to 
our manufacturers of nearly all physical and 
chemical apparatus designed for accurate meas- 
urement, who cannot supply the proper cer- 
tification with such instruments: therefore be 
it 

Resolved, That the Congress of the United 
States be urged to establish a National Stand- 
ards Bureau, in connection with the U. 8. 
Office of Standard Weights and Measures, which 
shall provide adequate facilities for making 
such verification of scientific measuring ap- 
paratus and stamping the same as are provided 
by foreign governments for similar work. 

Resolved, further, that a copy of the foregoing 
be forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury, 
under whose control the present office of Stand- 
ard Weights and Measures comes; to the Su- 
perintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic 
Survey ; to the President of the U. S. Senate ; 
to the Speaker of the United States House of 
Representatives; to the Chairman and mem- 
bers of the Committee on Coinage, Weights 
and Measures, and to any other officials or in- 
dividuals likely to be interested or influential, 
with a request for their co-operation in our 
efforts to secure for the U. S. Office of Standard 
Weights and Measures ample facilities, in point 
of apparatus and working force, to enable that 
office to comply with the requests for the veri- 
fication of measuring instruments that may be 
made by American scientific workers. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900.] 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Dr. WILLIAM T. Harris, United States 
Commissioner of Education, has been awarded 
the grand prize of the Paris Exposition. 

MM. Lacaze DuTHIERS and EH. Mascart have 
been made grand officers of the French legion 
of honor, and MM. Henri Moissan and Troost 
are among those who have been made com- 
manders. A large number of scientific men 
have been made officers and knights. These 
decorations have been conferred on the occasion 
of the Paris Exposition. 

PROFESSOR LAMP, astronomer at the Kiel 
Observatory, will be absent for two years on 
an expedition to South Africa to determine the 
boundary between German East Africa and the 
Congo Free State. 


PrRoFEssOR W. J. SIMPSON and Colonel Not- 
ter have gone to South Africa to investigate 
dysentery and enteric fever. Before leaving 
England they were inoculated against typhoid 
fever by Professor Wright. 


THE Gottingen Society of Sciences has made 
the following awards: To Professor F. Klein 
800 Marks for the Mathematical Encyclopedia 
and 500 Marks for the preparation of kinematic 
models, and 500 Marks to Professor Wiechert 
for the construction of seismological recording 
instruments. 

FoLLowine the banquet given to Lord Lister 
by the Paris Scientia Club a banquet was given 
to Lord Kelvin at which M. Oliver presided 
and speeches were made by MM. Mascart and 
Cornu to which Lord Kelvin replied. 

PROFESSOR GIARD, director of the biological 
station at Wimereux, has been elected Knight of 
the Order of Leopold by the Belgian government. 


Ir is stated in Nature that Professor J. C. 
Bose, who has been attending the recent Inter- 
national Congress of Physics at Paris as the 
delegate of the Government of Bengal, proposed 
to attend the British Association meeting at Brad- 
ford in the same capacity, and would there de- 
scribe some electrical investigations with which 
he has lately been engaged. 

Sir W. McGrecor, M.D., C.B., Governor of 
Lagos, will deliver the opening address at the 
London School of Tropical Medicine in October. 


SCIENCE. 


413 


Dr. DoMINGO FRAIRE known for his work on 
the yellow fever bacillus has died at Rio Janeiro, 
at the age of 50 years. 


UNDER the auspices of the Ottawa Field- 
Naturalists’ Club last fall a movement was in- 
augurated with the object of perpetuating, in 
some visible and tangible manner, the memory 
of Elkanah Billings, who died some 24 years 
ago. He conducted the Canadian Naturalist 
and Geologist for several years, first in Ottawa, 
but later in Montreal, whither Sir William 
Logan had induced him to go and join him in 
investigating the geological resources of old 
Canada (Quebec and Ontario). For twenty 
years Mr. Billings labored in the Survey, and 
by his good work achieved reputation as a 
paleontologist and a geologist. The memorial 
will take the form of a portrait painted by Mr. 
Charles E. Moss, which will be presented to 
the Geological Survey Department and placed 
in the museum near the collections made by 
Billings. Subscriptions towards the memorial 
may be sent to Dr. H. M. Ami, Geological 
Survey Department, Ottawa, Can. 


THE International Congress of Hygiene was 
held in Paris from August 10th-17th with more 
than 1600 members in attendance. Professor 
Brouardel, dean of the faculty of medicine in 
Paris, presided, with honorary presidents from 
the different nations as follows: Dr. Calleja 
(Spain), Dr. Kohler (Germany), Dr. Pagliani 
(Italy), Professor Corfield (Great Britain), Dr. 
Van Trama-Sternegg (Austria), Dr. Bartolette 
(United States), Dr. Borup (Denmark). The 
Congress met in nine sections to which over 
fifty reports were presented for discussion. 

THE fourteenth International Medical Con- 
gress will be held at Madrid during the spring 
of 1903 and will be under the presidency of 
Professor Julien Calleja, dean of the Faculty 
of Medicine. 

THE twelfth International Congress of An- 
thropology and Historic Archeology opened at 
Paris on August 20th under the presidency of 
M. Bertrand. 

THE next international Congress of Mathe- 
maticians will be held in Germany in the sum- 
mer of 1904. The place has not yet been 
definitely decided upon. 


414 


THE Royal Saxon Antiquarian Society of 
Dresden celebrated its seventy-fifth anniver- 
sary on September 26th. 


A PAsTEUR Institute has been opened at 
Kasauli, a hill station in the Punjab district of 
India, about thirty miles from Simla. 


THE University of Aberdeen has received 
from Miss Cruikshank botanical gardens, 6 acres 
in extent, with an endowment of £15,000. The 
gift is made in memory of her brother Dr. 
Alexander Cruikshank. 


THE Botanical Gazette states that the private 
herbarium of Harry N. Patterson, of Oquawka, 
Illinois, containing about 30,000 sheets, has 
been secured by the Field Columbian Museum, 
and will be installed with the rapidly growing 
collections of that institution as promptly as the 
careful cataloguing practiced in all departments 
will admit. The botanical department of the 
museum is to be congratulated upon this acces- 
sion of one of the notable private herbaria of 
the country ; one that will add a complete col- 
lection of Pringle’s Mexican plants to its al- 
ready excellent representation of the flora of 
that region and the Antillean islands. Mr. 
Patterson’s herbarium is more or less contem- 
poraneous with that of the late Mr. Bebb 
which the museum secured some three years 
ago, and as Mr. Patterson made it his aim to 
secure a complete series of the species of North 
America, its addition to the collections of the 
museum will be of great value to botanical 
students and specialists in the west. 


Dr. L. A. BAUER, in charge of the magnetic 
work of the U. 8. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
has left Washington for a three month’s trip to 
Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands, in order to 
select the sites for the magnetic observatories 
in those regions. A third magnetic observa- 
tory, known as the Principal Magnetic Base 
Station, is now being built sixteen miles south- 
east of Washington, D. C., and a fourth obser- 
vatory is at present in operation at Baldwin, 
Kansas, centrally situated to the area now be- 
ing surveyed by the various magnetic parties. 
The last named observatory will be shifted 
about in the western states according to the re- 
quirements of the magnetic survey. It is the 
intention to have the four observatories ready 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 298. 


in time to co-operate with the various antarctic 
expeditions. 

Drs. L. DIEHLS and E. Pritzel have under- 
taken a botanical expedition to Australia on 
behalf of the Berlin Museum. They will ex- 
plore the little known western parts of Aus- 
tralia. Also in the interests of the Berlin 
Museum Dr. Ule has gone to the sources of the 
Amazon to make botanical collections and es- 
pecially to study the gutta-percha plant. 


Mr. GEORGE VANDERBILT is defraying the 
expenses of an expedition to Java by Mr. David 
J. Walters of New Haven, who proposes to 
search for remains of Pithecanthropus erectus. 


THE daily papers report that the Stella 
Polaris with the Duke of Abruzzi and his party 
has returned to Norway from the Polar re- 
gions. The steamship lay for eleven months 
in the ice in latitude 82°, but several parties pro- 
ceeded further with sleighs and Captain Caigni, 
who was gone 104 days, reached latitude of 
86° 33’, a little further than the point reached 
by Nansen in 1895, The Duke of Abruzzi was 
himself disabled by having two fingers frost- 
bitten, and did not take part in the expeditions. 
The party appears to have suffered a good 
many hardships. No report has yet been 
received that throws any light on the possible 
value of the scientific results of the expedition. 


In connection with the meeting of the Ger- 
man Colonial Society at Coblentz a prize of 
3000 Marks is offered for first finding gutta- 
percha plants in the German colonies and trans- 
planting them to one of the experimental sta- 
tions or to the central station in Berlin. 


THE National Educational Association offers 
prizes as follows: For the best essay submitted 
on each of the following topics: the seating, the 
lighting, the heating, and the ventilating of 
school buildings, $200; for the second best essay 
submitted on each topic, $100, Hach essay 
shall be limited to ten thousand words and shall 
be submitted in printed or typewritten copy 
without signature, but with name of the author 
enclosed with it in a sealed envelope. Three 
copies of each essay shaJl be submitted, and 
addressed to the chairman of the committee, 
Mr. A. R. Taylor, at Emporia, Kansas. They 
must be mailed not later than February 1, 1901. 


SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


THE Magellanic gold medal of the American 
Philosophical Society will be awarded in De- 
cember to the author of the best discovery or of 
the most useful invention in the physical sci- 
ences presented to the Society before Novem- 
ber ist. 


Mr. J. H. Porter, of London, has just issued 
the final part of Messrs. Sclater and Thomas’ 
‘Book of Antelopes,’ which completes this im- 
portant zoological work. It was planned by the 
late Sir Victor Brooke (to whose memory it is 
dedicated), and most of the plates were drawn 
under his superintendence more than twenty 
years ago. After Sir Victor’s death, in 1891, 
the present authors undertook to prepare the 
letter press. The four volumes of the ‘ Book of 
Antelopes’ contain 100 colored plates and 121 
illustrations in the text. 


Mr. HEINEMANN will bring out in the autumn 
an account of the Antarctic expedition of the 
Belgica, written by the only English-speaking 
member of her crew, Mr. Frederick A. Cook, 
who accompanied the expedition as surgeon, 
anthropologist and photographer. 


THE Philosophical Society of the University 
of Vienna proposes to publish a complete cata- 
logue of psychological literature published be- 
tween 1850 and 1900. 


THE Journal officiel of the Paris Exposition 
has published in a number containing 350 pages 
the list of awards made at the Paris Exposition. 
There were in all 75,531 exhibitors of whom 
42,790 received awards. The number of each 
kind of prize awarded is given in the first col- 
umn of the accompanying table, while in the 
second column is the number conferred on 
Americans. 


218 
486 
583 
423 
270 

In the Department of Education (Group I:) 
12 grand prizes were awarded to the United 
States for primary education, 9 for secondary 
education, 15 for higher education, one for agri- 
cultural education, 6 for industrial education. 
It is perhaps somewhat surprising that the 
United States should have been awarded 41 


SCIENCE. 


415 


grand prizes in education, as compared with 6 
in machinery and electricity. 


WE announced last week the death of Dr. John 
Anderson and now take from the London Times 
the following facts in regard to his life: Dr. 
Anderson was the son of the late Mr. Thomas 
Anderson, secretary to the National Bank of 
Scotland, Edinburgh, in which city he was born 
in 1833. He was educated at the George- 
square Academy and the Hillstreet Institution, 
and finally at the Edinburgh University. In 
1861 he took the degree of M.D. and received 
a gold medal for his thesis entitled ‘Obser- 
vations in Zoology.’ Immediately after his 
graduation he was appointed professor of nat- 
ural science in the Free Church College, Edin- 
burgh, but he resigned the office in 1864, having 
been offered the curatorship of a museum which 
the Government of India intended to found in 
Calcutta, and of which the collections of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal were to form the nu- 
cleus. He arrived in India in July, 1864, and 
in the following year was appointed superin- 
tendent of the Indian Museum. Two or three 
years afterwards he was also given the chair of 
comparative anatomy in the Medical College, 
Calcutta. In 1868 he was selected by the 
Government of India to accompany an expedi- 
tion to Western China via British and Inde- 
pendent Burma, in the capacity of scientific 
officer. Again, in 1874, he was chosen by the 
Government of India to proceed once more to 
Western China in the same capacity as on 
the former expedition, and with instructions to 
advance from Bhamo to Shanghai. This ex- 
pedition was attacked by the Chinese, and 
was obliged to retreat to Burma. In 1881 Dr. 
Anderson was sent by the trustees of the Indian 
Museum, Calcutta, to investigate the marine 
zoology of the Mergui Archipelago, off the 
coast of Tenasserim. In 1887 he retired from 
the service of the government of India. Be- 
sides numerous papers on zoology, Dr. Ander- 
son is the author of many independent works, 
among them being ‘A Report on the Expedi- 
tion to Western China via Bhamo,’ published 
by the government of India in 1871; ‘ Man- 
dalay to Momien,’ an account of the two expedi- 
tions to Western China under Colonel Sir 
Edward Sladen and Colonel Horace Browne ; 


416 


‘Anatomical and Zoological Researches,’ in- 
eluding an account of the zoological results of 
the two expeditions to Western China in 1868- 
69 and 1875. The scientific results of his re- 
searches in the Mergui Archipelago were pub- 
lished by the Linnean Society of London, and 
he also published in 1890 an account of ‘ Eng- 
lish Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth 
Century,’ as one of Triibner’s Oriental Series. 
In addition to being a fellow of many learned 
societies he was also a Fellow of the Calcutta 
University and a corresponding Fellow of the 
Ethnological Society of Italy. Im 1885 the 
University of Edinburgh conferred on him the 
honorary degree of LL.D. In 1896 Dr. Ander- 
son published a small volume on ‘The Herpe- 
tology of Arabia,’ and he was lately engaged 
on a work dealing with ‘The Fauna of Egypt.’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Radcliffe College 
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
each receive $2000 by the will of Barthold 
Schlesinger, of Brookline, Mass. 


Mr. JoHN D. ROCKEFELLER has given $180,- 
000 to Spellman Seminary, a Baptist college 
for negroes at Atlanta, Ga. 


THE Corporation of Harvard University has 
passed the following minute in acknowledgment 
of the gift of $100,000 made through Mr. 
Alexander Agassiz from Mr. and Mrs. Quincy 
A. Shaw, Mrs. Henry L. Higginson and him- 
self for the immediate construction of the south- 
west corner of the Oxford street facade of the 
University Museum: Voted that the president 
and fellows gratefully accept this large gift on 
the terms and conditions named in Mr. Agassiz’s 
letter, and hereby record their sense of the 
great worth of a gift which strengthens and 
perpetuates the precious associations with the 
name of Agassiz at Harvard University, and per- 
fectly illustrates the noble use of private wealth 
for the promotion of public intellectual ends. 

THE city of Lafayette, Ind., has presented 
to Purdue University a 2,000,000-gallon water 
works pumping engine for use in the laboratory 
of the university. It was built in 1875 and is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 298. 


an excellent example of the duplex walking- 
beam pump. In addition to its historical value 
it will furnish an ample supply of water for 
the hydraulic experiments which will be 
carried on. 

SmiTH COLLEGE will celebrate the 25th an- 
niversary of its foundation on October 2d and 
3d. On the latter day historical addresses will 
be made by the Rey. Dr. John M. Greene, and 
President Seelye, and there will be an educa- 
tional conference, with addresses by Dr. William 
T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Edu- 
cation ; Dean Le Baron Russell Briggs, of Har- 
vard University ; President Arthur M. Hadley, 
of Yale University ; President Seth Low, of Co- 
lumbia University ; President James M. Taylor, 
of Vassar College; President Caroline Hazard, 
of Wellesley College, and President M. Carey 
Thomas, of Bryn Mawr College. 

ProFessoR J. G. McGre@or, of Dalhousie 
University, Halifax (N.8.), has been appointed 
professor of physics in the University College, 
Liverpool, in succession to Professor Lodge. 

Dr. F. E. Bouton, of the Milwaukee State 
Normal School, has been elected professor of 
pedagogy in the State University of Iowa. 

Dr. WALTER FRANCIS WILCOx has been 
appointed lecturer on the United States Census 
of 1900, at Harvard University. 

PROFESSOR RuSH RHEES, the new president of 
the University of Rochester, is to be formally 
installed on Oct. 11th. 


THE Crown appointments on the Senate of 
the University of London are: Sir John Wolfe- 
Barry, Sir Henry Roscoe, Mrs. Henry Sidgwick, 
and the Hon. W. Pember Reeves, and, as a rep- 
resentative of the faculty of laws, Lord Davey. 


Dr. ADOLF SAUER, associate professor at 
Heidelberg, has been elected professor of miner-, 
alogy and geology and director of the newly 
established geological bureau at Stuttgart. 


Dr. TCHERMACK, docent at Leipzig, has been 
appointed assistant in the physiological labora- 
tory at Halle. 

Dr. ABEGG, docent in chemistry at Breslau, 
has been promoted to an associate professor- 
ship. At the same university Dr. Emil Bose 
has qualified as docent in physics. 


SUE 


CE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : 8. NEwcomB, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarpb, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THurstTon, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ContE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ;S.H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 


Neils 


Physiology; J. S. BILLrNas, 


Britton, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownrircH, 
Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WeEtcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The Address of the President of the Section of Mathe- 
matics and Physics of the British Association for 
the Advancement of Science : DR. JOSEPH LAR- 
: . 417 
Inland Biological Laboratories 436 
The Colorado Potato Beetle: DR. W. L. TOWER... 438 
The Highth International Geological Congress at 
JUFOAS 1EIs 184, Mecocddooarcaosoanaaeod0n00d nosG0S0ad000 440 


Scientific Books :— 
The Davenports’ Introduction to Zoology: DR. 
Maurice A. BIGELOW. Herdman and Boyce 
on Oysters and Disease: Dr. H. F. Moore. 
Belzung’s Anatomie et physiologie végétale: Dr. 
D. T. MaAcDouGaL. Report of Competitive 
Tests of Street Car Brakes: PROFESSOR R. H. 
THURSTON. Zenker’s Lehrbuch der Photochro- 
mie: PROFESSOR R. W. Woop. Books Ke- 
QGIOGE). srcdocanovacoqoncAadoxennooaghocabocbsoas6Ho2odb0C00N000 442 

Societies and Academies : 
Section of Geology and Mineralogy of the New 
York Academy of Sciences: DR. THEODORE G. 


\WIGEITINTS nn oanocoposagsobadubsncacbaasesbon dobondespaeocbadan 446 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Mr. Tesla and the Universe......0.scccccececveovesesess 447 


Botanical Notes :— 
A New Laboratory Manual; Origin of the Higher 
Fungi; Supplement to Nicholson’s Dictionary of 
Gardening ; New Edition of Prantl’s Lehrbuch : 
PROFESSOR CHARLES HE. BESSEY.. «. 451 
The Coal Fields of Chind.......-0...000+5 =e) 452 
Scientific Notes and News.......2:02.csceeseecsecseeeveeees 453 
University and Educational News..........scscceeeseceee 456 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE 
MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL 
SECTION OF THE BRITISH AS- 
SOCIATION FOR THE AD- 
VANCEMENI OF 
SCIENCE. 

Ir is fitting that before entering upon the 
business of the Section weshould pause to 
take note of the losses which our depart- 
ment of science has recently sustained. 
The fame of Bertrand, apart from his offi- 
cial position as Secretary of the French 
Academy of Sciences, was long ago univer- 
sally established by his classical treatise on 
the ‘ Infinitesimal Calculus ’: it has been of 
late years sustained by the luminous expo- 
sition and searching criticism of his books 
on the ‘Theory of Probability’ and ‘Thermo- 
dynamics’ and ‘Electricity.’ Thedebtwhich 
we owe to that other veteran, G. Wiede- 
mann, both on account of his own re- 
searches, which take us back to the modern 
revival of experimental physics, and for his 
great and indispensable thesaurus of the 
science of electricity, cannot easily be over- 
stated. By the death of Sophus Lie, follow- 
ing soon after his return to a chair in his na- 
tive country Norway, we have lost one of 
the great constructive mathematicians of the 
century, who has in various directions fun- 
damentally expanded the methods and con- 
ceptions of analysis by reverting to the 
fountain of direct geometrical intuition. In 
Italy the death of Beltrami has removed 


418 


an investigator whose influence has been 
equally marked on the theories of tran- 
scendental geometry and on the progress of 
mathematical physics. In our own country 
we have lostin D. E. Hughes one of the 
great scientific inventors of the age ; while 
we specially deplore the removal in his 
early prime, of one who has recently been 
well known at these meetings, Thomas 
Preston, whose experimental investigations 
on the relations between magnetism and 
light, combined with his great powers of 
lucid exposition, marked out for him a bril- 
liant future. 

Perhaps the most important event of gen- 
eral scientific interest during the past year 
has been the definite undertaking of the 
great task of the international coordina- 
tion of scientific literature; and it may be 
in some measure in the prolonged confer- 
ences that were necessitated by that object 
that the recently announced international 
federation of scientific academies has had 
its origin. In the important task of ren- 
dering accessible the stores of scientific 
knowledge, the British Association, and in 
particular this Section of it, has played the 
part of pioneer. Our annual volumes have 
long been classical, through the splendid 
reports of progress of the different branches 
of knowledge that have been from time to 
time contributed to them by the foremost 
British men of science ; and our work in this 
direction has received the compliment of 
successful imitation by the sister Associa- 
tions on the Continent. 

The usual conferences connected with 
our department of scientific activity have 
been this year notably augmented by the 
very successful international congresses of 
mathematicians and of physicists which met 
a few weeks ago in Paris. The three vol- 
umes of reports on the progress of physical 
science during the last ten years, for which 
we are indebted to the initiative of the 
French Physical Society, will provide an 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


admirable conspectus of the present trend 
of activity, and form a permanent record 
for the history of our subject. 

Another very powerful auxiliary to prog- 
ress is now being rapidly provided by the 
republication, in suitable form and within 
reasonable time, of the collected works of 
the masters of ourscience. We have quite 
recently received, in a large quarto volume, 
the mass of most important unpublished 
work that was left behind him by the late 
Professor J. C. Adams; the zealous care of 
Professor Sampson has worked up into or- 
der the more purely astronomical part of 
the volume; while the great undertaking, 
spread over many years, of the complete 
determination of the secular change of the 
magnetic condition of the earth, for which 
the practical preparations had been set on 
foot by Gauss himself, has been prepared 
for the press by Professor. W. G. Adams. 
By the publication of the first volume of 
Lord Rayleigh’s papers a series of memoirs 
which have formed a main stimulus to the 
progress of mathematical physics in this 
country during the past twenty years has 
become generally accessible. The com- 
pleted series will form a landmark for the 
end of the century that may be compared 
with Young’s ‘ Lectures on Natural Philos- 
ophy’ for its beginning. 

The recent reconstruction of the Univer- 
sity of London and the foundation of the 
University of Birmingham will, it is to be 
hoped, give greater freedom to the work 
of our University Colleges. The system 
of examinations has formed an admirable 
stimulus to the effective acquisition of that 
general knowledge which is a necessary 
part of all education. Solongas the exam- 
iner recognizes that his function is a re- 
sponsible and influential one, which is to be 
taken seriously from the point of view of 
moulding the teaching in places where ex- 
ternal guidance is helpful, test by examina- 
tion will remain a most valuable means of 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


extending the area of higher education. 
Except for workers in rapidly progressive 
branches of technical science, a broad edu- 
cation seems better adapted to the purposes 
of life than special training over a narrow 
range ; and it is difficult to see how a reason- 
ably elastic examination test can be con- 
sidered as a hardship. But the case is 
changed when preparation for a specialized 
scientific profession, or mastery of the lines 
of attack in an unsolved problem, is the 
object. The general education has then 
been presumably finished; in expanding 
departments of knowledge, variety rather 
than uniformity of training should be the 
aim, and the genius of a great teacher should 
be allowed free play without external tram- 
mels. It would appear that in this country 
we have recently been liable to unduly mix 
up two methods. We have been starting 
students on the special and lengthy, though 
very instructive, processes which are known 
as original research at an age when their 
time would be more profitably employed in 
rapidly acquiring a broad basis of knowl- 
edge. As a result, we have been extending 
the examination test from the general knowl- 
edge to which it is admirably suited into 
the specialized activity which is best left to 
the stimulus of personal interest. Informal 
contact with competent advisers, them- 
selves imbued with the scientific spirit, who 
can point the way towards direct appreci- 
ation of the works of the masters of the 
science, is far more effective than detailed 
instruction at second hand, as regards grow- 
ing subjects that have not yet taken on an 
authoritative form of exposition. Fortu- 
nately there seems to be now no lack of 
such teachers to meet the requirements of 
the technical colleges that are being estab. 
lished throughout the country. 

The famous treatise which opened the 
modern era by treating magnetism and 
electricity on a scientific basis appeared just 
300 years ago. The author, William Gil- 


SCIENCE. 


419 


bert, M.D., of Colchester, passed from the 
Grammar School of his native town to St. 
John’s College, Cambridge ; soon after tak- 
ing his first degree, in 1560, he became a 
Fellow of the College, and seems to have 
remained in residence, and taken part in its 
affairs, for about ten years. All through his 
subsequent career, both at Colchester and 
afterwards at London, where he attained 
the highest position in his profession, he 
was an exact and diligent explorer, first 
of chemical and then of magnetic and 
electric phenomena. In the words of the 
historian Hallam, writing in 1839, ‘in his 
Latin treatise on the ‘ Magnet,’ he not only 
collected all the knowledge which others 
had possessed, but he became at once the 
father of experimental philosophy in this 
island’; and no demur would be raised if 
Hallam’s restriction to this country were 
removed. Working nearly a century before 
the time when the astronomical discoveries 
of Newton had originated the idea of attrac- 
tion at a distance, he established a complete 
formulation of the interaction of magnets 
by what we now call the exploration of 
their fields of force. His analysis of the 
facts of magnetic influence, and incidentally 
of the points in which it differs from elec- 
tric influence, is virtually the one which 
Faraday reintroduced. A cardinal advance 
was achieved, at a time when the Coperni- 
can Astronomy had still largely to make its 
way by assigning the behavior of the com- 
pass and the dip needle to the fact that the 
earth itself is a great magnet, by whose 
field of influence they are controlled. His 
book passed through many editions on the 
Continent within forty years; it won the 
high praise of Galileo. Gilbert has been 
called ‘the father of modern electricity’ by 
Priestley, and ‘the Galileo of magnetism’ 
by Poggendorff. 

When the British Association last met at 
Bradford in 1878, the modern theory which 
largely reverts to Gilbert’s way of formula- 


420 


tion, and refers electric and magnetic phe- 
nomena to the activity of the ether instead 
of attractions at a distance, was of recent 
growth; it had received its classical expo- 
sition only two years before by the publi- 
cation of Clerk Maxwell’s treatise. The 
new doctrine was already widely received 
in England on its own independent merits. 
On the Continent it was engaging the stren- 
uous attention of Helmholtz, whose series 
of memoirs, deeply probing the new ideas 
in their relation to the prevalent and fairly 
successful theories of direct action across 
space, had begun to appear in 1870. Dur- 
ing many years the search for crucial ex- 
periments that would go beyond the results 
equally explained by both views, met with 
small success; it was not until 1887 that 
Hertz, by the discovery of the ethereal 
radiation of long wave-length emitted from 
electric oscillators, verified the hypothesis 
of Faraday and Maxwell and initiated a 
new era in the practical development of 
physical science. The experimental field 
thus opened up was soon fully occupied 
both in this country and abroad; and the 
borderland between the sciences of optics 
and electricity is now being rapidly ex- 
plored. The extension of experimental 
knowledge was simultaneous with increased 
attention to directness of explanation ; the 
expositions of Heaviside and Hertz and 
other writers fixed attention in a man- 
ner already briefly exemplified by Max- 
well himself, on the inherent simplicity of 
the completed ethereal scheme, when once 
the theoretical scaffolding employed in its 
construction and dynamical consolidation 
is removed; while Poynting’s beautiful 
corollary specifying the path of the trans- 
mission of energy through the ether has 
brought the theory into simple relations 
with the applications of electrodynamics. 
Equally striking has been the great mas- 
tery obtained during the last twenty years 
over the practical manipulation of electric 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No, 299. 


power. The installation of electric wires 
as the nerves connecting different regions 
of the earth had attained the rank of ac- 
complished fact so long ago as 1857, when 
the first Atlantic cable was laid. It was 
largely the theoretical and practical diffi- 
culties, many of them unforeseen, encoun- 
tered in carrying that great undertaking to 
a successful issue, that necessitated the 
elaboration by Lord Kelvin and his coad- 
jutors, of convenient methods and instru- 
ments for the exact measurement of electric 
quantities, and thus prepared the foundation 
for the more recent practical developments 
in other directions. On the other hand, the 
methods of theoretical explanation have 
been in turn improved and simplified 
through the new ways of considering the 
phenomena which have been evolved in the 
course of practical advances on a large 
scale, such as the improvement of dynamo 
armatures, the conception and utilization of 
magnetic circuits, and the transmission of 
power by alternating currents. In our time 
the relations of civilized life have been al- 
ready perhaps more profoundly altered than 
ever before, owing to the establishment of 
practically instantaneous electric communi- 
cation between all parts of the world. The 
employment of the same subtle agency is 
now rapidly superseding the artificial recip- 
rocating engines and other contrivances for 
the manipulation of mechanical power that 
were introduced with the employment of 
steam. The possibilities of transmitting 
power to great distances at enormous ten- 
sion, and therefore with very slight waste, 
along lines merely suspended in the air, are 
being practically realized ; and the advan- 
tages thence derived are increased many 
fold by the almost automatic manner in 
which the electric power can be transformed 
into mechanical rotation at the very point 
where it is desired to apply it. The energy is 
transmitted at such lightning speed that at 
a given instant only an exceedingly minute 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


portion of it is in actual transit. When 
the tension of the alternations is high, the 
amount of electricity that has to oscillate 
backwards and forwards on the guiding 
wires is proportionately diminished, and 
the frictional waste reduced. At the ter- 
minals the direct transmission from one 
armature of the motor to the other, across 
the intervening empty space, at once takes 
us beyond the province of the pushing and 
rubbing contacts that are unavoidable in 
mechanical transmission ; while the perfect 
symmetry and reversibility of the arrange- 
ment by which power is delivered from a 
rotatory alternator at one end, guided by the 
wires to another place many miles away, 
where it is absorbed by another alternator 
with precise reversal of the initial stages, 
makes this process of distribution of energy 
resemble the automatic operations of nature 
rather than the imperfect material connec- 
tions previously in use. We are here deal- 
ing primarily with the flawless continuous 
medium which is the transmitter of radiant 
energy across the celestial spaces; the part 
played by the coarsely constituted material 
conductor is only that of a more or less im- 
perfect guide which directs the current of 
eethereal energy. The wonderful nature of 
this theoretically perfect, though of course 
practically only approximate, method of 
abolishing limitations of locality with re- 
gard to mechanical power is not diminished 
by the circumstance that its principle must 
have been in some manner present to the 
mind of the first person who fully realized 
the character of the reversibility of a 
gramme armature. 

In theoretical knowledge a new domain, 
to which the theory as expounded twenty 
years ago had little to say, has recently 
been acquired through the experimental 
scrutiny of the electric discharge in rarefied 
gaseous media. The very varied electric 
phenomena of vacuum tubes, whose electro- 
lytic character was first practically estab- 


SCIENCE. 


421 


lished by Schuster, have been largely re- 
duced to order through the employment of 
the high exhaustions introduced and first 
utilized by Crookes. Their study under 
these circumstances, in which the material 
molecules are so sparsely distributed as but 
rarely to interfere with each other, has 
conduced to enlarged knowledge and veri- 
fication of the fundamental relations in 
which the individual molecules stand to all 
electric phenomena, culminating recently 
in the actual determination, by J. J. Thom- 
son and others following in his track, of the 
masses and velocities of the particles that 
carry the electric discharge across the ex- 
hausted space. The recent investigations 
of the circumstances of the electric dissoci- 
ation produced in the atmosphere and in 
other gases by ultra-violet light, the Ront- 
gen radiation, and other agencies, constitute 
one of the most striking developments in 
experimental molecular physics since Gra- 
ham determined the molecular relations of 
gaseous diffusion and transpiration more 
than half a century ago. This advance in 
experimental knowledge of molecular phe- 
nomena, assisted by the discovery of the 
precise and rational effect of magnetism on 
the spectrum, has brought into prominence 
a modification or rather development of 
Maxwell’s exposition of electric theory, 
which was dictated primarily by the re- 
quirements of the abstract theory itself; 
the atoms or ions are now definitely intro- 
duced as the carriers of those electric 
charges which interact across the eether, 
and so produce the electric fields whose 
transformations were the main subject of 
the original theory. 

We are thus inevitably led, in electric 
and ethereal theory, as in the chemis- 
try and dynamics of the gaseous state 
which is the department of abstract phys- 
ics next in order of simplicity, to the con- 
sideration of the individual molecules of 
matter. The theoretical problems which 


422 


had come clearly into view a quarter of 
a century ago, under Maxwell’s lead, 
whether in the exact dynamical relations 
of ethereal transmission or in the more for- 
tuitous domain of the statistics of interact- 
ing molecules, are those around which at- 
tention is still mainly concentrated; but as 
the result of the progress in each, they are 
now tending towards consolidation into one 
subject. I propose—leaving further review 
of the scientific aspect of the recent enor- 
mous development of the applications of 


physical science for hands more competent . 


to deal with the practical side of that sub- 
ject—to offer some remarks on the scope 
and validity of this molecular order of ideas, 
to which the trend of physical explanation 
and development is now setting in so pro- 
nounced a manner. 

If it is necessary to offer an apology for 
detaining the attention of the Section on so 
abstract a topic, I can plead its intrinsic 
philosophical importance. The hesitation 
so long felt on the Continent in regard to 
discarding the highly developed theories 
which analyzed all physical actions into di- 
rect attractions between the separate ele- 
ments of the bodies concerned, in favor of a 
new method in which our ideas are carried 
into regions deeper than the phenomena, 
has now given place to eager discussion of 
the potentialities of the new standpoint. 
There has even appeared a disposition to 
consider that the Newtonian dynamical 
principles, which have formed the basis of 
physical explanation for nearly two cen- 
turies, must be replaced in these deeper 
subjects by a method of direct description 
of the mere course of phenomena, apart 
from any attempt to establish causal rela- 
tions; the initiation of this method being 
traced, like that of the Newtonian dynamics 
itself, to this country. The question has 
arisen as to how far the new methods of 
zethereal physics are to be considered as an 
independent departure, how far they form 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 299. 


the natural development of existing dynam- 
ical science. In England, whence the inno- 
vation came, it is the more conservative 
position that has all along been occupied. 
Maxwell was himself trained in the school of 
physics established in this country by Sir 
George Stokes and Lord Kelvin, in which 
the dominating idea has been that of the 
strictly dynamical foundation of all phys- 
ical action. Although the pupil’s imagina- 
tion bridged over dynamical chasms, across 
which the master was not always able to 
follow, yet the most striking feature of Max- 
well’s scheme was still the dynamical frame- 
work into which it was built. The more 
advanced reformers have now thrown over- 
board the apparatus of potential functions 
which Maxwell found necessary for the dy- 
namical consolidation of his theory, retain- 
ing only the final result as a verified de- 
scriptive basis for the phenomena. In this 
way all difficulties relating to dynamical 
development and indeed consistency are 
avoided, but the question remains as to how 
much is thereby lost. In practical electro- 
magnetics the transmission of power is 
now the most prominent phenomenon ; if 
formal dynamics is put aside in the general 
theory, its guidance must here be replaced 
by some more empirical and tentative 
method of describing the course of trans- 
mission and transformation of mechanical 
energy in the system. 

The direct recognition in some form, 
either explicitly or tacitly, of the part 
played by the zther has become indispen- 
sable to the development and exposition of 
general physics ever since the discoveries of 
Hertz left no further room for doubt that this 
physical scheme of Maxwell was not merely 
a brilliant speculation, but constituted, in 
spite of outstanding gaps and difficulties; a 
real formulation of the underlying unity in 
physical dynamics. The domain of ab- 
stract physics is in fact roughly divisible 
into two regions. In one of them we are 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


mainly concerned with interactions between 
one portion of matter and another portion 
occupying a different position in space ; 
such interactions have very uniform and 
comparatively simple relations; and the 
reason is traceable to the simple and uni- 
form constitution of the intervening me- 
dium in which they have their seat. The 
other province is that in which the distri- 
bution of the material molecules comes into 
account. Setting aside the ordinary dy- 
namics of matter in bulk, which is founded 
on the uniformity of the properties of the 
bodies concerned and their experimental 
determination, we must assign to this re- 
gion all phenomena which are concerned 
with the uncoordinated motions of the 
molecules, including the range of thermal 
and in part of radiant actions; the only 
possible basis for detailed theory is the sta- 
tistical dynamics of the distribution of the 
molecules. The far more deep-seated and 
mysterious processes which are involved in 
changes in the constitution of the individ- 
ual molecules themselves are mainly out- 
side the province of physics, which is com- 
petent to reason only about permanent 
material systems; they must be left to the 
sciences of chemistry and physiology. Yet 
the chemist proclaims that he can deter- 
mine only the results of his reactions and 
the physical conditions under which they 
oceur ; the character of the bonds which 
hold atoms in their chemical combinations 
is at present unknown, although a large do- 
main of very precise knowledge relating, in 
some diagrammatic manner, to the topog- 
raphy of the more complex molecules has 
been attained. The vast structure which 
chemical science has in this way raised on 
the narrow foundation of the atomic theory 
is perhaps the most wonderful existing il- 
lustration both of the rationality of natural 
processes and of the analytical powers of 
the human mind. Ina word, the compli- 
cation of the material world is referable to 


SCIENCE. 


423 


the vast range of structure and of states of 
aggregation in the material atoms; while 
the possibility of a science of physics is 
largely due to the simplicity of constitution 
of the universal medium through which the 
individual atoms interact on each other. 

The reference of the uniformity in the in- 
teractions at a distance between material 
bodies to the part played by the ether is a 
step towards the elimination of extraneous 
and random hypotheses about laws of at- 
traction between atoms. It also places 
that medium on a different basis from mat- 
ter, in that its mode of activity is simple 
and regular, whereas intimate material in- 
teractions must be of illimitable complexity. 
This gives strong ground for the view that 
we should not be tempted towards explain- 
ing the simple group of relations which 
have been found to define the activity of 
the ether, by treating them as mechanical 
consequences of concealed structure in that 
medium; we should rather rest satisfied 
with having attained to their exact dynam- 
ical correlation, just as geometry explores 
or correlates, without explaining, the de. 
scriptive and metric properties of space. 
On the other hand, a view is upheld which 
considers the pressures and thrusts of the 
engineer, and the strains and stresses in the 
material structures hy which he transmits 
them from one place to another, to be the 
archetype of the processes by which all 
mechanical effect is transmitted in nature. 
This doctrine implies an expectation that 
we may ultimately discover something anal- 
ogous to structure in the celestial spaces, 
by means of which the transmission of 
physical effect will be brought into line 
with the transmission of mechanical effect 
by material frame work. 

At a time when the only definitely ascer- 
tained function of the zther was the un- 
dulatory propagation of radiant energy 
across space, Lord Kelvin pointed out that, 
by reason of the very great velocity of prop- 


424 


agation, the density of the radiant energy 
in the medium at any place must be ex- 
tremely small in comparison with the 
amount of energy that is transmitted in a 
second of time: this easily led him to the 
very striking conclusion that, on the hy- 
pothesis that the ether is like material 
elastic media, it is not necessary to assume 
its density to be more than 10“ of that of 
water, or its optical rigidity to be more 
than ten 10° of that of steel or glass. Thus 
far the «ther would be merely an impal- 
pable material atmosphere for the transfer- 
ence of energy by radiation, at extremely 
small densities but with very great speed, 
while ordinary matter would be the seat of 
practically all this energy. But this way 
of explaining the absence of sensible influ- 
ence of the ether on the phenomena of ma- 
terial dynamics lost much of its basis as 
soon as it was recognized that the same 
medium must be the receptacle of very high 
densities of energy in the electric fields 
around currents and magnets.* The other 
mode of explanation is to consider the ether 
to be of the very essence of all physical ac- 
tions, and to correlate the absence of ob- 
vious mechanical evidence of its interven- 
tion with its regularity and universality. 
On this plan of making the ether the 
essential factor is the transformation of 
energy as well as its transmission across 
space, the material atom must be some 


* We can here only allude to Lord Kelvin’s recent 
most interesting mechanical illustrations of a solid 
sether interacting with material molecules and with 
itself by attraction at a distance : unlike the general- 
ized dynamical methods expounded in the text, 
which can leave the intimate structure of the material 
molecule outside the problem, a definite working 
constitution is there assigned to the molecular nu- 
cleus. It is pointed out in a continuation that is to 
appear in the Philosophical Magazine for September, 
that a density of ether of the order of only 10-°, which 
would not appreciably affect the inertia of matter, 
would involve rigidity comparable with that of steel, 
and thus permit transmission of magnetic forces by 
stress ; this solid «ther is, however, as usual, taken 
to be freely permeable to the molecules of matter. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XII. No. 299. 


kind of permanent nucleus that retains 
around itself an ethereal field of physical 
influence, such as, for example, a field of 
strain. Wecan recognize the atom only 
through its interactions with other atoms 
that are so far away from it as to be prac- 
tically independent systems; thus our di- 
rect knowledge of the atom will be con- 
fined to this field of force which belongs to 
it. Just as the exploration of the distant 
field of magnetic influence of a steel mag- 
net, itself concealed from view, cannot tell 
us anything about the magnet except the 
amount and direction of its moment, so a 
practically complete knowledge of the field 
of physical influence of an atom might be 
expressible in terms of the numerical values 
of a limited number of physical moments 
associated with it, without any revelation 
as to its essential structure or constitution 
being involved. This will at any rate be 
the case for ultimate atoms if, as is most 
likely, the distances at which they are kept 
apart are large compared with the diam- 
eters of the atomic nuclei; it in fact forms 
our only chance for penetrating to definite 
dynamical views of molecular structure. 
So long as we cannot isolate a single mol- 
ecule, but must deal observationally with 
an innumerable distribution of them, even 
this kind of knowledge will be largely con- 
fined to average values. But the last half- 
century has witnessed the successful appli- 
cation of a new instrument of research, 
which has removed in various directions 
the limitations that had previously been 
placed on the knowledge to which it was 
possible for human effort to look forward. 
The spectroscope has created a new as- 
tronomy by revealing the constitutions and 
the unseen internal motions of the stars. 
Its power lies in the fact that it does take 
hold of the internal relaticns of the indi- 
vidual molecule of matter, and provides a 
very definite and detailed, though far from 
complete, analysis of the vibratory motions 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


that are going on in it; these vibrations 
being in their normal state characteristic 
of its dynamical constitution, and in their 
deviations from the normal giving indi- 
cations of the velocity of its movement 
and the physical state of its environment. 
Maxwell long ago laid emphasis on the fact 
that a physical atomic theory is not com- 
petent even to contemplate the vast mass 
of potentialities and correlations of the 
past and the future, that biological theory 
has to consider as latent in a single organic 
germ containing at most only a few million 
molecules. On our present view we can 
accept his position that the properties of 
such a body cannot be those of a ‘ purely 
material system,’ provided, however, we 
restrict this phrase to apply to physical 
properties as here defined. But an exhaust- 
ive discovery of the intimate nature of the 
atom is beyond the scope of physics ; ques- 
tions as to whether it must not necessarily 
involve in itself some image of the com- 
plexity of the organic structures of which 
it can form a correlated part must remain 
a subject of speculation outside the domain 
of that science. It might be held that 
this conception of discrete atoms and con- 
tinuous ether really stands, like those of 
space and time, in intimate relation with 
our modes of mental apprehension, into 
which any consistent picture of the external 
world must of necessity be fitted. In any 
ease it would involve abandonment of all 
the successful traditions of our subject if 
we ceased to hold that our analysis can be 
formulated in a consistent and complete 
manner, so far as it goes, without being 
necessarily an exhaustive account of phe- 
nomena that are beyond our range of ex- 
periment. Such phenomena may be more 
closely defined as those connected with the 
processes of intimate combination of the 
molecules: they include the activities of 
organic beings which all seem to depend on 
change of molecular structure. 


SCIENCE. 


425 


If, then, we have so small a hold on the 
intimate nature of matter, it will appear 
all the more striking that physicists have 
been able precisely to divine the mode of 
operation of the intangible ether, and to 
some extent explore in it the fields of phys- 
ical influence of the molecules. On con- 
sideration we recognize that this knowledge 
of fundamental physical interaction has 
been reached by a comparative process. 
The mechanism of the propagation of light 
could never have been studied in the free 
ether of space alone. It was possible, 
however, to determine the way in which 
the characteristics of optical propagation 
are modified, but not wholly transformed, 
when it takes place in a transparent ma- 
terial body instead of empty space. The 
change in fact arises on account of the 
ether being entangled with the network of 
material molecules; but inasmuch as the 
length of a single wave of radiation covers 
thousands of these molecules the wave- 
motion still remains uniform and does not 
lose its general type. A wider variation of 
the experimental conditions has been pro- 
vided for our examination in the case of 
those substances in which the phenomenon 
of double refraction pointed to a change 
of the ethereal properties which varied in 
different ‘directions; and minute study of 
this modification has proved sufficient to 
guide to a consistent appreciation of the 
nature of this change, and therefore of the 
mode of ethereal propagation that is thus 
altered. In the same way, it was the 
study and development of the manner in 
which the laws of electric phenomena in 
material bodies had been unraveled by 
Ampére and Faraday, that guided Faraday 
himself and Maxwell—who were impressed 
with the view that the ether was at the 
bottom of it all—in their progress towards 
an application of similar laws to ether 
devoid of matter, such as would complete 
a scheme of continuous action by consist- 


426 


ently interconnecting the material bodies 
and banishing all untraced interaction 
across empty space. Maxwell in fact chose 
to finally expound the theory by ascribing 
to the ether of free space a dielectric con- 
stant and a magnetic constant of the same 
type as had been found to express the prop- 
erties of material media, thus extending 
the seat of the phenomena to all space on 
the plan of describing the activity of the 
zether in terms of the ordinary electric 
ideas. The converse mode of develop- 
ment, starting with the free ether under 
the directly dynamical form which has 
been usual in physical optics, and intro- 
ducing the influence of the material atoms 
through the electric charges which are in- 
volved in their constitution.* was hardly 
employed by him; in part, perhaps, be- 
cause, owing to the necessity of correlating 
his theory with existing electric knowledge 
and the mode of its expression, he seems 
never to have reached the stage of mould- 
ing it into a completely deductive form. 
The dynamics of the ether, in fact the 
recognition of the existence of an ether, 
has thus, as a matter of history, been 
reached through study of the dynamical 
phenomena of matter. When the dynamics 
of a material system is worked up to its 
purest and most general form, it becomes 
a formulation of the relations between the 
succession of the configurations and states 
of motion of the system, the assistance of 
an independent idea of force not being 
usually required. We can, however, only 
attain such a compact statement when the 
system is self-contained, when its motion 
is not being dissipated by agencies of fric- 
*TIn 1870 Maxwell, while admiring the breadth of 
the theory of Weber, which is virtually based on 
atomic charges combined with action at a distance, 
still regarded itas irreconcilable with his own theory, 
and left to the future the question as to why ‘ theories 
apparently so fundamentally opposed should have so 


large a field of truth common to both.’—Scientifie 
Papers, II., p. 228. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


tional type, and when its connections can 
be directly specified by purely geometrical 
relations between the co-ordinates, thus 
excluding such mechanisms as rolling con- 
tacts. The course of the system is then 
in all cases determined by some form or 
other of a single fundamental property, 
that any alteration in any small portion of 
its actual course must produce an increase 
in the total ‘Action’ of the motion. Itis to 
be observed that in employing this law of 
minimum as regards the Action expressed 
as an integral over the whole time of the 
motion, we no more introduce the future 
course asa determining influence on the 
present state of motion than we do in 
drawing a straight line from any point in 
any direction, although the length of the 
line is the minimum distance between its 
ends. In drawing the line piece by piece 
we have to make tentative excursions into 
the immediate future in order to adjust 
each element into straightness with the 
previous element; so in tracing the next 
stage of the motion of a material system 
we have similarly to secure that it is not 
given any such directions as would unduly 
increase the Action. But whatever views 
may be held as to the ultimate significance 
of this principle of action, its importance, 
not only for mathematical analysis, but as 
a guide to physical exploration, remains 
fundamental. When the principles of the 
dynamics of material systems are refined 
down to their ultimate common basis, this 
principle of minimum is what remains. 
Hertz preferred to express its contents in 
the form of a principle of straightness of 
course or path. It will be recognized, on 
the lines already indicated, that this is 
another mode of statement of the same 
fundamental idea; and the general equiva- 
lence is worked out by Hertz on the basis 
of Hamilton’s development of the prin- 
ciples of dynamics. The iatter mode of 
statement may be adaptable so as to avoid 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


the limitations which restrict the connec- 
tions of the system, at the expense, how- 
ever, of introducing new variables ; if, in- 
deed, it does not introduce gratuitous com- 
plexity for purposes of physics to attempt 
to do this. However these questions may 
stand, this principle of straightness or di- 
rectness of path forms, whenever it applies, 
the most general and comprehensive for- 
mulation of purely dynamical action: it 
involves in itself the complete course of 
events. In so far as we are given the alge- 
braic formula for the time-integral which 
constitutes the Action, expressed in terms 
of any suitable coordinates, we know im- 
plicitly the whole dynamical constitution 
and history of the system to which it ap- 
plies. Two systems in which the Action is 
expressed by the same formula are mathe- 
matically identical, are physically precisely 
correlated, so that they have all dynamical 
properties in common. When the struc- 
ture of a dynamical system is largely con- 
cealed from view, the safest and most direct 
way towards an exploration of its essential 
relations and connections, and in fact to- 
wards answering the prior question as to 
whether it is a purely dynamical system at 
all, is through this order of ideas. The 
ultimate test that a system is a dynamical 
one is not that we shall be able to trace 
mechanical stresses throughout it, but that 
its relations can be in some way or other 
consolidated into accordance with this prin- 
ciple of minimum Action. This definition 
of a dynamical system in terms of the 
simple principle of directness of path may 
conceivably be subject to objection as too 
wide ; it is certainly not too narrow ; and 
it is the conception which has naturally 
been evolved from two centuries of study 
of the dynamics of material bodies. Its 
very great generality may lead to the ob- 
jection that we might completely formulate 
the future course of a system in its terms, 
without having obtained a working famili- 


SCIENCE. 


427 


arity with its details of the kind to which 
we have become accustomed in the analysis 
of simple material systems; but our choice 
is at present between this kind of formu- 
lation, which is a real and essential one, 
and an empirical description of the course 
of phenomena combined with explanations 
relating to more or less isolated groups. 
The list of great names, including Kelvin, 
Maxwell, Helmholtz, that have been asso- 
ciated with the employment of the prin- 
ciple for the elucidation of the relations of 
deep-seated dynamical phenomena, is a 
strong guarantee that we shall do well by 
making the most of this clue. 

Are we then justified in treating the ma- 
terial molecule, so far as revealed by the 
spectroscope, as a dynamical system com- 
ing under this specification? Its intrinsic 
energy is certainly permanent and not sub- 
ject to dissipation ; otherwise the molecule 
would gradually fade out of existence. The 
extreme precision and regularity of detail 
in the spectrum shows that the vibrations 
which produce it are exactly synchronous 
whatever be their amplitude, and in so far 
resemble the vibrations of small amplitude 
in material systems. As all indications 
point to the molecule being a system in a 
state of intrinsic motion, like a vortex ring, 
or a stellar system in astronomy, we must 
consider these radiating vibrations to take 
place around a steady state of motion 
which does not itself radiate, not around a 
state of rest. Now not the least of the 
advantages possessed by the Action prin- 
ciple, as a foundation for theoretical phys- 
ics, is the fact that its statement can be 
adapted to systems involving in their con- 
stitution permanent steady motions of this 
kind, in such a way that only the variable 
motions superposed on them come into con- 
sideration. The possibilities as regards 
physical correlation of thus introducing 
permanent motional states as well as per- 
manent structure into the constitution of 


428 


our dynamical systems have long been em- 
phasized by Lord Kelvin ;* the effective 
adaptation of abstract dynamics to such 
systems was made independently by Kelvin 
and Routh about 1877; the more recent 
exposition of the theory by Helmholtz has 
directed general attention to what is un- 
doubtedly the most significant extension of 
dynamical analysis which has taken place 
since the time of Lagrange. 

Returning to the molecules, it is now 
verified that the Action principle forms a 
valid foundation throughout electrodynam- 
ics and optics; the introduction of the 
eether into the system has not affected its 
application. It is therefore a reasonable 
hypothesis that the principle forms an al- 
lowable foundation for the dynamical analy- 
sis of the radiant vibrations in the system 
formed by a single molecule and surround- 
ing «ther; and the knowledge which is 
now accumulating, both of the orderly 
grouping of the lines of the spectrum and 
of the modifications impressed on these 
lines by a magnetic field or by the density 
of the matter immediately surrounding the 
vibrating molecule, can hardly fail to be 
fruitful for the dynamical analysis of its 
constitution. But let it be repeated that 
this analysis would be complete when a 
formula for the dynamical energy of the 
molecule is obtained, and would go no 
deeper.. Starting from our definitely lim- 
ited definition of the nature of a dynamical 
system, the problem is merely to correlate 
the observed relations of the periods of 
vibration in a molecule, when it has come 
into a steady state as regards constitution 
and is not under the influence of intimate 
encounter with other molecules. 

It may be recalled incidentally that the 
generalized Maxwell-Boltzmann principle 


* For a classical exposition see his Brit. Assoc. Ad- 
dress of 1884 on ‘Steps towards a Kinetic Theory of 
Matter,’ reprinted in ‘Popular Lectures and Ad- 
dresses,’ vol i. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


of the equable distribution of the acquired 
store of kinetic energy of the molecule, 
among its various possible independent 
types of motion, is based directly on the 
validity of the Action principle for its dy- 
namics. In the demonstrations usually 
offered the molecule is considered to have 
no permanent or constitutive energy of in- 
ternal motion. It can, however, be shown, 
by use of the generalization aforesaid of 
the Action principle, that no discrepancy 
will arise on that account. Such intrinsic 
kinetic energy virtually adds on to the po- 
tential energy of the system; and the re- 
maining or acquired part of the kinetic 
energy of the molecule may be made the sub- 
ject of the same train of reasoning as before. 

Let us now return to the general ques- 
tion whether our definition of a dynamical 
system may not be too wide. As a case in 
point, the single principle of Action has 
been shown to provide a definite and suffi- 
cient basis for electrodynamics ; yet when, 
for example, one armature of an electric 
motor pulls the other after it without ma- 
terial contact, and so transmits mechanical 
power, no connection between them is in- 
dicated by the principle such as could by 
virtue of internal stress transmit the pull. 
The essential feature of the transmission of 
a pull by stress across a medium is that 
each element of volume of the medium 
acts by itself, independently of the other 
elements. The stress excited in any ele- 
ment depends on the strain or other 
displacement occurring in that element 
alone; and the mechanical effect that is 
transmitted is considered as an extraneous 
force applied at one place in the medium, 
and passed on from element to element 
through these internal pressures and trac- 
tions until it reaches another place. We 
have, however, to consider two atomic elec- 
tric charges as being themselves some kind 
of strain configurations in the ether ; each 
of them already involves an atmosphere of 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


strain in the surrounding ether which is 
part of its essence, and cannot be con- 
sidered apart from it; each of them essen- 
tially pervades the entire space, though on 
account of its invariable character we con- 
sider it asa unit. Thus we appear to be 
debarred from imagining the ether to act 
as an elastic connection which is merely 
the agent of transmission of a pull from 
the one nucleus to the other, because there 
are already stresses belonging to and con- 
stituting an intrinsic part of the terminal 
electrons, which are distributed all along 
the medium. Our action criterion of a dy- 
namical system, in fact, allows us to reason 
about an electron as a single thing, not- 
withstanding that its field of energy is 
spread over the whole medium ; it is only 
in material solid bodies, and in problems 
in which the actual sphere of physical ac- 
tion of the molecule is small compared 
with the smallest element of volume that 
our analysis considers, that the familiar 
idea of transmission of force by simple 
stress can apply. Whatever view may 
ultimately command itself, this question is 
one that urgently demands decision. A 
very large amount of effort has been ex- 
pended by Maxwell, Helmholtz, Heaviside, 
Hertz and other authorities in the attempt 
to express the mechanical phenomena of 
electrical action in terms of a transmitting 
stress. The analytical results up to a cer- 
tain point have been promising, most strik- 
ingly so at the beginning, when Maxwell 
established the mathematical validity of 
the way in which Faraday was accustomed 
to represent to himself the mechanical in- 
teractions across space, in terms of a ten- 
sion along the lines of force equilibrated by 
an equal pressure preventing their expan- 
sion sideways. According to the views 
here developed, that ideal is an impossible 
one; if this could be established to general 
satisfaction the field of theoretical discus- 
sion would be much simplified. 


SCIENCE. 


429 


This view that the atom of matter is, so 
far as regards physical actions, of the na- 
ture of a structure in the ether involving 
an atmosphere of ethereal strain all around 
it, not a small body which exerts direct 
actions at a distance on other atoms accord- 
ing to extraneous laws of force, was practi- 
cally foreign to the eighteenth century, 
when mathematical physics was modelled 
on the- Newtonian astronomy and domi- 
nated by its splendid success. The scheme 
of material dynamics, as finally compactly 
systematized by Lagrange, had therefore no 
direct relation to such a view, although it 
has proved wide enough to include it. The 
remark has often been made that it is prob- 
ably owing to Faraday’s mathematical 
instinct, combined with his want of ac- 
quaintance with the existing analysis, that 
the modern theory of the «ther obtained a 
start from the electric side. Through his 
teaching and the weight of his authority, 
the notion of two electric currents exerting 
their mutual forces_by means of an inter- 
vening medium, instead of by direct at- 
traction across space, was at an early period 
firmly grasped in this country. In 1845 
Lord Kelvin was already mathematically 
formulating, with most suggestive success, 
continuous elastic connections, by whose 
strain the fields of activity of electric cur- 
rents or of electric distributions could be 
illustrated; while the exposition of Max- 
well’s interconnected scheme, in the earlier 
form in which it relied on concrete models 
of the electric action, goes back almost to 
1860. Corresponding to the two physical 
ideals of isolated atoms exerting attraction 
ata distance, and atoms operating by atmos- 
pheres of ethereal strain, there are, ag 
already indicated, two different develop- 
ments of dynamical theory. The original 
Newtonian equations of motion determined 
the course of a system by expressing the 
rates at which the velocity of each of its 
small parts or elements is changing. This 


430 


method is still fully applicable to those 
problems of gravitational astronomy in 
which dynamical explanation was first suc- 
cessful on a grand scale, the planets being 
treated as point-masses, each subject to the 
gravitational attraction of the other bodies. 
But the more recent development of the 
dynamics of complex systems depends on 
the fact that analysis has been able to re- 
duce within manageable limits the number 
of varying quantities whose course is to be 
explicitly traced, through taking advantage 
of those internal relations of the parts of 
the system that are invariable, either 
geometrically or dynamically. Thus, to 
take the simplest case, the dynamics of a 
solid body can be confined to a discussion 
of its three components of translation and 
its three components of rotation, instead of 
the motion of each element of its mass. 
With the number of independent co-ordi- 
nates thus diminished when the initial 
state of the motion is specified the subse- 
quent course of the complete system can be 
traced; but the course of the changes in 
any part of it can only be treated in relation 
to the motion of the system as a whole. 
It is just this mode of treatmant of a sys- 
tem as a whole that is the main character- 
istic of modern physical analysis. The way 
in which Maxwell analyzed the interactions 
of a system of linear electric currents, 
previously treated as if each were made up 
of small independent pieces or elements, 
and accumulated the evidence that they 
formed a single dynamical system, is a 
trenchant example. The interactions of 
vortices in fluid form a very similar prob- 
lem, which is of special note in that the 
constitution of the system is there com- 
pletely known in advance, so that the two 
modes of dynamical exposition can be com- 
pared. In this case the older method 
forms independent equations for the mo- 
tion of each material element of the fluid, 
and so requires the introduction of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


stress—here the fluid pressure—by which 
dynamical effect is passed on to it from the 
surrounding elements: it corresponds to a 
method of contact action. But Helmholtz 
opened up new ground in the abstract dy- 
namics of continuous media when he recog- 
nized (after Stokes) that, if the distribu- 
tion of the velocity of spin at those places 
in the fluid where the motion is vortical be 
assigned, the motion in every part of the 
fluid is therein kinematically involved. 
This, combined with the theorem of La- 
grange and Cauchy, that the spin is always 
confined to the same portions of the fluid, 
formed a starting-point for his theory of 
vortices, which showed how the subsequent 
course of the motion can be ascertained 
without consideration of pressure or other 
stress. 

The recognition of the permanent state of 
motion constituting a vortex ring as a de- 
termining agent as regards the future course 
of the system was in fact justly considered 
by Helmholtz as one of his greatest achieve- 
ments. The principle had entirely eluded 
the attention of Lagrange and Cauchy and 
Stokes, who were the pioneers in this fun- 
damental branch of dynamics, and had 
virtually prepared all the necessary ana- 
lytical material for Helmholtz’s use. The 
main import of thisadvance lay, not in the 
assistance which is afforded to the develop- 
ment of the complete solution of special 
problems in fluid motion, but in the fact 
that it constituted the discovery of the 
types of permanent motion of the system, 
which could combine and interact with each 
other without losing their individuality,* 
though each of them pervaded the whole 
field. This rendered possible an entirely 
new mode of treatment; and mathema- 
ticians who were accustomed, as in as- 
tronomy, to aim directly at the determina- 

* We may compare G. W. Hill’s more recent in- 


troduction of the idea of permanent orbits into phys- 
ical astronomy. 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


tion of all the details of the special case of 
motion, were occasionally slow to appre- 
hend the advantages of a procedure which 
stopped at formulating a description of the 
nature of the interaction between various 
typical groups of motions into which the 
whole disturbance could be resolved. 

The new train of ideas introduced into 
physies by Faraday was thus consolidated 
and emphasized by Helmholtz’s investi- 
gations of 1858 in the special domain of 
hydrodynamics. In illustration let us con- 
sider the fluid medium to be pervaded by 
permanent vortices circulating round solid 
rings as cores ; the older method of analysis 
would form equations of motion for each 
element of the fluid, involving the fluid 
pressure, and by their integration would 
determine the distribution of pressure on 
each solid ring, and thence the way it 
moves. This method is hardly feasible 
even in the simplest cases. The natural 
plan is to make use of existing simplifica- 
tions by regarding each vortex as a perma- 
nent reality, and directly attacking the 
problem of its interactions with the other 
vortices. The energy of the fluid arising 
‘from the vortex motion can be expressed in 
terms of the positions and strengths of the 
vortices alone; and then the principle of 
Action, in the generalized form which in- 
eludes steady motional configurations as 
well as constant material configurations, 
affords a method of deducing the motions 
of the cores and the interactions between 
them. If the cores are thin they in fact 
interact mechanically, as Lord Kelvin and 
Kirchhoff proved, in the same manner as 
linear electric currents would do; though 
the impulse thence derived towards a direct 
hydro-kinetic explanation of electro-mag- 
netics was damped by the fact that repul- 
sion and attraction have to be interchanged 
in the analogy. The conception of vortices, 
once it has been arrived at, forms the 
natural physical basis of investigation, al- 


SCIENCE. 


431 


though the older method of determining a 
distribution of pressure-stress throughout 
the fluid and examining how it affects the 
cores is still possible ; that stress, however, 
is notsimply transmitted, as it has to main- 
tain the changes of velocity of the various 
portions of the fluid. But if the vortices 
have no solid cores we are at a loss to know 
where even this pressure can be considered 
as applied to them; if we follow up the 


.Stress, we lose the vortex; yet a fluid vor- 


tex can nevertheless illustrate an atom of 
matter, and we can consider such atoms as 
exerting mutual forces, only these forces 
cannot be considered as transmitted 
through the agency of fluid pressure. The 
reason is that the vortex cannot now be 
identified with a mere core bounded by a 
definite surface, but is essentially a config- 
uration of motion extending throughout 
the medium. 

Thus we are again in face of the funda- 
mental question whether all attempts to 
represent the mechanical interactions of 
electro-dynamic systems, as transmitted 
from point to point by means of simple 
stress, are not doomed to failure; whether 
they do not, in fact, introduce unnecessary 
and insurmountable difficulty into the 
theory. The idea of identifying an atom 
with a state of strain or motion, pervading 
the region of the ether around its nucleus, 
appears to demand wider views as to what 
constitutes dynamical transmission. The 
idea that any small portion of the primor- 
dial medium can be isolated, by merely in- 
troducing tractions acting over its surface 
and transmitted from the surrounding parts, 
is no longer appropriate or consistent; a 
part of the dynamical disturbance in that 
element of the medium is on this hypothe- 
sis already classified as belonging to, and 
carried along with, atoms that are outside 
it but in its neighborhood—and this part 
must not be counted twice over. The law 
of Poynting relating to the paths of the 


432 


transmission of energy is known to hold in 
its simple form only when the electric 
charges or currents are in a steady state; 
when they are changing their positions or 
configurations their own fields of intrinsic 
energy are carried along with them. 

It is not surprising, considering the pre- 
vious British familiarity with this order of 
ideas, that the significance for general phys- 
ics of Helmholtz’s doctrine of vortices was 


eagerly developed in this country, in the. 


form in which it became embodied through 
Lord Kelvin’s famous illustration of the 
constitution of the matter, as consisting of 
atoms with separate existence and mutual 
interactions. This vortex atom theory has 
been a main source of physical suggestion 
because it presents, on a simple basis, a 
dynamical picture of an ideal material sys- 
tem, atomically constituted, which could go 
on automatically without extraneous sup- 
port. The value of such a picture may 
be held to lie, not in any supposition that 
this is the mechanism of the actual world 
laid bare, but in the vivid illustration it 
affords of the fundamental postulate of 
physical science, that mechanical phenom- 
ena are not parts of a scheme too involved 
for us to explore, but rather present them- 
selves in definite and consistent correlations, 
which we are able to disentangle and appre- 
hend with continuously increasing precision. 

It would be an interesting question to 
trace the origin of our preference for a 
theory of: transmission of physical action 
over one of direct action at a distance. It 
may be held that it-rests on the same order 
of ideas as supplies our conception of force ; 
that the notion of effort which we associate 
with change of the motion of a body in- 
volves the idea of a mechanical connection 
through which that effort is applied. The 
mere idea of a transmitting medium would 
then be no more an ultimate foundation for 
physical explanation than that of force 
itself. Our choice between direct distance 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


action and mediate transmission would 
thus be dictated by the relative simplicity 
and coherence of the accounts they give of 
the phenomena: this is, in fact, the basis 
on which Maxwell’s theory had to be judged 
until Hertz detected the actual working of 
the medium. Instantaneous transmission 
is to all intents action at a distance, except 
in so far as the law of action may be more 
easily formulated in terms of the medium 
than in a direct geometrical statement. 

In connection with these questions it may 
be permitted to refer to the eloquent and 
weighty address recently delivered by M. 
Poincaré to the International Congress of 
Physics. M. Poincaré accepts the principle 
of Least Action as a reliable basis for the 
formulation of physical theory, but he im- 
poses the condition that the results must 
satisfy the Newtonian law of equality of 
action and reaction between each pair of 
bodies concerned, considered by themselves; 
this, however, he would allow to be satisfied 
indirectly, if the effects could be traced 
across the intervening ether by stress, so 
that the tractions on the two sides of each 
ideal interface are equal and opposite.* As 
above argued, this view appears to exclude 
ab initio all atomic theories of the general 
type of vortex atoms, in which the energy 
of the atom is distributed throughout the 
medium instead of being concentrated in a 
nucleus; and this remark seems to go to 
the root of the question. On the other 
hand, the position here asserted is that re- 
cent dynamical developments have permit- 
ted the extension of the principle of Action 
to systems involving permanent motions, 
whether obvious or latent, as part of their 
constitution; that on this wider basis the 


* Cf. also Hertz on the electro-magnetic equations, 
212, Wied. Ann., 1890. The problem of merely re- 
placing a system of forces by a statical stress is widely 
indeterminate, and therefore by itself unreal; the 
actual question is whether any such representation 
can be coordinated with existing dynamics. 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


atom may itself involve a state of steady 
disturbance extending through the medium, 
instead of being only a local structure act- 
ing by push and pull. The possibilities of 
dynamical explanation are thus enlarged. 
The most definite type of model yet imag- 
ined of the physical interaction of atoms 
through the ether is, perhaps, that which 
takes the ether to be a rotationally elastic 
medium after the manner of MacCullagh 
and Rankine, and makes the ultimate atom 
include the nucleus of a permanent ro- 
tational strain-configuration, which as a 
whole may be called an electron. The 
question how far this is a legitimate and 
effective model stands by itself, apart from 
the dynamics which it illustrates; like all 
representations it can only cover a limited 
ground. For instance, it cannot claim to 
include the internal structure of the nucleus 
of an atom or even of an electron ; for pur- 
poses of physical theory that problem can 
be put aside, it may even be treated as in- 
scrutable. All that is needed is a postulate 
of free mobility of this nucleus through the 
zether. This is definitely hypothetical, but 
it is not an unreasonable postulate because 
a rotational ether has the properties of a 
perfect fluid medium except where differen- 
tially rotational motions are concerned, and 
so would not react on the motion of any 
structure moving through it except after 
the manner of an apparent change of iner- 
tia. It thus seems possible to hold that 
such a model forms an allowable represen- 
tation of the dynamical activity of the 
ether, as distinguished from the complete 
constitution of the material nuclei between 
which that medium establishes connection. 

At any rate, models of this nature have 
certainly been most helpful in Maxwell’s 
hands toward the effective intuitive grasp 
of a scheme of relations as a whole, which 
might have proved too complex for abstract 
unravelment in detail. When a physical 
model of concealed dynamical processes has 


SCIENCE. 


433 


served this kind of purpose, when its con 
tent has been explored and estimated, and 
has become familiar through the introduc- 
tion of new terms and ideas, then the lad- 
der by which we have ascended may be 
kicked away, and the scheme of relations 
which the model embodied can stand forth 
in severely abstract form. Indeed many 
of the most fruitful branches of abstract 
mathematical analysis itself have owed 
their start in this way to concrete physical 
conceptions. This gradual transition into 
abstract statement of physical relations 
in fact amounts to retaining the essen- 
tials of our working models while eliminat- 
ing the accidental elements involved in 
them; elements of the latter kind must 
always be present because otherwise the 
model would be identical with the thing 
which it represents, whereas we cannot 
expect to mentally grasp all aspects of the 
content of even the simplest phenomena. 
Yet the abstract standpoint is always at- 
tained through the concrete ; and for pur- 
poses of instruction such models, properly 
guarded, do not perhaps ever lose their 
value; they are just as legitimate aids as 
geometrical diagrams, and they have the 
same kind of limitations. In Maxwell’s 
words, ‘for the sake of persons of these 
different types scientific truth should be 
presented in different forms, and should be 
regarded as equally scientific whether it 
appear in the robust form and the vivid 
coloring of a physical illustration, or in the 
tentity and paleness of a symbolical ex- 
pression.’ The other side of the picture, 
the necessary incompleteness of even our 
legitimate images and modes of representa- 
tion, comes out in the despairing opinion of 
Young (‘ Chromatics,’ 1817), at a time 
when his faith in the undulatory theory of 
light had been eclipsed by Malus’s dis- 
covery of the phenomena of polarization 
by reflection, that this difficulty ‘ will 
probably long remain, to mortify the van- 


434 


ity of an ambitious philosophy, completely 
unresolved by any theory’: not many 
years afterwards the mystery was solved by 
Fresnel. 

This process of removing the intellectual 
scaffolding by which our knowledge is 
reached, and preserving only the final 
formule which express the correlations 
of the directly observable things, may 
moreover readily be pushed too far. It 
asserts the conception that the universe 
is like an enclosed clock that it wound 
up to go, and that accordingly we can ob- 
serve that it is going, and can see some 
of its more superficial] movements, but not 
much of them; that thus, by patient obser- 
vation and use of analogy, we can compile, 
in merely tabular form, information as to 
the manner in which it works and is likely 
to go on working, at any rate for some time 
to come; but that any attempt to probe 
the underlying connection is illusory or il- 
legitimate. As a theoretical precept this 
is admirable. It minimizes the danger of 
our ignoring or forgetting the limitations of 
human faculty, which can only utilize the 
_ imperfect representations that the external 
world impresses on our senses. On the 
other hand such a reminder has rarely been 
required by the master minds of modern 
science, from Descartes and Newton on- 
wards, whatever their theories may have 
been. Its danger as a dogma lies in its ap- 
plication. Who is to decide without risk 
of error, what is essential fact and what is 
intellectual scaffolding? To which class 
does the atomic theory of matter belong? 
Thatis, indeed, one of the intangible things 
which it is suggested may be thrown over- 
board, in sorting out and classifying our 
scientific possessions. Is the mental idea 
or image, which suggests, and alone can 
suggest, the experiment that adds to our 
concrete knowledge, less real than the bare 
phenomenal uniformity which it has re- 
vealed ? Is it not, perhaps, more real in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


that the uniformities might not have been 
there in the absence of the mind to perceive 
them ? 

No time is now left for review of the 
methods of molecular dynamics. Here our 
knowledge is entirely confined to steady 
states of the molecular system: it is purely 
statical. In ordinary statics and the dy- 
namics of undisturbed steady motions, the 
form of the energy function is the suf- 
ficient basis of the whole subject. This 
method is extended to thermo-dynamics by 
making use of the mechanically available 
energy of Rankine and Kelvin, which is a 
function of the bodily configuration and 
chemical constitution and temperature of 
the system, whose value cannot under any 
circumstances spontaneously increase, while 
it will diminish in any operation which 
is not reversible. In the statics of sys- 
tems in equilibrium or in steady motion, this 
method of energy is a particular case of 
the method of Action; but in its extension 
to thermal statics it is made to include 
chemical as well as configurational changes, 
and a new point appears to arise. Whether 
we do or do not take it to be possible to 
trace the application of the principle of 
Action throughout the process of chemical 
combination of two molecules, we certainly 
here postulate that the static case of that 
principle, which applies to steady systems, 
can be extended across chemical combina- 
tions. The question is suggested whether 
extension would also be valid to trans- 
formations which involve vital processes. 
This seems to be still considered an open 
question by the best authorities. If it be 
decided in the negative a distinction is in- 
volved between vital and merely chemical 
processes. 

It is now taken as established that vital 
activity cannot create energy, at any rate 
in the long run which is all that can from 
the nature of the case to be tested. It 
seems not unreasonable to follow the anal- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


ogy of chemical actions, and assert that it 
cannot in the long run increase the mechan- 
ical availability of energy—that is, con- 
‘sidering the organism as an apparatus for 
transforming energy without being itself in 
the long run changed. But we cannot es- 
tablish a Carnot cycle for a portion of an 
organism, nor can we do so for a limited 
period of time; there might be creation of 
availability accompanied by changes in the 
organism itself, but compensated by de- 
struction and the inverse changes a long 
time afterwards. This amounts to assert- 
ing that where, as in a vital system or 
even in a simple molecular combination, 
we are unable to trace or even assert com- 
plete dynamical sequence, exact thermody- 
namic statements should be mainly confined 
to the activity of the existing organism as 
a whole; it may transform inorganic ma- 
terial without change of energy and with- 
out gain of availability, although any such 
statements would be inappropriate and un- 
meaning as regards the details of the proc- 
esses that take place inside the organism 
itself. 

In any case it would appear that there is 
small chance of reducing these questions 
to direct dynamics; we should rather re- 
gard Carnot’s principle, which includes the 
law of uniformity of temperature and is 
the basis of the whole theory, as a property 
of statistical type confined to stable or per- 
manent aggregations of matter. Thus no 
dynamical proof from molecular considera- 
tions could be regarded as valid unless it 
explicitly restricted the argument to per- 
manent systems; yet the conditions of 
permanency are unknown except in the 
simpler cases. The only mode of discus- 
sion that is yet possible is the method 
of dynamical statisties of molecules intro- 
duced by Maxwell. Now statistics is a 
method of arrangement rather than of de- 
monstration. Every statistical argument 
requires to be verified by comparison with 


SCIENCE. 


435 


the facts, because it is of the essence of 
this method to take things as fortuitously 
distributed except in so far as we know the 
contrary ; and we simply may not know 
essential facts to the contrary. For ex- 
ample, if the interaction of the ether or 
other cause produces no influence to the 
contrary, the presumption would be that 
the kinetic energy acquired by a molecule 
is, on the average, equally distributed among 
its various independent modes of motion, 
whether vibrational or translational. As- 
suming this type of distribution to be once 
established in a gaseous system, the dy- 
namics of Boltzmann and Maxwell show 
that it must be permanent. But its as- 
sumption in the first instance is a result 
rather of the absence than of the presence 
of knowledge of the circumstances, and 
can be accepted only so far as it agrees with 
the facts; our knowledge of the facts of 
specific heat shows that it must be re- 
stricted to modes of motion that are homol- 
ogous. In the words of Maxwell, when 
he first discovered in 1860, to his great 
surprise, that in a system of colliding rigid 
atoms the energy would always be equally 
divided between translatory and rotatory 
motion, it is only necessary to assume, in 
order to evade this unwelcome conclusion, 
that ‘something essential to the complete 
statement of the physical theory of mo- 
lecular encounters must have hitherto es- 
caped us.’ 

Our survey thus tends to the result, that 
as regards the simple and uniform phe- 
nomena which involve activity of finite 
regions of the universal ether, theoretical 
physies can lay claim to constructive func- 
tions, and can build up a definite scheme; 
but in the domain of matter the most that 
it can do is to accept the existence of such 
permanent molecular systems as present 
themselves to our notice, and fit together 
an outline plan of the more general and 
universal features in their activity. Our 


436 


well-founded belief in the rationality of 
natural processes asserts the possibility of 
this, while admitting that the intimate de- 
tails of atomic constitution are beyond our 
scrutiny and provide plenty of room for 
processes that transcend finite dynamical 


correlation. 
JOSEPH LARMOR. 


INLAND BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES. 

Tue following informal notes have been 
received concerning the season’s work in 
various summer laboratories and experi- 
ment stations: 

Of the research work carried out on the 
Great Lakes under the auspices of the Uni- 
ted States Fish Commission, Professor Reig- 
hard says: The work has been purely re- 
search work and it was understood from 
the start that it should be of a fundamental 
scientific character rather than directed to- 
ward the immediate solution of questions 
of supposed practical importance. 

The funds available have not permitted 
of carrying on the work for more than two 
months of eachsummer. During the sum- 
mers of 1898 and 1899 it was carried on 
chiefly at Put in Bay, Ohio, (an island in 
the western end of Lake Erie, at which 
there is a hatchery of the Commission). 
By removing the internal fittings of the 
hatchery it was temporarily converted into 
a laboratory for each summer’s use. This 
laboratory has been in every way amply 
_ equipped. There is gas and water, a small 
steamer and a supply of other boats. It is 
intended that work should begin on the 
first of July, but owing to delay in appro- 
priation bills and to other causes it may 
happen, as it did this year, that no authori- 
zation for the commencement of the work 
can be issued until the end of June or even 
the early part of July. Supplies must then 
be ordered, arrangements made with work- 
ers and the hatchery converted into a lab- 
oratory. The difficulty involved in under- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


taking to do this after the first of July for 
work which is to continue only two months, 
led this year to the trial of a different plan. 
Instead of opening the Put in Bay labora- 
tory an effort is being made to carry on the 
work by means of individual investigators 
or small parties working independently. It 
is hoped that work carried on in this way 
can be continued over a longer period, even 
during a part of the college year. 

The investigations carried on at the lab- 
oratory (and elsewhere during the present 
summer) are as follows: 


BOTANICAL WORK. 


1. The Alge of Lake Erie.—Dr. Julia W. 
Snow has been engaged during each of the 
three seasons and is now engaged in the 
determination of the alg of the Lake and 
in working out their life histories by means 
of cultures. As many of them assume dif- 
ferent forms under different conditions, it is 
necessary to cultivate them and no final 
identifications are possible until the life 
history of eachis known. This is of course 
a labor of years and involves a considera- 
tion of the relation of the various alge 
groups to the nutritive substances contained 
in the water, that is, it leads into bio-chem- 
istry. It is expected that results already 
obtained will be made ready for publication 
during the coming year. 

2. The larger Aquatic Plants—During the 
first season Mr. A. J. Pieters of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture at Washington under- 
took a study of the larger aquatic plants 
with the purpose of determining whether 
they are wholly dependent on the water for 
nutrition or partly on the soil. Mr. Piet- 
ers’ results are now in press. He did not 
get much further than a determination of 
the various soils present on the Lake bottom 
and the relation of the plants to them. 
During the second season and during the 
present season Mr. R. H. Pond, an assist- 
ant in Botany at the University, has car- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


ried on the work by experimental methods, 
Mr. Pieters’ duties at Washington not per- 
mitting him to continue it. Mr. Pond ex- 
pects to conclude his work by the end of 
the next academic year. 


ZOOLOGICAL WORK. 


1. Collections.—During the first two sea- 
sons extensive collections were made of the 
invertebrate fauna of the Lake, also collec- 
tions of the contents of fish stomachs and 
of the parasites of the aquatic vertebrates. 
During the past summer a camping party 
was sent about the shore of the Lake for the 
purpose of making these collections. Some 
of the material has been distributed to spe- 
cialists, but no reports have as yet been re- 
ceived. Pending this, collecting has been 
discontinued. 

2. Plankton Work.—This has been carried 
on by myself with the cooperation of Dr. 
H. B. Ward of the University of Nebraska. 
Apparatus has been devised for measuring 
the actual flow of water through the plank- 
ton net. This apparatus is now being rated 
at the hydraulic laboratory of the Univer- 
sity of Ohio, at Columbus. When this 
work is finished the apparatus will be used 
in the Lake. Itis hoped by this apparatus 
to settle the question of the actual avail- 
ability of plankton nets for quantitative 
work, to find the actual volume of water 
strained by them and to what extent they 
become clogged with use. 


The Illinois State Laboratory of Natural 
History has a biological station under the 
direction of Professor 8. A. Forbes, which is 
not a summer laboratory merely, but is es- 
tablished for continuous investigation of the 
aquatic life of the State, and is in active 
operation throughout the year. Itis anin- 
stitution for research and not for instruc- 
tion, the work being done by a Superin- 
tendent and a paid staff. 

At present two lines of work are in 
progress. (1) Systematic study of the 


SCLENCE. 


437 


ichthyology of the Station field and of other 
parts of the State reached by excursions, 
together with the painting of a series of il- 
lustrations of the fishes of the State made 
in the field from the living specimens. (2) 
An analysis and statement of the results of 
five years of plankton work done on the 
Illinois river, at Havana and Meredosia. 
The work on ichthyology will result in the 
publication of a State report covering the 
whole subject for the State of Illinois, a 
large part of the manuscript for which has 
already been prepared; and that on the 
plankton will be ready for publication Jan- 
uary 1st, in the form of an independent 
Bulletin article. 


In the absence of Professor C. H. Higen- 
mann, the Indiana University Biological 
Station was this summer under the direc- 
tion of Dr. Robert E. Lyons. The research 
work being done was as follows: Ed. 
Showers, ‘The Vertical and Horizontal 
(qualitative and quantitative) Distribution 
of Bacteria in the Lake’; Mr. Hunt, ‘The 
distribution of Bacteria in the Air’; Mr. 
Rush, ‘ The Réle of the Horseflies and Mos- 
quitoes in carrying Infectious Diseases’ ; 
Dr. Baldwin, ‘On an Intro-utero cure for 
Hog Cholera’; Dr. Howe, ‘On the Plank- 
ton of the Lake.’ Mr. Clark and Mr. Ek 
are completing their floral survey of the 
Lake; Mr. Ramsey is continuing the faunal 
survey ; Mr. Moenkhaus is conducting the 
survey work of the Lake. 


The entomologic field station of the New 
York State Museum is a station for the 
study of the biology of aquatic insects. 
Professor James G. Needham, of Lake For- 
est University, is in charge. Investigation 
is its sole object at present: no courses of 
study are offered. The work is mainly 
done by Professor Needham and Mr. Cor- 
nelius Betten, assistant in biology in Lake 
Forest University, with the occasional as- 
sistance of visiting specialists, to whom the 


438 


facilities of the Station are offered. The 
location is admirably suited to the purposes 
in view. Near at hand there is a very 
great variety of aquatic situations and a 
rich and varied aquatic fauna. The 
aquatic insects most abundantly repre- 
sented are caddice flies, dragon flies, may 
flies and aquatic Diptera: much work has 
already been done here on the life histories, 
habits and ecology of these. 

The Station for the present season finds 
quarters in the Adirondack Fish Hatchery 
building at Saranac Inn, where an abun- 
dance of running water renders possible the 
rearing of the insects which live in the 
limpid streams outside. The initial equip- 
ment of the station was excellent, and the 
work has been prosecuted under favorable 
circumstances. While no instruction is 
offered here, an effort will be made to re- 
port the result of the work in such form as 
to be available for the use of teachers of 
natural science generally. 


The houseboat ‘Megalops’ of the Zo- 
ological Survey of Minnesota has just been 
closed and put into winter quarters near 
the southern boundary of the State. This 
houseboat was built at Mankato a year 
ago last spring, for the purpose of investi- 
gating the fauna of the Mississippi and 
Minnesota rivers from Mankato to the 
southern boundary of the State. Special 
attention was given to the fishes. The 
reptiles, amphibia and mollusks also re- 
ceived considerable attention. The smaller 
forms are to be studied more carefully at 
stations to be established where the experi- 
ence of the past two seasons has found the 
conditions to be most favorable. Itis the 
intention of the Director of the Survey, 
Professor Nachtrieb, to use the houseboat 
as headquarters for these investigations 
near the head of Lake Pepin. Thus far 
the houseboat has proved to be a most sat- 
isfactory and economical institution for 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


such work. The results of the investiga- 
tions will be published in the Zoological 
Series of the Reports of the Geological and 
Natural History Survey of Minnesota. 
Some very excellent and satisfactory 
work has also been done on the birds of 
Minnesota during the past season. This 
work is under the immediate direction of 
Dr. Thomas 8. Roberts. The work on the 
fishes is under the immediate direction of 
Professor U. O. Cox, of Mankato. 


THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE.* 

TuHE Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarca 
decem-lineata Say, is one of several closely 
allied forms that have spread over North 
America until one or more is found in al- 
most every part of the continent east of the 
Rocky Mountains, and south of 50 degrees 
north. 

The parent form ZL. undecem-lineata, seems 
to have originated in the northern part of 
South America. When the great north- 
ward migration came following the retreat 
of the continental glacier, it is probable 
that this form also went north, and in its 
journey encountered the diversified Mexi- 
can region, where it split into several racial 
varieties, each characteristic of a certain 
climatic area. As the advancing hordes 
spread northward, three well marked cli- 
matic belts were encountered, the Pacific 
Coast belt of Mexico, and the Mexican 
table land, and the low Gulf Coast area. 

From the Pacific coast strip not much 
evidence is obtainable as to the presence of 
these beetles, or the changes produced upon 
them. On the table-land, however, the 
form was diminished in size and the pig- 
mented areas are broken up into smaller 
spots. This form which is called Z. multi- 
lineata grades into L. wndecem-lineata on the 
south, and to the northern part of the Mex- 
ican plateau passes imperceptibly into LD. 


* Abstract of a paper presented before the Section 
of Zoology of the American Association. 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


decem-lineata, the latter form extending 
northward along the eastern slope of the 
western highlands, and west of the arid 
region, spread as far north as the Canadian 
boundary, and perhaps even farther. 

The low humid Gulf coast area also pro- 
duced a characteristic form, L. juncta, which 
can be traced into the parent form in the 
lower part of the Mexican region, and which 
spread up the Mississippi valley into south- 
ern Illinois, and along the Gulf, and up the 
Atlantic coast to Maryland. 

Such was the distribution of these beetles 
until the middle of the nineteenth century, 
About 1840 the potato began to be culti- 
vated in the cafions of Colorado, and L. 
decem-lineata soon left its old food plant, 
Solanum rostratum, for the new S. tuberosum, 
causing, no doubt a rapid increase in the 
number of the species. In 1849-50 began 
the rush to California from Council Bluffs 
west along the Platte river. There are 
several accounts extant of the sale of pota- 
toes to emigrants by thrifty Irishmen at 
Omaha and Council Bluffs, and judging from 
the haste and carelessness of the emigrants 
there can be no doubt that potatoes were 
lost or thrown away along the route. The 
valley being fairly fertile and moist, these 
potatoes grew until there was a more or 
less continuous line of potato plants from 
Council Bluffs along the Platte river to the 
cafions of the Colorado region. Along this 
route ZL. decem-lineata moved eastward so 
that in 1859, ten years after the ’49 rush to 
California, the beetle is reported as injuri- 
ous to crops at a point just east of the arid 
belt and about on the 98th meridian. Dur- 
ing the next twenty years it reached the 
Atlantic coast and covered the entire coun- 
try between latitudes 37° and 47° north. 

Connected with the advance of this form 
there are several features of general inter- 
est. The beetle is double-brooded over the 
whole area, but it is only the second, or 
August brood, that flies to any great ex- 


SCIENCE. 


439 


tent, and, consequently, has pushed into 
the hitherto unoccupied territory. How- 
ever, the new areas covered have not been 
overrun by the unaided flying of the beetles 
eastward. If no outside agent were at work 
the beetles would fly west as often as east, 
so that alone no great advance would be 
made. It is to be noted that the beetle is 
not a strong flyer, that it is unable to ad- 
vance successfully against the wind, and 
that the direction of its flight is, therefore, 
controlled largely by the wind. In August 
and September there are established certain 
well defined wind tracts, and it is along 
these that the beetle has advanced with 
the greatest rapidity, the advance being di- 
rectly proportional to the wind velocity in 
any region for a given year. The most 
rapid advance has been in the track of the 
prevailing westerlies along the lakes and 
down the St. Lawrence valley. This point 
is proved by contrasting the northern ad- 
vance with the extremely slow advance 
southward, the latter being due in part to the 
temperature and moisture conditions, but 
largely to the variable winds of the south- 
ern part of the United States in late summer. 

The entire advance of this form east of 
the arid belt has been independent of lines 
of travel, there being no evidence of any 
considerable transportation by human agen- 
cies. 

At the present time the beetle is found 
throughout all that portion of North Amer- 
ica which lies east of the Rocky Mountains 
and between latitudes 32° and 55° north. It 
has been found as far north as 65°, but to 
my knowledge has not gained a foothold in 
Labrador or Newfoundland. 

It is interesting to note that as L. decem- 
lineata has advanced L. juncta has retreated 
before it. Formerly juncta was abundant 
in southern Illinois, and in Delaware, Mary- 
land and New Jersey, but now it has re- 
treated to the Carolinas on the Atlantic coast 
and to lower Mississippi on the south. 


440 


In a relatively short time this insect has 
overspread a large area and has encountered 
various climatic conditions and the ques- 
tion at once arises as to whether these con- 
ditions have yet produced any appreciable 
effects. If, using the Colorado specimens 
as a type, we compare these quantitatively 
with specimens from other parts of the 
United States, the presence of several al- 
ready well-marked varieties is shown. These 
are correlated closely with the climatic 
conditions of the several areas for the 
months of June, July and August. With- 
out going into details at the present time, 
T shall simply mention the areas in which 
these incipient varieties are forming. In 
the northwest is found the well-marked 
‘Dakota type’ which has spread over the 
Dakotas, Manitoba and parts of Wisconsin 
and Nebraska. In the southwest is the 
‘Texas type,’ found in northwest Texas, 
Arkansas, Kansas and New Mexico. In 
the region about the Great Lakes there is 
the ‘Lake type,’ and in the northeast is 
found the ‘ New England type,’ which covers 
New England and Nova Scotia, while in 
the southeast there are the ‘ Atlantic coast 
type,’ and the ‘Southern Appalachian type.’ 

These types are not as yet far removed 
from one another, nor are they easily seen 
on inspection. However, measurements 
show changes in dimensions and in colora- 
tion in the several areas, so that there can 
be no doubt that there are slowly forming 
several races of the beetle in different parts 
of the United States and Canada as a direct 
result of the diversity of environment. As 
45,000 specimens from different parts of the 
United States have been studied the error 
from too few individuals is obliterated. 

W. L. Towser. 


THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL 
CONGRESS AT PARIS. 

Tue Highth Congress of Geologists as- 

sembled in the Palais des Congrés, Thurs- 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


day, August 16th,at4 p.m. M. Karpinsky, 
retiring president, gave the opening ad- 
dress and was followed by the president, 
M. Albert Gaudry, in a cordial address of 
welcome. The geologists of the continent 
were well represented and appeared in full 
dress with all their medals and decorations. 
England and America were comparatively 
inconspicuous both in numbers and in at- 
tire. 

The registration was 288 upon the second 
day. All the most distinguished geologists 
of Europe were in attendance. England 
sent an exceptionally small number. Among 
the Americans present were Messrs. Steven- 
son, Hague, Osborn, Ward, Willis, White, 
Cross, Scott, Todd, Kunz, Choquette, Adams, 
Matthew, Ries, Willmott, Rice; the three 
first named were chosen as vice-presidents. 
M. Barrois closed the first session with re- 
ports upon the program and upon the geo- 
logical excursions which were arranged in 
a most admirable manner before, during 
and after the congress. On the same even- 
ing a delightful reception was given by the 
Geological Society of France in their new 
quarters, Rue Danton 8. On Friday morn- 
ing the section of geology and tectonics, 
presided over by M. Geikie, held its first 
session, with communications by Geikie, 
Chamberlin, Joly, Lapparent, Munier- 
Chalmas and Roland. In the afternoon 
the section of mineralogy and petrography 
listened to a report of the petrographical 
commission by M. Lacroix. In this connec- 
tion may be mentioned the fact that during 
the Congress plans for an international 
petrographical journal were successfully 
matured. 

On Saturday at ten o’clock the Section of 
Applied Geology met under the direction 
of M. Schmeisser, and at one o’clock M. 
Zittel presided over the first session of the 
Stratigraphy and Paleontology. The im- 
portant business of this session was the 
discussion of the final report of the strati- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


graphical commission which was presented 
by M. Zittel in the absence of its chief 
advocate, M. Renevier ; difference of opin- 
ion chiefly concerned the proposed sub- 
stitution of the terms Paleozoic, Meso- 
zoic and Cenozoic for Primary, Second- 
ary and Tertiary ; when this proposal was 
practically withdrawn by M. Bertrand the 
report was adopted. The Congress ad- 
journed to a reception by M. and Mme. 
Gaudry in the new gallery of Paleontology 
in the Jardin des Plantes. The installation 
of fossils and vertebrates in this gallery and 
the comparative anatomical museum on the 
lower floor rearranged by M. Filhoz were 
greatly admired. Sunday, Monday, Wed- 
nesday, Friday and Sunday following were 
devoted to very attractive excursions to the 
classic horizons in the neighborhood of 
Paris and to the scientific features of the 
Exposition, while four more days were as- 
signed to the work of the Sections, includ- 
ing the closing session of Monday, August 
27th. 

The papers were successively brought to- 
gether in groups as follows: general geology, 
petroleum-bearing rocks and paleozoic suc- 
cession, geology of Syria, Africa and Mada- 
gascar, petrography and vulcanism, glacial 
phenomena and repors of international 
commission on glaciers, report on nomen- 
clature and the geological chart of Europe, 
geology of North and South America (com- 
munications by Osborn, Scott, Matthew and 
Walcott). Among matters of detail the 
following deserve mention: the award of 
the ‘Leonide Spendiaroff international prize’ 
to M. Karpinsky, who insisted upon trans- 
ferring the money award to some young 
French geologist; the announcement by 
M. Keilhac of a new geological review, the 
Geologisches Centralblatt; the selection of 
Vienna as the meeting place for the ninth 
congress. 

The unbounded hospitality of the gov- 
ernment, of the Exposition authorities 


SCIENCE. 


441 


and of the members resident in Paris was 
greatly appreciated and enjoyed. The 
President of the Republic invited all the 
Congressistes to a charming afternoon re- 
ception and open air theatricals in the 
garden of the Elysée palace. There was 
also a liberal distribution of seats and 
boxes in the national theatres. M. and 
Mme. Gaudry and Prince Roland Bonaparte 
gave two evening receptions. On Satur- 
day, August 25th, an elaborate banquet 
was given by the French Geologists in the 
new Hotel du Palais d’Orsay. The excur- 
sionists also were indebted for liberal re- 
ductions in fare made by the French rail- 
roads. Socially the Congress was a great 
success, the receptions as well as the inter- 
vals between the sessions affording abun- 
dant opportunities for personal intercourse, 
and it is well recognized that this, rather 
than the presentation of long and serious 
papers, is the chief end of a congress. At 
the same time it was felt by many present 
that several of the papers presented were 
not of a high order or general character and 
should not have been admitted at all, and 
that the time arranged for discussion was 
insufficient. The scientific spirit was nat- 
urally somewhat disturbed by the prox- 
imity of the Exposition and the Salle des 
Congres itself was not well suited for the 
meetings in point of acoustics or apparatus. 
But for these features the French geologists 
were not responsible and, with one or two 
minor exceptions, the arrangements over 
which they had complete control were ex- 
cellent. This is especially true of the ex- 
cursions which were admirably prearranged 
and conducted; the Gwide Géologique de 
France, prepared: for the twenty great and 
many lesser excursions, is really a volum- 
inous treatise and resumé of the most re- 
cent geological researches in France, attrac- 
tively illustrated by 3872 figures and 25 
plates; it sets a new standard for future 
congresses. 


442 


All who attended the Congress felt more 
than repaid for the journey to Paris and 
deeply indebted to the genial President, 
Professor Albert Gaudry, to the indefati- 
gable and much beloved Secretary, Profes- 
sor Charles Barrois, and to his associates, 
Messrs. Thévenin, Von Arthaber and Zim- 
mermann. H. F.0. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Introduction to Zoology. By CHARLES BENE- 
pict DAVENPORT and GERTRUDE CROTTY 
DAVENPORT. New York, The Macmillan 
Co. 1900. Pp. xii+ 412; 311 illustrations. 
Price, $1.10. 

The purpose of this new text-book, as indi- 
cated by its secondary title, is that of ‘a guide 
to the study of animals for the use of secondary 
schools.’ Unlike most of its predecessors 
among zoological books for secondary schools 
its title is not misleading, for the book is sent 
forth not as an ‘elementary zoology’ but as an 
introduction to the study of animals. It does 
not pretend to be a treatise on ‘zoology’ from 
the varied aspects of comparative anatomy, 
embryology, and physiology, but rather it 
attempts a presentation of facts which may 
well pave the way for advanced study of the 
special sub-sciences of zoology. But in addi- 
tion to writing an introduction for students who 
may go deeper into zoological studies, the au- 
thors have recognized the important fact that 
‘the vast majority of secondary students, are 
not to be zoologists, but rather men of affairs.’ 
Although this view has been gaining recogni- 
tion in recent years, this is the first text-book 
which seems to have been planned with consid- 
eration for the needs of the ‘ vast majority ’ 
who are limited to a short elementary course 
in zoology. 

Contrasted with the elementary books on zo- 
ology which have appeared during the last de- 
cade, the plan of this book is decidedly new ; 
for it places no emphasis upon comparative anat- 
omy, which has strongly characterized recent 
zoological teaching in most secondary schools. 
There is no description of internal structure 
of animals, and consequently no discussion of 
fundamental physiological processes. The book 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 299. 


deals with common animals, and their habits, 
homes, their life histories, and their systematic, 
economical and ecological relations. In short, 
the book is a modern Natural History full of 
the spirit and the charm which characterized 
the old-time books on that subject. 

As a text-book the ‘Introduction to Zoology ’ 
is intended to accompany the well-known out- 
line of laboratory study in zoology which Pro- 
fessor Davenport prepared several years ago, 
and which was published as an ‘ Outline of Re- 
quirements in Zoology,’ Lawrence Scientific 
School, Harvard University. A revised reprint 
of this outline forms an appendix to the book. 
The order of treatment in the text follows that 
of the outline for laboratory work, beginning 
with insects and following with other arthro- 
pods, worms, mollusks, echinoderms, ccelenter- 
ates, protozoa, and the vertebrates. 

Considerable attention is given to classifica- 
tion. Twenty chapters have appendices with 
keys for identification of common families and 
orders. Both common and scientific names of 
animals are freely used in the text, and foot- 
notes give the meaning and derivation of the 
technical names. 

The book is liberally illustrated both by fig- 
ures from well-known works and by numerous 
new photographs of the natural objects. With 
regard to the photographs it must be regretted 
that many are imperfect and do not well illus- 
trate. One feels convinced that good outline 
drawings would in many cases have been more 
institictive, particularly in the case of small 
animals like insects. However, many of the 
photographs are excellent and add a charm to 
the book. 

On the whole the book is written in an enter- 
taining style, and can scarcely fail to arouse 
interest concerning our common animals. The 
authors have well presented the natural history 
aspect of zoology. Teachers who read the book 
will probably agree that for liberal secondary 
education no other phase of zoology would be 
more important, but many readers will doubt 
the wisdom of omitting from secondary edu- 
cation all reference to the essential facts con- 
cerning the internal structure and the funda- 
mental physiological processes of animals. 

The book will surely find a place in secondary 


‘SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


schools whose teachers recognize that most of 
their pupils are studying zoology for use in 
everyday life and not as preparation for ad- 
vanced study in college. Moreover, college 
officers in charge of admission requirements 
will probably give more favor to such a course 
in elementary zoology than they have accorded 
the purely morphological study which is now so 
much in vogue in secondary schools. 
Mavricre A. BIGELOW. 
TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


Oysters and Disease. An account of Certain Ob- 
servations upon the Normal and Pathological 
Histology and Bacteriology of the Oyster and 
other Shell-fish. By W. A. HERDMAN, D.Sc., 
F.R.S., and RuBERT Boyce, M.B., London. 
George Philip and Son. 1899. Lancashire 
Sea-fisheries Memoir No. 1. 

In this thin volume Professors Herdman and 
Boyce, record the results of an investigation 
extending over a period of three years and, al- 
though they have not actually established a 
connection between oysters and disease, they 
have produced the most important contribution 
which has yet appeared upon the subject, which 
is one of considerable scientific and unusual 
popular interest. 

The disputed question as to the cause of green 
oysters has been re-examined, with the result 
that several forms of greenness have-been recog- 
nized and studied. But little is added to our 
knowledge of the well-known oysters of Maren- 
nes, the authors being in practical accord with 
most previous investigators, but concerning the 
green oysters of Falmouth and certain green 
American oysters laid down in the vicinity of 
Liverpool they reach results divergent from the 
views held by previous workers and more in 
accord with popular beliefs. 

Copper in minute quantities is normally pres- 
ent in all oysters, but in the green Falmouths 
and Liverpool Americans it is found in unusual 
amounts. In the greenest of the American 
oysters as compared with the whitest, the pro- 
portion is 3.75:1, calculated per oyster, and 
3.63:1, calculated on the ash, and a careful 
study of the distribution of the copper by 
chemical and histo-chemical methods demon- 
strates that it is the cause of the greenness. 


SCIENCE. 


443 


Some years ago Dr. Ryder, as noted by the 
authors, studied a case of leucocytosis in Amer- 
ican oysters, although he did not determine the 
presence of copper nor appreciate the true cause 
of the greenness. The reviewer has examined 
during recent years, a great many green oysters, 
but in no case has the greenness been in the 
leucocytes of the blood of the heart and the 
sinuses and tissues of the mantle, as described 
by Ryder and the present authors, nor in those 
which were tested, has the copper been present 
in abnormal quantities or unusual distribution. 
The specimens rather resembled the poor but 
harmless Dutch oysters described by Herdman 
and Boyce, and it would appear that we have 
in America, as in Hurope, several kinds of green 
oysters, that in which the color is due to copper 
being comparatively rare. 

The connection of oysters with the trans- 
mission of infectious diseases, especially ty- 
phoid and enteric fevers, is carefully consid- 
ered. Bacilli of the colon group are frequently 
found in oysters sold in towns, but there is no 
evidence that they occur in those living in pure 
sea-water. The experiments show that pure 
sea-water is inimical to the growth of typhoid 
bacilli and that they do not multiply either in 
the alimentary tract nor in the tissues of the 
living oyster. B. typhosus was not found in 
any of the oysters obtained from dealers or 
directly from the sea, but from inoculated 
specimens the bacilli were obtained up to the 
tenth day, although the results indicate that 
they perish during passage through the intes- 
tines. 

Oysters and other mollusca obtained from 
dealers frequently contain a bacillus possess- 
ing the characters of Klein’s B. enteritidis sporo- 
genes, presumptively resulting from sewage 
contamination, but it was found that the in- 
fected oysters could be cleansed by washing in 
clean running sea-water. It is evident, there- 
fore, that by changing oysters from an infected 
bed to one where the surroundings are pure 
they may be purged of their dangerous quali- 
ties. ‘The authors urge, in conclusion, that, 
by legislative action and cooperation among 
growers, steps be taken to prevent sewage 
contamination of the oyster beds from which 
the markets are supplied. 


444 


Several facts are added to our knowledge of 
the minor anatomy of the oyster, especially in- 
teresting being the demonstrated change in the 
primitive retractor pedis muscle whereby it be- 
comes a dilator oris. 

The paper is well illustrated. 

H. F. Moore. 

WASHINGTON, August 25, 1900. 


Anatomie et physiologie végétale. For the use 
of students of natural science in universities 
and agricultural schools, etc. By PROFESSOR 
Er. Beuzune. Ancienne Librairie, Germer 
Bailliére et Cie. Paris, 1900. 1699 Figs. 8vo. 
Pp. iii + 1320. 

Professor Belzung is the author of text-books 
on geology, zoology, animal physiology, and ani- 
mal paleontology, in addition to two or three bo- 
tanical works besides the subject of this review. 
Such breadth of authorship undoubtedly relieves 
him from any taint of narrow specialism. This 
experience secures for the book in question, 
however, no new points of view, since it is a 
purely formal presentation of the better known 
facts in botany compiled after the manner of an 
encyclopedia. Perhaps the freshest portion of 
the book is that taken up with the subject of 
fermentation, which is given a treatment not 
usually accorded this phase of botany in general 
texts. The final section of the work consists of 
the ‘Conclusions’ and is devoted to the general 
characters of protoplasm and plants usually 
given in the introductory chapters of such 
texts. 

The book leads chiefly to the examination 
room, and only the most determined enthusi- 
asm could carry through its use a genuine in- 
terest in the study of plants. 

D. T. MAcDouGAL. 


Report of Competitive Tests of Street Car Brakes. 
By the BOARD OF RAILROAD COMMISSIONERS 
OF THE STATE OF NEW YorK. 1899. Al- 
bany, Brandon Printing Co., Department 
Printer, 1900. 8vo. Pp. 60; 67 sheets of 
diagrams. 

The report of the electrical expert, Mr. C. R. 
Barnes, April 4, 1900, details the origin and 
progress of the work of the N. Y. State Board 
of R. R. Commissioners, conducted to ascertain 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


the practicability of insuring greater safety in 
the operation of street cars moved by cable and 
by the electric current, comparing the newer 
forms of brake with the older. Itisstated that 
295 people have been killed and 1599 injured 
by the electric railways of the State of New 
York in three years, as shown by the records 
of the Board. These figures indicate a rapid in- 
crease in this form of mortality, due to rising 
weights of cars and increasing speeds. Cars 
are now in use weighing 23 tons and speeds ex- 
ceeding 50 miles an hour have been attained on 
suburban lines. 

In preparing for these trials Messrs. Barnes 
and Pierson, the electrical engineer of the 
Metropolitan R’y Co., designed and constructed 
an automatic recording apparatus for measuring 
lengths of run under action of the brake. The 
apparatus was calibrated on 275 feet of track 
assigned for the purpose by the railway com- 
pany and the essential observations and data 
were derived by use of this instrument ; the 
work being performed in New York on the 
Lenox Avenue line, in the half-mile between 
135th and 146th streets. Sixteen brakes—4 
air-brakes, 4 electric, 3 hand-power, 2 friction 
and 2 ‘ track-and-wheel’ brakes—were tried. 

The reliability of the air-brake is reported 
to be thoroughly established and a number of 
them have come into use. But one electric 
brake, that of the General Electric Co., is in 
use to any extent. New forms of the older 
type, the hand-power brake, were tested. They 
act directly upon the wheels, as usual. The 
so-called ‘friction-brake’ is a friction device 
on the axle, usually disks rotating with the 
axle and engaging stationary disks, the two 
sets arranged to be forced strongly against each 
other, when in action, by means of ingenious 
mechanisms. The ‘track-and-wheel brake’ 
acts on the tracks as well as the wheel. Photo- 
graphic reproductions of the autographic dia- 
grams obtained from each brake are published, 
with appended tables exhibiting results numer- 
ically. 

The usual experiences in such work with dil- 
atory exhibitors, incomplete outfits and occa- 
sional miscarriage of the plans of the Board 
was observed in these trials; but a large 
amount of new data in a novel field of re- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


search was obtained. The results were classified 
and an order of standing was determined under 
the four heads: reliability and simplicity ; lia- 
bility to act when not required ; ease of oper- 
ation ; cost of equipment and maintenance. 

The most remarkably wide range of prices 
is reported—$30 to $585, averaging about $200. 
Eleven of the list tested are authorized for use, 
and the Board determined that the common 
form of brake now in use should be replaced 
by one or another of these, or equally efficient, 
brakes. 

President Vreeland, of the Metropolitan Co., 
his directors and the executive officers seem 
.to have taken much trouble and to have met 
most of the expenses of these important pioneer 
investigations, and his electrical engineer, the 
master mechanic and the superintendents lent 
essential aid in the work. 

The report can be had by applying to the 
Board at Albany. 

The data may be summarized thus: At 8 
miles an hour, a stop was made in from 8 to 8 
seconds ; at 12 miles in 5 to 9 seconds; at 15 
miles, in 6 to 10 seconds; at 16 miles, in 6 to 
11 seconds, without sand, and 64 to 94 with 
sand. The distances run ranged from 85 to 66 
feet at 8 miles, 58 to 111 at 12 miles, 72 to 203 
at 16 miles; averaging for all speeds, from 58 
to 133 feet. 

A conventional system of checking for ‘skid- 
ding’ wheels was adopted. 

Allin all, the work must be accepted as an 
earnest and faithful endeavor to effect, for the 
first time, a solution of an important problem— 
one which concerns all railway managements 
and all travellers on electric street cars very 
seriously. The report has been criticised as 
failing to give data relating to dimensions of 
parts, uncertainty regarding the comparability 
of brakes differently handled by their exhibit- 
ors, and regarding the automatic records. An 
examination of the apparatus employed, how- 
ever, shows that the distances traversed were 
measured by a mechanism positively driven 
and which, therefore, gave reliable compari- 
son of distances traversed, which measures are 
the sole basis of all comparisons and are evi- 
dently substantially correct. The technical 
journals generally approve the report as giving 


SCLENCE. 


445 


valuable and helpful information. Undoubt- 
edly, later investigations will afford opportuni- 
ties for improvements which this, as all pio- 
neer efforts, indicates to be desirable notwith- 
standing its evident and admitted defects in 
time-measurement, the report must be accepted 
as important. Variations of the time-scale do 
not affect its conclusions. Itis to be hoped that 
the work will be continued and perfected. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


Lehrbuch der Photochromie von Wilhelm Zenker ; 
new herausgegeben. Von PROFESSOR Dr. B. 
ScHWALBE. Braunschweig, Friedrich Vie- 
weg & Sohn. 

This is a republication of a work which ap- 
peared in 1868, to which has been added a bio- 
graphical sketch, and a résumé of recent work 
along similar lines. 

It will doubtless surprise the general reader 
to find that partially successful experiments in 
photochromy, or the direct reproduction of color 
by photography, were made over a quarter of 
a century before the announcement of Da- 
guerre’s discovery in 1889. As early as 1810 
Seebeck obtained colored impressions of the 
solar spectrum on paper coated with chloride of 
silver, but the matter attracted but little at- 
tention and was soon forgotten. 

In 1841 the property which this substance 
possessed of assuming a color somewhat similar 
to the hue of the light falling upon it was re- 
discovered by Herschel, but the possible great 
importance of the subject does not appear to 
have been realized until Becquerel, stimulated 
by Daguerre’s discovery, took up the work, and 
by a laborious series of investigations deter- 
mined the conditions most suitable for a faithful 
reproduction of the colors of the original. 

Up to the time of the appearance of Zenker’s 
work the almost universal opinion seems to 
have been that colored compounds of silver 
(oxidation and reduction products) were formed 
by the action of the light. Zenker, however, 
offered a most ingenious physical explanation, 
as opposed to the chemical theory. He ex- 
plained the colors as due to the interference of 
light reflected from thin laminz of metallic 
silver, laid down in sheets half a wave length 
apart, by the action of stationary light waves, 


446 


resulting from the interference of the direct 
wave train with the train reflected from the 
back surface of the film. In other words, the 
colors of the photochromes were similar to the 
colors of the soap-bubble. This is precisely the 
principle since made use of by Lippman in his 
beautiful process. 

Zenker’s book opens with a short elementary 
account of the nature of light, of no especial in- 
terest. Following this comes a very complete 
account of the work of Seebeck, Becquerel, 
Poitevin and others. His account of the claims 
of Hill, the American photographer, are inter- 
esting, final judgment of the case being left to 
the reader. 

Full details are given in most cases of the 
method of preparing the plates, and the reader 
will find himself strongly tempted to repeat 
some of these early experiments. 

The third portion of the book treats of the 
theory of photochromy. The colors of the 
photochromes had been explained in various 
ways. Some held that colored oxidation and 
reduction products were formed while others 
assumed that the chemical action of the light 
occurring at the surface, formed a film of vary- 
ing thickness which showed color precisely like 
the film of a soap bubble. Zenker effectually 
demolishes this theory by showing that pro- 
longed exposure, by increasing the thickness 
of the film, should change the color, which is 
not the case. 

He then advances his own beautiful theory, 
not abandoning the soap film idea, but present- 
ing it in a wholly new light. He conceives the 
light waves as penetrating the film and suffer- 
ing reflection at the back surface. The re- 
flected waves interfere with the oncoming 
waves forming a stationary system, the ether 
within the film vibrating in nodes, like the 
string of a musical instrument when sounding 
a harmonic. He shows us that there will be 
planes of vibration within the film parallel to 
the reflecting surface situated half a wave- 
length apart. In other words the distance 
between the planes of maximum vibration will 
depend on the wave-length or color of the 
light. If the silver is reduced in these planes 
and not at the nodes (when there is no vibra- 
tion) we shall have reflecting lamine formed, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


which will act like the upper and lower surface 
of a soap film and show interference colors. 
The light most copiously reflected under these 
conditions will be of a color identical with that 
of the light which formed the lamine. He 
describes a number of experiments confirming 
his theory, but pushes it too far in attempting 
to explain the color of ordinary objects and the 
perception of color by the eye in this way. 

His book is on the whole a most excellent 
résumé of the work done up to the time of its 
publication. 

The appendix, in which the further develop- 
ment of the subject is treated by E. Tonn, deals 
chiefly with matters of theoretical interest. The 
work of Wiener and Lippmann is discussed in 
connection with the theory of the reproduction 
of mixed colors. As a matter of fact there 
have been very few or no developments since 
the time of Zenker, except along the lines indi- 
cated by Lippmann, and as no details of this 
process are given, the appendix is likely to be 
of interest to the physicist rather than to the 


photographer. R. W. Woop. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Grundlinien der anorganischen Chemie. WILHELM OstT- 
WALD. Leipzig, W. Engelmann. 1900. Pp. xix 
+795. 18 Marks. 

Der Gesang der Vogel. VALENTIN HACKER. Jena, 
Gustav Fischer. 1900. Pp. vii+102. 3 Marks. 

Symons’s British Rainfall, 1899. Compiled by H. 
SOWERBY WALLIS. London, Edward Stanford. 
1900. Pp. 251. 10s. 

Foundations of Knowledge. ALEXANDER THOMAS 
OrMoND. London and New York, The Macmillan 
Co. 1900. Pp. xxyii + 528. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 


AT the meeting on May 21st, Dr. A. A. Julien 
presided and about twenty persons were pres- 
ent. Two papers on the rocks of Mexico were 
presented. The first was by Mr. G. I. Finlay, 
entitled ‘A New Occurrence of Nephaline 
Syenite and associated Dikes in the State of 
Tamaulipas, Mexico, with a review of the dis- 
tribution of these rocks in North America.’ 
The second paper was a ‘ Contribution to the 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


Geology of Part of Sonora, Mexico,’ by Mr. B. 
F. Hill. Both gentlemen are post-graduate 
students of Columbia University. 

The rocks described by Mr. Finlay were sent 
by Mr. E. D. Self to Professor J. F. Kemp. 
The nephaline syenite is a very light-colored 
rock, containing, besides abundant nephaline 
and an orthoclase, small patches of dark-colored 
silicates. Under the microscope these are seen 
to be egerine augite intergrown with horn- 
blende, and accompanied by magnetite and 
apatite. Titanite is abundant, with the faces 
(1-2-3) well developed, and some zircon occurs. 
The tinguaite associated with this syenite is a 
holocrystalline porphyritic dike rock, with 
large phenocrysts of orthoclase, twinned on 
the Carlsbad law, tabular in habit, parallel to 
the clinopinacoid. The ground mass which 
gives the rock an even, dark green color, con- 
sists of a felt of tiny blades of egerine and or- 
thoclase. The egerines are at times grouped 
together in bundles around small patches of 
biotite. 

Mr. Finlay then briefly discussed the distri- 
bution of similar rocks in the various portions 
of the United States, and exhibited a very in- 
structive series of comparative charts of the 
chemical composition of the rocks examined 
and those of allied groups, the charts being 
constructed on the principles of the graphic 
method devised by Professor Hobbs, as worked 
out by Mr. Finlay. 

The second paper, that of Mr. Hill, also 
treated of Mexican rocks, and the same geo- 
graphical maps were employed to illustrate 
both papers. Little has been written about the 
coal-bearing rocks and their associated erup- 
tives in the state of Senora, Mexico. The 
work done by Professor Dumble and his asso- 
ciates has thrown considerable light on some of 
the problems. 

In the district investigated are representa- 
tives of nearly all the formations from the 
Archean granites to the Quarternary sands and 
gravels. The most important division, how- 
ever, is the Triassic. The slates, sandstones, 
quartzites, etc., with coal seams, make up the 
lower or Bananca division of the Triassic, 
while an immense series of associated eruptives, 
including andesites, dacites, tuffs, andesitic, 


SCIENCE. 


447 


conglomerates, etc., is considered the upper di- 
vision. To the series of eruptives the name of 
Lista Blanca has been given. The Lista Blanca 
has hitherto been considered post-Cretaceous. 

In addition to the pre-Cretaceous eruptives, 
there are numerous intrusives and flows of 
diorites, rhyolate, and basalt, and in one in- 
stance, trachite. It is probable that these are 
mostly of Tertiary age. The diorites exert a 
very noticeable effect on the formation of the 
ore bodies of the region. 

Specimens of all the eruptives were brought 
to New York and studied by Mr. Hill, in thin 
section, under the microscope. <A series of 
chemical analyses of the type rocks was made 
and a very clear relation established between 
the magmas of the different flows. The re- 
mainder of the paper dealt with details on the 
petrographic characteristics of the rocks. 

Both papers were discussed by Professor 
Stevenson, Professor Kemp, Dr. Julien and 
Dr. White. 

THEODORE G. WHITE, 
Secretary of Section. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
MR. TESLA AND THE UNIVERSE—HUMAN 
ENERGY AND HOW TO INCREASE IT— 
HIS PHILOSOPHIZING QUESTIONED. 


Mr. Nixoua TEs has written a long article 
in the Century Magazine for June with the title 
‘The problem of increasing human energy, with 
special reference to harnessing the sun’s energy.’ 
The paper is profusely illustrated with impres- 
sive cuts of electrical experiments which, at 
first sight, seem convincing. Most readers of 
the Century looked at the striking cuts and 
glanced at some of the head lines of the article 
such as ‘Development of New Principle’; 
‘Production of Immense Hlectrical Move- 
ments’; ‘The Earth responds to Man’; Inter- 
planetary Communication now probable,’ and 
accepted the headlines on the testimony of 
the cuts; or else took it frankly for granted 
that so long an article must certainly prove 
a great deal. 

The present writer has lately gone over the 
text of the article, pen in hand, and herewith 


448 


presents a small portion of his notes. They 
seem to him to show that the article in 
question is composed, essentially, of three 
different kinds of writing. The first kind de- 
scribes Mr. Tesla’s experiments in electricity 
and shows what he has already accomplished. 
This work is, no doubt, important. Its value 
will be appraised by experts. The present 
writer has no claim’ to be considered an elec- 
trical expert and does not attempt to give an 
estimate of the achievements referred to. The 
second describes what Mr. Tesla expects to ac- 
complish in the future. His prophecies are so 
Sanguine, in many cases, that even a general 
reader may presume to compare them with the 
comparatively small things already accom- 
plished and to point out how very unlikely it 
is that any great part of his expectations will 
be realized within any reasonable future— 
within Mr. Tesla’s own lifetime, for example. 

The third element of this article consists of 
philosophical arguments about things in general 
—about human life—what it is—the future of 
the solar system—the solidarity of the human 
race—the Christian religion—vegetable food— 
theoretical dynamics—athletics in colleges— 
drinking water—ozone—education of women— 
ice—fertilizers—insanity—warfare—flying ma- 
chines—iron manufacture—aluminium—liquid 
air—self acting engines—the inhabitants of 
Mars—etc., ete., ete. 

Now these and other matters are interesting 
in themselves. We are all anxious to obtain 
new light upon them. We are all more or less 
competent to judge. the conclusions of other 
people regarding them. It isnot too much to say 
that this portion of Mr. Tesla’s paper is in the 
main so trivial, so superficial, so obviously 
weak, as to throw doubt upon the whole essay. 
Many of the subjects treated are the oldest 
problems of the human race. They have been 
discussed by every philosopher since Aristotle. 
It is fairly astonishing to see Mr. Tesla’s reason- 
ings in print at this day. They compare with 
the logic of giants like Spinoza, Kant, Lord 
Kelvin, Herbert Spencer, and the rest as a 
baby’s prattle to the ‘Summa Theologie.’ 

If this judgment seems too harsh the follow- 
ing paragraphs will fully confirm it. No dis- 
courtesy is meant to Mr. Tesla. But his paper 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


has been printed. It now belongs to his read- 
ers. He must allow them to compare his philos- 
ophizing with that of his great predecessors 
and with the dicta of common sense. 

The paper begins by asking profound ques- 
tions with regard to human life. Whence 
comes it? Whatis it? Whither does it tend? 
“ Though we may never be able to comprehend hu- 
man life, we know certainly that it is a movement, 
of whatever nature it may be,’’ is Mr. Tesla’s an- 
swer. A movement?—one movement? Are 
we sure it is a movement, and nothing else? 
‘« Hence, wherever there is life, there is a mass 
moved by a force.’’ A mass? A force? Why 
not masses, forces, hundreds of them? These 
beginnings which seem so definite lead to the 
conclusion that life is a rhythm, but this conclu- 
sion is at once dropped for the utterly antago- 
nistic conception that man, mankind, is ‘a 
mass urged on by a force.’ A force will urge a 
mass onward, not swing it rhythmically. We 
need not linger over this discrepancy, though 
there might be something to say, if it were worth 
while. 

Mankind is then conceived as one physical 
mass; and Mr. Tesla’s proof that this is a 
true conception is derived from the fact that 
every one of us feels sympathy with a friend 
who is hurt. Here isa mixing of two worlds 
—the world of matter and the world of feeling 
—which does not tend to clearness. The man 
born blind thought the sunset like a pleas- 
ing friendship. Swedenborg in his idea of the 
Grand Man who is the sum and integral of all 
individual men has put the question in a much~ 
truer light; but letus passon. Manis, accord- 
ing to Mr. Tesla, ‘a mass,’ one physical mass. 
Call this physical mass M. WM is a quantity 
which can be expressed in tons or in ounces. 
Mankind is ‘impelled in one direction’—one di- 
rection !! by a force f, ‘‘ which is resisted by an- 
other force R, acting in a direction exactly oppo- 
site.”’ 

The idea in Mr. Tesla’s mind is apparently 
that the force R is the reaction of the first’ 
force f. But every reaction is not only op- 
posite to its action but equal to it, according to 
Newton. Not soin Mr. Tesla’s universe. Re- 
actions are opposite to, but less than actions. 
There is an effective force left over, which, in 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


his scheme, imparts a velocity V to mankind, 
M, ‘‘ Human energy will then be given (measured) 
by the product 4 MV2, in which M is the total mass 
of man in the ordinary interpretation of the term 
‘mass,’ and V is a certain hypothetical velocity 
which, in the present state of science, we are unable 
exactly to define and determine.’’? How learned 
all this looks! and how foolish it allis! Man- 
kind has a physical mass, no doubt. The en- 
ergy of mankind is the sum of a million differ- 
ent energies, of very different qualities as well 
as of different amounts—spiritual as well as 
physical. These different energies, being of 
different kinds, cannot be expressed by a single 
term. Mr. Tesla’s algebraic formula is mere 
solemn rubbish. It has absolutely no meaning. 

There are three ways of increasing human 
energy, Mr. Tesla says: I. To increase the 
mass and energy of mankind more children 
must be born, fewer individuals must die, and 
the children must be of ‘higher velocity’ than 
the parents (and velocity Mr. Tesla takes as 
exactly equivalent to enlightenment). Here 
Mr. Tesla pauses to discourage college athletics, 
and to say that although whisky, tea and to- 
bacco shorten human life, yet he does not think 
that vigorous measures should be taken to sup- 
press the habits of using them. On the con- 
trary he would leave whisky alone, and im- 
prove the quality of drinking water. ‘ Gamb- 
ling, business-rush, excitement * * * uneleanli- 
ness * * * laxity of morals * * * the society- 
life, modern education and the pursuits of women? 
and other matters tend to diminish the mass of 
mankind, but want of food is the chief cause. 

Cattle are food of ‘low velocity’ (enlighten- 
ment) Mr. Tesla says, and he does not ap- 
prove of raising cattle, therefore. ‘It is 
certainly preferable to raise vegetables.’ Herehe 
has forgotten his basic principle, unless, indeed, 
he is prepared to prove that turnips are food of 
‘high velocity,’ @. e., enlightenment. Here, 
again, as in the case of rhythmic motion, he no 
sooner lays down a principle than he abandons 
or neglects it for something quite different. 
However his vote is for vegetables, and more 
are wanted. To fertilize the soil more nitrogen 
is needed. He has an electric method for ob- 
taining nitrogen from the atmosphere (so has 
Sir William Crookes) and the world’s food sup- 


SCIENCE. 


449 


ply issafe. Allthisis very wellknown. There 
is nothing new about it except the solemn man- 
ner in which it is said. 

II. The second point is to reduce the force 
that retards the human mass. This force is 
a compound of ignorance, stupidity, imbecil- 
ity, insanity, religious fanaticism, etc. It is 
not so simple then as Mr. Tesla’s ‘force R’ 
with which he began. Warfare is a retard- 
ing force but Mr. Tesla thinks it will be with 
us for some time yet, and indulges in a short 
excursion on flying-machines. ‘‘ The flying- 
machine is certainly coming and very soon. TI see 
no reason why a ruling power like Great Brit- 
ain might not govern the air as well.as the sea. I 
do not hesitate to say that the next years will see 
the establishment of an ‘ air-power,’ and its center 
may not be far from New York” (possibly in Mr. 
Tesla’s laboratory ?). After a couple of pages 
devoted to warfare, harbor-defense, flying-ma- 
chines, foreign invasion, international agree- 
ments, eternal justice, prehistoric man and his 
weapons, Mr. Tesla concludes that future battles 
will be decided by matching one complicated 
machine (say British) against another (say Rus- 
sian). 

“* Machines will meet in a contest without blood- 
shed, the Nations being simply interested, ambitious 
spectators. When this happy condition is realized 
peace will be assured.’’ ‘‘ Bloodshed,’’ Mr. Tesla 
thinks, ‘‘ will ever keep up barbarous passions.”’ 
Hence we must ‘produce a machine capable of 
acting as though it were a part of a human being.’ 
Such a machine may be destroyed but no blood 
will flow. Mr. Tesla has not yet produced a 
machine of the sort but he means to do it. 

He tells us that as a boy he noticed that 
whatever he thought of he saw. He visual- 
ized words in his mind. By attention he dis- 
covered that every occurrence in his mind was 
suggested by some previous outside occurrence 
or object. Hence, he was not a free agent, but 
played upon by his environment. He was the 
sport of the universe—an automaton. ‘‘T have 
demonstrated, to my absolute satisfaction, that I 
am an automaton endowed with power of movement, 
which merely responds tolexternal stimuli beating 
on its sense-organs, and thinks and acts and moves 
accordingly.’’ He may be an automaton; but 
if he thinks that the foregoing argument proves 


450 


it, he is no logician. Being an automaton him- 
self Mr. Tesla proceeded to make another au- 
tomaton. He consented to make it full-grown 
tosave time. It was also unnecessary to endow 
it with the power of propagating its kind, since 
Mr. Tesla himself could make more machines 
when he wanted them. He likewise consented 
to make it without a mind, because a mind 
‘T could easily embody in it by conveying to it my 
own intelligence.’ 

With these slight differences from the Garden 
of Eden Mr. Tesla’s workshop has turned out a 
kind of electrical boat or animated bath-tub 
(see the cut) whose movements can be controlled 
from a distance. This machine ‘ behaved just like 
a blindfolded person obeying directions received 
through the ear.’ Ithad a ‘borrowed mind.’ In 
fact, it had no mind at all, except in Mr. Tesla’s 
confused terminology. It had the same kind of 
a mind as a Waltham watch. It is now Mr. 
Tesla’s intention to build an ‘ Automaton’ 
‘which will have its own mind.’ ‘‘ It will be ca- 
pable of distinguishing between what it ought and 
what it ought not to do.”’ 

Of course, such words are merely quibbles. 
In exactly the same sense a steam-engine has 
its own mind, and distinguishes what it ought 
from what it ought not to do. So did Maelzel’s 
mechanical duck. So did Babbage’s calculating 
engine. So does every device. Hither the 
words mean nothing new; or else they are de- 
ceptive quibbles. It does not mend matters to 
say: ‘my ideas on this subject have been put 
forth with deep conviction, but in a humble spirit.’ 

Universal peace will be realized, he says, 
“when all darkness shall be dissipated by the 
light of science, when all nations shall be merged 
into one, and patriotism shall be identical with re- 
ligion, when there shall be one language, one 
country, one end, then the dream will have become 
reality.’’ To bring about these desirable con- 
clusions, an automatic fighting machine is nec- 
essary. Mr. Tesla is now engaged on the 
question automatically. 

III. But all this while the main point has 
been lost sight of in divagations. How to in- 
erease the forces moving the human mass is 
the question. For reasons not adduced Mr. 
Tesla declares that ‘the resultant of all these 
forces is always in the direction of reason.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


Every individual man is an automaton, we 
have seen, and will act unreasonably if played 
upon by certain forces. But mankind, which 
is made up of men, always acts reasonably. 
Tis strange; one seems to recall instances 
from history that refute the assertion. And 
indeed, Mr. Tesla himself does not really 
believe it. What is this busy world, he asks, 
but ‘an immense clock-work?’ A ‘reason- 
able’ clock-work! He finds, finally that ‘‘ the 
great problem of inereasing human energy is an- 
swered by the three words: Food, Peace, Work.”’ 
‘‘These three words,’ he says ‘‘ sound the key-note 
of the Christian Religion.’’? One had supposed 
that Faith, Hope and Charity were the key- 
notes of the Christian religion; and that this 
religion had no message at all to a world of 
automatic men. 

With a touching little eulogy on iron, and 
the prediction that aluminum is soon to take its 
place, and a good word for coal and for gas- 
engines, he passes on to the question of obtain- 
ing energy direct from the sun, and discusses 
the ‘‘ possibility of a self-acting engine or machine, 
inanimate, yet capable, like a living being, of de- 
riving energy from the medium.’’? His conclusion 
is that it is possible though it cannot be pro- 
duced for a long time yet. It is not pressing, 
then, to discuss his results. We will wait until 
some are forthcoming. 

The next paragraphs of Mr. Tesla’s long 
paper are taken up with the description of his 
experiments on electrical matters, wireless te- 
legraphy (which Marconi independently discov- 
ered and has made practical), ete. Into these 
we will not follow him, except to say that he 
claims to be able to produce electrical effects on 
the planets Venus or Mars by methods which 
he is very careful not to explain. He expects 
an answer, too: ‘‘ That we can send a message 
to a planet is certain, that we can get an answer is 
probable; man is not the only being in the Infinite 
gifted with a mind.”’ 

We might go on page by page, pointing out 
error, extravagance and bathos like the pre- 
ceding. There seems to be no special need to 
go further. It should be evident to any im- 
partial reader that the value of Mr. Tesla’s 
general philosophical speculations and opinions 
is exactly nil. The value of his work in elec- 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900.] 


tricity must be judged by experts. The weight 
of his predictions as to future discoveries would 
be greater if his judgment on things in general 
were less unsound. It is passing strange that 
such loose reasonings can find a publisher. It 
is to be hoped that they will gain little credence 
from hisreaders. A line from Plato’s Republic 
applies here (changing a word) to wit: ‘‘I 
verily believe that it is a more venial offence to 
be the involuntary cause of death toa man than 


to deceive him concerning scientific truth.”’ 
to a! Sas 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
A NEW LABORATORY MANUAL. 


Dr. CLEMENTS and Principal Cutter, the 
former of the botanical staff of the Univer- 
sity of Nebraska, and the latter of the Beatrice 
(Nebr.) High School have brought out what 
must prove to be a very helpful book for 
those teachers of Elementary Botany who wish 
to give their pupils a good course in labora- 
tory work. There has been an increasing 
demand on the part of University professors 
that the high schools should lay such a solid 
foundation in the sciences that the subsequent 
work in the university could safely be built 
upon it. This has wrought a radical change in 
the methods of teaching chemistry and physics 
in the high schools which fit their pupils for 
university entrance. For many years some of 
the botanists have been demanding laboratory 
training in elementary botany for Freshmen 
entrance, but while the schools have made some 
progress, it is a curious fact that no serious at- 
tempt has hitherto been made tosupply the high 
schools with a scientific manual comparable to 
the many excellent works of this character in 
chemistry and physics. 

The authors of the ‘Laboratory Manual of 
High School Botany’ have attempted to make 
a book which is at once practicable in the aver- 
age high school, as well as strictly scientific. 
The pupil who covers the work here laid out 
will be prepared to go forward in college and 
university classes without the necessity of un- 
loading and unlearning a lot of rubbish, while 
at the same time if he should go no further with 
his studies he has had the satisfaction of know- 
ing that he is in the possession of a considerable 


SCIENCE. 


451 


body of useful information in regard to the 
structure and actions of plants. The general 
plan of the book may be obtained by a glance 
at the titles of the chapters, as follows: General 
Directions, Plant Structure, or Histology, Struc- 
ture and Classification, Phytogeography, Synop- 
sis of the Larger Groups of the Vegetable 
Kingdom, Physiology, Appendix (containing 
suggestions to teachers), and Glossary. 


ORIGIN OF THE HIGHER FUNGI. 


Mr. Grorce MAssEs, the well-known my- 
cologist of Kew, speculates (in Linn. Soc., Jour. 
Bot., vol. xxxiv., p. 438) as to the origin of the 
group of fungi known as the Basidiomyceteae, 
which includes those genera generally regarded 
as the highest of the hysterophytes, viz, the 
puff-balls and their relatives, and the various 
forms of toadstools and mushrooms. Finding 
that the conidial fructification of certain As- 
comyceteae bears some resemblance to the 
spore-bearing tissues of the Basidiomyceteae, he 
finds a series of more or less obvious gradations, 
and arrives at the conclusion that there is a 
genetic connection between them. According 
to this view some plants are Ascomyceteae as to 
their ascigerous, and Basidiomyceteae as to their 
conidial fructifications. While ingenious, it is 
not likely that this theory will be generally ac- 
cepted. 


SUPPLEMENT TO NICHOLSON’S DICTIONARY OF 
GARDENING. 


STIMULATED, perhaps, by the publication of 
Bailey’s ‘Cyclopedia of American Horticul- 
ture,’ the publisher of Nicholson’s ‘ Dictionary 
of Gardening’ (Gill, London) announces a 
‘1900 Supplement’ which is to appear in two 
volumes. The first of these supplementary 
volumes has come to hand, and fully justifies 
the statement of the publisher as to the quality 
of subject matter and mechanical execution. 
The illustrations are superb, in many cases 
being reproduced directly from photographs. 
Upon the appearance of the second volume a 
more extended notice will be made. 


NEW EDITION OF PRANTL’S LEHRBUCH. 
Dr. Pax of Breslau has brought out the 
eleventh edition of the well-known ‘ Lehrbuch 
der Botanik’ of the lamented Dr. Prantl, first 


452 


published in 1874, and much used some years 
ago in American colleges. It speaks well for 
the teachers of botany that this book has 
proved so popular as to have gone through so 
many editions, in spite of the fact that it has 
not departed essentially from the scientific 
sequence of topics, neither has it attempted to 
introduce popular ‘natural history’ features 
in place of the more difficult laboratory re- 
quirements. The book contains three ‘parts,’ 
the first of which deals with structural, the 
second with physiological, and the third with 
systematic botany. It may still be held up as 
a model worthy of being followed by makers 
of botanical text-books. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE COAL FIELDS OF CHINA. 


PROFESSOR DRAKE, of Tien-tsin, has lately 
published a report on the coal fields in Shan-si 
province, which he visited last autumn, especi- 
ally those around Tse-chau, which were first 
made known to the world by Baron yon 
Richthofen in 1870, and for the working of 
which concessions have been granted to an 
Anglo-Italian company. According to the ab- 
stract in the London Times, the journey from 
the coast is made across low-lying plains, and 
then a plateau is ascended, on which the’ coal 
measures are found. The workable coal liesin 
one bed, about 250 feet above a flint-bearing 
limestone stratum, below which it is possible 
that there is also coal. In Tse-chau the average 
thickness of seam is probably not less than 22 
feet, and at one place it is worked through a 
shaft 329 feet deep. Streaks of shaly coal are 
common in the part being mined, but there is 
no waste coal taken out, and the proportion of 
ash is little more than 10 percent. There is no 
waste material in the bed in any of the mines. 
Professor Drake estimates that within the 150 
square miles around Tse-chau there are about 
3000 million metric tons of coal, and it ‘‘ must 
be remembered that this area is only a little of 
the ragged edge of the great coal fields of 
Shan-si. Most of Shan-si has been found 
underlaid by large coal beds. Richthofen esti- 
mates that the anthracite coal alone of Shan-si 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


amounts to 630,000 million tons, and that the 
coal area is greater than that of Pennsylvania.’’ 
All the Tse-chau coal is anthracite, with a 
specific gravity of 1.5, and it is hard enough to 
support any weight put upon it in the blast 
furnace. The proportion of sulphur is uni- 
formly low, and that of ash also. A cursory 
examination of the outcrops showed the iron 
ore stratum to be 2 feet to 3 feet in thickness ; 
the workings are limited to this narrow strip be- 
cause the ore beds lie near the surface and can 
be mined by open pits, whereas elsewhere deep 
shafts and long tunnels would be needed. But 
the small quantity of ore will probably never 
justify extensive mining at a depth. Besides 
coal and iron ore the district yields fire clays of 
good quality for bricks and cheap pottery. 
These are now much used by the Chinese for 
household utensils. Sandstone occurs in abund- 
ance and is extensively used by the Chinese; 
its fault is great friability. Massive limestones 
are in great abundance and of good quality. 
They vary in color from light gray to blue and 
almost black. -The soil is largely loess, and is 
therefore fertile and highly cultivated, a dense 
population being supported by agriculture. 
The industries are centered round the mines. 
Nearly all the coal is mined through shafts 
varying in depth from 50 ft. to over 300 ft. 
Very little is mined through inclines. No 
steam is used for raising the coal to the surface, 
and ‘explosives are not employed. The work 
is done with the windlass and pick. Tunnels 
are run through the bed from the bottom of the 
shaft, and at intervals along the tunnels large 
quantities of coal are removed, leaving circular 
chambers 40 ft. to 50 ft. in diameter, and thus 
about 50,000 tons a year are brought to the 
surface in the district. For local use, the coal 
is carried away in little carts drawn by oxen, 
but most of it is taken down the mountains by 
pack animals, as the paths are very steep and 
rough. It is 20 miles to the plains; the paths 
are about 18 ft. wide and are paved with stone. 
But ‘‘the great thickness and the almost hori- 
zontal position of this coal bed make it prac- 
ticable, as suggested by Richthofen, for other 
Shan-si coal beds, to run long lines of railroad 
tunnels through the bed, and load the cars in 
the mines for distant transportation.”’ 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE British Association will meet next year 
at Glasgow, beginning on September 11th under 
the presidency of Professor A. W. Rucker. In 
1902 the meeting will be at Belfast. 


WE regret to learn that up to the present 
time, but 30 complete subscriptions have been 
received in the United States for the Interna- 
tional Catologue of Scientific Literature. The 
successful beginning of the project is dependent 
upon at least 45 subscriptions from the United 
States, and it is necessary that these should all 
be in before the end of September. The Cata- 
logue will comprise 17 volumes per annum, the 
subscription per annum is $85, and, in order to 
give the undertaking some sort of permanence, 
it is desired that these subscriptions shall be for 
five years. All subscriptions from the United 
States should be addressed to the Secretary of 
the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 


PRoFEssoR H. T. Topp, having reached the 
age limit, has retired from the directorship of 
the Nautical Almanac. Professor 8S. J. Brown, 
astronomical director of the U. S. Naval Ob- 
servatory, has untertaken the duties of the 
office. 

Popular Astronomy quotes from the ‘ Navy 
Register’ of 1900 the rank of all the mathe- 
matical officers in the navy on January 1, 
1900. They areas follows: On the active list 
‘Rank of Captain’: Professors Hendrickson, 
Todd and Oliver. ‘Rank of Commander’: 
Professors Brown, Rawson, Alger and Dodge. 
‘Rank of Lieutenant’: Professors Paul, Skin- 
ner, See and Updegraff. On the retired list: 
‘Rank of Rear Admiral’: William Harkness. 
‘Rank of Captain’: Professors Newcomb, Hall 
and Eastman. ‘Rank of Commander’: Pro- 
fessors Frisby, Prudhomme and Rice. 


PROFESSOR BALDWIN SPENCER has been given 
leave of absence from Melbourne University 
to study the ethnology of the natives of the 
northern part of South Australia. 


M. FAYE, the eminent French astronomer, 
has been elected a foreign member of the Reale 
Accademia dei Lincei of Rome. 


PROFESSOR H. A. SCHAFFER has retired from 
the position of General Secretary of the British 


SCIENCE. 


453 


Association which he has held in conjunction 
with Sir William Roberts-Austin. Dr. D. H. 
Scott has been elected to the vacant place. 

Dr. J. M. Da Costa, formerly professor of the 
theory and practice of medicine at the Jeffer- 
son Medical College, died near Philadelphia on 
September 11th. He was perhaps the most 
prominent physician in Philadelphia, and was 
the author of numerous contributions to pa- 
thology, his work on ‘Medical Diagnosis’ 
having passed through numerous editions and 
having been translated into several foreign lan- 
guages. 

Mr. WM. SAUNDERS, the well-known horti- 
culturist, died at Washington, on September 
11th, in his 78th year. He had been connected 
with the U. S. Department of Agriculture since 
its organization in 1862. He was well-known 
as a landscape gardener, having planned Fair- 
mount Park in Philadelphia, and done much 
similar work at Washington and elsewhere. 


Welearn from Popular Astronomy of the death 
of Mr. David Flannery, of Memphis, Tenn. He 
was interested in astronomy and had made ob- 
servations of variable stars. 

AccorDING to Popular Astronomy the will of 
Professor Piazzi Smyth makes provision for the 
publication of his spectroscopic manuscripts, 
and also for the assistance or promotion every 
ten or twenty years of an exceptional expedi- 
tion for the study of some particular branch of 
astronomical spectroscopy at mountain eleva- 
tions of not less than 6000 feet. 

THE will of Mr. Charles H. Smith of Provi- 
dence contains the following public bequests: 
$3000 to the Rhode Island Historical Society, 
$2000 to the Rhode Island Horticultural So- 
ciety, $1000 to the city public schools for the 
purchase of microscopes, $3500 to Brown Uni- 
versity, and real estate valued at upwards of 
$200,000 for the maintenance of the botanical 
specimens in the city park. 

THOSE who have seen reference made to a 
forthcoming bulletin on the fishes of Porto 
Rico, to be issued by the U.S. Fish Commis- 
sion, may not know that the publication has 
been delayed by a fire in New York, in which 
the drawings in black and white and such 
plates as had been engraved were destroyed: 


454 


The fine colored plates, however, being in the 
hands of another firm, were uninjured. Other 
drawings have been made to take the place of 
the more important of those destroyed and the 
work will be issued as soon as possible. 


At the recent meeting of the British Associ- 
ation a committee was appointed to consider 
the following resolutions: ‘‘ That in view 
of the opportunities of ethnographical inquiry 
which will be presented by the Indian census, 
the council-of the Association be requested to 
urge the Government of India to make use of 
the census officers for the purposes enumerated 
below, and to place photographers at the ser- 
vice of the census officers: (1) to establish a 
survey of the jungle races, Bhils, Gonds, and 
other tribes of the central mountain districts ; 
(2) to establish a further survey of the Naga, 
Kuki, and other cognate races of the Assam 
and Burmese frontiers; (3) to collect further 
information about the vagrant and criminal 
tribes, Haburas, Beriyas, Sansiyas, etc., in 
North and Central India; (4) to collect phys- 
ical measurements, particularly of the various 
Dravidian tribes, in order to determine their 
origin; and of the Rajputs and Jats of Rajpu- 
tana and the Eastern Punjab, to determine 
their relation with the Yu-echi and other Indo- 
Scythian races; (5) to furnish a series of pho- 
tographs of typical specimens in the various 
races, of views of archaic industries, and of 
other facts interesting to ethnologists.”’ 

THE great meteor of August 25th is reported 
to have fallen near Rangeley Lake, Me., ex- 
ploding within a few feet of the hotel and dis- 
appearing, not a fragment having been discov- 
ered by a prolonged search. 

THE question of admitting women as mem- 
bers of the general and sectional committees of 
the British Association was brought up at the 
recent meeting and carried by a considerable 
majority. 

WE are glad to note articles in the New York 
Evening Post and the Boston Evening Transeript 
urging the importance of a bureau of standards. 
The item establishing the bureau submitted by 
Secretary Gage was generally favored by mem- 
bers of Congress and would doubtless have been 
passed had it not been for the wish to prevent 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 299. 


a further increase inexpenditures. If the meas- 
ure is adequately discussed there is every rea- 
son to believe that it will be passed next winter. 


A MEETING of Government officials and me- 
teorological and agricultural authorities is soon 
to take place at Hamburg, to discuss the intro- 
duction of a telegraphic service for German agri- 
culture. 


THE Windward was expected to reach St. 
Johns at about the middle of the present month, 
but a short delay will not be surprising as it 
started late, owing to some difficulty with the 
machinery, and was subsequently delayed by 
ice along the coast of Labrador. The arrival of 
the steamship is awaited with interest and some 
anxiety as it will bring news not only of the re- 
turn of Peary, but also of Captain Sverdrup and 
Dr. Stein. The former has the Fram provis- 
ioned for five years, with a crew of twelve men. 
He planned to round the northern boundary of 
Greenland and to make his way down its un- 
known east coast to Cape Bismarck. It is said 
that the expedition under Dr. Robert Stein of 
the U. S. Geological Survey, who is accom- 
panied by Mr. Leopold Kann of Cornell Univer- 
sity and Mr. Samuel Warmbath of Harvard 
University was poorly equipped and left in a 
dangerous position. Lieutenant Peary himself 
expected to establish his last depot at Cape 
Hecla, the most northerly point of Grinnell 
Land just beyond the 82d parallel, whence he 
intended to advance with Eskimo and sleds as 
far north as possible. 


Ir is reported in the daily papers that Captain 
Bernier, who has lately returned to Quebec 
from Newfoundland, states that when there 
he examined all the vessels engaged in the 
whaling business to select one for his proposed 
North Pole expedition. He says that none 
were considered by him strong enough to resist 
the pressure of the Polarice. He has, there- 
fore, proposed that the Canadian government 
build a suitable vessel out of the grant that has 
been promised. Captain Bernier says that his 
offers of assistance, exclusive of the govern- 
ment grant, now aggregate $25,000, and that 
the merchants of Quebec will donate supplies 
worth $6000 or $7000. 


News has been received from the Liverpool 


SEPTEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


Expedition sent to Nigeria to the effect that all 
the members are perfectly well, although they 
have spent four months in districts where ma- 
laria is specially prevalent and deadly. They 
have not kept the fever off by the use of quinine, 
and they attribute their immunity to the care- 
ful use of mosquito nets at night. Experiments 
are reported in the Archivio per le Scienze Med- 
ichi, abstracted in the New York Medical Rec- 
ord, of an experiment carried out by Eugenio 
di Mattei on himself and four others. A hut 
situated in an extremely malarial region, in- 
fested by mosquitoes, was chosen, and here the 
five slept for thirty-two nights. Their work 
during the day was arduous, their food scanty, 
their accommodations were uncomfortable ; 
they took no quinine or other medicament, but 
their hut was so completely protected by wire 
gauze that no mosquitoes were able to obtain 
access. No one of the five contracted malaria, 
although other workmen sleeping in the neigh- 
borhood and unprotected from the mosquitoes, 
suffered from grave forms of the disease. 


In 1898 there was mined in the United States 
somewhat over nineteen million tons of iron 
ore, which was the largest quantity up to that 
time ever produced in a single country in a 
single year. But according to the announce- 
ment recently made by the U. S. Geological 
Survey, the production of iron ore in the 
United States was 24,683,173 tons, an increase 
of 27 per cent. over 1898. In spite of this large 
increase the price is about 25 per cent. higher 
than in 1898. 


Dr. REGINALD A. FESSENDEN writes as fol- 
lows to the Electrical World referring to patents 
by Mr. Tesla which have been widely discussed 
in the daily press: ‘‘ With reference to your 
article on ‘Insulation by Freezing,’ in the issue 
of August 25th, may I be permitted to point out 
that the patents referred to are inyalid, as this 
method was fully described in my paper on 
“Insulation and Conduction,’ read before the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 
1898, and printed in its ‘Transactions’ (Trans. 
A. I.E. E., 1898, page 14). The passage is as 
follows: ‘‘The second (plan) occurred to the 
writer on reading Elihu Thompson’s article on 
the use of liquid air as an insulator. Itis this: 


SCIENCE. 


455 


Since ice at only 12 degrees below freezing has 
a specific resistance of over 1000 megohms, 7. e., 
as good as some brands of insulation, why not 
make the conductors hollow, lay them in atrench 
filled with water, pass cold brine through the 
pipes, use the brine for cooling houses, making 
ice, etc., and let the frozen water act as the in- 
sulator. A rough calculation shows that this is 
commercially feasible, even neglecting all 
sources of profit from the furnishing of the 
brine, 7. e., if it were used only for cooling 
the pipes. After making all allowance for 
friction of fluid, cost of power, etc., the balance 
comes at the right end, if the line is always 
fully loaded.’’ This was published more than 
two years prior to the date of application of 
said patents, the said date being June 15, 
1900. 


THE report of the Principal Chemist of the 
Government Laboratory of Great Britain upon 
the work of the laboratory for the year ended 
March 31st last has been issued as a Parliamen- 
tary paper. According to an abstract in the Lon- 
don Times it appears that in the Customs Depart- 
ment during the past year, 226 samples of tea, 
representing 3322 packages, were found to con- 
tain exhausted leaves, or to be mixed with sand 
or other substances within the meaning of the 
Act, and were therefore refused admission for 
home consumption. Of these 3322 packages, 
2274 were exported and 1048 destroyed. Hight 
thousand four hundred and eighteen samples 
of tobacco, tea, coffee, soaps, drugs, varnishes, 
ete., were examined during the 12 months; 
167,080 samples of beer, spirits and wines were 
examined in the same period. The number of 
analyses and examinations made in the Excise 
branch amounted to 68,287, or 1864 more than 
in the preceding year. Seven thousand five 
hundred and two samples of wort in various 
stages of fermentation had been examined to 
check the declaration of gravity made by the 
brewer. In 614, or rather more than 8 per 
cent. of these cases, the original gravity was 
found one degree or more above that declared 
by the trader or found by the officer. In 583 
cases the increased gravity was less than five 
degrees, in 26 cases five degrees and less than 
ten, and in five cases ten degrees and upwards. 
Two thousand three hundred and eighty-six 


456 


samples of finished beer taken from 1223 
publicans were analyzed, and 319 or 18 per 
cent. of the samples were found to have been 
diluted with water or otherwise adulterated. 
Ninety-five samples of tobacco taken from 
manufacturers and dealers were analyzed for 
adulteration generally, and 20 of them were 
found to be adulterated with liquorice or glyc- 
erine. All the adulterated samples were appar- 
ently either smuggled cake cavendish or cut 
tobacco, which bore no label to show it had 
paid the proper rate of duty. While in 1841, 
when the population was 26,700,000, the quan- 
tity of tobacco cleared for consumption was 
23,096,281 lb., or 13% oz. per head of the popu- 
lation, the quantity in 1900, with a population 
of 40,835,000, was 80,955,037 lb., or 1b. 153 
oz., per head. In the ‘other Government De- 
partment’s’ branch the number of samples ex- 
amined in connection with the Board of Agri- 
culture had increased from 1600 in the year 
ended March 31, 1899, to 1745 during the last 
year. The increase was due partly to the new 
Food and Drugs Act. One thousand three hun- 
dred and ninety-three samples of imported 
butter were examined. Only six samples gave 
distinctly abnormal results. A large number of 
butters contained boric preservative and were 
artificially colored. Asusual, it was found that 
the use of boric acid is most prevalent in France, 
Belgium, and Australia, and is very common also 
in Holland. The most frequent coloring-matter 
is annatto, but the use of coal-tar yellows appears 
to be on the increase, and is especially prevalent 
in Holland, the United States and Australia. 
One hundred and thirty-two samples of im- 
ported margarine were analyzed. The bulk of 
the margarine imported comes from Holland, 
and it is usually made with cottonseed oil, con- 
tains boric preservative, and is artificially col- 
ored with a coal-tar yellow. In all 1745 sam- 
ples of butters, margarines, cheese, etc., were 
examined, 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mr. SAMUEL MATHER, of Cleveland, has of- 
fered to give Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio, 
$10,000 for every $15,000 secured from other 
sources. This has resulted in a gift of $15,000 
from Mr. J. P. Stevens for a library fund. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 299. 


WITH the opening of the scholastic year this 
month the Christian Brothers in their colleges 
in the United States enter upon the new order 
prescribed for them by their superiors in France, 
who have decided that hereafter modern lan- 
guages shall replace the classics. Manhattan 
College, New York, and others of the best 
Catholic Colleges giving the B.A. degree must 
follow these directions, though it is said that 
they may cause a division in the Order. 


THE Congress of British Chambers of Paris’ 
which met at Paris this month adopted the fol- 
lowing resolution: ‘‘That this meeting en- 
dorses the following resolution, which was 
adopted at the Congress of Chambers of Com- 
merce of the Empire in June, 1900: ‘That it 
is most desirable to take steps to urge the ex- 
tension of technical and commercial education 
throughout the Empire, and that wherever pos- 
sible this education should be placed under 
efficient public control; and that this Congress 
is of opinion that the utmost effort should be 
made throughout the Empire to encourage and 
furnish facilities for commercial education as a 
branch of technical and scientific study, and 
that the Home and Colonial Governments be 
moved to give aid thereto and ample powers of 
contribution out of local resources; and, fur- 
ther, it is very desirable that Chambers of Com- 
merce should be represented on Boards of Edu- 
cation in order to advance the interests of 
commercial education.’ ’’ 


Dr. OUSTALET, assistant in the Paris Natural 
History Museum, has been made professor of 
zoology (mammals and birds) in the Museum in 
succession to the late M. Milne-Edwards. 


PROFESSOR CRAIG of the Ames Agricultural 
College and formerly horticulturist of the 
Dominion Experiment Farm at Ottawa has 
been called to Cornell University for work in 
horticulture. 


PROFESSOR WENDELL PADDOCK of the Geneva 
Experiment Station has been elected professor 
of horticulture in the Colorado Agricultural 
College. 


PROFESSOR PERCY J. PARRoT of the Kansas 
Agricultural College has been appointed ento- 
mologist at the Geneva Experiment Station. 


Cte NCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : 8S. NEWcomMB, Mathematics; R. 8S. WoopwaRp, Mechanics ; E. C, PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MuRRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowvpitcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


Wittiam H. WetcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Frivay, SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
The International Catalogue: SIR MICHAEL Fos- 
TID conccbobeandsasecoonoquebobacocotadonacbcoocobecHoscEtoneD 457 
Address of the President of the Botanical Section of 
the British Association : PROFESSORS. H. VINES. 459 


The Method of Types in Botanical Nomenclature : 
IDE, ©, I, (oie cosconcndsenoone pooscbadcabacednccaqooee 475 


Scientific Books :— 
Memoirs in Honor of Sir George Gabriel Stokes, 
Tait’s Scientific Papers, Reynold’s Papers on 
Mechanical and Physical Subjects: R. S. W. 
Kohlrausch’s Kleiner Leitfaden der praktischen 
Physik: PROFESSOR W. HALLOCK. Education 
in the United States: PROFESSOR PAUL H. 
HANus. Hampson’s Catalogue of the Lepidop- 
tera Phalene in the British Musewm: DR. HARRI- 
RORY Glo IDAZATE ocsooccnsncon¢0onnmoo00nb pnacooDSpDoEODEOn 481 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 


The Psychology of Pity: HirnAM M. STANLEY. 
The Kieffer Pear and the San José Scale: PRo- 
FESSOR T. D. A. COCKERELL.............00cseeeeeee 487 


Notes on Physics :-— 


Architectural Acoustics: W.S. F........ccccseeeee 489 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H.............-- 489 
Academet dei Lincet of Rome.........scccveersececeseneee 490 
The Importation of Living Animals........2...1..-..0+ 491 
Street Cars (ni Glasg ow nnsessorsee-eece seseaeeett cece ees 491 
Scientific Notes and News. .........0.scsscseseecsceeevenees 492 
University and Educational News.........2.0.00.c0.00-0 496 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CATALOGUE. 


At the end of last month the Smithsonian 
Institution sent out a circular letter inviting 
various bodies in America to subscribe for 
a period of five years to the proposed Inter- 
national Catalogue of Scientific Literature. 
At an early stage of the deliberations con- 
cerning the Catalogue, it became evident 
that the necessary financial basis for the 
undertaking could not be secured on the 
plan of direct contributions from the several 
countries interested in the matter. An 
adequate basis however presented itself in 
the form of guaranteed subscriptions for a 
certain period ; and it was calculated that 
a guarantee of subscriptions of about 300 
complete sets would justify the work being 
begun. The German government under- 
took to subscribe for 45 complete sets for 
five years; other governments undertook 
subscriptions of lesser amounts; the Royal 
Society guaranteed that 45 copies should be 
subscribed for in Great Britain and Ire- 
land ; and, at the close of the International 
Conference, in June last, the financial pros- 
pects were found to be such that if sub- 
scriptions for 45 complete sets for five years, 
in the United States of America, could be 
assured, the work might at once be put in 
hand. The Smithsonian Institution under- 
took the task of asking for subscriptions ; 
hence the circular in question. 

Visiting Washington on Tuesday, last, I 
had the extreme gratification of learning that 


458 


more than 45 complete sets (or the equiv- 
alent) had been already subscribed. The 
Catalogue, therefore, will be begun at once. 
Considering that the appeal of the Smith- 
sonian Institution was made under most 
unfavorable conditions, namely in the mid- 
dle of the vacation, I cannot but regard the 
result as a most encouraging proof that 
America is determined to give its character- 
istic support to what I think I may venture 
to call a most important international 
scientific undertaking. And I can myself 
all the more fully appreciate the value of 
this support because I am well aware that 
several features of the scheme for the con- 
duct of the Catalogue have been severely 
criticised in this country, in which above 
all other countries much thought and labor 
has been spent on the problems of index- 
ing. 

May I take the opportunity of expressing 
on the part of the Royal Society of London 
a grateful recognition of that support, and 
at the same time of making, on my own 
responsibility, a few remarks on the whole 
subject. 

1. Two different plans of indexing scien- 
tific literature by international cooperation 
present themselves. One is that this or that 
country should undertake the indexing of 
this or that branch of science, taking in 
hand the whole literature of that branch, 
the several countries agreeing among them- 
selves to cover in this way the whole field 
of science. Another plan is for each 
country to collect the data of its own liter- 
ature in all branches of science and for the 
final collation and editing of all the litera- 
ture to be conducted in some international 
central office. Each plan has its advan- 
tages and disadvantages. The Interna- 
tional Conference adopted the second plan ; 
but this has necessarily had the drawback 
that it could not provide at once and di- 
rectly for attaching to its organization un- 
dertakings already existing upon the other 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


plan. An alliance of such organizations 
with its own could only be brought about, 
if at all, by prolonged and difficult negotia- 
tions, however desirable such an alliance 
might seem. 

2. The Catalogue is intended for two 
classes: for the scientific investigator and 
for libraries. So far perhaps the chief at- 
tention has been directed to the needs of 
the scientific investigator, as was natural 
seeing that the most active workers in the 
undertaking have been men of science en- 
gaged in investigation. But I think I am 
justified in saying that the men of science 
in question are fully aware of the great im- 
portance of making the Catalogue of value 
to libraries as well as to individual workers 
in science, and trust that in time it may be 
made equally useful to both. 

3.\ At the first Conference it was decided 
that the Catalogue should be in a ‘card’ 
form as well as in a book form ; but it was 
subsequently decided to give up the ‘card’ 
form for the present. This decision was based 
simply on the complexity of organization 
and expense which the card issue would in- 
volve. It was thought wiser to begin at 
least with the simpler book issue alone ; 
but it is hoped by some that should the 
simpler enterprise prove successful, and the 
machinery be found to be manageable, the 
issue of cards may at some future day be 
undertaken. 

4. No part of the scheme has met with 
more severe criticism than the schedules of 
classifications. With regard to these I ven- 
ture to say that few persons, save those be- 
hind the scenes, can know the amount of 
labor which has been spent upon them. In 
the course of my life I have met with vari- 
ous things fertile in disagreements ; but for 
areal apple of discord, nothing that I know 
of comes near to a schedule of classifica- 
tion ; and it is, I imagine, unnecessary to 
say that the schedules as adopted represent 
the results of compromises, compromises in 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


some cases at least come to with much mis- 
giving. 

It must be remembered that though some 
of the schedules in question have been 
tested (and corrected) by being actually 
applied to a considerable mass of literature, 
they will all be severely tested by the actual 
experience even of the first year. 

Speaking now entirely for myself and 
giving only my own opinion, I cannot ex- 
pect otherwise than that the experience of 
the first year (or possibly even a shorter 
experience) will compel the International 
Council to authorize changes in the sched- 
ules. This, if done, will have the disad- 
vantage of making the second year’s Cata- 
logue not wholly homogeneous with the 
first year’s; but this I venture to think 
will be more than balanced by the better 
character of the second year’s issue. Sim- 
ilarly with the third and fourth years. 
When the fifth year is reached, the Cata- 
logue if it is to answer the expectations 
which it has raised may be expected to 
have passed through at least its main met- 
amorphoses and to have assumed its adult 
form. If at the end of the fifth year, the 
office will be able, and it is hoped it will be 
able, to issue not only the Catalogue for the 
fifth year, but also a combined catalogue of 
all the five years taken together, then if 
that five year Catalogue and the fifth year 
Catalogue are not fully worth, both to 


workers and to libraries, the money asked 


for them, the whole enterprise had better be 
abandoned. And I would venture to urge 
very earnestly that the worth of the Cata- 
logue should not be judged by its first is- 
sues ; they must necessarily be most imper- 


fect; they can only present not the achieve- 


ment but the promise of what is intended. 

5. As a substitute for cards, it was sug- 
gested that a bimonthly issue might be 
adopted, or an issue on an accumulative 
plan; but the Conference decided in the 
first instance to be content with the simple 


SCIENCE. 


459 


annual book issue. There seems, however, 
to be no reason why special arrangements 
should not be made by which a subscriber 
should receive the Catalogue printed on one 
side only of the paper. Scissors and paste 
would soon convert this into a card cata- 
logue. 

6. The subscriptions asked for by the 
Smithsonian Institution, namely for com- 
plete sets of the 17 volumes a year, for five 
years, represent part of the financial basis of 
the enterprise. The calculations made show 
that an annual sale of about 300 sets of 17 
volumes representing 17 branches of science 
at an average cost per volume of £1, 7. «., 
£17 or $85 for a complete set will put the 
whole undertaking on a sound financial 
basis. The price of each volume will of 
course not be the same, some volumes 
(e. g., Zoology) will be much larger than 
others (e. g., Mineralogy). The exact price 
of each volume cannot be determined until 
the size, 7. e., the number of entries in that 
volume, is approximately known. Hence 
at present subscriptions for individual vol- 
umes at a stated price cannot be invited. 
Ultimately of course not only each volume, 
but in certain cases at least, parts of a vol- 
ume, %. ¢., indices of subdivisions of a 
branch of science will be offered for sale. 
The prices and conditions of sale will be de- 
termined hereafter. 


M. Foster. 
GARRISON-ON-Hupson, N. Y., 
September 21, 1900. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE Bo- 
TANICAL SECTION OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 

THERE has been considerable difference 
of opinion as to whether the present year 
marks the close of the nineteenth or the 
beginning of the twentieth century. But 
whatever may be the right or the wrong 
of this vexed question, the fact that the 
year-date now begins with ‘19’ instead of 
with ‘18’ suggests the appropriateness of 


460 


devoting an occasion such as the present to 
areview of the century which has closed, as 
some will have it, or, in the opinion of 
others, is about to close. I therefore pro- 
pose to address you upon the progress of 
Botany during the nineteenth century. 

I am fully conscious of the magnitude of 
the task which I am undertaking, more 
especially in its relation to the limits of 
time and space at my disposal. So event- 
ful has the period been that to give in any 
detail an account of what has been accom- 
plished during the last hundred years 
would mean to write the larger half of the 
entire history of Botany. This being so, 
it might appear almost hopeless to attempt 
to deal with so large a subject in a presi- 
dential address. But I trust that the very 
restrictions under which I labor may prove 
to be rather advantageous than otherwise, 
inasmuch as they compel me to confine at- 
tention to what is of primary importance, 
and thus to give special prominence to the 
main lines along which the development of 
the science has proceeded. 


STATISTICS. 


We may well begin with what is, after 
all, the most fundamental matter, viz, the 
relative numbers of known species of plants 
at the beginning and at the end of the cen- 
tury. It might appear that the statistics 
of plants was a subject susceptible of very 
simple treatment, but unfortunately this is 
not the case. It must be remembered that 
a ‘species’ is not an invariable standard 
unit, like a pound ora pint, but that it is 
an idea dependent upon the subjectivity 
of individual botanists. For instance, one 
botanist may regard a certain number of 
similar plants as all belonging to a single 
species, whilst another may find the differ- 
ences among them such as to warrant the 
distinction of as many species as there are 
plants. It is this inevitable variation in 
the estimation of specific characters which 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Voz XII. No. 300. 
renders it difficult to deal satisfactorily 
with plants from the statistical point of 
view. However, the following figures may 
be regarded as giving a fair idea of the in- 
crease in the number of ‘good’ species of 
living plants. 

It is generally stated that about 10,000 
species of plants were known to Linnzus 
in the latter half of the eighteenth century, 
of which about one-tenth were Crypto- 
gams ; but so rapid was the progress in the 
study of new plants at that time that the 
first enumeration of plants published in 
the nineteenth century, the ‘Synopsis’ of 
Persoon (1807), included as many as 20,000 
species of Phanerogams alone. Turning 
now to the end of the century, we arrive 
at the following census, for which I am 
indebted mainly to Professor Saecardo 
(1892) and to Professor de Toni who has 
kindly given me special information as to 
the Algze: 

Species of Phanerogams indicated in Bentham and 


Hooker’s ‘ Genera Plantarum’ (Durand, 
* Index,’ 1888). 


Dicotyledons................00essee ee ee - 78,290 
Monocotyledons................0ceeeeeeneeee 19,600 
GYMMNOSPeIMS.........0--2ecseceeee eee scene 2,420 
100,220 

Estimated subsequent additions (Sac- 
C2RCIO)) Groopsooovsoaq99008:sbo0absnan60908000 011 
Total Phanerogams............... 105,231 

Species of Pteridophyta (indicated in Hooker and 


Baker’s ‘ Synopsis’ ; Baker’s ‘ New Ferns? 
and ‘ Fern Allies’). 


Filicinz (including Isoétes), about.. 3,000 
Lycopodine, about................s.sse00 432 
Equisetins, about............. B00 20 

Total Pteridophyta............... 3,452 


Species of Bryophyta (Saccardo’s Estimate). 


INET posoqdonecasodong pacascaocHqoMAcaGeeOOOS 
Hepaticseresecseeaesee eee doe 


Total Bryophyta 


Species of Thallophyta. 


Fungi (including Bacteria) (Sac- 

cardo) 
Michens\(Saccard0)esee.-teeeeesseecee 
Algze (incl. 6000 Diatoms) (de Toni). 14,000 


Total Thallophyta................ 59,263 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


Adding these totals together— 


Phanerogams...........sessecceecneeeeeeeees 105,231 
Pteridophyta..........csccceeceserereeseeee 3,452 
BryOphyta..............scseceserneceseners ere 7,650 
Thallophyta... .......sssscoersseeeeeeeeceees 59,263 
we have a grand total of............... 175,596 


as the approximate number of recognized 
species of living plants. 

These figures are sufficiently accurate to 
show how vast have been the additions to 


the knowledge of plants in the period under | 


consideration, and they afford much food 
for thought. In the first place, they indi- 
cate how closely connected has been the 
growth of this branch of Botany with the 
exploration and opening-up of new coun- 
tries which has been so characteristic a 
feature of the century. Again, no one can 
consider these figures without being struck 
by the disparity in the numbers of species 
included in the different groups ; a most 
interesting topic, which cannot, however, 
be entered upon here. It must suffice to 
point out in a general way that the smaller 
groups represent families of plants which 
attained their numerical zenith in long past 
geological periods, and are now decadent, 
whilst the existing flora of the world is 
characterized by the preponderating An- 
giosperms and Fungi. 

We may venture to cast a forward glance 
upon the possible future development of the 
knowledge of species. Various partial es- 
timates have been made as to the probable 
number of existing species of this or that 
group, but the only comprehensive estimate 
with which I am acquainted is that of Pro- 
fessor Saccardo (1892). He begins with 
a somewhat startling calculation to the ef- 
fect that there are at least 250,000 existing 
species of Fungi alone, and he goes on to 
suggest that probably the number of species 
belonging to the various other groups would 
amount to 150,000 ; hence the total number 
of species now living is to be estimated at 
over 400,000. On the basis of this estimate 


SCIENCE. 


461 


it appears that we have not yet made the 
acquaintance of half the contemporary spe- 
cies; so that there remains plenty of oc- 
cupation for systematic and descriptive 
botanists, especially in the department of 
Fungology. It is also rather alarming, in 
view of the predatory instincts of so many 
of the Fungi, to learn that they constitute 
so decided a majority of the whole vegetable 
kingdom. 

In spite of the great increase in the num- 
ber of known species, it cannot be said that 
any essentially new type of plant has been 
discovered during the century. So far as 
the bounds of the vegetable kingdom have 
been extended at all, it has been by the an- 
nexation of groups hitherto regarded as 
within the sphere of influence of the zoolo- 
gists. The most notable instance of this 
has occurred in the case of the Bacteria, or 
Schizomycetes, as Naegeli termed them. 
These organisms, discovered by Leeuwen- 
hoek 200 years ago, had always been re- 
garded as infusorian animals until, in 1853, 
Cohn recognized their vegetable nature and 
their affinity with the Fungi. These plants 
have acquired special importance, partly on 
account of the controversy which arose as 
to their supposed spontaneous generation, 
but more especially on account of their re- 
markable zymogenic and pathogenic prop- 
erties, so that bacteriology has become one 
of the new sciences of the century. 


CLASSIFICATION. 

Having gained some idea of the number 
of species which have been recognized and 
described during the century, the next point 
for consideration is the progress made in 
the attempt to reduce this mass of material 
to such order that it can be intelligently ap- 
prehended; in a word, to convert a mass of 
facts into a science; ‘Filum ariadneum 
Botanices est systema, sine quo chaos est 
Res Herbaria’ (Linnzeus). 

The classification of plants is a problem 


462 


which has engaged attention from the very 
earliest times. Without attempting to en- 
ter into the history of the matter, I may 
just point out that, speaking generally, all 
the earlier systems of classification were 
more or less artificial, the subdivisions be- 
ing based upon the distinctive features of 
one set of members of the plant. When I 
say that of all these systems that proposed 
by Linneeus (1735) was the most purely 
artificial, I do not imply any reproach : if 
it was the most artificial, it was at the same 
time the most serviceable, and its author 
was fully aware of its artificiality. This 
system is generally regarded as his most re- 
markable achievement ; but the really great 
service which Linnzeus rendered to science 
was the clear distinction which he for the 
first time drew between systems which are 
artificial and those which are natural. Rec- 
ognizing, as he did, his inability to frame 
at that period a satisfactory natural system, 
he also realized that with the increasing 
number of known plants some more ready 
means of determining them was an absolute 
necessity, and it was for this purpose that 
he devised his artificial system, not as an 
end, but asa means. The end to be kept 
in view was the natural classification: 
‘Methodus naturalis est ultimus finis Bo- 
tanices’ is his clearly expressed position in 
the ‘ Philosophia Botanica.’ 

There is a certain irony in the fact that 
the enthusiastic acceptance accorded to his 
artificial system throughout the greater 
part of Europe contributed to postpone the 
realization of Linnzeus’s cherished hopes 
with regard to the attainment of a nat- 
ural classification. It was just in those 
countries, such as Germany and England, 
where the Linnean system was most readily 
adopted that the development of the natural 
system proceeded most slowly. It was in 
France, where the Linnean system never 
secured a firm hold, that the quest of the 
natural system was pursued; and it is to 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vox. XII. No. 300. 


French botanists more particularly that our 
present classification is due. It may be 
traced from its first beginnings with Mag- 
nol in 1689, through the bolder attempts of 
Adanson and of Bernard de Jussieu (1759), 
to the relatively complete method pro- 
pounded by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 
his ‘Genera Plantarum,’ just 100 years 
later. 

The nineteenth century opened with the 
struggle for predominance between the 
Jussiean and the Linnean systems. In 
England the former soon obtained consid- 
erable support, notably that of Robert 
Brown, whose ‘Prodromus Florze Nove 
Hollandiz,’ published in 1810, seems to 
have been the first English botanical work 
in which the natural system was adopted ; 
but it did not come into general use until 
it had been popularized by Lindley in the 
thirties. 

Meantime the Jussiean system had been 
extended and improved by Auguste Pyrame 
de Candolle (1813-24). It is essentially 
the Candollean classification which is now 
most generally in use, and it has been im- 
mortalized by its adoption in Bentham and 
Hooker’s ‘Genera Plantarum,’ one of the 
great botanical monuments of the century. 
In Germany, however, it has been widely de- 
parted from, the system there in vogue being 
based upon Brongniart’s modification (1828, 
1850) of de Candolle’s method as elaborated 
successively by Alex Braun (1864), Eichler 
(1876-83), and Professor Engler (1886, 
1898). It must be admitted that for the 
last fifty years the further evolution of the 
natural system, at any rate so far as Phan- 
erogams are concerned, has been confined 
to Germany. 

One of the more important advances in 
the classification of Phanerogams was based 
upon Robert Brown’s discovery in 1827 of 
the gymnospermous nature of the ovule in 
Conifers and Cycads, which led Brongniart 
(1828) to distinguish these plants as ‘ Phan- 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


érogames gymnospermes’; and although the 
systematic position of these plants has since 
then been the subject of much discussion, 
the recognition of the Gymnosperme as a 
distinct group of archaic Phanerogams is 
now definitely accepted. 

Moreover, the greatly increased knowl- 
edge of the Cryptogams has involved a con- 
siderable reconstruction in the classification 
of that great sub-kingdom. One of the 
most striking discoveries is that first defi- 
nitely announced by Schwendener (1869) 
concerning Lichens, to the effect that the 
body of a Lichen consists of two distinct or- 
ganisms, an Alga and a Fungus, living in 
symbiosis ; a discovery which was so nearly 
made by other contemporary botanists, such 
as de Bary, Berkeley, and Sachs, and which 
can be traced back to Haller and Gleditsch 
in the eighteenth century. _ 

But the discoveries which most affected 
the classification of the Cryptogams are 
those relating to their reproduction. Whilst 
it had been recognized, almost from time 
immemorial, that Phanerogams reproduce 
sexually, sexuality was denied to Crypto- 
gams until the observations on Liverworts 
and Mosses by Schmidel and by Hedwig 
(of whom it was said that he was born to 
banish Cryptogamy) in the eighteenth cen- 
tury ; and even as late as 1828 we find 
Brongniart classifying the Fungi and Algze 
together as‘ Agames.’ But in the middle 
third of the nineteenth century, by the 
labors of such men as Thuret, Pringsheim, 
Cohn, Hofmeister, Naegeli, and de Bary, the 
sexuality of all classes of Cryptograms was 
_ Clearly established. It is worthy of note 
that, although the sexuality of the Phaner- 
ogams had been accepted for centuries, yet 
the details of sexual reproduction were first 
investigated in Cryptogams. For it was 
not until 1823 that Amici discovered the 
pollen-tube, and it was more than twenty 
years later (1846) before he completed his 
discovery by ascertaining the true signifi- 


SCIENCE. 


463 


cance of the pollen-tube in relation to the 
development of the embryo; whilst it re- 
mained for Strasburger to observe, thirty 
years later, the actual processof fertilization. 

The discovery of the reproductive proc- 
esses in Cryptogams not only facilitated a 
natural classification of them, but had the 
further very important effect of throwing 
light upon their relation to Phanerogams. 
Perhaps the most striking botanical achieve- 
ment of the nineteenth century has been the 
demonstration by Hofmeister’s unrivaled 
researches (1851) that Phanerogams and 
Cryptogams are not separated, as was for- 
merly held, by an impassable gulf, but 
that the higher Cryptogams and the lower 
Phanerogams are connected by many com- 
mon features. 

The development of the natural classifi- 
cation, of which an account has now been 
given, proceeded for the most part on the 
assumption of the immutability of species. 
As Linneus expressed it in his ‘ Funda- 
menta Botanica,’ ‘species tot numeramus, 
quot diversze forme in principio sunt cre- 
ate.’ It is difficult to understand how, 
with the point of view, the idea of affinity 
between species could have arisen at all; 
and yet the establishment of genera and 
the attempts at a natural system prove that 
the idea was operative. The nature of the 
prevalent conception of affinity is well con- 
veyed by Linnzeus’s aphorism, ‘ Affines con- 
veniunt habitu, nascendi modo, proprieta- 
tibus, veribus, usu.’ 

But a conviction had been gradually 
growing that the assumed fixity of species 
was not well founded, and that, on the con- 
trary, species are descended from preexist- 
ent species. This view found clear expres- 
sion in Lamarck’s ‘ Philosophie zoologique,’ 
published early in the century (1809), but 
it did not strongly affect public opinion 
until after the publication of Darwin’s 
“Origin of Species’ in 1859. Regarded 
from this point of view the problems of 


464 


classification have assumed an altogether 
different aspect. Affinity no longer means 
mere similarity, but blood-relationship de- 
pending upon common descent. We no 
longer seek a ‘system’ of classification ; 
we endeavor to determine the mutual rela- 
tions of plants. The effect of this change 
has been to stimulate the investigation of 
plants in all their parts and in all stages of 
their life, so as to attain that complete 
knowledge of them without which their af- 
finities cannot be accurately estimated. If 
the classification of Cryptogams is, at the 
present monent, in a more satisfactory posi- 
tion than that of Phanerogams, it is just be- 
cause the study of the former group has 
been, for various reasons, more thorough 
and more minute than that of the latter. 


. PALEOPHYTOLOGY. 


The stimulating influence of the new doc- 
trine was not, however, confined to the in- 
vestigation of existing plants; it also gave 
a remarkable impulse to the study of fossil 
plants, inasmuch as the theory of descent 
involves the quest of the ancestors of the 
forms that we now have around us. Mar- 
velous progress has been made in this di- 
rection during the nineteenth century, by 
the labors more especially of Brongniart, 
Goeppert, Unger, Schimper, Schenck, Sa- 
porta, Solms-Laubach, Renault, on the Con- 
tinent, and in our own country of Lindley 
and Hutton, Hooker, Carruthers, and more 
especially of Williamson. So far-reaching 
are the results obtained that I can only at- 
tempt the barest summary of them. I may 
perhaps best begin by saying that only a 
small proportion of existing species have 
been found in the fossil state. In illustra- 
tion I may adduce the statement made by 
Mr. Clement Reid in his recent work, ‘ The 
Origin of the British Flora,’ that only 270 
species that is, about one-sixth of the total 
number of British vascular plants, are 
known as fossils. Making all due allow- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


ances for the imperfection of the geological 
record, for the limited area investigated, 
and for the difficulty of determination of 
fragmentary specimens, it may be stated 
generally that the number of existing spe- 
cies has been found to rapidly diminish in 
the floras of successively older strata ; none, 
in fact, has been certainly found to per- 
sist beyond the Tertiary period. Certain 
existing genera, belonging to the Gymno- 
sperms and to the Pteridophyta, have, how- 
ever, been traced far down into the Meso- 
zoic period. Similarly, the distribution in 
time of existing natural orders does not 
coincide with that of existing genera; thus 
the Ferns of the Carboniferous epoch. ap- 
parently belong, for the most part, if not al- 
together, to the order Marattiacez, but they 
are not referable to any of the existing 
genera. 

Moreover, altogether new families of fos- 
sil plants have been discovered: such are, 
among Gymnosperms, the Cordaitacez and 
the Bennettitacez; among Pteridophyta, 
the Calamariacez, the Lepidodendracee, 
the Sphenophyllaceze and the Cycadofilices. 
It is of interest to note that all these newly 
discovered families can be included within 
the main subdivisions of the existing flora ; 
in fact, no fossil plants have been found 
which suggest the existence in the past of 
groups outside the limits of our Phanero- 
gamia, Pteridophyta, Bryophyta and Thal- 
lophyta. 

It cannot be said that the study of Paleo- 
botany has as yet made clear the ancestry 
and the descent of our existing flora. To 
begin with the angiospermous flowering 
plants, it has been ascertained that they 
make their first appearance in the Creta- 
ceous epoch, but we have no clue as to their 
origin. The relatively late appearance of 
Angiosperms in geological time suggests 
that they must have sprung from an older 
group, such as the Gymnosperms or the 
Pteridophyta; but there is no evidence to 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900.] 


definitely establish either, of these possible 
origins. Then as to the origin of the Gym- 
nosperms, whilst it cannot be doubted that 
they were derived from the Pteridophyta, 
the existing data are insufficient to enable 
us to trace their pedigree. The most an- 
cient family of Gymnosperms, the Cordait- 
acess, can be traced as far back as any 
known Pteridophyta, and cannot, therefore, 
have been derived from them; but the fact 
that the Cordaitacee exhibit certain cyca- 
dean affinities, and the discovery of the 
Cycadofilices, suggest that what may be 
termed the cycadean phylum of Gymno- 
sperms (including the Cordaitacee, Ben- 
nettitaceee, Cycadacee, and perhaps the 
Ginkgoacez) had its origin in a filicineous 
ancestry, of which, it must be admitted, no 
forms have as yet been recognized. 

Turning to the Pteridophyta, the origin 
of the Ferns is still quite unknown: the one 
fact which seems to be clear is that the eu- 
sporangiate forms (Marattiacez) are more 
primitive than the leptosporangiate. With 
regard to the Hquisetine, the Calamariaceze 
were no doubt the ancestors of the existing 
and of the fossil Equisetums. Similarly, in 
the Lycopodine, the paleozoic Lepidoden- 
draceze were the forerunners of the existing 
Lycopodiums and Selaginellas. The dis- 
covery of the Sphenophyllaceze seems to 
throw some further light upon the phylog- 
eny of these two groups, inasmuch as these 
plants possess characters which ’ indicate 
affinity with both the Equisetine and the 
Lycopodine, thus suggesting the possibility 
that they may have sprung from the same 
ancestral stock. 

To complete the geological survey of the 
vegetable kingdom I will briefly allude to 
the Bryophyta and the Thallophyta. Ow- 
ing no doubt to their delicate texture, the 
records of these plants have been found to 
be very incomplete. So much is this the 
case with the Bryophyta that I forbear to 
make any statement concerning them. The 


SCIENCE. 


465 


chief point of interest with regard to the 
Fungi is that most of those which have 
been discovered in the fossil state were 
found in the tissues of woody plants on 
which they were parasitic. In this way it 
has been possible to ascertain, with some 
probability, the existence of Bacteria and of 
mycelial Fungi in the Paleozoic period. 
The records of the Algee are more satis- 
factory ; they have been traced far back 
into the Paleozoic age, where they are rep- 
resented by siphonaceous forms and by the 
somewhat obscure plants known as Nemato- 
phycus and Pachytheca. 

In a general way the study of Paleobot- 
any has proved the development of higher 
from lower forms in the successive geolog- 
ical periods. Thus the Tertiary and Quat- 
ernary periods are characterized by the 
predominance of Angiosperms, just as the 
Mesozoic period is characterized by the pre- 
dominance of Gymnosperms, and the Pale- 
ozoic by the predominance of Pteridophyta. 
And yet, as I have been pointing out, we 
are not able to trace the ancestry of any one 
of the larger groups of plants. The chief 
reason for this is that the geological record, 
so far as it is known, has been found to 
break off with such surprising abruptness 
that the earliest, and, therefore, the most 
interesting, chapters in the evolution of 
plants are closed to us. After the wealth 
of plant-forms in the Carboniferous epoch 
there is a striking falling-off in the De- 
vonian, in which, however, plants of high 
organization, such as the Cordaitacez, the 
Calamariacee and the Lepidodendracez, 
still occur. In the Silurian epoch vas- 
cular plants are but sparingly present— 
but it is remarkable that any such highly 
organized plants should be found there 
—together with probable Algz, such as 
Nematophycus and Pachytheca. The Cam- 
brian rocks present nothing but so-called 
‘Fucoids,’ such as Hophyton, etc., some of 
which may be Alge. The only known fos- 


466 


sil in the oldest strata of all, the Archean, 
is the much-discussed Hozoon canadense, 
probably of animal origin ; but the occur- 
rence here of large deposits of graphite 
seems to indicate the existence of a consid- 
erable flora which has, unfortunately, be- 
come quite undeterminable. Thus, whilst 
there is some evidence that the primitive 
plants were Algze, there is at present no 
available record of the various stages 
through which the Silurian and Devonian 
vascular plants were evolved from them. 


MORPHOLOGY. 


If inquiry be made as to the cause of the 
great advance in the recognition of the true 
affinities of plants, and consequently in their 
classification, which distinguishes the nine- 
teenth century, I would refer it to the prog- 
ress made in the study of morphology. 
The earlier botanists regarded all the 
various parts of plants as ‘organs’ in re- 
lation to their supposed function; hence 
their description of plants was simply ‘ or- 
ganography.’ The idea of regarding the 
parts of the plant-body, not in connection 
with their functions, but with reference to 
their development and their mutual rela- 
tions, seems to have originated with Jung 
in the seventeenth century (1687): it was 
revived by C. F. Wolff about seventy years 
later (1759), but it did not materially af- 
fect the study of plants until well on in the 
nineteenth century, after Goethe had re- 
peatedly written on the subject and had de- 
vised the term ‘morphology’ to designate 
it. For a time this somewhat abstract 
mode of treatment led to mere theorizing 
and speculation, so much so that the years 
1820-1840 will always be stigmatized as 
the period of the ‘ Naturphilosophie.’ But 
fortunately this time of barrenness was 
succeeded by a veritable renascence. Rob- 
ert Brown and Henfrey in England ; Brong- 
niart, St. Hilaire, and Tulasne in France; 
Mohl, Schleiden, Naegeli, A. Braun and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


above all Hofmeister in Germany, led the 
way back from the pursuit of fantastic will- 
o’-the-wisps to the observation of actual 
fact. Instead of evolving schemes out of 
their own internal consciousness as to how 
plants ought to be constructed, they en- 
deavored to discover by the study of de- 
velopment, and more particularly of em- 
bryogeny, how they actually are constructed, 
with the result that within a decade Hof- 
meister discovered the alternation of gen- 
erations in the higher plants; a discovery 
which must ever rank as one of the most 
brilliant triumphs of morphological re- 
search. 

With the knowledge thus acquired it be- 
came possible to determine the true relations 
of the various parts of the plant-body ; to 
distinguish these parts as ‘ members’ rather 
than as ‘organs’; in a word, to establish 
homologies where hitherto only analogies 
had been traced—which is the essential dif- 
ference between morphology and organog- 
raphy. 

The publication of the ‘ Origin of Species > 
profoundly affected the progress of mor- 
phology, as of all branches of biological re- 
search ; but it did not alter its trend; it 
confirmed and extended it. We are not 
satisfied now with establishing homologies, 
but we go on to inquire into the origin and 
phylogeny of the members of the body. In 
illustration I may briefly refer to two prob- 
lems of this kind which at the present time 
are agitating the botanical world. The 
first is as to the origin of the alternation 
of generations. Did it come about by the 
modification of the sexual generation (game- 
tophyte) into an asexual (sporophyte); or 
is the sporophyte a new formation inter- 
calated into the life-history ? In a word, is 
the alternation of generations to be regarded 
as homologous or as antithetic? Iam not 
rash enough to express any opinion on this 
controversy; nor is it necessary that I 
should do so, since the subject has twice 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


been threshed out at recent meetings of 
this Section. The second problem is as to 
the origin of the sporophylls, and, indeed, 
of all the various kinds of leaves of the 
sporophyte in the higher plants. It is sug- 
gested, on the one hand, that the sporophylls 
of the Pteridophyta have arisen by gradual 
sterilization and segmentation from an un- 
segmented and almost wholly reproductive 
body, vepresented in our day by the sporo- 
gonium of the Bryophyta; and that the 
vegetative leaves have been derived by 
further sterilization from the sporophylls. 
On the other hand, it is urged that the 
vegetative leaves are the more primitive, 
and that the sporophylls have been de- 
rived from them. It will be at once ob- 
served that this second problem is in- 
timately connected with the first. The 
sterilization theory of the origin of leaves 
is a necessary consequence of the antithetic 
view of the alternation of generations; 
whilst the derivation of sporophylls from 
foliage-leaves is similarly associated with 
the homologous view. Here, again, ex- 
ercising a wise discretion, I will only ven- 
ture to express my appreciation of the im- 
portant work which has been done in 
connection with this controversy—work 
that will be equally valuable, whatever the 
issue may eventually be. 

I will conclude my remarks on morphol- 
ogy with a few illustrations of the aid 
which the advance in this department has 
given to the progress of classification. For 
instance, Linnzus divided plants into Phan- 
erogams and Cryptogams, on the ground 
that in the former the reproductive organs 
and processes are conspicuous, whereas 
in the latter they are obscure. In view 
of our increased knowledge of Cryptogams, 
this ground of distinction is no longer ten- 
able; whilst still recognizing the validity of 
the division, our reasons for doing so are 
altogether different. For us, Phanerogams 
are plants which produce a seed; Crypto- 


SCIENCE. 


467 


gams are plants which do not produce a 
seed. Again, we distinguish the Pterido- 
phyta and the Bryophyta from the Thallo- 
phyta, not on account of their more com- 
plex structure, but mainly on the ground 
that the alternation of generations is regular 
in the two former groups, whilst it is ir- 
regular or altogether wanting in the latter. 
Similarly the essential distinction between 
the Pteridophyta and the Bryophyta is that 
in the former the sporophyte, in the latter 
the gametophyte, is the preponderating 
form. It has enabled us further to correct 
in many respects the classifications of our 
predecessors by altering the systematic 
position of various genera, and sometimes 
of larger groups. Thus the Cycadace 
have been removed from among the Mono- 
cotyledons, and the Coniferze from among 
the Dicotyledons, where de Candolle placed 
them, and have been united with the Gneta- 
ceee into the sub-class Gymnosperme. The 
investigation of the development of the 
flower, in which Payer led the way, and 
the elaboration of the floral diagram which 
we owe to Hichler, have done much, though 
by no means all, to determine the affinities 
of doubtful Angiosperms, especially among 
those previously relegated to the lumber- 
room of the Apetale. 


ANATOMY AND HISTOLOGY. 


Passing now to the consideration of the 
progress of knowledge concerning the struc- 
ture of plants, the most important result to 
be chronicled is the discovery that the 
plant-body consists of living substance in- 
distinguishable from that of which the 
body of animals is composed. The earlier 
anatomists, whilst recognizing the cellular 
structure of plants, had confined their at- 
tention to the examination of the cell-walls, 
and described the contents as a watery 
or mucilaginous sap, without determining 
where or what was the seat of life. In 1831 
Robert Brown discovered the nucleus of 


468 


the cell, but there is no evidence that he 
regarded it as living. It was not until 
the renascence of research in the forties, 
to which I have already alluded, that 
any real progress in this direction was 
made. The cell-contents were especially 
studied by Naegeli and by Mohl, both of 
whom recognized the existence of a viscous 
substance lining the wall of all living cells 
asa ‘mucous layer’ or ‘ primordial utricle,’ 
but differing chemically from the substance 
of the wall by being nitrogenous: this they 
regarded as the living part of cell, and to it 
Mohl (1846) gave the name‘ protoplasm,’ 
which it still bears. The full significance 
of this discovery became apparent in a 
somewhat roundabout way. Dujardin, in 
1835, had described a number of lowly 
organisms, which he termed Infusoria, as 
consisting of a living substance, which he 
called ‘sarcode.’ Fifteen years later, in a 
remarkable paper on Protococcus pluvialis, 
Cohn drew attention to the similarity in 
properties between the ‘sarcode’ of the 
Infusoria and the living substance of this 
plant, and arrived at the brilliant generaliza- 
tion that the ‘ protoplasm’ of the botanists 
and the ‘ sarcode’ of the zoologists are iden- 
tical. Thus arose the great conception of 
the essential unity of life in all living things, 
which, thanks to the subsequent labors of 
such men as de Bary, Bricke, and Max 
Schultze, in the first instance, has become 
a fundamental canon of Biology. 

_ A conspicuous monument of this period 
of activity is the cell-theory propounded by 
Schwann in 1839. Briefly stated, Schwann’s 
theory was that all living bodies are 
built up of structural units which are the 
cells: each cell possesses an independent 
vitality, so that nutrition and growth are 
referable, not to the organism as a whole, 
but to the individual cells. This concep- 
tion of the structure of plants was accepted 
for many years, but it has had to give way 
before the advance of anatomical knowl- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vo. XII. No. 300. 


edge. The recognition of cell-division as 
the process by which the cells are multi- 
plied—in opposition to the Schleidenian 
theory of free cell-formation—early sug- 
gested doubts as to the propriety of regard- 
ing the body as being built up of cells as a 
wall is built of bricks. Later the minute 
study of the Thallophyta revealed the ex- 
istence of a number of plauts, such as 
Myxomycetes, the phycomycetous Fungi, 
and the siphonaceous Algze, some of them 
highly organized, the vegetative body of 
which does not consist of cells. It became 
clear that cellular structure is not essential 
to life; that it may be altogether absent or 
present in various degree. Thus in the 
higher plants the protoplasm is segmented 
or septated by walls into uninucleate units 
or ‘energids’ (Sachs), and such plants 
are well described as ‘completely septate.’ 
But in others, such as the higher Fungi and 
certain Algz (e. g., Cladophora, Hydrodic- 
tyon), the protoplasm is septated, not into 
energids, but into groups of energids, so 
that the body is ‘incompletely septate.’ 
Finally there are the Thallophyta already 
enumerated, in which there is complete 
continuity of the protoplasm: these are 
‘unseptate.’ Moreover, even when the 
body presents the most complete cellular 
structure, the energids are not isolated, but 
are connected by delicate protoplasmic 
fibrils traversing the intervening walls; a 
fact which is one of the most striking dis- 
coveries in the department of histology. 
This was first recognized in the sieve-tubes 
by Hartig (1837) ; then by Naegeli (1846) 
in the tissues of the Floridee. After a long 
period of neglect the matter was taken up 
once more by Tangi (1880), when it at- 
tracted the attention of many investigators, 
as the result of whose labors, especially 
those of Mr. Gardiner, the general and per- 
haps universal continuity of the protoplasm 
in cellular plants has been established. 
Hence the body is no longer regarded as 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


an aggregate of cells, but as a more or less 
septated mass of protoplasm: the synthetic 
standpoint of Schwann has been replaced 
by one as distinctively analytic. 

Time does not permit me to do more 
than mention the important discoveries 
made of late years, mainly on the initiative 
of Strasburger, with regard to the details 
of cytology, and especially to the structure 
of the nucleus and the intricate dance of 
the chromosomes in karyokinesis. Indeed, 
T can do but scant justice to those anatomical 
discoveries which are of more exclusively bo- 
tanical interest. One important generaliza- 
tion which may be drawn is that the histo- 
logical differentiation of the plant proceeds, 
not in the protoplasm, as in the animal, but 
in the cell-wall. It is remarkable, on the 
one hand, how similar the protoplasm is, 
not only in different parts of the same body, 
but in plants of widely different affinities ; 
and, on the other, what diversity the cell- 
wall offers in thickness, chemical composi- 
tion, and physical properties. In studying 
the differentiation of the cell-wall the bot- 
anist has received valuable aid from the 
chemist. Research in this direction may, 
in fact, be said to have begun with Payen’s 
fundamental discovery (1844) that the 


characteristic and primary chemical con-_ 


stituent of the cell- wall is the carbohydrate 
which he termed cellulose. 

The amount of detailed knowledge as to 
the anatomy of plants which has been ac- 
cumulated during the century by count- 
less workers, among whom Mohl, Naegeli, 
Unger, and Sanio deserve special mention 
as pioneers, is very great—so great, indeed, 
that it seemed as if it must remain a mere 
mass of facts in the absence of any recog- 
nizable general principles which might 
serve to marshal the facts into a science. 
The first step towards a morphology of the 
tissues was Hanstein’s investigation of the 
growing point of the Phanerogams (1868), 
and his recognition therein of the three 


SCIENCE. 


469 


embryonic tissue-systems. This has lately 
been further developed by the promulgation 
of van Tieghem’s theory of the stele, which 
is merely the logical outcome of Hanstein’s 
distinction of the plerome. It has thus be- 
come possible to determine the homologies 
of the tissue-systems in different plants and 
to organize the facts of structure into a 
scientific comparative anatomy. It has 
become apparent that, in many cases, dif- 
ferences of structure are immediately trace- 
able to the influence of the environment ; 
in fact, the study of physiological or adapt- 
ive anatomy is now a large and important 
branch of the subject. 

The study of Anatomy has contributed 
in some degree to the progress of systematic 
Botany. It is true that some of the more 
ambitious attempts to base classification on 
Anatomy have not been successful ; such, 
for instance, as de Candolle’s subdivision 
of Phanerogams into Exogens and Endo- 
gens, or the subdivision of Cormophyta 
into Acrobrya, Amphibrya, and Acram- 
phibrya, proposed by Unger and Endlicher. 
Still it cannot be denied that anatomical 
characters have been found useful, if not 
absolutely conclusive, in suggesting af- 
finities, especially in the determination of 
fossil remains. A large proportion of our 
knowledge of extinct plants, to which I 
have already alluded, is based solely upon 
the anatomical structure of the vegetative 
organs; and although affinities inferred 
from such evidence cannot be regarded as 
final, they suffice for a provisional classifi- 
cation until they are confirmed or dis- 
proved by the discovery and investigation 
of the reproductive organs. 


PHYSIOLOGY. 


The last branch of the botanical science 
which I propose to pass in review is that of 
physiology. We may well begin with the 
nutritive processes. At the close of the 
eighteenth century there was practically no 


470 


coherent theory of nutrition; such as it 
was it amounted to little more than the 
conclusion arrived at by van Helmont a 
century and a half earlier, that plants re- 
quire only water for their food, and are 
able to form from it all the different constit- 
uents of their bodies. It is true that the 
important discovery had been made and 
pursued by Priestley (1772), Ingen-Housz 
(1780), and Sénébier (1782) that green 
plants exposed to light absorb carbon 
dioxide and evolve free oxygen; but this 
gaseous interchange had not been shown to 
be the expression of a nutritive process. 
At the opening of the nineteenth century 
(1804) this connection was established by 
de Saussure, in his classical ‘ Recherches 
chimiques,’ who demonstrated that, whilst 
absorbing carbon dioxide and evolving 
oxygen, green plants gain in dry weight ; 
and he further contributed to the elucida- 
tion of the problem of nutrition by show- 
ing that, whilst assimilating carbon dioxide, 
green plants also assimilate the hydrogen 
and oxygen of water. 

Three questions naturally arose in con- 
nection with de Saussure’s statement of the 
case: What is the nature of the organic 
substance formed? What is the function 
of the chlorophyll? What is the part 
played by light? It was far on in the 
century before answers were forthcoming. 

With regard to the first of these questions, 
the researches of Boussingault (1864) and 
others established the fact that the volume 
of carbon dioxide absorbed and that of 
oxygen evolved in connection with the proc- 
ess are approximately equal. Further, 
the frequent presence of starch in the 
chloroplastids, to which Mohl first drew 
attention (1837), was subsequently found 
by Sachs (1862) to be closely connected 
with the assimilation of carbon dioxide. 
The conclusion drawn from these facts is 
that the gain in dry weight accompanying 
the assimilation of carbon dioxide is due to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


the formation, in the first instance, of or- 
ganic substance having the composition of 
a carbohydrate ; a conclusion which may 
be expressed by the equation : 


CO, + H,O = CH,0 + 0,. 


The questions with regard to chlorophyll 
and to light are so intimately connected 
that they must be considered together. 
The first step towards their solution was 
the investigation of the relative activity of 
light of different colors, originally under- 
taken by Sénébier (1782) and subsequently 
repeated by Daubeny (1836), with the result 
that red and orange light was found to pro- 
mote assimilation in a higher degree than 
blue or violet light. Shortly afterwards 
Draper (1848), experimenting with an 
actual solar spectrum, concluded that the 
most active rays are the orange and yellow ; 
a conclusion which was generally accepted 
for many years. But in the meantime the 
properties of the green coloring matter of 
plants (to which Pelletier and Caventou 
gave the name ‘ chlorophyll’ in 1817) were 
being investigated. Brewster discovered 
in 1834 that an alcoholic extract of green 
leaves presents a characteristic absorption 
spectrum ; but many years elapsed before 
any attempt was made to connect this 
property with the physiological activity of 
chlorophyll. It was not until 1871-72 that 
Lommel and N. J. C. Miller pointed out 
that the rays of the spectrum which are 
most completely absorbed by chlorophyll 
are just those which are most efficient in 
the assimilation of carbon dioxide. Sub- 
sequent researches, particularly those of 
Timiriazeff (1877), and those of Engelmann 
(1882-84) based on his ingenious Bac- 
terium-method, have confirmed the views 
of Lommel and of Miller, and have placed 
it beyond doubt that the importance of light 
in the assimilatory process is that it is the 
form of kinetic energy necessary to effect 
the chemical changes, and that the function 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


of chlorophyll is to serve as the means of 
absorbing this energy and of making it 
available for the plant. 

These are perhaps the most striking dis- 
coveries in relation to the nutrition of 
plants, but there are others of not less im- 
portance to which brief allusion must be 
made. We owe to de Saussure (1804) the 
first clear demonstration of the fact that 
plants derive an important part of their 
food from the soil; but the relative nutri- 
tive value of the inorganic salts absorbed 
in solution was not ascertained until Sachs 
(1858) reintroduced the method of water- 
culture which had originated centuries 
before with Woodward (1699) and had been 
practiced by Duhamel (1768) and de Saus- 
sure. Special interest centers around the 
question of the nitrogenous nutrition of 
plants. It was long held, chiefly on the 
authority of Priestley and of Ingen-Housz, 
and in spite of the contrary opinion ex- 
pressed by Sénébier, Woodhouse (1803), 
and de Saussure, that plants absorb the free 
nitrogen of the atmosphere by their leaves. 
This view was not finally abandoned until 
1860, when the researches of Boussingault 
and of Lawes and Gilbert deprived it of all 
foundation. Since then we have learned 
that the free nitrogen of the air can be 
made available for nutrition—not indeed 
directly by green plants themselves, but, as 
Berthelot and Winogradsky more especially 
have shown, by Bacteria in the soil, or, as 
apparently in the Leguminose, by Bacteria 
actually enclosed in the roots of the plants 
with which they live symbiotically. 

We turn now from the nutritive or ana- 
bolic processes to those which are catabolic. 
The discovery of the latter, just as of the 
former, was arrived at by the investigation 
of the gaseous interchange between the 
plant and the atmosphere. In the eight- 
eenth century Scheele and Priestley had 
found that, under certain circumstances, 
plants deteriorate the quality of air; but it 


SCIENCE. 


471 


is to Ingen-Housz that we owe the discovery 
that plants, like animals, respire, taking in 
oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. And 
when Sénébier (1800) had ascertained for 
the inflorescence of Arum maculatum, and 
later de Saussure (1822) for other flowers, 
that active respiration is associated with an 
evolution of heat, the connection between 
respiration and catabolism was established 
for plants as it had been long before by 
Lavoisier (1777) in the case of animals. 
‘Among the catabolic processes which 
have been investigated none are of greater 
importance than those that are designated 
by the general term fermentations. The 
first of these to be discovered was the alco- 
holic fermentation of sugar. Towards the 
end of the seventeenth century Leeuwen- 
hoek had detected minute globules in fer- 
menting wort; and a century later Lavoi- 
sier had ascertained that the chemical 
process consists in the decomposition of 
sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; but 
it was not until 1837-88 that, almost simul- 
taneously, Cagniard de Lateur, Schwann, 
and Kutzing discovered that Leeuwen- 
hoek’s globules were living organisms, and 
were the cause of the fermentation. Shortly 
before, in 1833, Payen and Persoz extracted 
from malt a substance named diastase, 
which they found could convert the starch 
of the grain into sugar. These two classes 
of bodies, causing fermentative changes, 
were distinguished respectively as organized 
and unorganized ferments. The number of 
the former was rapidly added to by the in- 
vestigation more especially of the Bacteria, 
in which Pasteur led the way. The exten- 
sion of our knowledge of the unorganized 
ferments, or enzymes, has been even more 
remarkable: we now know that very many 
of the metabolic processes are effected by 
various enzymes, such as those which con- 
vert the more complex carbohydrates into 
others of simpler constitution (diastase, 
cytase, glucase, inulase, invertase); those 


472 


which decompose glucosides (emulsin, my- 
rosin, etc.); those which act on proteids 
(trypsins) and on fats (lipases); the oxi- 
dases, which cause the oxidation of various 
organic substances; and the zymase, re- 
cently extracted from yeast, which causes 
alcoholic fermentation. 

The old distinction of the microorgan- 
isms as ‘organized ferments’ is no longer 
tenable; for, on the one hand, certain of 
the chemical changes which they effect can 
be traced to extractable enzymes which 
they produce ; and, on the other, as Pasteur 
has asserted, every living cell may become 
an ‘ organized ferment’ under appropriate 
conditions. The distinction now to be 
drawn is between those processes which are 
due to enzymes and those directly effected 
by living protoplasm. Many now definitely 
ineluded in the former class were, until] 
lately, regarded as belonging to the latter ; 
and no doubt future investigation will still 
further increase the number of the former 
at the expense of the latter. 

The consideration of the metabolic proc- 
esses leads naturally to that of the func- 
tion of transpiration and of the means by 
which water and substances in solution are 
distributed in the plant. This is perhaps 
the department of physiology in which prog- 
ress during the nineteenth century has 
been least marked. We have got rid, it is 
true, of the old idea of an ascending crude 
sap and of a descending elaborated sap, but 
there have been no fundamental discoveries. 
With regard to transpiration itself, we know 
more of the detail of the process, but that 
is all that can be said. As for root-pres- 
sure, Hofmeister (1858-82) discovered that 
‘bleeding ’—as the phenomena of root- 
pressure were termed by the earlier writers 
—is not confined, as had hitherto been 
thought, to trees and shrubs ; but the cur- 
rent theory of the process, allowing for the 
discovery of protoplasm and of osmosis, 
has advanced but little upon that given by 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


Grew in the third book of his ‘ Anatomy of 
Plants’ (1675). Again, the mechanism of 
the transpiration-current in lofty trees re- 
mains an unsolved problem. To begin with, 
there is still some doubt as to the exact 
channel in which the current travels. 
Knight (1801-8) first proved that the cur- 
rent travels in the alburnum of the trunk, 
but not, he thought, in the vessels, for he 
found them to be dry in the summer, when 
transpiration is most active; a view in 
which Dutrochet (1837) subsequently con- 
curred. Meyen (1838) then suggested that 
the water must travel, not in the lumina, 
but in the substance of the cells of the 
vessels, and was supported by such eminent 
physiologists as Hofmeister (1858), Unger 
(1864, 1868), and Sachs (1878) ; but it has 
since been strongly asserted by Boehm, 
Elfving, Vesque, Hartig, and Strasburger 
that the young vessels always contain 
water, and that the current travels in the 
lumina and not in the walls of the vessels. 

Now as to the force by which the water 
of the transpiration-current is raised from 
the roots to the topmost leaf of a lofty tree. 
From the point of view that the water 
travels in the substance of the walls, the 
necessary force need not be great, and would 
be amply provided by the transpiration of 
the leaves, inasmuch as the weight of the 
water raised would be supported by the 
force of imbibition of the walls. From the 
point of view that the water travels in the 
lumina, the force required to raise and sup- 
port such long columns of water must be 
considerable. Dismissing at once as quite 
inadequate such purely physical theories as 
those of capillarity and gas-pressure, there 
remain two theories as to the nature of this 
force which resemble each other in being 
essentially vitalistic, but differ in that the 
one involves pressure from below, and the 
other suction from above. In the one, sug- 
gested by Godlewski and by Westermaier 
(1884), the cells of the medullary rays and 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


of the wood-parenchyma are supposed to 
absorb liquid from the vascular tissue at 
one level and force it back again by a vital 
act at a higher level: this theory was dis- 
posed of by the fact that the transpiration- 
current can be maintained through a con- 
siderable length of a stem killed by heat or 
by poison. In the other, suggested by 
Dixon and Joly (1895-99), and also by 
Askenasy (1895-96), it is assumed that 
there are, in the trunk of a transpiring 
tree, continuous columns of water which 
are in a state of tensile stress, the tension 
being set up by the vital transpiratory 
activity of the leaves. Some idea of the 
enormous tension thus assumed is given by 
the following simple calculation relating to 
a tree 120 feet high. Not only has the 
liquid to be raised to this height, but in its 
passage upwards a resistance calculated to 
be equal to about five times the height of 
the tree has to be overcome. Hence the 
transpiration-force in such a tree must at 
least equal the weight of a column of water 
720 feet in height; that is, a pressure of 
about twenty-four atmospheres, or 360 lbs. 
to the square inch. But there is no evi- 
dence to prove that a tension of anything 
like twenty atmospheres exists, as a matter 
of fact, in a transpiring tree; on the con- 
trary, such observations as exist (e. g., those 
of Hales and Boehm) indicate much lower 
tensions. Under these circumstances we 
must regretfully confess that yet one more 
century has closed without bringing the 
solution of the secular problem of the ascent 
of the sap. 

The nineteenth century has been, fortu- 
nately, more fertile in discovery concerning 
the movements and irritability of plants. 
But it is surprising how much knowledge on 
these points had been accumulated by the 
' beginning of the century : the facts of plant- 
movement, such as the curvatures due to 
the action of light, the sleep-movements of 
leaves and flowers, the contact-movements 


SCIENCE. 


473 


of the leaves of the sensitives, were all fa- 
miliar. The nineteenth century opened, 
then, with a considerable store of facts; 
but what was lacking was an interpretation 
of them; and whilst it has largely added to 
the store, its most important work has been 
done in the direction of explanation. 

The first event of importance was the 
discovery by Knight, in 1806, of the fact 
that the stems and roots of plants are irri- 
table to the action of gravity and respond to 
it by assuming definite directions of growth. 
Many years later the term ‘ geotropism’ was 
introduced by Frank (1868) to designate 
the phenomena of growth as affected by 
gravity, and at the same time Frank an- 
nounced the important discovery that dor- 
siventral members, such as leaves, behave 
quite differently from radial members, such 
as stems and roots, in that they are diageo- 
tropic. 

It was a long time before the irritability 
of plants to the action of light was recog- 
nized. Chiefly on the authority of de Can- 
dolle (to whom we owe the term ‘ heliotro- 
pism’), heliotropic curvature was accounted 
for by assuming that the one side received 
less light than the other, and therefore 
grew the more rapidly. But the researches 
of Sachs (1873) and Muller-Thurgau (1876) 
have made it clear that the direction of the 
incident rays is the important point, and 
that a radial stem, obliquely illuminated, 
is stimulated to curve until its long axis co- 
incides with the incident rays. Moreover, 
the discovery by Knight (1812) of negative 
heliotropism in the tendrils of Vitis and 
Ampelopsis really put the Candollean theory 
quite out of court; and further evidence 
that heliotropic movements are a response 
to the stimulus of the incident rays of light 
is afforded by Frank’s discovery of the dia- 
heliotropism of dorsiventral members. 

The question of the localization of irrita- 
bility has received a good deal of attention. 
The fact that the under surface of the pul- 


474 


vinus of Mimosa pudica is alone sensitive to 
contact was ascertained by Burnett and 
Mayo in 1827; and shortly after (1834) 
Curtis discovered the sensitiveness of the 
hairs on the upper surface of the leaf of 
Dionea. After a long period of neglect the 
subject was taken up by Darwin. The ir- 
ritability of tendrils to contact had been 
discovered by Mohl in 1827; but it was 
Darwin who ascertained, in 1865, that it is 
confined to the concavity near the tip. In 
1875 Darwin found that the irritability of 
the tentacles of Drosera is localized in the 
terminal gland; and followed this up, in 
1880, by asserting that the sensitiveness of 
the root is localized in the tip, which acts 
like a brain. This assertion led to a great 
deal of controversy, but the researches of 
Pfeffer and Czapek (1894) have finally es- 
tablished the correctness of Darwin’s con- 
clusion. It is interesting to recall that 
Erasmus Darwin had suggested the possible 
existence of a brain in plants in his ‘ Phy- 
tologia’ (1800). But the word ‘brain’ is 
misleading, inasmuch as it might imply 
sensation and consciousness: it would be 
more accurate to speak of centers of gan. 
glionic activity. However, the fact remains 
that there exist in plants irritable centers 
which not only receive stimuli but transmit 
impulses to those parts by which the conse- 
quent movement is effected. The transmis- 
sion of stimuli has been found in the case 
of Mimosa pudica to be due to the propaga- 
tion of a disturbance of hydrostatic equilib- 
rium along a special tissue ; in other cases, 
where the distance to be traversed is small, 
it is probably effected by means of that con- 
tinuity of the protoplasm to which I have 
already alluded. 

Finally, as regards the mechanism of 
these movements, we find Sénébier and Ru- 
dolphi, the earliest writers on the subject 
in the nineteenth century, asserting, as if 
against some accepted view, that there is 
no structure in a plant comparable with 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 300. 


the muscle of an animal. Rudolphi (1807) 
suggested, as an alternative, that the posi- 
tion of a mobile leaf is determined by the 
‘turgor vitalis’ of the pulvinus, and thus 
anticipated the modern theory of the mech- 
anism. But he gives no explanation of 
what he means by ‘turgor’; and the term 
is frequently used by writers in the first 
half of the century in the same vague way. 
Some progress was made in consequence of 
the discovery of osmosis by Dutrochet 
(1828), and more especially by his observa- 
tion (1837) that the movements of Jimosa 
are dependent on the presence of oxygen, and 
are therefore vital. But it was not, and 
could not be, until the existence of living 
protoplasm in the cells of plants was real- 
ized, and the movements of free-swimming 
organisms and naked reproductive cells had 
become more familiar, that the true nature 
of the mechanism began to be understood; 
and then we find Cohn saying, as long ago 
as 1860, that ‘ the living protoplasmic sub- 
stance is the essentially contractile portion 
of the cell.’ This statement may, perhaps, 
seem to put the case too bluntly and savor 
too much of animal analogy ; but the study 
of the conditions of turgidity has shown 
more and more clearly that the protoplasm 
is the predominant factor. The protoplasm 
of plant-cells is undoubtedly capable of 
rapid molecular changes, which alter its 
physical properties, more particularly its 
permeability to the cell-sap. It may be 
that these changes cannot be directly com- 
pared with those going on in animal muscle; 
but if we use the term ‘ contractility ’ in its 
wider sense, as indicating a general prop- 
erty of which muscular contraction is a 
special case, then Cohn’s statement is fully 
justified. This is borne out by the obser- 
vations of Sir J. Burdon-Sanderson (1882- 
88) on the electrical changes taking place 
in the stimulated leaf of Dionwa, and by 
Kunkel’s (1878) corresponding observations 
on Mimosa publica : in both eases the electri- 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


cal changes were found to be essentially the 
same as those observable on the stimulation 
of muscle. We find, then, that the ad- 
vances in Physiology, like those in Anat- 
omy, teach the essential unity of life in all 
living things, whether we call them animals 
or plants. 

With this in our minds we may go on to 
consider in conclusion, and very briefly, 
that department of physiological study 
which is known as the Bionomics or Cicol- 
ogy of plants. In the earlier part of the 
century this subject was studied more es- 
pecially with regard to the distribution of 
plants, and their relation to soil and climate; 
but since the publication of the ‘Origin of 
Species’ the purview has been greatly ex- 
tended. It then became necessary to study 
the relation of plants, not only to inorganic 
conditions, but to each other and to ani- 
mals; in a word, to study all the adap- 
tations of the plant with reference to 
the struggle for existence. The result has 
been the accumulation of a vast amount 
of most interesting information. For in- 
stance, we are now fairly well acquainted 
with the adaptations of water-plants (hy- 
drophytes) on the one hand and of des- 
ert-plants (xerophytes) on the other; 
with the adaptations of shade-plants and of 
those growing in full sun, especially as re- 
gards the protection of the chlorophyll. 
We have learned a great deal as to the re- 
lations of plants to each other, such as the 
peculiarities of parasites, epiphytes, and 
climbing plants, and as to those singular 
symbioses (Mycorhiza) of the higher plants 
with Fungi which have been found to be 
characteristic of saprophytes. Then, again, 
as to the relations between plants and ani- 
mals: the adaptation of flowers to attract 
the visits of insects, first discovered by 
Sprengel (1793), has been widely studied , 
the protection of the plant against the at- 
tacks of animals, by means of thorns and 
spines on the surface, as also by the forma- 


SCIENCE. 


475 


tion in its tissues of poisonous or distasteful 
substances, and even by the hiring of an 
army of mercenaries in the form of ants, 
has been elucidated ; and finally those cases 
in which the plant turns the tables upon 
the animal, and captures and digests him, 
are now fully understood. 


CONCLUSION. 


Imperfect as is the sketch which I have 
now completed, it will, I think, suffice to 
show how remarkable has been the prog- 
ress of the science during the nineteenth 
century, more particularly the latter part of 
it, and how multifarious are the directions 
in which it has developed. In fact Botany 
can no longer be regarded as a single sci- 
ence: it has grown and branched into a 
congeries of sciences. And as we botanists 
regard with complacency the flourishing 
condition of the science whose servants we 
are, let us not forget, on the one hand, to 
do honor to those whose life work it was to 
make the way straight for us, and whose 
conquests have become our peaceful posses- 
sion ; nor, on the other, that it lies with us 
so to carry on the good work that when 
this Section meets a hundred years hence 
it may be found that the achievements of — 
the twentieth century do not lag behind 
those of the nineteenth. 

8. H. VINEs. 


THE METHOD OF TYPES IN BOTANICAL 
NOMENCLATURE.* 

For many decades the systematic botany 
of the United States can scarcely be said to 
have had a history separate from that of 
Europe, so extensively were our treasures 
exploited by transient visitors, while resi- 
dent students of the science long remained 

* Read at the New York meeting of the Botanical 
Club of the A. A. A. S., through the kindness of Mr. 
Charles Louis Pollard. On motion the paper was re- 
ferred to the Committee on Nomenclature and the au- 


thor was requested to offer it for publication in Scr- 
ENCE. 


476 


dependent upon European patrons and cor- 
respondents. But even after a considerable 
independent development had been reached 
in this country, botany remained central- 
ized to the extent that the writings of a 
very few masters constituted a large per- 
centage of the published output of the sci- 
ence, and scarcely less in America than in 
England was the taxonomic side dominated 
by the spirit and methods of the brilliant 
coterie of Kew systematists. It was in- 
evitable, however, with the spread of sci- 
entific knowledge and the quickening of in- 
terest in biological subjects, that the time 
should come when systematic activity could 
be confined no longer to a few herbaria, 
when botany like other sciences must be 
decentralized. Though this fact has been 
deplored, especially by those who had en- 
joyed a more or less complete monopoly of 
opportunity, it must be admitted that sci- 
entific study is one of the natural rights of 
man about which no artificial barriers can 
be maintained. Moreover, systematic bot- 
any reached a stage when it became evident 
that the last word could not be spoken from 
the herbarium, and that the results of local 
field study are legitimate subjects for rec- 
ord and publication. As long as a few men 
contented themselves with the issue of a 
few large treatises per decade, inequalities 
in their taxonomic views or methods of 
nomenclature caused comparatively little 
difficulty, each generation following with- 
out serious confusion the recognized au- 
thority of its time. But as workers multi- 
plied, the annoyances of contemporary 
differences became so great that the desire 
for uniformity gradually erystallized into a 
movement for the formulation of a rational 
code of nomenclature by which all might 
be guided. 

As often happens in reform movements, 
a single issue became prominent, and atten- 
tion was chiefly directed to the correction 
of what had come to be regarded as a fla- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 300. 


grant and unreasonable abuse of the power 
of arbitrary change of names. The prop- 
Osition known as the ‘Kew Rule,’ to the 
effect that a species might be renamed 
whenever transferred to another genus was 
emphatically negatived in the interest of a 
consistent application of the principle of 
priority. This does not mean that such a 
rule was essentially illogical, any more than 
was the other custom of eighteenth century 
botanists who set aside by wholesale the 
genera of their predecessors, substituting 
their own improved concepts and more 
euphonious names. Neither was the chang- 
ing of specific names anything new; it had 
been customary throughout the history of 
systematic botany, but the time had passed 
when the scientific public could be trified 
with, even by the specialist sure of the 
finality of his own conclusions. 

In spite of minor features which still 
seem objectionable to many botanists, such 
as the supplanting of specific names by 
varietal, and the use of duplicate binomials, 
the ‘Rochester Rules’ have proved to be 
a most valuable piece of progressive leg- 
islation, the general wisdom and logical 
authority of which it is not necessary to 
question. At the same time itis unfortu- 
nate that many seem to have expected the 
new code to be final and perfect, even in 
matters which did not come before the 
minds of those who prepared it, but a 
disappointment in this regard should be 
no real hindrance to the consideration of 
other possible improvements in nomencla- 
torial procedure. Such finality of creeds is 
scarcely to be expected in progessive sci- 
ences, notwithstanding the eminent de- 
sirability of permanence and uniformity. 
The Rochester Code affirms the supremacy 
of the principle of priority and provides 
for its universal application in the nomen- 
clature of species. The successful initiation 
and satisfactory progress of this measure 
but makes plainer the need of a similarly 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


salutary regulation for determining the ap- 
plication and precedence of generic names. 
Although sometimes believed to have been 
adequately dealt with, this question was 
only indirectly touched upon by the Ro- 
chester Rules, which simply re-enacted by 
implication the generally neglected pro- 
visions of the Paris Code of 1867. This 
legislation can no longer be considered au- 
thoritative, since it was based on the pre- 
Darwinian doctrine that species are special 
creations and that the categories of classi- 
fication are mere mental concepts, instead 
of groups of individuals having a common 
origin and phylogenetic relationships. As 
a concept, there is no particular reason 
why a genus should not be emended, sub- 
divided or set aside entirely if found er- 
roneous, but as a group of related species 
for which a permanent common name is de- 
sired, the genus should no longer be treated 
by the formal or conceptual method. Ob- 
viously, it is far more important, as well as 
more scientific and more practical, that a 
part of organized nature have a fixed des- 
ignation than that naturalists continue to 
waste their energy in investigating the ap- 
plicability and adjusting the claims of the 
varied succession of rival concepts. Al- 
though to many the genus appears to be 
less tangible than the species, it is possible 
to guarantee to it the permanence and 
stability now enjoyed by the species under 
the Rochester Code. By considering a 
single species the nomenclatorial type of 
its genus, to which the name is to remain 
inseparably attached, we place upon firm 
ground and solidify to the point of general 
tangibility and comprehension the misty 
fabric of conceptual classification. 

At the Springfield meeting of the Botan- 
ical Club where the legislation begun at Ro- 
chester was concluded by the acceptance of 
the report of the Nomenclature Committee, 
an attempt was made to secure attention 
for this matter of definite priority for genera 


SCIENCE. 


ATT 


by the recognition of a method of fixing the 
types. The necessity of some such pro- 
cedure in carrying out a satisfactory re- 
vision of at least one group of organisms 
was explained in a paper entitled ‘ Personal 
Nomenclature in the Myxomycetes.’* 

It appeared, however, that those who had 
been most zealous for the reform of specific 
nomenclature had not the same appreciation 
of the problems of generic taxonomy, per- 
haps because the illogical and unstable re- 
sults of the method of concepts are less 
obvious in dealing with the higher plants, 
and especially with the European and North 
American floras in which the species of the 
older writers are nearly always identifiable, 
at least to the extent of determining their 
generic relationships. It is thus usually 
possible to apply the so-called method of 
residues or elimination under which the 
type species or a genusare held to be those 
of the original complement which have not 
been removed. But by this rule it is often 
quite impossible to fix the application of a 
generic name to one group of species when 
several were enumerated under the generic ~ 
name at its first appearance. Thus if the 
three original species of a genus are found 
to belong to as many natural groups the 
decision as to which shall have the use of 
the name often depends, in final analysis, 
not upon anything which can be learned by 
consulting the original or subsequent de- 
scriptions, or even the type specimens, but 

*Subsequently published in the Bulletin of the 
Torrey Botanical Club, Oct. 1895, xxii, 431-434. 
The present and related questions of taxonomy have 
algo been discussed under these titles: ‘ Stability in 
Generic Nomenclature,’ SCIENCE, Aug. 12, 1898, viii, 
186-190, ‘The Method of Types,’ ScrENCE, Oct. 14, 
1898, viii, 513-516, and ‘ Four Categories of Species,’ 
American Naturalist, April, 1899, xxxiii, 287-297. 
In his ‘ Review of the Genera of Ferns proposed prior 
to 1832,’ Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club, Dec. 
1899, vi, 247-283, Professor Underwood has re- 
stated and applied the method of types, with excep- 
tions required by the present limitations of the 
Rochester Rules. 


478 


upon the present monographer’s views as 
to the relationship of the species with others 
included under other concepts named by 
writers previous or subsequent to the date 
of the genus under investigation. Thus, 
to take a very simple case, if there were 
a genus A described in 1830 with three 
species of which a is nearest related to d, of 
genus B, 1840, b is nearest related to e, 
of genus C, 1820, while c is nearest related 
to f, of genus D, 1850, we have already 
under the method of elimination a series of 
varying alternatives: 

1. If the genera B and C be deemed 
valid, D cannot be separated, but is con- 
sidered synonymous with A. 

2. The systematist who decides that B 
is invalid applies A to a and d and may 
recognize D as a good genus. 

3. If C be treated as invalid A may be 
applied to 6 and e, B and D being con- 
sidered good. 

Thus while it may be theoretically pos- 
sible for a monographer to arrange to his 
own satisfaction the relations of the dif- 
ferent genera, a change of taxonomic 
opinion affects not only the supposed limits 
of the genera but may necessitate a totally 
different application of the name A to any 
one of the three groups of species. And 
when we reflect that the complications are 
increased in almost geometrical ratio when 
the species are more numerous and when 
the question of the validity of B, Cor D 
may be subject to equally great complica- 
tions from other aspects of their real or 
supposed relationships, it becomes evident 
that the conceptual method of elimination 
involves an endless chain of casuistry, and 
is a counsel of darkness and confusion 
rather than of stability and perspicacity. 
Moreover, in the lower plants and animals 
the large composite genera of the earlier 
writers are in many cases now distributed, 
not merely to different families, but even to 
different orders and classes, so that the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


elucidation of some of the more difficult 
eases of residual taxonomy would require 
months of unprofitable labor in different 
parts of the biological field, and yet the 
conclusions could have only individual 
sanction, no steps in the process being 
secure with the exception of those which 
deal with genera described as monotypic. 
The designation of type species by a simple 
and uniform method would, however, 
render the application of all generic names 
equally definite, and would largely elimi- 
nate the personal equations which have 
thus far added immeasurably to the labor 
of biologic taxonomy, and which continue 
to hamper all efforts to popularize the 
science. 

Although, as previously noted, the Roch- 
ester Rules gave a tacit adherence to the 
method of elimination, the case is not, in 
reality, that of supplanting one method of 
procedure by another, since with the pos- 
sible exception of a small proportion of the 
flowering plants the method of elimination 
has never been consistently applied in any 
part of the botanical series. Most botanists, 
Continental, English and American, have 
continued to deal with genera in a manner 
purely personal and arbitrary. Seldom has 
there been any formal recognition of a type 
much less the choice of one by any fixed 
rule. Genera have often.been deprived of 
all their original species and made to do 
duty for an entirely new set, with or with- 
out modification of the original description. 

The conditions obtaining in the earlier 
genera of ferns have been investigated by 
Professor Underwood, and found to be much 
the same asin the Myxomycetes and Fungi, 
while a brief excursion among the palms 
reveals the persistence there of the spirit of 
lawlessness. The genus Oreodoxa, for ex- 
ample, was based on two species, one of 
which is now placed in Euterpe, and the 
other in Oatoblastus, while the name Oreodoxa 
has been applied without warrant to the 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


royal palm and its allies, which have never 
been designated by a correct generic name,* 
whether the difficulty be adjusted by the 
method of elimination or by the method of 
types. Of course it is not necessary that 
the types of phanerogams should be fixed 
by the same method as in the other groups, 
but all phanerogamists are not likely to re- 
main contented with an illogical and faulty 
method, and it is scarcely to be expected 
that the Committee on Types appointed at 
the Buffalo meeting, will bring in recom- 
mendations for a variety of usage in a 
matter of so much importance. 

In the incorporation of the desired legis- 
lation into the Rochester Code a large vari- 
ety of courses might be followed, but for 
present purposes it may be sufficient to 
point out that these lie between two gen- 
eral policies, either of which may be devel- 
oped in such form as to be both logical and 
practical. If we adhere strictly to the bi- 
nomial system, to 1753, and to the ‘ Species 
Plantarum,’ we must reconcile ourselves 
to the misapplication of the pre-Linnzan 
names or treat them as exceptions and pro- 
vide for the assignment of types by a com- 
mittee or a congress, thus disposing at once 
of many bibliographic complications. This 
would be in accordance with the argument 
advanced by some of the advocates of the 
Rochester Code, that the process of revi- 
sion of cryptogamic as well as of phanero- 
gamic genera would be greatly simplified 
by relief from the incubus of the pre-Lin- 
nan and non-binomial literature, an ex- 
pectation which undoubtedly influenced 
many in favor of that legislation. It tran- 
spired, however, that instead of adhering to 
the logical consequences of the adoption of 
a nomenclature of genera and species based 


*A new genus Roystonea is proposed, differing 
from Oreodoxa in the solitary growth, the double 
spathe and other characters. The type is R. regia 
(HBK), Noy. Gen. et Sp. 1: 305, originally de- 
scribed from Cuba. 


SCIENCE. 


479 


on the binomial system with the ‘ Species 
Plantarum’ as a starting point, the very 
committee which had framed the rules fell 
into the practice of interpreting Linneus 
through the works of his predecessors in- 
stead of establishing the usage and identifi- 
cations of his followers, thus rendering the 
date 1753 merely an arbitrary limit for 
citations, and virtually abandoning all the 
advantages which might have been secured 
by a consistent adherence to the original 
import of the Rochester Code, as far as it 
affected the taxonomy of genera. More- 
over, in addition to the re-introduction of 
this complication, there was unearthed a 
large body of irrelevant, non-binomial lit- 
erature issued subsequent to 1753, much of 
which had rested in merited oblivion for 
upward of a century. To accept as taxo- 
nomic literature such writings as those of 
Adanson, while refusing to cite Tournefort 
and Micheli, destroys every rational or 
practical effect of the intended reform and 
reduces the result of the Rochester legisla- 
tion, as far as genera are concerned, to the 
empty absurdity of requiring the false cita- 
tion of Linnzeus and Adanson as the au- 
thors of genera which they knew only as 
compilers from the works of older and bet- 
ter botanists. 

It is plain, therefore, that any argument 
which might have been drawn from the fact 
of previous legislation, if it had been 
logically carried out in this respect, has 
been lost by the apparently unconscious 
surrender of the Rochester Code reformers 
to Professor Greene’s contention for the 
recognition of the pre-Linnzean authors, 
and we may thus without prejudice con- 
sider the second of the available alternatives 
for the enactment of a law for fixing generic 
names by types. To abandon 1753 as the 
initial date for generic nomenclature is but 
frankly to admit what is already an ac- 
complished fact, and to cease to quote Lin- 
neeus, Adanson and others as the authors 


480 


of genera which they did not discover. 
Such a step need not, however, compel us 
to return to the Middle Ages or to Class- 
ical Antiquity ; Tournefort’s ‘ Institutiones’ 
published at the appropriate date 1700 was 
an important integration of previous knowl- 
edge, and has long been considered the 
beginning of modern botanical literature ; 
beyond this our taxonomy scarcely needs 
go to. Commencing with the ‘ Father of 
Genera’ the selection of the first species 
as the type would result in no complica- 
tions by reason of the Linnean arrange- 
ment of species, and it may be confidently 
expected that the uniform application of 
such a rule would necessitate far fewer 
changes than would the method of elimi- 
nation, whereby the doubtful or unidenti- 
fiable species are often the only residue on 
which time-honored names could be main- 
tained. 

To many who have desired to minimize 
as far as possible the bibliographic labor 
which is so great a burden to systematic 
botany, the adoption of such a change will 
be a matter of regret, but this argument 
cannot be used by the authors of the ‘ Check 
List’ and other publications prepared on 
the basis of the Rochester Rules, since these 
have cheerfully assumed the burdens and 
multiplied the changes which a closer ad- 
herence to the binomial system would have 
avoided. And yet the task is quite finite, 
especially since we should be under no obli- 
gation to attempt the re-identification of the 
pre-Linnzean species, but may infer most of 
them with historical warrant from the cita- 
tions of ‘Species Plantarum’ and subsequent 
binomial literature. 

Choice lies thus between the restriction 
of taxonomic recognition to genera provided 
with a binomial species in ‘Species Plantarum’ 
or some subsequent work, or the admission 
of the genera of Tournefort and his succes- 
sors whenever referable to an identifiable 
species, whether binomial or not. Whileit 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


is true that these alternatives could be com- 
bined or modified in a variety of ways, such 
compromises could result only in exceptions 
and complications which experience has 
shown to be held in small favor by those 
who do not oppose change merely from 
motives of inertia. 

A justification for a laissez faire policy in 
nomenclature is often based on the allega- 
tion that since the species and other cate- 
gories of classification cannot be accurately 
defined and equalized there is no possibil- 
ity of the attainment of either uniformity 
or stability in the use of names. Whatever 
may have been the justice or the logical 
propriety of this destructive criticism as ap- 
plied to a taxonomic system based on the 
method of concepts, it is purely specious 
and ineffective with reference to the method 
of types. The species is a group of indi- 
viduals, the genus a group of species, the 
family a group of genera, and these terms 
are quite as definite and comprehensible 
as other collective nouns. Botanists may 
never agree on the number of species, or 
on the number of groups of species which 
should be recognized as genera, but it is en- 
tirely possible for them to agree on the 
names as far as they agree on the groups, 
not by deferring to arbitrary authority, but 
by adherence to a rational and uniform 
course of procedure. As long as a genus is 
viewed as a concept, it belongs, obviously, 
where it fits best, and it is quite logical to 
reject it if no correspondence in nature be 
found, or to move it along to new series of 
species, where the description is more ap- 
plicable than to those for which it was 
drawn. The conceptual theory of taxon- 
omy comported entirely with the doctrine 
of special creation, but it is not adapted to 
the purposes of phylogenetic classification 
as an integration of the results of the study 
of the evolution of organic types, and its 
continued use is now unscientific as well as 
unpractical. As the genus does not consist 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


of a concept, neither can it become ade- 
quately known to us through the medium 
of description. Botany without designation 
of types is like geography without position. 

In biology a species is a coherent or continu- 
ous group of organisms. In such a group the 
individual organisms have a common origin 
and may be arranged in connected series of 
imperceptible gradations with reference to 
any one character, except in cases of sexual 
differentiation and alternation of genera- 
tions, where the coherence of specific groups 
is maintained by facts of life-history. A 
species is not constituted by any antecedent 
determination of the amount of difference 
it must present ; it subsists in virtue of the 
fact that it has diverged and become dis- 
connected in nature from other groups of 
organisms, however similar these may be. 

For nomenclatorial purposes a species is a group 
of indiwiduals which has been designated by a 
scientific (preferably a Latin adjective) name, 
the first individual to which the name was ap- 
plied constituting the type of the species. The 
importance of preserving type specimens 
with special care is now recognized through- 
out the scientific world, and where specific 
types are lacking, naturalists are endeavor- 
ing to supply their place by specimens col- 
lected in the original localities. This: may 
be taken as a general admission of the 
obvious fact that purely descriptive methods 
are generally insufficient for scientific ac- 
curacy and need to be supplemented by 
actual specimens if correct identifications 
are to be permanently assured. 

For purposes of reference and citation specific 
names which appeared previous to the ‘ Species 
Plantarum’ of Linneus are not regarded in 
botanical nomenclature. In reality Linneeus 
revived rather than originated the binomial 
system of nomenclature, but his works em- 
body the results of the first extensive and 
fairly consistent attempt at the scientific 
application of the nomenclatorial practice 
now universally followed. 


SCIENCE. 


481 


The method of types applied to genera 
involves a similar readjustment of views. 
Under the analytic method of concepts a 
genus has been defined as a sub-division of 
a family, but the method of types is 
synthetic and places the emphasis on the 
connection with nature by building the 
genus up from below. 

A genus of organisms is a species without close 
affinities, or a group of mutually related species. 
Here again the natural arrangement must 
have reference to the gaps in nature rather 
than to the logical balance of formal char- 
acters. 

A generic name is established in taxonomy 
when it has been applied to a recognizable species. 
Unless the discoverer of the genus desig- 
nates a type species in the same publication 
in which he bestows the name, the first 
species referred to the genus should serve 
as its nomenclatorial type. 

The generic taxonomy of plants may be treated 
as beginning with Tournefort’s ‘ Institutiones’ 
(1700). 


O. F. Coox. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Memoirs presented to the Cambridge Philosoph- 
ical Society on the occasion of the jubilee of 
Str GEORGE GABRIEL STOKES, Bart., Hon. 
LL.D., Hon. Se. D., Lucasian Professor. Cam- 
bridge, at the University Press, 1900; New 
York, The Macmillan Co. 4to. Pp. xxviii 
+ 447, with 25 plates. Price, $6.50. 

The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary 
of the Lucasian professorship of Sir George 
Gabriel Stokes at the University of Cambridge, 
on June 1 and 2, 1899, brought together a 
large number of distinguished naturalists, if 
one may use this convenient term to include 
astronomers, chemists, geodesists, geologists, 
mathematicians, physicians, physicists and 
zoologists. It was one of those occasions 
which illustrate the essential unity of science 
by a spontaneous tribute of homage to an emi- 


“nent specialist from workers in widely diver- 


gent fields. During the week following the 


482 


celebration the Cambridge Philosophical So- 
ciety held a special memorial meeting at which 
a number of mathematico-physical memoirs 
were presented. These now appear in print 
for the first time in the volume whose title- 
page is quoted above. A note on the page 
following the title-page states that ‘‘These 
Memoirs are also issued as Volume XVIII. of 
the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical 
Society.’’? The book contains also the ‘ Order 
of Proceedings at the formal celebration by the 
University of Cambridge of the Jubilee of Sir 
George Gabriel Stokes, Bart., Lucasian Pro- 
fessor, 1849-1899’; and ‘The Rede Lecture: 
La théorie des ondes lumineuses: son influence 
sur la physique moderne,’ delivered by Profes- 
sor Alfred Cornu on June 1, 1899. An excel- 
lent portrait of Sir George appears as a fron- 
tispiece, and the volume is supplemented by 
twenty-five plates illustrating the different 
memoirs and by an index. 

The semi-popular lecture by Professor Cornu, 
in addition to giving an admirable summary of 
the century’s progress in physical optics, pre- 
sents the conclusions of a special study of the 
work of Newton in this field. To the general 
reader as well as to the specialist this eloquent 
address cannot fail to prove interesting and 
instructive; and the scientific world must ap- 
plaud the sentiment expressed in the author’s 
closing words: 

“Que l’ Université de Cambridge soit fiére de sa 
chaire Lucasienne de Physique mathématique, 
car, depuis Sir Isaac Newton jusqu’a Sir George 
Stokes, elle contribue pour une part glorieuse 
aux progrés de la Philosophie naturelle.”’ 

The memoirs proper of the volume are 
twenty-two in number and by as many differ- 
ent authors. They appertain to a wide variety 
of subjects and are in general strictly technical 
in character. They are appropriately not too 
prolix, however; the briefest occupying only 3 
and the longest only 56 pages. Pure and ap- 
plied mathematics are about equally repre- 
sented, though some of the papers are a little 
difficult to classify. The titles and authors of 
the memoirs are as follows: 

I. ‘On the analytical representation of a uni- 
form branch of a monogenic function,’ by G. 
Mittag- Leffler. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


II. ‘ Application of the partition analysis to 
the study of the properties of any system of con- 
secutive integers,’ by Major P. A. MacMahon. 

III. ‘On the integrals of systems of differen- 
tial equations,’ by A. R. Forsyth. 

IV. ‘Ueber die Bedeutung der Constante b 
des van der Waals’schen Gesetzes,’ yon L. 
Boltzmann und Dr. Mache, in Wien. 

V. ‘On the solution of a pair of simultaneous 
differential equations which occur in the lunar 
theory,’ by Ernest W. Brown. 

VI. ‘The periodogram of magnetic declina- 
tion as obtained from the records of the Green- 
wich Observatory during the years 1871-1895 
(Plates I. II.),’ by Arthur Schuster. 

VII. ‘Experiments on the oscillatory dis- 
charge of an air condenser, with a determina- 
tion of ‘v’,’ by Oliver J. Lodge and R. T. Glaze- 
brook. 

VIII. ‘The geometry of Kepler and Newton,’ 
by Dr. C. Taylor. 

IX. ‘Sur les groupes continus,’ par H. Poin- 
caré. 

X. ‘Contact transformations and optics,’ by 
E. O. Lovett. 

XI. ‘On aclass of groups of finite order,’ by 
W. Burnside. 

XII. ‘ On Green’s function for a circular disc, 
with applications to electrostatic problems,’ by 
E. W. Hobson. 

XIII. ‘Demonstration of Green’s formula for 
electric density near the vertex of a right cone,’ 
by H. M. Macdonald. 

XIV. ‘Onthe effects of dilution, temperature 
and other circumstances on the absorption spec- 
tra of solution of dydimium and erbium salts’ 
(Plates III.—XXTII.), by,G. D. Liveing. 

XY. ‘The Echelon Spectroscope,’ by A. A. 
Michelson. 

XVI. ‘On minimal surfaces,’ by H. W. Rich- 
mond. 

XVII. ‘On quartic surfaces which admit of 
integrals of the first kind of total differentials,’ 
by Arthur Berry. 

XVIII. ‘An electromagnetic illustration of 
the theory of selective absorption of light by a 
gas,’ by Horace Lamb. 

XIX. ‘ The propagation of waves of elastic 
displacement along a helical wire,’ by A. E. 
H. Love. 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


XX. ‘On the construction of a model show- 
ing the 27 lines on a cubic surface,’ by H. M. 
Taylor. (Plates XXIV., XXYV.) 

XXI. ‘On the dynamics of a system of elec- 
trons or ions: and on the influence of a mag- 
netic field on optical phenomena,’ by J. Lar- 
mor. 

XXII. ‘On the theory of functions of several 
complex variables,’ by H. F. Baker. 

The pure mathematician will find much of 
interest especially in Nos. I.-III., VIII.—XI., 
XVI., XVII., XX., and XXII. of these papers ; 
while the mathematical physicist can hardly fail 
to discover something instructive in his lines. 
Together they fitly commemorate the jubilee of 
one who has rendered signal service in the de- 
velopment of both branches of mathematical 
science. 


Scientific Papers. By PETER GUTHRIE TAIT, 
M.A., Sec. R. S. E., Honorary Fellow of 
Peterhouse, Cambridge, Professor of Natural 
Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. 
Vol. II. Cambridge, at the University 
Press, 1900; New York, The Macmillan 
Company. 4to. Pp. 1-500. Price, $6.50. 


Papers on Mechanical and Physical Subjects. By 
OSBORNE REYNOLDS, F.R.S., Mem. Inst. 
C. E., LL.D., Professor of Engineering in 
the Owens College and Honorary Fellow of 
Queens College, Cambridge. Reprinted from 
various transactions and journals. Vol. I., 
1869-1882. Cambridge, at the University 
Press, 1900; New York, the Macmillan Com- 
pany. Royal 8vo. Pp. xv+ 416. Price, 
$5.00. 

In these days of open and easy avenues to 
publication, when the papers of a fertile author 
are almost certain to be widely scattered in 
transactions and periodicals, it is a good sign to 
see authors and publishers alike willing to 
undertake the labor and expense of republica- 
tion in collected form. Especially weleome— 
perhaps one should say essential—are such 
collected works to the student of the present 
and coming generation, for the task of finding 
out what has already been done in a science is 
generally one of the most formidable prelimi- 
naries to progress. 

In the republication of the well-known scien- 


SCIENCE. 


483 


tific papers of Lord Kelvin, Sir George Gabriel . 
Stokes and George Green, and in the more 
recently collected papers of Maxwell, Cayley, 
Adams, Lord Rayleigh and others, the Uni- 
versity of Cambridge has set an example in the 
work of ‘ University extension’ of which the 
academic world may well take note. Prob- 
ably no more effective method of advancing 
knowledge could be adopted. 

Volume II. of the papers of Professor Tait 
contains numbers LXI. to CXXXIII. They 
relate to a large variety of topics, ranging from 
the kinetic theory of gases down through ad- 
dresses and reviews to notes and brief abstracts. 
Often, however, these notes and abstracts are 
full of interest and suggestion, and they serve, 
as Lord Rayleigh has remarked with reference 
to his similar republications, ‘to relieve the 
general severity.’ Nos. LIX., Report on some 
of the physical properties of fresh and sea 
water; LXVIII.-LXXXI., On the kinetic 
theory of gases ; LX XXVIII., On impact ; and 
CXII., On the path of a rotating spherical pro- 
jectile, are the longer papers of the collection. 
The last cited paper will be found of special 
interest to the lovers of golf who may happen 
to possess the essential but rather rare fondness 
for mathematical physics. As might be ex- 
pected, many of the papers refer to quaternions 
and their applications. Here and there also a 
biographical notice, like those of Listing, Kirch- 
hoff, Sir William R. Hamilton and Rankine, 
gives an unexpected interest to the miscellany ; 
and the student of the mathematico-physical 
sciences is delighted and instructed at every 
turn of a page. We may not always agree 
with the author, but we never find him dull. 

The papers of Professor Reynolds are re- 
printed after the same fashion as those of Pro- 
fessor Tait. They are 40 in number and refer 
to a variety of subjects. Many of them are of 
great practical interest to the engineering pro- 
fession ; for example, those with reference to 
the screw propulsion and the steering of ships, 
the efficiency of belts, the theory of rolling 
friction, the action of rain and oil in calming 
the sea, etc. The longest paper, No. 33, is the 
important experimental and theoretical investi- 
gation on certain dimensional properties of 
matter in the gaseous state, previously pub- 


484 


lished in the Philosophical Transactions, Part II., 
1879. Unlike the volume of papers of Professor 
Tait, noticed above, this volume of the papers 
of Professor Reynolds has both a table of con- 
tents and an index. 

Every one interested in the progress and in 
the diffusion of science will hope that the 
‘liberality of the Syndics of the University 
Press,’ under whose auspices these and similar 
volumes have appeared, will continue to chal- 
lenge admiration and commendation by the 
republication of additional collections. 

R. S. W. 


Kleiner Leitfaden der praktischen Physik. By F. 
KouiravuscH. Leipzig, B. G. Teubner. 
1900. 

Even the teachers of physics in America are 
so familiar with the original ‘ Leitfaden ’ thata 
review of this abridgment may well be essen- 
tially acomparison. The term Leitfaden (lead- 
ing strings) expresses so well what is necesssary 
in a laboratory that itis to be regretted that we 
have no English equivalent. As the preface of 
the smaller book indicates, the larger later edi- 
tions of the original have become at once a 
book of instructions and of reference, and has 
suffered as do all books which grow in that 
way. The new material is seldom well com- 
bined and coordinated with the old. In the 
new book the author has commenced all over 
again and distributed the matter consist- 
ently. 

It is called a smaller guide and yet it is neces- 
sary to make a detailed comparison in order to 
discover that some thirty-four paragraphs have 
been either omitted or considerably condensed 
and simplified. It is, however, still a very re- 
spectable university course in physical Jabora- 
tory work, and any student who thoroughly 
masters it will be found well equipped for ad- 
vanced work. It in no sense can be called an 
elementary manual. It does notinvolve mathe- 
matics higher than algebra and simple geometry 
and trigonometry, logarithms and sines, cosines, 
ete., are assumed. More diagrams and illus- 
trations are used than heretofore and thisseems 
to be a real improvement. A picture book is 
undesirable, but well chosen diagrams and dia- 
grammatic sketches are a great help to the be- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


ginner. This has long been recognized in light 
and electricity and should be judiciously ex- 
tended. 

Condensation is too often opposed to simplifi- 
cation, but in this case little or nothing of the 
original clearness seems to be lost in the re- 
arrangement. Nevertheless some good hard 
thinking and strict attention will be required if 
the student is to get full benefit. 

A chapter on the C. G. 8. system of units is 
placed at the very beginning, and is necessarily 
very brief, and, although very important, may 
well be used as matter for reference from time 
to time as the units arise rather than to be 
learned at the outset. 

Considered from the point of view of the 
teacher in the general physical laboratory, this 
book may well supplant the earlier treatise and 
relegate it to the shelf with other books of ref 
erence, and to the advanced special laborator- 
ies. It is perhaps well to warn those less familiar 
with the subject and with German idiom that 
many words which are identical with the Eng- 
lish are used in a different sense; e. g., hydro- 
meter, in English is equivalent of araeometer, 
but Kohlrausch applies it to the communicating 
tubes used for densities of liquids. In fact in 
the chapter on the absolute units it would be 
essential that a student have the technical Eng- 
lish equivalents, and even then some of the 
German units seem to be superfluous repeti- 
tions, and it should be always left clearly im- 
pressed upon the mind that ‘work,’ for ex- 
ample, is always work and always measured 
in the same unit no matter how the work may 
be accomplished ; and similarly with other 
units. 

The sections on light and especially on elec- 
tricity and magnetism are very good and com- 
plete. The diagrams in the electrical measure- 
ments leave nothing to be desired and make 
one regret that the author did not see fit to 
illustrate the other subjects with the same 
liberality and good judgment. 

A few useful tables and a good alphabetical 
index contribute largely to the usefulness of 
the book, which will be welcomed by every 
laboratory instructor in physics in college or 
university. 

W. HALLOCK. 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


Education in the United States A Series of Mon- 
ographs prepared for the United States ex- 
hibit at the Paris Exposition, 1900. Edited 
by NicHoLAs MurRAY BUTLER, Professor of 
Philosophy and Education in Columbia Uni- 
versity. Two volumes. Albany, N. Y., J. 
B. Lyon Co. 1900. 

This publication was contributed to the edu- 
cational exhibit of the United States at the 
Paris Exposition by the State of New York. 
Besides a characteristically vigorous, although 
rather brief ‘Introduction’ by the editor, the 
work consists of nineteen monographs as fol- 
lows: Volume I.: ‘Hducational Organization 
and Administration, by President Draper of the 
University of Illinois; ‘Kindergarten Hduca- 
tion,’ by Miss Susan E. Blow of Cazenovia, New 
York; ‘Elementary Education,’ by Hon. Wm. 
T. Harris, United States Commissioner of Kdu- 
cation; ‘Secondary Education,’ by Professor 
E. E. Brown of the University of California ; 
‘The American College,’ by Professor A. F. 
West of Princeton University ; ‘The American 
University,’ by Professor E. D. Perry of Colum- 
bia University; ‘Education of Women,’ by 
President Thomas of Bryn Mawr College; 
‘Training of Teachers’, by Professor B. A. 
Hinsdale of the University of Michigan; ‘School 
Architecture and Hygiene,’ by Principal Gil- 
bert B. Morrison of Kansas City, Mo.; Volume 
II.: ‘Professional Education,’ by James Rus- 
sell Parsons of the University of the State of 
New York, Albany, N. Y.; ‘Scientific Techni- 
cal, and Engineering Education,’ by President 
Mendenhall of the Technological Institute, 
Worcester, Mass.; ‘Agricultural Education,’ 
by President Dabney of the University of Ten- 
nessee; ‘Commercial Education,’ by Professor 
E. J. James of the University of Chicago; ‘Art 
and Industrial Education,’ by Mr. I. E. Clarke 
of the United States Bureau of Education; ‘ Edu- 
cation of Defectives,’ by Principal E. H. Allen 
of Overbrook, Pa.; ‘Summer Schools and Uni- 
versity Extension,’ by Professor H. B. Adams 
of Johns Hopkins University ; ‘Scientific Socie- 
ties and Associations,’ by Professor J. McK. 
Cattell of Columbia University ; ‘Education of 
the Negro,’ by Principal Booker T. Washing- 
ton of Tuskegee, Ala.; ‘ Education of the In- 
dian,’ by Superintendent W. N. Hailman of 


SCIENCE. 


485 


Dayton, Ohio. There is no summary of the 
contents or chief propositions of each mono- 
graph, as there might well be; but there isa 
good general index in each of the two volumes. 
Paper and type are excellent. 

Any detailed discussion of such a comprehen- 
sive treatise is, of course, out of the question in 
a brief review like this. One can only touch 
on some of its most important features, and, in- 
cidentally, give a general estimate of the work 
as a whole. 

This collection of monographs is a timely 
contribution to our educational literature of un- 
common interest and value. Our contemporary 
educational resources and problems have never 
before been dealt with, in a single treatise, so 
comprehensively, clearly and tersely. The 
two volumes, together, comprise less than 1000 
pages (973), and yet nearly every phase of our 
varied provision for education receives attention. 

Professor Butler’s excellent judgment as an 
editor is shown both in the general plan of the 
work and in the selection of the writers of the 
several monographs. He naturally intended 
that the work should be a worthy exposition of 
our whole educational endeavor by persons 
whose statements of fact could be trusted, and 
whose conceptions of our educational needs 
would command respect. In the introduction 
he tells us ‘‘that the present work * * * de- 
scribes the organization and influence of each 
type of formal school ; it takes note of the more 
informal and popular organizations for popular 
education and instruction ; it discusses the edu- 
cational problems raised by the existence of 
special classes and of special needs, and sets 
forth how the United States has set about solv- 
ing these problems. It may truly be said to be 
a cross-section view of education in the United 
States in the year 1900.”’ 

This description of the scope and purpose of 
the completed work is, on the whole, just. 
Such divergences from this description as the 
work actually presents may be appropriately 
described, for the most part, as sins of omission. 
Some important details of the topics considered 
have received rather scant treatment, and some 
decidedly important phases of our educational 
resources and the corresponding problems have 
not been treated at all. 


486 


The best and most interesting portions of the 
treatise are the monographs of Volume I., and 
the four monographs of Volume II., on ‘ Pro- 
fessional Education,’ ‘Scientific, Technical and 
Engineering Education,’ ‘The Education of 
Defectives,’ and ‘Scientific Societies and As- 
sociations.’? The last-named paper is the first 
appropriate recognition, in print, of extremely 
important and far-reaching organized influences 
on our educational activity. 

The sins of omission, referred to above are 
perhaps due to haste in preparation, and to an 
exaggerated fear of producing too large a 
treatise. The time for preparation was, doubt- 
less, short, and limitations of size are, of course, 
necessarily imposed on public documents. 
Nevertheless, the absence of a monograph on 
physical training and athletics, or, at least, of a 
discussion of this topic in connection with school 
hygiene; the omission of all mention, save in- 
cidentally, of evening schools, of which the 
number and variety are large ; the omission of a 
monograph on the different kinds of our private 
and endowed schools, some of which, both old 
and new, are among our most cherished educa- 
tional resources, and extremely useful in meet- 
ing some educational needs not yet adequately 
met by public schools; the omission of all 
mention of vacation schools, even if these 
schools are not yet sufficiently developed to be 
entitled to a separate monograph ;—these omis- 
sions from a work exhibiting the educational 
resources and problems of the United States 
are to be regretted. So too, it is difficult to see 
why manual training should not be entitled to a 
separate monograph as well as commercial 
education. The writer of the monograph on 
“Art and Industrial Education,’ necessarily 
confined himself largely—and, apparently, with 
no space to spare—to drawing and art; the 
result is that manual training is nowhere 
adequately discussed in the entire treatise. 
No one can doubt that it should be. 

Similarly some of the monographs suffer un- 
necessarily by condensation. In Mr. Draper’s 
paper on ‘Organization and Administration’ 
the historical introduction is too brief and 
fragmentary to possess much value; and there 
is not, in the paper, even a single illustra- 
tion of the actual organization and important 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


details of the administration of the school 
system of an American city. Moreover the 
whole paper is, with one exception, the shortest 
in the entire series; and yet the topic with 
which it deals is second to none in importance. 
So too, the paper on ‘Secondary Education,’ 
which is one of the most valuable and interest- 
ing of them all, lacks a very important detail. 
Mr. Brown justly gives adequate attention 
to the importance assumed by electives in our 
secondary education; and while he very prop- 
erly points out that, in some form, electives 
have long been recognized in our secondary 
school programs, his monograph does not 
clearly convey the impression—as it should— 
that there are many schools throughout the 
country to-day in which the elective system is 
dominant. This could have been done easily 
by inserting two or three typical programs of 
such schools. 

The elective system naturally receives atten- 
tion again in Mr. West’s monograph on ‘The 
American College.’ From the general tone of 
Mr. West’s presentation it is not difficult to 
conclude that he does not favor an elective 
college course for the B. A. degree. After 
citing several examples of the different ways 
in which elective courses for the B. A. degree 
are administered, Mr. West remarks, ‘‘ These 
examples are sufficient to indicate the variety 
of meaning found in colleges which have 
changed the historical significance of the Bach- 
elor of Arts degree.’’ No doubt theyare. But 
they convey no impression of the richer and 
deeper culture for each individual which the 
B. A. degree represents under an elective sys- 
tem as compared with a prescribed system, in 
our better colleges, and they do convey the idea 
that, on the whole, the ‘ changed historical sig- 
nificance’ of the B. A. degree as conferred by 
these institutions is neither widely accepted nor 
generally approved; and this, to say the least, 
is an extremely doubtful assumption. 

But it is unnecessary to extend examination 
to other details of this important series of 
monographs. In spite of some important omis- 
sions and occasional minor defects in detail, the 
work is, as stated in the beginning of this re- 
view, a timely and valuable addition to our ed- 
ucational literature. It will serve to give a 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


generally sound view of our provision for edu- 
cation to interested foreigners; and to our own 
students of education in this country, whether 
superintendents, principals, teachers or univer- 
sity students, it is a store-house of information ; 
at the same time it suggests our many and com- 
plex educational problems vividly, and it shows 
their intimate relation to the other problems of 
our national life. Its great value to all students 
of our social and educational problems is in- 
disputable, both as a book of reference and as a 
foundation for further study. 


PAvL H. HANUS. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalenze in the 
British Museum. Vol. II., Arctiidee (part). 
By Srr Grorce F. Hampson, Bart. 

This volume is similar to Volume I., issued 
in 1898, and which treated of the family Synto- 
mide. It contains the same advantages of 
practicable keys to genera and species, being 
‘simply invaluable to the working entomolo- 
gist. 

The title is misleading, as the work is really 
a monograph of the groups treated, embracing 
the known fauna of the entire world, not 
simply a catalogue of the species represented 
in the collection of the British Museum, {though 
it may be noted that this collection possesses 
examples of 77 per cent. of the species de- 
scribed. Each genus and species is described 
briefly, but characteristically. 

The volume contains the subfamilies Nolinz 
and Lithosiine of the Arctiide, as classified by 
the author. These groups would seem to be 
more properly of family rank, especially the 
Nolinz, which, on larval and pupal charac- 
ters, show a separate origin from a low Tineid 
type to that of the Lithosiineze, which are them- 
selves a true derivative of the Arctiinse and 
properly classified here. The larval characters 
of these groups are, in fact, well marked, 
though not clearly brought out in the volume 
before us. 

On page 256 we note a curious error, where 
Seirarctia boltert Edw. is given as a synonym of 
Protosia terminalis Walk., whereas it is really 
the same as Halisidota ambiguu Streck., belong- 
ing in the Arctiine. 


SCIENCE. 


487 


There are a number of curious modifications 
of structure clearly brought out, such as the 
antennz of Chamaita, the hind wings of Boen- 
asa and the larva of Nola argentalis ; but for the 
details of these we must refer to the book 


itself. 
HARRISON G. DYAR. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PITY. 


To THE EpiTor oF SCIENCE: The interest- 
ing study of Pity in the July American Journal 
of Psychology suggests some further considera- 
tions. In the first place pity as grief for an- 
other’s pain is not sufficiently set off from mere 
sympathy, Mitleid, in the literal sense as par- 
taking of another’s pain by direct contagion, 
All kinds of emotions are contagious, and in 
the case of fear we denote it by a special name, 
panic. But it is plain that panic is not pity for 
fear, but really hinders it; and in general the 
mere partaking an emotion or feeling interferes 
so far with emotion for emotion, such as pity. 
Emotion by contagion adds no new psychic 
quality, as panic fear is simple fear ; but pity 
is a new specific reaction, and not a mere com- 
munication. In contagious painful feeling we 
seek to suppress the cause; but pity moves us 
to seek the sufferer, to relieve him not for our 
own sake, but for his sake. Pity as altruistic 
grief has thus a quality of its own, as has al- 
truistic joy as distinguished from contagious 
joy. 

Again, this study scarcely notes whether an- 
imals pity, and how far pity plays a part in the 
general struggle of existence as between com- 
petitorsand as between the hunters and hunted. 
We judge it likely that the biological origin of 
pity in its general form is the perversion of 
parental sympathy in the predaceous animals by 
the prey asa last resort, the prey thus by cunning 
circumventing the stronger. The occasional 
adoption by lions and other ferocious animals 
in menageries of small beasts offered them as 
food suggests this, and a closer study of 
beasts in their natural habitat may show some 
indications of pity-inspiring as a sub-human 
method in life and death issues. Certain it 
is that animals sometimes consciously or un- 
consciously take advantage of the human 


488 


hunter’s pity. Thus Carstensen in his ‘Two 
Summers in Greenland’ gives an instance of 
an Eskimo hunter who was so affected by the 
sad appealing eyes of the seals as he was about 
to despatch them that he was unable to shoot, 
and was obliged to give up hunting to the detri- 
ment of his own family. Monkeys and giraffes 
often escape human hunters through the pity 
their actions inspire when driven to extremity, 
as all readers of sporting books will recall. 
Hough reports that even the bear when cor- 
nered and completely at the mercy of the hun- 
ter sometimes exhibits a pitiful submission and 
despair. 

A third point which deserves more consider- 
tion is whether, as the authors represent, the 
literature of pathos is preferred by mankind in 
general to that of joy (p. 581). Certainly 
humorous and comic papers abound, and most 
news sheets and general periodicals have a 
section devoted to wit and humor, whereas there 
are no journals or portions thereof devoted to 
pathos. Most novel readers prefer, I think, 
the tale where everything turns out right in the 
end. The vast vogue of farce and burlesque 
on the stage is another evidence of popular 
taste. With the modern development of humor 
especially with the Anglo-Saxon races, much 
annoyance and suffering that would once have 
been pitiable in ourselves and others, is merely 
laughable. On the whole the present tendency 
seems to be to restrict the field of pity and to 
intensify and rationalize it in that field. 

The pleasure of pity is little referred to, but 
the survival theory is mentioned: ‘‘It seems 
as though our race had developed modern 
civilization in which the leisure field is so vastly 
widened and the pain field so greatly reduced, 
too suddenly, and that our nervous system is 
not yet wonted to so much ease and luxury and 
had therefore to hark back to play over the old 
litany of sorrow and ‘pain in the falsetto way 
of the stage novel and poem.’’ But certainly 
the primary and main pleasure in pity is thatit 
emphasizes power of protector over protégé, 
and the secondary source is in seeing the de- 
sired relief effected. Pity which is in no wise 
objective and effective, but solely subjective 
indulgence—e. g., pleasure in the tragic poem— 
is like other emotion for its own sake, an art 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


sphere, a late severance of emotion and action, 
and so while resting upon the past is not to be 
described as survival, but as the progressive 
development of experience for its own sake. 
Thus literature and music idealize pity into 
pure and subtle forms, and the soul, dissolved 
in infinite, delicious sadness, experiences the 
most evanescent and distant development of 
maternity-paternity. 
Hiram M. STANLEY. 
LAKE FOREST, ILL., Sept. 10, 1900. 


THE KIEFFER PEAR AND THE SAN JOSE SCALE. 


In his New Jersey Report for 1897 (p. 484), 
Dr. J. B. Smith writes: ‘‘A curious fact was 
emphasized this year; in an orchard of Kieffer 
trees, when once it becomes infested [with San 
José scale], the scales flourish as well as any- 
where, and the trees become as completely 
incrusted as any other variety. But where 
Kieffer is mixed with other varieties it remains 
almost exempt, even where neighboring trees 
are badly infested. This was noticed several 
times, and Le Conte seems almost less troubled 
than Kieffer.’’ 

In the Yearbook of the Department of Agri- 
culture for 1897 (p. 415), Messrs. Swingle and 
Webber write: ‘‘The Kieffer and Le Conte 
pears * * * are almost certainly hybrids be- 
tween the Chinese sand pear (Pyrus sinensis) 
and the common HKuropean pear (P. communis), 
since both were grown from seeds of the sand 
pear obtained from trees which were surrounded 
by various European pears.’’ On the same 
page they write of ‘‘the problem which the 
French hybridizers have successfully solved in 
obtaining hybrid grapes combining the resist- 
ance to Phylloxera of the American grape and 
the quality and size of the fruit of the European 
grape.”’ 

I have elsewhere set forth my reasons for 
believing that the San José scale is a native 
of eastern Asia, and, if this is the case, does it 
not appear that our hybridizers have unwit- 
tingly obtained a pear combining resistance to 
the San José scale with the good qualities of 
the European pears, the fruit of the Chinese 
sand pear being very poor? The facts, at all 
events, are strongly suggestive of such a thing, 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


and point, perhaps, to the original food-plant 


of the San José scale. 
T. D. A. COCKERELL. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
ARCHITECTURAL ACOUSIICS. 


AxgouT five years ago Professor W. C. Sabine 
was directed by the Corporation of Harvard 
University to propose means for remedying the 
acoustical defects of the lecture room of the 
Fogg Art Museum at Cambridge. About two 
years were spent in experimenting on this room 
and permanent changes were then made. 

The experimental work done in connection 
with this lecture room has led Professor Sabine 
to take up seriously the general question of 
architectural acoustics and we are promised a 
series of papers on this subject the first of which, 
on reverberation, is published in a recent num- 
ber of the American Architect, 

In an introductory chapter Professor Sabine 
gives a clear and comprehensive statement as 
to the different ways in which sound is affected 
by being confined in an audience room, substan- 
tially as follows: 

The loudness of the sound is as a rule greater 
at a given distance from the speaker than it is 
in the open air. 

The character or timbre of a complex sound 
is more or less altered by re-enforcement of cer- 
tain of its elementary tones by resonance, or by 
the re-enforcement or weakening of some of 
its elementary tones at certain parts of the room 
by interference. This alteration of the char- 
acter or timbre of a complex sound Professor 
Sabine calls ditortiosn. 

Thé sound persists in a room for a consider- 
able time after the sounding body ceases to 
vibrate. This is due to the more or less com- 
plete reflection and re-reflection of the sound 
from the walls, floor and ceiling. This persist- 
ence of sound in a room Professor Sabine calls 
reverberation. It causes the successive sounds 
in articulate speech to overlap and become con- 
fused. Especially the sonorous vowel sounds 
persist, and obscure the delicate and fleeting 
variety of the consonant sounds. 

The question of loudness becomes a serious 
matter only in very large audience rooms. 

Sound distortion and reverberation depend 


SCIENCE. 


489 


very largely upon the same conditions. Thus 
the extent to which an air column will enforce 
the tone of a tuning fork depends largely upon 
the length of time the air column will continue 
to vibrate when left to itself after having been 
set vibrating. Sound distortion is not so seri- 
ous a matter as reverberation and, since the 
two depend largely upon the same conditions, 
it seems that reverberation only need be con- 
sidered in any practical case. 

The reverberation of a room, measured by 
the duration of a sound after the sounding 
body ceases to vibrate, depends upon the ab- 
sorbing power of the walls and of other reflect- 
ing surfaces and upon the size of the room. 
Thus heavily draped walls or walls lined with 
thick felt absorb much and reflect little of the 
sound which strikes them, and a sound persists 
but a short time in a room of which a consider- 
able portion of walls are padded or draped. 
An audience also absorbs a large portion of a 
sound in a room and greatly reduces reverbera- 
tion. A larger room has greater reverberation 
than a small room, walls being of similar ma- 
terial, because the sound has farther to travel 
between succeeding reflections, and a greater 
time is therefore required for the absorption of 
a given portion of the sound. 

Professor Sabine found that the note of a 
particular organ pipe remained distinctly au- 
dible in the lecture-room of the Fogg Art Mu- 
seum for 5.6 seconds after the blowing of 
the pipe ceased. The method proposed and 
carried out for the reduction of reverberation 
was to line a considerable portion of the walls 
of the room with a thick hair felt. 

Professor Sabine has determined, by a very 
ingenious method, the absorbing power of a 
variety of wall surfaces, such as brick, plaster 
on brick, plaster on lath, glass and boards, and 
he has shown that the reverberation of a room 
can be pre-determined by calculation in terms 
of the size of the room and the character of 


its walls. 
W.S. F. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
A very considerable amount of work is being 
done at the present time in filling up the many 
gaps that exist in descriptive inorganic chem- 


490 


istry, especially in connection with the rarer 
elements. The ultimate aim of this work is to 
determine more accurately the relation of the 
elements to each other, and incidentally it is 
doing much to clear up the Periodic Law. 
Considering the gaps and discrepancies in the 
work that has been done upon the element 
thallium since its discovery by Crookes in 1861, 
itis hardly strange that two workers should 
have selected this for investigation. In the 
last American Chemical Journal a paper by Pro- 
fessor Cushman, of Bryn Mawr, takes up the 
first chapters of a study of the halogen com- 
pounds of thallium; while the last number of 
the Zeitschrift fur anorganische Chemie contains 
a long article by Professor Richard Jos. Meyer, 
of Berlin, on trivalent thallium, with especial 
reference to the halogen compounds and the 
nitrates. There are some very considerable 
discrepancies between the observations of these 
two chemists, which will doubtless be cleared 
up by further study and by comparison. The 
most important result of Cushman’s is the 
preparation of two isomeric compounds of the 
formula TI,Cl,Br,, or as they may be written, 
TIC],3T1Br and TIBr,3TICl. Isomerism of 
this character, while common in organic chem- 
istry, is very rare in inorganic chemistry, and 
many have asserted that it does not exist. 
Meyer has added to our knowledge a large 
series of new thallium salts, and brings out 
very beautifully the analogies which exist be- 
tween thallium and gold. As both these 
authors are continuing their researches, there 
may be expected decidedly interesting and 
valuable contributions to our knowledge of 
thallium in the near future, as each profits by 
the work of the other. 


A NEW and important addition to our 
knowledge of the chemistry of radium appearg 
in the Comptes Rendus, from the pen of 
Madame Curie. By carefully fractioning many 
samples of radiferous barium, she has gradu- 
ally accumulated small quantities of nearly 
pure radium ; indeed, one specimen of a few 
centigrams was pronounced practically pure 
and was used for spectroscopic observations. 
With a specimen of 0.4 gramme concentrated 
radium, which, however, contained more or less 
barium, an atomic weight determination was 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


made. This gave an atomic weight of about 
174, while the atomic weight of barium is 
137.5. This figure of 174 is a minimum, and 
M. Demargay considers from spectroscopic ob- 
servation of the specimen that there was rather 
more radium in it than barium. In any case it 
would follow that the atomic weight of radium 
must be decidedly higher than 174. This would 
seem to be very strong evidence that radium is 
an individual element and not a peculiar form 


of barium. 
dg Ib, 1st, 


ACADEMEI DEI LINCEI OF ROME. 


AT the anniversary meeting of the Academei 
dei Lincei of Rome, Professor Cremona read a 
biographical notice of Professor Beltrami, who 
was president of the Academy at the time of 
his death. The prizes of the Academy an- 
nounced in the Atti are summarized in Nature 
as follows: Forthe Royal prize of 1000 francs 
for normal and pathological physiology six can- 
didates entered, and a large number of essays 
of considerable merit were submitted by them. 
The prize has been adjudged to Professor 
Giulio Fano, of Florence, for sixteen papers, 
dealing, amongst other subjects, with the 
physiology of the embryonic heart, the doc- 
trine of experimental psychology, the organ of 
hearing, the graphic registration of respiratory 
chimism and reflex movements, the latter 
being a continuation of previous researches on 
the organs of Emys Europea. Of the six candi- 
dates for the Royal prize for geology and 
mineralogy, two were considered worthy of 
the award, which was therefore divided 
equally between them. One of the successful 
candidates, Professor De Lorenzo, chose geo- 
logical subjects, and sent in about twenty 
essays, the most important of which dealt with 
the Trias of the environs of Lagonegro, the 
Mesozoic mountains of Lagonegro, geological 
observations on the Apennines of the southern 
Basilicate and geological studies of the south- 
ern Apennines. Professor Giorgio Spezia’s 
work, on the other hand, was entirely miner- 
alogical, dealing with the influences of tem- 
perature and pressure, respectively, on the 
chemical metamorphism of rocks and minerals. 
From a long and laborious series of experi- 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


ments, many of them occupying five or six 
months, the author concluded that pressure 
has little or no effect, while the influence of 
temperature is considerable. The results have 
a special bearing on the theory of quartz for- 
mation. The Royal prize for advances in 
archeological science was adjudged to Dr. 
Paolo Orsi, of Roveredo, for his investigations 
of the antiquities of Hastern Sicily. Dr. Orsi 
has thrown quite a new light on the prehistoric 
development of the people known as the Siculi, 
from the neolithic epoch down to the period of 
expansion of the Greek colonies. A special 
prize for philosophy and moral science had 
been offered for an essay dealing with either 
the theory of consciousness or the foundations 
of practical philosophy. This prize has been 
divided equally between Professor Bernardino 
Varisco and Professor Francesco de Sarlo. The 
Minister of Public Instruction offered a sum of 
3400 lire for two prizes in the physical and chem- 
ical sciences, and a like sum for two prizes in the 
philological sciences, the prizes being confined to 
teachers in secondary schools. The commit- 
tee for the prizes in the physical and chemical 
sciences have awarded two equal prizes—one 
to Professor O. Marco Corbino, more especially 
for his work on light traversing metallic vapors 
in a magnetic field, and the other to be divided 
between Professors Carlo Bonacini and Ricardo 
Malagoli, more especially for their joint papers 
on Rontgen rays. In philology, the prizes 
have been divided up into a number of minor 
awards, distributed between Signori Giuseppe 
Vandelli (whose work stood first), Antonio 
Belloni, Astorre Pellegrini, Giuseppe Rua, 
Giuseppe Lisio, Augusto Balsano, Giovanni 
Negri and Guglielmo Volpi. 


THE IMPORTATION OF LIVING ANIMALS. 


THE Hon. James Wilson, Secretary of Agri- 
culture, has given notice that under the au- 
thority vested in the Secretary of Agriculture 
by Section 2 of the Act of Congress approved 
May 25, 1900, entitled ‘An Act to enlarge the 
powers of the Department of Agriculture, pro- 
hibit the transportation by interstate commerce 
of game killed in violation of local laws, and 
for other purposes,’ the list of species of live 


SCIENCE. 


491 


animals and birds which may be imported into 
the United States without permits is extended 
as hereinafter indicated. On and after October 
1, 1900, and until further notice, permits will 
not be required for the following mammals, 
birds and reptiles, commonly imported for pur- 
poses of exhibition : Mammals—Anteaters, arma- 
dillos, bears, chimpanzees, elephants, hippopot- 
amuses, hyenas, jaguars, kangaroos, leopards, 
lions, lynxes, manatees, monkeys, ocelots, 
orang-outangs, panthers, raccoons, rhinoceroses, 
sea-lions, seals, sloths, tapirs, tigers or wild- 
eats. Birds—Swans, wild doves, or wild 
pigeons of any kind. Reptiles—Alligators, liz- 
ards, snakes, tortoises or other reptiles. Under 
the provisions of Section 2 of said Act (as stated 
in Circular No. 29 of the Biological Survey, 
issued July 13, 1900), canaries, parrots, and 
domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, 
geese, guinea fowl, peafowl and pigeons are 
subject to entry without permits. But with the 
exception of these species and those mentioned 
above, special permits from the Department of 
Agriculture will be required for all live animals 
and birds imported from abroad, and such per- 
mits must be presented to the collector of cus- 
toms at the port of entry prior to delivery of the 
property. 


STREET CARS IN GLASGOW. 


THE street car system of Glasgow is owned 
and operated by the city under the direct su- 
pervision of a committee of the town council. 
The report for the year ended May 31, 1900, 
as abstracted by our consul, shows that the 
total length of double track operated by the 
city is 41 miles. The gross capital expendi- 
tures for the system since 1894 (independent 
of operating expenses) have been $5,164,975, 
and the present indebtedness is $4,061,806. 
The capital invested is $4,559,502. Of the 
41 miles of double track, five miles have elec- 
tric traction, the rest being operated by 
horses. The total receipts of the system dur- 
ing the year were $2,286,850. The working 
expenses were $1,676,412, leaving a balance of 
$610,438, of which there was expended some 
$84,000 for interest on capital, $57,501 for 
sinking fund, $156,096 for depreciation written 


492 


off capital, etc. One item of $60,000 consists 
of payments made to the general revenue fund 
of the city, which is in lieu of the amount 
which the city would receive in taxes, it is pre- 
sumed, were the system operated by a private 
company. The balance goes into the reserve 
fund. There are 3400 persons employed, includ- 
ing 100 clerks. The general manager receives 
$6800; the chief engineer, $2400; the elec- 
trical engineer, $2000; and the mechanical 
engineer, who has charge of the powerstation, 
$1216. Point boys receive 28 cents per day; 
trace boys, from 40 to 52 cents per day; car 
cleaners, from 88 cents to $1 per day; drivers, 
conductors, and motormen, from $1 to $1.12 
per day. These rates apply to Sundays and 
week days alike. The rolling stock consists of 
3884 horse cars, 132 electric cars (47 only of 
which are now running), 17 omnibuses, 39 
lorries, and numerous carts, wagons, and vans. 
There are 4411 horses. Work is now progress- 
ing, with the object of changing the entire 
system to electric traction, which it is hoped to 
have completed within the next eighteen 
months. No underground conduits will be 
used, according to the present plans. Fares 
range from 1 cent for first half mile to 2 cents 
for a mile; the longest ride is 6 miles, costing 6 
cents. No transfers are issued and tickets are 
not used. The committee of the town council 
having supervision of the tramways receives no 
compensation. For that matter, however, no 
member of the city government of Glasgow, in- 
including lord provost, town councilors, and 
bailies (police judges), receives compensation. 
The city of Glasgow has a population of about 
850,000, and spreads over an area of nearly 
12,000 acres. There are no electric or other 
tramways extending out of Glasgow to other 
towns or cities. Within the city is an under- 
ground cable road which makes a circuit of 
about five miles, and is owned and operated by 
a private company. The rate of fares on this 
road is about the same as that prevailing on the 
surface roads. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
Dr. N. L. Brirron, director-in-chief of the 
New York Botanical Garden, has been given 
leave of absence and is in attendance at the In- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 300. 


ternational Congress of Botany in Paris, in 
which assembly he represents the Garden, and 
is also an official delegate of the United States. 
He will visit many of the museums of France 
and England before he returns. The Board of 
Managers have designated Dr. D. T. Mac- 
Dougal as acting director-in-chief of the New 
York Botanical Garden in Dr. Britton’s ab- 
sence. 


Dr. B. T. GALLOWAY, chief of the Division 
of Vegetable Pathology and Plant Physiology, 
has been placed in charge of the grounds of the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture. 


Dr. TIMBRELL BULSTRODE, one of the mem- 
bers of the Food Preservatives Committee, and 
Mr. Charles J. Huddart, the secretary, have, 
during the past month, visited Amsterdam, 
Hamburg and various places in Denmark for 
the purposes of studying the dairying industry 
and the methods of transport of dairy produce, 
with special reference to the milk and butter 
supplies in Holland, Germany and Denmark, 
and the butter export trade, in relation to the 
use or non-use of chemical preservatives. 


THE Duke of Abruzzi has been entertained 
by the Geographical Society of Christiania, 
the address of welcome being made by Pro- 
fessor Reusch. He has proceeded to Italy. 


THE Danish scientific expedition for the ex- 
ploration of Hast Greenland, under Lieutenant 
Amdrup, has reached the shore. TheSwedish 
Kolthoff expedition near Sabine Island found a 
mast with a Danish flag and a communication 
from Lieutenant Amdrup to Captain Sverdrup. 


THOMAS DAVIDSON, well known as an author 
of philosophical and educational works and as 
a lecturer, died at Montreal on September 14th, 
aged sixty years. Mr. Davidson was born in 
Scotland, but has been living in the United 
States for the past twenty-five years. 

Dr. LEWis ALBERT SAYRE, one of the most 
eminent surgeons of New York City, died on 
September 21st in his 81st year. He was one 
of the founders of Bellevue Medical College and 
was professor there until the college was united 
with the New York University two years ago. 


THERE will be a civil service examination on 
October 23rd and 24th for the position of assist- 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


ant in the Nautical Almanac office, with a salary 
of $1000 a year. The examination will be on 
the mathematical topics required for the com- 
putations. On October 28rd there will be an 
examination for the position of assistant phys- 
ical geologist in the U. 8. Geological Survey 
at a salary of $600 ayear. The examination is 
chiefly on physics, but French and German are 
also included. On November 14th, there will 
be examinations for preparator in vertebrate 
paleontology and skilled laborer in the U. S. 
National Museum, with salaries of $900 and 
$720 respectively. The examinations will be 
on experience and practical questions regarding 
the mounting and care of vertebrate fossils. On 
October 23rd, 24th, and 25th, there will be held 
the examination we have already noted for the 
position of chemical geologist in the U. 8. Geo- 
logical Survey with a salary of $1400. 


THE Grand Prize of the Paris Exposition has 
been awarded to the Division of Pomology of 
the Department of Agriculture, and four gold 
medals have been awarded to the United States 
in the horticultural group. 


THE Rothamsted Experimental Station estab- 
lished by Sir John Bennet Lawes was some time 
before his death made over to trustees who 
hold it for the British nation. In addition to 
the land and laboratory it has been provided 
with an endowment of £100,000. 


AN elaborate exhibition has recently been 
held in the Botanical Museum and Conserva- 
tories of the Botanical Gardens at Berlin of the 
plants obtained in South and Central America 
by Dr. P. Preuss. 


As has already been stated the Nobel prizes 
will be awarded on the anniversary of the death 
of the founder, and it is expected that the first 
award will be made on December 10, 1901. 


Magor A. St. Hi~L Gispons has returned 
from Africa after an absence of two years and 
three months. We learn from the London 
Times that the expedition covered over 13,- 
000 miles, in addition to travel by railway or 
steamship routes. The main object of Major 
Gibbons’s journey was to complete the survey of 
the Barotse country and to determine the tribal 
distribution there. In this he was successful, 
and the whole country from the Kafukwe River 


SCIENCE. 


493 


on the east to the Kwito River on the west and 
the Zambesi-Congo watershed to 18° south 
latitude, or a total area of over 200,000 square 
miles, has been hydrographically and ethno- 
graphically surveyed. An interesting feature 
of Major Gibbons’s work in this region was the 
discovery of the source of the Zambesi at a 
point nearly 100 miles distant from its supposed 
position. On the completion of his work in 
Barotseland Major Gibbons, in order to extend 
the scope of the expedition, separated from his 
companions and adopted the northern route, 
traveling by way of the chain of lakes to the 
Upper Nile. According to his charts consider- 
able amendments to existing maps will be nec- 
essary, both with reference to the relative 
position, shape and extent of most of the 
Great Lakes, especially in the case of Lakes 
Kivu and Albert Edward, the latter of which is 
now found to be absolutely different in shape 
and size from the description given in existing 
maps. By the completion of this journey Major 
Gibbons has personally travelled a greater dis- 
tance than any other explorer in Africa, prob- 
ably not excluding Livingstone. He has never 
had occasion to use his rifle in anger, and he is 
proud of the fact that he has never killed a 
native nor lost one of his boys from death, 
either by disease or misadventure. He has 
brought home a large amount of valuable data 
on the general and political situation of the 
countries through which he has traveled and 
over 300 photographs, and his sporting collec- 
tion includes a white rhinoceros from the Upper 
Nile. 


THE report of the expeditions organized by 
the British Astronomical Association to ob- 
serve the total Solar Eclipse of May 28, 1900, 
will be contained in a volume shortly to be is- 
sued from the office of Knowledge. The work 
will be edited by Mr. E. Walter Maunder, 
F.R.A.S., and will contain many fine photo- 
graphs of the various stages of the Eclipse. 


Tue New York Medical Record states that a 
firm of manufacturing chemists in England hay- 
ing applied for a license to perform experiments 
upon living animals for the purpose of stand- 
ardizing antitoxins, the Royal College of Physi- 
cians was requested to give an opinion as to the 


494 


advisability of granting the license. The reply 
of the College was that, while these experi- 
ments were absolutely necessary to the ad- 
vance of pharmacology, the granting of such 
licenses to commercial firms was very unde- 
sirable. The standardization of antitoxins 
should be done in a government laboratory 
into which the question of money-making did 
not enter. 


THE results of measurements of various 
rivers and the observations of height have been 
published by the U. 8. Geological Survey in a 
series of Water-Supply Papers, Nos. 35 to 39, 
inclusive, arbitrary division into five parts 
being necessary by the requirements of law 
limiting these papers to 100 pages each. They 
are as follows: 

No. 35 (Part I.) rivers flowing into the Atlantic 
Ocean from Maine to Virginia. 

No. 36 (Part II.) rivers flowing into the Atlantic 
south of Virginia. 

No. 37 (Part III.) rivers flowing from the eastern 
Rocky Mountain area. 

No. 38 (Part IV.) rivers tributary to the Colorado, 
the interior basin, and Columbia River. 

No. 39 (Part V.) California streams, and rating 

tables. 
Application for these papers should be made 
to Members of Congress, by whom 4000 copies 
of the 5000 printed are distributed, or to the 
Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 


In an article in Nature on latitude-variation, 
earth-magnetism and solar activity Dr. J. 
Halm summarizes his conclusions as follows: 
(1) The changes in the motion of the pole of 
rotation round the pole of figure are in an inti- 
mate connection with the variations of the 
earth-magnetiec forces. (2) Inasmuch as the 
latter phenomena are in a close relation with 
the state of solar activity, the motion of the 
pole is also indirectly dependent on the dynam- 
ical changes taking place at the sun’s surface. 
(8) The distance between the instantaneous and 
mean poles decreases with increasing intensity 
of earth-magnetic disturbance. (4) The length 
of the period of latitude-variation increases 
with increasing intensity of earth-magnetic dis- 
turbance. (5) In strict analogy with the phe- 
nomena of aurore and of magnetic disturbance, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 300. 


the influence of the eleven-years’ period of sun- 
spots, as wellas of the ‘great’ period, is clearly 
exhibited in the phenomenon of latitude-varia- 
tion ; and the same deviations from the solar 
curve as are manifested by the aurore are also 
evident in the motion of the pole. (6) The 
half yearly period of the earth-magnetic phe- 
nomena influences the motion of the pole of 
rotation in such a way that its path, instead of 
being circular, assumes the form of an ellipse, 
having the mean pole at its center. (7) The 
half-yearly period also explains the conspicuous 
fact of a rotation of the axes of the ellipse in a 
direction opposite to that of the motion of the 
pole. 


JUDGE TOWNSEND in the U. 8. Cireuit Court 
for the District of Connecticut has handed down 
a decision sustaining Mr. Tesla’s patents for the 
rotating magnetic field, but the case will doubt- 
less be appealed to the Supreme Court. The 
learned judge described the progress of electrical 
knowledge as follows: ‘‘ The search lights shed 
by defendant’s exhibits upon the history of this’ 
art only serve to illumine the inventive concep- 
tion of Tesla. The Arago rotation taught the 
schoolboy fifty years ago to make a plaything 
which embodied the principle that a ‘rotating 
field could be used to rotate an armature.’ 
Baily dreamed of the application of the Arago 
theory by means of a confessedly impossible con- 
struction. Deprez worked out a problem which 
involved the development of the general theory 
in providing an indicator for a ship’s compass. 
Siemens failed to disclose the ‘suitable modifi- 
cation’ whereby his electric light machine 
might be transferred into a motor, and Bradley 
is almost equally vague. Eminent electricians 
united in the view that by reason of reversals 
of direction and rapidity of alternations an al- 
ternating current motor was impracticable, and 
the future belonged to the commutated con- 
tinuous current. It remained to the genius of 
Tesla to capture the unruly, unrestrained and 
hitherto opposing elements in the field of na- 
ture and art and to harness them to draw the 
machines of man. It was he who first showed 
how to transform the toy of Arago into an en- 
gine of power; the ‘laboratory experiment’ of 
Baily into a practically successful motor; the 
indicator into a driver; he first conceived the 


SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


idea that the very impediments of reversal in di- 
rection, the contradictions of alternations might 
be transformed into power producing rotations, 
a whirling field of force. What others looked 
upon as only invincible barriers, impassable 
currents and contradictory forces, he seized, and 
by harmonizing their directions utilized in prac- 
tical motors in distant cities the power of 
Niagara.’’ 

PROFESSOR H. RAY LANKESTER communicates 
to Nature a letter from Captain Hind remarking 
that ‘‘It is a curious fact that a bird which is 
so valuable as Buphaga in clearing parasitic in- 
sects from cattle that we lately agreed to give 
it special protection at the International Con- 
ference on the Preservation of African Wild 
Animals, should now, by a sudden change of 
conditions induced by man, become a dangerous 
and noxious creature. This fact shows how 
difficult is the problem presented by the rela- 
tions of civilized man to a fauna and flora new 
to his influence.’’ The letter is as follows: 
“The common rhinoceros-bird (Buphaga eryth- 
roepyncha) here formerly fed on ticks and other 
parasites which infest game and domestic ani- 
mals; occasionally, if an animal had a sore, the 
birds would probe the sore to such an extent 
that it sometimes killed the animal. Since the 
cattle plague destroyed the immense herds in 
Ukambani, and nearly all the sheep and goats 
were eaten during the late famine, the birds, 
deprived of their food, have become carnivorous 
and now any domestic animal not constantly 
watched is killed by them. Perfectly healthy 
animals have their ears eaten down to the bone, 
holes torn in their backs and in the femoral reg- 
ions. Native boys amuse themselves sometimes 
by shooting the birds on the cattle with arrows, 
the points of which are passed through a piece 
of wood or ivory for about half an inch, so if 
the animal is struck instead of the bird no harm 
is done. The few thus killed do not seem in 
any way to affect the numbers of these pests. 
On my own animals, when a hole has been dug, 
I put in iodoform powder, and that particular 
wound is generally avoided by the birds after- 
wards ; but if the birds attack it again, they 
become almost immediately comatose and can 
be destroyed. This remedy is expensive and 
not very effective. Is there any other drug 


SCIENCE. 


495 


you could suggest that would be less likely to 
be detected? Perhaps you know that I re- 
ported three years ago that these birds rendered 
isolation under the cattle plague regulations 
useless in some districts, as I proved beyond 
doubt they were the only means of communica- 
tion between clean and infected herds under 
supervision, a mile or two apart. These birds 
I have never seen on the great herds of game 
on the open plains, but I have seen them on 
antelope and rhinoceros in the immediate 
neighborhood of Masai villages and herds of 
cattle ; on the other hand, I have never seen 
the small egret on cattle, though often on 
rhinoceros and gnu.”’ 


THE work done at the Pasteur Institute in 
Paris, so far as regards the treatment of rabies, 
is set forth in the last issue of the Annaies de 
V Institut, which is abstracted in the London 
Times. It appears that 1614 persons were in- 
oculated, of whom 1506 were French, 74 Eng- 
lish and Indian, 15 Belgian, seven Swiss, four 
Greeks, three Spanish, two each Dutch and 
Turks, and one from Morocco. Of the 1614 
under treatment, 188 were bitten on the head 
or face, 965 on the hands and 464 on other 
parts of the body ; while the number of deaths, 
excluding six which occurred before the treat- 
ment was completed, did not exceed four. The 
full return of the treatment since Pasteur com- 
menced it is as under: 


No. Rate of 
Year. of persons Hee mortality. 
treated. ~ | per cent. 

WIS ocoaboasuoodne 2671 25 94 
I bolognclagacuods 1770 14 79 
IPS y ossodasonen00 1622 9 55 
GEE) soopeaapouooce 1830 rd 38 
IER): ro¢dccoaooocna 1540 5 32 
EO mn Gadoooocane 1559 4 125 
WED soos adddcosons 1790 4 +22 
EES poccodoouadcoe 1648 6 .36 
EQ coeapoanuaones 1387 7 50 
1895 1520 5 30 
TEWO ae oodad sen oop 1308 4 30 
WE Soo - sdobousoad 1521 6 39 
UES) sooncocapogos0 1465 3 -20 
IEEE) S656) Gooodode 1614 4 -20 


It must be pointed out that since the Pasteur 
Institute was started in Paris several others 
have been opened in different European coun- 
tries, so that it is not surprising to find that the 


496 


number of persons under treatment has never 
been so large as it was in the first year. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mr. A. C. BARTLETT has given the Univer- 
sity of Chicago $125,000 for a gymnasium as a 
memorial of his son who died on July 15th. 

A COLLECTION of eight hundred Arabic manu- 
scripts, made by Count Landberg and said to be 
worth $20,000, has been presented to Yale Uni- 
versity by Mr. Morris K. Jesup of the Ameri- 
can Museum of Natural History. 

THE trustees of the College of the City of 
New York are considering the lengthening of 
the course to seven years. They have asked 
that the appropriation made by the Board of 
Estimate and Apportionment last year be in- 
creased from $200,000 to $225,000. It is ex- 
pected that the new buildings in 138th Street 
will be begun during the present autumn. 

THE new president of the University of 
Rochester, Rev. Rush Rhees, who was elected 
last June, has assumed control, and his formal 
installation will take place on October 11th. 
President Seth Low, of Columbia University, 
will deliver an address on ‘The City and the 
University’ ; President Harper, of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago, will speak on ‘The College 
Officer and the College Student’; President 
Seelye, of Smith College, will speak on ‘ Limi- 
tations to the President’s Power in the Amer- 
ican College.’ 

THE London Educational Times states that dur- 
ing the coming session evening science courses 
will be held in connection with the Technical 
Education Board at University College, King’s 
College and Bedford College. At University Col- 
lege Professor J. A. Fleming, F.R.S., will give 
a course of ten lectures, followed by laboratory 
practice, in advanced electrical measurements. 
A course of lectures on the electric motor and 
its application to electric traction will be given 
by Professor C. A. Carus-Wilson, each lecture 
to be followed by an experimental demonstra- 
tion or by a class for the practical working of 
numerical examples in connection with the sub- 
ject. A course will be given by Professor E. 
Wilson at King’s College on direct and alter- 
nating currents. In mechanical engineering, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XIL No. 300. 


Professor T. Hudson Beare will give a course 
of ten lectures at University College, on the 
theory of steam engines and boilers, with labora- 
tory work on the testing of steam engines and 
boilers. Professor Beare will also give a course 
of five lectures on the theory of gas and oil en- 
gines, combined with laboratory work. 


DAviIpD J. BREWER, Associate Justice of the 
United States Supreme Court, has accepted the 
position of lecturer on the responsibilities of 
citizenship at Yale University. The lectures 
will be delivered next February. 


PROFESSOR Goss, who has for a number of 
years been professor of mechanical engineering 
and director of the mechanical laboratory in 
Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind., has been 
made dean of the Engineering Schools of the 
University. 

Proressor L. C. GLEN, of South Carolina 
College, has been appointed professor of geology 
at Vanderbilt University. 


J. R. STREET, Ph.D. (Clark), has been ap- 
pointed professor of pedagogy at Syracuse Uni- 
versity. 

Mr. ALEXANDER MacpHaAiIL, M.B., C.M., 
senior demonstrator of anatomy in Glasgow 
University, has been appointed professor of 
anatomy in St. Mungo’s College, Glasgow. 


THE following promotions have been made in 
German universities : Dr. Wilhelm Authenrieth, 
of the University of Freiburg, has been ap- 
pointed associate professor of pharmaceutical 
chemistry ; Dr. R. Abegg, of the University of 
Breslau, associate professor of chemistry ; Dr. 
A. Loewy, of the University of Berlin, pro- 
fessor of physiology; Dr. Osann, of the Uni- 
versity at Basle, associate professor of geology 
and mineralogy; Dr. Paul Hisler and Dr. Vor- 
lander, of the University at Halle, associate pro- 
fessors of anatomy and chemistry, respectively. 


Dr. JosEpH ANTON GMEINER has qualified 
as docent in mathematics in the University of 
Vienna; Dr. Max Schwarzmann, as docent in 
mineralogy at the University of Giessen ; Dr. 
Joseph Boleslaw Grzybowski, as docent in 
paleontology at the University of Cracow and 
Dr. Steinbriick as docent in agriculture at the 
University at Halle. 


SCIEN 


E 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEWwcomMB, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 


Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering 


; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 


JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 
W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 


N. L. 


Physiology; J. 8S. BILLINGs, 


BRITTON, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. Bownpitcn, 
Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM -H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Ocroser 5, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 

The Nobel Prizes for Scientific Discoveries...........-. 497 
Address of the President of the Anthropological Sec- 

tion of the British Association: JOHN RHYS...... 502 
Camphor secreted by an Animal (Polyzonium) : DR. 

Ob} TBS CQ i<ccastanosossconscassticosoossooosaSssncoseccq000 516 
Progress in Meteorological Kite Flying: DR. S. P. 

TPISTEXEROSISORY coo onqdon000 nesnadogooboRDobnoROSEoDObOsOnTEDoS 521 


Scientific Books :— 
Publications of the Volta Bureau: PROFESSOR 
W. K. BRooxKs. Vanutberghe’s Exploitation tech- 
nique et commerciale des foréts: PROFESSOR B. 
E. FERNOW. Reinhardt’s Technic of Mechanical 
Drafting: PROFESSOR F. N. WILLSON. Books 
LE 2B! ooocodpdadsojaqqodoonOadbenDsoboBSnodOdaDaDUDHSboaC 

Scientific Journals and Articles 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H............ 530 
Experimental Stations in Hawaii and Porto Rico... 531 
Scientific Notes and News. .........0.ccseceeenecceecesevens 532 
University and Educational News.......2+...00.00s00e+ 536 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE NOBEL PRIZES FOR SCIENTIFIC DIS- 
COVERIES.* 


LAWS AND REGULATIONS. 
Tue three corporations awarding the 
Nobel prizes are: 
1. The Royal Academy of Sciences, at 
*Summary received by the Department of State 
from the legation of Sweden and Norway, dated 
Washington, September 11, 1900, inclosing copy (in 


French) of the Jaws and regulations relating to the 
Nobel bequest. 


Stockholm, founded in 1739. The King is 
the protector of the Academy, which num- © 
bers 100 Swedish and Norwegian members 
and 75 foreign members. 

2. The Swedish Academy, at Stockholm, 
instituted in 1786. The King is the pro- 
tector. The members, exclusively Swedish, 
are limited to 18. 

3. The Carolin Institute of Medicine and 
Surgery, at Stockholm, established in 1815. 
The number of professors is 22. 


OBJECT OF THE ENDOWMENT. 


The Nobel endowment is based on the 
will of Dr. Alfred Bernhard Nobel, engi- 
neer, drawn up November 27, 1895. The 
stipulations are as follows: 

‘‘The remainder of the fortune which I 
shall leave shall be disposed of in the 
following manner: The capital, converted 
into safe investments by the executors of 
my will, shall constitute a fund the interest 
of which shall be distributed annually as a 
reward to those who, in the course of the 
preceding year, shall have rendered the 
greatest services to humanity. The sum 
total shall be divided into five equal por- 
tions, assigned as follows: 

‘1. To the person having made the most 
important discovery or invention in the de- 
partment of physical science. 

‘“¢2. To the person having made the most 
important discovery or having produced 
the greatest improvement in chemistry. 


498 


‘©3. To the author of the most important 
discovery in the department of physiology 
or of medicine. 

“4, To the author having produced the 
most notable literary work in the sense of 
idealism. 

“5. To the person having done the most, 
or the best, in the work of establishing the 
brotherhood of nations, for the suppression 
or the reduction of standing armies, as well 
as for the formation and the propagation 
of peace conferences. 

“The prizes will be awarded as follows : 
For physical science and chemistry, by the 
Swedish Academy of Sciences; for works 
in physiology or medicine, by the Carolin 
Institute of Stockholm; for literature, by 
the Academy of Stockholm ; finally, for the 
work of peace, by a committee of five mem- 
bers, elected by the Norwegian Stortung. 
It is my expressed will that nationality 
shall not be considered, so that the prize 
may accrue to the most worthy, whether 
he be a Scandinavian or not.” 

The testamentary stipulations above cited 
serve as a basis for the regulations relating 
to the Nobel endowment, together with the 
explanations and the more detailed pro- 
visions contained in the present law, as 
well as in the deed of compromise, amicably 
brought about June 5, 1898, with certain 
of the heirs of the testator, and according 
to which the said heirs, after an agreement 
concluded on the subject of a less impor- 
tant portion of the property left by Dr. No- 
bel, declared that they accepted the will of 
Dr. Nobel and renounced in all contingen- 
cies, for themselves and for their descend- 
ants, all claim for the remainder of the 
succession of the said Dr. Nobel and all 
share in the administration of the legacy ; 
they abandoned also all right to protest 
against the interpretations or additions to 
the will or other limitations relative to its 
execution, and to the employment of the 
capital which might be now, or in the fu- 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


ture, made by decision of the King or by 
competent authorities. The following res- 
ervations are, however, expressly stipu- 
lated : 

a. That the common law for all the 
authorities charged with the distribution 
of the prizes, and governing the manner 
and the conditions of the distribution, pre- 
scribed by the will, must be drawn up by 
common consent with a representative del- 
egated by the family of Robert Nobel and 
submitted to the approval of the King. 

6. That the following principles cannot 
be deviated from, viz: 

1. That each of the annual prizes estab- 
lished by the will must be awarded at least 
once in the course of every period of five 
years, commencing with the year immedi- 
ately following that in which the Nobel en- 
dowment shall enter on its functions, and 
that the sum total of a prize thus awarded 
shall in no case be less than 60 per cent. of 
the part of the yearly revenues disposable 
for the distribution of the prizes; neither 
can it be divided into more than three 
prizes at the most. 

2. By the title ‘Academy of Stockholm ’ 
written in the will is understood the Swe- 
dish Academy. 

By the word ‘literature’ must be under- 
stood not only works purely literary, but 
also any other writing possessing by its form 
and its style a literary value. The limita- 
tion of the will declaring that the annual 
distribution of prizes must be directed to 
works executed ‘in the course of the pre- 
ceding year’ must be interpreted in this 
sense, that the objects of the rewards shall 
be the most recent results of research dis- 
played in the departments indicated by the 
will ; older works will be considered only in 
the event that their importance shall have 
been demonstrated in recent times. 

3. In order to be admitted to the compe- 
tition, every written work must have been 
published by means of the press. 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


4, The sum total of a prize may be di- 
vided equally between two works, if it be 
judged that each of them has merited the 
prize. If the work rewarded is the work 
of two or of several assistants, the prize can 
be awarded tothemin common. Any work 
the author of which is deceased can not be 
the object of a prize ; however, in case of 
death after the proposal for a reward has 
already been presented in the prescribed 
forms, the prize may be awarded. Hach 
one of the corporations having the con- 
ferring of prizes has the right to decide 
whether the prize may be adjudged to an 
institution or to a society. 

5. According to the plain intention of 
the will, a work can not be rewarded unless 
experience or a competent examination 
shall prove its preponderant importance. 
If none of the works submitted to the 
competition possesses the quality desired, 
the sum total of the prizeis reserved for the 
following year. If, then, the prize can not 
be distributed, the amount is deposited in 
the principal funds, unless three-fourths of 
the persons voting shall decide to establish 
with it a special fund for the section. The 
revenues of such a fund may, according to 
the decision of the corporation, be employed 
to encourage, otherwise than by the dis- 
tribution of prizes, the tendencies aimed at 
in the first place by the donor. Hach special 
fund will be administered with the princi- 
pal fund. 

6. For each section of Swedish prize, the 
competent corporation shall designate a 
‘Nobel committee,’ composed of three or 
five members, who shall give their advice 
upon the conferring of the prize. The 
necessary examination for the awarding of 
the peace prize shall be made by the com- 
mittee of the Norwegian Stortung men- 
tioned inthe will. In order to be named 
a member of a Nobel committee, it is not 
necessary to be a Swedish subject nor to 
belong to the corporation charged with the 


SCIENCE. 


499 


conferring of the prize. The members of a 
Nobel committee can receive a suitable fee 
for their work, which will be determined 
by the competent corporation. Ina special 
case, if it is judged necessary, the corpora- 
tion can designate a competent person to 
take part as a member in the deliberations 
and in the decisions of the Nobel committee. 

7. For admission to the competition, it 
is necessary to be proposed in writing by a 
qualified person. No attention will be paid 
to requests addressed by persons desiring 
to obtain a prize themselves. Itis explained 
further on who are considered qualified. 
The annual competition considers pro- 
posals which have been offered in the 
course of the year immediately preceding 
up to the date of February Ist. 

8. Every proposal must be accompanied 
by the writings and other documents upon 
which it is founded. If the proposal is not 
drawn up in either one of the Scandinavian 
languages or in English, French, German 
or Latin, or if, for the appreciation of the 
proposed work, the body having to award 
the prize finds itself, for the most part, 
obliged to take cognizance of a writing com- 
posed in a language whose interpretation 
would cause special difficulties or consider- 
able expense—in either of these cases, the 
corporation will not be obliged to proceed 
to a detailed examination of the proposal. 

9. At the solemn reunion, which takes 
place on the anniversary of the death of 
the donor, December 10th, the corporations 
will make known publicly their decisions 
and bestow upon each laureate a check for 
the value of the prize, a diploma, and a 
gold medal bearing the effigy of the donor, 
with an appropriate legend. The laureate 
is obliged, unless prevented, to give during 
the six months following the reunion a 
public lecture on the subject of the work 
crowned. This lecture will be given in 
Stockholm, or, for the peace prize, in Chris- 
tiania. 


500 


10. Decisions in regard to the awarding 
of prizes are without appeal. It is for- 
bidden to insert a difference of opinion in 
the, procés verbal, or to reveal it in any 
other manner. 

11. Corporations have the right to es- 
tablish scientific institutions and other 
establishments, in order to secure assistance 
for the examination which must precede 
the distribution of the prizes, and to serve, 
from other points of view, the aim of the 
endowment. These institutes and estab- 
lishments, which form part of the endow- 
ment, shall be called ‘ Nobel institutes.’ 

12. Every Nobel institute is placed 
under the direction of the body which 
founded it. They are independent as re- 
gards their exterior situation and their 
finances; consequently, their revenues can- 
not be utilized by the corporations award- 
ing the prizes, nor by any other institution 
to cover the expenses of their private budg- 
ets. Professors having a fixed salary in a 
Nobel institute can not hold a like position 
at the same time in any other institution, 
unless by special authorization of the King. 
Corporations may install Nobel institutes 
on a common site, giving them a uniform 
organization; they can attach foreigners, 
men and women, to the institute. 

13. One-fourth of the revenues of the 
principal fund, which each section disposes 
of annually, is reserved. After the pay- 
ment of the immediate expenses for the 
distribution of the prizes, the rest of the 
amount reserved is employed in defraying 
the expenses of the Nobel institute in each 
section. The balance, after paying the ex- 
peuses of the year, is set aside for the future 
needs of the institute. 


MANAGEMENT OF THE ENDOWMENT FUND. 

The board of administration is composed 
of five Swedish members, one of whom— 
the president—is named by the King; the 
others are chosen by representatives of the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von XII. No. 301. 


corporations. The managing director is 
chosen by the board from among its own 
members. Members and substitutes are 
elected for a term of two years, commencing 
May Ist. The board of administration 
manages the endowment fund and all 
property common to the sections, pays the 
prizes and the expenses attendant on their 
distribution, the expenses of the Nobel in- 
stitutes, engages all employees, determines 
the amount of their appointments and of 
their pensions; is empowered to appoint 
proxies, to prosecute and to answer, to 
plead and to act in the name of the endow- 
ment. The corporations awarding the 
prizes appoint fifteen representatives for 
two civil years. The Academy of Sciences 
chooses six and designates four substitutes ; 
the other corporations each appoint three, 
with two substitutes. The representatives, 
called together by the oldest representative 
of the Academy of Sciences, elect one of 
their number as president. Nine votes, at 
least, are necessary to make a decision. A 
corporation failing to send representatives 
does not prevent the others from acting. 
The management and accounts of the board 
are examined every civil year by five ex- 
aminers ; each corporation appoints one, the 
King naming the fifth, who acts as presi- 
dent. The report upon the management 
must be given to the president before the 
end of February. The examiners must pre- 
sent their report to the representatives of 
the corporations before April 1st. This re- 
port, giving a résumé of the employment of 
the different funds, will be published in the 
newspapers. The failure of any corpora- 
tion to appoint an examiner, or of an ex- 
aminer to act, does not prevent the other 
members from proceeding with the exami- 
nation. Examiners, and also the head of 
the Department of Public Instruction and 
Worship, have free access to all books, 
accounts and documents of the endow- 
ment. 


OcToBER 5, 1900.] 


All the investments of the fund must be 
examined and verified at least once a year. 
The representatives of the corporations 
have the right to decide, after the report 
of the examiners, whether the board of 
administration or any one of its members 
shall be discharged, or any other action 
taken against them. The King determines 
the salary of the managing director. The 
tenth part of the yearly net income of the 
principal fund is added to the capital ; the 
interest of the sum destined for the prizes 
is added to the same fund until the distribu- 
tion in prizes or otherwise. 


TRANSIENT PROVISIONS. 


Immediately after the approval of the 
King of the statute of endowment, the 
corporations will designate the stipulated 
number of representatives, who will as- 
semble at Stockholm and elect the mem- 
bers of the board of administration, who 
will have the management of the endow- 
ment fund at the beginning of the year 
1901. The executors of the will will take 
appropriate measures to terminate the set- 
tlement of the succession. The first dis- 
tribution of prizes for all sections will take 
place, if possible, in 1901. From the en- 
dowment resources will be deducted: First, 
a sum of 300,000 crowns ($80,000) for each 
section—that is, 1,500,000 crowns ($402,- 
000) in all—which, with the interest com- 
mencing from the 1st of January, 1900, will 
be used to cover, in proportion, the expenses 
of the organization of the Nobel institutes 
in addition to the sum the board of admin- 
istration shall judge necessary for the ac- 
quisition of a special site destined for the 
administration of the endowment and in- 
cluding a hall for its meetings. 


SPECIAL RULE GOVERNING THE AWARDING OF 
THE NOBEL PRIZES BY THE ACADEMY 
OF SCIENCES, ETC. 
The right of presenting proposals for 
prizes belongs to— 


SCIENCE. 


-in the month of September. 


501 


1. Native and foreign members of the 
Royal Academy of Sciences. 

2. Members of the Nobel committees for 
natural philosophy and chemistry. 

3. Professors who have received the 
Nobel prize of the Academy of Science. 

4. Ordinary and extraordinary professors 
of natural sciences and chemistry in the 
universities of Upsal, Lund, Christiania, 
Copenhagen and Helsingfors, in the Carolin 
Institute of Medicine and Surgery, the 
Superior Technical Royal School, as well 
as to the professors of the same sciences in 
the Stockholm High School. 

5. Incumbents of corresponding chairs 
of at least six universities or high-schools, 
which the Academy of Science will select, 
taking care to divide them suitably between 
the different countries and their universi- 
ties. 

6. Learned men, to whom the Academy 
shall judge proper to send an invitation to 
this effect. 

The invitations shall be sent every year 
Proposals for 
the prize must be made before February 1st 
of the following year. They are classified 
by the Nobel committee and submitted to 
the college of professors. The Nobel com- 
mittee decides which of the works presented 
shall be submitted to a special examination. 
The college of professors will pronounce 
definitely on the distribution of the prize in 
the course of the month of October. The 
vote is taken in secret; if necessary, the 
question may be decided by drawing lots. 


SPECIAL RULE GOVERNING THE AWARDING OF 
THE NOBEL PRIZE BY THE SWEDISH 
ACADEMY, ETC. 

The right to present candidates for the 
Nobel prize belongs to the members of 
the Swedish Academy, the French Acad- 
emy, and the Spanish Academy, which re- 
sembles the Swedish Academy in their or- 
ganization and aim ; to the members of the 


502 


literary departments of other academies, as 
well as to the members of literary institu- 
tions and societies analogous to academies ; 
to professors of esthetics, of literature and 
of history in the universities. This order 
must be published at least every five years. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE AN- 
THROPOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

PrrHars I ought to begin by apologizing 
for my conspicuous lack of qualification to 
fill this chair, but I prefer, with your per- 
mission, to dismiss that as a subject far too 
large for me to dispose of this morning. 
So I would beg to call your attention back 
for a moment to the excellent address given 
to this Section last year. It was full of 
practical suggestions which are well worth 
recalling: one was as to the project of a 
bureau of ethnology for Greater Britain, 
and another turned on the desirability of 
founding an imperial institution to repre- 
sent our vast colonial empire. I mention 
these in the hope that we shall not leave 
the government and others concerned any 
peace till we have realized those modest 
dreams of enlightenment. People’s minds 
are just now so full of other things that the 
interests of knowledge and science are in 
no little danger of being overlooked. So it 
is all the more desirable that the British 
Association, as our great parliament of sci- 
ence, should take the necessary steps to 
prevent that happening, and to keep steadily 
before the public the duties which a great 
and composite nation like ours owes to the 
world and to humanity, whether civilized 
or savage. 

The difficulties of the position of the 
president or this Section arise in a great 
measure from the vastness of the field of 
research which the Science of Man covers. 
He is, therefore, constrained to limit his at- 
tention as a rule to some small corner of it ; 
and, with the audacity of ignorance, I have 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


selected that which might be labeled the 
early ethnology of the British Isles, but I 
propose to approach it only along the pre- 
carious paths of folklore and philology, be- 
cause I know no other. Here, however, 
comes a personal difficulty; at any rate, I 
suppose I ought to pretend that I feel it a 
difficulty, namely, that I have committed 
myself to publicity on that subject already. 
But as a matter of fact, I can hardly bring 
myself to confess to any such feeling; and 
this leads me to mention, in passing, the 
change of attitude which I have lived to 
notice in the case of students in my own 
position. Most of us here present have 
known men who, when they had once 
printed their views on their favorite sub- 
jects of study, stuck to those views through 
thick and thin, or at most limited them- 
selves to changing the place of a comma 
here and there, or replacing an occasional 
and by a but. The work had then been 
made perfect, and not a few great ques- 
tions affecting no inconsiderable portions 
of the universe had been forever set at rest. 
That was briefly the process of getting 
ready for posterity, but one of its disad- 
vantages was that those who adopted it 
had to waste a good deal of time in the 
daily practice of the art of fencing and 
winning verbal victories; for, metaphoric- 
ally speaking, 
‘With many a whack and many a bang 
Rough crab-tree and old iron rang.’ 


Now all that, however amusing it may 
have been, has been changed, and what 
now happens is somewhat as follows: AB 
makes an experiment or propounds what 
he calls a working hypothesis; but no 
sooner has AB done so than CD, who is 
engaged in the same sort of research, pro- 
ceeds to improve on AB. This, instead of 
impelling AB to rush after CD with all 
kinds of epithets and insinuating that his 
character is deficient in all the ordinary 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


virtues of a man and a brother, only makes 
him go to work again and see whether he 
cannot improve on CD’s results; and most 
likely he succeeds, for one discovery leads 
to another. So we have the spectacle not 
infrequently of a man illustrating the truth 
of the poet’s belief, 
‘That men may rise on stepping-stones 
Of their dead selves to higher things.’ 

It is a severe discipline in which all dis- 
play of feeling is considered bad form. Of 
course every now and then a spirit of the 
ruder kind discards the rules of the game 
and attracts attention by having public fits 
of bad temper ; but generally speaking, the 
rivalry goes on quietly enough to the verge 
of monotony, with the net result that the 
stock of knowledge is increased. I may be 
told, however, that while this kind of exer- 
cise may be agreeable to the ass who writes, 
it is not conducive to the safety of the pub- 
lisher’s chickens. To that it might suffice 
to answer that the publisher is usually one 
who is well able to take good care of his 
chickens ; but, seriously, what it would 
probably mean is, that in the matter of-the 
more progressive branches of study, smaller 
editions of the books dealing with them 
would be required, but a more frequent 
issue of improved editions of them, or else 
new books altogether, a state of things to 
which the publisher would probably find 
ways of adapting himself without any loss 
of profits. And after all, the interests of 
knowledge must be reckoned uppermost. 
It is needless to say that I havein view 
only a class of books which literary men 
proper do not admit to be literature at all; 
and the book trade has one of its main stays, 
no doubt, in books of pure literature, which 
are like the angels that neither marry nor 
give in marriage—they go on forever in 
their serene singleness of purpose to charm 
and chasten the reader’s mind. 

My predecessor last year alluded to an 
Oxford don said to have given it as his 


SCIENCE. 


503 


conviction that anthropology rests on a 
foundation of romance. I have no notion 
who that Oxford don may have been, but 
I am well aware that Oxford dons have 
sometimes a knack of using very striking 
language. In this case, however, I should 
be inclined toshare toa certain extent that 
Oxford don’s regard for romance, holding 
as I do that the facts of history are not the 
only facts deserving of careful study by the 
anthropologist. There are also the facts of 


fiction, and to some of those I would now 


eall your attention. Recently, in putting 
together a volume on Welsh folklore, I had 
to try to classify and analyze in my mind 
the stories which have been current in 
Wales about the fairies. Now the mass of 
folklore about the fairies is of various 
origins. Thus with them have been more 
or less inseparably confounded certain di- 
vinities or demons, especially various kinds 
of beings associated with the rivers and 
lakes of the country. ‘They are creations 
introduced from the worship of the imagi- 
nation ; then there is the dead ancestor, 
who also seems to have contributed his 
share to the sum total of our notions about 
the Little People. In far the greater num- 
ber of cases, however, we seem to have 
something historical, or, at any rate, some- 
thing which may be contemplated as his- 
torical. The key to the fairy idea is that 
there once was a real race of people to 


_whom all kinds of attributes, possible and 


impossible, have been given in the course 
of uncounted centuries of story-telling by 
races endowed with a lively imagination. 
When the mortal midwife has been 
fetched to attend on a fairy mother in a 
fairy palace, she is handed an ointment 
which she is to apply to the fairy baby’s 
eyes, at the same time that she is gravely 
warned not to touch her own eyes with it. 
Of course any one could foresee that when 
she is engaged in applying the ointment to 
the young fairy’s eyes one of her own eyes 


504 


is certain to itch and have the benefit of 
the forbidden salve. When this happens 
the midwife has two very different views of 
her surroundings : with the untouched eye 
she sees that she is in the finest and grand- 
est place that she has ever beheld in her 
life, and there she can see the lady on 
whom she is attending reposing on a bed, 

- while with the anointed eye she perceives 
how she is lying on a bundie of rushes and 
withered ferns in a large cave, with big 
stones all around her and a little fire in 
one corner, and she also discovers that the 
woman is a girl who has once been her ser- 
vant. Like the midwife, we have also to 
exercise a sort of double vision if we are to 
understand the fairies and see through the 
stories about them. An instance will ex- 
plain what I mean: Fairy women are 
pretty generally represented as fascinating 
to the last degree and gorgeously dressed ; 
that is how they appear through the glamor 
in which they move and have their being. 
On the other hand, not only are some tribes 
of some fairies described as ugly, but fairy 
children when left as changelings are in- 
variably pictured as repulsive urchins of a 
sallow complexion and mostly deformed 
about the feet and legs; there we have the 
real fairy with the glamor taken off and a 
certain amount of depreciatory exaggeration 
put on. 

Now when one approaches the fairy 
question in this kind of way, one is forced, 
it strikes me, to conclude that the fairies, 
as a real people, consisted of a short, stumpy, 
swarthy race, which made its habitations 
underground or otherwise cunningly con- 
cealed. ‘They were hunters, probably, and 
fishermen; at any rate, they were not tillers 
of the ground or eaters of bread. Most 
likely they had some of the domestic ani- 
mals and lived mainly on milk and the 
produce of the chase, together with what 
they got by stealing. They seem to have 
practiced the art of spinning, though they 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


do not appear to have thought much of 
clothing. They had no tools or implements 
made of metal. They appear to have had 
a language of their own, which would im- 
ply a time when they understood no other, 
and explain why, when they came to a town 
to do their marketing, they laid down the 
exact money without uttering a syllable to 
anybody by way of bargaining for their 
purchases. They counted by fives and only 
dealt in the simplest of numbers. They 
were inordinately fond of music and danc- 
ing. They had a marvelously quick sense 
of hearing, and they were consummate 
thieves; but their thievery was not system- 
atically resented, as their visits were held 
to bring luck and prosperity. More power- 
ful races generally feared them as formid- 
able magicians who knew the future and 
could cause or cure disease as they pleased. 
The fairies took pains to conceal their 
names no less than their abodes, and when 
the name happened to be discovered by 
strangers the bearer of it usually lost heart 
and considered himself beaten. Their 
family relations were of the lowest order; 
they not only reckoned no fathers, but it 
may be that, like certain Australian savages 
recently described by Spencer and Gillen, 
they had no notion of paternity at all. The 
stage of civilization in which fatherhood is 
of little or no account has left evidence of 
itself in Celtic literature, as I shall show 
presently ; but the other and lower stage, 
anterior to the idea of fatherhood at all 
comes into sight only in certain bits of folk- 
lore, both Welsh and Irish, to the effect that 
the fairies were all women and girls. Where 
could such an idea have originated? Only, 
it seems to me, among a race once on a 
level with the native Australians to whom 
I have alluded, and of whom Frazer of 
‘the Golden Bough’ wrote as follows in 
last year’s Fortnightly Review : ‘‘ Thus, in the 
opinion of these savages, every conception 
is what we are wont to call an immaculate 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


conception, being brought about by the en- 
trance into the mother of a spirit, apart 
from any contact with the other sex. Stu- 
dents of folklore have long been familiar 
with the notions of this sort occurring in 
the stories of the birth of miraculous per- 
sonages, but this is the first case on record 
of a tribe who believe in immaculate con- 
ception as the sole cause of the birth of 
every human being who comes into the 
world. A people so ignorant of the most 
elementary of natural processes may well 
rank at the very bottom of the savage 
seale.’”?’ Those are Dr. Frazer’s words, and 
for a people in that stage of ignorance to 
have imagined a race all women seems log- 
ical and natural enough—but for no other. 
The direct conclusion, however, to be drawn 
from this argument is that some race—pos- 
sibly more than one—which has contributed 
to the folklore about our fairies, has passed 
through the stage of ignorance just indi- 
eated; but as an indirect conclusion one 
would probably be right in supposing this 
race to have been no other than the very 
primitive one which has been exaggerated 
into fairies. At the same time it must be 
admitted that they could not have been 
singular always in this respect among the 
nations of antiquity, as is amply proved by 
the prevalence of legends about virgin 
mothers, to whom Frazer alludes, not to 
mention certain wild stories recorded by the 
naturalist Pliny concerning certain kinds of 
animals. 

Some help to make out the real history of 
the Little People may be derived from the 
names given them, of which the most com- 
mon in Welsh is that of y Tylwyth Teg or 
the Fair Family. But the word cor, ‘a 
dwarf,’ feminine corres, is also applied to 
them; and in Breton we have the same 
word with such derivatives as horrik, ‘a 
fairy, a wee little wizard or sorcerer,’ with 
a feminine korrigan or korrigez, analogously 
meaning a she-fairy or a diminutive witch. 


SCIENCE. 


505 


From cor we have in Welsh the name of a 
people, called the Coranians, figuring in a: 
story in the fourteenth-century manuscript 
of the Red Book of Hergest. There one 
learns that the Coranians were such con- 
summate magicians that they could hear 
every word that reached the wind, as it is 
put; so they could not be harmed. The 
name Coranians of those fairies has sug- 
gested to Welsh writers a similar explana- 
tion of the name of a real people of ancient 
Britain. I refer to the Coritani, whom 
Ptolemy located, roughly speaking, between 
the river Trent and Norfolk, assigning to 
them the two towns of Lindum (Lincoln) 
and Rate, supposed to have been approxi- 
mately where Leicester now stands. It 
looks as if all invaders from the Continent 
had avoided the coast from Norfolk up to 
the neighborhood of the Humber, for the 
good reason, probably, that it afforded very 
few inviting landing-places. So here pre- 
sumably the ancient inhabitants may have 
survived in sufficient numbers to have been 
called by their neighbors of a different race 
‘the dwarfs,’ or Coritant, as late as Ptolemy’s 
time in the second century. This har- 
monizes with the fact that the Coritani are 
not mentioned as doing anything, all polit- 
ical initiative having long before probably 
passed out of their hands into those of a 
more powerful race. How far inland the 
Coritanian territory extended it is impos- 
sible to say, but it may have embraced the 
northern half of Northamptonshire, where 
we have a place-name Pytchley, from an 
earlier Pihtes léa, meaning ‘The Pict’s 
Meadow,’ or else the meadow of a man 
called Pict. At all events, their country 
took in the few districts containing Croy- 
land, where towards the end of the seventh 
century St. Guthlae set up his cell on the 
side of an ancient tumulus and was dis- 
turbed by demons that talked Welsh. Cer- 
tain portions of the Coritanian country 
offered, as one may infer, special advantages 


506 


as a home for retreating nationalities : wit- 
ness as late as the eleventh century the 
resistance offered by Hereward in the Isle 
of Ely to the Norman Conqueror and his 
mail-clad warriors. 

In reasoning backwards from the stories 
about the Little People to a race in some 
respects on a level with Australian savages, 
we come probably in contact with one of the 
very earliest populations of these islands. 
It is needless to say that we have no data 
to ascertain how long that occupation may 
have been uncontested, if at all, or what 
progress was made in the course of it: per- 
haps archeology will be able some day to 
help us to form a guess on that subject. 
But the question more immediately press- 
ing for answer is, with what race outside 
Wales may one compare or identify the 
ancient stock caricatured in Welsh fairy 
tales? Now, in the Lowlands of Scotland, 
together with the Orkneys and Shetlands, 
the place of our fairies is to some extent 
taken by the Picts, or, as they are there 
colloquially called, ‘the Pechts.’ My in- 
formation about the Pechts comes mostly 
from recent writings on the subject by 
Mr. David MacRitchie, of Edinburgh, from 
whom one learns, among other things, that 
certain underground—or partially under- 
ground—habitations in Scotland are as- 
scribed to the Pechts. Now one kind of 
these Pechts’ dwellings appears from the 
outside like hillocks covered with grass, so 
as presumably not to attract attention, an 
object which was further helped by making 
the entrance very low and as inconspicuous 
as possible. But one of the most remark- 
able things about them is the fact that the 
cells or apartments into which they are 
divided are frequently so small that their 
inmates must have been of very short 
stature, like our Welsh fairies. Thus, 
though there appears to be no reason for 
regarding the northern Picts themselves as 
an undersized race, there must have been a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


people of that description in their country. 
Perhaps archeologists may succeed in 
classifying the ancient habitations in the 
North accordingly — that is, to tell us what 
class of them were built by the Picts and 
what by the Little People whom they may 
be supposed to have found in possession of 
that part of our island. 

In Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland 
the fairies derive their more usual appella- 
tions from a word sid or sith (genitive side), 
which may perhaps be akin to the Latin 
sédes and have meant a seat, settlement, or 
station; but whatever its exact meaning 
may have originally been, it came to be 
applied to the hillocks or mounds within 
which the Little People made their abodes. 
Thus, Aes Side as a name for the fairies may 
be rendered by mound people or hill folk; 
fer side, ‘a fairy man,’ by a mound man ; 
and ben side by a mound woman or banshee. 
They were also called simply side, which 
would seem to be an adjective closely allied 
with the simpler word sid. 

But to leave this question of their names, 
let me direct your attention for a moment 
to one of the most famous kings of the 
fairies of ancient Hrin: he was called Mider 
of Bri Leith, said to be a hill to the west of 
Ardagh, in the present county of Longford. 
There he had his mound, to which he once 
carried the queen of Eochaid Airem, mon- 
arch of Ireland. It was some time before 
Eochaid could discover what had become of 
her, and he ordered Daélan, his druid, to 
find it out. So the druid, when he had 
been unsuccessful for a whole year, pre- 
pared four twigs of yew and wrote on them 
in Ogam. Then it was revealed to him 
through his keys of seership and through 
the Ogam writing that the queen was in the 
sid of Bri Leith, having been taken thither 
by Mider. By this we are probably to un- 
derstand that the druid sent forth the Ogam 
twigs as letters of enquiry to other druids 
in different parts of the country ; but in any 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


ease he was at last successful, and his king 
hurried at the head of an army to Bri 
Leith, where they began in earnest to de- 
molish Mider’s mound. At this Mider was 
so frightened that he sent the queen forth 
to her husband, who then departed, leaving 
the fairies to digest their wrath ; for it is 
characteristic of them that they did not 
fight, but bided their time for revenge, 
which in this case did not come till long 
after Eochaid’s day. Now, with regard to 
the fairy king, one is not told, so far as I 
can call to mind, that he was a dwarf, but 
the dwarfs were not far off; for we read of 
an Irish satirist who is represented as no- 
torious for his stinginess; and, to empha- 
size the description of his inhospitable hab- 
its, he is said to have taken from Mider 
three of his dwarfs and stationed them 
around his own house, in order that their 
truculent looks and rude words might repel 
any of the men of Erin who might come 
seeking hospitality or bringing any incon- 
venient request. The word used for dwarf 
in this story is corr, which is usually the 
Trish for a crane or heron, but here, and in 
some other instances, which I cannot now 
discuss, it seems to have been identical with 
the Brythonie cor, ‘a dwarf.’ It is remark- 
able, moreover, that the rdéle assigned to 
the three Irish corrs is much the same as 
that of the dwarf of Edeyrn son of Nudd, 
in the Welsh story of Geraint and Enid and 
Chrétien de Troies’ Hrec, which character- 
izes him as fel et de put’eire, ‘treacherous 
and of an evil kind.’ 

By way of summarizing these notes on 
the Mound Folk I may say that I should 
regard them as isolated and wretched rem- 
nants of a widely spread race possessing 
no political significance whatsoever. But, 
with the inconsistency characteristic of 
everything connected with the fairies, one 
has, on the other hand, to admit that this 
strange people seems to have exercised on 
the Celts—probably on other races as well 


SCIENCE. 


507 


—a sort of permanent spell of mysterious- 
ness and awe stretching to the verge of 
adoration. In fact, Irish literature states 
that the pagan tribes of Erin before the ad- 
vent of St. Patrick used to worship the 
side or the fairies. Lastly, the Celt’s faculty 
of exaggeration, combined with his inca- 
pacity to comprehend the weird and un- 
canny population of the mounds and caves 
of his country, has enabled him, in one way 
or another, to bequeath to the great litera- 
tures of Western Europe a motley train of 
dwarfs and little people, a whole world of 
wizardry, and a vast wealth of utopianism. 
If you subtracted from English literature, 
for example, all that has been contributed 
to its vast stores from this native source, 
you would find that you left a wide and un- 
welcome void. 

But the question must present itself 
sooner or later, with what race outside 
these islands we are to compare or identify 
our mound-dwellers. Iam not prepared to 
answer, and I am disposed to ask our ar- 
cheologists what they think. In the mean- 
time, however, I may say that there are 
several considerations which impel me to 
think of the Lapps of the North of Europe. 
But even supposing an identity of origin 
were to be made out as between our ancient 
mound-inhabiting race and the Lapps, it 
would remain still doubtful whether we 
could expect any linguistic help from Lap- 
land. The Lapps now speak a language 
belonging to the Ugro-Finnic family, but 
the Lapps are not of the same race as the 
Finns ; so it is possible that the Lapps have 
adopted a Finnish language and that they 
did so too late for their present language 
to help us with regard to any of our lin- 
guistic difficulties. One of these lies in our 
topography: take, for instance, only the 
names of our rivers and brooks—there is 
probably no county in the kingdom that 
would be too small to supply a dozen or two 
which would bafile the cleverest Aryan ety- 


508 


mologist you could invite to explain them ; 
and why? Because they belong in all 
probability to a non-Celtic, non-Aryan lan- 
guage of some race that had early posses- 
sion of our islands. Nevertheless, itis very 
desirable that we should have full lists of 
such names, so as to see which of them 
recur and where. It is a subject deserving 
the attention of this Section of the British 
Association. 

We have now loitered long enough in the 
gloom of the Pict’s house. Let us leave the 
glamor of the fairies and see whether any 
other race has had a footing in these islands 
before the coming of the Celts. In August, 
1891, Professor Sayce and I spent some fine 
days together in Kerry and other parts of 
the southwest of Ireland. He was then 
full of his visits to North Africa, and he 
used to assure me that, if a number of Ber- 
bers from the mountains had been trans- 
ferred to a village in Kerry and clad as 
Irishmen, he would not have been able to 
tell them by their looks from native Irish- 
men such as we saw in the course of our 
excursions. This seemed to me at the time 
-all the more remarkable as his reference was 
to fairly tall blue-eyed persons whose hair 
was rather brown than black. Evidence to 
the same effect might now be cited in detail 
from Professor Haddon and his friends’ re- 
searches among the population of the Arran 
Islands in Galway Bay. Such is one side 
of the question which I have in my mind; 
the other side consists in the fact that the 
Celtic languages of to-day have been sub- 
jected to some disturbing influence which 
has made their syntax unlike that of the 
other Aryan languages. I have long been 
of opinion that ‘the racial interpretation of 
that fact must be that the Celts of our 
islands have assimilated another race, using 
a language of its own, in which the syntac- 
tical peculiarities of Neo-Celtic had their 
origin ; in fact, that some such race clothed 
its idioms in the vocabulary which it ac- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


quired from the Celts. The problem then 
was to correlate those two facts. I am 
happy to say this has now been undertaken 
from the language point of view by Profes- 
sor J. Morris Jones, of the University Col- 
lege of North Wales. The results have 
been made public in a book on ‘ The Welsh 
People’ recently published by Mr. Fisher 
Unwin. The paper is entitled ‘ Pre-Celtic 
Syntax in Insular Celtic,’ and the lan- 
guages which have therein been compared 
with Celtic are old Egyptian and certain 
dialects of Berber. It is all so recent that we 
have as yet had no criticism, but the reason- 
ing is so sound and the arguments are of so 
cumulative a nature, that I see no reason 
to anticipate that the professor’s conclu- 
sions are in any danger of being over- 
thrown. 

At the close of his linguistic argument, 
Professor Morris Jones quotes a French au- 
thority to the effect that when a Berber 
king dies or is deposed, which seems to 
happen often enough, it is not his son that 
is called to succeed him, but the son of his 
sister, as appears to have been usual among 
certain ancient peoples of this country; but 
of this more anon. -In the next place, my 
attention has been called by Professor Sayce 
to the fact that ancient Egyptian monu- 
ments represent the Libyans of North Africa 
with their bodies tattooed, and that even 
now some of the Touaregs and Kabyles do 
the same. These indications help one to 
group the ancient peoples of the British 
Isles to whose influence we are to ascribe 
the non-Aryan features of Neo-Celtic. In 
the first place, one cannot avoid fixing on 
the Picts, who were so called because of 
their habit of tattooing themselves. For as 
to that fact there seems to be no room for 
doubt, and Mr. Nicholson justly lays stress 
on the testimony of the Greek historian 
Herodian, who lived in the time of Severus, 
and wrote about the latter’s expedition 
against the natives of North Britain a long 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


time before the term Picti appears in litera- 
ture. For Herodian, after saying that they 
went naked, writes about them to the fol- 
lowing effect: ‘‘They puncture their bod- 
ies with colored designs and the figures of 
animals of all kinds, and it is for this rea- 
son that they do not wear clothes, lest one 
should not behold the designs on their bod- 
ies.”” This is borne out by the names by 
which the Picts have been known to the 
Celts. That of Pict is itself in point, and I 
shall have something to say of it presently ; 
but one of the other names was in Irish, 
Cruithni, and in Welsh we have its etymo- 
logical equivalent in Prydyn or Prydain. 
These vocables are derived respectively 
from Irish eruth and Welsh pryd, both mean- 
ing shape, form or figure, and it is an old 
surmise that the Picts were called by those 
names in allusion to the animal forms 
pricked on their bodies as described by 
Herodian and others. The earlier attested 
of these two names may be said to be Pry- 
dyn or Prydain, which the Welsh used to 
give in the Middle Ages to the Picts and the 
Pictland of the North, while the term Ynys 
Prydain was retained for Great Britain as a 
whole, the literal meaning being the Island 
of the Picts; that is the only name which 
we have in Welsh to this day for this isl- 
and in which we live— Ynys Prydain, ‘The 
Picts’ Island.’ Now one detects this word 
Prydain in effect in the Greek Ipecayxat Njaor 
given collectively to all the British Isles by 
ancient authors, such as Strabo and Dio- 
dorus. It may be rendered the Pictish Is- 
lands, but a confusion seems to have set in 
pretty early with the name of the Brittanni 
or Brittones of South Britain; that is to 
say, Pretanic, ‘ Pictish,’ became Brittannic or 
British ; and this is, historically Speaking, 
the only known justification we have for 
including Ireland in the comprehensive 
term ‘ The British Isles,’ to which Irishmen 
are sometimes found jocularly to object. 

In the next place may be mentioned the 


SCIENCE. 


509 


Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish legend, who 
cannot always be distinguished from the 
Picts, as pointed out by Mr. MacRitchie. 
The tradition about them is that, when 
they were overcome in war by Mil and his 
Milesians, they gave up their life above- 
ground and retired into the hills like the 
fairies, a story of little more value than that 
of the extermination of the Picts of Scotland. 
In both countries doubtless the more ancient 
race survived to amalgamate with its con- 
querors. There was probably someamount 
of amalgamation between the Tuatha Dé Dan- 
ann, or the Picts, and the Little Mounds- 
men; but it is necessary not to confound 
them. The Tuatha shared with the Little 
People a great reputation for magic ; but 
they differed from them in not being dwarfs 
or of a swarthy complexion; they are usu- 
ally represented as fair. In the case of 
Mider the fairy king, who comes in some 
respects near the description of the heroes 
of the Tuatha Dé Danann, it is to be noticed 
that he was a wizard, not a warrior. 
Guided by the kinship of the name of the 
Tuatha Dé Danann on the Irish side of the 
sea and that of the Sons of Dén on this side, 
I may mention that the Mabinogion place 
the Sons of Don on the seaboard of North 
Wales, in what is now Carnarvonshire ; 
more precisely their country was the region 
extending from the mountains to the sea, 
especially opposite Anglesey. In that dis- 
trict we have at least three great prehistoric 
sites, all onthecoast. First comes the great 
stronghold on the top of Penmaen Mawr ; 
then we have the huge mound of Dinas 
Dinlle, eaten into at present by the sea 
southwest of the western mouth of the 
Menai Straits ; and lastly there is the ex- 
tensive fortification of Tre’r Ceiri, overlook- 
ing Dinlle from the heights of the Hifl. By 
its position Tre’r Ceiri belonged to the Sons 
of Don, and by its name it seems to me 
to belong to the Picts, which comes, I be- 
lieve, to the same thing. Now the name 


510 


Tre’r Ceiri means the town of the Keiri, 
and the Welsh word cewi is used in the 
district in the sense of persons who are 
boastful and ostentatious, especially in 
the matter of personal appearance and fine 
clothing. It is sometimes also confounded 
with cewri, ‘giants,’ but in the name of 
Tre’r Ceiri it doubtless wafts down to us an 
echo of the personal conceit of the ancient 
Picts with their skins tattooed with decora- 
tive pictures ; and Welsh literature supplies 
a parallel to the name Ynys Prydain in one 
which is found written Ynys y Ceurt, both 
of which may be rendered equally the Island 
of the Picts, but more literally perhaps some 
such rendering as ‘the Island of the Fine 
Men’ would more nearly hit the mark. 
Lastly, with the Sons of Dén must probably 
be classed the other peoples of the Mabino- 
gion, such as the families of Llyr, and of 
Pwyll and Rhiannon. 

All these peoples of Britain and Ireland 
were warlike, and such, so far as one can 
see, that the Celts, who arrived later, might 
with them form one mixed people with a 
mixed language, such as Professor Morris 
Jones has been helping to account for. 

Let us now see for a moment how what 
we read of the state of society implied in 
the stories of the Mabinogion will fit into 
the hypothesis which I have roughly 
sketched. In the first place, I ought to ex- 
plain that the four stories of the Mabinogion 
were probably put together originally in 
the Goidelic of Wales before they assumed 
a Brythonic dress. Further, in the form in 
which we know them, they have passed 
through the hands of a scribe or editor liv- 
ing in Norman times, who does not always 
appear to have understood the text on 
which he was operating. To make out, 
therefore, what the original Mabinogion 
meant, one has every now and then to read, 
so to say, between the lines. Let us take, 
for example, the Mabinogi called after Bran- 
wen, daughter of Llyr. She was sister to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


Bran, king of Prydain, and to Manawyddan, 
his brother: she was given to wife to an Irish 
king named Matholwch, by whom she had 
a son called Gwern. In Ireland, however, 
she was after a time disgraced, and served 
in somewhat the same way as the heroine 
of the Gudrun Lay; but in the course 
of the time which she spent in a menial 
position, doing the baking for the Court and 
having a box on the ear administered to 
her daily by the cook, she succeeded in 
rearing a starling, which one day carried a 
letter from her to her brother Bran at Har- 
lech. When the latter realized his sister’s 
position of disgrace, he headed an expedition 
to Ireland, whereupon Matholweh tried to 
appease him by making a concession, which 
was that he should deliver his kingdom to 
the boy Gwern. Now the question is, 
wherein did the concession consist? The 
redactor of the Mabinogi could, seemingly, 
not have answered, and he has not made it 
the easier for any one else to answer. In 
the first place, instead of calling Gwern son 
of Matholwch, he should have called him 
Gwern son of Branwen, after his mother, 
for the key to the sense is that, in a society 
which reckoned birth alone, Gwern was not 
recognized as any relation to Matholwch at 
all, whereas, being Bran’s sister’s son, he 
was Bran’s rightful heir. No such idea, 
however, was present to the mind of a 
twelfth-century scribe, nor could it be 
expected. 

Let us now turn to Irish literature, to 
wit, to one of the many stories associated 
with the hero Cfichulainn. He belonged to 
Ulster, and whatever other race may have 
been in that part of Ireland, there were 
Picts there: as a mater of fact, Pictish com- 
munities survived there in historical times. 
Now Cfiichulainn was not wholly of the same 
race as the Ultonians around him, for he 
and his father are sharply marked off from 
all the other Ultonians as being free from 
the periodical illness connected with what 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


has been called the couvade, to which the 
other adult braves of Ulster succumbed for 
atime every year. Then I may mention 
that Cuchulainn’s baby name was Setanta 
Beg, or the Little Setantian, which points 
to the country whence Cfichulainn’s father 
had probably come, namely the district 
where Ptolemy mentions a harbor of the 
Setantii, somewhere near the mouth of the 
Ribble, in what is now Lancashire. At the 
time alluded to in the story I have in view, 
Cachulainn was young and single, but he 
was even then a great warrior, and the ladies 
of Ulster readily fell in love with him ; so one 
day the nobles of that country met to con- 
sider what was to be done, and they agreed 
that Cachulainn would cause them less anx- 
iety if they could find him a woman who 
should be his fitting and special consort. 
At the same time also that they feared he 
might die young, they were desirous that 
he should leave an heir, ‘ for,’ as it is put 
in the story, ‘ they knew that it was from 
himself his rebirth would be.’ The Ulster 
men had a belief, you see, in the return of 
the heroes of previous generations to be born 
again; but we have here two social systems 
face to face. According to the one to which 
Cachulainn as a Celt belonged, it was requi- 
site that he should be the father of recog- 
nized offspring, for it was only in the per- 
son of one of them or of their descendants 
that he was to be expected back. The story 
reads as if the distinction was exceptional, 
and as if the prevailing state of things was 
wives more or less in common, with descent 
reckoned according to birth alone. Such 
is my impression of the picture of the society 
forming the background to the state of 
things implied by the conversation attrib- 
uted to the noblemen of Ulster. Here 
again one experiences difficulties arising 
from the fact that the stories have been 
built up in the form in which we know 
them by men who worked from the Chris- 
tian point of view, and it is only by scruti- 


SCLENCE. 


511 


nizing, as it were, the chinks and cracks 
that you can faintly realize what the orig- 
inal structure was like. 

Among other aids to that end one must 
reckon the instances of men being desig- 
nated with the help of the mother’s name, 
not the father’s ; witness that of the King 
of Ulster in Cichulainn’s time, namely, 
Conchobar mac Nessa, that is to say, 
Conor, son of a mother named Nessa; 
similarly in Wales with Gwydion son of 
Don. Further we have the help of a con- 
siderable number of ancient inscriptions, 
roughly guessed to date from the fifth or 
the sixth century of our era, and com- 
memorating persons traced back to a 
family group of the kind, perhaps, which 
Cesar mentions in the fourteenth chapter 
of his fifth book. Within these groups the 
wives were, according to him, in common 
(inter se communes). Take, for instance, an 
inscription from the barony of Corcaguiny 
in Kerry, which commemorates a man de- 
scribed as ‘ Mac Erce, son of Muco Dovvinias,’ 
where Muco Dovvinias means the clan or 
family group of Dovvinis or Dubin (genitive 
Duibne), the ancestress after whom Cor- 
caguiny is called Corco-Duibne in Medieval 
Irish. We have the same formula in the 
rest of Ireland, including Ulster, where as 
yet very few Ogams have been found ait all. 
It occurs in South Wales and in Devon- 
shire, and also on the Ogam stone found at 
Silchester in Hampshire. The same kind 
of family group is evidenced also by an in- 
scription at St. Ninian’s, in Galloway ; 
and, to go further back—perhaps a good 
deal further back—we come to the bronze 
discovered not long ago at Colchester, and 
dating from the time of the Emperor Alex- 
ander Severus, who reigned from 222 to 
235. This isa votive tablet to a god Mars 
Medocius, by a Caledonian Pict, who gives 
his name as Lossio Veda, and describes 
himself further as Nepos Vepogeni Caledo. 
He alludes to no father, and Nepos Vepogen 


512 


is probably to be rendered Vepogen’s sister’s 
son. At any rate, the Irish word corre- 
sponding etymologically to the Latin nepos 
has that sense in Irish; but so far as I 
know it has never been found meaning a 
nephew in the sense of brother’s son. 
That may serve as an instance how the 
ideas of another race penetrated the fabric 
of Goidelic society ; for here we must sup- 
pose a time to have come when there was 
no longer any occasion for a word meaning 
a brother’s son, which, of course, there 
never was in the non-Celtic society which 
ranked men and women according to their 
birth alone. 

Now this Caledonian Pict was not ex- 
ceptional among his kinsmen, for they suc- 
ceeded in observing a good deal of silence 
concerning their fathers down, one may 
say, to the 12th century. It is historical 
that the king of the northern Picts was not 
wont to be the son of the previous king. 
In short, whén the Celtic elements there 
proved strong enough to ensure that the 
son of a previous king should succeed, a 
split usually took place, the purer Picts 
being led by the rule of succession by birth 
to set up a king of their own. The fact is 
not so well known that the same succession 
prevailed also some time or other at Tara 
in Ireland; it is proved by a singular piece 
of indirect evidence, the existence of a tragic 
story to explain why ‘no son should ever 
take the lordship of Tara after his father, 
unless some one came between them.’ The 
last clause is due, I should say, to some- 
body who could not understand such a 
prohibition based on the ancient rule that 
a man’s heir was his sister’s son. This 
would be, according to Irish legend, in the 
lifetime of Conor mac Nessa. 

It is curious to notice how the stories 
about the Pictish ménage seem to have 
puzzled ancient authors. I will only cite 
one instance, to wit, from Golding’s 16th 
century translation of what then passed as 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


the production of Solinus, and what may 
pass now, even according to Mommsen, as 
quite old enough for my present purpose. 
Ié runs thus: “ From the Promontorie of 
Calydon to the Iland Thule is two dayes 
sayling. Next come the Iles called Hebudes, 
five in number, the inhabiters whereof know 
not what corne meaneth, but liue onely by 
fishe and milke. They are all vnder the 
gouernment of one King. For as manie of 
them as bee, they are seuered but with a 
narrowe groope one from another. The 
King hath nothing of hys own, but taketh 
of euery mans. He is bounde to equitie 
by certaine lawes: and least he may 
start from right through couetousnesse, he 
learneth Justice by pouertie, as who may 
have nothing proper or peculiar to himselfe, 
but is found at the charges of the Realme. 
Hee is not suffered to haue anie woman to 
himselfe, but whomsoeuer he hath minde 
vnto, he borroweth her for a tyme, and so 
others by turnes. Wherby it commeth to 
passe that he hath neither desire nor hope 
of issue.” 

The man who wrote in that way pre- 
sumably failed to see that the king was 
not subject to any special hardship as com- 
pared with the other men in his kingdom, 
where none of them had any offspring that 
he could individually call his own. This, 
be it noticed, refers to the Hebrides, not, 
as sometimes happens, to the more distant 
island of Thule, where there was also a 
king, as any reader of ‘ Faust’ will tell us. 

We now come to the Celts, and begin 
with Pliny’s version of Czesar’s words about 
the division of Gaul into three parts, as fol- 
lows: Gallia omnis Comata uno nomine ap- 
pellata in tria populorum genera dividitur, 
amnibus maxime distincta. A Scalde ad Se- 
quanam Belgica, ab eo ad Garunnam Celtica 
eademque Lugdunensis, inde ad Pyrencet montis 
excursum Aquitanica, Aremoriea antea dicta. 
We may for the present dismiss the third 
or Aquitanic Gaul from our minds; but 


OcToBER 5, 1900. ] 


Belgic and Celtican Gaul may be taken as 
representing the two sets of Celts of our 
own islands. The Belgic Gauls began last 
to come to this country, and their advent 
seems to fall between the visits of Pytheas 
and Julius Cesar—that is, roughly speak- 
ing, between the middle of the fourth century 
and that of the first century B.c. In this 
country they came to be known collectively 
as Brittanni or Brittones, the linguistic 
ancestors of the peoples who have spoken 
Brythonic or the Lingua Brittannica, such as 
the Welsh, the Cornish, and the Strathclyde 
Britons. As to the other Celts, it is much 
harder to say when or whence exactly they 
came—I mean the linguistic ancestors of 
the Gaels of Ireland, Man, and Scotland— 
that is to say, the peoples whose language 
has been Goidelic. Some scholars are of 
opinion that there were no Goidelic-speak- 
ing peoples in Britain till some such came 
here from Ireland on sundry occasions, be- 
ginning with the second century, in the 
time of the Roman occupation, but how the 
Goidels would be supposed by them to have 
reached Ireland I do not exactly know. 
My own notion is that the bulk of them 
reached that country by way of Britain, 
and that they arrived in Britain, like the 
Belgie Gauls later, from the nearest parts 
of the Continent ; for this would be previous 
to the appearance of the Belgic Gauls on 
the western seaboard of Europe ; that is to 
say, at a time when Celtica extended not 
merely to the Seine, but to the Scheldt or 
to the Rhine, if not even further. Then as 
to the time of the coming of the ancestors 
of the Goidels, it has been supposed coinci- 
dent with a period of great movements 
among the Celts of the Continent, in par- 
ticular the movements which resulted, 
among other things, in some of them 
reaching the shores of the Mediterranean 
and penetrating to the heart of the Iberic 
peninsula. Perhaps one would not be far 
wrong in fixing on the seventh and the sixth 


SCIENCE. 


513 


centuries B.c. as covering the time of the 
coming of the earlier Celts to our shores. 
In Britain I should suppose these earlier 
hordes of Celts to have conquered most of 
the southern half of the island; and the 
Brythonic Celts, when they arrived, may 
have overrun much the same area, pushing 
the Goidelic Celts more and more towards 
the west. Under that pressure it is natural 
to suppose that some of the latter made 
their way to Ireland, but it is quite pos- 
sible that their emigration thither had 
begun before. Some time or other pre- 
vious to the Roman occupation the Bry- 
thonic people of the Ordovices seem to have 
penetrated to the sea between the rivers 
Dovey and Mawddach, displacing probably 
some Goidels, who may have gone to 
the opposite coasts of Ireland; but more 
traces in Irish story appear of invasions on 
the part of the Dumnonii, who possessed 
the coast between Galloway and Argyle. 
These were so situated as to be able to 
assail Ireland both in front and from be- 
hind, and this is countenanced to some ex- 
tent by Irish topography, not to mention 
the long legends extant as to great wars in 
the west of Ireland between the Tuatha 
Dé Danann and invaders including the 
Fir Domnann. I suspect also that it was 
the country of these northern Dumnonians 
which was originally meant by Lochlinn, a 
name interpreted later to mean Norway. 
Such are some of the faint traces of the 
Goidelic invasions of Ireland from Britain, 
but it is possible—perhaps probable—that 
Ireland received settlers on its southern 
coast from the northwest of Gaul at a 
comparatively late period, at the time, let 
us say, when Ceesar was engaged in crush- 
ing the Veneti and the Aremoric League. 
This has been suggested to me by the name 
of the Usdize, which probably survives in 
the first syllable of Ossory, denoting a tract 
of country now, roughly speaking, covered 
by the county of Kilkenny, but which may 


514 


have been considerably larger before the 
Déisi took possession of the baronies of the 
two Decies and other districts now consti- 
tuting the county of Waterford, not to 
mention possible encroachments on the 


part of Munster ona boundary which seems _ 


to have been sometimes contested. Now 
the Continental name which invites com- 
parison with that of the Usdic is that of 
the Ostizi, who in the time of Pytheas ap- 
pear to have occupied the northwestern 
end of what afterwards came to be called 
Brittany ; they were also called Ostiones, 
and more commonly Osismi. I see no 
reason to suppose that the ships of the 
Aremoric League could not make the voy- 
age from Brittany to the principal landing- 
places on the south of Ireland from the 
Harbor of Cork to that of Waterford, and 
I gather from Ptolemy’s Geography that 
Ireland was relatively better known on the 
Continent than Britain, although the latter 
has been in a manner connected with the 
Roman world. This Ishould explain some- 
what as follows: Cesar, who knew very 
little about the west of Britain and prob- 
ably less about Ireland, says that in his 
time the great druidic center of Gaul was 
in the country of the Carnutes, somewhere, 
let us say, near the site of the present town 
of Chartres, that druidism had been intro- 
duced from Britain to Gaul, and that those 
who wished to understand it had to go to 
Britain tostudy. The authors of antiquity 
tell us otherwise nothing about druids in 
Britain, except that Tacitus speaks of such 
in the Annals, in his well-known passage 
as to Suetonius Paulinus landing with his 
troops in Anglesey and the scene of 
slaughter which ensued. Indeed, one may 
go further and say that there is no proof 
that any Belgie or Brythonic people ever 
had druids: they belonged to the Celtican 
Gauls and the Goidelicizing Celts of Britain 
and Ireland, who had probably accepted the 
institution from the Pictish race. At any 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


rate, it is significant that the Life of St. 
Columba introduces the reader to a genuine 
druid at the court of the Pictish king, near 
Inverness, where, as well as on Loch Ness, 
the saint had to contend with him. In any 
ease, it is highly probable that druidism 
was no less a living institution in Ireland 
than in the Goidelic and Pictish parts of 
Britain. Presumably it was more so, and 
it may be conjectured that Gaulish stu- 
dents of druidism visited Ireland no less 
than Britain; also, vice versa, that Irish 
druids paid visits to the Celtican part 
of Gaul where druidism flourished on the 
Continent, and, in a word, that there was 
regular intercourse between Gaul and the 
south of Ireland. If the druidsof Ireland, 
who, among other roles, played that of 
schoolmasters and teachers in the country, 
traveled to Celtica, they must have spread 
on the Continent some information about 
their native country, while generations of 
them cannot have returned to Ireland, with 
their druidic pupils, without bringing with 
them some of the arts of civilized life as 
understood in Gaul; among these one must 
rank very decidedly the art of writing, which 
the druids practiced. Now you know the 
usual account given of the ordinary Latin 
for Ireland, namely Hibernia—to wit, that 
it was suggested by such native names as 
that of one of the greatest tribes of that 
country, namely the ’Jodepyor or Iverni, and 
that it had its v ousted when Latin began 
about the fourth century to write 6 for v, and 
that an A was then prefixed to make the 
word Hibernia properly connote the wintry 
climate which our sister island had always 
been supposed to enjoy. But now comes 
the question, where did Pomponius Mela, 
who flourished about the middle of the first 
century, get his Jwverna, which Juvenal 
also used? Doubtless from a druid like 
Délan, or some other educated native of 
Ireland, for what the editors print as Iwer- 
na, Iwuerna, or Juwerna would appear in 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


ancient manuscripts as IVVERNA or wwuerna, 
in which the first two syllables are spelt 
correctly with v v according to a system of 
spelling well known in Ogmic writing cen- 
turies later. But a particular system of 
spelling seems to me to imply writing, and 
thus one is encouraged to think that the 
Ogam alphabet may have been invented no 
later than the first century in the inter- 
course I have conjectured to have been 
going on between the northwest of Gaul 
and the south of Ireland, where the majority 
of Ogam inscriptions are nowfound. But 
what has archeology to say on the question 
of such intercourse? 

After this digression I come back to the 
two main streams of Celtic immigration 
from the same parts of the Continent in 
two different periods of time. The later of 
these introduced the Lingua Brittannica, 
which was practically a dialect of old 
Gaulish; but the affinities of the other 
Celtic language of these islands, the Goi- 
delic, are not so easy to determine. I have 
long thought that I can identify traces of 
it on the Continent, and that its principal 
home was in the region which Pliny called 
Celtica, between the Garonne and the Seine. 
I ventured, accordingly, to call it Celtican, 
as the simpler word Celtic had already 
been wedded to a wider signification. 
Since then the existence of that language 
has been placed beyond doubt by the dis- 
covery of fragments of a calendar engraved 
on bronze tablets. This find was made 
about the end of: 1897 at a place called 
Coligny, in the department of the Ain, and 
the pieces are now in the museum at Lyons. 
It is difficult to say for certain whether 
Coligny is within the territory once occu- 
pied by the Sequani, or else by the Am- 
barri, a people subject to the Adui, who 
were rivals of the Sequani and Arverni. 
The name of the Sequani would seem to 
have belonged to the Celtican language, 
and Mr. Nicholson, in his interpretation of 


SCIENCE. 


515 


the calendar, has ventured in this instance 
to call it Sequanian. But two inscriptions 
in what appears to be the same language 
have come to light also ata place called Rom, 
in the Deux Sévres and on the Roman road 
from Poitiers to Saintes. This Celtican 
language is to be carefully distinguished 
from Gaulish, but it is not exactly what I 
expected it tobe: it is better. For several 
of the phonetic changes characteristic of 
Goidelic had not taken place in Celtican. 
Among other things it preserves intact the 
Aryan consonant p, which has since mostly 
disappeared in Goidelic, as it had even then 


‘in Gaulish. This greater conservatism of 


Celtican enables one to refer to it the na- 
tional appellation of the people of the region 
in question, namely that of the Pictones, ' 
from which itis impossible to sever the name 
of the Picts of Britain and Ireland, who are 
found also called Pictones and Pictanei. Here 
I may mention that Mr. Nicholson calls at- 
tention to instances of tattooing on some of 
the faces on ancient coins belonging to 
Poitou and other parts of western France. 
In the light of the names here in question 
one sees that pictos was a Celtican word of 
the same etymology, and approximately, 
doubtless, of the same meaning, as the 
Latin word pictus, that the Celticans had 
applied it at an early date to the Picts on 
account of their habit of tattooing them- 
selves, and that the Picts had accepted it 
(with its derivative Pictones) so generally 
that by the time when the Norsemen ar- 
rived in the north of Scotland it was the 
name which the natives gave them as that 
by which they called themselves. That is 
practically proved by the Norsemen calling 
Caithness and Sutherland Petta-land, or the 
Land of the Picts, and the sea washing its 
northern shore Pettalands fiorth, which sur- 
vives modified into Pentland Firth. 
Another Celtican word of great interest 
here has by a mere chance come down in a 
High German manuscript written before 


516 


the year 814; itis Chortonicum, and occurs 
among a number of geographical names; 
several of which refer to Gaul, so that Chor- 
tonicum may very well have meant the 
country of the Pictones. At all events, the 
great German philologist, Pott, at once saw 
that it was to be explained by reference to 
the word Cruithne, ‘a Pict,’ with which it 
decidedly goes as distinguished from its 
Brythonic equivalent Prydyn (or the older 
Priten) with an initial p. The Celtican form 
originally meant was some such vocable as 
Qurtonico-n, with the gu which was usual 
in Celtican and early Goidelic, where it 
formed, in fact, one of the most conspicu- 
ous distinctions between those languages 
and Brythonic or Gaulish, in which qu had 
been changed into p. 

My remarks have again run into tiresome 
details, but it is only by attending to such 
small points that one can hope to force 
language to yield us any information in the 
matter of ethnology. It may perhaps help 
in some measure if I sum up what I have 
been trying to say, thus : 

The first race we have found in posses- 
sion of the British Isles consisted of a small, 
swarthy population of mound-dwellers, of 
an unwarlike disposition, much given to 
magic and wizardry, and perhaps of Lappish 
affinities ; its attributes have been exagger- 
ated or otherwise distorted in the evolution 
of the Little People of our fairy tales. 

The next race consisted of a taller, blonder 
people, with blue eyes, who tattooed them- 
selves and fought battles. These tattooed 
or Pictish people made the Mound Folk 
their slaves, and in the long-run their lan- 
guage may be supposed to have been modi- 
fied by habits of speech introduced by those 
slaves of theirs from their own idiom. The 
affinities of these Picts may be called Libyan 
and possibly Iberian. 

Next came the Celts in two great waves 
of immigration, the first of which may have 
arrived as early as the seventh century 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


before our era, and consisted of the real 

ancestors of some of our Goidels of the 

Milesian stock, and the linguistic aneestors 

of all the peoples who have spoken Goidelic. 

That language may be defined as Celtican,. 
so modified by the idioms of the population 

which the earlier Celts found in possession, 

that its syntax is no longer Aryan. 

Then, about the third century B.c., came 
from Belgica the linguistic ancestors of the 
peoples who have spoken Brythonic; but in 
the majority of cases connected with modern 
Brythonic they are to be regarded as Goi- 
dels who adopted Brythonic speech, and in 
so doing brought into that language their 
Goidelic idioms, with the result that the 
syntax of insular Brythonic is no less non- 
Aryan than that of Goidelic, as may be 
readily seen by comparing the thoroughly 
Aryan structure of the few sentences of old 
Gaulish extant. 

Those are the races which have been in- 
ferred in the course of these remarks, in 
which I have proceeded on the principle 
that each successive band of conquerors has 
its race, language, and institutions eventu- 
ally more or less modified by contact with 
the race, language, and institutions of those 
whom it has conquered. That looks simple 
enough when stated so, but the result which 
we get proves complicate. In any case, I 
have endeavored in this address to substi- 
tute for the rabble of divinities and demons, 
of fairies and phantoms that disport them- 
selves at large in Celtic legend, a possible 
series of peoples, to each of which should 
be ascribed its own proper attributes. But 
that will only be possible if we can enlist 
the kindly aid of the muse of archeology. 

Joun Ruys. 


CAMPHOR SECRETED BY AN ANIMAL (POLY- 
ZONIUNM). 

In the vicinity of Syracuse, New York, 

nine or ten years ago a distinct odor of 

camphor was noticed in connection with a 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


small diplopod, Polyzoniwm rosalbum,* but as 
this occurred after several hours of miscel- 
laneous collecting in which my hands had 
been in contact with many plants, as well 
as with other myriapods and insects, the or- 
igin of the scent could not be indubitably 
established. The observation was subse- 
quently repeated both in Central New York 
and on Long Island, but there has been 
no opportunity to follow the matter up 
until the present season. Learning that 
Polyzontum is abundant in the town of 
Farmington, Ontario County, New York, I 
asked my friend Mr. Edgar Brown to send 
a number of living specimens to me at 
Washington. These have recently arrived 
in good condition and have made a satis- 
factory exhibition of their camphor-produc- 
ing powers. From a full-grown specimen 
taken between the thumb and finger no 
odor is usually perceptible at first, but as 
the animal struggles to escape, and especi- 
ally if slight pressure be exerted, the char- 
acteristic smell of camphor becomes very 
distinetly appreciable. If a lens be used 
at the same time, a milky fluid is seen to 
exude from the dorsal pores, a pair of 
which is to be found on each segment be- 
hind the fourth. On exposure to the air 
the liquid very quickly takes on a sticky 
consistence and may be pulled out into 
threads half an inch long or more. In ad- 
dition to the smell there is also the flavor 
and sharp burning taste of camphor, lasting 
for a minute or two. The odor is likewise 
not persistent, gradually decreasing and 
finally disappearing in a short time. 

To eliminate any possibility of error re- 
garding the odor or the material it repre- 
sents, the animals were submitted to Dr. 
Oscar Loew who agrees to the diagnosis 
and informs me that no other substance is 
recorded as having an odor likely to be 
mistaken for that of camphor, + and that 


* Octoglena bivirgata Wood is probably a synonym. 
f In this connection it may be noted that while 


SCIENCE. 


517 


the existence of camphor as an animal se- 
cretion is still quite unknown. ‘This does 
not, of course, exclude the possibility that 
a new compound is involved, but, as Dr. 
Loew admits, a chemical analysis of this 
animal camphor would require many thou- 
sands of the myriapods, while the human 
nose furnishes, after all, one of the most 
delicate of chemical tests. For present 
purposes, then, we must admit camphor as 
an animal as well as a vegetable substance. 

In the economy of the secreting animal, 
camphor is undoubtedly to be looked upon 
as a physiological substitute for the prussic 
or hydrocyanic acid employed in the myria- 
pods of the order Merocheeta (Polydesmus and 
its allies) asa means of defense. The liquid 
is secreted in special glands opening on 
the surface of the segments at the so-called 
repugnatorial pores. In these flattened, 
twenty-segmented forms, as in Polyzoniwm, 
the repugnatorial secretion seems merely to 
well up in the pores and spread itself or 
stand in globules on the surface, whence it 
evaporates into the air and serves its pur- 
pose merely through the strong pungent 
odor. But in the cylindrical or Iuliform 
types of Diplopoda, and particularly in the 
large tropical genera Spirobolus and Spiro- 
streptus, the repugnatorial apparatus is 
much more highly developed, so that the 
animals are able to eject to a distance of 
several inches a spray of a substance havy- 
ing a very powerful, acrid odor quite differ- 
ent from that of prussic acid. This im- 
camphor has been known hitherto only as a vegetable 
product it is not confined to a single plant or natural 
order. The principal commercial supplies come from 
Cinnamomum camphora of the family Lauracez, a 
near relative of the cinnamon, but the Borneo cam- 
phor is differently formed by a tree (Dryobalanops 
aromatica) of the family Dipterocarpaceze, while still 
another source is said to be Blumea balsamifera, a 
Chinese composite herb. These substances as well as 
the artificial camphor produced from spirit of turpen- 
tine and hydrochloric acid, though not identical in 
composition nor in physical properties, are closely re- 
lated by their chemical structure. 


518 


pregnates the atmosphere and frequently 
causes a smarting sensation in the eyes and 
nose, even when the animals are held at 
arm’s length. At close range the eyes 


would certainly be most painfully if not* 


seriously affected, and such injury is prob- 
ably the ground for the fear in which large 
diplopods are held by the natives of many 
tropical countries, although the creatures 
are otherwise quite harmless and may be 
handled with impunity. In Porto Rico, 
for instance, it is universally believed that 
the local Spirobolus has a deadly sting in its 
tail. 

When the repugnatorial liquid comes in 
contact with the skin of the hands a yel- 
lowish-green stain results, which gradually 
deepens toa dull purple. In one instance 
after collecting a considerable number of 
large Spirostrepti at Conakry, Senegambia, 
my hands, although washed soon after, be- 
came very deeply colored and the skin 
peeled from the stained areas a few days 
afterward. As is well known to students 
of the group, the alcohol in which these 
large diplopods are collected takes on similar 
colors, yellowish green at first, changing to 
a very deep purplish red, and has a char- 
acteristic disagreeable odor different from 
that of the living animal, but still in some 
respects suggesting it. This odor Dr. Loew 
considered similar to that of pyridine, 
though the presence of that substance 
might possibly be due to a taint of ‘ denat- 
uralized’ German alcohol and would not 
explain the corrosive action of the fresh 
fluid upon the cells of the epidermis, which 
fact denotes a peculiarity of chemical ac- 
tion known in very few organic compounds, 
and possessed neither by prussic nor by 
formic acid, now recognized as the poison 
of the centipedes as of many other ani- 
mals. 

The volatile character of the fluid, or at 
least of its active constituents, is also as 
apparent in Spirostreptus and Spirobolus as 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


in Polyzonium and Polydesmus. Until dis- 
turbed and roused to defensive efforts the 
creatures are nearly or quite odorless, and 
some will bear considerable handling before 
discharging their batteries. Indeed that 
operation can scarcely be supposed to give 
pleasure to the animal since its own fumes 
are soon fatal when it is confined with them 
in a bottle or small box. The same is also 
true of Polydesmus, the ability to secrete Prus- 
sie acid involving no immunity to that poison 
when the creature is obliged to breathe its 
own gaseous secretion in a closed space. 
The possibility that a certain amount of re- 
sistance to prussic acid may, however, be 
developed in other animals is suggested by 
reliable testimony to the effect that one of 
the monkeys native in Liberia is fond of 
the locally common species of Oxydesmus 
(flavomarginatus, medius and grayi). There 
was no opportunity for me to verify this 
information, but places where the leaves 
and vegetable debris had heen upturned, 
declaredly by the monkey in searching for 
his prey, were pointed out to me in the for- 
est, and the flesh of the animal is commonly 
believed to have the odor of Oxydesmus and 
to be bitter, poisonous and inedible because 
of this remarkable and unique food habit, 
on which point the observation and opin- 
ion of the natives might be expected to 
be conclusive, nothing being refused by 
them which could by any possibility be 
eaten. 

Direct exposure to the light and heat of 
the sun is also speedily fatal to many Dip- 
lopoda. In the case of small and delicate 
species this might not seem suprising, but 
the very large and heavily armored Spiroboli 
and Spirosirepti are also unable to recover 
after full illumination fora short time. In 
ten or fifteen minutes they are often quite 
dead. That this susceptibility may prove 
to be the result of some chemical change 
or dissociation of the stored repugnatorial 
fluid is apparently indicated by the fact that 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


animals killed by exposure to the sun do 
not stain the alcohol as described above, 
the repugnatorial fluid having oozed out 
and been evaporated from the surface of the 
seoments. This suggests a further possi- 
bility that the material elaborated in the 
repugnatorial glands may not attain its 
final and effective composition until di- 
rectly or indirectly acted upon by the air. 
Camphor would furnish a somewhat differ- 
ent and probably more difficult problem, for 
though not actively poisonous to us, its 
fumes seem to have a very detrimental 
effect upon many of the tracheate Ar- 
thropoda. Thatsome of the predaceous in- 
sects might be active enemies of such an 
animal as Polyzoniwm is entirely possible, 
but it is also to be considered that the small 
as well as the large Diplopoda may owe to 
their repugnatorial secretions their com- 
parative immunity from mites and other 
parasites which commonly attack animals 
of similar habits. The larger forms are not 
entirely immune from mites, but when these 
are found they seem always to be confined 
to the immediate neighborhood of the head, 
never occurring on the poriferous segments. 

This susceptibility to injury from expo- 
sure to sunlight may prove to be an expla- 
nation of the hitherto not obvious utility of 
the eyes of the Diplopoda, which are more 
sensitive spots, probably quite incapable of 
effective vision, though possibly of service 
in seeking shelter. Perhaps some causal 
relation may also be found in the fact that 
in the large order Merocheta, where Prussic 
acid is secreted, eyes are entirely wanting, 
though absent only in a few subterranean 
species of other groups. This absence of 
eyes also renders apparently meaningless 
the fact recorded by Bruner and Kenyon,* 


* Bruner, Insect Life, 1891, III., 319, describes a 
yellow spot near the lateral edge of each carine as 
luminous. Kenyon, Publications of the Nebraska 
Academy of Science, 1893, 16, doubts whether the 
luminosity belongs to the repugnatorial secretion be- 


SCIENCE. 


519 


that the repugnatorial secretion of a Ne- 
braska species is luminous. From the sex- 
ual standpoint the odor might have a func- 
tion though the light were merely incidental, 
but when the nocturnal habits of the ani- 
mals are considered, phosphorescence may 
be looked upon as affording a protection 
additional to that of the odor of the re- 
pugnatorial liquid. 

In the preceding discussion there has 
been no intention to imply that the repug- 
natorial secretion of Spirobolus is the same 
as that of Spirostreptus, though there seems 
to be greater similarity than with Polydes- 
mus. Moreover the milky and particularly 
malodorous liquid excreted by Spzrostrephon 
lactariwm and probably by other members of © 
the family Lysiopetalide is also obviously 
different from any of the others, so that the 
elaboration by the class Diplopoda of at 
least four repugnatorial compounds seems 
certain, and the idea that Prussic acid is 
manufactured by all the pore-bearing Di- 
plopoda is shown to be a quite unwarranted 
generalization. 

Two other substances of similar quality 
and function may be of interest in this con- 
nection. One is to be found in the material 
forcibly ejected by the so-called ‘nasuti’ caste 
or soldiers of termites of the genus Ptyotermes. 
There are several such species in Liberia, 
the largest, P. liberiensis, being deeper brown 
than the others and having the soldiers of 
such size that the jets of liquid can by care- 
ful observation be seen by the naked eye. 
The fluid, which is secreted in a special ce- 
phalic gland, is clear and watery and does 
not stain the hands, though alcohol in which 
the insects are collected becomes dark 
brown. A smarting sensation in the eyes 
cause if is described as confined to stationary spots. 
But in a state of rest it could be expected that only 
small quantities of the repugnatorial fluid would be 
continuously given off, and evaporation would take 
place in the cavity of the pore. Kenyon calls the species. 


Fontaria luminosa, but a study of his specimens shows 
that the generic affinity is rather remote. 


520 


and nose is also distinctly appreciable. The 
odor is even more disagreeably pungent and 
penetrating than that of Spirostreptus and 
has an almost nauseating quality which 
pervades the nests and galleries of the spe- 
cies and can readily be detected in houses 
attacked by this termite. [Isonitriles?] 
Like the secretion of Polyzonium the liquid 
becomes sticky on exposure to the air, and 
the insect enemies upon which itis squirted 
have their antenne stuck to their bodies and 
are otherwise disabled. 

Another comparable secretion exists in 
the suborder Geophiloidea of the class Chil- 
opoda which includes the centipedes and 
their allies, now no longer supposed to have 
more than the remotest affinity with the 
Diplopoda. The Geophiloidea are long, 
slender, carnivorous animals, having from 
31 to 173 leg-bearing segments, the number 
being always uneven. They live in the 
ground or in the crevices of decaying wood, 
coming to the surface only at night. In 
nearly all the species the ventral plate of 
each segment is perforated by minute pores 
which are the openings of unicellular glands. 
In one species, Orphneus phosphoreus, com- 
mon in the tropics, the secretion which 
flows from these pores has attracted consid- 
erable attention because of its brilliant 
luminosity, the animal leaving behind it a 
trail of greenish light. Several other spe- 
cies of different families are known to give 
off light and that power is probably general 
in the suborder. Although supposed to be 
a sexual phenomenon, the purpose of this 
luminosity, as in the diplopod mentioned 
above, is scarcely thus explainable, since 
all the Geophiloidea are, like the Merocheta, 
quite eyeless. The parallel goes, moreover, 
a Step farther, since the liquid which exudes 
from the ventral spores of the Geophiloidea* 


* This observation was made and has been verified 
on two or three occasions with Geophilus rubens Say, 
of which G. cephalicus Wood isa synonyn. The spe- 
cies is common in northeastern North America. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


has also an odor closely similar if not iden- 
tical with that of prussic acid, though like 
the repugnatorial fluid of Polyzonium and 
Ptyotermes it soon assumes an elastic con- 
sistence and may be drawn out in threads. 
Whether this material has anything to do 
with the webs which the Geophiloidea are 
said to spin is not known, but the general 
function is probably repugnatorial and in 
this the luminous quality might also be of — 
use. The tendency of so many of these 
secretions to become fibrillar also sug- 
gests mention of the fact that in the dip- 
lopod suborder Chordeumatoidea, where re- 
pugnatorial pores are absent, silk-glands 
are present, though they can scarcely - 
have any morphological relationship to the 
pores. > 

But leaving these unknown substances 
out of further account, the fact that cam- 
phor and prussie acid are quite unrelated 
chemically is a matter of interest from the 
evolutionary standpoint. No doubt has 
ever been expressed that the repugnatorial 
pores are exact homologues throughout the 
class Diplopoda, outside of which no mor- 
phological equivalents have been recog- 
nized. That organs of common origin 
should produce for the same purposes sub- 
stances so utterly unlike is a fact that seems 
very difficult of explanation by existing 
theories, either from the biological or from 
the chemical standpoint. For the equip- 
ment of pores derived from a common an- 
cestral type and having maintained their 
repugnatorial function, it would seem 
necessary to predicate a gradual change of 
secretion from camphor to prussic acid or 
from prussic acid to eamphor, or from some 
intermediate substance to these two and to 
the other unknown derivatives.. We have, 
in faet, a chemico-biological question which 
can be placed ona genuine phylogenetic 
basis, the problem being to construct a 
chain of evil smelling or at least aromatic 
substances to connect camphor with prussic 


OcToBER 5, 1900. ] 


acid and pyridine or whatever the unknown 
quantities may prove to be. 

Returning to the camphor-producing 
animal, it may be noted that Polyzoniwm is 
a circumpolar genus and is represented in 
Europe by P. germanicum, with which our 
American form is closely related if not 
identical. That the nature of the secretion 
should have remained undiscovered is not 
suprising in view of the fact that the animal 
is small (15 by 2 mm.) and of very retiring 
habits, affecting only the humus of moist, 
undisturbed forest regions. Moreover it has 
a very peculiar appearance and would 
generally be taken for a worm or a small 
slug rather than for a myriapod, and may 
not give off its repugnatorial secretion un- 
less injured. Taxonomically it is looked 
upon as the type of a distinct family, Poly- 
zonide, also of a suborder, Polyzonoidea, 
in which it is, however, associated with a 
tropical family, Siphonotide. With two 
other suborders also consisting of few genera 
and few and local species, but having a wide 
general distribution, the order Colobognatha 
is made up. This has been found to differ* 
from other diplopods, not only in the posses- 
sion of many primitive characters, but in 
having the copulatory legs not truly homol- 
ogous, a very reliable indication of long 
separation in evolutionary history. Of 
course this is no reason for supposing that 
Polyzonium has preserved the ancestral type 
of repugnatorial secretion, particularly in 
view of the fact that camphor is a much 
more complex substance than prussic acid. 
That the biological affinity is thus remote, 
may, however, encourage the chemists by 
providing all the time necessary for any 
succession of reactions they may see fit to 
predicate. 

O. F. Coox. 


WASHINGTON, D. C. 


* “CA new Character in the Colobognatha, with 
drawings of Siphonotus,’’ American Naturalist, Oct. 
1896, xxx, 839-844. 


SCIENCE. 521 


PROGRESS IN METEOROLOGICAL KITE 
FLYING. 

Tue value of the kite in meteorological 
research is now universally recognized. As 
a result of improvements in apparatus and 
methods successively greater heights have 
been reached until within the past fifteen 
months, 4800 meters or higher has been 
reached by Teisserenc de Bort, in France, 
while at Blue Hill Observatory in this 
country, 4,850 meters was attained on July 
19,1900. This last height is greater than 
that of any American balloon ascension 
where accurate observations were made. 
Since meteorological kite flying may be 
said to have begun practically within the 
past seven years, it is improbable that the 
limits of maximum height or of efficient 
work have been reached ; for as yet but few 
individuals or institutions have undertaken 
such work on an adequate scale. 

The work at Blue Hill during the past 
year indicates that improvement may be 
expected (1) asa result of further modify- 
ing the kite and (2) from experiments to 
determine the size of wire best adapted for 
use as line. : 

The original Hargrave kite with flat lift- 
ing surfaces usually attained an angular 
altitude of 54° to 56° when flown from a 
short line. The addition of an inter- 
mediate lifting surface in the front cell 
possibly increased this average altitude to 
58° or 59° but rendered the kite unstable. 
In winds of 15 meters per second, or 
higher, the flat surfaced kites are driven 
downward by the increase of pressure 
upon the front edges of the cells, high 
flights being possible only during favor- 
able conditions. By the addition of rigid 
curved sustaining surfaces the altitude 
reached by the best kites is now about 
66°, and the average of several kites is 
about 64°. The effect of wind pressure on 
the edges of the cells does not seriously 
affect the altitude until the velocity of the 


522 


wind exceeds 20 meters per second (true 
velocity). 

When the kite flies at an altitude of 65° 
its vertical height is about 90 per cent. of the 
length of the flying line. Greater efficiency 
is desirable, but at these steep altitudes the 
kite is not always easily or safely managed 
when near the ground, especially in variable 
winds, or when the kite is being reeled in. 
In the latter case any slight pull upon the 
line brings the kite beyond the zenith, 
where it becomes unstable and difficult to 
handlesafely. Refinements in construction 
may probably remove this defect, but at 
present it does not seem likely that any 
great improvement in stability or efficiency 
may be expected very soon. It is very de- 
sirable to know what form of curve for the 
lifting surfaces is most efficient, also if a 
lighter, stronger and more easily built frame 
may be developed. 

At present, kites strong enough to with- 
stand winds of 20 to 30 meters per second 
or higher require a velocity of 5 meters per 
second or higher to lift them with the me- 
teorograph ; and since the larger kites are 
heavier per unit area than the smaller ones 
it does not seem desirable to construct kites 
having an area exceeding 9 square meters. 
Moreover, such large kites are difficult to 
handle in high winds. 

Steel music wire remains the best mate- 
rial for line, although efforts have been made 
without success to obtain material of greater 
tensile strength. At the beginning of the 
use of wire at Blue Hill, in 1896, it seemed 
best to use a small wire, since the smaller 
wires are slightly stronger, weight for 
weight, than the larger; and with the ex- 
ception of a short piece of No. 11 wire pur- 
chased for trial, No. 14 wire alone was 
employed until February, 1900, when 7000 
meters of No. 17 wire were obtained. Tests 
of the three sizes of wire showed that when 
the smallest wire was employed, the limit 
of safe working strain was reached before 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 301. 


the angular altitude of the kites became as 
high as that reached when the largest wire 
was employed, although the larger wires 
were appreciably heavier for the same 
strength than the smaller. To determine, 
if possible, the size of wire best adapted for 
use, the tensile strengths and weights of all 
sizes of music wire larger than No. 10 were 
obtained from two leading manufacturers, 
and are given in the accompanying table. 
The data from the different sources did not 
agree exactly and the figures in the table 
are averages. 


DIAMETER, WEIGHT AND TENSILE STRENGTH 
OF MUSIC WIRE USEFUL AS KITE LINE. 


ae 
Music Wire| Diameter (in Sea Oe 5 Tensile 

Gauge Millime- - are» | Strength (in 
Number. ters). Gin’ Kilo- Kilograms) 
grams). 7 

10 -61 2.16 85 

11 -66 2.60 97 

12 71 3.08 113 

13 .76 3.56 126 

14 -81 4.00 140 

15 .86 4.52 148 

16 91 5.00 162 

17 97 5.71 178 

18 1.02 6.37 189 

19 1.07 6.94 203 

20 1.12 7 46 223 

21 1.17 8.33 236 

22 1.22 9.09 256 

23 1.29 10.00 281 

24 1.40 11.48 311 

25 1.50 13.51 350 

26 1.60 15.63 402 

27 1.70 17.54 450 

28 1.80 20.00 533 

29 1.88 22.22 590 

30 1.98 24.39 657 


A careful examination of all the data 
shows that the cause of the greater effi- 
ciency of the larger wires is that they pre- 
sent relatively less surface to the wind than 
do the smaller; and that, instead of being 
an insignificant effect, as some have sup- 
posed, the pressure of the wind upon the 
wire is a most importantone. The surface 
of a No. 17 wire presented to the wind is 
nearly one square meter for each thousand 
meters of length; and since, in very high 
flights 8,000 to 12,000 meters of wire are in 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


the air, the total pressure of the wind must 
be very great and its tendency is always to 
drive the wire and kites to a lower altitude. 
Wind pressures of 30 to 50 kilograms per 
square meter of surface exposed normally to 
the wind are not uncommon, and it appears 
that the line presenting the smallest surface, 
relative to weight, is the one best to employ. 
Considering the wire alone, there is an ad- 
vantage in using the largest size of wire, 
but there appears to be a practical limit to 
the number of kites that may be efficiently 
employed on one line. At Blue Hill, at 
present, the average number of kites em- 
ployed at one time is six—three large and 
three small—having a total lifting surface of 
less than 30 square meters. Since it is not 
desirable to increase the size of the kites, 
the increased power required to lift a larger 
wire must be derived from a number of the 
largest kites now used ; and since more than 
eight kites can seldom be used to advantage, 
it appears that a No. 25 or a No. 26 wire will 
give the best results, until there can be ob- 
tained better kites capable of lifting a larger 
wire. It is also probable that a line made 
up of several different sizes of wire may be 
more efficient than one of uniform size. 
The present maximum height (4,850 me- 
ters) in all probability is not the highest at- 
tainable with No. 17 wire, and while it is 
unsafe to predict the result of future ex- 
periment, it now seems likely that, with a 
stronger line and kites of greatest efficiency, 
heights exceeding 6,000 meters are within 
reach. Moreover, flights to elevations of 
4,000 meters or higher could be made more 
quickly and easily than at present. 


S. P. Fereusson. 
BLUE HILL OBSERVATORY, 
September 12, 1900. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE YOLTA BUREAU. 


WHILE the Volta Bureau was founded, by 
Alexander Graham Bell, ‘for the increase and 


SCIENCE. 


523 


diffusion of knowledge relating to the deaf,’ 
with a philanthropic desire to promote their 
welfare, the publications of the bureau will in- 
terest students in many departments of science, 
and the purpose of this reyiew is to call atten- 
tion to some of the general bearings of two of 
these publications. 


I. The Helen Keller Souvenir (2) Commemora- 
ting the Harvard Final Examination for Rad- 
cliffe College, June, 1899. By A. GRAHAM 
BELL, ANNIE M. SULLIVAN, and others. 

It is less remarkable that Helen Keller, who 
was born blind as well as deaf, has passed the 
examinations for admission to Harvard Univer- 
sity, ‘with credit in advanced Latin’: than that 
she has become so familiar with the use of lan- 
guage that she finds no more difficulty in the 
work of the college class-room than any other 
bright student. 

The way in which this result has been reached, 
in the face of such difficulties, should be studied 
by all teachers, not only for their encourage- 
ment, but because they will find in it an illus- 
tration of the requisites which are essential for 
all successful instruction. 

Her first teacher, Miss Sullivan, speaking of 
her at the age of twelve, or thereabouts, says 
that while her accomplishments seem marvelous 
to many, they ‘‘ consist only in her being able 
to speak and write the language of her coun- 
try with greater ease and fluency than the 
average seeing and hearing child of her age.’’ 
Miss Sullivan asks whether we may not hope 
for similar results with children who are so 
fortunate as to have eyes and ears with which 
to see and hear, and all who are familiar with 
the lamentable failure of a common school edu- 
cation to give command of the English language 
must feel an interest in the answer. 

Helen Keller was not taught the use of lang- 
uage. She was put into the way to discover its 
meaning, and was left to make the discovery 
for herself, as every normal child does, and 
as we find out everything else that is worth 
knowing. But while normal children make 
this discovery at too early an age to be able to 
tell us about it, Helen did not make it until 
she had enough maturity of mind to reflect 
upon it, and enough natural knowledge to know 
her need of it, and to understand its value. 


524 


All students of psychology will be interested 
in her account of the discovery that things 
have names and that one name may stand for 
several things ofa kind. She had been taken 
to the pump-house to feel the water as it gushed 
from the pump, and as she was enjoying the 
pleasant sensation, I (Miss Sullivan) spelled the 
word water in her hand, and instantly the 
secret of language was revealed to her. Helen 
says: ‘‘That word, meaning water, startled 
my soul, and it awoke full of the spirit of the 
morning, full of joyous, exultant song. Until 
that day my mind had been like a darkened 
chamber, waiting for words to enter, and light 
the lamp, which is thought.’’ 

The guiding principle of her early education 
was this aphoristic precept by Professor Bell: 
‘“‘T would have a deaf child read books in order 
to learn the language, instead of learning the 
language in order to read books.” It is by 
imitation that language is acquired, and it may 
be that it was Helen’s good fortune that she 
was not able to copy from the feeble and ill-con- 
sidered efforts to talk English, which make up 
ordinary conversation. 

‘“« The great principle that Miss Sullivan seems 
to have had in mind,”’ says Professor Bell, ‘‘in 
the instruction of Helen, is one that appears 
obvious enough when it is once formulated, and 
one with which we are all familiar as the prin- 
ciple involved in the acquisition of language by 
ordinary hearing and speaking children. I 
talked to her almost incessantly in her waking 
hours’’; says Miss Sullivan, ‘‘ spelled into her 
hand a description of what was transpiring 
around us, what I saw, was doing, what others 
were doing—anything, everything. Of course, 
in doing this, I used multitudes of words she 
did not understand at the time, and the exact 
definition of which I did not stop to explain. I 
gave her books printed in raised letters long 
before she could read them, and she would 
amuse herself for hours each day in carefully 
passing her fingers over the words searching for 
such as she knew, and she would scream with 
delight whenever she found one. Helen’s re- 
markable command of language is due to the 
fact that books printed in raised letters were 
placed in her hands as soon as she knew the 
formation of the letters. It is not necessary 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


that a child should understand every word in a 
book before he can read it with pleasure and 
profit. Helen drank in language which she 
at first could not understand, and it remained 
in her mind until needed, when it fitted itself 
naturally and easily into her conversation and 
compositions. Thus she drew her vocabulary 
from the best sources, standard literature, and 
when the occasion came she was able to use it 
without effort. She has had the best and purest 
models presented to her, and her conversation 
and her writings are unconscious reproductions 
of what she has read.”’ 

So well had Miss Sullivan done her work that 
the instructor who prepared Helen for college 
says: ‘‘I read Shakespeare with her, and she 
showed the greatest pleasure in the light and 
amusing touches in ‘As You Like It,’ as well 
as in the serious passages of ‘King Henry 
V.’ We took up Burke’s celebrated speech on 
Conciliation with the Colonies, and every point 
made an impression. The political bearing of 
the arguments, the justice or injustice of this or 
that, the history of the times, the characters of 
the actors, the meaning of the words and the 
peculiarities of style, all came under review, 
whether I wished it or not, by the force of 
Helen’s interest.’’ In the list of words which 
she understood without explanation are policy, 
impunity, immunity, dragooning, illation, in- 
quisition, acquiesces, mediately, congruity, etc. 


Il. Marriages of the Deaf in America ; an Inquiry 
concerning the Results of Marriages of the 
Deaf in America. By EDWARD ALLEN 
Fay. 

Few books on the inheritance of human 
faculties are more important than this volume 
which Professor Fay has prepared as the result 
of researches which have been carried on under 
the auspices and through the aid of the Volta 
Bureau. It is by far the most conclusive proof 
which has ever been obtained that there is no 
inheritance of acquired characters, so far at 
least as the inheritance of deafness is in ques- 
tion, for while Professsr Fay proves that the 
marriage of deaf persons without deaf relatives 
is no more likely to result in deaf children than 
any marriage in the community at large, the 
intermarriage of hearing persons who have deaf 


OcTOBER 5, 1900.] 


relatives is just as likely to result in deaf chil- 
dren as a marriage of.the deaf. 

The report will be welcomed by all students 
of inheritance from the scientific standpoint ; 
although it was undertaken and has been carried 
on, we are told, ‘‘in the hope that it might be 
of service to the deaf, and to society by settling 
definitely the question whether or not the deaf 
are more liable than hearing persons to have deaf 
children; and if it should appear that, notwith- 
standing the numerous instances to the contrary, 
they are more liable to this result, by ascer- 
taining whether or not the liability is increased 
by the marriage of the deaf with one another; 
also whether certain classes of the deaf, how- 
ever married, are more liable than others to 
have deaf children; and, if this should prove 
to be the case, by determining how these classes 
are respectively composed, so that asa result 
of the conclusions reached, in many instances 
deaf persons might be advised to follow the 
choice of their own hearts in marriage, with no 
restrictions whatever, except such as should 
influence all right-minded persons in this im- 
portant matter; while in cases where the deaf- 
ness of the parent was unquestionably more 
liable than in others to reappear in the off- 
spring, the persons interested might be effect- 
ively warned in time of the danger in- 
curred.’ 

The tables of facts regarding the deaf which 
make up most of the report are accompanied by 
a thorough and exhaustive analysis, which 
shows that this practical philanthropic purpose 
has been accomplished, and that Professor Fay 
is now able to give to those deaf persons who 
contemplate marriage advice which has the 
value of scientific demonstration. 

Professor Bell has shown that marriages of 
the deaf are more common in America than in 
Hurope, that they have increased at a higher 
rate of progression during the present century, 
that the probability of deaf children is much 
greater among the deaf than in the community 
at large, and that deafness—not mere hardness 
of hearing, but what is called ‘deaf dumb- 
ness’—is also increasing among us, and that 
we are threatened with a deaf variety of the 
human race. At the same time, it is clear that 
the probability of deaf children is not equally 


SCIENCE. 


525 


great among all deaf persons who marry and 
have children. A person who has lost hearing 
by accident or disease, at however early an age, 
may possibly be in no more danger of trans- 
mitting the peculiarity than one who has lost 
an eye or anarm. It is therefore highly impor- 
tant, in the interest of the deaf as well as in the 
interest of the community, to determine the 
conditions which are favorable and those which 
are unfavorable to the hereditary transmission 
of deafness. 

This report contains more than three hundred 
and fifty pages of statistical information, giving, 
for some 8,000 deaf persons who have married, 
data regarding the origin of their deafness, the 
hearing or deafness of the partner in marriage, 
the date of marriage, the number of children, 
the number of deaf children, a record as to the 
hearing or deafness of brothers and sisters, and 
information as to the existence of other deaf 
relatives. These tables, which contain a record 
of the marriages of the deaf far larger than all 
previous records put together, are of great 
interest to all students of inheritance, but their 
motive is philanthropic rather than scientific. 

While deaf persons are much more likely to 
have hearing children than to have deaf chil- 
dren, they are much more likely than ordinary 
normal-hearing persons to have deaf children. 
Less than one-tenth of one per cent. of all the 
children of normal parents are deaf, but if one 
or both parents are deaf, nearly nine per cent. 
of all the children are deaf. In other words, a 
normal-hearing pair have no reason to fear that 
a deaf child will be born to them unless they 
have more than a thousand children; while if 
one parent or both are deaf, and they have 
eleven children, they may, on the average, ex- 
pect to have one deaf child. 

The probability of deaf children is not, how- 
ever, equally great for all deaf persons, since it 
depends upon the character of the parental 
deafness. Marriages of the congenitally deaf, 
that is, of persons who have never, at any time 
in their lives, shown evidence of hearing, are 
far more likely to result in deaf offspring than 
marriages of the adventitiously deaf, that is, of 
those who have once heard and have sub- 
sequently lost their hearing. Of 526 marriages 
between a congenitally deaf person and a con- 


526 


genitally deaf or a hearing partner, 111, or 21 
per cent. resulted in deaf offspring; and 20 per 
cent. of the children, or one in each five, were 
deaf; while of 1,155 marriages where one 
partner was adventitiously deaf and the other 
adventitiously deaf or hearing, only 40, or 34 
per cent., resulted in deaf offspring; and only 
2 per cent. of the children, or one in each fifty, 
were deaf. 

If it were possible to draw this line with 
rigorous accuracy, and to divide all the deaf 
into these two classes, all deaf persons with a 
marked probability of deaf children would be 
found in the first class, while the members of 
the second class, the adventitiously deaf, would 
have little reason to fear the transmission of 
their deafness to posterity ; but, as a practical 
matter, it is not possible to draw this line with 
scientific exactness. Deafness is not usually 
discovered until the child has reached the age 
when children usually begin to talk ; and it is 
difficult to determine whether the hearing has 
been destroyed during this period or has been 
deficient from the first. If the child has suffered 
from some disease which is known to frequently 
result in deafness, the case is regarded as ad- 
ventitious, although it may possibly be con- 
genital. If, on the other hand, no such disease 
has been observed, the case is likely to be 
regarded as congenital ; but it is, perhaps, just 
as likely that hearing has been lost in conse- 
quence of some unnoticed inflammation of some 
part of the auditory apparatus, occurring at 
some time before the deafness was discovered. 
In fact, one who, having heard, afterwards be- 
comes deaf as the effect of disease, may be an 
example of congenital deafness. When deafness 
is said to be inherited, it is not actual deafness, 
but some constitutional weakness or suscepti- 
bility to disease that is transmitted, and a child 
who has heard and has afterwards lost its hear- 
ing may, while regarded as a case of adven- 
titious deafness, have the same significance in 
inheritance as one born deaf. 

The term ‘congenitally deaf’ usually means 
“supposed to be congenitally deaf,’ and ‘ad- 
ventitiously deaf’ often means ‘supposed to 
be adventitiously deaf.’ Some more accurate 
method of classifying the deaf must be em- 
ployed before we can clearly express the prob- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


ability of deaf children in any given marriage 
of the deaf. - 

It is well known that deafness often prevails 
in families ; that deaf persons often have deaf 
relatives; and the arrangement of the deaf- 
married persons, according to the existence or 
non-existence of deaf relatives gives results 
which are most instructive. 

In 437 marriages of deaf persons where both 
partners in marriage had deaf relatives, more 
than 25 per cent., or one in four, resulted in 
deaf offspring ; and more than 20 per cent., or 
one child in each five, were deaf. In 471 mar- 
riages where neither partner had deaf relatives, 
only 24 per cent. resulted in deaf children, and 
only one child in each hundred was born deaf 
(14 per cent.). When we consider how few 
persons especially in America, where changes 
of residence are frequent, are acquainted with 
the condition of all their relatives, it is not im- 
probable that there were unknown or unre- 
ported deaf relatives in some of these marriages 
and that marriages of this class are even less 
likely to result in deaf offspring than the tables 
indicate. 

Indeed, Professor Fay is led to the conclusion 
that even when deafness is congenital, it should 
not be regarded as a bar to marriage if neither 
of the partners in marriage has deaf relatives 
since the tendency to transmit deafness if it ex- 
ists at all, is very slight. On the other hand, 
the marriage of a deaf person to a hearing per- 
son with deaf relatives is much more hazardous 
than the intermarriage of deaf persons without 
deaf relatives. In fact, careful study of the 
tables indicates that the marriage of two hear- 
ing persons who have deaf relatives is just as 
likely to result in deaf offspring as the inter- 
marriage of two deaf persons who have deaf 
relatives. Taking all the marriages of a year’s 
standing or longer of which the results have 
been reported, where both the parents had deaf 
relatives, more than 25 per cent. of the mar- 
riages resulted in deaf offspring, and the pro- 
portion of deaf children born to them is 20.9 
per cent. ; where one of the parents has deaf 
relatives while the other has not, the propor- 
tion of marriages resulting in deaf offspring is 
6.6 per cent. ; where neither of them had deaf 
relatives only 2.3 per cent. of the marriages 


OcToBER 5, 1900. ] 


resulted in deaf offspring ; and the proportion 
of deaf children born therefrom is 1.2 per cent. 
The actual percentage of marriages resulting in 
deaf offspring, and the number of deaf chil- 
dren born therefrom, when neither of the 
parents has deaf relatives, may be even smaller 
than these figures indicate; for in some cases 
the statement that neither parent had deaf 
relatives is not well authenticated, and in all of 
them there is the possibility that there may 
have been deaf relatives who were unknown to 
the person who filled out the record-blanks. 
Professor Fay is led to believe, from the study 
of the records, that the probability of deaf 
children, where neither parent had deaf rela- 
tives, is very slight, perhaps no greater than in 
ordinary marriages. 

The marriages of the deaf most liable to re- 
sult in deaf offspring are those in which the 
partners are related by consanguinity. Thirty- 
one such marriages are reported in the mar- 
riage records, and of these 14, or 45.1 per 
cent., resulted in deaf offspring. One hundred 
children were born from these thirty-one mar- 
riages, and of these 30, or 30 per cent., were 
deaf. It is, therefore, exceedingly dangerous 
for a deaf person to marry a blood relative, no 
matter what the character or degree of the re- 
lationship may be, and no matter whether the 
relative is deaf or hearing, nor whether the 
deafness of either or both or neither of the 
parents is congenital, nor whether either or both 
or neither of them have other deaf relatives. 

The student of inheritance will, no doubt, 
be disposed to state this conclusion in more 
general terms, and to assert that the consan- 
guineous marriage of one who has any consti- 
tutional infirmity or defect is imprudent and 
inadmissible, and that since no one can be sure 
that both parties to a contemplated marriage 
are constitutionally sound in all respects, no 
consanguineous marriage is permissible. 

The writer of this review prepared, by re- 
quest, some twelve years ago, an essay on the 
conditions which are necessary for the produc- 
tion of a deaf variety of the human race, 
which was printed in the Report of the Royal 
Commission on the Blind, the Deaf and Dumb, 
ete. London, 1889. 

In this essay he gave reasons for holding the 


SCIENCE. 527 


only necessary condition to be that successive 
generations of persons—either deaf or hearing 
—with deaf relatives should marry and have 
children. 

This opinion was so much opposed to the 
views on inheritance which were current at 
that day that none of the eminent men of 
science—seven in number—who prepared essays 
upon the same subject, gave it any support, or 
even took it into consideration. Most of them, 
indeed, held that a deaf variety of the human 
race may be expected to result from the inter- 
marriage of successive generations of deaf per- 
sons. 

Professor Fay’s thoughtful and exhaustive 
analysis of the da taafforded by the records of 
some 4,500 records of marriages of the deaf 
shows that the view of the matter which was 
reached by the writer twelve years ago, on 
theoretical grounds, turns out to bea fact so 
soon as it is submitted to a practical test. 

W. K. Brooks. 


Exploitation technique des foréts. Exploitation 
commerciale des foréts. Two Volumes. By 
M. H. VANUTBERGHE, Ingénieur agronome 
Garde général des Foréts. 8vo. Paris, 
Gauthier- Villars. 

With the establishment of professional schools 
of forestry at Cornell and Yale Universities and 
the promise of others to follow, technical for- 
estry literature will naturally receive more at- 
tention in this country than hitherto. Foreign 
literature, however, except the few standard 
text-books and the best journals, will hardly at- 
tract much attention, unless it is essentially 
new in matter or manner. The two volumes 
under review bring nothing new in matter to 
the professional man, but some portions are 
treated in an unorthodox, independent manner 
which will appeal to the thinking student and 
practitioner, even though he may not agree al- 
ways with the author’s views. To find these 
volumes published as a part of an Encyclopédie 
scientifique des aide-memoire is rather surpris- 
ing, for they are by no means, as one would 
expect, reference books or brief reviews, but in 
large part rather argumentative and free in 
style, attempting to impress the author’s rad- 
ical views unbiased by the orthodox tenets 


528 


upon the reader, while the other parts are 
without interest to those to whom the argu- 
ment might appeal. It is difficult to imagine 
what class of readers the author intended to 
serve. Like most books written from the Conti- 
nental point of view—. e., starting out with es- 
tablished conditions of forestry practice—much 
is unpalatable and of little import to the Amer- 
ican reader. The title, division and treatment 
of the subject also are novel with the author, 
and not always fortunate. The term ‘ ex- 
ploitation’ does not, as in English, mean the 
mere rough utilization, but the very opposite, 
a regulated management. Under ezploita- 
tion technique he discusses not only the methods 
of regulating the management ofa forest for con- 
tinuous revenue, but also silvi-cultural opera- 
tions—t. e., the methods of securing the wood- 
crop—while under exploitation commerciale the 
methods of harvesting the crop are discussed, 
and the commercial considerations that enter 
into it either with or without reference to the 
future conditions of the property. From this 
little is to be learned for our practice. Yet it 
is interesting to note that evidently good for- 
estry practice is not as general among private 
forest-owners in France as is usually supposed, 
for the author declares silvi-culture ‘a new 
art,’ primitive in its development, deficient in 
scientific basis and ‘ official’—7. e., practiced 
mainly by the government officials in govern- 
ment forests. We agree with the author that 
forestry as a business commends itself mainly 
to rich people, to eternal persons like the state, 
and not to people who have the natural desire 
to increase their property by their labor. For- 
estry is, as the Germans term it, kapital-intensiv, 
and arbeits-extensiv—business, 7. e., relying to a 
large extent on capital, with small chance of in- 
creasing the earnings by intensive application of 
labor. Especially for timber purposes it re- 
quires large areas in one hand, a persistent 
system of management and a ‘ wholesale’ or- 
ganization. Small space and little light are 
given on the difficult and complex question of 
rotation (principe de Vexploitabilité ou eqoque 
de la récolte)—i. e., the length of time to which 
it is desirable to allow the crop to grow—when 
to cut the crop. This problem is swt generis in 
forestry, unknown to other industries, and as 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


the author very wisely points out, requires a- 
different solution according to whether the 

state, with its long existence and providential 

functions, or a private owner is concerned. 

Since to a certain point ‘the value of a tree 

grows at least as the cube of the diameter,’ 

from the standpoint of the financier the harvest 

time would have arrived when this value is at 

a maximum, if other calculations, namely, in- 

terest on investment, cost of production, etc., 

to be charged with compound interest, did not 

vitiate this simple device. The author con- 

cludes that ‘every harvest of old timber is 

economically or financially a bad operation’ 

which contemplation leads to short rotations, 

hence the production of heavy timber is not for 

private enterprise, which thesis the author sup- 

ports by examples. Most space is given to the 

consideration of the ‘felling budget’ (offre 
raisonné) in a sustained-yield management 
which the author calls with a new term ‘ pos- 
sibilité en fertilité’—i. e., a management which 
only reaps the amount annually accumulating 
(revenue) if the soil is properly stocked with a 
wood capital (valeur génératrice). 

We learn here to distinguish financially be- 
tween two distinct values, which may attach 
to one and the same forest property, namely, 
the realizable (sale) value (valeur de réatiza- 
tion) based upon what can be realized at once 
by a crude exploitation of the standing timber, 
and the investment value (valeur de placement) 
based upon what can be continuously realized 
from the property by a forest management, a 
distinction which will only gradually vanish, 
the author expects, when the old natural 
woods have vanished or the State has hold of 
them. The same expectations are in place in 
the United States, notwithstanding the sanguine 


assertions of enthusiasts. 
B. E. FERNOW. 


Technic of Mechanical Drafting. By C. W. 
REINHARDT. (Pub. by Engineering News 
Co.) 

Mechanical draftsmen and teachers of graph- 
ics may well add to their working libraries 
this volume, in which the chief draftsman of 
the Engineering News gives to: the profession 
the ‘wrinkles,’ ‘short cuts’ and methods in 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


general which have approved themselves to 
him during hislong experience. As the author 
frankly admits, this is not a complete work 
for beginners, as all theory of construction is 
omitted ; but as an adjunct to existing text- 
books it must prove of great service, being es- 
pecially rich in examples of conventional rep- 
resentation and of line shading. Incidentally 
it shows also the remarkable adaptability of 
the author’s system of lettering to reduction by 


photo-processes. 
F. N. WILLSON. 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Elements of Mineralogy, Crystallography and Blowpipe 
Analysis. ALFRED J. MosEs and C. L. PARSONS. 
New York, D. Van Nostrand Company. 1900. 
Pp. vii-+ 409. 

Elements of Physics for Use in High Schools. HENRY 
Crew. New York, The Macmillan Company. 
1900. Second Edition Revised. Pp. xvi-+ 353. 
$1.10. 

Ethnology. MicHAEL HABERLANDT. Translated by 
J. H. Lorw, London, Dent. Pp. viii +169. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


THE American Journal of Physiology for 
October contains a very interesting and sug- 
gestive article by D. J. Lingle on ‘The Action 
of certain Ions on Ventricular Muscle.’ Par- 
ticular attention is paid to the rhythmic activity 
of heart tissue as an ion effect. Strips from the 
ventricle of the turtle’s heart were placed 
in solutions of non-conductors, in solutions of 
sodium, of calcium, and of potassium, and in 
solutions of these salts combined. Lingle 
found that the non-conductors he used (cane 
sugar, dextrose, glycerine) did not occasion 
rhythmic beats in the heart strips. In the 
solution of sodium salts, however, the strips 
always beat rhythmically. Ifa strip is kept in 
the solution the beats reach a maximum and 
then gradually decline to a complete standstill. 
The stopping is apparently due to poisonous 
action of the sodium salt alone, for the rhythm 
is prolonged by diluting the solution in which 
the strip remains or by exposing the strip for a 
shorter interval to the action of the strong 
solution. When transferred to solutions of 
sodium salts, strips which have been quiescent 


SCIENCE. 


529 


in non-conductors begin to beat as suddenly as 
if started by an electric shock. The applica- 
tion of calcium salts and the treatment of the 
tissue so that an excess of calcium salts remains 
in the tissue both fail to start rhythmic beats. 
Potassium salts are likewise ineffective. More- 
over calcium and potassium in combination do 
not start beats, while sodium chloride always 
succeeds. These results have a remarkable 
similarity to the results obtained by Loeb on 
rhythmic contractions in striped muscle and the 
tissue of the swimming bell. According to 
Lingle, sodium and not calcium is the stimu- 
lus for rhythmic contraction in the heart; 
calcium and possibly potassium salts im- 
prove the rhythm by neutralizing the in- 
jurious action of pure sodium salt solutions. 
W. T. Porter and H. G. Beyer in a paper on 
‘The Relation of the Depressor Nerve to the 
Vasomotor Center’ raise the question, Does 
the bulbar vasomotor center act as a physio- 
logical unit to lower or raise the general 
blood-pressure, or has it parts regulating the 
regional distribution of blood? This question 
they have endeavored to answer by investiga- 
ting the depressor nerve, an afferent nerve 
regarded by Cyon and Ludwig as stimulating 
the bulbar vasomotor center to cause especial 
dilatation of abdominal blood vessels. First 
the depressor nerve was stimulated when the 
splanchnic nerves were prepared for experi- 
mentation but still intact. This caused a fall 
in blood-pressure usually from 35 to 40 per 
cent. Next the abdominal vessels were re- 
moved from vasomotor influence by cutting the 
splanchnic nerves. The blood-pressure which 
falls on cutting these nerves was restored to 
the normal level either by stimulating the 
peripheral ends of the cut nerves, or by intra- 
venous injection of normal salt solution. Now, 
with the abdominal vessels free from vaso- 
motor influence and the blood-pressure normal, 
the depressor nerves were again stimulated. 
The blood-pressure fell usually as much as it 
had previously fallen when the abdominal ves- 
sels were still connected with the bulb. From 
their results the investigators conclude that 
the depressor nerve has no special connection 
with cells controlling vasomotor fibers of the 
splanchnic nerves, and they express the opin- 


530 


ion that afferent nerves affect all the bulbar 
vasomotor cells alike. The bulbar vasomotor 
center, therefore, would not regulate the dis- 
tribution of the blood in the several regions of 
the body, but would merely raise or lower the 
general blood-pressure. 


The American Naturalist for August opens 
with an article ‘On the Nesting Habits of the 
Brook Lamprey (Lampetra wilderi),’ by Robert 
T. Young and Leon J. Cole, followed by a 
paper ‘On Variation of the Rostrum in Pale- 
monetes vulgaris Herbst,’ by Georg Duncker, 
in which the writer takes the ground that there 
is no relation between the average and the 
variability of a character. Frank Smith gives 
‘Some additional Data on the Position of the 
Sacrum in Necturus,’ concluding that we need 
more data before trustworthy conclusions can 
be reached, and J. R. Slonaker describes ‘A 
Strange Abnormality in the Circulatory Sys- 
tem of the Common Rabbit (Lepus sylvaticus),’ 
consisting of a connection between the portal 
vein and posterior vena cava. ‘The Origin of 
the Middle Ocellus of the Adult Insect’ is con- 
sidered by Chujiro Kochi, and this is followed 
by part XII. of the ‘Synopses of North-Amer- 
ican Invertebrates’ devoted to ‘The Trema- 
todes, Part I., The Heterocotylea or Monoge- 
netic Forms,’ by H. S. Pratt. There are nu- 
merous interesting reviews. 


The Plant World for August has for its first 
article ‘When Increase in Thickness begins in 
our Trees,’ by Geo. T. Hastings, giving the 
results of some recent experiments. ‘Judging 
by the Fruits,’ by Byron D. Halsted, presents 
two series of examination papers with their 
answers based on a change of text-books from 
‘Gray’s Lessons’ to ‘Coulter’s Plant Rela- 
tions.’ C. F. Saunders describes the ‘ Root 
System of the Snake-Mouth Pagonia,’ and the 
same writer gives a view of ‘ Quaker Bridge, 
New Jersey,’ the spot where the very rare fern, 
Schizea pusilla, was discovered. The Supple- 
ment, devoted to the ‘ Families of Flowering 
Plants,’ by Charles Louis Pollard, contains de- 
scriptions of the Smilaceze, Heemodracez and 
several succeeding families. 


In The Osprey for August Paul Bartsch con- 
tinues ‘ Birds of the Road,’ and Theodore Gill 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


gives the sixth part of ‘ William Swainson and 
his Times,’ coming down to the acquaintance 
of Swainson and Audubon and the interesting 
correspondence between the two. In the 
‘Letters’ Witmer Stone prints a communica- 
tion from Cassin on Baird’s first paper, in 
which he described Empidonax flaviventris and 
E. minimus. 


The Popular Science Monthly for September 
commences with an interesting account of ‘ The 
Modern Occult,’ by Joseph Jastrow, concluding 
that it is Utopian to look forward to the day 
when the occult shall have disappeared. 
Frederic A. Lucas discusses ‘ Birds as Flying 
Machines,’ drawing attention to the fact that 
there are various modes of flight. Wm. Baxter, 
Jr., describes ‘Electric Automobiles,’ and E. 
B. Rosa considers ‘The Human Body as an 
Engine,’ finding a striking parallel between 
the body and a locomotive. Simon Newcomb 
continues ‘Chapters on the Stars,’ treating 
mainly of their spectra and spectral research, 
and Havelock Ellis gives the second part of 
‘The Psychology of Red.’ ‘The Expenditure 
of the Working Classes’ is treated by Henry 
Higgs, who considers that they waste a great 
deal, and George G. Groff presents a somewhat 
optimistic view of the ‘ Conquest of the Tropics.’ 
In the Correspondence, R. E. C. Stearns shows 
the ‘ Antiquity of the Chewing Gum Habit’ and 
there are some good summaries in ‘The Prog- 
ress of Science.’ 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

WHEN a decade or so ago the problem was 
solved of obtaining aluminum at a compara- 
tively low cost, it was believed by many that 
there would be at once an immense demand for 
the metal, and that it would replace iron and 
perhaps other metals for many purposes. While 
this has not been the case, the demand for 
aluminum and the corresponding output have 
steadily, if slowly, increased, and at the present 
time are increasing rapidly. In the Zeitschrift 
fiir angewandte Chemie, W. C. Heraeus calls at- 
tention to the increasing use of aluminum in 
the chemical industries. One great difficulty 
heretofore in using aluminum for such purposes 
has been that when in contact with another 


OcToBER 5, 1900. ] 


metal, galvanic currents are generated which 
rapidly corrode the aluminum. It has hence 
been impossible to use vessels where the metal 
was soldered. A process has recently been de- 
vised which enables the welding of aluminum 
without the aid of a flux. This will greatly 
increase the usefulness of aluminum. The ten- 
sile strength of the metal is only one-fourth 
less than that of copper, and while its conduc- 
tivity for heat is only half as great as that of 
copper, it is twice as great as that of iron. 
The use of aluminum as a conductor of elec- 
tricity is also growing rapidly. 


AN interesting investigation has recently been 
carried out by H. J. Moller of Copenhagen, and 
published in the Berichte of the German Phar- 
maceutical Society, on colored glasses, with 
particular reference to the proper color for 
bottles which are intended to protect medi- 
cines, etc., from the chemical action of the 
light. It was found that the best protection is 
afforded by black (opaque), red, orange and 
dark yellowish-brown glass—light brownish- 
yellow, dark green (with no bluish tint) and 
dark brownish-green glasses afford quite good 
protection ; bluish-green, violet, milky, bluish 
and colorless glasses give little if any protection 
from the actinic rays of sunlight. For the 
preservation of wine, beer and liquors, dark 
brownish-yellow and dark yellowish-brown 
bottles are to be preferred, while light brown, 
light green and bluish-green glass is less to be 
recommended. 


A NEW and curious chapter has been added 
to the chemistry of the radio-active elements 
by A. Debierne in one of the latest Comptes 
Rendus. By dissolving barium chlorid in a 
solution of actinium and then crystallizing or 
precipitating it out, a radio-active barium is 
obtained which shows many similarities to 
the radiferous barium from pitch blende. Its 
rays are capable of ionizing gases, excite the 
phosphorescence of barium cyanoplatinite, are 
photographically active, and are partially de- 
flected in a magnetic field. The anhydrous 
chlorid thus obtained is self-luminous. On 
the other hand, this salt shows only the spec- 
trum of pure barium, while that from pitch 
blende gives the radium spectrum. ‘The 


SCIENCE. 


531 


former gradually decreases in activity, while 
the latter increases up to a maximum, at which 
it remains constant. Debierne considers that it 
is improbable that his active barium should 
contain any radium or any actinium, but 
that it is probable that by prolonged contact 
with actinium salts the barium has become it- 
self temporarily active. This inductively ac- 
tive barium appears to be intermediate in its 
properties between radium and barium. 
dq) 1h, Jal, 


EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS IN HAWAII AND 
PORTO RICO.* 

THE last appropriation acts for the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture carried provisions for the 
inauguration of experiment stations in the 
islands of Hawaii and Porto Rico. In accord- 
ance with this the preliminary steps have been 
taken to determine the best plan of operation 
in each case and the subjects which are in most 
need of immediate attention. 

Professor 8. A. Knapp, of Louisiana, who fora 
considerable number of years has been engaged 
in subtropical agriculture on an extensive scale, 
was selected to investigate the agricultural con- 
ditions and possibilities of Porto Rico. Pro- 
fessor Knapp went to the island early in June. 
In general he will study the present agricultural 
conditions existing in Porto Rico, the lines of 
experimental investigation which should be 
undertaken there, especially in the immediate 
future, and the locations suitable for stations, 
together with the approximate expense of in- 
augurating and maintaining the work of the 
stations. He will also look into the feasibility of 
undertaking cooperative experiments with the 
residents of Porto Rico, and the best means of 
reaching the people through different classes of 
publications, demonstration experiments, and 
otherwise. 

For the preliminary survey of the conditions 
in the Hawaiian Islands, Dr. W. C. Stubbs, di- 
rector of the Louisiana Experiment Station, 
has been selected as especially fitted by experi- 
ence. Dr. Stubbs sailed for Hawaii about the 
middle of July, and will spend the month of 
August in the islands. The conditions there 
with reference to station work are different 


*From the Hzperiment Station Record. 


532 


from those in Porto Rico, as a station for ex- 
periments in sugar production has been main- 
tained by private beneficence for a number of 
years. In connection with his investigation of 
the location of a station, Dr. Stubbs will con- 
sider the feasibility of combining the Federal 
station with the Hawaiian Experiment Station 
or the agricultural department of the Kame- 
hameha Manual Training School at Honolulu. 
Here also the lines in which investigation is 
most needed, the possibility of greater diversi- 
fication of the agriculture, the expense of 
inaugurating and maintaining experiment sta- 
tion work, and the means of disseminating 
information among the people will be carefully 
inquired into. This will probably prove a 
profitable field for investigations on the use and 
economy of water in irrigation, since according 
to reports received from authentic sources, in 
no other place is so much money expended for 
pumping water for irrigation. Some of the 
pumps are said to be raising 30,000,000 gallons 
of water per day from a depth of 500 feet, 
using coal that costs $10 a ton. The expense 
of irrigating in some cases reaches as high as 
$125 per acre annually. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


THE attendance at the Bradford meeting of 
the British Association was 1,915 distributed 
as follows: Old life members, 267; new life 
members, 13; old annual members, 297; new 
annual members, 45; associates, 801; ladies, 
483 ; foreign members, 9. The British Associa- 
tion is fortunate in always arousing local inter- 
est and securing a large number of associates. 
It will be noted, however, that the attend- 
ance of members at Bradford—622—was not 
greatly in excess of the attendance at meetings 
of the American Association, although Amer- 
ican men of science are scattered over a much 
wider area and undergo greater inconvenience 
in coming together in mid-summer. 


THE grants appropriated for scientific pur- 
poses amounted to £945 and were distributed 
as follows: Mathematics and Physics—elec- 
trical standards (balance in hand), and £45; 
seismological observations, £75; magnetic force 
on board ship, £10. Chemistry—relation be- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 301. 


tween absorption spectra and constitution of 
organic substances (balance, £6 8s. 9d. in hand); 
wave length tables, £5; isomorphous sulphonic 
derivatives of benzene, $35. Geology—erratic 
blocks (£6 in hand); photographs of geological 
interest (balance, £10 in hand) ; ossiferous caves 
at Uphill (renewed), £5; underground water of 
Northwest Yorkshire, £50 ; exploration of Irish 
caves (renewed), £15 ; life-zones in British car- 
boniferous rocks, £20. Zoology—table at the 
Zoological Station, Naples, £100; table at the 
Biological Laboratory, Plymouth, £20; index 
generum et specierum animalium, £75; mi- 
gration of birds, £10. Geography—terrestrial 
surface waves, £5; changes of land-level in the 
Phlegreean fields, £50. Economic Science and 
Statistics—state monopolies in other countries 
(£18 18s. 6d. in hand); legislation regulating 
women’s labor, £15. Mechanical Science— 
small screw gauge (balance in hand) and £45; 
resistance of road vehicles to traction, £75. 
Anthropology—Silchester excavation, £10; 
ethnological survey of Canada, £30; age of 
stone circles (balance in hand); photographs 
of anthropological interest (balance of £10 in 
hand); anthropological teaching, £5; explora- 
tion in Crete, £145. Physiology—physiological 
effects of peptone, £30; chemistry of bone 
marrow, £15; suprarenal capsules in the rabbit, 
£5. Botany —fertilization in pheeophycee, £15 ; 
morphology, ecology and taxonomy of podoste- 
mace, £20. Corresponding societies—prepa- 
ration of report, £15. 


ONE of the most important actions taken at 
Bradford was a reference to the Council with a 
favorable recommendation of a plan for the es- 
tablishment of a section of education which 
should deal not only with scientific education, 
but with education as a science. The report 
of the treasurer showed receipts of over $11,- 
000, but the expenses of the year exceeded 
the receipts by about $4,000. This deficit was 
due to the fact that the Dover meeting last 
year was rather small, while the grants were 
as large as usual and there were some extra ex- 
penses in connection with the yisit of the French 
Association. The items of expenditure were 
in round numbers $5,000 for printing, $2,500 
for salaries, $2,000 for the expenses of the Dover 
meeting and $5,000 for scientific grants. In re- 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


ceipts and in the amount annually granted for 
scientific research the American compares un- 
favorably with the British Association. The 
difference is explained by the large number of 
local associates. If the ‘ladies’ noted above 
are all associates the local contribution to the 
funds of the Association at Bradford amounted 
to over $6,000. 


Dr. W J McGee, ethnologist in charge of 
the Bureau of American Ethnology, has under- 
taken an expedition to southwestern Arizona 
and Sonora, for the purpose of continuing re- 
searches among the Papago Indians and extend- 
ing the studies to the practically unknown 
Tepoka tribe, supposed to inhabit the eastern 
shore of the Gulf of California, midway be- 
tween the mouth of Colorado river and Tiburon 
island. Not a word of the Tepoka language 
has ever been recorded, and not a single speci- 
men of their handicraft is in any museum. 


MM. CHAvVEAU and Cornu have been desig- 
nated by the Paris Academy of: Sciences as 
delegates to the International Commission on 
Physiological Instruments, of which M. Marey 
is the president. 


M. YERSIN, to whom the Paris Academy of 
Moral Sciences recently awarded a prize of 
15,000f. for philanthropic acts, has devoted the 
sum to his anti-plague serum establishment at 
Nha-trang. , 

Str MicHA&rL Foster has returned to England 
after having given a series of lectures before 
the Cooper Medical College, San Francisco. He 
was unable to be at Bradford as retiring presi- 
dent of the British Association. 


Dr. W. L. BRYAN, professor of philosophy in 
the University of Indiana and vice-president, 
attended the recent International Congress of 
Psychology at Paris and will remain abroad 
during the present year. 


J. G. H1BBEN, professor of logic in Princeton 
University, is spending the year abroad and is 
at present in Strasburg. 

PROFESSOR GEORGE T. LADD, who holds the 
chair of philosophy at Yale University, has re- 
turned to the United States after a year’s 
absence spent chiefly in Japan and India, where 
by special invitation he delivered lectures on 


SCIENCE. 533 


philosophy and education at a number of the 
leading universities. 


THE Duke of Abruzzi, returning from his 
Arctic expedition, reached Naples on September 
17th, and was met at the station by the King 
of Italy. He was welcomed with much en- 
thusiasm. The London Daily Express states, on 
what authority we do not know, that the Duke 
of Abruzzi and Nansen will join in a North 
Polar expedition. 


Dr. ALFRED STILLE, formerly professor of 
the theory and practice of medicine at the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, has died at the age of 
eighty-seven years. He was the author of 
numerous works on medicine. 


PROFESSOR JOHANN KJELDAHL, director of 
the chemical and physiological laboratory, Alt 
Karlsberg, near Copenhagen, was drowned re- 
cently while trying to save the life of a child. 
He is known for the method of detecting nitro- 
gen to which his name has been attached. 


THE death is announced at the age of sev- 
enty-three years of Dr. Friedrich Griepenkerl, 
professor of agriculture in the University of 
Gottingen. 

Dr. A. GRAHAM BELL in his address as 
president to the Board of Managers of The 
National Geographic Society referred to the 
desirability of securing for the Society a build- 
ing in Washington in which to establish the na- 
tional headquarters. Mr. Bell stated that the 
plans for the proposed Memorial Building to 
the late president, Hon. Gardiner Greene Hub- 
bard, are gradually taking form and assuming 
a practicable phase, and it is not unlikely that 
a Memorial Building may be erected this year 
and offered for the use of the Society. It is 
proposed that the building should contain a few 
small rooms that could be used as offices, a 
library and map-room, and a hall or meeting 
place sufficiently large to seat about 100 people. 
This would accommodate the Board of Mana- 
gers and committees of the Society, and also 
permit of small scientific meetings of the Fel- 
lows of the Society. The Memorial Building, 
if erected, will place the Society in a much 
better position to receive the International 
Congress of Geographers, which has been in- 
vited to assemble in Washington under its aus- 


584 


pices. Everything seems favorable to the es- 
tablishment of the Society upon a permanent 
basis, and it only remains to take the necessary 
steps to convert the Society into a really na- 
tional organization with national representation. 


THE seventy-second Congress of German Men 
of Science and Physicians, as we have already 
announced, met on September 17th at Aix-la- 
Chapelle. The Congress, as we learn from the 
British Medical Journal, contains 38 Sections ; 
17 are devoted to more or less non-medical 
subjects, such as natural history, geology, 
geography, education, etc., the remaining 21 
dealing with all the special subjects of medi- 
cine, including balneology, accidents, history of 
medicine and medical geography, and finally 
veterinary matters. Several large buildings 
are devoted to the business of the sections, 
and there is a strong muster of about 2,000 
German-speaking scientists, including many 
whose names are well known outside their re- 
spective countries. At the opening meeting 
the usual speeches of welcome were delivered 
by the Mayor and others, and the introductory 
addresses this year were by arrangement de- 
voted not only to giving a retrospect of the 
subject, but a sketch of its development during 
the nineteenth century. Dr. J. H. van’t Hoff 
(Berlin) spoke on the ‘ Development of the Exact 
Natural Sciences’ (natural history, chemistry, 
and allied subjects). Dr. G. Hertwig (Berlin) 
delivered an address on the ‘ Evolution of Biol- 
ogy,’ in which, after relating anatomical dis- 
coveries, he came to the large question of the 
natural origin of the organic world. He con- 
sidered that Darwin’s theories as to inheritance 
and natural selection still rested on the uncer- 
tain basis of hypothesis. He pointed out, how- 
ever, that the difficulty arose from the absence 
of sufficient prehistoric records, and expressed 
his agreement with the opinion of Huxley that 
Darwin’s teaching as to evolution will survive, 
apart from his principles of selection. Profes- 
sor Naunyn (Strassburg) gave an address on the 
‘Evolution of Medicine,’ connecting the progress 
of the science with the names of the German 
Schwann, the Frenchman Pasteur, and the 
Englishman Lister. The fourth and last ad- 
dress was given by Professor Chiari (Prague), 
whose subject was the ‘Evolution of Patholog- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vox. XII. No. 301. 


ical Anatomy.’ As the founders of this science 
he mentioned Morgagni, Baillie, and the latter’s 
pupils. The sections began their work on Sep- 
tember 18th. An exhibition of scientific appara- 
tus, drugs, foods, etc., was held in connection 
with the Congress. Some 300 to 400 papers 
were announced to be read, the Congress occu- 
pying five days in all. 


THE annual meeting of the British Iron and 
Steel Institute opened in Paris on September 
18th and 19th under the presidency of Sir Wil- 
liam Roberts-Austin. In addition to the ad- 
dress by the president, there were ten papers 
on the program. It was announced that Mr. 
Andrew Carnegie had given to the Institute the 
sum of £6,500 for the purpose of founding a 
medal and scholarship to be awarded for any 
piece of work that may be done in any works 
or university, and to be open to either sex. 
The details were to be left to the council of the 
Institute to settle. Mr. William Whitwell has 
been elected president of the Institute for the 
next two years. 


Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has intimated to the 
Greenock Town Council his intention of pre- 
senting £5,000 to the town to assist in the es- 
tablishment of a free public library. 


THE Philosophical Faculty of the University 
of Goéttingen has proposed the following sub- 
ject for prizes on the Benecke Foundation: A 
critical investigation, based upon experimental 
research, of those complex chemical com- 
pounds, which cannot be explained upon the 
ordinarily received theory of valence, or can be 
so explained only by a forced interpretation of 
the theory. This investigation should take 
special cognizance as to how far the phenomena 
of molecular addition play a part in the forma- 
tion of these compounds and as to whether it is 
possible to formulate a comprehensive theory of 
these complex compounds. The first prize is 
3,400 Marks, and the second prize, 680 Marks. 
Papers in competition must be written in a 
modern language, and be accompanied by a 
sealed envelope containing the name, a motto 
on the outside of the envelope corresponding to 
the same motto on the paper. They should be 
sent to the Faculty of the University of Got- 
tingen, not later than August 30, 1902. 


OcTOBER 5, 1900. ] 


WE learn from the Experiment Station Record 
that the Russian Government has made pro- 
vision for a commissioner of agriculture for 
each of the twenty governments of the Empire. 
They will have charge of all public measures 
relating to agriculture and rural affairs and will 
exercise supervision over the local agricultural 
institutions maintained by the government. 


THE third Pan American Medical Congress 
will be held at Havana from December 26th to 
29th. 


THE Jury of Final Appeal of the Paris Ex- 
position has finished its work, and it appears 
that in all the United States has received 2204 
awards; Germany, 1826; Great Britain 1724, 
and Russia, 14938. Germany, however, re- 
ceived more grand prizes than the United 
States—236 as compared with 215. 


THE secretary of a British anti-vivisection 
Society has complained to the Department of 
State regarding the experiments by Dr. Noel 
Patton in which animals were deprived of 
food. Sir Matthew Ridley refused to prose- 
cute the case, and was unwilling to give 
an opinion as to whether such experiments 
came within the provisions of the anti-vivi- 
section Act. 


Av the Bradford meeting of the British As- 
sociation, Mr. Glazebrook, the director of the 
National Physical Laboratory, presented a re- 
port on the construction of practical standards 
for use in electrical measurements, in which it 
was recommended ‘‘thata particular sample of 
platinum wire be selected, and platinum ther- 
mometers be constructed therefrom to serve as 
standards for the measurement of high tem- 
perature, and that Mr. Glazebrook and Profes- 
sor Callendar be requested to consider the de- 
tails of the selection of wires and construction 
of thermometers for the above purpose.’’ It 
was announced that the sub-committee had se- 
cured specimens of a sufficiently pure platinum, 
and that some recently constructed thermom- 
eters had been tested at the National Physical 
Laboratory. During the summer a very full 
comparison had been made of the unit of re- 
sistance coils, and that these coils had been 
compared with some belonging to the Board of 
Trade and the Imperial Reichsanstalt of Berlin, 


SCIENCE. 


535 


and also with resistance tubes prepared by M. 
Benvit in 1885, which were in the possession of 
the director of the National Laboratory. Con- 
siderations of temperature had deferred the 
completion of these comparisons, but further 
observations would be made. Some advance 
had been made during the year with the con- 
struction of the Ampére balance. Material pe- 
cuniary assistance had been received from Sir 
Andrew Noble. 


THE American Consul at Frankfort sends to 
the Department of State an abstract of an ar- 
ticle in the Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift discussing 
the progress made in the use of single lines for 
telegraphing and telephoning simultaneously. 
After describing the Rysselberghe system of at- 
taining this end, and fully explaining the im- 
portant part played by condensers, the writer 
describes a modification of the system recently 
introduced by the Telephone Works of Hanover, 
which, it seems, has already been adapted to a 
number of large installations, including the Ber- 
lin fire-brigade service. There are fifteen bri- 
gade stations in Berlin, each of which is served 
by a special network of fire alarms. From 
these stations underground wires radiate in all 
directions, each wire being connected with a 
great number of alarm pillars. The alarms are 
arranged for automatic working, and to each is 
fitted a key for telegraphing to the station. As 
it is, however, a very great advantage to be 
able to maintain during the progress of the fire, 
a good connection between the alarm pillars 
nearest the fire and the brigade station, ex- 
haustive trials have been made with a specially 
adapted telephone constructed by the above- 
mentioned firm, which have resulted in the gen- 
eral introduction of the same. To the Morse 
apparatus at the station a stand is attached 
from which a microtelephone fitted with a bat- 
tery switch and a second receiver are suspended. 
The remaining apparatus is inclosed in a flat 
box and placed under the table. This box con- 
tains an induction coil, a condenser and a cir- 
cuit key. As it would be expensive to equip 
each of the fire-alarm posts with telephone ap- 
paratus, a portable set is used, which may be 
attached to the posts by means of a plug and 
socket provided for the purpose. Such a port- 
able set is carried by each of the brigade carts, 


536 


there being some eighty now in use. The 
brigades’ cycles are also equipped with sets 
which are very compact in design. Experience 
with the system has shown that the switching 
in of the telephone apparatus in no way influ- 
ences the telegraph service. During simul- 
taneous telegraphing and telephoning a slight 
knocking is perceptible in the telephone, which, 
however, does not destroy the audibility. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE will of the late Dr. J. M. Da Costa, of 
Philadelphia, contains generous public be- 
quests, including $5,000 to the University of 
Pennsylvania and $5,000 to the College of Physi- 
cians. His medical library is given to the Col- 
lege of Physicians and his medical museum to 
the Jefferson Medical College. 


Mr. F. RAVENSCROFT has given 2,000 guineas 
to the Birbeck Institution, London. Part of 
the money has been used to provide a metal- 
lurgical laboratory. 


THE Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
has established a special course in electro-chem- 
istry which aims ‘‘to provide the education 
requisite for the investigation of the many new 
problems which the development of novel proc- 
esses is certain to bring forth, and also.to im- 
part the professional skill requisite for the 
installation, testing, and operation of apparatus 
and machinery by which electrical energy is 
applied in chemical, metallurgical, and allied 
processes. The instruction given, moreover, is 
of such a broad character, particularly in elec- 
tricity and chemistry, that a student completing 
this option should be well prepared to under- 
take various lines of electrical or chemical work 
other than electro-chemistry.’’ 


On September 29th President Schurman re- 
ported a registration of 2,900 students in Cor- 
nell University. Sibley College is reported by 
the director to have 625 to date. 


THE ‘Cambridge University Calendar’ shows 
a slight decrease in the number of students as 
compared with the preceding year. The fol- 
lowing table shows the number of students at 
each college, etc., and also the number who 
have proceeded to the degree of M. A. or some 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 301. 


higher degree and are members of-the Senate 
and of those who have taken their first degree : 


Members| B.A., | Under- 
College. ofthe | LL.B.,| gradu- | Total. 

Senate. etc. ates. 
Print ysis eee 2,160 839 676 | 3,675 
St Johns seeeericce 984 328 237 | 1,549 
Gonville and Caius.. 411 257 222 890 
Pembroke.......... 317 280 226 823 
Emmanuel ........ 364 209 177 750 
Christistcienentice 360 208 168 736 
Rei py Sijaieveer terete terete 312 253, 143 708 
Trinity Hall....... 232 184 190 606 
Clare emer 276 133 185 594 
JESUS eae 211 79 112 402 
Corpus Christi...... 257 83 59 399 
Peterhouse ........ 209 72 55 336 
(QWEOTE? os 6064050000 139 81 98 318 
Sidney Sussex...... 133 99 72 304 
St. Catharine’s...... 103 70 73 246 
Magdalene........ 123 41 48 212 
Downing .......... 98 59 52 209 
Selwyn Hostel ..... 57 118 84 259 
Non-collegiate...... 15 AT 108 170 

Members of Senate 
not on college 

boards .......... 202 0 0 202 
6,963 | 3,440 | 2,985 | 13,388 


AT Princeton University Elmer H. Loomis 
has been made full professor of physics and H. 
O. Lovett full professor of mathematics. Pro- 
fessor Lovett is spending the year abroad. 

FRANcIS M. THORPE, instructor in the Whar- 
ton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 
has been called to the chair of commerce and 
economics in the University of Vermont, re- 
cently endowed by Mr. John H. Converse. 

Dr. Victor UHLIG, professor of mineralogy 
in the Technical Institute at Prague, has been 
appointed professor of paleontology in the Uni- 
versity at Vienna. 

A CHAIR of hygiene and bacteriology has 
been established in the University of Athens. 
Dr. Savas, formerly staff surgeon of the Greek 
army, has been appointed professor and direc- 
tor of the Hygienic Institute. 

Mr. L. R. WILBERFORCE, demonstrator in 
physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cam- 
bridge, and university lecturer in physics, has 
been appointed to the Lyon Jones chair of ex- 
perimental physics at University College, Liv- 
erpool, vacated by acceptance by Dr. Oliver 
Lodge of the principalship of the University of 
Birmingham. 


PIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. 8S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THuRSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; 8S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 


INE welus 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINes, 


Britton, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpircH, 
Hygiene ; 


WitntiAM H. WeEtcuH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PeweELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, OcroBer 12, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
The Revival of Organic Chemistry: Dr. H. N. 
SINIOIZCIIS) coodonpasbocasscogqsbocddonconddaa00 peoSaEedoDa9000a0 537 
The Waikuru, Seri and Yuma Languages: DR. AL- 
TIAA {S), (CUATHS OTS OOTE Sonsconpocsoooacsdecoseosoodosboce0 556 
On the Inflection of the Angle of the Jaw in the 
Marsvpialia : DR. B. ARTHUR BENSLEY......... 558 
Oklahoma Geological Survey : CHARLES NEWTON 
(COWIE), ocoonsnoceecagogoaccondansesndaoonoboScoDsDooDqON000 559 
Mosquitoes of the United States: Dr. M. V. 
(SHOVING HAT EIU AIND), .os6ns coon coos soDoDoFOSsUddoEcENBESCCECOS 560 


Scientific Books :— 

Nansen’s Norwegian North Polar Expedition: 
Dr. W. H. Datu. Biological Lectures from 
the Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods 
Holl: PRoressor C. B. DAVENPORT. AHort- 
vet's Manual of Physics: PROFESSOR W. HAL- 
Lock. The Water Supply of the City of New 


York: PROFESSOR R. H. THURSTON. General. 
TED) TRACEIOAE ho sarscnechdapoeuoncceconosnonca-Hoadec=arcocd 562 
Scientific Journals and Articles.........:.cceceeeeesseeees 567 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
An Eminent American Man of Science: DR. 


MMSTHO, CHOI cooscodon casgnoquccHoasoscoqecnqucnonnoodeo 568 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H...........- 569 
Museum and Zoological Notes: F. A. L.............. 569 


Botanical Notes :— 
The Big Trees of California ; The Age of the Big 
Trees of California; Local Descriptive Floras ; 


The Mrs. Curtis Memorial..............--.-.-- Bene: 570 
The American Public Health Association............-. 571 
Scientific Notes and Netws...............0seecerseserne+-0 572 
University and Educational News..........+..s0se1ee0+ 76 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


THE REVIVAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. * 


Custom has placed upon the presidents of 
the Chemical Society the duty of delivering 
an annual address, and in pursuance of that 
duty I spoke to you last year upon the ‘ Re- 
vival of Inorganic Chemistry.’; I endeav- 
ored to show that this branch, so long over- 
shadowed by organic chemistry, so long but 
little more than a collection of almost un- 
connected facts, subordinate to analytical 
and technical chemistry and to mineralogy, 
is gradually, and especially since the dis- 
covery of the Periodic Law, rising to the 
rank of an independent and important di- 
vision of our science. 

I have chosen for my present topic one 
which is complementary to the former, ‘ The 
Revival of Organic Chemistry.’ I may 
perhaps appear to most of you almost face- 
tious in speaking of the revival of a branch 
of chemistry which has been in rapid growth 
for so many decades, which never counted 
agreater number of adherents than to-day, 
and which, regarded from the systematic 
standpoint, is not only the most highly de- 
veloped portion of chemistry, but also one 
of the most highly developed of all the 
sciences. Yet I believe that the use of 
the term revival is justifiable. I do not 
share the opinion which appears to be 
held by some inorganic and physical chem- 

* Annual Address of the President of the Chemical 


Society of Washington, October 11, 1900. 
{ SCIENCE, April 28, 1899. 


538 


ists, that organic chemistry is approach- 
ing the condition in which it will have 
ceased to afford a profitable field for re- 
search, and in which it must be turned 
over for exploitation to the technologist. 
I believe that never in its history has there 
been a time when more directions for truly 
original work were visible than to-day, and 
if I have urged the claims of inorganic 
chemistry to greater recognition, I do not 
believe that this should be accomplished 
by abandoning the investigation of carbon 
compounds, but rather by increasing the 
number of workers. To those trained in 
the older organic chemistry of twenty years 
ago, but who have not followed its recent 
development, it may indeed seem that 
formula worship is still supreme, and that 
further evolution, in a theoretical sense, 
has been arrested. It cannot be imagined, 
however, in these times of progress, when 
even analytical chemistry is beginning to 
lose its purely empirical nature, and to as- 
sume a scientific aspect, that the organic 
chemist will be content with indefinitely 
developing the ideas inherited from the 
past, without originating, or at least assim- 
ilating essentially new conceptions. Two 
courses are open to him if he would remain 
a scientist: the one, to admit that carbon 
chemistry has reached its limit of develop- 
ment, and to abandon it for other more 
profitable fields; the other, to seek new di- 
rections of work in this field, to devise new 
methods, suggest new hypotheses and apply 
principles originating in other provinces of 
science. My present object is to point out 
some of the newer lines of work which ap- 
pear to me to be particularly important, 
some of which are already well known, 
while the significance of others, while doubt- 
less apparent to some, does not yet seem to 
be generally recognized or insisted on. 
Every chemical student is more or less 
familiar with the remarkable theoretical 
growth of carbon chemistry between 1830 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 302. 


and 1860, leading up to the valence hypoth- 
esis and the hypothesis of the linkage of the 
atoms, and culminating in the fully de- 
veloped structural formula, representing 
schematically the relation of the atoms in 
organic molecules. This was followed by 
a period almost devoid of theoretical de- 
velopments, but characterized by intense 
activity in devising synthetical methods and 
applying them to building up new or already 
known compounds, or in systematically de- 
composing complex bodies, with the sole 
object of establishing their structural for- 
mulas. The beautiful researches based on 
the benzene ring theory of Kekulé, the syn- 
thesis of alizarine by Graebe and Lieber- 
mann, and of indigo by Baeyer, brilliantly 
conceived and executed as they were, threw 
not a single further ray of light on the 
deeper problems of chemistry, and were of 
much less theoretical significance than the 
discovery, in 1830, of the transformation of 
ammonium cyanate into urea. The deter- 
mination of the structural formula became 
the final end of nearly all organic chemical 
research, in so far as this was prompted by 
scientific rather than practical motives. 
The structural formula once developed, 
the compound possessed little further inter- 
est, except in so far as its transformations 
could lead to the setting up of similar for- 
mulas for other bodies. When I was astu- 
dent of organic chemistry, in the eighties, 
formula worship was rampant. Neither in 
America nor in Germany was I led to be- 
lieve that organic chemistry could have 
any other aim and end than making new 
compounds and studying their constitution. 
A new compound! How the soul of the 
young investigator thrilled with joy when 
his substance showed a new percentage of 
earbon and hydrogen, a new melting or 
boiling point ; this was something no god 
nor mortal had yet beheld. The constitu- 
tional formula was then deduced, if possi- 
ble; if impossible, then at least one which it 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


might have without violating the laws of 
valency, the substance was placed in a 
specimen tube, labeled with its formula 
and laid away. It was true that two Nor- 
wegians, Guldberg and Waage, had claimed 
to have discovered what they called the 
law of mass action, Wilhelmy and Men- 
schutkin had studied the time required in 
certain reactions, a physicist named Hittorf 
had spent much time in studying the elec- 
trical conductivity of solutions, while van’t 
Hoff, a chemist in a Dutch veterinary school, 
had suggested a theory intended to account 
for the differences between dextro- and 
leevo-tartarie acids and similar bodies, 
which was alluded to as a chemical curi- 
osity, but none of these things were thought 
worthy of serious consideration by the or- 
ganic chemist, who was blinded by the 
really beautiful system of carbon chemistry, 
and wrapped in dreams of structure. The 
physiological chemist likewise, failed to 
realize the fact that he must get beyond the 
question of constitution before he could ac- 
complish any real progress in his science. 
I was urged by a well-known chemist with 
physiological proclivities to take up the 
study of the proteids. ‘‘ What we want,”’ 
said he, ‘‘is a sort of map or chart showing 
the constitution of each of these bodies.” 
The synthesis of uric acid was hailed as 
a valuable contribution to physiological 
chemistry, although it did not establish its 
structure; was effected under conditions 
impossible in the organism and gave no 
clue whatsoever to its mode of formation in 
the body. The term ‘formula artificer’ 
(Formelkunstler) applied in a somewhat 
derogatory sense, fairly expressed, as it 
still does, the state of mind of those en- 
gaged in this kind of work. I have often 
wondered why chemists persist in speaking 
of discovering, rather than of devising a new 
compound. Organic chemistry might well 
have been defined as the art of devising 
new combinations of carbon atoms, for al- 


SCIENCE. 


539 


though using scientific methods, the com- 
pound maker, as far as his appreciation of 
his own work was concerned, was rather to 
be compared with a designer or architect 
than with his fellows in other branches of 
science. 

Of course, it is far from my intention to 
belittle the preparation of new compounds 
or the study of structure. These are valu- 
able pioneer work and necessary precedents 
to the solution of many problems of chem- 
istry, but they should not be made the final 
aim of research, as the organic student has 
so often made them. The ease with which 
new carbon compounds are made is illus- 
trated by the fact that while the first edi- 
tion of Richter’s Tables, which appeared in 
1883, embraced 16,000 different organic sub- 
stances, the new edition, just published, 
enumerates 75,000, and this number might 
easily be tripled or quadrupled without the — 
application or discovery of a single new 
principle of chemistry. It is clear, then, 
that the honor of adding another to these 
75,000 cannot be very great, unless the new 
body be one calculated to throw light on 
unsolved problems. The nature and limi- 
tations of the structural formula, too, are 
so well known, that mere variations on the 
theme cannot be of any great value. 

The rapid development of formula wor- 
ship, and by this term I mean, not the 
study of structure in itself, which is per- 
fectly legitimate, but the making it the sole 
aim of research, was due partly to the ease 
with which the brilliant methods and con- 
ceptions of Frankland, of Kekulé and of 
Couper could be applied to nearly all classes 
of organic compounds and partly to the 
comparatively narrow training of chemists 
during this period. Science does not of 
necessity develop in a rational way; it 
grows along the lines of least resistance, 
whether or not these be those which a ma- 
ture and broadly trained intellect would 
indicate as the best. The line of least resist- 


540 


ance in organic chemistry was the synthet- 
ical direction, the direction requiring per- 
severing application of a comparatively few 
methods and ideas, while progress in other 
directions was barred by the chemist’s 
ignorance of subjects lying outside his spe- 
cial field. It has been but a few years that 
even the scientific chemist has been ex- 
pected to know much more of physics than 
that required to comprehend his methods 
of molecular weight determination. The 
importance of physics in a chemical educa- 
tion was greatly underrated, and it is, 
therefore, not in the least surprising that 
the significance of such studies as those re- 
lating to mass action, reaction velocities, 
equilibrium, electrical conductivities, op- 
tical rotation and other provinces of modern 
physical chemistry should have been greatly 
underestimated or wholly ignored by the 
organic chemist, and that he should have 
become a man of one idea, unwilling even to 
take the time to open his eyes to the light 
which was beginning to be thrown on his 
field by those whose broader education en- 
abled them to discern the future more 
clearly. 

It is perhaps worth while to call atten- 
tion here to the part which isomerism has 
played in the various steps forward which 
organic chemistry has taken. Before 1820, 
the different modifications of chromic oxide, 
of silica, of the stannic acids had been dis- 
covered, but attracted little attention. The 
correctness of the discovery of the isomerism 
of the silver salts of cyanic and fulminic 
acids by Liebig and Wohler, in 1823, was 
even at first doubted. Once established, it 
become clear that the atoms composing 
the molecule could not be combined in an 
indifferent or chaotic fashion, but that, 
as suggested by Gay-Lussac, combination 
must take place in a definite and fixed 
manner, differing in the different isomers. 
It is to this conception that we owe the 
‘radical theory,’ which assumed the pres- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 302. 


ence in the molecule of groups of atoms 
having an independent existence and ca- 
pable of being transferred without change 
from one compound to another, and, in 
short all the various theories of constitution 
which culminated in structural chemistry 
as represented by Kekulé. We shall pres- 
ently see how a finer kind of isomerism 
led to the study of space chemisty, and still 
later, how isomerism lies at the foundation 
of the subject of tautomerism, which is of 
such importance at the present day. 

The structural formula implies (if we 
may disregard the view of the few more 
cautious chemists who regard it asa re- 
action formula only) that the atoms are in 
each case linked together according to a 
definite plan, but it is purely diagrammatic, 
it says nothing about their relation in space ; 
this may be fixed or nearly fixed, or it may 
vary as the Solar System varies, the plan 
remaining the same, but the relative posi- 
tions of the component bodies changing en- 
tirely from instant to instant. Up to 1860 
scarcely a chemist concerned himself in the 
least with the relative positions of the atoms 
or groups in space, and it was noé till 1887 
that the chemical mind became awakened 
to the importance of this question. A 
few earlier chemists, it is true, as Boyle, 
Wenzel, Wollaston, Gmelin, Laurent, had 
suggested the possibility of the existence of 
such definite relations, but the absence of 
any experimental basis for such specula- 
tions prevented their suggestions from 
having any positive results. It is about 
the year 1887, therefore, that I am inclined 
to place the beginning of the revival of 
organic chemistry. 

The development of the conception of 
chemistry in space is inseparably bound 
up with the chemical and crystallographic 
study of tartaric and racemic acids, and 
with Biot’s discovery of the rotation of the 
plane of polarization of light by certain dis- 
solved organic compounds. The isomer- 


OcTOBER 12, 1900. ] 


ism of tartaric and racemic acids was rec- 
ognized by Gay-Lussac in 1826 and by 
Berzelius in 1830, but nothing in their ob- 
servations indicated that this isomerism 
was in any way peculiar and of a finer 
kind than that existing in other cases. 
Still earlier, in 1815, Biot had found that 
tartaric acid and various other organic 
bodies, such as sugar, camphor, turpentine, 
possess the power of rotating the plane of 
polarization of light, and as this property 
is shown by them in the dissolved state, it 
was clear that it must be due, not to crys- 
talline structure, but to intramolecular con- 
stitution. In 1841, de La Provostaye in- 
vestigated the crystallography of tartaric 
and racemic acids and their salts without 
noticing any difference between the two 
series, while in 1844 Mitscherlich examined 
the double sodium ammonium salts of these 
acids erystallographically with the same 
result. Referring to the discovery of Biot 
that the tartrates are dextrorotary, the 
racemates indifferent, Mitscherlich says : 
“ Nevertheless, the nature and number of 
the atoms, their arrangement and their dis- 
tances apart are the same in both bodies.” 

In 1848, Louis Pasteur, who was then a 
chemical student just beginning independ- 
ent work, turned his attention to the study 
of crystals as offering a possible assistance 
to him in his chemical researches. With 
no expectation of making a discovery, with 
a view to practice solely, he began by re- 
peating de La Provostaye’s work of seven 
years before, as far as it related to tartaric 
acid. He soon observed a fact which had 
escaped the former, this being that crystals 
of the tartrates possess certain hemihedral 
faces, and further that the hemihedrism is 
in the same sense in all the tartrates. 
Led by the observation of Hauy and Weiss, 
on the existence of right- and left-handed 
hemihedrism in quartz, of Biot, on the ex- 
istence of dextro- and levo-rotary quartz, 
and of Sir John Herschel, that the crystal- 


SCIENCE. 


541 


lographic difference of the two kinds of 
quartz is associated with a corresponding 
difference in the sense of their optical rota- 
tion, he undertook an investigation designed 
to ascertain whether in the various crystal- 
line organic bodies possessing optical rota- 
tion in solution, this property is always ac- 
companied by hemihedrism, and whether 
absence of the one implies corresponding 
absence of the other. He examined the 
crystals of the optically indifferent racemic 
acid and its salts; none of these showed 
hemihedrism. Mitscherlich had failed to 
observe the hemihedrism of the active so- 
dium ammonium tartrate and found that 
its crystals differ in no wise from those of the 
corresponding inactive racemate. Herein 
was an apparent exception to the rule, and 
Pasteur, therefore, repeated Mitscherlich’s 
work. He found the hemihedrism of the 
sodium ammonium tartrate which had es- 
caped the eye of Mitscherlich, but he also 
found—and this is the observation which 
entitles him to be regarded as one of the 
founders of chemistry in space—that ex- 
ceptionally the double racemate also showed 
hemihedral faces, but that while half of the 
crystals were hemihedral in a right-handed 
sense, the other half were so in the oppo- 
site sense.* Carefully separating the two 
kinds, dissolving them and placing the so- 
lutions in the polarimeter, he found, to his 
great surprise and delight, that the one so- 
lution was dextro-, the other levo-rotatory. 
From the latter he prepared levo-tartaric 
acid, the hitherto unknown isomer of com- 
mon tartaric acid. Mixing the two acids in 
equal quantities, he regenerated the inac- 
tive racemic acid. 

* The inversion temperature of sodium ammonium 
racemate is 27° C. (van’t Hoff and van Deventer, 
Zeit. physik. Chem. 1,173). Above this temperature 
the racemate is stable, below it, the mixed dextro- and 
levo-sodium ammonium tartrates. Mitscherlich’s fail- 
ure to detect the facts afterwards observed by Pasteur 


may therefore have been due, not to erroneous obser- 
vation, but to improperly selected temperatures. 


542 


This is an old story for us, but at that 
time it appeared highly improbable, and 
even Biot, the veteran discoverer of the 
optical rotation of dissolved organic sub- 
stances, who had for twenty years vainly 
endeavored to convince chemists that in 
the study of this phenomenon was to be 
found one of the best means of investiga- 
ting molecular structure, entertained strong 
doubts as to its accuracy. As an illustra- 
tion of scientific skepticism, I may quote 
Pasteur’s own words, relating to Biot’s re- 
ception of his discovery:* ‘‘ He (Biot) 
summoned me to his laboratory, in order 
to have me repeat the various experiments 
under his own eyes. He supplied me with 
racemic acid, which he himself had exam- 
ined and had found to be optically inactive. 
I prepared in his presence the sodium-am- 
monium double salt, for which he wished 
to furnish even the soda and ammonia. 
The solution was set aside in his laboratory 
to evaporate slowly, and after 30-40 grams 
of crystals had formed, he again summoned 
me to the Collége de France to collect the 
dextro- and levo-rotatory crystals, and 
separate them according to their crystallo- 
graphic character, requiring me to repeat 
the assertion that those which I placed 
at his right hand were dextro-rotatory, 
and those at his left hand levo-rotatory. 
When this was done, he said that he him- 
self would carry out the rest. He carefully 
prepared the solutions and at the moment 
when he was about to observe them in the 
polarimeter he called me again into his 
room. He first brought into the apparatus 
the more interesting solution, that which 
should rotate towards the left. Without 
making the reading, merely by viewing the 
shades of color on the two halves of the 
field of vision, he recognized the presence 
of distinct levo-rotation. Then the old 
man, visibly affected, grasped my hand and 


* Ostwald’s Klassiker, No. 28, p. 14. This con- 
tains Pasteur’s own account of his observations. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S$. Von. XII. No. 302. 


said, ‘my dear child, I have loved science 
my whole life so much that I hear my heart 
beating for joy.’ ” 

Pasteur was able to give but a vague, yet 
true explanation of his observations. He 
attributed this physical isomerism to a sort 
of asymmetry of the molecule, the two kinds 
being identical in every respect except that 
they cannot be made to coincide ; they are 
like an object and its reflection in a mirror, 
the right and left hand, or a right- and left- 
handed screw. In his opinion, the asym- 
metry was caused by the action of forces 
peculiar to the organism. 

Pasteur’s discovery waited long before 
exercising a perceptible influence on the 
course of chemicalresearch. Kekulé’s Lehr- 
buch, published in 1866, describes the facts, 
but makes no mention of Pasteur’s theo- 
retical views. The investigations of Wisli- 
cenus, on the lactic acids, published in 1869, 
showed that four of these exist (f oxypro- 
pionic acid and two optically opposite forms 
of ¢ oxypropionic acid with their racemic 
combination), while the structure theory 
indicates but two. Without giving a more 
concise explanation, he suggested that the 
difference of the acids is a geometrical one, 
and called this kind of isomerism geometrical 
isomerism. It is curious that at even this 
date Wislicenus makes no mention of Pas- 
teur’s discovery of the enantiomorphic 
tartaric acids or his theory of molecular 
asymmetry, although the facts were pre- 
cisely analogous, and the explanation a 
more definite one than his own. 

Pasteur’s conception of molecular asym- 
metry, first stated, I believe, in 1860, had 
to wait until 1874 before assuming a form 
sufficiently definite to admit of application 
to the theory of structure. In this year 
there appeared independently and almost 
simultaneously two publications of essen- 
tially similar nature, the one by Le Bel in 
Paris, the other by van’t Hoff, then pro- 
fessor in Utrecht. Le Bel acknowledged 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


his indebtedness to Pasteur, while van’t 
Hoff made no special mention of him and 
proceeded to develop his theory on @ priori 
grounds, though he has elsewhere told us 
that his interest was aroused by Wislicenus’ 
discovery of the physically isomeric lactic 
acids. Beginning with the assumption that 
the four valences of the carbon atom are 
directed towards the apices of a tetrahedron, 
van’t Hoff showed that if any two of the 
four combined atoms or groups are iden- 
tical (Caabe) but one form can result, while 
if they are all different (Cabed) there must 
result two forms, identical in so far as their 
plane structural formulas are concerned, 
and identical in all chemical and physical 
respects, save that the one is to the other 
as an unsymmetrical object and its reflec- 
tion in a mirror; they would constitute 
right- and left-handed figures, their influ- 
ence on polarized light and on the form of 
the crystal would be the same, but in op- 
posite senses, that is, they would be dextro- 
and lzevo-rotatory, and if showing hemihe- 
drism, this, too, would be opposite in the 
two forms. Proceeding to apply this hy- 
pothesis, he showed that every optically 
active organic compound, the constitution 
of which was then known, contains one or 
more such asymmetric carbon atoms, carbon 
atoms combined with four different atoms or 
groups ; the dextro- and levo-tartaric acids 
are identical when the ordinary formulas 
are considered, but different when the space 
relations are taken into account. It was 
further shown that two or more asymmetric 
carbon atoms in the same molecule might 
reinforce or neutralize each other with re- 
spect to rotatory power, in the latter case 
giving bodies like inactive tartaric acid, 
which differs from racemic acid in not being 
separable into optical antipodes. 

Van’t Hoff further applied his theory of 
the tetrahedral carbon atom to other 
obscure cases of isomerism, found only in 
bodies having doubly united carbon atoms, 


SCIENCE. 


543 


such as fumaric and maleic acids, which 
are not chemically identical, but the inter- 
pretation of which on the current views of 
structure had not been satisfactorily accom- 
plished. Fittig regarded fumaric acid as 


CH.CO,H 
| 
CH.CO,H 


and the isomeric maleic acid as 
CH,.CO,H 


| ; 
= C—C0,H 


the latter formula, however, not being in 
harmony with the facts, while Anschttz 
held maleic acid to be 


CH.C(0H), 


On van’t Hoff’s hypothesis, the doubly com- 
bined carbon atoms are incapable of free 
rotation, the combined groups or atoms 
being, therefore, compelled to retain their 
relative positions, thus giving stability to 
the two configurations 


b 
a 


exe = Ox and a0 = O< 

We have thus two distinct types of geo- 
metrical isomerism; in the one, the type 
with asymmetric carbon atoms, the chem- 
ical properties are identical and likewise 
the physical, except in so far as they in- 
volve space relations, as optical rotation 
and hemihedrism; in the other, that of the 
doubly united carbon atoms, the chemical 
properties, while not absolutely identical, 
are so nearly so that they can be expressed 
by the same structural formula of the old 
style. 

Van’t Hoff and Le Bel’s explanation of 
physical isomerism long attracted but little 
attention among chemists, partly because 
such cases were then comparatively rare, 
partly because of the inertia of the chem- 
ical mind, which preferred to seek an ex- 


544 


planation in new forms of plane structural 
formulas, or which simply ignored the facts, 
much as the inorganic chemist long ignored 
the existence of double salts, which did not 
conform to his notions of what valency 
should do. The theory, however, at once 
found a warm advocate in Johannes Wis- 
licenus, whose mind had been prepared by 
his investigation on the lactic acids, but in 
other quarters it met with open opposition. 
Among its opponents was the illustrious 
but pugnacious Kolbe, whose words * I can- 
not refrain from quoting, both because they 
are extremely characteristic of his style of 
criticism, and because they were directed 
towards a man who has since won the high- 
est renown as a chemist, and towards a 
theory which has now earned an accepted 
place in science. 

“Tn a recently published article under 
the above title,; I have denoted, as one of 
the causes of the present retrogression of 
chemical investigation in Germany, the lack 
of general, and at the same time funda- 
mental chemical training, under which not 
a small number of our chemical professors 
labor, to the great disadvantage of science. 
The result is the prevalence of a vegeta- 
tion of apparently learned and intellec- 
tual, but in reality trivial and soulless, nat- 
ural philosophy, which, set aside fifty years 
ago by the exact investigation of nature, is 
again being hauled forth by pseudo-scien- 
tists from that rubbish room which contains 
the wanderings of the human mind, and 
which, like a wench dressed in the height 
of fashion and freshly painted, it is being 
attempted to smuggle into good society in 
which it does not belong. 

‘« Let him to whom this fear seems over- 
drawn, read, if read he can, the recently 
published brochure, bristling with the play 
of fancy, of Messrs. van’t Hoff and Herr- 

*Zeichen der Zeit. Journ. prakt. Chem. N. F. 15. 


473. 
ft Journ. prakt. Chem. N. F. 14, 268. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S: Vou. XII. No. 302. 


mann, on the ‘Position of the Atoms in 
Space.’ I should ignore this, as I have 
many others, had not a reputable chemist* 
taken it under his protection and warmly 
recommended it as a valuable production. 

“A certain Dr. J. H. van’t Hoff, at the 
Veterinary School in Utrecht, has, as it ap- 
pears, no taste for exact chemical research. 
He has considered it more convenient to 
mount his Pegasus (evidently borrowed 
from the Veterinary School), and to an- 
nounce, in his ‘ Chimie dans l’espace,’ how, 
from the chemical Parnassus, reached in 
his bold flight, the atoms of the universe 
are seen to be arranged. * * * 

“To criticise this brochure even half-way 
is impossible, because the fancies contained 
in it are wholly without foundation in fact, 
and absolutely incomprehensible to the 
sober investigator. But to get an idea of 
what floated before the minds of the au- 
thors, it will suffice to read the two follow- 
ing sentences. The brochure begins with 
the words: ‘Modern chemical theory has 
two weak points; it speaks neither of the 
relative positions of the atoms in the mole- 
cule, nor of the nature of their motions.’ 
The second sentence reads: ‘In the asym- 
metric carbon atom we have a medium 
which is characterized by the screw-like 
arrangement of its smallest parts, the 
atoms!’ * ** * 

“Tt is characteristic of the present un- 
criticising and criticism hating age that 
two practically unknown chemists, the one 
in a veterinary school, the other in an 
agricultural institute, confidently pass judg- 
ment upon the highest problems of chem- 
istry, which in all probability will never be 
solved, especially the spatial relations of 
the atoms, and undertake their solution 
with an assurance which sets the true in- 
vestigator in positive amazement. * * * 

“ Wislicenus herewith announces that he 
has abandoned the ranks of exact investiga- 


* Wislicenus. 


> OCTOBER 12, 1900.] - 


tors, and has gone over to the camp of the 
natural philosophers of unhappy memory, 
which but a thin ‘medium’ separates from 
the spiritualists.’”’ 

Upon this criticism van’t Hoff remarks, 
in a later work,* ‘‘But ten years have 
passed—Kolbe is dead, and by a strange 
freak of fate it is Wislicenus who has suc- 
ceeded him in the University of Leipzig,” 
to which we may add, that after twenty-five 
years, the Utrecht horse doctor has become 
professor in the University of Berlin, and 
the chemical world has united in doing him 
honor upon the twenty-fifth anniversary 
of his doctorate. 

Time is wanting to do more than allude 
to the interesting ‘tension theory’ of von 
Baeyer, dating 1885, which, by adopting 
van’t Hoff’s conception of the tetrahedral 
arrangement of the carbon valences, and 
assuming that these tend to maintain their 
relative positions with considerable force, 
like elastic springs, offered an explanation 
of the relative stability of the polymethy- 
lene rings and the instability of the poly- 
acetylene compounds. 

The first strong impulse to the study of 
the space relation of carbon compounds was 
given by Johannes Wislicenus in 1887, by 
his paper on ‘The Spatial Arrangement of 
the Atoms in Organic Molecules, and its 
Determination in Geometrically Isomeric 
Unsaturated Compounds.’} In this paper 
the subject was treated essentially as it had 
been twelve years before by van’t Hoff, but 
with important extensions, covering the 
lactones and anhydrides. After the ap- 
pearance of this epoch-making work, stereo- 
chemistry was no longer a scientific curios- 
ity ; it at once became the fashion, and has 
so remained ever since. Many specula- 


* Dix années dans Vhistoire d’une théorie, p. 21. 

{ Ueber die ratimliche Anordnung der Atome und 
ihre Bestimmung in geometrisch-isomeren ungesit- 
tigten Verbindungen. Abhand. d. K. Sichs. Gesell- 
sch. d. Wiss. Bd. 24. 


SCIENCE. 


545 


tions have appeared, but few have obtained 
much foothold, and the stereochemistry of 
to-day, so far as it concerns carbon, is es- 
sentially that of van’t Hoff, Le Bel and 
Wislicenus. The classical researches of 
von Baeyer on the hexahydrophthalic acids 
are based essentially on extensions of the 
theory of the geometrical isomerism of 
bodies of the ethylenic type and have con- 
tributed not a little to its confirmation. 
The preparation of stereoisomers of both 
types is now a matter of almost daily oc- 
currence. 

Unquestionably the greatest achievements 
of stereochemistry are to be found in Emil 
Fischer’s magnificent researches on the 
sugars. If to explain old facts and to lead 
to the discovery of new onés be any test of 
the truth of an hypothesis, then the appli- 
cability of the theory of the asymmetric 
carbon atom to the carbohydrates affords a 
very strong presumption in its favor. The 
stereochemistry of the sugars might by 
itself form the subject of many lectures. 
Not only were the relations of the already 
known sugars satisfactorily explained, but 
the synthesis of whole new groups was ef- 
fected, the configuration of each of which 
was determined, 

Pasteur discovered the three chief meth- 
ods which are still used for separating an 
optically inactive mixture into its active 
components, namely, (1) separating by se- 
lection the two kinds of hemihedral crys- 
tals corresponding to the dextro- and levo- 
rotatory forms, (2) separation by means 
of alkaloid salts, the alkaloids being them- 
selves optically active and forming with 
the two constituents of the racemic mix- 
ture two salts which are not enantiomor- 
phic and therefore differing chemically and 
physically, one being less soluble than the 
other and (3) separating by means of fer- 
mentation, the fermenting organisms fre- 
quently showing a tendency to destroy one 
of the forms while leaving the other un- 


546 


touched. The alkaloid and the fermenta- 
tion methods are of the widest applicability, 
and the latter is especially important be- 
cause of its bearing on vital phenomena. 
Pasteur showed that the micro-organism is 
able to attack one of the geometrically iso- 
meric forms, while incapable of acting on 
the other. In his work on the sugars 
Fischer further demonstrated that this se- 
lective power is not to be ascribed to any 
peculiar vital property of the living cell, 
for the soluble ferments, the enzymes, have 
frequently the same selective power. This 
power he attributes to the existence of the 
proper molecular asymmetry in the enzyme, 
by virtue of which its molecule is able to 
come into proper relationship with the 
asymmetric molecule of the body to be 
fermented ; with exactly the same consti- 
tution on the part of one of the reacting 
bodies, but with the opposite configura- 
tion, this relationship cannot be brought 
about and fermentation does not ensue ; as 
Fischer expresses it, sugar and enzyme must 
be adapted to each other as lock and key. 
Lock and key may be made on the proper 
model, but only when the notches of the 
key are on the same side as the wards of 
the lock can they fit each other. From 
this it would follow that the form which is 
left unattacked during the fermentation 
with a particular enzyme should be decom- 
posed by an enzyme having the same chem- 
ical formula but the opposite configuration. 

In fact, the physiological significance of 
stereochemistry is so great that we do not 
yet begin to appreciate it. The carbo- 
hydrates all contain asymmetric carbon 
atoms, and the same is unquestionably true 
of the proteids, all of which are optically 
active; the enzymes, as bodies closely re- 
lated to the proteids, probably possess 
- molecularasymmetry. The different digest- 
ibility or assimilability of various carbo-hy- 
drates and proteids may be partly due to the 
different space configuration of their mole- 


SCLENCE: 


[N. S. Von; XII. No. 302. 


cules rather than to any specifically chem- 
ical cause. Fischer has suggested the pos- 
sibility of synthesizing a sugar capable of 
assimilation by diabetics. The power of 
digesting cellulose and horny matter pos- 
sessed by some animals may be due simply 
to the peculiar configuration of their di- 
gestive enzymes. The curious fact that 
dextro-asparagine is sweet, while levo- 
asparagine is insipid, is doubtless due to the 
asymmetric structure of the active mole- 
cules of the taste buds. It is possible that 
a dextro-strychnine might be innocuous, a 
dextro-quinine a virulent poison. 

It is well known that all asymmetric 
compounds produced by purely artificial 
methods consist of an optically inactive 
mixture of dextro- and levo-rotatory forms 
in equal proportions ; only nature is able 
to produce one form to the exclusion of 
the other; the chemist can do this only 
with the aid of a natural product such 
as an alkaloid or enzyme, itself active 
in one sense, or by intelligent selection, 
as where Pasteur separated the two tar- 
trates. At present we can perceive no 
escape from the dilemma that in the syn- 
thesis of its optically active substances 
the organism either employs some ultra- 
chemical process, or produces them by 
chemical means through the agency of pre- 
viously existing active substances. The 
latter alternation would lead us back to 
the existence of one-sided asymmetry in 
the very first organism of the series, the 
origin of which it is equally impossible to 
explain on chemical grounds. ‘This inter- 
esting fact, pointed out by Japp* is 
regarded by him as indicating that some- 
thing besides chemical and physical forces 
was concerned in the original production 
of life. The difficulty is a real one, and 
we still know of no better explanation than 

* Address before Section ‘B,’ British Association 


for the Advancement of Science. Nature, Vol. 58, 
p. 452. 


OcTOBER 12, 1900. ] 


is suggested by the words of Pasteur :* 
“Ts if not necessary, and also sufficient to 
assume that at the moment when the vege- 
table organism originates, an asymmetric 
force is active? * * * Do there perhaps 
exist such asymmetric activities, subordi- 
nated to cosmic influences in light, heat, 
magnetism, electricity? Are they associ- 
ated perhaps with the motion of the earth, 
with the electric currents by which the 
physicists explain the magnetic poles of the 
earth? We are to-day not in the position 
to express even the least opinion on the 
subject.” 

Before we assume the existence of a vital 
force or other mysterious agency, however, 
to explain the difficulty, let us not forget 
the confidence with which Berzelius asserted 
the hopelessness of the problem of producing 
organic compounds from purely inorganic 
material. 

Speculation on the space relations of the 
atoms has not been slow in extending itself 
to other elements than carbon. More es- 
pecially has nitrogen occupied the attention 
of stereochemists. Many attempts to pre- 
pare geometrically isomeric ammonium 
compounds have been made, by introducing 
the substituting groups in different orders, 
without positive results. Within a year, 
however, Pope and Peachey} have suc- 
ceeded in decomposing inactive «-benzyl- 
phenyl-allyl-methyl-ammonium into its 
dextro- and levo-rotatory constituents by 
means of dextro-camphor sulphonic acid, 
thereby affording a proof of the existence 
of stereoisomeric compounds of pentavalent 
nitrogen, a discovery which, if confirmed 
by the preparation of other similar com- 
pounds, is of the very highest importance. 
Still more recently, the same chemists have 
obtained optically active compounds of te- 
travalent sulphur and tin. ¢ 


* Ostwald’s Klassiker, No. 28, p. 31. 

ft Journ. Chem. Soc., 75, 1127. 

t Journ. Chem. Soc. 77, 1072 ; Proceedings Chem. Soc. 
16, 42, 116. 


SCIENCE. 


547 


More fruitful has been the hypothesis of 
Hantzsch and Werner originally suggested 
by the existence of physically isomeric 
oximes, and now applied by them to the 
compounds containing the group—N =N—. 
According to this view the triad nitrogen 
atom may be regarded as occupying one 
apex of a tetrahedron, the combined groups 
occupying the others, or in other words, 
the three valences of the nitrogen do not 
act in the same plane. In the case where 
the nitrogen atom is doubly united to 
another nitrogen or a carbon atom, free ro- 
tation is prevented, as in the case of donbly 
united carbon atoms, and we may have 
stereoisomers of the types 


| and | 


Benzaldoxime, for instance, exists in the 
forms 


C,H,.C.H C,H,.C.H 
|| and | 
HO.N N.OH 
and diazobenzolhydroxide as 
C,H,.N C,H,.N 
|| and | 
HO. N.OH 


while according to Hantzsch, the isomeric 
nitramide and hyponitrous acid are simply 


HON HON 


|| and l 
HON NOH 


It is quite possible that the Hantzsch- 
Werner hypothesis may also find an appli- 
cation in the study of the labile compounds of 
the organism. Still more recently, Werner 
has considered as stereo-isomeric a number 
of metal-ammonias and their derivatives, 
notably the platinum compounds 

CePESN i and yy > PEG 


platosemidiamine chloride. platosamine chloride. 


and 


I have mentioned the latter examples as 
illustrating the tendency to extend the 


548 


newer conceptions of the carbon atom to the 
atoms of other elements also. Whether we 


shall ever have a stereochemistry of all the - 


elements is very questionable. As I shall 
point out presently, carbon compounds in 
general possess a kind of inertia, a tendency 
to retain their structure, the possibility of 
isomerism being due to this. At a higher 
level of temperature, ordinary structural 
isomers tend to assume the most stable form 
or system, while those isomers the existence 
of which depends on asymmetric carbon 
atoms tend to form a mixture composed of 
equal portions of both right- and left-handed 
forms ; both dextro- and levo-tartaric acids, 
for example, giving racemic acid on heating. 
That we do not find more cases of structural 
or of steric isomerism among inorganic 
bodies is perhaps due, not to their existence 
being inherently impossible, but to our 
working at too high a temperature, a tem- 
perature at which isomers are-incapable of 
existence, lapsing at once into the most 
stable forms or into a mixture of structur- 
ally equivalent but geometrically opposite 
bodies, which, like the constituents of ra- 
cemic acid, are identical in chemical and 
most physical properties, and which, exist- 
ing in equal quantities, balance each other 
optically and crystallographically, like the 
two tartaric acids. The asymmetric tin 
atom shows great lability at ordinary tem- 
peratures. Ata temperature much below 
zero, such steric and structural isomers may 
well exist independently. The investiga- 
tion of this is but one of the many possibili- 
ties of low temperature work. 

This brings us to a comparatively new 
and highly important branch of organic 
chemistry, the subject of tautomerism, and 
this, like stereochemistry, is an outgrowth 
of the subject of isomerism. Van’t Hoff, 
in his remarkable, but little known book, 
‘Ansichten tuber die organische Chemie,’ 
points out, as one of the reasons for the ex- 
istence not only of the large number of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 302, 


carbon compounds, but also of isomers, the 
peculiar inertness of the union of carbon 
with itself and with other elements. Every 
one knows that in general the reactions of 
carbon compounds take place slowly, they 
form with difficulty and once formed are 
comparatively stable; there is a tendency 
to maintenance of the status quo. In the 
language of physical chemistry, we may say 
that carbon compounds usually tend to equi- 
librium with great slowness. They have 
a very small reaction velocity. By virtue 
of this property, the reason for which we do 
not know, the organic molecule, once 
formed, tends to maintain its individuality, 
hence the stability of isomers. Were it not 
for this, it would rapidly lapse to the sys- 
tem which is most stable, whether it be 
another simple body or a mixture. Just 
the opposite is characteristic of the inor- 
ganic molecule. We know a few inorganic 
isomers, it is true, but their occurrence is 
so rare as to excite comment. We are, for 
example, acquainted with three organic 
compounds C,H,NO,, namely, ethyl nitrite 
C,H,.ONO, nitroethane C,H,.NO,, and a 
less stable form of this, CH,.CH=NO.OH, 
but we know but one nitrous acid and one 
series of metallic nitrites; we know but 
one sulphurous acid and one series of its 
metallic salts, while there are two series of 
organic derivatives, the sulphurous ethers 
and the sulphonates; but one hydrocyanic 
acid and one series of metallic cyanides, 
while there are two series of organic deri- 
vations, the nitriles and isonitriles ; but one 
sulphocyanic acid with two series of organic — 
derivatives, the sulphocyanates and the 
mustard oils. Such examples might be 
quoted indefinitely. Any one who has at- 
tempted to synthesize complex inorganic 
bodies by following the methods of organic 
chemistry must have been struck with the 
comparative rareness with which the de- 
sired results are obtained. In general, then, 
while organic isomers possess considerable 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


stability, of the theoretically possible inor- 
ganic isomers expressed by any formula 
only one form is stable, and the others, if 
momentarily formed, tend to lapse spon- 
taneously into this. As van’t Hoff says, 
the carbon atom tends to confer on the 
molecule the power of storing up an enor- 
mous amount of energy, which power, for 
want of a better name, is termed the inert- 
ness of the carbon combination. It is this 
property, perhaps more than any other one 
fact, which distinguishes organic from in- 
organic compounds. 

All organic isomers do not possess this 
power of maintaining their individuality to 
the same extent. We find every degree of 
transition from the stable to the labile, 
from those isomers which are not intercon- 
vertible at any temperature short of total 
decomposition, to those which change into 
each other upon the slightest provocation, 
such as slight elevation of temperature, 
fusion or solution, the presence of catalyzers 
or of bodies capable of reacting only with 
one form; from those whose individuality 
and stability are marked, to those where one 
form is stable, the other labile, and where 
the lability may vary to such an extent 
that in some cases the unstable form is 
easily obtained, in others only with the 
greatest difficulty, while in still others it is 
too unstable to exist at all under attainable 
conditions, and the isomerism disappears. 
It is the study of labile isomerism which, 
under the name of tautomerism, has attained 
such prominence in recent years. In the 
phenomena of labile isomerism, organic 
chemistry shows a distinet approximation 
to inorganic chemistry ; the characteristic 
phenomena underlying tautomeric organic 
bodies and inorganic bodies is the same, 
namely, the tendency to pass easily from a 
labile to a stable form, in short, the ab- 
sence, more or less marked, of the property 
which van’t Hoff called inertness of union. 

An extreme case of lability in one isomer 


SCIENCE. 


549 


is found in that of the hypothetical vinyl 
alcohol, CH, = CHOH. Reactions which 
theoretically should give this, in reality 
yield aldehyde, CH,.CHO; the stability of 
the former is so slight that it passes at 
once, if formed, into the isomeric aldehyde. 
Baeyer obtained two ethyl]-isatines, to which 
should correspond two isatines, while in 
reality but one exists. Allied to this is the 
behavior of phloroglucine, symmetrical tri- 
oxy-benzene, which, with acetyl chloride 
gives an acetate, indicating that its form- 
ula is 


while with hydroxylamine it yields an 
oxime, which is explicable only on the as- 
sumption that it has the constitution 


O 
Cc 
YAN 


It is, therefore, impossible, by using the 
usual reactions for phenols and ketones, to 
ascertain to which of these groups phloro- 
glucine belongs. Baeyer held that but one 
of the forms actually exists in the free 
state, the other, the pseudo-form, as he 
termed it, being too unstable for existence. 
Laar, on the contrary, held that in such 
cases both formulas are equally justifiable ; 
that each molecule is constantly shifting 
back and forth between the two forms, each 
having but a momentary existence, and to 
such bodies he applied the term tautomeric. 

The discussion on the nature of tauto- 


550 


meric bodies has been one of the hottest in 
the recent history of organic chemistry, and 
not altogether free from invective. Much 
of this could have been avoided had the 
organic chemist recognized that the problem 
is one in which the ordinary methods of or- 
ganic chemistry find but little application, 
and then only with the greatest caution and 
judgment. The older methods are strictly 
applicable only to the more stable bodies. 
So impressed has he been with the inertness 


of the carbon union that he has failed to 


recognize that the laws of chemical equi- 
librium could have any place in organic 
chemistry. A certain compound may, for 
example, contain one of the two groups: 
=(Ojsl == 
[ia Oba t Te 
—C=O —COH 

The organic chemist assumed that it must 
be entirely the one or entirely the other, 
and was perplexed on finding that it reacted 
with a ketone reagent entirely in the former 
sense, and with a hydroxyl reagent entirely 
in the latter. To get around the difficulty, 
he was led to assume with Baeyer that only 
one of these actually exists in the free state, 
or with Laar, that each molecule is rapidly 
changing from the one form to the other 
and back again. ‘The most elementary 
knowledge of reversible reactions would 
have taught him that the two forms must 
necessarily tend to a condition of equilib- 
rium ; that the final product must be a mix- 
ture of both forms, but that equilibrium 
might lie at a considerable distance from 
both extremes, or very near to one; that 
either form, if isolated, would tend with 
greater or less rapidity to the same condi- 
tion ; that if he removed one constituent by 
converting it into another compound, the 
equilibrium would be disturbed, and more 
of the other form would undergo transfor- 
mation and be removed from the sphere of 
action until conversion is complete, and 
that, therefore, conclusions based on purely 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XII. No. 302. 


chemical evidence were to be accepted with 
a grain of salt unless the two forms, by 
virtue of their slow velocity of transforma- 
tion, could be isolated and studied. The 
application of physico-chemical methods 
nowhere in organic chemistry finds better 
opportunity than in just this field. In’ 
some cases the laws of the so-called ‘con- 
densed systems,’ with definite inversion 
temperatures, are doubtless applicable. 
Hantzsch’s researches on the nitro-hy- 
drocarbons afford a good illustration of 
the superiority of physico-chemical meth- 
ods. Nitroethane C,H,NO, is a good ex- 
ample of this class. Its constitution was 
assumed by its discoverer, Victor Meyer, to 
be CH,.CH,.NO,, and it forms salts with al- 
kali metals, in which the metal has been 
variously supposed to be united to carbon 
CH,.CHM.NO, or to oxygen CH,.CH= 
NO.OM ; in the latter case it was neces- 
sary to assume either that the originally 
proposed formula of nitroethane is wrong, 
or that in forming a salt it undergoes intra- 
molecular rearrangement. Hantzsch now 
applied the method of electrical conduc- 
tivity. The aqueous solution of nitro- 
ethane is practically a non-conductor, and 
hence contains no ions, which would make 
it decidedly not an acid. If this solution 
be mixed with the equivalent of caustic 
soda, it at first shows only the conduc- 
tivity due to the alkali; gradually, how- 
ever, this diminishes, indicating the slow 
formation of a salt, which, being the salt 
of a weak acid and therefore less dissoci- 
ated than caustic soda, would conduct less. 
Were the nitroethane itself an acid, this 
effect should take place at once, as salts 
always form instantly or nearly so. If now 
just sufficient hydrochloric acid be added 
to convert the sodium nitroethane into 
nitroethane and sodium chloride, the solu- 
tion at first shows a greater conductivity 
than is attributable to the sodium chloride 
alone; the nitroethane, therefore, takes 


‘OCTOBER 12, 1900.] 


part in it, and as ordinary nitroethane is 
non-conducting, a body of different consti- 
tution must be present, and this is regarded 
as the true acid CH,.CH=NO.OH ; this, 
however, gradually loses its conductivity, 
being transformed into common _ nitro- 
ethane. Nitroethane is, therefore, capable 
of existing in two forms, the ordinary form, 
the stable pseudo-acid CH,.CH,.NO,, gradu- 
ally metamorphosing uader the action of an 
alkali into the true acid CH,.CH=NO.OH, 
which, stable as a salt, is labile in the free 
condition, gradually passing back into the 
pseudo-acid. In this, as in many other 
cases studied by Hantzsch, we find an inti- 
mate relation between tautomeric meta- 
morphosis and ionization. Bruhl has also 
recently pointed out a relation between 
tautomeric change and the nature of the 
solvent in which it occurs, the change from 
the enol to the keto form being promoted 
by ionizing solvents like water and alcohol, 
while non-ionizing solvents prevent or hin- 
der it. 

Passing from isomers in which both forms 
are stable, through various degrees of tau- 
tomerism, to where one of them is too 
labile to exist at all, at least under ordinary 
conditions, we reach the state of affairs 
prevailing among inorganic bodies. The 
tautomeric organic bodies are an approxi- 
mation to the inorganic ; their chemistry is 
an approximation to inorganic chemistry. 
Ostwald has recently suggested a division 
of chemical compounds into two great 
classes, the ionizing and non-ionizing.* 
These would, in general, correspond to in- 
organic and organic, but some of the in- 
organic bodies would be found in the non- 
ionizing groups, while besides the carboxylic 
acids, a few organic compounds will be 
found in the ionizing group. The tau- 
tomeric compounds would occupy the inter- 
mediate position. We learn from these 
considerations one reason why inorganic 

*Grundriss der allgemeinen Chemie, 3° Aufl. S. 522. 


SCIENCE. 


5d1 


isomers are so seldom found. The labile 
tautomer the more readily transforms into 
the more stable form the higher the tem- 
perature. The reason that we do not have 
inorganic tautomers is simply because we 
are working at too high a range of tem- 
perature. Much below room temperature 
we shall probably find a field of inorganic 
tautomerism and isomerism as rich or 
richer than that presented by organic 
chemistry. There is no sharp line of de- 
marcation between the two fields; the ap- 
parent difference results from the relatively 
greater inertness of the carbon union. If 
the methods of physical chemistry have 
hitherto found most application in inorganic 
chemistry, they are now being extended, in 
organic chemistry, first of all to those com- 
pounds which most closely resemble the in- 
organic, namely, the tautomers. 

A word on the application of tautomerism 
in physiological chemistry. The organic 
constituents of protoplasm, in so far as 
they are essentially active, are, on Loew’s 
theory, highly labile. The death of the pro- 
toplasm is at once accompanied by the 
transformation of its labile proteids into 
their stable forms. What it is that pre- 
vents this change taking place in life we do 
not know, yet it is evident that if we are to 
get light on the subject from the chemical 
side, it will not be so much by attempting 
to synthesize dead proteids, as by studying 
labile forms. I incline to the opinion, 
therefore, that the study of the phenomena 
of tautomerism is of the highest importance 
for physiological chemistry, and that phys- 
iological chemists will do well to turn their 
attention to this field. 

It is usually assumed that no portion of 
organic chemistry is further removed from 
the inorganic than the study of the living 
cell. I am inclined to hold the opposite 
opinion. If, as I have suggested, the 
labile tautomeric compounds lie between 
the stable organic compounds on the one 


5o2 


hand and the stable inorganic on the other, 
then, too, the labile compounds of pro- 
toplasm occupy an intermediate position. 
The chemical phenomena of life, are as 
close to those of the inorganic as to those of 
the stable organic bodies. It is not somuch 
by emphasizing the differences between car- 
bon and the inorganic elements that we 
shall aid in the explanation of life as by 
looking for those features in which carbon 
approximates to the inorganic. 

Hitherto the organic chemist has occu- 
pied himself mainly with the end-products 
of chemical reactions. With those impor- 
tant factors, the time and the yield, he has 
seldom concerned himself, further than to 
obtain the greatest possible yield in the 
shortest possible time, and he has reached 
this end by purely empirical processes. 
Now we know that most, if not all, reac- 
tions do not proceed to an end in the 
sense expressed by the chemical equation.* 
Every equation is true, not only when read 
from left to right but from right to left like- 
wise ; thereis alwaysa state of equilibrium, 
lying between the two extremes, sometimes 
so far from each that the reaction is ob- 
viously incomplete, sometimes so near one 
extreme that for practical purposes it may 
be considered as coinciding with it, but in 
reality never absolutely doesso. This state 
of equilibrium is influenced by the relative 
amounts or active masses of the reacting 
bodies, and is approached with a velocity 
varying from what is practically instanta- 
neous to a slowness which can be measured 
only by ages. The ionized bodies reach 
equilibrium with exceeding rapidity, while 
undissociated substances, or those disso- 
ciating slowly, usually show a much smaller 
reaction velocity. The reactions of organic 
chemistry are toa great extent comparatively 
slow, and the equilibrium lies at a consider- 
able distance from both extremes, hence the 


* This of course does not apply to the so-called 
“condensed systems.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


almost invariable wide deviation from the 
‘theoretical’ yield of the desired products. 
It seems, therefore, that the study of reac- 
tion velocities and of the laws of equilibrium 
has a most important bearing on the work 
of the organic chemist,a study which he 
has been most tardy in taking up. The 
precious ‘ Ausgangsmaterial,’ which he has 
spent months in preparing, is often wasted 
unnecessarily through ignorance of these 
laws, while in technical processes the case 
is no better ; this, too, quite apart from the 
contributions which could be made to phys- 
ical chemistry by duly considering these 
points. As organic chemistry advances, 
relatively more and more attention will be 
devoted to the way in which the reaction 
takes place. In physiological chemistry 
especially is this important, because here 
it is not the final products themselves, as a 
rule, which are interesting, but the mode 
of their formation ; physiological chemistry 
is not a science of compounds, but a science 
of processes ; it is the most physico-chemical 
branch next to physical chemistry itself. 
Most important for organic chemistry 
and its applications is the study of the 
influence which certain substances exert 
on the course of a reaction, without being 
themselves permanently changed. Such 
phenomena have long been known, and to 
them the name catalytic was applied by 
Berzelius. The most obvious character- 
istics of such reactions are that the foreign 
substance, or catalyzer, is able to exert an 
influence altogether out of proportion to its 
quantity and that it remains unaltered at 
the end of the process. Such catalytic re- 
actions are well known both in inorganic 
and in organic chemistry. In the former I 
may cite the well-known influence of small 
quantities of platinum in decomposing 
hydrogen peroxide, and the influence of 
the oxides of nitrogen or of spongy plati- 
num in the formation of sulphuric acid, in 
the latter, the inversion of cane sugar by 


OcroBER 12, 1900. ] 


acids, and the phenomena of fermentation 
under the action of organized ferments or 
of enzymes. Various theories have been 
proposed to explain this phenomenon, but 
none of them seems to be universally ap- 
plicable. Such theories as the temporary 
formation and splitting up of an additional 
product are not applicable in the case of 
the action of platinum on hydrogen per- 
oxide. Moreover, we have not only posi- 
tive or accelerating catalysis, but also 
negative or retarding catalysis, as in the 
preservation of hydrocyanic acid by traces 
of other acids, the retardation of the action 
of free oxygen on sodium sulphite by traces 
of alcohol, aldehyde and other organic 
substances, and the influence of palladium 
on sugar inversion. Such retarding actions 
can hardly be explained on any hypothesis 
yet offered. In recent years Ostwald has 
contributed greatly to the possible future 
solution of the problem by defining in what 
it consists. I have stated that every reac- 
tion proceeds to a state of equilibrium, 
with a certain definite reaction velocity ; 
the element of time is, therefore, an impor- 
tant one in chemical changes. Ostwald 
has pointed out that the influence of the 
catalyzer is solely to modify the time 
factor. Reactions which may proceed 
ordinarily with a velocity so small as to 
be inappreciable in a lifetime, may be made 
by the presence of a catalyzer to take place 
in a few minutes or hours, and conversely, 
reactions ordinarily proceeding rapidly may 
be greatly retarded ; but whichever occurs, 
the final state of equilibrium is the same, 
whether the catalyzer be present or not; it 
acts solely by modifying the reaction ve- 
locity. The knowledge of this important 
generalization is essential to any further 
progress. The importance for organic 
chemistry of a thorough study of catalysis 
can hardly be overestimated.“ I need only 
mention the important Friedel-Crafts reac- 
tion, in which anhydrous aluminium chlo- 


SCIENCE. 


553 


ride is the catalyzer, and the reaction dis- 
covered by Beckmann. Probably a large 
portion of the chemical reactions known to 
us can be controlled by the use of a suitable 
catalyzer, being capable of acceleration or 
retardation at will, while many which do 
not occur with appreciable speed may be 
brought about in a limited time. 

Especially important are the relations of 
catalysis to physiological chemistry. The 
unorganized ferments of the organism, the 
enzymes, are simply catalytic agents. Be- 
sides the well-known diastase, ptyalin, pep- 
sin, and trypsin, there are many others, the 
importance of which is becoming more 
manifest every day. Since Buchner’s dis- 
covery of zymase, the enzyme of the yeast 
cell, there seems to be a tendency to at- 
tribute nearly all the chemical processes of 
the organism, even oxidation, to enzymes. 
How far these views are correct is without 
the scope of the present subject, and I can 
allude to but a single recent discovery, the 
importance of which can hardly be over- 
rated. A.C. Hill* has recently shown that 
the transformation of maltose into dextrose 
under the action of the enzyme maltase is 
in reality a reversible reaction. The equa- 
tion is: 

C,,H,,0,, + H,0= 2C,H,,0,. 


Before the reaction is complete, the action 
of the ferment ceases. If, on the contrary, 
we add the enzyme toa solution of dextrose, 
a portion of the latter is converted into 
maltose, the reaction being expressed by the 
above equation read from right to left. 
This is a striking confirmation of Ostwald’s 
view that the catalyzer simply influences 
the rate, not the final condition, of the sys- 
tem. It has been suggested, and the view 
is a very plausible one, that in the living 
organism the very same enzymes which 
produce decompositions may under other 
conditions, in conformity with the law of 


* Journ. Chem. Soc. (London), 73. 634. 


bb4 


mass action, reverse the reactions and bring 
about the corresponding synthesis. Every 
one knows that the amount of glucose in 
the blood is practically constant. When, 
through the assimilation of carbo-hydrates 
the glucose in the blood of the portal vein 
rises above the normal, the liver cells con- 
vert it into glycogen and store itaway. As 
soon as the glucose in the blood begins to 
fall below the normal, as in the condition 
of hunger, the glycogen begins to break up 
and pass into the circulation. The decom- 
position of the glycogen is presumably due 
to the action of some enzyme, and it is en- 
tirely possible that it is the same enzyme 
which produces the synthesis as well as the 
decomposition. If by any process we could 
remove the maltose from our dextrose-mal- 
tose solution as fast as it is found, the trans- 
formation would finally be complete. The 
glucose-glycogen cycle is doubtless equally 
subject to the law of mass action. 

Not only is the subject of catalysis of 
immense importance in the study of the 
normal physiological processes. In another 
respect it has an equally important bearing. 
In recent years the toxines have assumed 
a prominent rdle in pathology. How is it 
that a chemically insignificant portion of a 
substance may work such enormous changes 
in the system’? This can hardly be attrib- 
uted to chemical action in the ordinary 
sense. Much more likely is it that the ac- 
tion of the toxine is catalytic, simply con- 
sisting in producing rapidly changes which 
without it would require time of almost 
indefinitely great duration. I have spoken 
of negative or retarding catalysis. The 
antitoxine is, perhaps, not to be regarded 
as chemically neutralizing the toxine, but 
rather as a retarding catalyzer, as one 
tending to retard the changes which the 
toxine would otherwise bring about. Not 
only the toxines and antitoxines, but many 
drugs which exercise an influence alto- 
gether outof proportion to their amount, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


may act as catalyzers rather than strictly as 
chemical reagents. In fact, itis not impos- 
sible to imagine that the scientific medicine 
of the future may be influenced largely by 
a better understanding of this remarkable 
phenomenon of catalysis. 

I would call the attention of those inter- 
ested in the subject of enzymes and toxines 
and antitoxines to the recent remarkable 
paper of Bredig and von Berneck on in- 
organic ferments,* which although essen- 
tially inorganic appears to be an important 
contribution to physiological chemistry. 
Hydrogen peroxide is a substance particu- 
larly susceptible to the action of catalyzers; 
its decomposition is expressed by the equa- 
tion 

2H,,0, = 2H,0O + O,. 

Among the substances which bring about 
this decomposition without themselves 
undergoing any perceptible change are 
platinum, gold, silver, and many other 
metals, the peroxides of manganese, lead 
and cobalt and certain enzymes. Schon- 
bein} says, speaking of the enzymes: 
‘‘Tt appears to me to be a highly remark- 
able fact that all these fermenting or cata- 
lytic substances also have the property of 
decomposing hydrogen peroxide after the 
manner of platinum, a coincidence in vari- 
ous activities which must give rise to the 
suspicion that all depend upon a common 
cause.” And elsewhere:{ ‘‘ The results of 
my most recent investigations have only 
served to strengthen my conviction, long 
since expressed and often repeated, that 
the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide 
by platinum is the prototype of all fer- 
mentations.”’ § 

* Zeit. physik. Chemie, 31. 258. 

{ Journ. prakt. Chemie [1], 39. 334. 

+ Ibid [1], 89. 335. 

2 Whether or not the view of Loew (personally 
communicated ) be true or not, that the action of most 
enzymes on hydrogen peroxide is due to contamina- 


tion by a special enzyme catalase, does not affect the 
significance of Schonbein’s statement. 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 

This action of platinum depends on its 
fineness of subdivision, and the difficulty of 
obtaining it of uniform quality in this re- 
spect has hitherto prevented the extension 
of experiments to the quantitative stage. 
Recently, however, Bredig has succeeded in 
obtaining a colloidal solution of metallic 
platinum by volatilizing the metal in an 
electric arc under water.* In this form the 
metal exposes an enormous surface, and is 
capable of being measured volumetrically, 
and the introduction of quantitative experi- 
ments is now possible. As little as one 
gram-atom + of colloidal platinum diffused 
through seventy million liters of water 
shows a perceptible action on more than a 
million times the quantity of hydrogen per- 
oxide. What I wish to point out as especi- 
ally interesting in the work of Bredig and 
von Berneck is this: they find that relatively 
minute portions of certain substances are 
able to inhibit the action of the platinum, 
and that these are substances which exert 
a markedly poisonous effect on the living 
cell and on enzymes. 1/345,000 gram 
molecule per liter of hydrogen sulphide 
already exerts a strongly restraining action, 
1/1000 gram molecule of hydrocyanic acid 
per liter stops it entirely, and much less is 
able to retardit greatly. Carbon disulphide 
and mercuric chloride show a similar be- 
havior. All of these substances are power- 
ful poisons, and Bredig uses the very ex- 
pressive word ‘poisoning’ with reference 
to their restraining action on the platinum; 
the platinum is ‘ poisoned’ by hydrocyanic 
acid. Here we have a complete parallel 
with what is observed in the organism, and 
the parallel suggests a similar cause. The 
platinum acts towards hydrogen peroxide 
as a toxine, and the hydrocyanic acid as an 
antitoxine; or conversely, the metal may be 
compared with a natural ferment, the acid 
to a toxine which inhibits its action. It is 


* Zeit. Prysik. Chemie., 31. 271. 
+193 grams. 


SCIENCE. 


555 


not impossible that such studies, conducted 
with purely inorganic bodies, may help to 
throw definite light on the nature of im- 
munity. At least we may hope that the 
study of catalysis, using simple substances 
under conditions admitting of exact meas- 
urement, will help to solve some of the 
deepest problems of physiology and dispel 
the ignorance which hides itself under the 
name of vitalism. 

Time is wanting to consider at any 
length the newer relations of organic chem- 
istry to the theory of valency, especially in- 
teresting among which is the attempt of 
Werner to show that the supposed constant 
tetravalency of carbon is simply a partic- 
ular phase of a general law of combination 
which does not come under the current 
valence doctrine. I may mention also that 
Nef regards many peculiar reactions as due 
to the existence of a bivalent condition of 
carbon, which we have hitherto recognized 
only in carbon monoxide. So important, 
indeed, is bivalent carbon, according to this 
savant, that he expresses the conviction 
‘‘that in the chemistry of methylene is to 
be found a future exact scientific physiology 
and medicine and perhaps an explanation 
of the vital processes.”’* If this be true, 
physiological chemists cannot be too prompt 
in abandoning all other investigations for 
the study of bivalent carbon. 

I have alluded to but a few features of 
the more recent progress of organic chem- 
istry, and pointed out some of its newer 
tendencies. Slow as this revival is, there 
can be no question. that the trend is away 
from a too narrow contemplation of the 
formula as a final end of study, and towards 
the deeper consideration of nature as the 
manifestation of energy. There can be no 
question that the continuity of all classes 
of chemical phenomena will be more and 
more recognized. Within a few years we 
have seen a new kind of chemistry come 

* Liebig’s Annalen, 298. 374. 


556 


into the field of view, narrowly called 
physical chemistry, but more properly 
designated as general chemistry, because 
its principles do not lie apart, but are 
the substratum of all chemical phenom- 
ena, and it is by the reaction of this 
on the special provinces that their true 
progress will be maintained. Who shall 
share the honor of contributing to this 
progress? Who shall remain behind pon- 
dering over antiquated problems? Let me 
recall to your minds the tenacity with which 
Priestley held to the doctrine of phlogiston, 
the persistence with which Berzelius fought 
the theory of substitution, the satire of 
Liebig on the discovery of the yeast plant, 
and the sneers with which Kolbe greeted 
the first announcement of the laws of 
stereochemistry. There are not wanting 
to-day those who take a similar position 
towards the newer principles and theories 
of general chemistry. Some of us are com- 
paratively young, and in sympathy with 
the spirit of the time, but if the genius of 
Berzelius and Kolbe did not prevent their 
finally calling on the stream of progress to 
stop, how much more likely are we, as we 
grow older, to be found in a similar posi- 
tion if we once begin to yield to the spirit 
of indifference to that which does not most 
intimately concern us. As the truly scien- 
tific man is not he who limits his interest 
to a single province, but rather he who at- 
tempts to gain a rational comprehension of 
nature as a whole, so he only is truly a 
chemist in the highest sense of the word 
who is in sympathy with all branches of 
chemical investigation and with all prog- 
ress, and who does not merely admit, with 
benevolent ignorance, but actually feels and 
sees that physical, inorganic, organic and 
physiological chemistry are not separate, 
but continuous with each other and with 
all nature. It is not enough that we oc- 
cupy ourselves assiduously with researches 
in our chosen but often narrow field, if by 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 302. 


much peering through the microscope of 
science we become myopic towards nature 
in general. We must, to use Kolbe’s ex- 
pression, frequently mount our Pegasus and 
soar to the heights of the scientific Par- 
nassus. It is not the men who spend their 
lives in studying single groups of com- 
pounds or single phenomena, with interest 
in nought else, but those like van’t Hoff, 
Ostwald, Fischer, and Hantzsch, who keep 
their minds open to light from all sources 
not the conservatives, but the radicals, who 
are lifting organic chemistry above the old 
fashioned and still fashionable structurism, 
and bringing about what I have called its 
revival. 


H. N. Sroxszs. 


THE WAIKURU, SERI AND YUMA LAN- 
GUAGES. 

Tue area of the tribes of the Yuman 
family was visited and crossed in the earli- 
est epoch of American exploration. These 
Indians became known through their large 
numbers and the fine exterior of their 
bodies, but chiefly through their spirit of 
opposition to the white man’s progress. 
Scientific exploration of their country, set- 
tlements and languages began about 1850 
on the Colorado and Gila Rivers. The 
area inhabited by them soon appeared to be 
largely in excess of what it had been sup- 
posed to be; for from San Luis Rey, on 
the Pacific Ocean, their territorial boundary 
extended south of the Shoshonean family 
to the Tonto Basin, included the Maricopas 
on the Gila River down to the Cocopa 
country, and thence again ran to the ocean. 

Jesuit missionaries began working in the 
peninsula of California about 1697, but 
never met with cordial receptivity among 
the natives. At the southern extremity 
dwelt the Perici Indians ; they lived, says 
Venegas, from Cape San Lucas northward, 
beyond the harbor of La Paz; for Padre 
Miguel del Barco, who wrote in 1783, says 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


that the Perici tongue was spoken fifty 
leagues north of Cape San Lucas. They 
lived in small tribes, and the most noted 
of these were the Coras, once known as 
Edites to the inhabitants of Loreto. Some 
writers classed them as Waikuru, and as 
the name Cora may be identical with kuru 
in Waikuru, it is quite possible that all 
or most of the Pericties spoke Waikuru. 
Nothing of their language has reached us 
except the names of seven Perict deities 
and a few local names (in Venegas, Gilij), 
all of which have a musical and vocalic 
sound. 

Farther north, between 23° 30’ and 26° 
lat., lived, or still live, the Waikuru In- 
dians in smallscattering bands. The more 
important of their tribal bodies were, from 
the names of their dialects, Loretano, Cora, 
Uchitie, Aripe (Hervas). The Laimon, 
the ‘gente del adentro,’ spoke the dialect 
in use around the Loreto mission. About 
eighty words of their language have come 
to our knowledge, contained in the Lord’s 
Prayer and church literature, which so far 
as they go show no affinity of decided char- 
acter with the Yuman dialects spoken north 
of their settlements and on the mainland. 
The language is vocalic and sounds agree- 
ably, but differs entirely in phonology, 
words, and grammar from Yuma, and has 
to be set down as a family by itself. 

On the eastern side of the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia are settled a number of tribes with 
affinities heretofore subject to doubt, as the 
Guayma and Upanguayma, the Salineros, 
and the Cocomaques; also the Tepoka, 
who live opposite the large Island of Ti- 
buron. They are grouped in the vicinity 
of the Seri, a wild and indomitable people 
who live partly in mainland Sonora and 
partly on their old home, Tiburon Island, 
frequently’ changing their abodes. At 
greater distances from the Seri dwell the 
Lower Pimas, the Papagos, also the nearly 
extinct Opatas. 


SCIENCE. 


5o7 


From ancient reports we gather the no- 
tice that the Tepokas and Salineros speak 
Seri, from Orozco y Berra that Cocomaques 
speak Guayma or a dialect of it, and from 
Alphonse L. Pinart, who traveled there in 
1879, that the Guayma then spoke a dialect 
of the Lower Pima. 

The vocabulary of Seri obtained by A. 
L. Pinart shows many accumulations of 
consonants, some of them difficult for us to 
pronounce, and occurring mainly at the end 
of the vocables. In his collection the words 
seldom end in yowels, but in McGee’s there 
are aS many vowels as consonants in final 
sounds. Pinart found the utterance gut- 
tural, and compares it in this respect with 
the Santa Barbara or Chumashan dialects 
of the State of California. The guttural, 
lingual and labial articulation is prominent 
over the other classes of consonants. 

As to the grammatic part of Seri speech, 
we record some prefixes and a number of 
suffixes in nouns and verbs, but since every 
collector writes them differently, we know 
little about their pronunciation and less 
still about their function. Suffixes of 
common occurrence are -em, -7’0, -lz, -ok 
(or -mok), -st, mostly appended to nouns. 
For the Cochimi, some inflections of the 
verb and other grammatic elements were 
transmitted, but for Seri and Waikuru 
these are absolutely wanting for the pres- 
ent, for all that we have is mere words. A 
close study of the compound words may 
ultimatelydisclose case-forms in the noun 
and personal inflection in the verb, but as 
we have no texts of Seri, it is doubtful that 
they will aid us much in bringing on a re- 
sult. Mr. Hewitt has made a fair com- 
mencement in analyzing etymologically the 
numerals and other terms. ‘Comparing the 
vocables is, therefore, the only means left 
to us at present to solve the question of af- 
finity of Seri with the neighboring lan- 
guages. The terms in which affinity with 
Yuman dialects is most probable, are: 


508 


Seri : av4t, Av’t—blood ; hwatin Yava- 
pai. 

hamt,amt, ampte—earth, soil; amatin 
Cuchan. 

ehe—tree, bush; e—i in Cuchan. 

apis—tobacco; Opi in Cocopa. 

kak6él~—large; kaoko—o in Cochimi. 

az, ache, ahj—water; aha in Yavapai, 

and frequent in North American lan- 

guages as ax, 4ha, etc. 

A few more correspondences of this sort, 
especially expressing parts of the human 
and animal bodies, are found, but they are 
too weak in numbers and quality to prove 
anything against the overwhelming number 
of terms that show absolute disparity in 
Yuman dialects compared with Seri. The 
terminals of Yuma are more typically vo- 
calic than those of Seri. 

The possibility of Seri being of the same 
kin as the Nahuatl dialects spoken around 
it in the State of Sonora, viz, the Pima, 
Papago, and Opata, has been carefully con- 
sidered by the noted Americanist, Professor 
J. E. Buschmann, member Royal Prussian 
Academy of Sciences (1854). The result 
was that no radical affinity existed between 
the two groups. 

At present the chances stand entirely 
against genealogical affinity of Seri with 
Yuma; but a final verdict can be rendered 
only after expert linguists have examined 
that language on the spot and obtained a 
lexicon and ethnographic texts in a way 
that will prove absolutely correct in their 
phonetics. A.S. GATSCHET. 


ON THE INFLECTION OF THE ANGLE OF 

THE JAW IN THE MARSUPIALIA.* 
Tue posterior part of the jaw in the Mar- 
supialia has been long recognized as peculiar 
in that the angle, instead of projecting ver- 
tically downwards, as is usually the case in 
* Preliminary paper read before the American As- 


sociation for the Advancement of Science, New York, 
June, 1900. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII No. 302. 


the Mammalia, is bent abruptly inwards so 
as to produce a horizontal shelf, thus giving 
the jaw, when viewed from the outside, the 
appearance of lacking an angle entirely, its 
arcuate lower border passing directly into 
the articular condyle. 

With the object of ascertaining the cause 
of this condition, the writer has examined 
various mammalian jaws and also dissec- 
tions and serial sections through the heads 
of the common opossum (Didelphys mare- 
supialis) and the pouch young of the wallaby 
(Macropus sp.). 

The opossum shows the following ana- 
tomical relations. The whole outer surface 
of the inflected angle is occupied by the 
outer fasciculus of the masseteric muscle, 
the entire inner surface by the pterygoideus 
internus. Both of these muscles are power- 
fully developed, while the pterygoideus ex- 
ternus is much reduced. The latter muscle 
is attached above the inflected angle. The 
inflection introduces three peculiar feat- 
ures: It increases abundantly the insertion 
area of the masseter and pterygoideus in- 
ternus; It places the latter muscle in oppo- 
sition to the lateral traction of the masseter 
on a weak symphysis ; it renders the line 
of traction of the pterygoideus internus 
vertical, so that with a reduction of the 
pterygoideus externus there is scarcely any 
provision for transverse muscular motion 
and so for a sectorial or a grinding action of 
the teeth. Of these peculiarities the last is 
probably the only one of primary signifi- 
cance. Itcontrasts strongly with the usual 
condition in placental types. 

Sections through the head of the develop- 
ing wallaby show the cavity of inflection to 
be occupied by Meckel’s cartilage. This 
seems to indicate that the inflection has 
originated by the disappearance of bony 
elements on the inside of the jaw and by 
the reduction of Meckel’s cartilage. The 
inflected portion represents primarily not an 
angle, but a part of the lower border of the jaw. 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


The inflection very early became fixed in 
the Marsupialia, as shown by the Jurassic 
forms Spalacotheriwm, Phascolotheriwm, and 
Triconodon. In the opossums (Didelphy- 
ide), which (excepting Myrmecobius) are 
the most primitive forms of to-day, the in- 
flection exhibits a primary relation to the 
vertically acting non-sectorial teeth. The 
same may be said of the Dasyuride judging 
from Dasyurus. The thylacine, representing 
a predaceous carnivorous type, has not been 
available for examination. The kangaroos 
(Macropodide), which resemble the pla- 
cental Ungulata, to a great extent, in 
tooth action and jaw structure, show no 
downward prolongation of the angle for the 
increase of the pterygoid insertion area 
such as is characteristic of the latter. The 
presence of the inflection makes it necessary 
to get the required increase in another way, 
and in such a manner as to substitute a 
transverse action of the muscle for a primi- 
tively vertical one. It is accomplished by 
a great excavation of the internal surface of 
the base of the inflected angle. In its in- 
terference with the downward prolongation 
of the angle, the inflection is detrimental ; 
in other respects it is functional, since that 
part of the pterygoideus internus which is 
attached to its tip still acts vertically and 
also opposes the traction of the masseter on 
a weak symphysis. The phalangers (Pha- 
langeride) take an intermediate position 
between the Didelphyide and the Macropo- 
did. arsipes, which is unique in lacking 
the inflection, is degenerate in this respect, 
since it also lacks the coronoid process and 
has reduced teeth. The koala (Phascola- 
retus) Shows a secondary straightening out 
of the angle associated with a deep auditory 
bulla. The wombats (Phascolomyide), and 
the bandicoots (Peramelidz) show no points 
of special interest. 

An examination of the available evidence 
leads to the following conclusions : 

(1) The inflection of the angle is primar- 


SCIENCE. 


559 


ily associated with an exclusively vertical 
action of the teeth. 

(2) It probably originated by a reduc- 
tion of bony elements and of Meckel’s car- 
tilage on the inside of the jaw. 

(8) The inflection became fixed in the 
Marsupialia, and is to be regarded through- 
out the existing series as a persistent prim- 
itive character. 

(4) In primitive Marsupials, such as the 
Didelphyide, the inflection retains its orig- 
inal character, while in specialized types, 
such as the Macropodide, it becomes modi- 
fied in an attempt to substitute a partly 
transverse muscular action for an exclu- 
sively vertical one. ; 

(5) The inflection may be secondarily 
functional in many cases in opposing the 
traction of the pterygoideus internus to the 
lateral traction of the masseter on a weak 
symphysis. t 

B. Arruur BENSLEY. 
CoLuMBIA UNIVERSITY. 


OKLAHOMA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

THE necessity for geological work in 
Oklahoma is the more obvious in view of 
the fact that the surveys of adjoining States 
have been in progress for a number of years. 
Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas have 
already published largely on this subject, 
while in Oklahoma nothing has been written 
except a few scattered articles. 

During the past summer the initial work 
of the Survey has been accomplished. A 
sum sufficient to begin the work was appro- 
priated by the last Legislature. Dr. A. H. 
Van Vleet, of the University of Oklahoma, 
had charge of the work and acted as zoolo- 
gist for the Survey. Other members were 
C. N. Gould, geologist, Paul J. White, 
botanist, and Roy Hadsell, general assist- 
ant. The party traveled by wagon, being 
provided with tents and other necessary 
camping facilities. 

It had been planned to spend part of the 


560 


season in the Wichita Mountains, but per- 
mission to enter the Kiowa reservation, in 
which the mountains are situated, not hav- 
ing been granted, the plan of the route was 
changed. From Norman, the seat of the 
university, the party went north to Perry 
and Stillwater, then west across the north- 
ern part of the Territory as far as Camp 
Supply, south to the Washita river, and 
east through Norman, across the Seminole 
and Creek reservations to Okmulgee, north 
past the Tulsa coalfields, through the Chero- 
kee and Osage nations to the Kansas line 
and south again to Norman. In all about 
1,500 miles were covered and every county 
in Oklahoma except three were visited. 

Although the trip was of necessity little 
more than a reconnaissance, still the work 
as a whole was most satisfactory. The 
Red-beds—one of the most vexing of 
western geological groups—were studied 
throughout the Territory. Three large salt 
plains were visited; the ledge of gypsum 
which extends from Kansas to Texas was 
traced and mapped for several hundred 
miles; fossils were collected from five dif- 
ferent localities representing as many 
horizons in the Red-beds. Numerous out- 
crops of comanche Cretaceous fossils were 
located in the western part of the Terri- 
tory. Collections of considerable impor- 
tance were made in the various formations, 
and the fossils are now being worked up 
in the Museum of the University. When 
these shall have been identified it is hoped 
that the question of the age of the Red- 
beds will be definitely settled. Inthe east- 
ern part of the Territory the relation of the 
coal and oil fields of the Carboniferous to 
the Red-beds was investigated. Through- 
out the trip the question of water supply 
was given considerable attention. 

Dr. Van Vleet made good collections of 
the animal life of the region, paying par- 
ticular attention to snakes and birds. Mr. 
White’s large collection of plants is of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 302. 


much interest in that it comprises several 
species that are probably new to science. 

Mr. Hadsell devoted much time to col- 
lecting historical data, particularly that per- 
taining to Indians and old government trails 
and forts. About 150 photographs were 
taken illustrating the various phases of the 
work. 

A report of the progress of the survey 
will be presented to the Governor before 
the meeting of the next Legislature. In 
addition, a number of short articles will be 
written setting forth the work in greater 
detail. It is confidently hoped that legis- 
lative appropriation will be sufficient to 
enable much more effective work in the 
future. 

CHARLES NEwron GouLp. 


THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, 
Sept. 18, 1900. 


MOSQUITOES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

For many years a few medical men have 
nursed the theory that mosquitoes may be 
carriers from man to man of the germs of 
human malaria. Quite recently physicians 
have produced evidence that makes this no 
longer a theory but a demonstrated fact. 
The result is that there is a great demand 
in all civilized countries for information re- 
garding mosquitoes. This demand found 
the entomologists of the world illy pre- 
pared with definite facts about the lives and 
habits of the different kinds of mosquitoes. 
It was not until 1896 that any thoroughly 
satisfactory figure of a well-determined spe- 
cies of mosquitoes from the United States, 
or any account of its early stages, was to be 
found in the literature. Then Dr. L. O. 
Howard, U. S. Entomologist, published 
(Bull. 4, New Series, U. S. Div. of Ento- 
mology) a full and carefully illustrated ac- 
count of Culux pungens, and also included a 
digest of his previous articles on remedies 
for mosquitoes and a tabulated statement 
regarding the different species in this 


OcToBER 12, 1900. ] 


country. Continuing the work so well 
begun, Dr. Howard made further impor- 
tant studies of mosquitoes, which he has 
embodied in Bulletin No. 25, New Series, 
U.S. Diy. of Entomology, 70 pages, entitled 
‘Notes on the Mosquitoes of the United 
States, giving some account of their struc- 
ture and biology, with remarks on reme- 
dies,’ which was issued early in September. 
Some of these ‘ notes’ are of a monographic 
nature. 

Under the first heading, ‘On mosquitoes 
in general,’ are given interesting accounts 
of the excessive abundance in which mos- 
quitoes have occurred in ancient and mod- 
ern times, even in extreme northern lati- 
tudes. The length of life of the adult 
mosquito may vary from a few days in con- 
finement to months when in hibernation ; 
a brief general statement of the life-history 
of mosquitoes is given; in relation to the 
food of adult mosquitoes, it is stated that 
the male does not necessarily take nourish- 
ment, but they have been seen sipping at 
drops of water, molasses and beer, while 
one instance is given where they were made 
drunk with wine; the females are believed 
to be normally plant feeders, less than one 
in a million ever getting the opportunity to 
taste the blood of a warm-blooded animal. 
Evidence is submitted to show that mos- 
quitoes do not fly far and also that they 
are not liable to be carried by strong winds, 
but railway trains are apparently important 
means of transporting unlimited quantities 
of them for unlimited distances. Many be- 
lieve that mosquito larve can live for a 
considerable period in mud or dried up 
pools, but the evidence submitted indicates 
that when the mud dries up entirely the 
larvee are necessarily killed. The world’s 
mosquito fauna, as far as known, comprises 
about 250 species, of which only about 30 
have been found in the United States, these 
representing 5 different genera. 

Upon the very important and interesting 


SCIENCE. 


561 


topic of ‘ mosquitoes and malaria,’ I think 
more should have been said in such a com- 
bined popular and scientific bulletin. A 
brief and popular abstract of Major Ross’ 
intensely interesting article, only cited, 
would have been welcomed by many read- 
ers who, like myself, have not been able to 
follow closely the trend of recent scientific 
discovery in this all-important field. It is 
stated that there is now ‘ very perfect proof 
that mosquitoes may and do transfer the 
malaria germ from a malaria patient and 
deposit it in the blood of a healthy person’ ; 
only the mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles 
have been found to contain the human blood 
parasites, but apparently no other genera 
except Culex have been investigated, and 
our southern physicians are advised to 
study the very large mosquitoes of two 
genera occurring there from the malarial 
standpoint. 

‘Synoptic tables of the North American 
mosquitoes’ are next given. I doubt if 
more suggestive scientific names occur in 
any other group of insects ; for instance: exct- 
tans, stimulans, pungens, perturbans, excrucians, 
provocans, impatiens, punctor, and damnosus. 

The bulletin is teeming with original ob- 
servations and experiments, especially in 
relation to the biology of Culex pungens and 
Anopheles quadrimaculatus and remarks upon 
other species and their general distribution 
in the United States. Detailed accounts of 
the life-histories and habits of these two 
species are given and illustrated by remark- 
ably accurate and instructive figures of all 
stages and many details of structure ; no 
such thorough and excellent account of 
any of the species of mosquitoes, especially 
of the very important malaria-carrying 
genus Anopheles, has before found its way 
into the world’s literature. Such painstak- 
ing work deserves the highest commenda- 
tion and it is a pleasure to credit it to our 
worthy official entomologist at Washington. 
It is shown that the different stages and 


562 


habits of Anopheles mosquitoes are quite dif- 
ferent from those of the genus Culex, and 
the figures illustrating the differences are 
very instructive. Anopheles larve inhabit 
mostly ‘ fairly permanent stagnant pools of 
water uninhabited by fish, but more or less 
covered with green scum.’ Many other im- 
portant and interesting new facts recorded 
in this portion of the bulletin cannot be 
mentioned in this brief review. 

The three other genera of mosquitoes, 
Psorophora, Megarhinus and Aédes, found in 
the United States, are briefly discussed and 
the adult of one species in each genus is 
figured. The natural enemies of mosqui- 
toes, such as dragon flies, water beetles 
larvee, fish and birds, are succinctly dis- 
cussed. 

Nearly 16 pages of the bulletin are de- 
voted to what is undoubtedly the best and 
fullest discussion of ‘remedies against mos- 
quitoes’ in entomological literature. Dr. 
Howard’s previous articles on the kerosene 
treatment of breeding places are condensed, 
and many suggestions from experience and 
from published records for preventing and 
alleviating mosquito bites are included. 
The effective methods of destroying the 
larvee by the use of kerosene on the water, 
the proper drainage of the land, the prac- 
tical use of fish, the agitation of the in- 
fested water are discussed in detail. Other 
unsuccessful experiments with larvicides, 
such as permanganate of potash and several 
proprietary mixtures are recorded. A most 
extensive series.of experiments with culi- 
cidal mixtures made in Italy are briefly ab- 
stracted, and unsatisfactory experiments 
with tar and its compounds are given in 
detail. Some strong evidence is given to 
show that eucalyptus trees are valuable 
malarial deterrents. Still more evidence 
may be found in the writings of forestry 
experts who think that the planting of 
these trees in suitable regions may accom- 
plish wonderful results in reducing malaria 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 302. 


either by drainage of the soil or by modi- 
fying the water so as to render it uninhabi- 
table for mosquitoes. While it is true that 
the planting of eucalyptus trees is nota 
sovereign remedy, as Dr. Nuttall points 
out, for malaria still prevails at Tre Fon- 
tane, outside of Rome, in spite of the plant- 
ing of these trees, I am told by a forestry 
expert who has visited this place that before 
the plantings it was utterly uninhabitable, 
while now monks and workmen live there, 
and malaria is much reduced. 

The bulletin closes with a strong plea for 
‘drainage and community work,’ and strik- 
ing instances are given where wonderful re- 
sults have been attained. 

In an appendix is given a translation of 
Meinert’s brief, earlier account of the larva 
of Anopheles, and several paragraphs of a 
very important report of the Malarial Hx- 
pedition of the Liverpool School of Tropical 
Medicine which was received too late to 
incorporate in the body of the bulletin. In 
this latter report are recorded many im- 
portant observations on the bionomics of 
Anopheles larvee and adults. 

From a popular, biologie or scientific 
standpoint, this bulletin on mosquitoes is a 
very important, instructive, interesting and 
useful addition to the world’s entomological 
literature. 

M. V. SLiInGERLAND. 

CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

The Norwegian North Polar Expedition, 1893— 
1896. Scientific Results. Edited by FRIDTJOF 
NANSEN. New York, Longmans, Green & 
Co. 1900. 4to. Pp. viii + 379, 46 plates. 
In this sumptuous volume we haye the first 

instalment of the scientific results of the cele- 

brated North Polar expedition led by Dr. 

Nansen. The series is intended to contain a 

complete account of the scientific harvest of 

the expedition, and will doubtless form the 
standard work of reference for all scientific 
data of the North Polar basin for many years 


OcToBER 12, 1900.] 


to come. This volume is printed in Christiania 
and issued at the cost of the Nansen fund for 
the advancement of science. Large and thick 
as the volume is, the excellent paper used 
makes it light enough to handle with ease, 
while the typography and illustration are first 
class. 

The work opens with an introduction by the 
editor in which the services of those who made 
the expedition possible are given due appreci- 
ation and grateful acknowledgment made of 
the enthusiastic devotion of the members of 
the party to their often multifarious labors. 
The absence of a detailed chart of the move- 
ments of the expedition is explained by the 
fact that the computation of the astronomical 
data is not yet fully completed and it was un- 
desirable to delay the publication of memoirs 
ready for the press. The chart therefore will 
appear in the second volume. The various 
memoirs will be printed as soon as ready, each 
separately paginated but carrying a serial num- 
ber by which it may easily be referred to. 

Five memoirs appear in the present volume. 
The first, by Colin Archer, gives a full descrip- 
tion of the construction of the Fram with 
diagrams. This will be of permanent value to 
those contemplating future exploration of the 
icy regions. The soundness of the theories 
upon which. the vessel’s construction was 
based is sufficiently proved by the fact that, 
after all her battles with the ice and other ex- 
periences, a careful survey showed that with 
the exception of the bending of one of the 
metallic fenders of the rudder, she had sus- 
tained no injury whatever. 

While Nansen was enjoying the hospitality 
of Jackson at Cape Flora, he obtained a col- 
lection of invertebrate fossils from a stratum 
of clay below the basalt of the cape. This 
collection is very fully discussed by Dr. J. F. 
Pompeckj who finds the fauna to be of upper 
Jurassic age. A few plant remains were ob- 
tained from deposits occurring in depressions 
on the upper surface of the basalts. These are 
reported on by Nathorst who finds them to be 
probably of the uppermost Jurassic epoch. 
From these facts the basalts would appear to 
be also Mesozoic, though hitherto they had 
been supposed to be Tertiary. Robert Collett 


SCIENCE. 


563 


and Nansen discuss the birds obtained by the 
expedition. Excluding those belonging to the 
fauna of the coast of Siberia, the bird life of 
the Polar Sea appears in this region to comprise 
but one land form, the snowbird (Plectrophenax 
nivalis), the rest being seafowl, gulls, auks, 
etc., of which thirty species were obtained. 
The rarest and most interesting of these is the 
rosy gull (Rhodostethia rosea). The ivory gull, 
the fulmar and the kittiwake were the most 
abundant. The food of the seafowl proved to 
be chiefly crustacea and small fish, obtained 
from cracks and water leads which occur in al- 
most all the floes from time to time. 

The last and most voluminous article is by 
Professor G. O. Sars, who describes the crus- 
tacea and illustrates them by a magnificent 
series of autotype plates which will call forth 
the admiration and gratitude of all carcin- 
ologists. Most of the crustacea are copepods, 
minute shrimps which serve as the chief food 
of the whale and seafowl. The westerly drift 
from the Siberian coast brings with it quan- 
tities of minute alge and diatoms upon which 
the crustaceans subsist. They belong to the 
superficial stratum moved by the prevalent 
winds. Professor Sars, however, believes that 
the fauna of the deeper waters is derived 
from the Atlantic inflow below the superficial 
stratum. Among them it was a surprise to 
find, associated with strictly polar forms, 
several heretofore known only from the tropics, 
the Mediterranean and even the Caspian Sea. 
Very few marine animals except crustacea were 
found in the Polar basin. A tiny tomcod 
(Gadus saida) was the only fish observed in the 
high north. 

The second volume will probably contain 
the astronomical, magnetic and pendulum ob- 
servations, with charts and diagrams, dis- 
cussed by Geelmuyden, Steen and Schidtz and 
may be expected to appear very soon. 

W. H. DALL. 


Biological Lectures from the Marine Biological 
Laboratory of Woods Holl. 1899. Boston, 
Ginn & Co. 1900. Pp. 282. 

This annual, whose appearance is always 
awaited with interest, has enlarged its scope so 
that it no longer, as formerly, includes only lec- 


564 


tures ‘delivered at’ Woods Holl, but contains 
in addition to such lectures essays written es- 
pecially for the volume by persons not in at” 
tendance at the session, but in sympathy with 
the work of the laboratory. At present, then, 
the volume may be said to be representative 
of American biology. In its scope the volume 
is unique; its contents are addressed by nat- 
uralists to a general biological audience—an 
audience which demands at once that the au- 
thor shall have something worth while to say 
and that he shall say it in an intelligible man- 
ner, free from the burden of a very special and 
technical nomenclature, while scientific rather 
than popular. 

There are sixteen lectures in this volume, of 
which four are botanical. D. H. Campbell 
treats of the ‘Evolution of the Sporophyte’ ; 
D. P. Penhallow of the ‘Nature of the Evi- 
dence exhibited by Fossil Plants’; and D. T. 
MacDougal has two papers on the ‘ Influence of 
Vertical Air Currents upon Distribution’ and on 
‘Mycorrhizas,’ respectively. Then follow three 
papers of general psychological interest ; two by 
Edward Thorndike on ‘Instinct’ and ‘The Asso- 
ciative Processes in Animals,’ based on his own 
illuminating investigations, and one by H.S. 
Jennings giving a resumé of his brilliant results 
on the ‘Reactions of Unicellular Organisms.’ 
C. H. Higenmann contributes a paper on ‘The 
Blind Fishes’ and A. Hyatt, a 30-page paper 
on ‘Some Governing Factors usually neglected 
in Biological Investigations,’ which calls for an 
appreciation of meta-genetic (gerontic) stages 
in ontogeny, defends the ‘law of tachygenesis 
or accelerated development’ and argues for the 
memory theory of heredity. A. G. Mayer dis- 
cusses the ontogenesis and phylogenetic signifi- 
eance of color in Lepidoptera. A. Mathews 
analyzes the different methods of animal secre- 
tions and combats the theory of special secre- 
tory nerves. T. H. Morgan discusses some old 
and new interpretations of regeneration. G.N. 
Calkins draws important general cytological 
conclusions from the varied forms of nuclear 
division in protozoa. OC. M. Child after giving 
his researches on spiral cleavage concludes that 
it is the organism—the individual—which is the 
unit and not the cell. The reviewer writes of 
the aims of the quantitative study of variation 


SCLENCE. 


EN. S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


and J. Loeb tells of his success in getting un- 
fertilized eggs of sea urchins to develop into 
larvee under the action of magnesium chloride. 
The mere enumeration of these subjects indi- 
cates that biological investigation in this coun- 
try to-day occupies a broad field. 

C. B. DAVENPORT. 


A Manual of Elementary Practical Physics. By 
JuLIuS HorTveET, B.S. Minneapolis, H. W. 
Wilson. 1900. 

During the last few years which have been 
sigualized by the great extension of laboratory 
instruction in physics in the secondary schools 
of this country, so many new text-books of 
physics have been published that one can 
scarcely treat a new-comer without preju- 
dice. These books must avoid a Scylla and 
Charybdis quite as dangerous as those which 
threatened Ulysses. On the one hand they fail 
by trying to be too general, applicable to too 
many cases, the school, the college and even 
the university; on the other hand they repre- 
sent some particular, special course which 
their author has worked up, too often with 
some personal hobby for certain things. In 
this last class fall those courses which are de- 
signed as an entrance requirement for some 
college, and which are too much elementary 
mechanics and too little physics. 

Mr. Hortvet has recognized that it is his 
duty to give his students the best possible course 
in general physics which they can utilize, with- 
out leaving it to a possible college course to 
give the real fundamentals. It is the business 
of the college to coordinate its work upon that 
of the high school, provided only that the high 
school is doing the right work and doing it 
well. Mr. Hortvet understands that his labora- 
tories are neither kindergartens nor research 
laboratories. 

Many teachers with the catch words of in- 
tensive, rather than extensive, fail to appre- 
hend the real meaning of the terms, and are 
so extensive in their desire to be intensive that 
the scholar is lost in a mass of details and gets 
no fundamental principles. These teachers feel 
that they could not touch the subject of refrac- 
tion of light without including anomalous dis- 
persion and double refraction, and hence dawdle 


OcTOBER 12, 1900. ] 


upon a mass of insignificant experiments in 
mechanics. This book is decidedly the best 
setting forth of the best collection of experi- 
ments for secondary school work which I have 
been able to obtain. From the contents it will 
be seen how well the choice of experiments in 
the various subjects has been made: General 
and mechanics, 14 heads; sound, 2; heat, 6 ; 
light, 7; and electricity and magnetism, 9. 
Or by pages: General and mechanics, 100; 
sound, 12; heat, 30; light, 32; electricity, 55. 

The general instructions are very good and 
well presented. The line illustrations are thor- 
oughly satisfactory ; they have been made for 
this book and are not reproductions of hack- 
neyed and inapplicable cuts from other texts. 
To be commended are also the outline tables 
and suggestions for making the records in the 
note book. In fact there is so little to find 
fault with in the book that the little may be 
ignored. 

The book is its own evidence of the practical 
work the author has been doing in his schools 
and is at once a guide and a standard for other 
teachers. The book should be in every labora- 
tory where physics is taught. 

W. HALLocK. 


An Inquiry into the Conditions relating to the 
Water Supply of the City of New York. By 
the Merchants’ Association of New York. 
Copyright by The Merchants’ Association, 
1900. Published by the Association at its 
office, New York Life Building, New York 
City. 1900. 8vo. Cloth. Pp. xxxix + 
627. 

This large and well-filled volume is perhaps 
the most important technical municipal docu- 
ment ever issued from our modern press, either 
public or private. It presents the results of 
very complete study of the problem of water 
supply to the City of New York, made by a 
committee of experts of national and interna- 
tional reputation, under the direction of the 
Merchants’ Association of that city. It was 
conducted purely asa matter of patriotism and 
public spirit, especially for the purpose of se- 
curing a reliable and useful collection of facts 
and data with which to throw light upon the 
great municipal question raised by the famous 


SCIENCE. 


565 


Ramapo contract. It is important in itself as 
giving an enormous amount of essential in- 
formation, and hardly less so as illustrating a 
degree of public spirit and an extent of intelli- 
gent research relating to scientific and technical 
questions such as, perhaps, was never before 
seen as the product of a patriotic spirit in 
municipal affairs. The Association expended 
$33,000 in the work, and its officers and aids 
gave their services ; even the experts in law, 
engineering and other departments giving their 
services to the value of tens of thousands of 
dollars and conducting investigations of very 
great extent and of immense value without 
charge. The costsincurred were defrayed by in- 
dividuals who voluntarily advanced the money, 
and only about one-third of the total had been 
received from subscriptions at the date of the 
publication of the reports. The public spirit of 
the average citizen of New York is as remark- 
able for its diminutiveness as is that of a few 
individuals for liberality and self-sacrifice. 

Thirty-three men of distinction in their sev- 
eral professions constituted the General Com- 
mittee, and such men as Messrs. Bannin and 
Deming, Professor Goodnow, and Mr. LeGendre 
were on the Executive Committee; Messrs. 
Clarke, Hering, North, Stauffer, Prout, Bow- 
ker, Towne, Dresser, Olcott and Haines con- 
stituted the Engineering Committee and Dem- 
ing, Sterne, Hinrichs, Dr. Edson, Fowler, 
Albert Shaw, Schiff, Maltbie and Mayo-Smith 
that on Finance and Public Policy. The 
Counsel were Messrs Dill, Peckham, McCurdy 
and Conklin. Mr. James H. Fuertes was em- 
ployed to report on ‘Sources of Future Sup- 
ply’ and valuable reports were obtained from 
Mr. Rafter on the ‘Adirondack Supply,’ Mr. 
Croes on ‘Past and Present Supply,’ from Mr. 
Crowell on ‘ Auxiliary Salt Water Supply,’ and 
from Mr. Ward on ‘ Pumping Stations and Water 
Distribution.’ Mr. Coler, the Comptroller, gave 
the committee most valuable assistance. The 
engineering, legal and commercial lines of busi- 
ness were thus well represented, and itis doubt- 
ful if any private enterprise could have brought 
together such an array of professional talent or 
secured so complete and useful a study of the 
situation and its demands. 

The gist of the matter is that New York 


566 


needs to begin immediately preparations for 
extension of its water-supply on an enormous 
scale, if it is to be permitted to grow and to 
remain a safe and wholesome place of residence 
and a great business center. This fact has been 
pointed out by authority frequently and for 
years past, but no action has been taken by the 
usually inefficient city government. The sup- 
ply immediately available will be exhausted in 
1903, at present rates of impairment of margin, 
and by 1910 if the best methods are at once 
adopted to reduce wastes to a minimum. 

The region of the Housatonic cannot be relied 
upon, it being outside the jurisdiction of the 
State. The Hudson may be availed of by 
establishing pumping stations well up the river 
and securing any needed filtration and purifica- 
tion. A supply from the Adirondacks would 
cost ten per cent. more but would be pure, or 
might be made so. 

The Ramapo ‘job’ is discussed. The con- 
tract was to compel the City of New York to 
pay seventy dollars a million gallons for water 
which is now, and can in any quantity later, be 
had for thirty and less. The contract was to 
continue in force for forty years, and the prop- 
erty then still to remain in the hands of the 
company. By 1937, were the city to do its own 
work, its whole system would be paid for, prin- 
cipal and interest. Under municipal owner- 
ship there would be a cash profit over the con- 
tract work up to 1945 of nearly fifty millions of 
dollars. Under the Ramapo contract there 
would be a net loss of sixty millions and the 
total difference in favor of the City of New 
York would be over one hundred millions of dol- 
lars. 

What wonder that the Ramapo scheme was 
so urgently and insidiously promoted! 

The conclusions of the Committee are that no 
contract should be made with the Ramapo or 
other private parties; that supply by contract 
should be opposed by citizens of New York, in- 
dividually, collectively and in their corporate 
capacity, with the utmost energy of which they 
are capable and by every possible means; that 
the Legislature should give the city power, if 
further authority is needed, to provide itself 
with a full supply of pure water, by condemna- 
tion as far as required, and should protect the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


city against further assault by individuals, cor- 
porations or traitorous officials. Steps should 
be at once taken to check all wastes and to pro- 
vide for a constant and large increase in the 
supply of wholesome water. 

This report is exceptionally important and 
every citizen of city or State should secure the 
opportunity to read it from beginning to end. 
Every good citizen will be glad to give credit to 
the few intelligent, enterprising and liberal 
citizens who have here struck hands in the en- 
deavor to protect this national metropolis from 
possible piracy in view of the proven stupidity 
and worse of many of its own officials and of 


other political leeches. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


GENERAL. 


PROFESSOR WILLIAM B. Scort, of Princeton 
University, has in preparation an elaborate 
work in seven volumes entitled ‘ Reports on the 
Princeton Expedition to Patagonia in 1899.’ 
The work, which it is estimated will cost over 
$25,000, will be published by Nageli, in Ger- 
many, but arrangements have not yet been 
made with an American publisher. The edition 
will be limited to about 500 sets, and the cost 
of the seven volumes, which will be subdivided 
into separate books, will be about $100. It is ex- 
pected that the volume on invertebrate fossils 
by Dr. Ortman will be published early next 
year. The subjects of the volumes and the 
authors are as follows: 


Volume I.—‘ Botany,’ principally by Professor 
George Macloskie, of the department of biology, of 
Princeton. The ‘Contributions on the subject of 
Mosses,’ by Professor Dusen, of Sweden. 

Volume II.—‘ Recent Mammals,’ by Dr. Merriman, 
of the Department of Agriculture in Washington. 

Volume III.—‘ Birds,’ by Professor William E. D. 
Scott, of Princeton. 

Volume IV.—‘ Zoology of the other groups,’ by 
Dr. Ortman, curator of invertebrate paleontology in 
Princeton, and Dr. Rankin, of the department of 
biology of the University. 

Volume V.—‘ Invertebrate Fossils,’ principally by 
Dr. Ortman. 

Volumes VI. and VII.—‘ Vertebrate Fossils,’ princi- 
pally by Professor William B. Scott, of Princeton, 
with contributions by Mr. Hatcher. 


The preliminary autumn announcements of 


OcTOBER 12, 1900. ] 


Messrs. D. Appleton & Company include a new 
edition of Herbert Spencer’s ‘ First Principles’ 
and ‘Hlementary Physics,’ by C. Hanford Hen- 
derson, Ph.D. ‘Physical Experiments,’ a labor- 
atory manual, by John F. Woodhull, Ph.D., 
and M. B. Van Arsdale. ‘Animal Life,’ a first 
book of zoology, by David Starr Jordan, M.S., 
M.D., Ph.D., LL.D., and Vernon L. Kellog, 
M.S. ‘The Elementary Principles of Chemis- 
try,’ by Abram Van Eps Young, Ph.B. ‘An 
Analytical Key to some of the Common Wild 
and Cultivated Species of Flowering Plants,’ 
by John M. Coulter, A.M., Ph.D. ‘A Text- 
Book of Geology,’ by Albert Perry Brigham, 
A.M. ‘ Plant Studies,’ an elementary botany, 
by John M. Coulter, A.M., Ph.D. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Street Pavements and Paving Materials. GEORGE W. 


TiL~son. New York, John Wiley & Sons. Lon- 
don, Chapman & Hall, Limited. 1900. 8vo., 
xii+ 532 pp.; 60 figures. $4.00. 

Die partiellen Differential-Gleichungen. HEINRICH 


WEBER. Braunschweig, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn. 
1. Band. 4th ed. Pp. xvii+ 506. M. 10. 
Untersuchungen zur Blutgerinnung. ERNST SCHWALBE. 
Braunschweig, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn. 1900. Pp. 
vi-+89. M. 2.50. 
Verhandlungen der deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft. 
J. W. SPENGEL. Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann. 


1900. Pp. 170. M. 6. 
Chemie der Eiweisskérper. OTTO COHNHEIM. Braun- 
schweig, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn. 1900. Pp. x+ 


315. 

Lehrbuch der Mechanik. ALEX. WERNICKE. Braun- 
schweig, Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn. 1900. Vol. I., 
pp. xv-++ 314. Vol. I1., pp. xi+ 373. 

Legons de chemie physique ; Relations entre les proprié- 
tés et la composition. J. H. VAN’T Horr. Paris, 
A. Hermann. 1900. Part III. Pp. ii+170. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The American Naturalist for September opens 
with an account of ‘Unusual Modes of Breed- 
ing and Development among Anura,’ by Lilian 
Y. Sampson, to which is appended a valuable 
bibliography of literature on the subject. ‘The 
Intestine of Amia calva’ is described by William 
A. Hilton, most of the paper being devoted to 
its microscopic structure. It would seem best 


SCIENCE. 


567 


not to use the term ‘intestinal convolutions’ 
where the folds of the lining only are meant 
since the phrase is in general use among zoolo- 
gists to denote the folds of the entire intestine. 
Frank Russell presents some ‘Studies in Cranial 
Variation ’ based on some two thousand skulls 
of aboriginal Americans. Part XIII. of ‘Syn- 
opsis of North American Invertebrates,’ by G. 
H. Parker is devoted to the Achnaria. It is to 
be presumed that this series when completed 
will be published in book form on account of 
its great value to the ‘general zoologist’ as 
well as the student. There are the customary 
numerous reviews. 


The Plant World for September contains the 
following articles: ‘The Harts-tongue in New 
York and Tennessee’ by William R. Maxon, 
‘Some Local Common Names of Plants’ by C. 
F, Saunders, ‘The Twin-flower (Linnea bore- 
alis) in Pennsylvania’ by Thos. C. Porter, 
‘Naturalized Composite’ by Frank Dobbin, an 
extensive list of ‘ Plant Names of the Southwest- 
ern United States’ by Myrtle Zuck Hough and 
‘The Southwestern Limit of Juniperus Sabina’ 
by E. J. Hill. In the supplement, under ‘ The 
Families of Flowering Plants,’ Charles Louis 
Pollard treats of the orders Scitamineze and 
Microsperme. 


TuHE first article in Bird Lore for October is on 
“The Bower-birds of Australia’ by A. J. Camp- 
bell, illustrated with some fine photographs 
of the bowers of these interesting birds. Cap- 
tain Gabriel Reynaud gives the second and con- 
cluding part of his article on ‘The Orientation 
of Birds’ concluding that the power to return 
over long distances is due to the sense of 
direction located in the semi-circular canals. 
Mrs. Henry W. Nelson tells, with illustrations 
of ‘A Pair of Killdeer’ and Thos. H. Mont- 
gomery, Jr., describes ‘The Bird Course at 
the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Holl, 
Mass., during the summer of 1900,’ the main 
aim of the course being to present suggestions 
as to lines of work. In the section ‘ For Young 
Observers’ Alick Wetmore gives an interesting 
sketch entitled ‘My Experience with a Red- 
headed Woodpecker’ and in the ‘ Notes’ Caro- 
line G. Soule relates an experiment tried by 
her of attaching a painted paper flower, con- 


568 


taining a small bottle of syrup, on a trumpet 
vine, and finding that it was regularly visited 
by a humming-bird. The editor discusses the 
province of the Audubon Societies and there are 
reports from some of the Societies themselves. 


THE Popular Science Monthly for October, 
completing the 57th volume, opens with the 
presidential address of Sir William Turner be- 
fore the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, describing the development of 
biological science during the present century. 
Professor Frederick G. Novy’s article on the 
‘Bubonie Plague’ reviews especially its ravages 
inthe past. There follow articles on ‘Gasoline 
Automobiles,’ by William Baxter, Jr., on ‘Some 
Scientific Principles of Warfare,’ by William J. 
Roe, on ‘ Modern Mongols,’ by F. L. Oswald, on 
‘The Religious Beliefs of the Central Eskimo,’ by 
Professor Franz Boas, and on ‘ Mental Energy,’ 
by Edward Alkinson. The present instalment 
of ‘ Chapters on the Stars,’ by Simon Newcomb, 
is devoted to variable stars and the parallaxes 
of the stars. The number contains the index 
to the current volume. A journal such as the 
Popular Science Monthly is essential for the de- 
velopment and recognition of science in Amer- 
ica, and the contents of the first volume under 
its new management show that the Monthly has 
secured the cooperation of the leading American 
men of science. 


THE Mazamas, a mountaineering club of the 
Western States proposes to publish a quarterly 
magazine devoted to the mountains, forests and 
natural scenery of America, especially of the 
northwest. The subscription which is $1.00, 
may be sent to Mr. W. G. Steel, 407 Ross St., 
Portland, Ore. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


AN EMINENT AMERICAN MAN OF SCIENCE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In SCIENCE for 
August 17th and 31st (pp. 277, 346) are names 
suggested for inscription ‘in the Hall of Fame 
of the New York University.’ Those of natu- 
ralists are John James [not Adam] Audubon, 
Spencer F. Baird, Asa Gray, Isaac Lea, John 
Torrey, and, later, O. C. Marsh, E. D. Cope, 
James Hall, J. D. Dana, J. S. Newberry and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


Alexander Winchell. There is one naturalist 
at least as much entitled to such recognition as 
almost any one of the preceding—Thomas Say, 
once of Philadelphia. If it is intended to 
indicate the historical development of biology 
in America, Thomas Say should stand pre- 
eminent. He was by odds the most versa- 
tile and accomplished of the early American 
naturalists and has left his impress on the zool- 
ogy of the country to a greater extent than any 
of his contemporaries or, in fact, if we measure 
the range of his studies, than any of his suc- 
cessors. He was fully abreast of the science 
of his times and to a greater extent than any 
English naturalist, except Leach. A large pro- 
portion, if not most, of the common species of 
several orders of invertebrate animals were 
first named and intelligibly described by him. 
Numerous of the most common land and fresh- 
water shells, crustaceans, worms, and insects 
were introduced into the system by him. He 
paid attention also to the mammals, birds and 
reptiles, leaving the fishes alone to his friend, 
C. A. Lesueur. 

You ask: ‘‘Are any of the readers of this 
JOURNAL prepared to suggest how many men of 
science should be included among the 100 most 
eminent Americans no longer living, and who 
they should be?’’ Whatever the number, Say 
should be accorded a place in the very first 
rank among zoologists. In my judgment Dana 
and Cope are the only ones whose rank is 
equally high. Not far behind are Joseph Leidy 
and William Stimpson (I suppose that Louis 
Agassiz has not been proposed because he was 
born and became eminent in another land.) 

It may be of interest to learn that Say’s name 
has been inscribed among those of illustrious 
Americans in the vestibule of the Library of 
Congress. The Hon. Bernard R. Green, super- 
intendent of the Library building, did me the 
honor of consulting with me on the selection of 
men of science for such distinction, and I sug- 
gested to him the title of Say. His name was 
paired with Dana’s near the entrance into the 
Librarian’s office. I understand that he has 
been congratulated on the aptness of the selec- 
tion. 

THEO. GILL. 

WASHINGTON, October 1, 1900. 


OCTOBER 12, 1900.] 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

A NEW mineral from copper mines near the 
Burra in South Australia is described in the 
Journal of the Chemical Society (London) by 
G. A. Goyder. It is called sulvanite and isa 
thiovanadate of copper, this being the first re- 
corded instance of a sulfid mineral containing 
vanadium as one of its principal constituents. 
The formula of the new mineral seems to be 
3Cu,S, VS; or Cu,/VS,, cuprous thiovanadate. 


AN article by W. H. Hess on the origin of 
cave saltpeter is found in the Journal of Geology. 
Many of the caves in limestone regions of this 
country contain notable deposits of earth very 
rich in saltpeter. This is particularly true of 
the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, where may 
still be seen the remains of the vats and wooden 
pipes used in the manufacture of saltpeter for 
gunpowder during the War of 1812. Indeed it 
is said that had it not been for this saltpeter 
and that from some other similar caves, this 
war could not have been successfully waged. 
During the Civil War much saltpeter was ob- 
tained from the Southern Cayes. It hasalways 
been rather assumed that the origin of these 
saltpeter deposits is to be found in the guano 
from the bats, which swarm in immense num- 
bers in parts of these caves. This, however, 
the author of this paper dissents from, holding 
that these deposits have come from evaporation 
of water which has percolated through the sur- 
face soil above, from which it has taken up the 
soil nitrates. Similar nitrate deposits are some- 
times found under rock-ledges. The paper 
cites in proof of this position analyses of cave- 
earth, cave-bat guano, and of the water which 
drips from above into the Mammoth Cave. 


SINCE the hypochiorites are formed by the 
electrolysis of solution of chlorids, efforts have 
been made to utilize the reaction in technical 
chemistry. A study of this character is re- 
ported in a recent Comptes Rendus by André 
“Brochet. He finds that in concentrated solu- 
tions in its later stages, the electrolysis of hypo- 
chlorites resembles that of the chlorids, tending 
toward the same limits. It would therefore 
follow that the preparation of concentrated so- 
lutions of hypochlorites from the chlorids can 
hardly be hoped for by direct electrolysis. 


SCIENCE. 


569 


WE copy from Nature the prizes offered in 
chemistry by the Société d’ Encouragement pour 
UV Industrie Nationale for 1901. 1,000 franes for 
the utilization of any waste product; 2,000 
frances for a publication useful to chemical or 
metallurgical industry ; two prizes of 500 francs 
each for scientific researches, the results of 
which can be utilized in industrial work ; 2,000 
franes for an improvement in the manufacture 
of chlorin; 1,000 francs for the discovery of a 
new alloy useful in the arts; 2,000 francs for a 
study of expansion, elasticity and tenacity of 
pottery clays and glazes, for a scientific study 
of the physical and mechanical properties of 
glass, for a new method of manufacturing fum- 
ing sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxid, and for the 
manufacture of a steel possessing specially use- 
ful properties by the introduction of a foreign 
element. Competition is open to all, but the 
memoirs, which must be sent in before Decem- 
ber 31st, must be written in French. 

J. L. H. 


MUSEUM AND ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 


THE brief Report of the Director of the Man- 
chester Museum for 1899-1900 shows the steady 
progress of this active Museum, which has re- 
cently acquired the Schill collection of butter- 
flies and moths and the Layard collection of 
weapons and other implements from the Pacific 
islands. The experiment has been tried of 
opening the Museum on the first Wednesday of 
each month, and on this occasion having certain 
portions of the collections explained by some 
member of the staff. The result has hardly 
met with the success it merits, since the at- 
tendance has been small, particularly so when 
it is remembered that Manchester has a popu- 
lation of over halfa million. The latest publi- 
cation of the Museum is ‘ Notes on some 
Jurassic Plants in the Manchester Museum,’ 
by A. C. Seward. 


THE Annual Report of the Director of the 
Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, has recently 
been issued and shows a decided specialization 
in the line of fossil vertebrates, one-third of the 
Museum staff being accredited to the Depart- 
ment of Paleontology, Mr. J. B. Hatcher being 
the curator. The collections made in 1899 


570 


have already been noticed in ScIENCE, and 
equally good results may be expected from the 
work of the field party sent out early this year. 
The number of visitors during the current year 
is estimated at 350,000. Special effort has been 
made to put the Museum in touch with the 
public schools by issuing loan collections and 
by the ‘ Prize Essay Contest.’ In the separate 
report on this it is interesting to note that the 
subjects most frequently chosen were those ob- 
jects that appealed most strikingly to the eye. 
While this is only natural, yet it calls attention 
to the fact that while a museum may be a col- 
lection of labels illustrated by specimens, there 
is considerable danger that the label will be 
overlooked by the average visitor unless there 
is something about the object itself, or the 
manner in which it is shown, to attract atten- 
tion. 


SOMETHING of glamor hangs over the white 
cattle of Chillingham and Cadzon; they have 
been sung by poets and engraved by Bewick, 
the Chillingham herd has literally been within 
one of extinction and finally some authorities 
have considered these cattle as direct descend- 
ants of the vanished Urus. The last writer to 
discuss them is R. Hedger Wallace, who has 
undertaken an exhaustive inquiry into their 
origin and history, whose results are published 
in the Transactions of the Natural History Society 
of Glasgow. While Mr. Wallace explicitly 
states that his paper must not be considered as 
final, he yet states as his opinion that the white 
cattle are simply the descendants of Roman 
cattle imported into England during the Roman 
occupation. An extensive, though confessedly 
incomplete, bibliography of works and articles 
relating to the ‘ Bovidee,’ wild and domesti- 
cated, living and extinct, is appended. 

1, ZS Ibe 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
THE BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 

Nort long ago the staff of the Division of For- 
estry of the United States Department of Agri- 
culture prepared a most valuable and sug- 
gestive report on the big trees of California, 
which was issued as a Senate document, and 
afterwards published as a separate paper by 
the Department. The purpose of the report is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 302. 


to call attention to the groves of these great 
trees, and to enlist sufficient interest in them to 
secure their preservation. Their fine wood has 
tempted the lumberman, and in spite of their 
unwieldy size they are felled and split and 
sawed into lumber to such an extent as to 
threaten the utter destruction of many of the 
groves. 

There are ten main groups of groves of the 
big trees scattered along the west side of the 
Sierra Nevada range, ‘ from the middle fork of 
the American River to the head of Deer Creek, 
a distance of two hundred and sixty miles.’ 
Probably not more than five hundred trees in 
these groups are remarkable for their size. 

The only grove thus far safe from destruction 
is the Mariposa, while ‘the finest of all, the 
Calaveras Grove, with the biggest and tallest 
trees’ has recently (April, 1900) come into the 
possession of a lumberman who quite certainly 
intends to cut the trees into lumber. 

The report should be read by every lover of 
trees, and every effort should be made to have 
Congress take steps to preserve several of the 
finest of these groves. The excellent half-tone 
plates from photographs add interest and value 
to the paper. 

THE AGE OF THE BIG TREES OF CALIFORNIA. 

In the report issued by the Division of For- 
estry in the United States Department of Agri- 
culture referred to above, a discussion is made 
of the age of the Big Trees. The conclusion is 
reached that their age runs far up into the 
thousands, the great age of five thousand years 
being mentioned, apparently with approval. 
The writer of this note once counted with much 
care the rings of growth of a tree which was 
felled in 1853, and whose stump constitutes the 
floor of the so-called dancing pavilion. This 
count was made from circumference to center, 
and every ring in all that distance was counted, 
no ‘estimates’ or guesses being made. The 
result was that eleven hundred and forty-seven 
(1,147) rings were counted, and accordingly it 
is safe to say that this tree, which was fully 
twenty-four or twenty-five feet in diameter, 
and considerably more than three hundred feet 
in height, acquired these dimensions in eleven 
hundred and forty-seven years. The writer 
entertains grave doubts whether any of the ex- 


OcTOBER 12, 1900.] 


isting trees approach the age of two thousand 
years. 
LOCAL DESCRIPTIVE FLORAS. 

Ir is a good sign of the progress of syste- 
matic botany in North America that there is an 
increase in the number of floras of restricted 
regions in preparation by local botanists. Of 
course the authors of such floras usually suc- 
ceed in adding something to the burden of 
botanical synonymy, but this is more than bal- 
anced by the additions made to our knowledge 
of the particular distribution of the species, 
and the geographical variations which some of 
them show. The ‘Flora of Northwest Amer- 
ica,’ by Thomas Howell, and the ‘Manual of 
the Flowering Plants of Lowa,’ by T. J. Fitz- 
patrick, now publishing in parts, are good illus- 
trations of systematic work. Of the former 
three parts, and of the latter two parts have 
appeared. 

Mr. Howell’s publication is more radical in 
its treatment of species, many being recog- 
nized as distinct which are usually not separated 
by botanists. In his preface he says: ‘‘ Be- 
lieving that if a plant has one constant charac- 
ter that is different from any of its congeners 
it is sufficient for a species; and if that plant 
is sufficiently distinct from others to deserve a 
name it is better to have it described as a dis- 
tinct species than as a variety of some other 
species. I have, therefore, raised nearly all 
published varieties of the region embraced in 
this work to specific rank.’’ 

Mr. Fitzpatrick is more conservative, and 
follows more closely the common usage in this 
regard. In one particular he is quite abreast 
of the most radical of botanical writers, namely, 
in decapitalizing all |specific names, and the 
omission of the comma before the authority. 

In both books the descriptions are well drawn, 
and good keys serve to guide the student, One 
or two more parts of each should finish these 
useful books. 


THE MRS. CURTISS MEMORIAL, 


Many botanists remember with pleasure the 
dainty specimens of marine alge collected by 
Mrs. Floretta A. Curtiss, for many years a re- 
sident of Jacksonville, Florida. Year after 
year the little fascicles of exquisitely prepared 


SCIENCE. 


571 


specimens were offered to those who were in- 
terested in algee, and who wished them for 
their herbaria. On March 3, 1899, she died in 
the seventy-seventh year of her life. Her son, 
A. H. Curtiss, the well-known botanical col- 
lector, has prepared a memorial, including a 
biographical sketch, and an index to her col- 
lections of alge. This is in the form of a 
twenty-page folio pamphlet printed on heavy 
paper and illustrated with half-tone repro- 
ductions of photographs of the places where 
she lived while in pursuit of her favorite plants. 

Mrs. Curtiss was born in 1822, in what was 
then the wilderness of central New York, not 
far from the present city of Syracuse. She 
came from New England stock, both parents 
being natives of Massachusetts. Immediately 
after the Civil War she removed with her hus- 
band to Virginia, and in 1875 with her son she 
took up her residence in Florida. Here she 
soon began the work of collecting alge,— 
which she continued to the close of her life. 
Science owes her a debt of gratitude for the 
years of painstaking labor which she gave to 
the gathering and preservation of specimens, 
which have enriched the botanical collections 
of the World’s great herbaria. 

CHARLES HK. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIA- 
TION. 

Tuis Association will meet at Indianapolis 
from October 22d to 26th, under the presidency 
of Dr. Peter H. Bryce. There is a special sec- 
tion of bacteriology and chemistry, of which 
Professor Theobald Smith is Chairman. The 
subjects on which special committees have been 
appointed to make reports are : 


1. ‘The Pollution of Public Water Supplies’; 2. 
“The Disposal of Refuse Material’; 3. Animal Dis- 
eases and Animal Food’; 4. ‘Car Sanitation’; 5. 
‘Etiology of Yellow Fever’; 6. ‘Steamship and 
Steamboat Sanitation’; 7. ‘ Relation of Forestry to 
the Public Health’; 4. ‘ Demography and Statistics 
in their Sanitary Relation’; 9. ‘ Cause and Preven- 
tion of Infectious Diseases’; 10. Public Health Leg- 
islation’; 11. The Duration of Infectious Diseases’; 
12. ‘Cause and Prevention of Infant Mortality ’; 13. 
‘Disinfectants’; 14. ‘Municipal Sanitary Adminis- 


572 


tration’; 15. ‘To Define what Constitutes an Epi- 
demic’; 16. ‘On National Leper Home’; 17. ‘ Dan- 
gers to the Public Health from Illuminating and Fuel 
Gas’; 18. ‘Revision of Bertillon Classification of 
Causes of Death’; 19. ‘Transportation of Diseased 
Tissue by Mail’; 20. ‘The Teaching of Hygiene and 
Granting of Degrees of Doctor of Public Health.’ 


It has been arranged to devote one Gay, 
Wednesday, October 24th, to the discussion of 
topics relating to sewerage and water supply. 
Special attention will be given to the engineering 
phase of this subject. The following subjects 
will be presented for discussion : 


1. ‘What Constitutes a Satisfactory Water Sup- 
ply ?? 2. ‘The Value of Vital Statistics as an Index 
to the Pollution of Water Supplies’; 3. ‘Comparative 
Statistics of the Water Supplies of the Leading 
American Cities as shown by Typhoid Fever Sta- 
tistics’; 4. Conservation and Control of Water Sup- 
plies by State, Provincial and Municipal Authori- 
ties’; 5. ‘The Relation of the Analytical Laboratory 
to Problems in the Pollution of Public Water Sup- 
plies’; 6. ‘The Legal Aspect of Water Pollution’; 
7. ‘The Present Status of Methods of Purification of 
Sewage entering Public Water Supplies’; 8. ‘Sew- 
age Purification Plants now in Operation in Amer- 
ica, with reference to Public Water Supplies’; 
9. Methods of Purification of Water Supplies, with a 
Summary of Plants now in Operation in America’; 
10. Recent Progress in Europe concerning the Puri- 
fication of Water Supplies.’ 


SECTION ON BACTERIOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY. 

1. ‘On Standard Methods of Water Analysis’; 2. 
‘Laboratory Work on Tuberculosis’; 3. “On Obtain- 
ing Experimental and Clinical Data on the Exact 
Mode of Infection in Rare and Unusual Cases’; 4. 
‘Study of the Causation of Cancer’; 5. ‘ Bacteriology 
of Milk in its Sanitary Relations’; 6. ‘ Variations of 
the Colon Bacillus in Relation to Public Health’; 7. 
‘ Variations of the Diphtheria Bacillus’; 8. ‘ Bacteri- 
ology of Yellow Fever’; 9. ‘ Inter-Laboratory System 
of Card Cataloguing for Sanitary Bibliography’; 10. 
“Use of Chemical Preservatives in Foods’; 11. ‘ Exhi- 
bition of Laboratory Apparatus and Appliances for 
Teaching Hygiene’; 12. ‘Census of Laboratory Men 
engaged in Sanitary Work.’ 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
ProFessoR GEORGE F. BARKER, LL.D., for 
twenty-eight years professor of physics in the 
University of Pennsylvania, has resigned his 
chair because of poor health. The corporation 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XII. No. 302. 


of tne University has made him professor 
emeritus of physics and voted him a pension. 


Dr. N. F. DRAKE, of the Imperial Tien-Tsin 
University, whose explorations of the anthra- 
cite coal fields of China we recently noted, re- 
mained in Tien-Tsin during the late fighting in 
that city. German troops were finally sta- 
tioned in the university buildings and com- 
pletely destroyed the apparatus of the chem- 
ical and assay Jaboratories under Professor 
Drake’s charge. 

GENERAL A. W. GREELY, Chief of the Army 
Signal Service, has returned from Alaska. He 
was on board the steamer Orizaba which went 
aground at St. Michael, while laying a cable 
between that place and Nome. 

ProFressor H. A. ROWLAND, of the Johns 
Hopkins University, was given at the Paris Bx- 
position, in addition to the grand prize for his 
spectroscopic apparatus, which we have already 
noted, a second grand prize for his multiplex 
telegraph printing machine. 


Dr. E. W. Scriprurs, of Yale University, 
was awarded the gold medal of the Paris Hx- 
position for methods of testing color-blindness. 


PRESIDENT DANIEL C. GILMAN, of the Johns 
Hopkins University, who was granted a leave 
of absence last spring by the trustees, in com- 
memoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
his election, and has since been abroad, has re- 
turned to Baltimore. : 

THE College of Physicians of Philadelphia 
has awarded its Alvarenga prize for 1900 to Dr. 
David De Beck of Cincinnati for his essay en- 
titled ‘Malarial Diseases of the Eye.’ Essays 
in competition for the prize next year must 
be received not later than May 1, 1901. The 
value of the prize is about $180. 

THE daily papers report that the Mexican 
Government is considering the award of $100, - 
000 to Dr. Angel Bellinzaghi, who was born in 
Italy in 1865, for his serum against yellow fever 
which is said to have proved successful in 
eighty-five per cent. of the cases in Mexican 
hospitals. 

Mr. Joun E. Hupson, president of the 
American Bell Telephone Company, died on 
October 1st. Under his management the com- 


OcTOBER 12, 1900. ] 


pany grew in ten years from a system of 739 
exchanges and 411,861 instruments to one of 
1,239 exchanges and 1,847,000 instruments with 
over a million miles of wire in service. Mr. 
Hudson was a man of wide scientific and liter- 
ary culture, having been tutor in Greek at 
Harvard University. 


THE death is announced of Miss Margaret 
Stokes a distinguished Irish archeologist and 
the author of numerous antiquarian works. 


PROFESSOR GEORGE FREDERICK WRIGHT and 
his son, Fred. B. Wright, were in the midst of 
the troubles in China, and scientific men will 
be glad to learn that they have so far escaped 
unharmed. On May 5th they started on a three 
weeks’ trip from Peking to Kalgan. That 
brought them back to Peking just as the Boxer 
movement culminated ; but they left the city, 
in pursuance of regular plans one day before 
the gates were closed, and were in Tien-Tsin 
from the 26th to the 30th. On June 5th they 
had reached Port Arthur, and on the 6th took 
one of the construction trains of the Chinese 
Eastern Railroad. By train and Chinese cart 
they made their way to Harbin, Manchuria ; 
and then down the Sungaree and Amoor rivers 
to Vladivostok. On July 10th they left Vladi- 
vostok, expecting to make good time to Chita 
if the boat did not stick on some sand bar 
in the river. At Poyakova, East Siberia, 
however, they had to exchange boat for tar- 
antass and horses. After an exciting ride 
through deserted and burning villages they 
reached Blagovyeschensk at the middle of July 
to find itin a state of siege. On the 25th of 
July they were able to take passage on the re- 
turn trip of a steamer that had come down 
to within twenty miles of Blagovyeschensk. 
With many delays on account of shallow 
water, they made their way up the Amoor 
and Shilka rivers to Stretinsk. At that 
point the Siberian railroad was taken to 
Chita and on to Lake Baikal. There a 
small steamer transferred them to the western 
side of the lake, where they again took train to 
Irkoutsk. The next stop was at Krasnoyarsk, 
on the Yenisei River. An interesting trip was 
taken up the river to Minusinsk, where there 
is a large museum of historical and arche- 


SCIENCE. 


573 


ological interest. Returning to Krasnoyarsk 
they continued their railroad journey to Omsk, 
at which point they were heard from Septem- 
ber 6th. Their plans for the future were to go 
by boat up the Irtish river to Semipalatinsk, 
where they will have a chance to visit the foot 
of the Alti Mountains. Then they will go by 
tarantass and horses to Tashkend, where they 
will strike the Trans-Caspian railroad, which 
runs through Samarkand and Mery to the 
Caspian Sea. Baku and Trebizond will be the 
next stopping places. After a visit to Moscow 
and St. Petersburg, they expect to return to 
Constantinople and continue their trip through 
Palestine and Egypt, reaching home by way 
of Italy, in March. 


THE steamship Windward has not returned 
as had been expected, and it is suggested that 
Lieutenant Peary may have used the boat to 
push farther north as the season is supposed to 
have been an open one. 


LIEUTENANT AMDRUP’S Greenland expedi- 
tion has returned on board the Antarctic. 
The members of the expedition explored and 
mapped a hitherto unknown stretch of land ex- 
tending from Cape Town, latitude 69 degrees 
28 minutes north, to Agasis Land, 67 degrees 
22 minutes north. 


Messrs. C. H. TYLER TOWNSEND and Charles 
Melvin Barbar made between the last of May 
and the first of November, 1899, extensive col- 
lections of plants on the Sierra Madres, in the 
State of Chihuahua, just east of the little Mor- 
mon town of Colonia Garcia, at altitudes vary- 
ing from 7,000 to about 8,500 feet above the sea 
level. About 40 numbers were collected in the 
‘hot country’ some distance down the Pacific 
slope of the range, and a few on the plains east 
of the mountains. An attempt was made to 
collect thirty sets, but the material will not run 
evenly through that many. 452 numbers in all 
were taken. The material is well dried and 
altogether very fair, and issupplied with printed 
labels. Something over 250 numbers have been 
identified at the present time, of which Professor 
EK. L. Greene has named the Composite, Mimuli 
and Loti; Dr. J. N. Rose, the Umbellifere and 
Commelinacee ; Dr. B. L. Robinson, the Crnei- 
fere and Caryophyllacex; Mr. E. P. Bicknell, 


574 


the Iridacex ; Dr. P. A. Rydberg, the Potentil- 
lz and other Rosacee and some Leguminose ; 
Dr. C. F. Millspaugh, the Euphorbiacex ; Mr. R. 
A. Rolfe, the Orchidacex. Of this number Pro- 
fessor Greene has named 8 new species, Dr. 
Robinson 4, Dr. Rose 3, Mr. Bicknell 2, and 
Dr. Rydberg has indicated two new species of 
Potentilla, which he has not had time as yet to 
describe. 


THE second season of the Beaufort Labora- 
tory of the U. 8. Fish Commission came to an 
end on September 15th. The occupants of tables 
were from Johns Hopkins University, Columbia 
University, University of North Carolina and 
Trinity College (N. C.). The economic work, 
carried on by special assistants in the service 
of the Commission, embraced a study of the 
neighboring natural and artificial oyster beds, 
breeding times and food of certain food-fishes, 
life histories of fish (blennies), life history of a 
lepadide barnacle (Dichelaspis) which has been 
found to be a common parasite in the gill 
chambers of the edible crabs, Callinectes and 
Menippe. The more purely scientific investi- 
gations covered a wide field, embracing such 
diverse subjects as the systematic zoology and 
ecology of actinians, echinoderms, and sponges ; 
embryology of ophiurans; larval development 
of actinians; regeneration phenomena in 
ophiurans, and in Renilla; embryology of 
gephyrean worms (Thalassema); cell lineage 
of Axiothea ; experimental work on the cleav- 
age of the oyster egg; cytological phenomena 
in the ‘chemically fertilized’ eggs of Toxop- 
neustes. 


THE experiment made by English scientific 
men on mosquitoes and malaria to which we 
have called attention appears to have been suc- 
cessful. Drs. Sambon and Low and their asso- 
ciates, who have been living in a mosquito-proof 
hut in the Roman campagna drinking the water, 
exposed to the night air and taking no quinine, 
have so far been entirely free from malaria. 
On the other hand Dr. Manson’s son, P. Thur- 
burn Manson, who was bitten every second day 
by infected mosquitoes, fed in Rome on those 
suffering from malarial fever, suffered an attack 
of fever and tertian parasites were found in his 
blood. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 302. 


THE Pacific Commerical Museum, modeled 
after the similar institution at Philadelphia, has 
completed its organization by electing Irving 
M. Scott, president, Eugene Goodwin, secre- 
tary, and Isaac Upham, treasurer. It is amply 
provided with funds and will soon begin the 
collection of the products of the Pacific 
Coast, which are to form a permanent exposi- 
tion in San Francisco. 


THE United States Civil Service Commission 
invites attention to the announcement which 
was made on September 12, 1900, of an ex- 
amination to be held on October 23-24, 1900, 
for the position of assistant in the Nautical 
Almanae Office, and desires to state that as 
the result of this examination it is expected 
that certification will also be made to the posi- 
tion of computer in the United States Naval 
Observatory at a salary of $1,200 per annum, 
and for similar vacancies as they shall occur ; 
certification being made, however, of those 
eligibles who have furnished evidence to the 
Commission that they have had experience in 
the use of astronomical instruments. 


A COURSE of lectures on science and travel is 
now being given in the Field Columpian Mu- 
seum, Chicago, at three o’clock on Saturday 
afternoon as follows: 


Oct. 6—‘ How Plants Live,’ by Professor Charles 
R. Barnes, University of Chicago. 

Oct. 13—‘ Do Invertebrates have Consciousness? 
by Dr. H. VY. Neal, Knox College, Galesburg, Ill. 

Oct. 20—‘ Wyandotte and Marengo Caves,’ by Pro- 
fessor O. C. Farrington, Curator, Department of Geol- 
ogy, Field Columbian Museum. 

Oct. 27—‘ The Life and Death of a Tree,’ by Dr. 
Thomas H. MacBride, State University of Iowa. 

Noy. 3—‘ Porto Rico and its People,’ by Dr. Barton 
Warren Evermann, Ichthyologist of the United States 
Fish Commission. 

Noy. 10—‘ Mining in the Ozarks,’ by Professor 
Henry W. Nichols, Assistant Curator, Department of 
Geology, Field Columbian Musuem. 

Noy. 17—‘ Variation of Organisms,’ by Dr. C. B. 
Davenport, University of Chicago. 

Nov. 24—‘Picturesque Mexico,’ by Mr. P. V. 
Collins, Minneapolis, Minn. 


WE learn from medical exchanges that Dr. 
Frances Dickinson, president of the Illinois Edu- 
cational League, is making an effort to secure 


OCTOBER 12, 1909. ] 


from the State Legislature an appropriation of 
$50,000 to be used in establishing in Chicago 
and in other cities State laboratories for the 
teaching of the sciences of physics, chemis- 
try, bacteriology, biology and microscopy, and 
for extension courses throughout the State in 
sanitary and agricultural sciences. It is in- 
tended that the laboratories shall be open in 
the evenings to enable bread-winners to pro- 
cure a higher education than they are able to 
get now. 


Ir is reported that, upon the recommendation 
of the Department of War the Department of 
Agriculture is preparing an order setting apart 
as forest reserves the island of Rombolin, north 
of the island of Panay; also the island of 
Pauitaui, which is one of the extreme group of 
the Jolo Islands. Officers of the army who 
have been looking over the islands have found 
that these are perhaps the richest islands in the 
world for rubber trees, and it is the intention 
of the Washington authorities to have the trees 
preserved and cared for, especially as some 
fears lately have been expressed that the rubber 
supply may become exhausted. 


THE International Railway Congress, held 
this year at Paris, will meet in 1901, at Wash- 
ington, D.C. At the Paris meeting M. Bandin, 
French Minister of Public Works, paid a high 
tribute to the advanced state of railway con- 
struction and management in the United States, 
saying that all the later improvements adopted 
in Kurope came from America. European 
countries, he said, ought to realize that in rail- 
way improvements they are behind the United 
States and should take constant lessons from its 
methods. 

Ir is somewhat remarkable that while there 
are about 18,000 miles of electric trolley lines 
in the United States there are only about 300 
milesin Great Britain and Ireland. It might 
be supposed that the more dense population of 
the British Isles would especially support such 
lines. Recent financial conditions indicate that 
if an extension of the trolley lines in Great 
Britain is not soon undertaken by citizens of 
that country the field will be occupied by 
American engineers and capitalists. 


A NEW transatlantic liner of unequalled di- 


SCIENCE. 


575 


mensions is to be built by Kewland & Wolff, of 
Belfast, Ireland, for the Hamburg-American 
line. According to the press dispatches the 
new ship will be 750 feet long and 76 feet beam 
and will have accommodations for 2,000 pas- 
sengers and 12,000 tons of cargo. The speed 
will be 18 knots, and the most improved con- 
struction will be used throughout. The main 
dimensions of the Oceanic, at present the largest 
vessel, are: length 704 feet and beam 68 feet 
4} inches. The new Hamburg-American ship 
is to be completed in 1903. 


THE International Congress of Applied 
Chemistry was held in Paris during the last 
week of July, under the presidency of M. 
Moissan. There were as we have already 
stated ten sections: analytical chemistry, chem- 
ical industry of inorganic products, metallurgy, 
mines and explosives, chemical industry of or- 
ganic products, the sugar industry, chemical 
industry of fermentation, agricultural chem- 
istry, hygiene, food analysis, medical and 
pharmaceutical chemistry, photography and 
electrochemisty. Nature reports that more 
than two hundred papers were read and dis- 
cussed, and numerous resolutions were passed, 
of which the following were the most important. 
In view of the great inconvenience caused com- 
mercially by uncertainty in the atomic weights 
used by analytical chemists, the congress, hop- 
ing that the adoption of the atomic weight of 
oxygen as a base (O=16) would lead to a 
greater certainty and to a simplification in the 
calculation of atomic weights, agreed to work 
in unison with the International Commission 
on atomic weights. It further suggested the 
necessity for an International Commission for 
fixing methods and ceefficients of analysis in 
commercial work. Committees were also ap- 
pointed to deal with questions of indicators in 
volumetric work, analysis of manures, potash 
estimation, and the use of sulphurous acid in 
wine. In the second section the chief questions 
dealt with were the determination of high tem- 
peratures, construction of glass and porcelain 
furnaces, the manufacture of sulphuric acid, 
and of barium and hydrogen peroxides. In the 
section of metallurgy, mines and explosives, 
papers were read dealing with the sampling of 
minerals, the constitution of iron and steel, the 


576 


use of the microscope in the study of metals, 
utilization of waste heat, and the estimation of 
sulphur, manganese and phosphorus in metals. 
In the section dealing with the industry of or- 
ganic substances the most important discussion 
was on the use of alcohol for other than drink- 
ing purposes, and a series of resolutions was 
passed stating that in the opinion of the con- 
gress no duty should be charged upon alcohol 
used in the preparation of pharmaceutical and 
chemical products. In the case of alcohol in- 
tended for use as fuel, the substances added 
should be of a character appropriate to its use, 
not too costly, and not containing any non- 
volatile substance. Any attempt to recover 
pure alcohol from methylated spirit should be 
liable to severe penalties, and all makers of 
stills should be compelled to give particulars to 
the excise authorities of stills sold or repaired. 
In the other sections discussions were held on 
the relation of the sugar industry to the State, 
the methods of analysis of wines and spirits, 
the carbide industry, manufacture of percar- 
bonates, and numerous other papers of in- 
terest. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE new observatory of Wellesley College, 
the gift of a member of the Board of Trustees, 
was formally opened October 8th. Addresses 
were announced by Professors H. C. Pickering 
and David P. Todd. 


Unton College has received $10,000 from 
members of the Mather family of Jefferson 
county for the establishment of a department 
of agriculture. 


FRANCIS T. WHITE, of New York City, has 
given $25,000 to Earlham College, a Friends’ 
institution in Indiana, to be added to the like 
amount given by him a year ago, the whole 
to be known as the Francis T. White endow- 
ment fund. 


THE Faculty of Jefferson Medical College, 
Philadelphia, have recommended the establish- 
ment of a J. M. Da Costa Memorial Laboratory 
of Clinical Medicine in memory of the late Dr. 
Da Costa who was a graduate of the institution 
and left to it his collections. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 302. 


THE new School of Commerce, Accounts and 
Finance of the New York University was for- 
mally opened on October 2d, by Chancellor 
McCracken. Professor C. W. Haskins is the 
dean of the new school which started with an 
enrollment of about fifty students. 


THE Cornell Medical School now occupies its 
new building on First Avenue between Twenty- 
seventh and Twenty-eighth streets, New York 
City. 


THE University of Illinois has in course of 
construction a new agricultural building which 
will probably be the most extensive building in 
the United States devoted to agricultural edu- 
cation. $150,000 have been devoted to its con- 
struction. 


PRESIDENT CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, of the 
University of Wisconsin, has been give leave of 
absence owing to ill-health and will spend a 
year or more abroad. Dr. EH. A. Birge, pro- 
fessor of zoology, and dean of the College of 
Letters and Science has been made acting presi- 
dent. 


Dr. GEORGE H. ASHLEY, formerly assistant 
State Geologist of Indiana, has accepted the 
professorship of natural history at the College 
of Charleston in South Carolina. This is the 
position once held by Alexander Agassiz. 


Dr. T. Brrp Moyer, Ph.D. (Univ. of Pa.), 
instructor in chemistry in the University of 
Pennsylvania, has been recently elected to the 
professorship of chemistry in the Pennsylvania 
College of Dental Surgery. 


ARTHUR L. CLARK has been appointed pro- 
fessor of physics in Bates College, succeeding 
Professor M. C. Leonard who is now teaching 
in Japan. 


THE following assistants have been appointed 
in Columbia University : Alfred Tringle, Ph.D., 
analytical chemistry; Frank E. Pendleton, 
Ph.D., mechanical engineering ; Llewellyn Le 
Count, civil engineering; Chas. H. Hitchcock, 
mining; Wm. G. Clark, metallurgy. 


AT Johns Hopkins University, D. N. Shoe- 
maker has been appointed assistant in zoology 
and Dr. Gordon Wilson fellow in pathology. 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. NewcomB, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MrRRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bowpitcn, 
Physiology; J. S. Brnurnes, Hygiene; Wib~ttAm H. WetcuH, Pathology ; 

J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, Ocroser 19, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


Proceedings of the Section of Botany at the New York 
Meeting of the American Association : PROFESSOR 
1D), ie, WENO} DYOIOCE HT co-cs copssbadoosbocosdondacoobeEoHe0 577 


The Faith of Science: PROFESSOR GEORGE STUART 
FULLERTON .......... GoanecnoesanabcoponSanoDSbu0 AooqNO 586 


Address of the Chairman of the Department of As- 
tronomy of the British Association: DR. A. A. 
(COON EUIOIS? scosoconsbaboonodsonousaan ocbucoooonocSonDDScO0seR 590 


The Fourth International Congress of Psychology : 
DRE Se WOOD WOR THesecasaccecdtoreodaasserensece 605 
Scientific Books :— 


Zeiller’s Eléments de paléobotanique : PROFESSOR 
D. P. PENHALLOW ; Wartel’s La spéléologie : 
Dr. HoRACE C. Hovey ; Dréhms on the Crim- 
inal: DR. HAVELOCK ELLIs. Books Received. 606 


Scientific Journals and Articles..........11ecceeseeseeneee 611 


Societies and Academies : 
Section of Astromony, Physics and Chemistry of 
the New York Academy of Sciences: DR. WIL- 
TETUNRTT TS IDA? oocdobodddoschobaddaasnedocacucgoA ednaopooes 612 
Notes on Physics :— 
The Galton Whistle ; The Genesis of the Ions in the 
Discharge of Electricity through Gases: W.S. F. 613 
Scientific Notes and News.....1.:....c.ccoececeoeereereeeee 614 


University and Educational News ....2....10.1.0.0e.0000 616 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes™ 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson N. Y. 


PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECTION OF BOTANY 
AT THE NEW YORK MEETING OF THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 


Vicr-PRESIDENT TRELEASE’s address on 
‘Some Twentieth Century Problems’ was 
given in the large botanic laboratory in 
Schermerhorn Hall, on Monday, June 25th, 
at3 p.m. (Published in Science, 12: 48, 
1900.) On the following day and on the 29th, 
regular sessions were held for the reading 
of papers after the customary manner, and 
a list with some abstracts is given below. 

The Torrey Botanical Club gave, by invi- 
tation, a special memorial program in honor 
of Dr. John Torrey, in the Museum of the 
New York Botanical Garden, on Wednes- 
day, June 27th. ‘The principal features of 
the day were: 


‘Reminiscences of Dr. Torrey’: DR. T. C. PORTER. 

‘Work of Dr. Torrey as a botanist’: Dr. N. L 
BRITION. 

‘Historical sketch of the development of botany in 
New York City’: Dr. T. F. ALLEN. 

‘Comment on the earlier botanical history of New 
York’: JupGE ADDISON BRown. 

‘ Work of the Torrey Botanical Club’: SECRETARY 
E. S. BURGESS. 

Comments and reminiscences: PROFESSOR PECK, 
PROFESSOR MACLOSKIE, PROFESSOR BEAL and DR. 
T. F. ALLEN. A communication from JAs. HYATT 
wasalsoread. ‘These papers will be published in the 
Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 


The sectional committee had concluded 
arrangements with the Council of the Botan- 
ical Society of America by which the pro- 


578 


gram of the latter occupied the sessions on 
Thursday. A symposium on the plant geog- 
raphy of North America had been arranged 
for Friday, June 29th, in which the follow- 
ing papers were read : 


‘Distribution of the Spermatophytes in New Eng- 
land’: B. L. RoBINSON. 

‘ Distribution of the Spermatophyta in Southeastern 
United States’: J. K. SMALL. 

‘ Notes on the Lower Austral Element in the Flora of 
the southern Appalachian region’: THos. KEARNEY. 

‘Physiographic Ecology of Northern Michigan’: H. 
C. CowLeEs. 

“Vegetative Elements of the Sandhill region’: Ros- 
COE POUND. 

“Composition of the Rocky Mountain Flora’: PER 
AXEL RYDBERG. 

‘Flora of the Columbian Lavas’: C. V. PIPER. 

‘ Distribution of the Grasses of North America’: G. 
Y. NASH. 

‘Relationship between the North and South Amer- 
ican Floras’: W. L. BRAY. 

‘Floral Zones of Mexico’: J. N. ROSE. 

‘Origin of the flora of North America’: N. L. BRIT- 
TON. 


The committee on bibliography reported 
that the publication of the card catalogue of 
literature relating to American Botany had 
been undertaken by the Torrey Botanical 
Club. 


The Bacterial Air-Flora of the Semi-Desert Re- 
gion of New Mexico: By JoHN WELINZIRL. 
The study of the air-flora of our semi- 

desert region possesses considerable in- 

terest, especially since no similar investi- 
gation has been made under the same 
conditions. Our climate is characterized 
by extreme dryness, intense sunlight, hot 
summers and mild winters, and possesses 
considerable altitude.* Outside of the 
river valleys and in the mountain ranges, 
vegetation is scarce. Because of these 
facts it is generally supposed that practi- 
cally no bacterial life exists here. In mak- 
ing this investigation, it was thought that 
simple petri plate exposures would give re- 


* The altitude of Albuquerque is nearly 5,000 feet. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vor. XII. No. 303. 


sults sufficiently accurate for our purpose. 
Later a number of quantitative determina- 
tions were also made, a sand filter and 
aspirator can being used for this purpose. 
Regulation petri plates of approximately 
3.5 inches internal diameter were used. 
Agar-agar seemed to be the most suitable 
medium, since the high colors of the air 
germs are especially prominent upon it. 
For comparative purposes, the number of 
bacteria falling upon the plates were re- 
duced to a basis of 10 min. exposures. The 
number of plates exposed at one time was 
usually three, the results being averaged 
for the final figure. Seventeen exposures 
were made near the University of New 
Mexico, which is situated upon an elevated 
table land or ‘ mesa’ east of Albuquerque. 
The time covered seven months—Septem- 
ber to May. The number of bacteria fall- 
ing upon the plates during 10 minutes was 
35.8. The number fell as low as 3.8 in 
February, and rose to 71 in September. 
Thus the falling off in number during the 
winter season was quite marked. Com- 
parative experiments were also made be- 
tween the air of the ‘ mesa’ and that of the 
residence and business districts of Albu- 
querque, the population of which is about 
10,000. For approximate ratios we have 
1:6 between mesa and residence district; 
and 1:80 between mesa and business dis- 
trict. Similar experiments were made to 
show the difference between the air in the 
morning and evening for residence and 
business parts of the city. For the former 
we have an approximate ratio of 1:4; and 
for the latter 1:5. It need scarcely be 
added that the great increase for the 
evening (6 P. M.) is due to the activities 
incident to city life. A special test of 
the altitude factor was made in the latter 
part of July, 1900, the Sandia Mts. be- 
ing selected for the experiments. Plates 
were exposed in the usual way, at approx- 
imately 7,000 ft., 8,500 ft. and 10,000 fé., 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


the last number representing the highest 
peak. A considerable number of bacteria 
were obtained in each instance, the highest 
peak giving 18 per plate for 10 minutes. 
Quantitative determinations were made of 
the bacteria in mesa air and that of the 
residence district of Albuquerque. Five 
determinations (Nov.—Apr.) on the mesa 
gave an average of 41.6 bacteria per cubic 
meter or 1,000 liters. The eleven determi- 
nations in the city gave 143 bacteria per 
cubic meter. Both these results are lower 
than Miquel’s figures for Mont-Souris park 
near Paris in winter, his average for 10 
years being 170 per cubic meter. It would 
seem then, that the air of our semi-desert 
region is freer from bacteria life than other 
inhabited regions, but not as free asis popu- 
larly believed. The presence of a consid- 
erable number of bacteria in the air here, 
and even on the mountain tops is accounted 
for mainly by two factors, viz, large quan- 
tities of dust and relatively high winds. 
The extreme dryness facilitates dust forma- 
tion and the high winds distribute what 
bacteria may be contained in the dust. As 
to the flora itself, it has already been noted 
that chromogenic species are prominent. 
Six out of fourteen species isolated are 
chromogens. Four of these are micrococci, 
viz, A, (salmon-pink), A, (pink), A, (sul- 
phur-yellow) and A, (orange). Two are 
bacilli, A, (yellow) and A,, (pale-yellow). 
The remaining colonies are white or gray- 
white, and with the exception of A,, all are 
bacilli. Apparently all the species are new. 
It is worthy of note that this flora is char- 
acteristic for a large area of territory as is 
shown by experiments made at Belen, So- 
corro, Magdalena, Magdalena Mts. and the 
Sandia Mts. previously mentioned. This 
includes territory more than 100 miles dis- 
tant from Albuquerque. The wide distri- 
bution of this flora is undoubtedly due to 
the high winds which have a free sweep 
over the nearly barren mesas. 


SCIENCE. 


579 


Field Experiments with Tomato Rot : 

8. EARLE. 

In a paper read before the Botanical 
Club at the Columbus meeting* it was 
pointed out that the ‘black rot’ or ‘blossom 
end rot’ of the tomato was caused by an 
undetermined species of Bacillus; and it 
was suggested that natural infections in 
the field were probably due to the agency of 
some small insect. Thrips were suggested 
as the possible agents of infection since 
they had frequently been observed in con- 
nection with the disease. It was also re- 
marked that there seemed to be more hope 
in seeking remedies among the insecticides 
rather than among the fungicides. In or- 
der to test these views the following field 
experiments were carried out during the 
spring of 1900. It was hoped that some 
of the insecticides used might also be of 
benefit in controlling the fall worm. Nine 
plots were set with approximately 100 plants 
each. All were fertilized and cultivated 
alike and all were pruned to a single 
stem and were topped after setting the 
third fruit cluster. Plots 1, 8 and 9 were 
checks. The other plots were sprayed 
eight times each at intervals of three to 
five days with kerosene, whale oil soap and 
‘Rose Leaf’ tobacco extract, singly and in 
combination as is shown by the following 
table. The kerosene was applied as a 10% 
mechanical mixture, the soap as a 14 Ib. 
to 1 gal. of water solution and the ‘ Rose 
Leaf’ as a 1 pt. to 1 gal. solution. The 
kerosene proved to burn the foliage inju- 
riously when applied with the other solu- 
tions and it was dropped from plots 3 and 6 
after the third spraying. The whale oil soap 
solution also injured the foliage slightly. 
The plots were gone over every other day 
and all wormy and rotted fruits were re- 
moved and counted. The ripening fruits 
were also counted when picked and the 


By F. 


* Since published as a part of Ala. Exp. Sta. Bull., 
No. 109, pp. 20-25. 


580 


sound ones remaining on the vines at the 
close of the experiment. 


Treatment, sprayed 8 times 
at 3 to 5 day intervals. 


100 plants. 
[Per cent. of wormy fruits. 


Number of rotted fruits 
Per cent. of rot. 


Number of wormy fruits 


Total yield of fruits per 
|per 100 plants. 


Plot number. 
100 plants. 


© |per 
re) 
st 
iS 
(oo) 
J 


(CIEE, ooo nondeqonsdosoodcendeoose 11366) 
10 per cent. mechanical 
mixture kerosene and water.|1417) 301 
10 per cent. kerosene and 
whale oil soap, 14 Ibs. to 1 gal.|/1495; 384 |25) 407 |27 
Whale oil soap, 14 lbs. to 1 
[EET s scodadenoncoascgacosce9neDGc090000 1309) 243 |18) 456 |39 
“Rose Leaf’ tobacco ex- 
tract, 1 pt. to 1 gal.............. 1467) 202 |13) 443 |32 
“Rose Leaf’ as above and 
kerosene 10 per cent............. 1355) 170 |12) 513 |37 
“Rose Leaf’ as above, and 
whale oil soap as above........./1518) 339 22) 584 (38 
ONO hs scosoncosnnscosenaq0a500 1490) 188 |12) 589 |39 
Checkeeierecoeceiecestecneesteiee 1241| 177 |14) 526 |42 


Se) 
= 

wo 

es 

Se) 

yy 

@ 

~w 

lor) 


pm 1 oP KN oR we VEY 


As seen from the above table the number’ 


of rotted fruits varied from 12% to 27% in 
the different plots, the highest being one of 
the checks and the lowest also one of the 
checks and the plot receiving ‘ Rose Leaf’ 
and kerosene. The average for all the 
plots was 203%, for the three check plots it 
was 172%, for the three plots receiving 
‘Rose Leaf’ tobacco extract either alone or 
in combination, it was only 152%, while for 
the three whale oil soap plots it rose to 
212%. These figures slightly favor the to- 
bacco treatment, but as the average is only 
27% less than that of the checks and only 
5% less than the average for all the plots, 
while the different check plots varied among 
themselves as much as 15%, it seems best 
to consider the case as not proven. Thrips 
were almost entirely absent from the to- 
mato plants this year and no other small 
insect was observed in sufficient numbers 

* This plot was intended for Bordeaux mixture 
and Paris green, but owing to accident to spray 


pump, only one application was made and that is 
not believed to have affected the result. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 303. 


to account for the spread of the disease. 
It must be admitted that the problem of 
how natural infections occur is still un- 
solved, and that no remedy has been dis- 
covered. It was noted that on some vines 
nearly or quite all the fruits rotted, while 
on others in the same plot all remained 
sound. The high average in plots 1 and 3 
was due to the condition of a few plants 
where all the fruits became diseased and 
plot 9 would have had a lower average than 
any but for a few plants in the outside row. 
It was also noted that dry weather favored 
the spread of the disease, while a period of 
daily showers would almost entirely pre- 
vent the appearance of new cases. This 
agrees with previous observations. 

The number of wormy fruits varied from 
13% in plot 1 to 42% in plot 9. This pro- 
gressive increase in numbers indicates that 
in this case the position of the plot in the 
field rather than the treatment was the 
controlling factor. 


Concentric Spore Spots: By B. D. Hausen. 
The spores of parasitic fungi generally 
reach the surface of the host for aerial dis- 
tribution by either the hyphe of the fungus 
passing out through the stomata and after- 
wards bearing the spores free in the air, or 
in forming in masses just beneath the epi- 
dermis through which they break and thus 
become liberated. The peronosporas, cerco- 
sporas, ramularias and macrosporiums are 
good examples of the first named method, 
while the cystopus and gloeosporium are 
instances of the second type, which includes 
the vast number of members of the true 
rust fungi. In Acidium and allied genera 
there is a special organ which envelops the 
spores, lifts the epidermis and bursts open 
as a deeply-seated cup. Similar to this isa 
large number of the fungi imperfecti with the 
septorias and phylostictas as types where 
the pycnidium makes a way through the epi- 
dermis and presents its mouth free for the 


OCTOBER 19, 1900.] 


discharge of the spores. Those fungi that 
produce their spores directly upon the sur- 
face through the stomata have their area of 
sporification defined by the distribution of 
the stomata and the veins and veinlets be- 
come boundary lines in many instances. 
When the fungus has the habit, as in the 
rusts, of massing the sporiferous hyphe be- 
neath the epidermis a new set of conditions 
is introduced. It is found in such, by mi- 
croscopic examination, that the portion of 
the host just beneath the rupture is almost 
entirely replaced by the dense plexus of 
fungus hyphe, and the host tissue is de- 
stroyed and the immediate threads are not 
favorably situated for further growth. At 
a short distance from the sorus in all direc- 
tions the vitality is probably greater and 
new points of spore-production are estab- 
lished, resulting in a secondary circle of 
sori surrounding the original spore-spot. 
The development of this circle may be fol- 
lowed by a second ring of sori, each sorus 
more or less crescent-shaped until the host 
shows ‘fairy rings’ as real as those in the 
lawn or meadow and for a similar reason. 
Plants showing this concentric growth and 
fruitage of its fungous parasite arenumerous. 
Among those best illustrating the phenome- 
non are Cystopus candidus (P.) upon Bursa, 
Nasturtium, and several other Crucifere ; 
Puceinia asparagi DC. upon Asparagus offi- 
cinale L.; Puccinia Arenaria (Schum) on 
Dianthus barbatus L.; and Puccinia Hieracii ? 
upon Ohrysanthemum Sinense Sab. All of 
these were shown by means of microphoto- 
graphs. 


An Anthracnose and a Stem Rot of Antirrhinum 
majus: By F. C. Stewarr. 

Antirrhinum majus is subject to two de- 
structive diseases: (1) An anthracnose 
caused by a new species of Colletotrichum for 
which the author proposes the name Colleto- 
trichum antirrhint ; (2) A stem rot caused by 
an undetermined species of Phoma. 


SCIENCE. 


581 


The Colletotrichum is destructive to plants 
of all ages, at all seasons, both in the green- 
house and in the field. It produces numer- 
ous elliptical depressed spots on the stems 
and circular dead brown spots on the leaves. 
It fruits sparingly, except in a very moist 
atmosphere. It has been successfully com- 
bated by spraying the plants once a week 
with Bordeaux mixture. The Phoma at- 
tacks the stems, causing sections an inch or 
more in length to turn brown or black. The 
attack may be made at any point on the 
stems above ground but is most likely to 
occur a few inches below the tips of succu- 
lent shoots. The portion of the shoot be- 
yond the point of infection quickly wilts 
and dies. Inoculation experiments with 
pure cultures of the Phoma have shown that 
it is an active parasite on succulent shoots 
but attacks woody stems with difficulty. 


Notes upon Peltandra rust, Ceomurus Caladii 
(Schw.) Kunze Abstract: By F. H. Brop- 
GETT. 

This rust was very abundant in the ecid- 
ial stage about the 15th of May, in a bed of 
hardy aquatics within the New York Bo- 
tanical Garden. Some leaves were infested 
upon nearly every plant in the bed, and 
upon some, all the leaves were infested. 
Usually the upper portion of the petiole 
was most severely attacked. In the worst 
cases the midrib and its branches, and the 
petiole nearly to the water would be covered 
with the eecidia. In such cases the plants 
suffered severely from a bacterial rot affect- 


ing first the stems at those points most 


rusted, thence spreading, until the stem 
rotted away. Uredosori were not observed 
until June 7th; they became gradually more 
abundant, but at no time were they so viru- 
lent or so conspicuous as in the earlier stage. 
The uredosori were confined in many cases. 
to the blade of the leaf, although occasion- 
ally found on the midrib and petiole. The 
uredospores bear a decided resemblance in 


582 


shape, to those of the fern rust Melamp- 
sorella aspidiotus (Pk.) Mag., upon Onoclea 
and other marsh ferns. 


A Mold Isolated from Tan-Bark Liquors : 

By Katnarine L. GoupEn. 

A mold was isolated from tan-bark 
liquors which were obtained from a tanning 
factory employing the liming process for 
unhairing the hides. The mold was pres- 
ent in both fresh, sweet and sour liquors. 
The mold is pink in color and has a char- 
acteristic floury appearance, due to the 
great number of spores formed. The or- 
ganism fermented sucrose, dextrose and 
maltose. In most gelatine it grew pro- 
fusely, developing a pronounced pink color, 
whereas in the ordinary meat gelatine the 
development was scanty and pale. Three 
distinct enzymes were developed by the ac- 
tion of the mold ; a tryptic, a diastatic and 
a rennet enzyme; all three fairly active. 
The protoplasm in some of the larger 
hyphze was strongly motile, though the 
hyphz seemed to be possessed of septa. 
So far as could be determined by the aid of 
stains and by salts causing osmotic activity 
in the mold, the seeming septa are thick- 
ened rings on the outside of the filaments. 
The mold developed, in the various media 
used, an odor resembling that of tanned 
hides. No sexual organs were developed. 
Photo-micrographs and diagrams were used 
to show the appearance of the mold in the 
various stages of development. 


The Embryo-sac of Peperomia pellucida: By 

Duncan 8. JOHNSON. 

The primary archesporial cell of P. pellu- 
cida is single and subepidermal. It cuts off 
a single tapetal cell above and then im- 
mediately develops to the embryo-sac. The 
nucleus of the embryo-sac divides by mitosis 
to sixteen similar nuclei, distributed about 
in the peripheral layer of cytoplasm. Two 
of these nuclei are soon found at the upper 
end of the sae with a rather larger portion of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 303. 


cytoplasm about each. The larger of these 
two nuclei with its cytoplasm forms the egg, 
the wall of which is at first very delicate 
and indistinct. The other seems to play the 
part of a synergid, and it also has no distinct 
wall until a much later stage. Hight of the 
remaining fourteen peripheral nuclei collect 
in a compact group, located near the lateral 
or basal wall of the embryo-sac, or often 
just below the egg. Before the male and 
female nuclei fuse these eight nuclei fuse 
together completely into one large nucleus 
which from this time behaves like the endo- 
sperm nucleus of the ordinary Angiosperm 
embryo-sac. This nucleus divides before 
any change is visible in the egg. A cell 
wall is formed immediately at each division, 
from the cell plate of the spindle, so that in 
the ripe seed there are forty or more endo- 
sperm cells, completely surrounding the em- 
bryo except above. The embryo at this 
time consists of twenty or more cells and 
reaches half way to the base of the embryo- 
sac. The remaining six peripheral nuclei 
are seen at this stage to be flattened against 
the wall of the but little enlarged embryo- 
sac by the endosperm cells and show signs 
of degeneration. The endosperm cells ap- 
pear at this time to have protoplasmic con- 
tents only, but the whole tissue of the rel- 
atively much enlarged nucellus is densely 
packed with starch. The results here given 
agree with those recently published by 
Campbell, for this form up to the sixteen- 
nucleate stage of the embryo-sac. But he 
finds two synergide and interprets the 
group of eight nuclei as probably antipodals, 
which he thinks separate again later. He 
also apparently interprets as part of the 
embryo the mass of endosperm cells which 
finally fill most of the embryo-sac and there- 
fore concludes that there is no endosperm. 


A Contribution to a Knowledge of the Organ- 
ogeny of the Flower and of the Embryology of 
the Caprifoliacee: By Neviiz P. Hewins. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


A study of the embryology of Viburnum 
prunifolium is interesting because the ovules 
of two of the locules of the tricarpellary 
ovary early become aborted, while the sin- 
gle ovule of the remaining locule develops 
normally. The functional ovule which oc- 
cupies the largest locule attains the ana- 
tropous condition before the abortive 
ovules, from three to five in number, in 
each of the smaller locules, begin their 
development. The abortive ovules never 
become anatropous because of the me- 
chanical conditions arising from lack of 
space in the locules, which are soon 
filled by the developing nucelli. The 
archesporial cell of the abortive ovules 
either divides to form two megaspores, 
each of which by successive divisions forms 
eight nuclei, or else it forms the em- 
bryo-sae directly, which in its completed 
state contains sixteen nuclei. The nuclei 
are similar in appearance and fail to he- 
eome differentiated and arranged accord- 
ing to the usual plan of embryo-sacs. 
These abortive embryo-sacs persist until 
after fertilization, when they begin to dis- 
integrate. The archesporial cell of the 
functional ovules divides to form two mega- 
spores, the lower of which usually en- 
larges to become the embryo-sae. The 
polar nuclei fuse before anthesis. The an- 
tipodal apparatus, which consists of three 
large cells, increases in size after the forma- 
tion of the endosperm nucleus until the 
differentiation of the egg apparatus, when 
it begins to disintegrate. The nucellar tis- 
sue, small in amount, disappears as the 
embryo-sac develops. The endosperm nu- 
cleus divides rapidly, after fertilization, by 
free-cell division. A bulky endosperm is 
soon formed and is surrounded by the in- 
tegument; integumental cells infringing 
upon the endosperm constitute, as in cer- 
tain other gamopetale, a tapetum, which 
does not disintegrate. An accumulation of 
food near the embryo is to be noted. 


“SCIENCE. 


583 


On the supposed Polymorphism of EHremos- 
phera viridis: By G. T. Moore. 

This unicellular alga has been the subject 
of considerable speculation as to its life his- 
tory and consequent systematic position. 
De Bary who first described it, thought it 
might be a desmid, while De Wildeman be- 
lieved it was more probably a zygospore than 
a desmid itself. De Toni suggested that 
Eremosphera was nothing more than a pro- 
thallial condition of some fern, and Chodat, 
one of the most recent observers of this plant, 
has made out a remarkable case of poly- 
morphism; finding stages resembling Pal- 
mella, Schizochlamya, Centrosphera and other 
genera, in addition to the formation of zoo- 
spores. The author of the present paper has 
attempted, by means of pure cultures, to 
demonstrate the true affinities of the plant 
and after studies covering several years, 
comes to the conclusion that Hremosphera 
has no other method of reproduction than 
that of simple division, and that it cannot 
be related to any of the numerous genera it 
has been supposed to resemble. The paper 
will be published in full in the Botanical 
Gazette. 


Note on Arcetthobitim: By HERMANN von 

SCHRENK. 

The speaker described the method of seed 
distribution of these mistletoes, and the 
germination of theseed. Some large brooms 
formed by Arceuthobium pusillum on the 
black spruce were shown, and the occur- 
rence of this species on the red spruce in 
the southern Adirondacks was reported. 


The Origin of the Tannin in Galls: By Hunry 

KRAEMER. 

In presenting some notes on the origin of 
tannin in galls the author limits his obser- 
vations to examinations of the common 
‘ink ball’ or ‘ oak-gall’ which is produced 
on Quercus coccinea Wang, and Q. imbricaria 
Michx, probably by Cynips aciculata O. S. 
The galls are nearly globular in shape and 


584 


mottled with a yellowish or greenish brown. 
When they fall from the tree the cell con- 
tents (besides the organized contents) are 
made up largely of starch grains. With 
the development of the larva certain changes 
are observed in the cell contents. If the 
galls are placed in solutions of copper ace- 
tate (7 per cent.) and allowed to remain for 
several weeks or months, there separates in 
the parenchyma cells of the middle zone 
yellowish crystals or crystalline masses, 
which may be lens-shaped, star-shaped or 
fan-shaped, much resembling the different 
carbohydrates as hesperidin, inulin, etc., 
which separate in certain plant cells when 
specimens are placed in alcohol. They are 
insoluble in water, alcohol, glycerin or 
chloral solutions. The appearance, reac- 
tions and a comparison with copper gal- 
late crystals lead to the conclusion that 
they are of this composition. When the 
winged insect has developed, specimens 
which have been treated with copper ace- 
tate solutions show in the parenchyma 
cells numerous brownish-red tannin masses 
to which may be adhering some yellowish- 
brown crystals of gallic acid. The gallic 
acid appears to be formed at the expense of 
the starch in the gall during the chrysalis 
stage of the insect. With the development 
of the winged insect this then is changed 
(by simple condensation of two molecules 
of gallic acid with the loss of one molecule 
of water) to tannic acid. 


A New Species—Hybrid, Salsify : 

HALSTED. 

Tragopogon, a rather large genus of the 
Chicory family has two species in the flora 
of the United States, namely, 7. porrifolius 
cultivated for its roots as the ‘ oyster plant’ 
and a wild species the 7. pratensis L. The 
cultivated species is in many ways very 
different from the wild form, being larger, 
but most strikingly in the heads of flowers. 
The T. porrifolius has purple corollas, while 


By B. D. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 303. 


the T. pratensis has yellow and much smaller 
flowers. The hybrid obtained under gar- 
den culture is a close average between the 
two plants as to size, style of branching and 
the like, while the flowers are of a peculiar 
rose color. Perhaps the most interesting 
feature of the hybrid plants is their great 
vigor, they blooming profusely after the 
parent types are out of season and even 
dead and gone. The number of seeds pro- 
duced in each head is small in the hy- 
brids, not more than four usually, and a 
small fraction-of the number in the heads 
of the parent. The individual seeds, how- 
ever, in the hybrid are much larger than in 
the true porrifolius the larger of the parents. 
The hope of getting greater vigor of plant 
and size of root, with possibly a diminished 
tendency to disease in the hybrid than now 
found in the old garden form is fully sus- 
tained for the first year. Several photo- 
graphs were shown of flower, fruit, etc. 


The Development of the Ovule in Delphinium ex- 
altatum Att: By Louise B. Donn. 

The gynecium of Delphiniwm consists 
normally of three separate carpels, each 
bearing two rows of anatropous ovules; the 
development of the ovule as far as deter- 
mined was the usual angiosperm type. 
Some of the earlier stages of the embryo- 
sac were missed. The archesporial cell is 
one or two layers below the epidermis of 
the nucellus. The integuments arise first 
as two annular thickenings around the 
nucellus, but as the ovule becomes anatro- 
pous the integument appears single. The 
cells of the embryo-saec divide—until they 
number eight, and the endosperm nucleus 
is regularly formed by a fusion of two nuclei, 
one from each pole. The three gourd- 
shaped antipodal cells are unusually large 
before fertilization; as in Aconitum and others 
of the Ranunculacee they seem active from 
the appearance of their cytoplasm and the 
staining of the surrounding cells; mitosis 


OcTOBER 19, 1900. ] 


also occurs in them sometimes. It is prob- 
able they have some physiological impor- 
tance in transferring food from the chalazal 
portion of ovule to the embryo-sac, es- 
pecially after fertilization, to the growing 
endosperm tissue. They persist until the 
embryo is fully formed and do not elongate 
(as in Aconitum) or multiply, but show no 
signs of degeneration even in the seed. The 
embryo is very small with heart-shaped 
cotyledons,and a hypocoty! about one-tenth 
their length. The suspensor is short, prob- 
ably only one cell long. The endosperm tis- 
sue fills the entire embryo-sac, and is full 
of oil. The only interesting feature of the 
ovule development in Delphinium seems to 
be the added arguments in favor of regard- 
ing the antipodals as of present physiological 
use, and not as mere degenerating evidences 
of a tendency to produce spores in tetrads, 
or as a partial and functional homologue of 
the prothallus. 


An Attempted New Method of Producing Zygo- 
spores in Rhizopus nigricans: By Louise 
B. Dunn. 

The method consisted in cultivating 
spores of stock material of Rhizopus on a 
solid nutrient substance in test tubes. The 
stock material was the sporangial form, and 
usually produced zygospores in about a 
month when sown on sterilized bread. 
But on a mixture of Pfeffer’s nutrient solu- 
tion and enough gelatine to make it stiff at 
room temperature, the zygospores were pro- 
duced in from 6 to 10 days. ‘Trial cultures 
were also made in test tubes kept at 10° C. 
and in Petri dishes at room temperature, 
using the mixture as above; in Pfeffer’s 
solution without the gelatine and on agar- 
agar. None of these cultures was success- 
ful, as only sporangia were formed. 

This rapid production of the zygospores 
could not always be controlled, averaging 
three times out of five. Experiments to 
force zygospore formation in wild Rhizopus 


SCLENCE. 


585 


or Mucor have not been successful as yet, 
but it is hoped that future cultures may de- 
termine more definitely whether the results 
are due to confined space and lack of ox- 
ygen, to temperature conditions or to nu- 
trient substance used. 


The Composition of Endosperm and Milk of 
the Cocoanut: By J. EH. Kirkwoop and 
Witiiam J. Gizs. 

The authors supplemented the report of 
their work previously given before the New 
York Academy of Sciences (Scrence, 11, 
12; 951, 1900), by presenting the results of 
later quantitative analyses: The following 
figures represent the average general com- 
position of the endosperm: Water, 46% ; 
solids, 54%. Of the latter 98.1% is organic 
and 1.9% inorganic; 43.4% is fat and 21.9% 
“erude fiber.’ The fresh endosperm con- 
tains 0.75% of nitrogen, which is equiva- 
lent to about 4.7% of ‘albuminoid.’ It is 
probable, however, that much of the nitro- 
gen found exists in the form of ‘ extractives.’ 
General analysis of the milk gave the fol- 
lowing average data: Water, 95.3% ; 
solids, 4.7%. Of the latter 88.5% is or- 
ganic; 11.5% inorganic. Three dozen de- 
terminations of gross relationships gave the 
following average weights and percentages : 

Weight of whole nut, 610 grams. 
Integument, 170 grams == 27.9%. 


Endosperm, 333 grams = 64.5%,. 
Milk, 107 grams = 17.6%. 


The volume of the milk averaged 105 c.c. 


When Increase in Thickness begins in our Trees : 
By Guo. T. Hastines. Presented by W. 
W. RowLer. 

As far as could be ascertained no special 
attention has been given to the time when 
increase in thickness takes place in our 
trees. One finds only such general state- 
ments as this.* ‘The inner portion of 
any one annual ring... is formed in 
the spring; while the outer portion... 

* Sachs, ‘ Physiology of Plants,’ 1887, pp. 162. 


086 


has arisen towards the conclusion of the 
period of wood-forming activity.” It was 
found that in the broad-leaved trees ex- 
amined no increase in thickness took 
place until the buds had opened and 
the first. leaves expanded; that the first 
formation of new wood was in the neighbor- 
hood of the terminal bud; that the first 
growth was not continuous around the 
stem, but of vessels and tracheids in irreg- 
ular groups ; that the growth was continued 
gradually from the one-year twig to the 
two- and three-year twigs ; and that when 
the new wood begins to form on five- and 
six-year twigs the process becomes very 
rapid, seeming as if at that time growth 
began simultaneously over the whole tree. 
Growth usually begins and extends more 
rapidly on the upper more exposed limbs 
sometimes a week before any sign of growth 
can be seen on the lower limbs. In the 
pine an apparent exception was found, for 
increase in thickness began on two- and 
three-year twigs before it began on one-year 
twigs and before the buds had opened. By 
the time the buds were well opened the 
growth had extended from the terminal 
shoot down the trunk and growth was just 
beginning on the lower branches. This 
seems to be due to the leaves remaining on 
the twig for two or three years. In the hem- 
lock, which holds its leaves for six or seven 
years, the growth, when examined about 
the end of May, was greatest on six- 
year twigs and decreased up to the one-year 
twigs where the growth was slight. Onone 
of the deciduous Gymnosperms, the bald 
cypress (Taxodium distichum), the condi- 
tions seem to be as in the broad-leaved, de- 
ciduous trees ; no growth in thickness begins 
till the leaves are expanded, and then it be- 
gins at the younger branches and extends 
back to the older ones. 


On the Assimilation of some Organic Substances 
by Plants: By J. F. Cuarx. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 303, 


The Rheotropism of Roots: By F. C. Nrw- 
COMBE. 

North American Sordariacee : 
GRIFFITHS. 


The Development of the Egg and Fertilization of 
Pinus Strobus: By Marcarer C. FerGu- 
SON. 

Nuclear Division in the Hepatice: By B. M. 
Davis. 

The History of the Bulbils of Lysimachia ter- 
restris L.: By D. T. MacDoveatu. 

Observation on Root Hairs: By W. J. BEAL. 
The root hairs of Agrostemma Githago IL. 

and Lilene notiflora Li. arise in vertical rows 

of epidermal cells, and those of the former 
are always extensions of the apical end, 
while they arise in the middle of cells in 
other species. Great variations in size and 
form were found, and septate hairs were 
seen on Chenopodium hybridum. Root 
hairs are extremely sensitive to changes of 
temperature and moisture. 

D. T. MacDoveat, 
Secretary. 


By Davip 


THE FAITH OF SCIENCE.* 


Ir has been said that each man has one 
thing to say, and that when he speaks twice 
he repeats the second time what he said the 
first. I hope that the saying is not wholly 
true ; and yet I fear that in my case there 
is a grain of truth init. I was invited to 
speak a year ago to the Graduates’ Club, 
and I suspect that I then said much that 
I am always tempted to say to graduate 
students. However, as your Dean has, for 
lack of better available material, invited 
me to address you at this your first meet- 
ing of the year, I must. say something; 
and so I shall take down again the old 
fiddle, and give you what some of you will 
recognize as merely a variation upon the 
old tune. 


* An address before the Graduate School of the 
University of Pennsylvania. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


Several times this summer there has 
come into my mind a passage from an early 
work by Ernst Renan, in which he im- 
presses one with the fact that it is melan- 
choly to contemplate the bewildering masses 
of monographs with which the increasing 
specialization on the part of scholars threat- 
ens to flood the world. 

Upon returning to the University this 
fall, and turning over the leaves of the new 
journals, the new books and the off-prints 
sent me by various friends and correspond- 
ents, 1am impressed anew by the thought 
that, in every field of science, the swelling 
mass of material is indeed bewildering—I 
will even say appalling—and that the 
amount of attention that it is possible for 
any of us to bestow upon much of it seems 
a poor repayment to the author for his days 
and nights of a labor usually but poorly re- 
quited in the current coin of the realm. I 
am not speaking of papers printed for the 
sake of printing, precipitately created out 
of nothing at the fiat of a restless desire to 
keep one’s self in evidence—the ‘let there 
be noise,’ which results in thunder not pre- 
ceded by the illuminating flash. I speak of 
earnest efforts to add a little to the sum of 
human knowledge—a new historical fact 
dragged from some obscure and out of the 
way corner by a man who thinks it not with- 
out significance ; an odd case of the use of 
the dative in medieval Latin; a set of ex- 
periments, of perhaps doubtful import, on 
the borderland which separates psychology 
from physiology; a description of some 
rather uninteresting beetle; or an analysis 
of the argument of some equally uninter- 
esting philosophical writer. Of printing 
for print’s sake, many of you know my 
opinion. But what shall we say touching 
the numberless publications over which 
their authors have spent blood and sweat, 
and which seem to be read chiefly, if at all, 
by the ungrateful reviewer? When so few 
care to listen to the song, 


SCIENCE. 


587 


‘What boots it, with incessant care, 
* * * * * * * 


To strictly meditate the thankless Muse ?”’ 


I speak to those who expect to devote 
their lives to science, and who, if they have 
within them any grain of modesty, will 
probably sometimes feel inclined to ask 
themselves seriously whether human life is 
really enriched in any appreciable degree 
by the fruit of their labors. 

There have been ages in the world’s his- 
tory when such questionings would not so 
naturally have arisen. The many-sided in- 
tellectual curiosity which accompanied the 
new awakening of the world in the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries, did not find it 
necessary to enquire whether it ‘paid’ to 
establish the text of Cicero or to speculate 
touching the significance of Plato’s Timzeus. 
The greater the number of the intellectual 
enthusiasms alive at a given epoch, the less 
the likelihood that such a doubt as I have 
mentioned should arise in any given field. 
At every age, it is generally assumed that 
something or other is of importance, and 
the judgment of the age supports and in- 
cites to activity even the humblest worker 
in that particular field. Who would to-day 
think of doubting the value of the inven- 
tion of a new air-brake, the discovery of a 
new process for obtaining dye-stufts, or the 
devising of a new mechanical contrivance 
for quieting the baby. But scholars who 
spend their time upon matters which seem 
to have no connection with such things as 
these, are, perhaps naturally, called upon, 
from time to time, to give an account of 
their stewardship,and not infrequently have 
reason to doubt whether their contempor- 
aries view their labors as of any value at 
all. No one likes to stand alone. He who 
is doubted comes to doubt himself; and he 
may even come to work in the half-hearted 
way natural to one without the enthusiasm 
which is born of faith. 

What can I say to you in the face of 


588 


these things? Can I prove that every his- 
torical fact which may be discovered will be 
found to have a directly practical ethical 
or political significance? Can I show that 
all psychological experimentation is capital 
in the hands of the pedagogue? Does the 
discovery of every new beetle prove a boon 
to the agriculturist or to any oneelse? Are 
all philosophers so inspired that we may 
assume their words to be of value, whether 
we understand them or not? Manifestly, I 
can not prove these things, or show in just 
what respect human life has been enriched 
by a multitude of seekers after truth who 
have, perhaps, really succeeded in adding 
their modicum to the sum total of our 
knowledge. 

Nor do I stand here with any desire to 
prove such things. The thought which I 
wish to bring before you is a very dif- 
ferent one. It is that it is in no way 
incumbent upon you to give such a proof, 
or to torture yourselves with the idea that 
you must daily justify your labors by the 
exhibition of what is often called their 
practical importance. Science and letters 
would come toa sorry pass if it were re- 
garded as indecorous for man to look upon 
the naked truth, and if she were held 
to be a fit object of contemplation only 
when bundled up in her working clothes 
and busied about the hearth or the loom. 
A too narrow attention to what is com- 
monly called ‘the practical ’ would sap the 
very foundations of progress ; would defeat 
its own ends by cutting off that light which 
is our final guarantee of life and growth. 
Shall we close some of the windows in the 
house of life because this or that age pre- 
fers to have its light filtered through a par- 
ticular medium? What may be the needs 
of man, the direction of development of so- 
ciety in the ages to succeed our own? Who 
can tell what knowledge will be found to 
be of the profoundest moment to those who 
come after us? Shall we, in our littleness, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


shut our eyes on the living miracle about us, 
except at such times as its light reveals just 
those objects which seem providentially in- 
tended for our particular dinner-pail? Some 
nonsense has, to be sure, been talked about 
‘truth for truth’s sake’; ‘ truth,’ we are apt 
to object, ‘for the sake of life.” Butin the 
larger faith of science, that faith without« 
which the world could not have been where 
it now is, there is no truth that may not 
be of value to life; no truth that is not 
worthy of our highest endeavor. 

Perhaps it will be admitted that truth 
should be sought in a generous spirit, and 
that, in the history of the human race, the 
army of those who have peered curiously 
into the mysteries of human life and the na- 
ture of things has played a part that cannot 
be overestimated. We have, it seems to 
me, a right to demand so much, at least, of 
all intelligent men. But the question re- 
mains: What can we say touching the in- 
dividual value of the numberless units that 
have tramped wearily intheranks? That 
the great captains have accomplished some- 
thing notable few will deny. They have 
conquered the fair lands that we now culti- 
vate. But how of the common soldier, 
whose very name is unknown, except to the 
few who busy themselves with the dusty 
records of an almost forgotten past, and love 
to loiter in the by-ways of curious learning ? 
Has he existed to no purpose? Has he 
toiled in vain? 

Surely not. He has done what he could. 
He has contributed his little to the enlight- 
enment of the race; and out of his very 
errors, his perplexed and rather aimless 
marchings to and fro, there may have come 
aresult he little expected and as little hoped. 
Only he who knows something of the his- 
tory of human knowledge knows with what 
pangs of labor the modern world has been 
brought to the birth. It is an ancient fable 
that makes Minerva spring fully armed 
from the head of Jove. Not thusis knowl- 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


edge born. Human enlightenment is a 
thing of small beginnings ; it is the out- 
growth of the life of the race, not the 
magical creation of a few master minds. 
Many hands have labored to rear the great 
edifice, and he who has earried a single 
stone, even a small one, has not lived in 
vain. 

“Nevertheless, ’’one may whisper, “‘ What 
if that stone should turn out to be no stone 
at all, but a clod of earth, and of no value 
to the building ?”’ I answer: that is not 
your affair nor mine. Nature is prodigal of 
the means by which she attains her ends. 
We share with men in other walks of life 
the uncertainty as to the ultimate value of 
our particular labors. It is plainly neces- 
sary that there should be physicians and 
lawyers, and the rest; yet in view of the 
ignorance which hems us in, in view of the 
nearness of our horizon and the impossi- 
bility of predicting with certainty the re- 
mote consequences of human actions, who 
can dare to estimate the total accomplish- 
ment of this life or that? We are a part 
of a great whole; we must share in the 
life of the whole ; and those of us who are 
striving to carry our little grain of truth 
to the common board must rejoice in the 
wealth of the community, not grow des- 
pondent at the smallness of our contribu- 
tion. 

Let me invite you, then, to enter with 
joy upon your scientific labors. You can 
be called to no nobler work, and you must 
approach it in no doubting spirit. You 
must be inspired with a reverence for truth, 
and a faith in its priceless value for human 
life, that will carry you over periods of 
doubt and despondency; a faith that will 
gild with its mellow light the dry dust of 
your daily labor, and cast a ray into even 
those darker chambers in the blind walls of 
which you, with others, are striving to open 
a passage to the light of heaven. 

And if you have this faith it will save 


SCIENCE. 


589 


you from that scientific intolerance which is 
not more tolerable than intolerance of other 
kinds. Do not narrow the meaning of 
the word ‘science.’ Let it be a synonym 
for openness of mind, patience, freedom 
from prejudice, a willingness to see the 
beauty and admit the importance of truths 
of many kinds. Do not undervalue the 
toil of men who delve in obscure corners of 
fields far remote from your own. The uni- 
verse is, after all, but one; there is but one 
science, in the broadest sense of the word. 
The vibration of an atom, the unfolding of 
a flower, the structure of a mollusc, the in- 
stinct of a brute, and the reason of a man 
—what is there that does not call for in- 
vestigation? If I may study the history 
and trace the development of a group of 
plants, why may I not investigate, in the 
same scientific spirit, not merely a group 
of languages, but a literature or a philos- 
ophy? This truth or that truth must not, 
in our minds, usurp the name of Truth; 
and the cause of science is not furthered by 
an enthusiasm which fails to see how many- 
sided truth is, and with what different in- 
struments one may do good work in differ- 
ent departments. I lay some emphasis 
upon this point because, with increasing 
specialization—the natural result of an in- 
crease in human knowledge—there goes a 
certain danger. We cannot all work in all 
fields, of course; but if we have the truly 
scientific spirit, we shall value at its real 
worth faithful work done in every field. 
Fortunately for you, your association with 
each other here at the university will tend 
to open your eyes to the beauty of towers 
and pinnacles on the edifice of knowledge, 
which are taking their shape under other 
hands than your own. 

In the name of my colleagues I bid you 
welcome to the work of the university ; 
and I wish you a full measure of success. 

GEORGE SruarT FULLERTON. 

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 


590 


ADDRESS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE DE- 
PARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY OF THE 
BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

Ir has been decided to form a Depart- 
ment of Astronomy under Section A, and I 
have been requested to give an address on 
the occasion. In looking up the records of 
the British Association to see what position 
astronomy has occupied, I was delighted 
to find, in the very first volume, ‘ A Report 
on the Progress of Astronomy during the 
Present Century,’ made by the late Sir 
George Airy, so many years our Astrono- 
mer Royal, and at that time Plumian Pro- 
fessor of Astronomy at Cambridge. This 
report, made at the second meeting of the 
Association, describes, in a most interest- 
ing manner, the progress that was made dur- 
ing the first third of the century, and we 
can gather from it the state of astronomical 
matters at that time. The thought natur- 
ally occurred to me to give a report, on 
the same lines, to the end of this century, 
but a little consideration showed that it was 
impossible in the limited time at my dis- 
posal to give more than a bare outline of the 
progress made. 

At the time this report was written we 
may say, in a general way, that the 
astronomy of that day concerned itself with 
the position of the heavenly bodies only, 
and, except for the greater precision of ob- 
servation resulting from better instruments 
and the larger number of observatories at 
work, this, the gravitational side of astron- 
omy, remains much as it was in Airy’s 
time. 

What has been aptly called the New or 
Physical Astronomy did not then exist. I 
propose to briefly compare the state of things 
then existing with the present state of the 
science, without dealing very particularly 
with the various causes operating to pro- 
duce the change ; to allude briefly to the 
new astronomy; and to speak rather fully 
about astronomical instruments generally, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 303. 


and of the lines on which it is most prob- 
able future developments will be made. 

In this report * we find that at the be- 
ginning of the century the Greenwich Ob- 
servatory was the only one in which ob- 
servations were made on a regular system. 
The thirty-six stars, selected by Dr. Maske- 
lyne, and the sun and moon were observed 
on the meridian with great regularity, the 
planets very rarely and only at particular 
parts of their orbits ; small stars, or stars 
not included in the thirty-six, were seldom 
observed. 

This state of affairs was no doubt greatly 
improved at the epoch of the report, but it 
contrasts strongly with the present work at 
Greenwich, where 5,000 stars were ob- 
served in 1899, in addition to the astro- 
graphic, spectroscopic, magnetic, meteoro- 
logical and other work. 

Many observatories, of great importance 
since, were about that time founded, those 
at Cambridge, Cape of Good Hope, and 
Paramatta having just been started. A 
list is given of the public observatories then 
existing, with the remark that the author | 
is ‘ unaware that there is any public ob- 
servatory in America, though there are,’ 
he says, ‘some able observers.’ 

The progress made since then is truly re- 
markable. The first public observatory in 
America was founded about the middle of 
the century, and now public and private 
observatories number about 150, while the 
instrumental equipment is in many cases 
superior to that of any other country. The 
prophetic opinion of Airy about American 
observers has been fully borne out. The 
discovery of two satellites to Mars by Hall 
in 1877, of a fifth satellite to Jupiter by 
Barnard in 1892, and the discovery of 
Hyperion by Bond, simultaneously with 
Lassall, in 1848, are notable achievements. 

The enormous amount of work turned 
out by the Harvard Observatory and its 

* Brit. Assoc. Report, 1831-32, p. 125. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


branches in South America, all the photo- 
graphic and spectroscopic work carried out 
by many different astronomers, and the 
new lines of research initiated show an 
amount of enthusiasm not excelled by any 
other country. A greater portion of the 
astronomical work in America has been on 
the lines of the new astronomy, but the old 
astronomy has not been at all neglected. 
In this branch pace has been kept with 
other countries. 

From this report we gather that the 
mural quadrant at most of the observa- 
tories was about to be replaced by the di- 
vided cirele. Troughton had perfected a 
method of dividing circles, which, as the 
author says, ‘may be considered as the 
greatest improvement ever made in the art 
of instrument making.’ 

Two refractors of 11 and 12 inches aper- 
ture had just been imported into this coun- 
try ; clockwork for driving had been ap- 
plied to the Dorpat and Paris equatorials, 
but the author had not seen either in a state 
of action. 

The method of mounting instruments 
adopted by the Germans was rather se- 
verely criticised by the author, the general 
principle of their mounting being ‘ tele- 
scopes are always supported at the middle, 
not at the ends.’ 

‘“‘ Every part is, if possible, supported by 
counterpoises.”’ 

“To these principles everything is sacri- 
ficed. For instance, in an equatorial the 
polar axis is to be supported in the middle 
by a counterpoise. This not only makes 
the instrument weak (as the axis must be 
single), but also introduces some inconveni- 
ence into the use of it. The telescope is on 
one side of the axis ; on the other side is a 
counterpoise. Hach end of the telescope 
has a counterpoise. A telescope thus 
mounted must, I should think, be very 
liable to tremor. If a person who is no 
mechanic and who has not used one of 


SCIENCE. 


591 


these instruments may presume to give an 
opinion, I should say that the Germans 
have made no improvement in instruments 
except in the excellence of workmanship.” 

I have no doubt that this question had 
often occupied Airy’s mind, for in the 
Northumberland Equatorial Telescope 
which he designed shortly after for Cam- 
bridge he adopted what has been called 
the English form of mounting, where the 
telescope is supported by a pivot at each 
side, and a long polar axis is supported at 
each end. This telescope is in working 
order at the present time at Cambridge. 

When he became Astronomer Royal he 
used the same design for what was for 
many years the great equatorial at Green- 
wich, though the wooden uprights forming 
the polar axis were in the Greenwich tele- 
scope replaced by iron. It says much for 
the excellence of the design and workman- 
ship of this mounting, designed as it was for 
an object glass of about 13 inches diameter, 
when we find the present Astronomer Royal, 
Mr. Christie, has used it to carry a tele- 
scope of 28 inches aperture, and that it does 
this perfectly. 

Notwithstanding the greater steadiness 
of the English form of mounting, the Ger- 
man form has been adopted generally for the 
mounting of the large refractors recently 
made. 

There is much interesting matter in this 
report of an historical character. 

As I have already said, the new as- 
tronomy, as we know it, did not exist, but 
in a report * on optics, in the same volume, 
by Sir David Brewster, we find that spec- 
trum analysis was then occupying atten- 
tion, and the last paragraph of this report 
is well worth quoting: “But whatever 
hypothesis be destined to embrace and ex- 
plain this class of phenomena, the fact 
which I have mentioned opens an extensive 
field of inquiry. By the aid of the gaseous 

* Brit. Assoc. Rep., 1831-32, p. 308. 


592 


absorbent we may study with the minutest 
accuracy the action of the elements of ma- 
terial bodies in all their variety of combi- 
nations, upon definite and easily recognized 
rays of light, and we may discover curious 
analogies between their affinities and those 
which produce the fixed lines in the spectra 
of the stars. The apparatus, however, 
which is requisite to carry on such in- 
quiries with success cannot be procured by 
individuals, and cannot even be used in 
ordinary apartments. Lenses of large di- 
ameter, accurate heliostats, and telescopes 
of large aperture are absolutely necessary 
for this purpose ; but with such auxiliaries 
it would be easy to construct optical com- 
binations, by which the defective rays in 
the spectra of all the fixed stars down to 
the tenth magnitude might be observed, and 
by which we might study the effects of the 
very combustion which lights up the suns 
of other systems.” 

Brewster’s words are almost prophetic, 
and it would almost appear as if he un- 
knowingly held the key to the elucidation 
of the spectrum lines, for it was not until 
1859 that Kirchhoff’s discovery of the true 
origin of the dark lines was made. 

Fraunhofer was the first to observe the 
spectra of the planets and the stars, and to 
notice the different types of stellar spectra. 
In 1817 he recorded the spectrum of Venus 
and Sirius, and later, in 1823, he described 
the spectrum of Mars; also Castor, Pollux, 
Capella, Betelgeux, and Procyon. 

Fraunhofer, Lamont, Donati, Brewster, 
Stokes, Gladstone, and others carried on 
their researches at a time when the princi- 
ples of spectrum analysis were unknown, 
but immediately upon Kirchhoff’s discov- 
ery great interest was awakened. 

With spectrum analysis thus established, 
aided as it was later by the greater devel- 
opment of photography, the new astronomy 
was firmly established. 

The memorable results arrived at by 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


Kirchhoff were no sooner published than 
they were accepted without dissent. The 
works of Stokes, Foucault, and Angstrom at 
that period were all suggestive of the truth, 
but do not mark an epoch of discovery. 

Astronomical spectroscopy divided itself 
naturally into two main branches, the one 
of the sun, the other of the stars, each 
having its many offshoots. I shall just 
mention a few points relating to each. The 
dark lines in the solar spectrum had al- 
ready been mapped by Fraunhofer, and 
now it only needed better instruments and 
the application of laboratory spectra with 
Kirchhoff’s principle to advance this work 
still further. 

Fraunhofer had already pointed out the 
way in using gratings, and these were fur- 
ther improved by Nobert and Rutherfurd. 

Kirchhoff’s ‘Map of the Solar Spectrum,’ 
published in 1861-62, was the most com- 
plete up to that time ; but the scale of refer- 
ence adopted by him was an arbitrary one, 
so that it was not long before this was im- 
proved upon. Angstrom published in 1868 
his ‘Map of the Normal Solar Spectrum,’ 
adopting the natural scale of wave-lengths 
for reference, and this remained in use until 
quite recent times. 

The increased accuracy in the ruling of 
gratings by Rutherfurd materially improved 
the efficiency of the solar spectroscope, but 
it was not until Professor Rowland’s inven- 
tion of the concave grating that this work 
gained any decisive impetus. ‘The maps 
(first published in 1885) and tables (pub- 
lished in the years 1896-98) of the lines of 
the solar spectrum are now almost univer- 
sally accepted and adopted as a standard 
of reference. These tables alone record 
about 10,000 lines in the spectrum of the 
sun, which is in marked contrast to the 
number 7 recorded by Wollaston at the be- 
ginning of the century (1802). Good work 
in the production of maps has also been 
done in this country by Higgs. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


Michelson has also recently invented a 
new form of spectroscope called the ‘ Eche- 
lon,’* in which a grating with a relatively 
small number of lines isemployed, the dis- 
persion necessary for modern work being 
obtained by using a high order (say the 
hundredth) into which most of the light 
has been concentrated. 

Besides lines recorded in the visual and 
ultra-violet portions of the solar spec- 
trum, maps have been made of the lines in 
the infra-red, the most important being that 
of Langley’s, published in 1894, prepared 
by the use of his ‘bolometer.’ Good work 
had, however, been done in this direction 
previously by Becquerel, Lamansky and 
Abney; the last, indeed, succeeded even in 
photographing a part of it. 

The recording of the Fraunhofer lines in 
the solar spectrum is not all, however. The 
application of the spectroscope to the sun 
has several epoch-marking events attached 
to it, notably those of proving the solar 
character of the prominences and corona, 
the rendering visible of the prcominences 
without the aid of an eclipse by the dis- 
covery of Lockyer and Janssen in 1868, the 
photography of the prominences both round 
the limb and those projected on the solar 
dise by the invention of the spectro-helio- 
graph by Hale and Deslandres in 1890. 

Success has not yet favored the many at- 
tempts to photograph the corona without 
an eclipse by spectroscopic means ; but even 
now this problem is being attacked by Des- 
landres with the employment of the calorific 
rays. 

Spectroscopic work on the sun has led to 
the discovery of many hundreds of dark 
lines, the counterparts of which it has not 
yet been possible to produce on the earth. 

But besides those unknown substances 
which reveal their presence by dark lines, 
there were two others discovered, which 
showed themselves only by bright lines, the 

* Ast. Phys. Journ., Vol. VIII., 1898, p. 37. 


SCIENCE. 


593 


one in the chromosphere, to which the name 
of Helium was given, and the other in the 
corona, to which the name of Coronium was 
applied. 

The former was, however, identified ter- 
restrially by Ramsay in 1895, though the 
latter is still undetermined. The revision 
of its wave-length, brought about by the 
observations of the eclipse of 1898, may, 
however, result in this element being trans- 
ferred from the unknown to the known in 
the near future. 

The study of stellar spectra was taken up 
by Huggins, Rutherfurd and Secchi. Ruth- 
erfurd* published in 1862 his results upon 
a number of stars, and suggested a rough 
classification of the white and yellow stars ; 
but Secchi deserves the high credit of in- 
troducing the first systematic system of dif- 
ferentiation of the stars according to their ~ 
spectra, he having begun a spectroscopic 
survey of the heavens for the purpose of 
classification,f whilst Huggins devoted him- 
self to the thorough analysis of the spectra 
of a few stars. 

The introduction of photography marks 
another epoch in the study of stellar spectra. 
Sir William Huggins applied photography as 
early as 1863,{ and secured an impression of 
the spectrum of Sirius, but nearly another 
decade elapsed before Professor H. Draper § 
took a photograph of the spectrum of Vega 
in 1872, which was the first to record any 
lines. With the introduction of dry plates 
this branch of the new astronomy received 
another impetus, and the catalogues of 
stellar spectra have now become numerous. 
Among them may be mentioned those of 
Harvard College, Potsdam, Lockyer, Mc- 
Clean, and Huggins. The ‘ Draper Cata- 
logue’ || of the Harvard College, which is a 

* Am. Journ., Vol. XXXV., 1862, p. 77. 

+ ComptesRendus, T. LVII., 1853. 

+ Phil. Trans., 1864, p. 428. 

%Am. Journ. of Sc. and Arts, Vol. XVIII., 1879, 


p. 421. 
|| Annals Harvard Coll., Vol. XXVII., 1890. 


594 


spectroscopic Durchmusterung, alone con- 
tains the spectra of 10,351 stars down to 
the 7-8 magnitudes, and this has further 
been extended by work at Arequipa, whilst 
Vogel and Miller, of Potsdam,* made a 
spectroscopic survey of the stars down to 
7.5 magnitude between —1° and + 20° 
declination. This has again been supple- 
mented by Scheiner}t (‘ Untersuchungen 
uber die Spectra helleren Sterne’), and by 
Vogel and Wilsing{ (‘ Untersuchungen 
uber die Spectra von 528 Sternen’). Lock- 
yer § in 1892 published a series of large- 
scale photographs of the larger stars, and 
more recently McClean || has completed a 
spectroscopic survey of the stars of both 
hemispheres down to the 34 magnitude. 
For the study and investigation of special 
types of stars, the researches of Dunér on 
the red stars made at Upsala, and those of 
Keeler and Campbell on the bright line 
stars made at the Lick Observatory, de- 
serve mention. For the study of stellar 
spectra the use of prisms in slit or object- 
ive prism spectroscopes has predominated, 
though more recently the use of spec- 
ially ruled gratings has been attended by 
some degree of success at the Yerkes Ob- 
servatory. 

Several new stars have also been dis- 
covered by their spectra by Pickering in his 
routine work of charting the spectra of the 
stars in different portions of the sky. The 
photographic plate containing their peculiar 
spectra was, however, not examined in 
many cases until the star had died down 
again. 

Spectrum analysis also opened up an- 
other field of inquiry, viz, that of the 
motion of the stars in the line of sight, 
based on the process of reasoning due to 


* Astro-Phys. Obs. zw Potsdam, Vol. III., 1882-83. 
t Ibid., Vol. VII., 1895. 

{Ibid., Vol. XII., 1899. 

@ Phil. Trans., Vol. CLXXXIV., A, 1893. 

|| Phil. Trans., Vol. CXCI., A, 1898. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


Doppler, and accordingly named Doppler’s 
Principle.* 

The observatories of Greenwich and Pots- 
dam were among the first to apply this to 
the stars, and more recently Campbell at 
Lick, Newall at Cambridge, and Belopolsky 
at Pulkowa have made use of the same 
principle with enormous success. 

It was also discovered that there are cer- 
tain classes of stars having a large com- 
ponent velocity in the line of sight, which 
changes its direction from time to time, and 
in many such eases orbital motion has been 
proven, as in the case of Algol. 

Another case of binary stars has also 
been discovered spectroscopically and ex- 
plained by Doppler’s principle. I refer to 
the stars known as spectroscopic binaries, 
in which the spectrum lines of one luminous 
source reciprocate over those from the 
other source of light, according as one is 
moving towards or away from the earth. 
This displacement of the spectrum lines 
led to the discovery of the duplicity of ? 
Aurige, and ¢ Urs Majoris by Pickering. + 

Several other such stars have now been 
detected, notably @ Lyre, and lastly Capella 
discovered independently by Campbell { at 
Lick, and Newall§ at Cambridge. 

The progress of the new astronomy is so 
closely bound up with that of photography 
that I shall briefly call to mind some of the 
many achievements in which photography 
has aided the astronomer. 

Daguerre’s invention in 1839 was almost 
immediately tried with the sun and moon, 
J. W. Draper and the two Bonds in 
America, Warren de la Rue in this coun- 
try, and Foucault and Fizeau in France, 
being among the pioneers of celestial photog- 


* ‘Ueber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne,’ . . . 
Abhandl. der K. Béhmischen Ges. d. Wiss. V. Folge, 
2. Bd. 1843. 

+ Am. Jour. (3), 39, p. 46 (1890). 

} Astro-Phys. Jour., Vol. X., p. 177. 

@ Monthly Notices, Vol. LX., p. 2 (1899). 


OcToBER 19, 1900.] 


raphy ; but no real progress seems to have 
been made until after the introduction of 
the collodion process. Sir John Herschel 
in 1847 suggested the daily self-registration 
of the sun-spots to supersede drawings; and 
in 1857 the de la Rue photo-heliograph was 
installed at Kew. From 1858-72 a daily 
record was maintained by the Kew photo- 
heliograph, when the work was discon- 
tinued. Since 1873 the Kew series has 
been continued at Greenwich, which is sup- 
plemented by pictures from Dehra Din in 
India and from Mauritius. The standard 
size of the sun’s disc on these photographs 
has now been for many years 8 inches, 
though for some time a 12-inch series was 
kept up. 

The first recorded endeavor to employ 
photography for eclipse work dates back to 
1851, when Berowsky obtained a daguerreo- 
type of the solar prominences during the 
total eclipse. From that date nearly every 
total eclipse of the sun has been studied by 
the aid of photography. 

In 1860 the first regularly planned attack 
on the problem by means of photography 
was made, when de la Rue and Secchi suc- 
cessfully photographed the prominences and 
traces of the corona, but it was not until 
1869 that Professor Stephen Alexander ob- 
tained the first good photograph of the 
corona. 

In recent years, from 1893 up to the 
total eclipse which occurred last May, 
photography has been employed to secure 
large-scale pictures of the corona. These 
were inaugurated in 1893 by Professor 
Schaeberle, who secured a 4-inch picture of 
the eclipsed sun in Chili; these have been 
exceeded by Professor Langley, who ob- 
tained a 15-inch picture of the corona in 
North Carolina during the eclipse of May, 
1900. 

Photography also supplied the key to the 
question of the prominences and corona be- 
ing solar appendages, for pictures of the 


SCIENCE. 


595 


eclipsed sun taken in Spain in 1860 termi- 
nated this dispute with regard to the prom- 
inences, and finally to the corona in 1871. 

In 1875, in addition to photographing the 
corona, attempts were made to photograph 
its spectrum, and at every eclipse since then 
the sensitized plate has been used to record 
both the spectrum of the chromosphere and 
the corona. The spectrum of the lower 
layers of the chromosphere was first suc- 
cessfully photographed during the total 
eclipse of 1896 in Nova Zembla by Mr. 
Shackleton, though seen by Young as early 
as 1870, and a new value was given to the 
wave-length of the coronal line (wrongly 
mapped by Young in 1869) from photo- 
graphs taken by Mr. Fowler during the 
eclipse of 1898 (India). 

Lunar photography has occupied the at- 
tention of various physicists from time to 
time, and when Daguerre’s process was 
first enunciated, Arago proposed that the 
lunar surface should be studied by means 
of the photographically produced images. 

In 1840 Dr. Draper succeeded in impress- 
ing a daguerreotype plate with a lunar im- 
age by the aid of a 5-inch refractor. The 
earliest lunar photographs, however, shown 
in England were due to Professor Bond, of 
the United States. These he exhibited at 
the Great Exhibition in 1851. Dancer, the 
optician, of Manchester, was perhaps the 
first Englishman who secured lunar images, 
but they were of small size.* 

Another skillful observer was Crookes, 
who obtained images of 2 inches diameter 
with an 8-inch refractor of the Liverpool 
Observatory. In 1852 de la Rue began ex- 
perimenting in lunar photography. He em- 
ployed a reflector of some 10 feet focal 
length and about 13 inches diameter. A 
very complete account of his methods is 
given in a paper read before the British As- 
sociation. Mr. Rutherfurd at a later date 
having tried an 114-inch refractor, and also 

* Abney (Photography ). 


596 


a 18-inch reflector, finally constructed a 
photographic refracting telescope, and pro- 
duced some of the finest pictures of the 
moon that were ever taken until recent 
years. Also Henry Draper’s picture of 
the moon taken September 3, 1863, re- 
mained unsurpassed for a quarter of a cen- 
tury. 

Admirable photographs of the lunar sur- 
face have been published in recent years by 
the Lick Observatory and others. I myself 
devoted considerable attention to this sub- 
ject at one time; but only those surpassing 
anything before attempted have been pub- 
lished in 1896-99 by MM. Loéwy and Pui- 
seux, taken with the Equatorial Coudé of 
the Paris Observatory. 

Star prints were first secured at Harvard 
College, under the direction of W. C. Bond, 
in 1850; and his son, G. P. Bond, made in 
1857 a most promising start with double- 
star measurements on sensitive plates, his 
subject being the well-known pair in the 
tail of the Great Bear. The competence of 
the photographic method to meet the 
stringent requirements of exact astronomy 
was still more decisively shown in 1866 by 
Dr. Gould’s determination from his plates 
of nearly fifty stars in the Pleiades. Their 
comparison with Bessel’s places for the 
same objects proved that the lapse of 
‘a score of years had made no difference 
in the configuration of that immemorial 
cluster; and Professor Jacoby’s recent 
measures of Rutherfurd’s photographs taken 
in 1872 and 1874 enforce the same conclu- 
sion. 

The above facts are so forcible that no 
wonder that at the Astrophotographic Con- 
gress held in Paris in 1887 it was decided 
to make a photographic survey of the 
heavens, and now eighteen photographic 
telescopes of 13 inches aperture are in 
operation in various parts of world, for the 
purpose of preparing the international as- 
trographic chart, and it was hoped that the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


catalogue plates would be completed by 
1900. 

Photography has been applied so assid- 
uously to the discovery of minor planets 
that something like 450 are now known, 
the most noteworthy, perhaps, as regards 
utility, being the discovery of Eros (4383) in 
1898 by Herr Witt at the Observatory of 
Urania, near Berlin. 

With regard to the application of photog- 
raphy to recording the form of various 
nebule, it is interesting to quote a passage 
from Dick’s ‘ Practical Astronomer,’ pub- 
lished in 1845, as opposed to Herschel’s 
opinion that the photography of a nebula 
would never be possible. 

“Tt might, perhaps, be considered as be- 
yond the bounds of probability to expect 
that even the distant nebule might thus be 
fixed, and a delineation of their objects 
produced, which shall be capable of being 
magnified by microscopes. But we ought 
to consider that the art is only in its in- 
faney, and that plates of a more delicate 
nature than those hitherto used may yet 
be prepared, and that other properties of | 
light may yet be discovered which shall 
facilitate such designs. For we ought now 
to set no boundaries to the discoveries of 
science, and to the practical applications of 
scientific discovery, which genius and art 
may accomplish.”’ 

It was not, however, until 1880 that 
Draper first photographed the Orion Ne- 
bula, and later by three years I succeeded 
in doing the same thing with an exposure 
of only thirty-seven minutes. In Decem- 
ber, 1885, the brothers Henry by the aid 
of photography found that the Pleiades were 
involved in a nebula, part of which, how- 
ever, had been seen by myself * with my 3- 
foot reflector in February, 1880, and later, 
February, 1886, it was also partly discerned 
at Pulkowa with the 30-inch reflector then 
newly erected. 

* Monthly Notices, Vol. XL., p. 376. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


Still more nebulosity was shown by Dr. 
Robert’s photographs,* taken with his 20- 
inch reflector in October and December, 
1886, when the whole western side of the 
group was shown to be involved in a vast 
nebula, whilst a later photograph taken 
by MM. Henry early in 1888 showed that 
practically the whole of the group was a 
shoal of nebulous matter. 

In 1881 Draper and Janssen recorded the 
comet of that year by photography. 

Huggins} succeeded in photographing a 
part of the spectrum of the same object, 
(Tebbutt’s Comet, 1881, II.) on June 24th, 
and the Fraunhofer lines were amongst 
the photographic impressions, thus demon- 
strating that at least a part of the contin- 
uous spectrum is due to reflected sunlight. 
He also secured a similar result from Comet 
Wells.{ 

I propose to consider the question of the 
telescope on the following lines: (1) The 
refractor and reflector from their inception 
to their present state; (2) The various 
modifications and improvements that have 
been made in mounting these instruments, 
and (3) the instrument that has been lately 
introduced by a combination of the two, 
refractor and reflector, a striking example 
of which exists now at the Paris Exhibi- 
tion. 

At a meeting of the British Association 
held nearly half a century ago (1852, Bel- 
fast) Sir David Brewster showed a plate of 
rock crystal worked in the form of a lens 
which had been recently found in Nineveh. 
Sir David Brewster asserted that this lens 
had been destined for optical purposes, and 
that it never was a dress ornament. 

That the ancients were acquainted with 
the powers of a magnifying lens may be in- 
ferred from the delicacy and minuteness of 
the incised work on their seals and intagl- 

* Monthly Notices, Vol. XLYIL., p. 24. 


t Proc. Roy. Soc., Vol. XXXII., No. 213. 
{ Rep. Brit. Assoc., 1882, p. 442. 


SCIENCE. 


597 


ios, which could only have been done by 
an eye aided by a lens of some sort. 

There is, however, no direct evidence 
that the ancients were really acquainted 
with the refracting telescope, though Aris- 
totle speaks of the tubes through which the 
ancients observed distant objects, and com- 
pares their effect to that of a well from the 
bottom of which the stars may be seen in 
daylight.* As an historical fact without 
any equivocations, however, there is no 
serious doubt that the telescope was in- 
vented in Holland. 

The honor of being the originator has 
been claimed for three men, each of whom 
has had his partisans. Their names are 
Metius, Lippershey and Janssen. 

Galileo himself says that it was through 
hearing that some one in France or Holland 
had made an instrument which magnified 
distant objects that he was led to inquire 
how such a result could be obtained. 

The first publisher of a result or dis- 
covery, supposing such discovery to be hon- 
estly his own, ranks as the first inventor, 
and there is little doubt that Galileo was 
the first to show the world how to make a 
telescope.{ His first telescope was made 
whilst on a visit to Venice, and he there ex- 
hibited a telescope magnifying three times ; 
this was in May, 1609. Later telescopes 
which emanated from the hands of Galileo 
magnified successively four, seven and 
thirty times. This last number he never 
exceeded. 

Greater magnifying power was not at- 
tained until Kepler explained the theory 
and some of the advantages of a telescope 
made of two convex lenses in his Catoptrics 
(1611). The first person to actually apply 
this to the telescope was Father Scheiner, 
who deseribes it in his Rosa Ursina (1630), 
and Wm. Gascoigne was the first to appre- 
ciate practically the chief advantages by 


* De Gen. Animalium, Lib. V. 
+ Newcomb’s Astronomy, p. 108. 


598 


his invention of the micrometer and appli- 
cation of telescopic sights to instruments of 
precision. 

It was, however, not until about the mid- 
dle of the seventeenth century that Kep- 
ler’s telescope came to be nearly universal, 
and then chiefly because its field of view 
exceeded that of the Galilean. 

The first powerful telescopes were made 
by Huyghens, and with one of these he dis- 
covered Titan (Saturn’s brightest satellite) : 
his telescopes magnified from forty-eight to 
ninety-two times, were about 24 inches 
aperture, with focal lengths ranging from 
12 to 23 feet. By the aid of these he gave 
the first explanation of Saturn’s ring, 
which he published in 1659. 

Huyghens also states that he made ob- 
ject-glasses of 170 feet and 210 feet focal 
length ; also one 300 feet long, but which 
magnified only 600 times ; he also presented 
one of 123 feet to the Royal Society of Lon- 
don. 

Auzout states that the best telescopes of 
Campani at Rome magnified 150 times, and 
were of 17 feet focal length. He himself is 
said to have made telescopes of from 300 to 
600 feet focus, but it is improbable that 
they were ever put to practical use. Cas- 
sini discovered Saturn’s fifth satellite 
(Rhea) in 1672, with a telescope made 
by Campani, magnifying about 150 times, 
whilst later, in 1684, he added the third 
and fourth satellites of the same planet to 
the list of his discoveries. 

Although these telescopes were unwieldy, 
Bradley, with his usual persistency, actually 
determined the diameter of Venus in 1722 
with a telescope of 212 feet focal length. 

With suchcumbersome instruments many 
devices were invented of pointing these 
aerial telescopes, as they were termed, to 
various parts of the sky. Huyghens con- 
trived some ingenious arrangements for 
this purpose, and also for adjusting and 
centering the eyepiece, the object-glass and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 303. 


eyepiece being connected by a long braced 
rod. 

It was not, however, until Dollond’s in- 
vention of the achromatic object-glass in 
1757-58 that the refracting telescope was 
materially improved, and even then the dif- 
ficulty of obtaining large blocks of glass free 
from striz limited the telescope as regards’ — 
aperture, for even at the date of Airy’s re- 
port we have seen that 12 inches was about 
the maximum aperture for an object-glass. 

The work of improving glass dates back 
to 1784, when Guinand began experiment- 
ing with the manufacture of optical flint 
glass. 

He conveyed his secrets to the firm of 
Fraunhofer and Utzschneider, whom he 
joined in 1805, and during the period he 
was there they made the 9.6 inches object- 
glass for the Dorpat telescope. 

Merz and Madler the successors of Fraun- 
hofer, carried out successfully the methods 
handed down to them by Guinand and 
Fraunhofer. 

Guinand communicated his secrets to his 
family before his death in 1823, and they 
entered into partnership with Bontemps. 
The latter afterwards joined the firm of 
Chance Bros., of Birmingham, and so some 
of Guinand’s work came to England. 

At the present day MM. Feil, of Paris, 
who are direct descendants of Guinand and. 
Messrs. Chance Bros., of Birmingham, are 
the best-known manufacturers of large 
discs of optical glass. 

It is related in history that Ptolemy 
Euergetes had caused to be erected on a 
lighthouse at Alexandria a piece of appa- 
ratus for discovering vessels a long way off ; 
it has also been maintained that the instru- 
ment cited was a concave reflecting mirror, 
and it is possible to observe with the naked 
eye images formed by a concave mirror, 
and that such images are very bright. 

Also the Romans were well acquainted 
with the concentrating power of concave 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


mirrors, using them as burning mirrors, as 
they were called. The first application of 
an eye lens to the image formed by reflec- 
tion from a concave mirror appears to have 
been made by Father Zucchi, an Italian 
Jesuit. His work was published in 1652, 
though it appears he employed such an in- 
strument as early as 1616. The priority, 
however, of describing, if not making, a 
practical reflecting telescope belongs to 
Gregory, who, in his ‘Optica Promota,’ 
1663, discusses the forms of images of ob- 
jects produced by mirrors. He was well 
aware of the failure of all attempts to per- 
fect telescopes by using lenses of various 
curvature, and proposed the form of reflect- 
ing telescope which bears his name. 

Newton, however, was the first to con- 
struct a reflecting telescope, and with it he 
could see Jupiter’s satellites, ete. Hncour- 
aged by this he made another of 64 inches 
focal length, which magnified thirty-eight 
times, and this he presented to the Royal 
Society on the day of his election to the So- 
ciety in 1671. 

To Newton we owe also the idea of em- 
ploying pitch, used in the working of the 
surfaces. 

A third form of telescope was invented 
by Cassegrain in 1672. He substituted a 
small convex mirror for the concave mirror 
in Gregory’s form, and thus rendered the 
telescope a little shorter. 

Short also, from 1730-68, displayed un- 
common ability in the manufacture of re- 
flecting telescopes, and succeeded in giving 
true parabolic and elliptic figures to his 
specula, besides obtaining a high degree of 
polish upon them. In Short’s first tele- 
scopes the specula were of glass, as sug- 
gested by Gregory, but it was not until after 
Liebig’s discovery of the process of deposit- 
ing a film of metallic silver upon a glass 
surface from a salt in solution that glass 
specula became almost universal, and thus 
replaced the metallic ones of earlier times. 


SCIENCE. 


599 


Shortly after the announcement of Lie- 
big’s discovery Steinheil*—and later, in- 
dependently, Foucault }—proposed to em- 
ploy glass for the specula of telescopes, 
and, as is well known, this is done in all 
the large reflectors of to-day. 

I now propose to deal with the various 
steps in the development of the telescope, 
which have resulted in the three forms that 
I take as examples of the highest develop- 
ment at the present time. These are the 
Yerkes telescope at Chicago, my own 5-foot 
reflector, and the telescope recently erected 
at the Paris Exhibition, dealing not only 
with the mountings, but with the principles 
of construction of each. When the tele- 
scope was first used all could be seen by 
holding it in the hand. As the magnifying 
power increased some kind of support would 
become absolutely necessary, and this would 
take the form of the altitude and azimuth 
stand, and the motion of the heavenly 
bodies would doubtless suggest the paral- 
lactic or equatorial movement, by which 
the telescope followed the object by one 
movement of an axis placed parallel to the 
pole. This did not come, however, imme- 
diately. The long focus telescopes of which 
I have spoken were sometimes used with a 
tube, but more often the object-glass was 
mounted in a long cell and suspended from 
the top of a pole, at the right height to be 
in a line between the observer and the ob- 
ject to be looked at; and it was so arranged 
that by means of a cord it could be brought 
into a fairly correct position. Notwith- 
standing the extreme awkwardness of this 
arrangement most excellent observations 
were made in the seventeenth century by 
the users of these telescopes. Then the 
achromatic telescope was invented and me- 
chanical mountings were used, with circles 
for finding positions, much as we have them 
now. I have already mentioned the rivalry 


* Gaz. Univ. @ Augsburg, March 24, 1856. 
+ Comptes Rend., Vol. XLIV., February, 1857. 


600 


between the English and German forms of 
mountings, and Airy’s preference for the 
English form. The general feeling amongst 
astronomers has, however, been largely in 
favor of the German mounting for refract- 
ors, due, no doubt, to a great extent, to the 
enormous advance in engineering skill. We 
have many examples of this form of mount- 
ing. A list of the principal large refract- 
ing and reflecting telescopes now existing is 
given. All the refractors in this list, with 


List oF LARGE TELESCOPES IN EXISTENCE IN 1900. 


Refractors 15 inches und upwards. Inches. 
arisy (BxhibiGion))eeensmsssepseceosencseesscnecces 50 
NYEGIARES bbdocodonaqacba. |) caosdooboBoddaEbasoqencosoaseaen 40 
GT CK ea ater sek ee ounicistasise since enicaaeaneneresceeans 36 
PURO Wartestccassstcreseccaescremeccsenesecenerarseee 30 
INDIO Hate asaauadaacssaecnsncoscesaate A eeasaanseecss 29.9 
PATS |e cece ice aaecccceieecdeueeansiescucantscoeacs sosees 28.9 
Greenwich ssavedsessenmecceti vs aeaeicesonsenaeasecncee 
NAIGINIEY doghadosoopaeoenopcdaocgs,ooedascnsaedacosooucE: 


WWashin o bon Up Sccsesccrnerecsssmsesersecseaasenes 
Leander, McCormick Observatory, Vir...... 
(GREE ATE Nc osscoconauesosoccooacoaasdecopencagsacoes 
Newall’s, Cambridge................ 
Cape of Good Hope............-..cseseeeeeeeeeeeeee 
TRIE RENE Sooo -na090cenpocidadadaocnog90000900 
TP RINERHOM, Ils dog We band cascascoscssos006n0d0000 
Mount Etna......... sopoobacasteoas6e68 
Strassburg 
IWIGTEH 9}o oncapoonn6seo5cce 


(Dearborn) Chicago................0c.++ oe 
Warner Observatory, Rochester, U. S........ 
Washburn Observatory, Madison, Wis....... 
LG LITA) DUES Ncoosatscndo3so000: pavanosouassOSO5NNonCO00 
IBrUSSela teense cei secm ae cccaes 
INV EEC TS Gla an ge eaar akin aeeeeseapaoeee 
IRI) DBO EOL coco soncabangeo eaccnan 
TERA) sen. cugsanaaace aaboscsdadassarnodcoapIacsoOsROIb0N 
Sir William Huggins....... 
1STUG) eccqanacosuosusobuonecoodasaaKeHoeoonSbCEdoISd.6 On 


HHP HEP eee pmNnNnnwnnuwnnnw»e 


AAA HA HHH HD AC RH DG tC 
COoOCoCoOrRrFNOUrRrFmoooooocoo 


Reflectors 2 feet 6 inches and upwards. ts ine 
Tyrrel INO EETA Cooosqsecoocodaosobdosconoasboaccooccoas 6 0 
Dr. Common 5 0 
Melbourne.. 4 0 
Pariser 4 0 
Mier dOnt Hesesssecteee cheeses & 8 
South Kensington ................csceeceeeeereee 3 (0 
(CHOTA (INES) )ssodsaardacccaconcobussoancbaoqe0ac00 3. O 
Green wi Chitose cc cce ence cea neccosecoctesaases 9% 
South Kensington............. ERA ACR nce ARDC DLIAG 1 3 @ 


the exception of the Paris telescope of 50 
inches and the Greenwich telescope of 28 
inches, are mounted on the German form. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


Some of these carry a reflector as well as, 
for instance, the telescope lately presented 
to the Greenwich Observatory by Sir Henry 


_ Thompson, which, in addition to a 26-inch 


refractor, carries a 30-inch reflector at the 
other end of the declination axis, such as 
had been previously used by Sir William 
Huggins and Dr. Roberts; the last, and 
perhaps the finest, example of the German 
form being the Yerkes telescope at Chicago. 

The small reflector made by Sir Isaac 
Newton, probably the first ever made, and 
now at the Royal Society, is mounted on a 
ball, gripped by two curved pieces attached 
to the body of the telescope, which allows 
the telescope to be pointed in any direction. 
We have not much information as to the 
mounting of early reflectors. Sir William 
Herschel mounted his 4-foot telescope on a 
rough but admirably planned open-work 
mounting, capable of being turned round 
and with means to tilt the telescope to any 
required angle. This form was not very 
suitable for picking up objects or determin- 
ing their position, except indirectly ; but 
for the way it was used by Sir William 
Herschel it was most admirably adapted : 
the telescope being elevated to the required 
angle, it was left in that position, and be- 
came practically a transit instrument. All 
the objects passing through the field of 
view (which was of considerable extent, as 
the eye-piece could be moved in declina- 
tion) were observed, and their places in 
time and declination noted, so that the po- 
sitions of all these objects in the zone ob- 
served were obtained with a considerable 
degree of accuracy. It was on this plan 
that Sir John Herschel made his general 
catalogue of nebule, embracing all the 
nebule he could see in both hemispheres; 
a complete work by one man that is almost 
unique in the history of astronomy. 

Sir William Herschel’s mounting of his 
4-foot reflector differs in almost every par- 
ticular from the mountings of the long- 


OcTOBER 19, 1900.] 


focus telescopes we have just spoken of. 
The object-glass was at a height, the re- 
flector was close to the ground. There was 
a tube to one telescope, but not to the other. 
The observer in one case stood on the 
ground, in the other he was on a stage at a 
considerable elevation. One pole sufliced 
with a cord for one; a whole mass of poles, 
wheels, pulleys and ropes surrounded the 
other. In one respect only were they alike 
—they both did fine work. 

Lassell seems to have been the first to 
mount a reflector equatorially. He, like 
Herschel, made a 4-foot telescope, and this 
he mounted in this way. Lord Rosse 
mounted his telescopes somewhat after the 
manner of Sir William Herschel. The 
present earl has mounted a 3-foot equa- 
torially. 

A 4-foot telescope was made by Thomas 
Grubb for Melbourne, and this he mounted 
on the German plan. The telescope being 
a Cassegrain, the observer is practically on 
the ground level. A somewhat similar in- 
strument exists at the Paris Observatory. 
Lassell’s 4-foot was mounted in what is 
called a fork mounting, as is also my own 
5-foot reflector, and this in some ways 
seems well adapted for reflectors of the 
Newtonian kind. 

We now come to the Paris telescope. 
This is really the result of the combination 
of a reflector and a refractor. Icannot say 
when a plane mirror was first used to direct 
the light into a telescope for astronomical 
purposes. It seems first to have been sug- 
gested by Hooke, who, at a meeting of the 
Royal Society, when the difficulty of mount- 
ing the long-focus lenses of Huyghens was 
under discussion, pointed out that all diffi- 
culties would be done away with if, instead 
of giving movement to the huge telescope 
itself, a plane mirror were made to move in 
front of it.* 

The Karl of Crawford, then Lord Lindsay, 

* Lockyer, Star-gazing, p. 453. 


SCIENCE. 


601 


used a heliostat to direct the rays from the 
sun, on the occasion of the transit of Venus, 
through a lens of 40 feet focal length, in 
order to obtain photographs, and it was also 
largely used by the American observers on 
the same occasion. 

Monsieur Loéwy at Paris proposed in 
1871 a most ingenious telescope made by a 
combination of two plane mirrors and an 
achromatic object-glass, which he calls a 
Coudé telescope, which has some most im- 
portant advantages. Chief amongst these 
that the observer sits in perfect comfort 
at the upper end of the polar axis, whence 
he need not move, and by suitable arrange- 
ments he can direct the telescope to any 
part of the visible heavens. Several have 
been made in France, including a large one 
of 24 inches aperture, erected at the Paris 
Observatory, and which has already made 
its mark by the production of perhaps the 
best photographs of the moon yet obtained. 
I have already spoken of Lord Lindsay and 
his 40-foot telescope, fed, as it were, with 
light from a heliostat. This is exactly the 
plan that has been followed in the design of 
the large telescope in the Paris Exhibition. 
But in place of a lens of 4 inches aperture 
and a heliostat a few inches larger, the Paris 
telescope has a plane mirror of 6 feet and a 
lens exceeding 4 feet in diameter, with a 
focal length of 186 feet. The cost of a 
mounting on the German plan and of a 
dome to shelter such an instrument would 
have been enormous. The form chosen is 
at once the best and cheapest. One of the 
great disadvantages is that from the nature 
of things it cannot take in the whole of the 
heavens. The heliostat form of mounting 
of the plane mirror causes a rotation of the 
image in the field of view which in many 
lines of research is a strong objection. There 
is much to be said on the other side. The 
dome is dispensed with, the tube, the equa- 
torial mounting and the rising floor are not 
wanted. The mechanical arrangements of 


602 


importance are confined to the mounting of 
the necessary machinery to carry the large 
plane mirror and move it round at the 
proper rate. The telescope need not have 
any tube (that to the Paris telescope is of 
course only placed there for effect), as the 
flimsiesé covering is enough if it excludes 
false light falling on the eye end; and more 
important than all, the observer sits at his 
ease in the dark chamber. This question 
of the observer, and the conditions under 
which he observes, is a most important one 
as regards both the quality and quantity of 
the work done. 

We have watched the astronomer, first 
observing from the floor level; then mounted 
ona high seaffold like Sir William Herschel, 
Lassell, and Lord Rosse; then, starting 
again from the floor level and using the 
early achromatic telescope ; then, as these 
grew in size, climbing up on observing chairs 
to suit the various positions of the eye end 
of the telescope, as we see in Mr. Newall’s 
great telescope; then brought to the floor 
again by that excellent device of Sir Howard 
Grubb, the rising floor. This is in use with 
the Lick and the Yerkes telescopes, where 
the observer is practically always on the 
floor level, though constant attention is 
needed, and the circular motion has to be 
provided for by constant movement, to say 
nothing of the danger of the floor going 
wrong. Then we have the ideal condition, 
as in the Equatorial Coudé at the Paris 
Observatory, where the observer sits com- 
fortably sheltered and looks down the tele- 
scope, and from this position can survey the 
whole of the visible heavens. The comfort 
of the observer is a most important matter, 
especially for the long exposures that are 
given to photographic plates, as well as for 
continued visual work. In such a form of 
telescope as that at Paris the heliostat form 
of mounting the plane mirror is most suit- 
able, notwithstanding the rotation of the 
image. But there is another way in which 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou XII. No. 303. 


a plane mirror can be mounted, and that is 
on the plan first proposed by Auguste many 
years ago, and lately brought forward again 
by Mons. Lippman, of Paris, and that is 
by simply mounting the plane mirror on a 
polar axis and parallel therewith, and caus- 
ing the mirror to rotate at half the speed 
of the earth’s rotation. Any part of the 
heavens seen by any person reflected from 
this mirror will appear to be fixed in space, 
and not partake of the apparent movement 
of the earth, so long as the mirror is kept 
moving at this rate. A telescope, therefore, 
directed to such a mirror can observe any 
heavenly body as if it were in an absolutely 
fixed position, so long as the angle of the mir- 
ror shall not be such as to make the reflected 
beam less than will fill the object-glass. 
There is one disadvantage in the ccelostat, 
as this instrument is called, and that is its 
suitability only for regions near the equator. 
The range above and below, however, is 
large enough to include the greater portion 
of the heavens, and that portion in which 
the solar system is included. Here the 
telescope must be moved in azimuth for 
different portions of the sky, as is fully ex- 
plained by Professor Turner in Vol. LVI. 
of the Monthly Notices and it therefore 
becomes necessary to provide for moving 
the telescope in azimuth from time to time 
as different zones above or below the equator 
are observed. No instrument yet devised 
is suitable for all kinds of work, but this 
form, notwithstanding its defects, has so 
many and such important advantages that 
I think it will obviate the necessity of build- 
ing any larger refractors on the usual mod- 
els. The cost of producing a telescope much 
larger than the Yerkes on that model, in 
comparison with what could be done on the 
plan I now advocate, renders it most im- 
probable that further money will be spent 
in that way. It may be asked: What are 
the lines of research which could be taken 
up by a telescope of this construction, and 


OcToBER 19, 1900. ] 


on what lines should the telescope be built? 
I will endeavor to answer this. All the 
work that is usually done by an astronom- 
ical telescope, excepting very long-continued 
observations, can be equally well done by 
the fixed telescope. But there are some 
special lines for which this form of research 
is admirably suited, such as photographs of 
the moon, which would be possible with a 
reflecting mirror of, say, 200 feet focal 
length, giving an image of some 2 feet di- 
ameter in a primary focus, or a larger image 
might be obtained either by a longer focus 
mirror or by acombination. It might even 
be worth while to build a special ccelostat 
for lunar photography, provided with an 
adjustment to the polar axis and a method 
of regulating the rate of clock to correct the 
irregular motion of the moon, and thus ob- 
tain absolutely fixed images on the photo- 
graphic plate. 

The advantage of large primary images 
in photography is now fully recognized. For 
all other kinds of astronomical photography 
a fixed telescope is admirably adapted ; and 
so with all spectroscopic investigations, a 
little consideration will show that the con- 
ditions under which these investigations 
can be pursued are almost ideal. As to 
the actual form such a construction would 
take ; we can easily imagine it. The large 
mirror mounted as a celostat in the center ; 
circular tracts around this center, on which 
a fan-shaped house can be traveled round 
to any azimuth, containing all the necessary 
apparatus for utilizing the light from the 
large plane mirror, so as to be easily moved 
round to the required position in azimuth 
for observation. In place of a fan-shaped 
house movable round the plane mirror, a 
permanent house might encircle the greater 
portion round the mirror, and in this house 
the telescope or whatever optical combina- 
tion is used might be arranged on an open 
framework, supported on similar rails, so 
as to run round to any azimuth required. 


SCIENCE. 


603 


The simplicity of the arrangement and the 
enormous saving in cost would allow in 
any well-equipped observatory the use of a 
special instrument for special work. The 
French telescope has a mirror about 6 feet 
in diameter and a lens of about 4 feet. 
This is a great step in advance over the 
Yerkes telescope, and it may be some time 
before the glass for a lens greater than 50 
inches diameter will be made, as the diffi- 
culty in making optical glass is undoubtedly 
very great. But with the plane mirror 
there will be no such difficulty, as 6 feet 
has already been made; and so with a con- 
eave mirror there would be little difficulty 
in beginning with 6 feet or 7 feet. The way 
in which the mirror would be used, always 
hanging in a band, is the most favorable 
condition for good work, and the absence of 
motion during the observation, except of 
course, that of the plane mirror (which could 
be given by floating the polar axis and suit- 
able mechanical arrangements, a motion of 
almost perfect regularity). 

One extremely important thing in using 
silver or glass mirrors is the matter of re- 
silvering from time to time. Up to quite 
recently the silvering of my 5-foot mirror 
was a long, uncertain, and expensive proc- 
ess. Now we have a method of silvering 
mirrors that is certain, quick and cheap. 
This takes away the one great disability 
from the silver or glass reflecting telescope, 
as the surface of silver can now be renewed 
with greater ease and in less time than the 
lenses of a large refracting telescope could 
be taken out and cleaned. It may be that 
we shall revert to speculum metal for our 
mirrors, or use some other deposited metal 
on glass; but even as it is we have the sil- 
vered glass reflector, which at once allows 
an enormous advance in power. Todo jus- 
tice to any large telescope it should be 
erected in a position, as regards climate, 
where the conditions are as favorable as 
possible. 


604 


The invention of the telescope is to me 
the most beautiful ever made. Familiarity 
both in making and in using has only in- 
creased my admiration. With the excep- 
tion of the microphone of the late Professor 
Hughes, which enabled one to hear other- 
wise inaudible sounds, sight is the only sense 
that we have been able to enormously in- 
crease in range. The telescope enables one 
to see distant objects as if they were at, say, 
one five-thousandth part of their distance, 
whilst the microscope renders visible ob- 
jects so small as to be almost incredible. 
In order to appreciate better what optical 
aid does for the sense of sight, we can im- 
agine the size of an eye, and therefore of a 
man, capable of seeing in a natural way 
what the ordinary eye sees by the aid of a 
large telescope, and, on the other hand, the 
size of a man and his eye that could see 
plainly small objects as we see them under 
a powerful microscope. The man in the 
first case would be several miles in height, 
and in the latter he would not exceed a 
very small fraction of an inch in height. 

Photography also comes in as a further 
aid to the telescope, as it may possibly be 
to the microscope. For a certain amount 
of light is necessary to produce sensation in 
the eye. If this light is insufficient nothing 
is seen ; but owing to the accumulative ef- 
fect of light on the photographic plate, 
photographs can be taken of objects other- 
wise invisible, as I pointed out years ago; 
for in photographs I took in 1883 stars 
were shown on photographic plates that I 
could not see in the telescope. All photo- 
graphs, when closely examined, are made 
up of a certain number of little dots, as it 
were, in the nature of stippling, and it is a 
very interesting point to consider the rela- 
tion of the size and separation of these dots 
that form the image, and the rods and 
cones of the reckoner which determines the 
power of the eye. 

Many years ago I tried to determine this 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


question. I first took a photograph of the 
moon with a telescope of very short focus 
(as near as I could getit to the focus of the 
eye itself, which is about half an inch). 
The resulting photograph measured one 
two-hundredth of an inch in diameter, 
and when examined again with a micro- 
scope showed a fair amount of detail, in fact, 
very much as we see the moon with the 
naked eye ; making a picture of the moon 
by hand, on such a scale that each separate 
dot of which it was made corresponded 
with each separate sensitive point of the 
retina employed when viewing the moon 
without optical aid, I found, on looking at 
this picture at the proper distance, that it 
looked exactly like a real moon. In this 
case the distance of the dots was constant, 
making them larger or smaller, forming the 
light or shade of the picture. 

I did not complete these experiments, but 
as far as I went I thought that there was 
good reason to believe that we could in this 
way increase the defining power of the eye. 
It is a subject well worthy of further con- 
sideration. 

I know that in this imperfect and neces- 
sarily brief address I have been obliged to 
omit the names of many workers, but I 
cannot conclude without alluding to the 
part that the Association has played in 
fostering and aiding astronomy. A glance 
through the list of money grants shows that 
the help has been most liberal. In my 
youth I recollect the great value that we 
put on the ‘ British Association Catalogue 
of Stars’; we know the help that was given 
in its early days to the Kew Observatory ; 
and the reports of the Association show 
the great interest that has always been 
taken in our work. The formation of a 
separate Department of Astronomy is, I 
hope, a pledge that this interest will 
be continued, to the advantage of our 
science. 

A. A. Common. 


OcToOBER 19, 1900. ] 


THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF 
PSYCHOLOGY. 

Tur Congress was held in Paris, in the 
Palace of Congresses on the Exposition 
grounds, from the 20th to the 25th of 
August, 1900. Its president was Professor 
Ribot, its vice-president Professor Richet, 
and its indefatigable secretary, on whom 
rested most of the work of organization, Dr. 
Pierre Janet. The registered membership 
numbered over 350, but a large proportion 
of these were not present. France was of 
course very fully represented, but the Ger- 
man and English contingents were small, 
and the American contingent lacked, among 
others, Professors James and Baldwin, who 
had expected to attend, but were prevented. 
Among the visitors present were Ebbing- 
haus, Kiilpe and O. Vogt, Ladd and Mun- 
sterberg, Sergi and Ferrari, Myers, Flour- 
noy, Demoor, Tschisch, Mlle. Manacéine, 
and others whose writings are well known: 

The Congress was divided into six sec- 
tions: the physiological and comparative, 
under the presidency of Ives Delage; the 
introspective and philosophical, under Séail- 
les; the experimental, under Binet; the 
pathological, under Magnan; hypnotism 
and suggestion, under Bernheim ; and social 
psychology, under Tarde. The morning 
was usually devoted to section meetings, 
and the afternoon to general sessions. 

The presidential address of Ribot was 
concerned with the progress made in psy- 
chology since the Munich Congress. Among 
the other principal addresses were those of 
Ebbinghaus, comparing the psychology of 
the present with that of 100 years ago; of 
Demoor, on the functions of nerve cells and 
of the cerebral cortex, as deduced from 
histological observations ; of Sergi, on the 
treatment of consciousness in modern psy- 
chology ; of Solokov, on ‘colored hearing’ 
considered as a sort of symbolism ; of Tar- 
khanoff, on illusions and hallucinations of 
frogs. 


SCIENCE. 


605 


Vogt aroused an animated discussion by 
attacking Flechsig’s doctrine of association 
centers, and by denying any psychological 
value to anatomical studies of the brain. 

Mile. Manacéine presented the results of 
some experiments concerning the effects of 
different foods on the disposition of animals. 
She found dogs to be more tranquil ‘and less 
quarrelsome on a vegetable diet than on a 
meat diet. In this connection, Richet re- 
ported similar observations of his own, lead- 
ing to a similar conclusion, except that only 
raw meat differed in its psychic effects from 
a vegetable diet. On a diet of raw meat 
the dogs were more quarrelsome, but also 
more affectionate to their master ; all their 
instincts and passions were sharpened. 

Richet presented a remarkable musical 
prodigy in the person of a little boy who at 
the age of two and a half years had sur- 
prised his parents by spontaneously playing 
pieces on the piano. Now, after a year of 
training, he not only uses his tiny hands 
with considerable ‘virtuosity,’ but shows 
a wonderful memory for classical music, a 
genuine grasp of expression, ability to com- 
pose and improvise—in short, the mastery 
and independence of an artist. A strange 
fact is that the child can play only on the 
poor, broken-toned old piano on which he 
started. Every attempt to substitute a 
better instrument has led to failure. 

Vaschide read a paper summarizing and 
adding to the evidence for the independence 
of the muscular and cutaneous senses. Cut- 
ting the cutaneous nerves does not demor- 
alize the movements of an animal, as cut- 
ting all the sensory nerves does. 

Alrutz reported some observations on the 
temperature sense. He is able to evoke a 
sensation of cold by stimulating the cold 
spots with warm objects (under certain con- 
ditions). The sensation of heat or burning, 
as distinguished from that of simple warmth, 
is, he believes, produced by the simultaneous 
stimulation of both hot spots and cold spots. 


606 


Mlle. Joteyko made it probable that the 
nerve centers are much more resistant to 
fatigue than the peripheral motor organs. 

Schuyten reported, from the pedological 
bureau of the city of Antwerp (a unique 
institution), a series of tests of the muscular 
strength (grip) of pupils throughout the 
school year. In order to eliminate the ef- 
fects of increase in age, he ascertained the 
age in months of each child, and tested him 
only in the month when he had a certain 
age, viz, 8 years 9 months in one series, 9 
years 9 months in another. The results 
for the two series, and for girls and boys, 
showed a close parallelism. There was a 
gradual increase in strength from October 
to January, a fall from January to March 
and a rise again to June or July. March 
was the weakest month, June and July the 
strongest. 

Netchaeff, of St. Petersburg, reported on 
some tests of the memory of school children 
for various sorts of impressions: objects 
seen, objects heard, names recalling visual, 
auditory or tactile impressions, names of 
emotions, abstract namesand numbers. He 
found the memory to be best for objects 
seen, and next best for names of visual im- 
pressions ; it was poorest, up to the age of 
12 or 14, for names of emotions, and beyond 
that age for numbers and abstract names. 
The memory for numbers was always about 
as strong as for abstract names; and the 
increase in power to remember these two 
was, from 9 to 18 years of age, rather slight. 
The increase was greatest in case of objects 
seen and of words denoting emotions. The 
rapidity of the growth of memory fell off at 
puberty. The boys excelled the girls in 
remembering objects, the girls excelled in 
remembering names and numbers. 

Psychical research was thoroughly ven- 
tilated at the Congress. Flournoy presented 
his observations on the celebrated medium 
Helen Smith. Myers and others testified 
to the remarkable revelations made by Mrs. 


SCLENCE, 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


Thompson—who, by the way, was pres- 
ent at the meetings, and certainly did not 
give one the impression of anything ab- 
normal or uncanny. Hncausse described 
some electrical apparatus for automatically 
recording the movements of mediums dur- 
ing a trance, so that their movements may 
be known, without the embarrassing pres- 
ence of a scientific observer. Baraduc and 
others expounded queer ideas and demon- 
strated queerer-seeming facts relating to 
‘psychic exteriorization,’ ete. Finally, a 
new psychical research society, the Institut 
Psychique, designed to have an international 
following, was-inaugurated. 

No great amount of new apparatus was 
exhibited at the Congress. Sommer pre- 
sented some ingenious instruments for re- 
cording movements in three dimensions of 
the hand or leg, also for measuring the size 
of the pupil in reactions to light, emotions, 
ete. Scripture exhibited some of his color 
demonstration apparatus. In addition to 
this, Binet showed us his laboratory at the 
Sorbonne, equipped largely for the registra- 
tion of movements, pulse changes, ete. ; and 
Toulouse invited us out to the Asylum at 
Villejiuf, where he has installed a psycho- 
logical laboratory equipped with several new 
forms of apparatus for testing sensations. 

All the Parisian psychologists, in fact, 
were extremely hospitable. The visitors 
had every opportunity to meet them and 
each other, and the sociability of the Con- 
gress was one of its most successful features. 

R. 8. Woopworra. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Eléments de paléobotanique. By R. ZEILLER. 
Paris, 1900. Carré et Naud. 8vo. Pp. 417. 
Illustrated. 

The remarkable increase in accessions to our 
knowledge of fossil plants, which has taken 
place within the last two decades, coupled with 
a similar advance in our knowledge of existing 
species, and a recognition that a proper correla- 


OcTOBER 19, 1900. ] 


tion of these two lines of botanical study must 
have an important bearing upon our knowledge 
of phylogenetic relations, has led botanists to 
look forward with confidence to the issue of 
works which would bring paleobotanical re- 
search into harmony with botanical knowledge 
in other directions, and serve to definitely elim- 
inate the many errors and misconceptions con- 
sequent upon a copious but scattered literature, 
much of which had its origin at the hands of in- 
vestigators who, although well qualified for their 
task in other respects, nevertheless lacked the 
essential element of special training and insight 
as botanists. In his ‘Fossil Botany’ issued in 
German in 1887, and reissued inan English edi- 
tion in 1891, Solms-Laubach first opened the way 
to this reform, but his admirable work left much 
ground untouched. The expectations of botan- 
ists were more fully and most agreeably met by 
the issue of the first volume of Seward’s ‘ Fossil 
Plants’ in 1898, a work in thorough accord with 
the most recent views of botanical relationship 
and plant development, and which also possesses, 
among other excellent features, the great merit 
of having issued from the pen of one who is not 
only a thoroughly trained botanist, but one who 
has likewise acquired an intimate knowledge of 
geological facts. Before the completion of this 
epoch-making book, we are called upon to wel- 
come another less pretentious, but nevertheless 
excellent work at the hands of a French author 
of wide repute. The extended experience as a 
paleontologist which M. Zeiller has enjoyed for 
many years, and the great excellence of his well- 
known publications on fossil plants, will serve 
to make this latest contribution from his pen a 
particularly welcome one to botanists. 

The ‘Eléments de paléobotanique’ follows 
somewhat the same general scheme as Sew- 
ard’s ‘ Fossil Plants,’ but it is much less com- 
plete in detail. The plan of treatment embraces 
a consideration of 

1. The mode of preservation of fossil plants. 

2. Classification and nomenclature. 

3. A systematic treatment of the various 
groups of plants, commencing with the Thallo- 
phytes. 

4, The succession of floras and relation to cli- 
matic conditions. 

5. General considerations bearing upon the 


SCIENCE. — 


607 


evolution of plant forms as indicated by the evi 
dence of fossil plants. 

The chapter on classification is devoted chiefly 
to general considerations and leaves much to be 
desired in the way of defining the author’s 
position with respect to the relations of the 
various groups of plants. This is, however, 
the natural result of approaching the subject 
from the standpoint of the experienced geolo- 
gist, rather than from that of the expert botan- 
ist, and a clearer conception of his point of 
view is gained from the subsequent section on 
a systematic treatment of the various groups, 
wherein he adopts a plan which, in some re- 
spects, can hardly be regarded as in accord with 
the most recent views of plant relationship. 
Such defects in systematic treatment, however, 
are of minor importance and are readily over- 
looked in considering the excellence of the 
material which he presents and which in many 
cases also has the added merit of freshness, 
practically extending the ground covered by 
Seward’s types. 

In the systematic section, the treatment of the 
alge is brief, and hardly serves to convey an 
adequate idea of the extent to which the most 
delicate and perishable of all the plants found 
in a fossil state are preserved. A concise state- 
ment presents the leading facts relating to Ne- 
matophycus so far as published results are 
known—a plant which, while appropriately 
considered under forms of doubtful or uncer- 
tain relationship, is probably to be regarded as 
representing a generalized type which may 
eventually be found to include representatives 
of both the Siphonz and Laminarieex, although 
recently acquired evidence would seem to point 
to the latter in most cases. The Characez is 
dismissed with a short paragraph which, in 
spite of the relatively unimportant position 
which this group occupies among fossil plants, 
fails to convey an adequate idea of our knowl- 
edge concerning them, and entirely ignores their 
probable occurrence in paleozoic time. The 
fungi are briefly considered, and they are made 
to include the myxomycetes, the occurrence of 
which is very problematical, and the bacteria, 
of which two excellent illustrations are given— 
one of Bacillus vorax and one of Micrococcus 
guignardi. 


608 


The Bryophytes are dismissed with a short 
chapter which is in harmony with the fact that 
they constitute one of the least-known groups 
among fossil plants. 

Attention appears to have been concentrated 
chiefly upon the vascular plants, of which the 
author presents a well-chosen selection of types 
and among which he seems well at home. The 
most noteworthy feature of this section of the 
work, and one which gives it special promi- 
mence in advance of previous publications, 
is the recognition for the first time, of the re- 
cently established Cycadofilicine which marks 
the most important advance in paleobotany 
within recent years, and at once indicates the 
nature of the data which a further study of 
fossil plants may be expected to contribute to 
our knowledge of the evolution of plant life. 

The value of the book is greatly enhanced 
for the purposes of the working botanist or the 
student, by the superior character of the illus- 
trations. Taken either by itself or in connec- 
tion with Seward’s more elaborate work, which 
it largely supplements, it affords a hand book 


of considerable utility. 
D. P. PENHALLOW. 
MONTREAL, Sept., 1900. 


La spéléologie, ow science des cavernes. Par EH. 
A. MArren. I volume, 8 vo., pp. 126, avec 
10 figures. Prix 2 frances. Collection Scien- 
tia Série Biologique, No.8. (GEORGES CARRE 
et C. Naup, Editeurs, 3, rue Racine, Paris.) 
A series of small volumesis being issued under 

the direction of MM. Milne-Edwards, Gaudry, 

Filho], Balbiani, and other members of the In- 

stitute of France; one of the most recent of 

them being a hand-book on caverns and their 
contents. Its title, ‘La spéléologie,’ is coined 
from two Greek words, and means the Science 
of Caverns. This term is an improvement on 
the German ‘Hcehlenkunde,’ long in use in 
Austria, for the reason that the latter does not 
recognize the scientific claim on which emphasis 
is now laid; ‘kunde’ being the synonym of 
intelligence, or news, rather than of a classi- 
fied knowledge. a Société de Spéléologie, of 
which M. Emilé Riviere is now president, and 

M. Edouard A. Martel the general secretary, 

is in the sixth year of its existence, numbers 

many eminent scientists among its members, 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


with its headquarters at No. 7 rue des Grands- 
Augustins, Paris, whence it issues a regular 
bulletin telling the latest news from all parts of 
the known subterranean world, and publishing 
special contributions of scientific value. Im- 
portant service has thus been done to geolo- 
gists, archeologists, zoologists, hydrologists, 
mining engineers and hygienists. M. Martel 
has for many years devoted his summers to the 
exploration of caves in France, Spain, Greece, 
Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain 
and elsewhere ; and no man is better qualified 
than he to treat of the Science of Caverns, as 
he has so successfully done in the work under 
consideration. 

‘La spéléologie’ is divided into sixteen chap- 
ters. The first chapter defines terms, corrects 
certain errors and prejudices, traces the history 
of under-ground exploration, gives a succinct 
bibliography of cave literature for a century, 
‘and indicates the many ways in which this 
branch of study has aided mankind. The 
second chapter deals with the causes producing 
caverns; which are mainly, first, pre-existing 
fissures in the rocks, due to earthquakes, vol- 
canic eruptions, and other means by which the 
earth’s crust has been rent asunder; and sec: 
ondly, rain-water, charged with acids from the 
atmosphere and the soil, which seeks the frac- 
tures, faults and diaclases thus made, and en- 
larges them by erosion, corrosion, and hydro- 
static pressure. This triple process is more fully 
explained in several successive chapters. Cor- 
rosion is exemplified by the destruction of gyp- 
sum and rock salt, aud other soluble formations. 
Evidences of erosion abound in marine grottoes 
and volcanic caves. Columns of water weigh- 
ing many atmospheres often stand in deep pits, 
or flow through secret conduits, bringing tre- 
mendous pressure upon the rocky strata before 
which they must yield. 

The author deplores the prevalent confusion 
of nomenclature employed to describe the phe- 
nomena and results of aqueous agency. On 
pages 82 and 33 he spreads before the reader 
an elaborate table of the names by which pits, 
chasms, and other exterior and interior open- 
ings are designated in different countries of 
Europe and America ; also offering suggestions 
as to unification or simplification of terms. 


OCTOBER 19, 1900.] 


Ordinarily corrosion, erosion and hydrostatic 
pressure work simultaneously in cave-making. 
The acids eat into the softer portions of rock, 
leaving the harder parts as gravel, or sand, 
which the whirling or flowing water uses to 
grind a channel for drainage to an outlet. 

M. Martel finds limited subterranean reser- 
voirs, and also sheets of water held by satura- 
tion in mellow soils and porous strata, but de- 
nies the existence of vast bodies of water 
(‘nappes d’eau’), such as are insisted on by 
certain ancient and modern authorities—even 
as recently as 1897—in order to explain the 
phenomena of artesian wells. He describes 
the sinking and resurgence of streams; and 
also a system of siphonage, which, as he 
remarks, belongs to hydrology rather than to 
speleology. Certain caves, however, are really 
but the channels of underground rivers whose 
waters have found some other bed. 

The chapter on ‘ Abimes,’ or natural pits, is 
peculiarly interesting, although, as the author 
admits, their origin has been an occasion of 
‘interminable controversy.’ We cannot now 
follow him through his elaborate discussion of 
the theories of glacial grinding, of geyser chim- 
neys, of interior excavation, the ‘théorie du 
jalonnement”’ (. e., that they are drainage out- 
lets for ancient lakes), and other theories. For 
this and much other interesting material the 
reader is referred to Martel’s great work, ‘ Les 
abimes,’ pp. 576, Paris, 1894. The theory 
finds favor that the abimes are generally due to 
exterior causes, working downward from the 
surface, rather than to interior forces. This is 
especially evident in the ‘avens’ that pierce 
the vast limestone plateaus, known as ‘ causses’ 
—a term derived from the Latin ‘calx.’ Some 
of these avens drop vertically for from 200 to 
700 feet, and then expand into vast chambers, 
occasionally with bodies of water, but often 
ending in numerous fissures of drainage. 

M. Martel gives a list of abimes actually meas- 
ured and known to be more than 200 meters in 
depth. The deepest of allis a perilous pit named 
in honor of its discoverer, M. David Martin, and 
located near Saint Disdier, amid the Hautes 
Alpes, at a point about 5,000 feet above the 
sea. Martel descended more than 1,000 feet 
vertically, and estimated the entire depth at 


SCIENCE. 


609 


about 1,600 feet. The writer of this review had 
the satisfaction personally, in 1897, of witness- 
ing Martel’s exploration of the Aven Armand, 
in Lozére, a pit more than 600 feet deep. The 
rope ladders, portable telephones and other ap- 
paratus made a striking display. In other pits 
that were intersected by streams a curious plan 
was taken for tracing the waters by discoloration 
by flourescein. 

After describing stalactites, stalagmites and 
other forms of drip-stone, whose tendency is to 
obliterate caverns, and whose rate of growth 
has been recorded as indicating the age of the 
excavations in which they exist, M. Martel 
states the difficulties of the problem fairly, and 
concludes that it is impossible to affirm, in 
the actual state of our knowledge concerning 
subterranean channels, just when they began 
to exist ; but he suggests the middle of the Ter- 
tiary epoch. 

Particular attention is paid to the temperature 
of caverns, the purity or impurity of cave atmos- 
phere, and the contamination of springs and sub- 
terranean reservoirs in relation to the public 
health. Natural ice-houses, and the theories of 
their formation, furnish material for an interest- 
ing chapter. Four causes are assigned, namely, 
the shape of the cavities, free access of snow 
in winter, altitude, and evaporation by currents 
of air. In this connection researches and ad- 
ventures amid Alpine snow-pits are described. 
Cavern minerals are diversified. Among those 
mentioned are the various metallic ores, clays, 
carbonates, phosphates, and salts. Brilliant 
colors are often given to stalactites by copper 
and other metals. 

Recent prehistoric explorations have been 
richly rewarded by relics found in cliff-dwell- 
ings and subterranean temples. Still more an- 
cient are the remains of the paleolithic, neo- 
lithic and bronze ages. Many of the most 
noted of the inhabited caves and grottoes are 
mentioned by name. Living troglodytes are 
described, and also underground cemeteries, 
from which hundreds of human skeletons have 
been exhumed. Discoveries in the United 
States are by no means overlooked, particular 
mention being made of those in Pennsylvania, 
Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Subterranean fauna and flora, their origin, 


610 


habitats, and the modification of their organs 
by adaptation to environment, fill the conclud- 
ing chapter of this remarkable little volume. 
Directions are given for hunting cave animals 
and observing their habits. Authorities are 
conscientiously and carefully quoted, with fewer 
mistakes than might have been anticipated in 
a work of this comprehensive nature, and with 
evident intention to give due credit to investi- 
gators on both sides of the Atlantic.* In con- 
clusion, we accept M. Martel’s handbook as an 
admirable and timely contribution to current 


scientific literature. 
HorAcE C. Hovey. 


The Criminal: His Personnel and Environment. 
A Scientific Study. By Aucust DrAuus, 
with an introduction by C. Lomproso. New 
York, The Macmillan Co. 1900. 8vo. Pp. 
402. 


In a brief introduction to this book Profes- 
sor Lombroso congratulates the author on his 
‘lucid exposition’ and ‘ profound and original 
thought,’ stating, further, that he has seldom 
met with so clear an exposition of his own 
views. This testimonial is not altogether cal- 
culated to carry weight, for even those who 
acknowledge a discriminating admiration for 
Lombroso’s genius are well aware that a sound 
critical faculty is not one of the elements of 
that genius. It is possible that even the author 
himself may have been surprised at the excess 
of this appreciation ; for Mr. Drahms is by no 
means so much in sympathy with Lombroso, 
as Lombroso is with Mr. Drahms. In his pre- 
face the latter states that ‘‘ the strictly anthro- 
pological features here brought out have been 
accepted mainly as the properly accredited 
data of trained writers, the latchets of whose 
shoes I am not worthy to unloose, but whose 
conclusions nevertheless are taken under a 


*On page 114 M. Martel inadvertently attributes 
to another my discovery of the prehistoric quarries of 
jasper and alabaster in Wyandot Caye, Indiana. My 
exploration was originally made in 1855, and my ac- 
count of the quarries was published in the Am. Jour. 
of Science and Art, in 1878; whereas the account 
quoted from the Proceedings of the American Phil. 
Society did not appear till 1895. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


general demurrer ; in which respect, however, 
I have the consolation of knowing that I am in 
excellent company.’’ Any one who carefully 
studies this statement will know how far this 
book is likely to prove useful to him; in its 
vague phraseology and its non-committal def- 
erence to people of all views, it is characteris- 
tic of the author’s attitude throughout. He 
attempts to cover the whole field of criminal 
anthropology and criminal sociology. But not 
only do the original facts he has brought for- 
ward scarcely occupy a couple of pages; his 
acquaintance with the facts brought forward by 
others is nearly all second-hand, derived from 
sources already easily accessible in English, nor 
is any reference made to even the more impor- 
tant investigations of recent years, such as Wink- 
ler’s attempt to deal with the data of criminal 
anthropology on a mathematical basis, or Stein- 
metz’s studies of the evolution of punishment. 
He loosely discusses views to which he never 
gives precision by definite citation of authorities, 
and when he mentions authorities he is unable 
in a large proportion of cases even to spell 
their names. It is not impossible for a prison 
chaplain to do good work in this field, as Mr. 
W. D. Morrison has shown in England. But 
Mr. Drahms reveals no signs of that clear 
vision and intellectual grip which enable a man 
to conquer defects of scientific training. He 
takes a sane common-sense view of things, and 
as regards the treatment of criminals this leads 
him sometimes even to an advanced position, 
as when he advocates an unrestricted indeter- 
minate sentence. But the possession of aver- 
age sanity and common-sense is an inadequate 
equipment in writing a book which is promi- 
nently announced as ‘a scientific study.’ 

It is necessary to state this clearly even at 
the risk of hurting the feelings of an amiable 
and well-intentioned writer. In the more ab- 
stract sciences there is no temptation to care- 
less work ; but in the anthropological and psy- 
chological sciences there is a temptation, even 
for an honest writer, to mask his scientific in- 
effectiveness under the human interest of his 
subject matter. In so far as he succeeds he 
discredits the science with which he occupies 
himself. The study of the criminal has suf- 
fered severely from this cause, and a book on 


4 


OcTOBER 19, 1900. ] 


this subject which proclaims itself as ‘scien- 
tific’ must expect severe scrutiny. 

Mr. Draihms would have been well advised, 
and would have served better the cause of sci- 
ence, had he been content (like some French 
prison chaplains) to set down a brief and simple 
record of those things which during his resi- 
dence in San Quentin he has himself seen and 
known. HAVELOCK ELLIs. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Physiology for the Laboratory. B.M. BROWN. Boston, 
Ginn & Co. 1900. Pp. viii + 167. 
Laboratory Directions for Beginners in Bacteriology. 
VERANUS A. MoorE. Boston, Ginn &Co. 1900. 
2d edition. Pp. xvi-+ 143. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE current issue of the American Anthropol- 
ogist, Vol. II, No. 3, July-September, 1900, is 
of unusual interest, almost the entire field of 
anthropology being covered by the ten articles 
which comprise the principal part of its 200 
pages. In his paper on ‘Obsidian Mines of 
Hidalgo, Mexico,’ Professor W. H. Holmes, of 
the National Museum, describes the process em- 
ployed by the natives in obtaining obsidian 
during the centuries necessary to produce the 
flakage so thickly covering hundreds of acres 
on the mountain slopes, one heap alone being 
estimated to contain twenty or thirty thousand 
cubic feet of this artificially flaked material. 
The process of flaking is also described and il- 
lustrated. A complementary article, ‘The Ob- 
sidian Razor ofthe Aztecs,’ by Dr. George Grant 
MacCurdy, of Yale University, describes and 
explains the distinguishing features of obsidian 
fracture, and shows that to them is due, ina 
measure at least, the excellence of obsidian asa 
material for knife and razor making. Harly 
last spring Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of the Bureau 
of American Ethnology, made an examination 
of some remarkable but little-known cavate and 
pueblo ruins (the latter still standing several 
feet in height), northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, 
and he also conducted some excavations therein. 
The results of these observations are now ex- 
ploited (with several excellent ‘views and 
ground-plan drawings) under the title ‘Pueblo 
Ruins near Flagstaff, Arizona.’ Judging from 


SCIENCE. 


611 


the character of the houses, the pottery and 
other art products, and his knowledge of the 
traditions of the Hopi Indians, the author is in- 
clined to attribute these now-ruined pueblos to 
that tribe. An excellent article by Mrs. Alice 
Carter Cook is devoted to ‘The Aborigines of 
the Canary Islands,’ based on information ob- 
tained from personal observation in the archi- 
pelago and intimate acquaintance with the 
early Spanish literature of the subject. Every 
phase of the life of the people is described, and 
type pictures of the inhabitants and their curi- 
ous dwellings are given. Still another corner 
of the world is treated in Mr. R. H. Mathews’ 
paper on ‘The Wombya Organization of the 
Australian Aborigines,’ in which various un- 
usual customs are also set forth. Dr. Swan M. 
Burnett presents a scholarly essay on ‘ Giuseppe 
Mazzini—Idealist : A Chapter in the Evolution 
of Social Science,’ in which is given some por- 
tions of the great reformer’s labors, with the 
underlying principles for which he contended 
with such courage and persistency as have 
rarely been equalled in the history of human 
endeavor. A ‘Grammatic Sketch of the Ca- 
tawba Language’ of South Carolina is given by 
Dr. A. S. Gatschet. This almost extinct tongue 
belongs to the Siouan stock, and but few exam- 
ples of it have ever been published. Mr. Gerard 
Fowke, whose wide experience in archeologic 
investigation of the Mississippi drainage area, 
and his familiarity with the supposed Norse re_ 
mains in Massachusetts (first discovered and 
described by the late Professor E. W. Horsford, 
and later by his daughter, Miss Cornelia Hors- 
ford) make his study of the ‘ Points of Differ- 
ence between Norse Remains and Indian Works 
most closely resembling them’ of double inter- 
est. Mr. Harlan I. Smith, of the American 
Museum of Natural History, presents the de- 
tails of his ‘ Archeological Investigations on the 
North Pacific Coast in 1899,’ conducted under 
the auspices of the Jesup Expedition, and H. 
Newell Wardle discusses the interesting ‘Sedna. 
Cycle’ of the Eskimo which sheds new light on 
the mythology of the most northerly inhabitants 
of the globe. The usual ‘ Book Reviews,’ discus- 
sion of ‘Periodical Literature,’ and ‘Notes 
and News’ complete the number. (G. P. Put- 
nam’s Sons, Publishers, New York.) 


612 


But two articles of the October Monist are 
technically scientific in character. The first is 
by Professor A. S. Packard, of Brown Univer- 
sity, and gives for the first time, in actual trans- 
lations, a complete statement of Lamarck’s 
views on the origin and evolution of man, and 
of his thoughts on morals, and on the relation 
between science and religion. Professor Pack- 
ard believes that Lamarck’s attempt at explain- 
ing the probable origin of man from some 
arboreal creature allied to the apes is more de- 
tailed and comprehensive than that offered by 
Darwin in his ‘ Descent of Man,’ which was vir- 
tually anticipated by Lamarck. The second arti- 
cle, by Professor Arnold Emch, of the University 
of Colorado, treats of the ‘Mathematical Prin- 
ciples of Esthetic Forms.’ Starting from the 
physiological conditions for the perception of 
esthetic forms, the author proceeds to investi- 
gate the abstract law of symmetry as embodied 
in the principle of the group, projective and 
perspective transformation, inversion, etc., 
showing, for example, that the principle of repe- 
tition finds its mathematical expression in the 
geometry of the group, and explaining also why 
the various species of geometrical transforma- 
tion do not destroy the impressions of axial and 
central symmetry. The remaining articles are: 
(1) an essay on modern Biblical criticism, by 
Professor Paul Schwartzkopff, entitled ‘The 
Belief in the Resurrection of Jesus and its Per- 
manent Significance’; (2) an illustrated paper 
on the ‘Greek Mysteries as a Preparation for 
Christianity,’ by Dr. Paul Carus ; (3) ‘The Eth- 
ics of Child-Study,’ by Dr. Maximilian P. E. 
Groszmann; and (4) a report on the recent 
Psychological Congress at Paris. (Chicago: The 
Open Court Publishing Co.) 

The Journal of Physical Chemistry, October. 
‘Toxic Action of Acid Sodium Salts on Lupinus 
albus,’ by Louis Kahlenberg and Rollan M. 
Austin. Acid salts are found to be much more 
poisonous than they ought to be, assuming 
their toxicity to be due to the hydrogen ions 
only. ‘Relationships between Thermodynamic 
Fundamental Functions,’ by J. E. Trevor. 
‘The Boiling-points of Mixtures of Chloral 
and Water,’ by Joseph ©. Christensen. ‘On 
the Emission and Absorption of Water Vapor 
by Colloidal Matter’: correction, by P. Duhem. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 303. 


‘Quantitative Lecture Experiments on Electro- 
Chemistry,’ by W. Lash Miller and Frank B. 
Kenrick. Description of an ingenious measur- 
ing instrument for rendering the results of ex- 
periments visible to a large audience, and a 
number of selected experiments. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND 
CHEMISTRY. 


A MEETING of the Section was held on Mon- 
day, October 1st, at 12 West 31st Street. 

Professor BE. R. Von Nardroff presented a 
paper ‘On the Application of Fizeau’s Method 
to the Determination of the Velocity of Sound,’ 
with an experimental illustration. He used 
sound of very short wave length, beyond the 
limits of hearing. The sound was detected by 
means of a sensitive flame. He overcame the 
effect of irregular disturbing reflected and dif- 
fracted waves by using sound of considerable 
intensity and a flame only slightly sensitive. 
The sound after passing between the teeth of 
a rapidly revolving wheel, fell on a concave 
spherical mirror made of wood, some distance 
away, and was reflected back through the teeth 
at the opposite end of a diameter of the wheel, 
and came to a focus on a sensitive flame just be- 
hind the wheel. The author gave a neat dem- 
onstration of the working of the apparatus, and 
showed with great ease how with increasing 
speed of the revolving wheel the flame was al- 
ternately shielded from and exposed to the 
sound. The slightest disturbance of the ad- 
justment of the mirror threw the focus away 
from the flame in a marked manner. He stated 
that the method could probably not be used to 
compete with other accurate methods hereto- 
fore used, but it supplied a beautiful. illustra- 
tion of Fizeau’s method of measuring the ve- 
locity of light. 

Professor J. K. Rees gave an interesting ac- 
count of some of the scientific instruments at 
the Paris Exhibition. The great telescope was 
not yet finished, although this fact was not yet 
generally known, and it was impossible to tell 
yet whether it was to be a success. The Ger- 
man exhibit was superb. The Germans had a 


. 


OcTOBER 19, 1900. ] 


method which ought to have been generally 
adopted, of arranging the instruments with each 
kind by the different makers in one case, in- 
stead of a complete line by each maker in a 
ease by itself. An ingenious modification of 
Foucault’s pendulum was seen at the Paris Ob- 
servatory. It was only one meter long, but it 
showed the fact of the rotation of the earth 
after the lapse of fifteen seconds. 

Professor Hallock described a peculiar light- 
ning discharge he had observed at Lake Cham- 
plain. The flash came unexpectedly from a 
cloud about two miles from where the main 
shower was falling. It struck on a mass of 
rock, and on examining this it was found that 
instead of there being one or a few places where 
the lightning had struck, it was covered with 
innumerable little spots, each one indicating 
where a part of the flash had struck. 

WILLIAM S. Day, 
Secretary. 


NOTES ON PHYSICS. 
THE GALTON WHISTLE. 


In the Annalen der Physik for July, 1900, 
Edelmann describes an improved form of the 
Galton whistle for use in studying the limits of 
audibility of high pitch sounds. This improved 
form of whistle is similar to the locomotive 
whistle in design, the vibrating air column be- 
ing from 2 to 4 millimeters in diameter and 
from 0.7 to 5 or more millimeters in length. 
With a whistle 2 mm. in diameter Hdelmann 
has produced sound waves, using the word 
sound in its physical sense, of 2 mm. wave- 
length, corresponding to a vibration frequency 
of 170,000 double vibrations per second. This 
is nearly an octave higher than the highest 
pitch obtained by Konig in 1899. 

Edelmann determined the pitch by measuring 
the wave-length of the sound as indicated by 
Kundt’s dust figures, in an elongated glass 
tube resonator. This resonator for the very 
high pitch waves was less than a millimeter in 
diameter of bore and about ten millimeters in 
length. 

The present writer remembers well a very 
striking lecture experiment by Professor Kundt 
in 1890, in which the pitch limit of audibility 
was demonstrated by a Galton whistle, the 


SCIENCE. 


613 


actual existence of the physical sound, when 
the whistle was adjusted to give more than 
about 40,000 vibrations per second, was beauti- 
fully shown to a large audience by the effect of 
the whistle upon a sensitive gas flame. 


THE GENESIS OF THE IONS IN THE DISCHARGE 
OF ELECTRICITY THROUGH GASES. 


THE phenomena of the electric discharge 
through gases seemed only afew years ago to 
be so complicated that physicists almost de- 
spaired of finding an hypothesis which might 
bring order out of the mass of experimental re- 
sults which had accumulated. 

The discovery of the Rontgen rays stimu- 
lated research in this field greatly, and the ob- 
servation that these rays in passing through a 
gas cause it to become an electrical conductor 
soon gave fixedness to the idea that a gas con-. 
ducts electricity by having its molecules broken 
up into positively and negatively charged parts 
or ions which wander about through the gas. 

This ionic hypothesis has already been of 
great value in suggesting lines of research ; and 
the rapidly accumulating results of these recent 
researches, interpreted, of course, through the 
ionic hypothesis itself, show, under the widest 
variety of conditions, a degree of consistency 
which is rapidly giving to the ionic hypothesis 
the dignity of an established theory. 

Some of the most striking applications of the 
ionic hypothesis have been noted in SCIENCE 
during the past three years. 


ProFressor J. J. THOMSON, in the Philosophical 
Magazine for September, points out in a paper 
entitled ‘The genesis of the ions in the dis- 
charge of electricity, through gases,’ why the 
dielectric strength of a gas is approximately 
proportional to the pressure of the gas; why 
the dielectric strength of a thin layer of gas is 
greater than the dielectric strength (volts per 
centimeter) of a thick layer of the same gas; 
and he explains the striations of the positive 
column or glow in a Geissler tube. 

The reader should keep in mind that the sci- 
entific explanation of a thing is a description of 
the thing in the simplest possible terms. Many 
scientists feel an objection to the use of the word 
explanation in that its use tends to confirm a 
hearer in the acceptance of the figments of his 


614 


imagination not simply as a model of the world 
(for this is to some extent a practical necessity), 
but as the world itself. As Munsterberg puts it: 
The greatest danger of the present day in edu- 
cation is the confusion of boundaries between 
our logical constructions and the teleological 
realms. W.S. F. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE National Academy of Sciences will hold 
its autumn meeting at Brown University on 
November 13th, 14th and 15th. 

THE American Society of Naturalists will 
meet at Baltimore on December 27th and 28th, 
and with it the affiliated societies devoted to 
natural history. Christmas day comes this 
year on Tuesday, and the balance of the week 
scarcely gives a suitable time for the meetings 
of those societies whose sessions last longer 
than ‘two days. 


Iv is reported that Sir John Murray, who is 
now engaged in an expedition to Christmas 
Island, will later join Professor Haeckel in 
Java. It will be remembered that the latter is 
searching for remains of Pithecanthropus erectus. 

THE Senate of New York University has re- 
ceived and confirmed the votes of its judges 
selecting thirty eminent native-born Americans 
whose names are to be inscribed in the ‘ Hall 
of Fame.’ The Americansselected asthe most 
eminent are distributed as follows: Rulers 
and statesmen, 7; authors, 4; inventors, 4; 
preachers and theologians, 3; judges and law- 
yers, 3 ; soldiers and sailors, 3 ; men of science, 
2; philanthropists, 2 ; educators, 1 ; painters, 1. 
The inventors on this list are Fulton, Morse, 
Whitney and Howe, and the men of science 
Audubon and Gray. Franklin is of course also 
included. Ninety-seven judges voted and the 
votes cast for men of science were as follows: 
John James Audubon, 67; Asa Gray, 51; 
Joseph Henry, 44; Matthew Fontaine Maury, 
20; Benjamin Thompson, 19; Benjamin Silli- 
man, 16; Benjamin Peirce, 14; Nathaniel 
Bowditch, 10; Alexander B. Bache, 9; Spencer 
Baird, 8; Henry Draper, 8; Maria Mitchell, 
7; David Rittenhouse, 6. Twenty further 
names are to be selected in 1902 by the same 
judges who may vote for those who received at 
least 10 votes in the present competition. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 303. 


THE death is announced of Dr. R. J. Kup- 
per, formerly professor of geometry in the 
German Technical Institute of Prague. 


THE Bulletin of the American Mathematical 
Society states that the Steiner prizes of 6,000 
Marks, which were not awarded, owing to no 
papers being presented, have been divided into 
three parts which have been given to Dr. Karl 
Friedrich Geiser, professor at the polytechnic 
school at Zurich, for his individual researches 
in geometry and his services in the publication 
of Steiner’s lectures ; to David Hilbert, profes- 
sor in the University of Gottingen, for his 
important researches on the axioms of geom- 
etry and for the advancement which analytic 
geometry has experienced from his work on 
the theory of invariants, and to Dr. Ferd- 
inand Lindemann, professor at the University 
of Munich who has earned special distinction in 
geometry by his celebrated discussion of the 
quadrature of the circle, as well as by editing 
Clebsch’s ‘ Vorlesungen tiber Geometrie.’ 


THE Hufeland Society, of Berlin, offers two 
prizes of 800 Marks for researches on the fol- 
lowing subjects: (1) On the influence of salts 
in drinking water on the constitution of the 
blood and (2) The influence of thermal and 
mechanical stimuli on the circulation of the 
blood. The papers, which may be written in 
English, must be sent to Professor O. Liebreich, 
Neustadtische Kirsch Strasse 9, Berlin, prior to 
March 1, 1901. 


A CIVIL service examination will be held on 
November 20th for the position of assistant in 
serum therapeutics, Biochemic Division, Bureau 
of Animal Industry, Department of Agricul- 
ture. The salary of the position is $720 per 
annum, and the examination will be chiefly on 
serum therapeutics and elementary general 
chemistry. 

No news has been received from the Wind- 
ward later than August 10th, at which date, 
however, it had safely arrived at Godhaven, 
half way to Cape York. 

Ir is reported that Mr. Ziegler of New York 
will defray the expenses of an expedition to the 
North Polar regions under the direction of Mr. 
E. P. Baldwin who accompanied Lieutenant 
Peary as meteorologist in 1893-94. The plan 


‘OcTOBER 19, 1909. ] 


is to have an elaborately equipped expedition 
with specialists in the different sciences and to 
start early next year. 


THE medical works contained in the library 
of the late Dr. Alfred Stillé, of Philadelphia, 
have been bequeathed by him to the College 
of Physicians. The estate is left to relatives, 
but if they leave no heirs it also will go to the 
College of Physicians. 


A LIBRARY known as the ‘Seymour Techni- 
cal Library’ is to be established by friends of 
the late Major L. T. Seymour at Johannesberg, 
as a memorial to his services to the mining in- 
dustry in South Africa. 


THE appropriation made by the British gov- 
ernment for the eight agricultural colleges of 
England and Wales is £7,750. These colleges 
have all been established within the past ten 
years. 


THE new National Museum at Munich, con- 
taining the collection of Bavarian antiquities, has 
been opened, and the valuable collections can be 
viewed to much better advantage than hitherto. 
The building contains more than a hundred 
rooms and has been erected at a cost of about 
$1,000,000. 


THE Authors’ Catalogue of the British Mu- 
seum, containing four hundred large volumes 
and numerous supplements, has now been 
completed. The compilation of the catalogue 
has occupied twenty years and cost $200,000. 
A subject-catalogue is now in course of prepa- 
ration. 


Lorp LisTER gave the third Huxley lecture 
at the Charing Cross Medical School on October 
2d, his subject being ‘Recent Advances in Sci- 
ence and their bearing on Medicine and Sur- 
gery.’ He described in some detail. the phys- 
iological and pathological investigations that 
led to his great discovery. It will be remem- 
bered that these lectures before the Charing 
Cross Hospital Medical School were endowed 
asamemorial to Huxley, and are given once in 
two years. The previous lecturers have been 
Sir Michael Foster and Professor Virchow. 


AT the Geographical Congress at Berlin in 
October, 1899, it was decided to form an Inter- 


SCIENCE. 


615 


national Seismological Society. The first meet- 
ing of the delegates will be held at Strassburg, 
April 11, 1901. The principal subjects chosen 
for discussion are: ‘ The organization and ex- 
tension of investigation in different countries’; 
“The selection of apparatus for international 
and local observations’; ‘The annual publica- 
tion of international reports,’ and ‘The status 
of the new society.’ 


THE attendance at the seventy-second an- 
nual meeting of German Men of Science and 
Physicians was about 1,100. 


AT the Geodetic Congress which met at Paris 
at the end of last month, Sir David Gill, direc- 
tor of the Cape Town Observatory, reported 
the progress made in measuring an are of 
meridian of 104 degrees from the Cape to 
Alexandria. They were passing by permission 
through German East Africa. Five degrees 
had been already measured in Rhodesia and 
three and a half in Natal. The measurement 
by international cooperation of an are from 
French Congo to German East Africa was con- 
sidered. A report was also made to the effect 
that the measurement of the geodetic line 
between Malta and Sicily had been successfully 
carried out under the superintendence of Dr. 
Guarducci, the chief of the geodetic division of 
the Italian Geographical Institute. The Malta 
station was at Gozo, and the chief Sicilian sta- 
tions were on the mountains of Etna and Cam- 
marata. The distance between Malta and 
Sicily is about 125 miles, and signals were ex- 
changed at this distance by means of the oxy- 
acetylene search light. 


THE British Medical Journal states that the 
Association des Anatomistes, which was founded 
last year, held its second meeting in Paris re- 
cently. The session was devoted to the discus- 
sion of business matters, the Association having 
for purposes of scientific work joined forces 
with the Section of Anatomy and of Histology 
and Embryology of the International Congress 
of Medicine. In the absence of Professor 
Mathias Duval, the chair was taken by Profes- 
sor Henneguy, of the Collége de France. It 
was decided that the next meeting should be at 
Lyons in 1901, on Monday, Tuesday and Wed- 
nesday of the last week before Easter, un- 


616 


der the presidency of M. Renaut, with MM. 
Testut, Arloing and Ledouble as Vice-Presi- 
dents. Thirty-two new members were ad- 
mitted, among them being Professors Waldeyer, 
His, Golgi, and Eternod. The Secretary of the 
Association is Professor Nicolas, Faculté de 
Médecine, Nancy. 


TINIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

THE formal inauguration of Dr. Henry 8. 
Pritchett as President of the Massachusetts In- 
stitute of Technology will take place on Octo- 
ber 24th. 


THE Trustees of Western Reserve University 
have voted to erect a new chemical laboratory 
for the work under the charge of Professor E. 
W. Morley. 

Mr. ALFRED L. Jones, of Liverpool, has of- 
fered £1,000 a year for five years towards a 
fund for establishing a comprehensive system 
of technical education in Wales. 


A STUDENTS’ observatory has lately been 
opened at Wellesley College, built and equip- 
ped by the enlightened liberality of one of the 
Trustees, Mrs. John C. Whitin. That the 
building is unusually beautiful, of white marble, 
with roof of ribbed copper, has not been al- 
lowed to detract from the equipment. A twelve- 
inch refractor of Alvan Clark & Sons, a three 
inch transit, a six-foot focus concave grating 
spectroscope and other necessary instruments 
are or soon will be in place. The dome by 
Warner & Swazey works easily, asit should ina 
Wwoman’s observatory, andis of graceful design, 
a hemisphere upon a cylinder. The address at 
the opening was by Professor E. C. Pickering. 
Greetings from Lady Huggins, Miss Agnes 
Clarke and Miss Dorothea Klumpke were read, 
and Professor David P. Todd spoke of ‘ Labor- 
atory work in Astronomy.’ Courses both in 
physical astronomy and mathematical astron- 
omy are already initiated under the conduct 
of Professor 8. F. Whiting and Professor Ellen 
Hayes. 

THE annual commemoration exercises will be 
held at Princeton University on October 20th. 
The address this year will be by Bishop Satter- 
lee, of Washington. 

It is reported that Dr. Adams will not again 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 303. 


resume the duties of the presidency of the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin, but that Dr. E. A. Birge, 
professor of zoology and now acting president, 
will be installed as president. 

PROFESSOR R. H. CHITTENDEN, director of the 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University 
and professor of physiological chemistry, has 
been made professor of physiology in the Yale 
Medical School. 

J. W. FEELEy, M.S., professor of physics 
and geology at Wells College, Aurora, N. Y., 
has been appointed acting president in the 
place of Dr. W. E. Waters, who has resigned. 


Mr. Huco Dremer has been elected assistant 
professor of mechanical engineering at the 
Michigan State Agricultural College. He was 
formerly the head of the mechanical depart- 
ment of the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege at Greensborough, N. C. 

PROFESSOR W. F. M. Goss has been elected 
dean of the engineering school of Purdue Uni- 
versity. 

PROFESSOR RoBERTS LATTA, Jecturer in logic 
and philosophy in the University of St. An- 
drews, has been appointed to the chair of moral 
philosophy in the University of Aberdeen, 
vacant by the transfer of Professor Sorley to the 
corresponding chair at Cambridge University. 


LAWRENCE HE. GRIFFIN, Ph.D. (Johns Hop- 
kins University), has been appointed instructor 
in zoology in Western Reserve University. 


J. B. FAuGHT has been appointed professor 
of mathematics in Michigan Northern Normal 
School at Marquette, Michigan. 


RIcHARD K. PiEz, Pd.D. (New York Uni- 
versity), has been appointed professor of psy- 
chology at the State Normal School, Oswego, 
N. Y. Dr. Piez assumed the duties of his 
chair upon his recent return from a special tour 
in Europe, in which he made a study of the 
applications of modern pedagogy in the actual 
work of continental schools. Pitt. P. Colgrove, 
Pd.D. (1900), has resumed his duties at the 
State Normal School, St. Cloud, Minn., after a 
leave of absence extending over two years, 
which hespent in study at the University. Dr. 


Colgrove will have charge of the departments 


of psychology and mathematics. 


SCI 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEWcomB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. ToursTon, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuppER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

N. L. Britron, Botany; C. S. Mryot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. Bownprrcn, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLrINes, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, OctoBEerR 26, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
The Interferences observed on viewing one Coarse 
Grating through another and on the Projection of 
one Piece of Wire Gauze by a Parallel Piece: 


PROFESSOR CARL BARUS........-2-0--scsseeeeeeececes 617 
The Crossley Reflector of the Lick Observatory : PRO- 
FESSOR C. D. PERRINE.........000c0-cscecececeeeceres 627 


The Address of the President of the Chemical Section 
of the British Association for the Advancement of 
Science: PROFESSOR W. H. PERKIN............--- 632 
Scientific Books :— 
Suess’s La face dela terre: J. B. WOODWORTH ; 
Vigneron and Letheule’s Mesures électrique, 
de Villemontée’s Resistance électrique et fluidité : 
PROFESSOR W.S. FRANKLIN. Books Received. 645 


Scientific Journals and Articles.........sseccceseeeeseoeee 648 


Societies and Academies : 
The Philosophical Suciety of Washington: J. H. 
HAYFORD: The Academy of Science of St. Louis: 
PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRELBASE...........0.0000+ 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Arithmetical Note: PRoFEssoR C. A. Scorr; 
Camphor secreted by an Animal: NATHAN 
BANKS; A Correction: PROFESSOR J. W. FRE- 
TADS sdoubondonobcajudadosesuocabedeasaqsedogenoobode soneHoHoe 648 
Botanical Notes :— 
Prolixity in Botanical Papers; The Study of 
Plant Diseases; The Annual Shedding of Cotton- 
wood Twigs; The Immediate Effect of Pollen: 


PROFESSOR CHARLES E. BESSEY.........-..-0.02e00 649 
The New York Botanical Garden.... -.. 651 
Scientific Notes and News.......cc.ccccecesecessenceneneens 652 
University and Educational News .........sec.seseeseees 656 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE INTERFERENCES OBSERVED ON VIEW- 
ING ONE COARSE GRATING THROUGH AN- 
OTHER, AND ON THE PROJECTION OF 
ONE PIECE OF WIRE GAUZE BY 
A PARALLEL PIECE. 

Ir has often been a matter of surprise to 
me that the shadow bands observed, for 
instance, on looking through one distant 
picket fence at another, are so seldom re- 
ferred to in the literature of physics ; and 
moreover, that phenomena so ubiquitous 
and of such remarkable properties are spar- 
ingly, if ever, made use of by the practical 
physicist. I therefore thought it worth 
while to look into the subject experiment- 
ally, for my own satisfaction, and the re- 
sults may be of interest to the reader. JI 
hope to show that there is probably no more 
straightforward example of the diffraction 
method in geometric optics, or more instruc- 
tive method of introducing it. 


CERTAIN ALLIED SIMPLE PHENOMENA. 


1. If a piece of wire gauze is placed on 
another with the wires nearly parallel, the 
well-known water lines invariably come out, 
oftentimes, if one piece of gauze is regu- 
larly or geometrically crumpled or dimpled, 
showing beautiful patterns. The explana- 
tion of this is at hand; the upper meshes 
being nearer the eye subtend a larger angle, 
and when both are projected on the same 
plane, two scales result, one a little larger 
than the other. Hence, similar to the case 
of the vernier or the analogous case of 


618 


musical beats, there is a crowding of the 
lines in some parts of the field, alternating 
with a paucity in intermediate parts, if both 
gratings be uniform, plane and alike. If 
the drift of the wires in the two gratings be 
in slightly different directions, the inter- 
lacing is dense in the former case and light 
in the latter, with a diagonal trend. If the 
gratings be imperfect or not plane, the zones 
of light and shade must obviously be curved. 
Even with parallel and equal systems in the 
same plane, water line effects may be pro- 
duced, since there is less darkness in the 
loci where lines cross than where they are 
distinct. 


WHAT ARE THE GENERAL PHENOMENA ? 


2. This is all simple enough; if, however, 
the two gratings are placed at a distance 
apart along an axis, and the first illumi- 
nated by strong diffuse light, the second will 
project a real image of the former grating 
at definite points on the axis, almost as if 
it were a zone plate. When these images 
are looked at by the eye in the proper posi- 
tion, they appear as magnifications of the 
first grating, oftentimes enormously large 
the size increasing with the distance of the 
focal plane from the projecting grating. If 
the eye be moved along the axis the images 
vanish rapidly to infinity on the nearer side 
and more gradually to zero on the farther 
side. Distant foci are apt to show heavy 
blue lines on a red ground, and vice versa. 
The indefiniteness of focus when viewed by 
the normal eye is due to its power of ac- 
commodation, and the size is an illusion; 
for the eye is adjusted for an infinite dis- 
tance and locates the image of unknown 
position there. The eye unaided is there- 
fore not well adapted for observations of 
this character. If, however, one throws the 
eye out of range with a reading glass of, 
say, 10 cm. focal distance held close to it, 
the variability of focal distance is practi- 
cally wiped out, and the positions of the 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 304. 


images may now be charted satisfactorily. 
Some years ago, while looking through 
an ordinary door screen at the Venetian 
blinds on the opposite side of the street, I 
noticed that the zones of light and shade 
were remarkably distinct when viewed by 
the naked eye (which in my case is near- 
sighted), but that they all but vanished or 
were so faint as not to be an annoyance 
when viewed through spectacles. This ob- 
servation is general: If the normal eye is 
put out of proper function by looking 
through strong convex or strong concave 
glasses, in either case the shadow zones at 
the proper distance from the screen become 
painfully pronounced. They disappear as 
the eye is properly equipped, naturally or 
otherwise, for long range vision. It seems 
probable that this principle (to which I 
shall return in $5) could be used practically 
in fitting the eye with the proper glasses. 
For the present purposes therefore either 
a convex or a concave lens will be needed 
by the normal eye to fix the proper focal 
planes of the grating; but as the plane for 
the convex lens is in front of the eye, this 
is the more serviceable. Direct projection 
is only possible in a darkened room and 
at the strongest focus, supposing that dif- 
fuse daylight illuminates the first grating. 
With sunlight all the real foci may be pro- 
jected, but the use of sunlight (at the out- 
set) slightly alters the conditions. Foci 
may also be found by the telescope directed 
along the axis; though furnishing admirable 
qualitative results, this is the least accurate 
of the methods and useful only for finding 
virtual fociin the cases discussed below, § 5. 
Thus the following simple arrangement 
is suggested for measurement. Along the 
axis LZ’ there is placed the ground glass 
screen C,and the wire gauze* grating A just 
in front of it. Ata distance, x, from A the 
*Ordinary door screen wire gauze, say 6 inches 


high and 12 inches wide, in a wooden frame, answers 
all purposes. 


OCTOBER 26, 1900.] 


second erating, B, is adjusted with the wires 
parallel to A; and at a distance, y, from the 
latter is the focal plane S, visible to the eye 
behind the lens (or in the distant corre- 
spondingly focused telescope, looking along 
T,'f in Fig. 2, as will be explained below). 


SCIENCE. 


619 


in which relations of « and y for the case of 
a=b have been inserted as an example of 
many similar data, will be intelligible at 
once. 

Naturally these results are crude, but as 
their import is unmistakable, it is not 


It will be convenient to call the grating 
space at A, a; the space at B,b; and the 
space of the image at S,s, all being parallel. 
Then the experimental results of Table 1, 


TABLE 1.—EXAMPLE OF FOCAL PLANES FOR GRAT- 
INGS WITH EQUAL MESHES. a=0=—.214 cM. 
AND WIRES .030 CM. IN DIAMETER, LENS 
Focus 15 cM. a—b. 


GH 100 200 300 400 em. 
T= 125 105 155 201 cm. 
215 225 315 410 
ae = 615 — 
Ratio, 
ya 1 3 z 4 
2 1 1 1 
— — 9 ps 


TABLE 2.—EXAMPLE OF FOCAL PLANES FOR GRAT- 
INGS WITH UNEQUAL MESHES. MESH OF 4, 
.214 om., or B, .033 CM., SO THAT a/b—6.5. 


r= 300 400 cm. 
j= 35 65 em. 
15 145 
135 
0 1 1 
2 2 
4 pal 


necessary to push the experiment further. 
The first definite result derived from them 
is this, that the focal planes are distributed 
along the axis at distances 4, 1, 2, etc., 
multiples and submultiples of the distance 
of the gratings apart, when the two gratings 
are identical, or a=06. The size of the 
images is usually directly as the distance 
y from grating B,and if for a=b,«=y, 
then a= 6=s, or image and object are 
equally large. Remote focal planes are apt 
to be diffuse and colored nearly uniformly 
red and blue in alternate bands. Hence 
the number of foci accessible in this way is 
not large. 

If the meshes are unequal, the focal 
planes are still apt to be distributed at dis- 
tances varying as 1, 2, 4, etc., along the axis. 
Corresponding distances, y, are smaller rela- 
tive to x if the projecting grating is finer. 
The law of distribution is not easily worked 
out in this way, however, because it is 
difficult to obtain gratings of different 
meshes but of the same diameter of wire. 
Neither is it safe to infer the size of image 
from these experiments. The problem 
must be attacked in another way. 


620 


3. Since the distances x and y are large 
(2-10 meters), it will be possible to obtain 
gratings of different fineness (effective hori- 
zontal distance of wires apart) by merely 
rotating either grating on an axis parallel 
to the wires. Since the focal planes have 
now been shown to be real, it is expedient 
to project the whole phenomenon with sun- 
light, and if parallel rays are not wanted a 
ground glass screen or better, a screen of 
scratched mica which is more translucent, 
may be interposed at Cin Fig. 1, in front 
of the first grating, A. Thus if LZ be the 
direction of sunlight and @ the angle of 
rotation of either grating, the figure meets 
the present case. If A be left normal and 
B rotated, results are obtained for the case 
where the projecting meshes are smaller 
horizontally than those projected. If B be 
left normal and A rotated, the projected 
meshes are the smaller. For any angle @ 
of either A or B, the grating B and screen 
S may be moved along the axis to locate 
the other focal planes for the same mesh 
ratio. With the proper angle @ images may 
be focused for any distance y relative to z. 


TABLE 3.—DATA FOR A FINER PROJECTING MESH 


(B ROTATED). x=—200cm. a=1. 
y | 6 ARDE Timsee! Remarks. Symbol in chart. 

100) 0°; 1 .5 | bk. and wh. | Fig. 3—a 

49° 2 a5) ce “ 7—pB 

TS) 3 5 OG 5 
200); 0°; 1 1.0 | red and bl. se 3-0 

Ao = .5 |bk.and wh.| ‘ 8—e 

61°; 4 1.0 | red and bl. “ A—7 

Sales -5 | strong. <6—G 
300)52°) 2 1.5 ee “¢ 8—strained 

75°! .7%5 | br. and wh.| “* 8— “ 
400|47°) 4 2.0 sf a foe 

74° + 1.0 “cc “ce 5—v 
600)42°) # 3.0 strong. o BE 

70°) = 1.5 as “* 8—strained 
700} —| — | 3.5 “ —_—— 

1.75 MG 


At long ranges (500 cm. and more) the 
white shows faint interference fringes usu- 
ally witha pink center. At 7 meters, when 
the ground glass screen is interposed in 
front of the first grating, A, the effect is 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


a remarkably clear diffraction pattern fully 
two feet square or more, consisting of nar- 
row, strong, black lines on a dull white 
ground. When the grating space of B is 
reduced to 4 by rotating it, very fine lines 
fainter but very clear show on the same 
ground. For other mesh-ratios the field is 
blank, and sharp adjustment of @ is neces- 
sary. Diffuse, non-parallel light, therefore, 
is equally active, and being free from the in- 
tense but circumscribed glare of full sun- 
light, gives more striking results. Moreover, 
the same figures as above show through 
the dull mica screen for all the distances 
noted in the table. 

Special attention may be called to the 
fact that the figure is still distinct even at 
a distance of 30 meters between the image 
S and the projecting grating B. 

The results of the following table were 
obtained by keeping grating B normal and 
rotating A. 


TABLE 4.—DATA FOR A COARSER PROJECTING 


MESH (4A ROTATED). x—200. b=—1. 
y | 0 Appr VSD. Remarks. | Symbol in.chart. 
200)48| 4 1.50 Strong. Fig. 7 
60 $ 50 ss  4—9 
400) 42 re 1.50 « ‘¢ 8 —prol. bk. 
“| 4 .30 ob | “ 50 


As the obliquity of A is increased the 
focal plane frequently does not sharply van- 
ish, the image merely becoming smaller. 
Because of this indefiniteness of smaller 
images further measurement was not at- 
tempted. It will be seen that the angles @ 
for the same y do not correspond to the 
preceding table, as was directly proved by 
exchanging the gratings. This is the im- 
portant datum of the new series of obser- 
vations, and makes it needless to adduce a 
greater number. 


SCHEME FOR THE PROJECTION OF ONE GRAT- 
ING BY ANOTHER. 


4. In order to interpret these results it 
will be expedient to introduce a simple 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


hypothesis, of a kind which in the sequel 
may be modified to meet the true case. I 
shall proceed, therefore, to trace what may 
be temporarily called the effective planes of 
shadow in diffuse light. In other words, 
planes are to be passed between the two 
gratings through their consecutive wires 


SS 


SCIENCE. 


621 


etc., are the successive positions of the focal 
plane or screen. Grating spacesand image 
spaces are denoted by a, 6, and s, respec- 
tively. Reference planes designated by 
Greek letters will be presently referred to. 
Wherever lines mass ina single point, there 
one may look for a deficiency of light coming 


ISS 


and the loci of intersection determined. If 
the wires are vertical the result may be 
mapped out by drawing the traces of the 
two planes in question on a horizontal 
plane, and the object would be gained by 
solving a few straightforward problems in 
the modern geometry of pencils of rays. It 
will greatly facilitate inspection, however, if 


to an observer behind both gratings. Cor- 
responding groups of intersections thus de- 
termine a focal plane. 

To begin with Fig. 3, in which a= or the 
two paralleled wire gratings are identical, 
the diagram is seen at once to reproduce the 
results of Table 1. At relatively remote dis- 
tances the diverging planes tend to pass out 


SZ 


some of the chief cases which have been 


considered are drawn out in plan. This 
has been done in Figs. 3-8, which will be 
found additionally useful in the physical 
questions of the next section. A and B 
show the positions of the gratings and S, S’, 


of the field, and the images must therefore 
weaken for this reason alone. Table 3 de- 
scribes the images 2 and 6, the latter colored; 
the focal plane «’ with s= 4 is also sharp. 
Following S, the planes S’, 8’, etc., did not 
appear distinctly enough to be recorded. 


622 


The figure shows, moreover, that between 
A and B there should be virtual focal 
planes, and these must also be discoverable 
to the left of A. That such actually occur 
will be shown below, § 5, by the telescope 
method. The absence of S’, 8”, etc., will 
not appear surprising, since the distance 
AB is two meters and shadows become dif- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


and S’ the second, the focal plane »’ will 
appear. ‘ 
' In Fig. 6, with the space ratio }, the 

image £ is strong; the image ¢’ was also 
found; but with these cases of high incli- 
nation 0, the images are confused and focal 
planes are apt to be continuous. Thus an 
image may be found at S’, but not sharply 


fuse. It is rather surprising that images 
properly produced can be obtained at over 
30 meters from the projecting grating. 

In Fig. 4 the meshes of B are half as 
large as A. Table 3 shows at 7 that the 
plane S comes out strongly and colored. 
iS’ was not found nor were the other images 


In general a contracted di- 


in position. 
agram is liable to exceptions to be ex- 
plained below. 

In the preceding cases the original grat- 
ing space is reproduced, as, for instance, at 
S’ in Fig. 6, when, if c=1,2+y= a/b. 
The figures are symmetrical with respect 


striking. Virtual foci are here also sug- 
gested. Table 4 indicates that if B be the 
first grating and § the second (larger) the 
focal plane 7’ is sharply traced. 

In Fig. 5 the grating spaces are as 4. 
Table 3 shows that the planes S and S’ are 
both pronounced (marked ; and v). Ac- 
cording to Table 4, if B is the first grating 


to the strongest focal plane (€ in Fig. 6, 
for instance). The original grating space 
is reduced in the image or at most equal to 
it. There is no magnification. 

In the following cases the ratio a/b is not 
a whole number, and the image may there- 
fore be magnified to an extent which is the 
least common multiple of a and 6. _ More- 


OCTOBER 26, 1900.] 


over, s/a = y/x, so that the strong image is 
usually remote. The projected grating is 
here taken as the larger, a>b. If a<b 
the corresponding image space will be 
3! =B(1 + (2/e + y) (2a — 0/0). 

In Fig. 7 the ratio a/b is 3/2. Table 3 
shows the focal planes £ and p» to be pro- 
nounced. The magnification at » is 2, with 
strong brown lines on a white ground which 
contains faint traces of a pinkish diffrac- 
tion band in the middle. 


SCIENCE. 


the light areas which are alternately white 
and colored reddish. 

The final case to be exhibited in detail 
is Fig. 8, where a/b=4/3. The focal 
planes « and € are marked phenomena, the 
latter at the long distance of 6 meters from 
B, strong and coarse as usual. With the 
mica screen clean cut dark bands .2 cm. 
broad and .7 cm. apart, cover an area of a 
square foot. If Bis the projecting and A 
the projected grating (a/b = 3/4, light re- 


3 4, 5 


SEN GuheNS 


If the ratio a/b is 2/3, A’ and B’ may 
represent the positions of the grating, the 
light retrogressing, so that S’ is the corre- 
sponding focal plane. It is marked y’ in 
Table 4, where moreover » is again repro- 
duced as the second focal plane of this 
series. The coarse images for this and 
succeeding cases of long distance (6-10, 
even 30 meters), are a striking feature. The 
phenomenon becomes fainter but otherwise 
more remarkable and much larger if the 
ground glass or, better, the mica screen is 
placed before the first grating. The dif- 
fraction character then becomes manifest in 


trogressing), Table 4 shows the focal plane 
at 4 meters well marked, and found from 
Fig. 8 by prolonging the lines backwards, 
in the direction BA. 

The other cases of Tables 3 and 4 are 
found by subjecting Figs. 7 and 8 to a 
homogeneous strain, with the principal 
strains in the horizontal and vertical di- 
rections. Similarly, 7 would follow from 8 
or from the above figures. Focal planes 
corresponding to S are usually well shown. 

Asa rule, therefore, the diagrams are a 
convenient means of predicting the rela- 
tions of size and distance of the images. 


624 


They do not account for the accompanying 
color which is a not infrequent occurrence ; 
and they predict more focal planes than are 
easily found. The latter discrepancy might 
be ascribed to the imperfect gratings (wire 
gauze), or to lack of intensity taken as 
proportional to the number of lines which 
cross at a point in the diagrams. It would 
merely have been confusing to record other 
than the strong cases. The diagrams fail 
altogether to suggest how a thin wire is to 
east a shadow of the order of 10-30 meters 
in length, even in diffuse light. Itisin this 
respect that the explanation will have to 
be supplemented. In the meantime, how- 
ever, it seems worth while to test the posi- 
tion of the virtual foci between AB and 
beyond B. 

5. For this purpose it is convenient to 
place the gratings far apart and observe 
with a telescope as shown in Fig. 2. If 
f be the focal distance of the objective, and 
y the reduced distance of the conjugate 
focus, corresponding to the virtual focal 
plane S ata focal distance y’, we may write 
1/y' + 1/y’=1/f. With y’ computed in 
this way, y = y' — 2, where z is the distance 
between the objective of the telescope and 
the grating B; and y, as usual, the distance 
between this and the image. The distance 
« may be measured or found by the same 
method. 

This experiment gives excellent results 
for the number and relative size of the suc- 
cessive images between A and B. It isa 
erude method of finding the distances y, 
sufficing, however, to pick out their posi- 
tion in a series. If A be the clapboarding 
of a distant house and, B an ordinary win- 
dow screen through which A, distant about 
300 feet, is observed, the conditions for 
many virtual foci will be realized. Table 
5 gives an example of results of this kind. 

The table shows that the limits of y are 
pretty well given, the visible foci should all 
lie near B as found. All the focal planes 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII No. 304. 


observed are predicted by a diagram of in- 
tersecting pencils of rays of the kind above 
exhibited, as indicated by the third and 
fourth columns of the table. Nevertheless, 
TABLE 5.—VIRTUAL FOCI BETWEEN THE GRATINGS. 


a—=10,000 cm. z=274cCM. GRATING 
SPACES, a—=10.7, b=22 cm. 


Focus. | y”, re- | y, pre- 


No. |duced.|dicted.| ¥» observed. Size. 
Screen| 37.0 0 0 (0); — 
2 35.8 63 56 (1) | small. 
3 | 35.5 | 125 137 (2) | larger. 
_— — | 188* - = 
4 34.8 | 250 272 (4) | largest. 
— — 313 = = — 
= _ 375* = = — 
= _— 437 = = — 
5 34.1 | 500 532 (8) | smaller. 
Se ee 563% se oa ee 
= | = | es i ee i ea 
==) 25° | ag a ee 
6 33.7 | 750* 756 (10) | much smaller. 
Clap 
boards} 32.8 — | 105000, | 


many images are predicted which do not 
occur; and whereas the predicted images 
should be all of nearly a size, practically 
of the same grating space as B, the images 
found are all much smaller. They increase 
to a maximum and then diminish again in 
the direction BA, with the largest not more 
than 4 of b. Possibly the presence of two 
or more focal planes in the telescope at once 
would account for the discrepancy of size 
and number, but the planes marked * which 
should be strong do not appear specially so 
in the experiment. In general, therefore, 
the diagrams give a good outline of the 
phenomena, but fail in the particulars. 
One may note that the foci found are in a 
distance ratio of 0,1, 2, 4, 8, 10, which is 
liable to be more than a coincidence. 
Another class of virtual foci consists of 
images not lying between the gratings, but 
on one side of both when looked at from 
the other side. This implies the same 
method of telescopic observation: obvi- 
ously the cases of Figs. 3-8 can all be 
found as virtual images by a telescope in 
front of A, looking from A to B. In sucha 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


case A may be moved quite up to the ob- 
ject glass or drawn on it. Knowing the 
position of the images, it is possible that 
such an arrangement might be used in 
measuring distances, A being for this pur- 
pose taken suitably greater than B. 

Here I may revert to the observations 
with and without spectacles instanced 
above. If the eye is so circumstanced as to 
focusing power as to be able to see grating 
A in the distance through grating B dis- 
tinctly, then the shadow bands will be out 
of focus and faint. If, however, a near- 
sighted eye or one made abnormal by convex 
or in a second case by concave lenses, grating 
A is quite out of the range of vision. The 
eye will then find and fix upon one of the 
focal planes, virtual or real, due to the pro- 
jection of A by B. If there be not too 
much stray light, the shadow bands in such 
a case are painfully obtrusive. 


LONG SHADOWS CAST BY THIN WIRES IN NON- 
PARALLEL LIGHT. 


6. It is finally necessary to explain the 
long lines of shadow assumed tentatively 
in the above hypothesis. Even in sunlight 
a filamentary wire will not cast an effective 
shadow further than 5 or 10 inches; the 
shadows here encountered may be 100 feet 
in length. 

Clearly the phenomenon is one of diffrac- 
tion, and it will be expedient to recall the 
fundamental case of a single slit and a 
single edge. The pattern is well known, 
consisting outside of the geometrical shadow 
of a very bright and then very dark band, 
followed by colored alternations of light 
and shade more cramped and much less 
distinct and intense. Within the shadow 
the light sinks gradually into darkness. 

Suppose the slit to be displaced laterally 
to the left a small distance; the whole dif- 
fraction pattern will then move toward the 
right over the same distance if «= y, and 
for other distance ratios, proportionally. 


SCIENCE. 


625 


Now suppose that both slit actions occur 
simultaneously. The feature of the diagram 
will be the two maxima of light enclosing 
between them a shadow band without 
color, which is a compound of the darkness 
within the geometrical shadow for the first 
slit, now limited on the right side also by 
the maximum of the second slit and its ex- 
ternal dark band. The effect therefore is the 
same as if the bar between the two slits were pro- 
jected. For x =y the distance between the 
light maxima will be the same as the dis- 
tance between the slits otherwise in pro- 
portion to relative distance. If the slits 
are finer the phenomenon is darker and 
sharper; if coarser, brighter and more 
vague. If the slits move closer together 
the bands move closer proportionally. Color 
is rarely apparent. 

It follows from the preceding that with 
3 slits and an edge, 3 maxima of light 
and 2 dark bands without color will ap- 
pear; with 4slits,4 maxima and 3 shadows, 
ete. The whole phenomenon may be 
regarded as crowded into the geometrical 
shadow of the first slit. Hence if the 
slits increase in number the number of 
bands will soon reach a limit as more 
and more light falls inside the edge of the 
shadow in question. With a coarse grat- 
ing (rods and spaces say .2 cm.) but 5 
shadow bands may appear for an indefinite 
number of spaces. In general the diffrac- 
tion pattern covers a certain area; if the 
slits move closer together there will be 
more and finer bands visible ; if they move 
farther apart, fewer. With an edge just in 
front of a telescope or on the objective and 
light nearly screened off, an indefinite num- 
ber of lines may be seen on looking at a 
distant white surface through grating A. 
From the distance of A from the objective 
(.1 to several meters) and the size of 
image and object the magnification of the 
telescope may be inferred. 

7. With the case of an edge and multiple 


626 


slit sufficiently disposed of, the case of a 
single wire and multiple slit is not far to 
seek. There will be a series of light and 
shade bands for each edge of the wire, and 
the two series will eventually run through 
each other. A single slit has within the 
geometrical shadow the well known brown- 
ish bana, finely fluted and broad for a thick 
wire, coarsely fluted and narrow for a thin 
wire. With 2 slits there will be 2 shadow 
bands with a maximum of light between 
for a fine wire, or 3 bands with an intensely 
dark one in the middle for a stout wire 
(say 3 mm.). With 3 slits and a fine wire 
3 shadow bands appear at long ranges 
(y/z = 1/3), more at short distances. With 
a coarse wire 4 at long ranges with the two 
internal bands intense, 5 or more at short 
ranges, ete. It follows eventually that with 
a multiple slit and wire the diffraction pat- 
terns may be looked upon as compounds of 
the light and shade bands of each edge. At 
x= 2,y=.5 meters, a blur usually appears 
for the thin wire, sharp fine lines edging a 
broad central shadow for the thick wire. 
This continues up to 2 meters in the latter 
case; but with the thin wire with y between 
land 2 meters, there are apt to be colored 
blue and red bands of a very complicated 
pattern. Beyond two meters the figure is in 
all cases again simply white and black, with 
the former or the latter wider conformably 
with the structure of grating A, supposed 
to be at 2 meters from B. Size of rod is 
without influence here. With the thick 
wire the central ever-narrowing shadow 
may be visible beyond 2 meters, and as 
it apparently thrusts the bands apart the 
figure is relatively broad. In so far as the 
edge effect predominates and overlapping 
is obscured in the middle, the bands appear 
in focus at all distances. 

8. From these results to the actual case 
of the grating is an easy step. Grating A 
furnishes the multiple slits, about 5-10 of 
which are effective for every wire of grat- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XIL No 304. 


ing B. Hach of these has its own series 
(about 8 in the above case) of shadow 
bands, all identical in form. When for 
any position on the axis the shadow bands 
of all the wires of B coincide, there will be 
a focal plane at that point and 6 will pro- 
ject an image of A. At other points there 
will be no image, for patterns overlap irreg- 
ularly, light falling on shade and produc- 
ing more or less uniform illumination. 
Figs. 3-8 show the conditions to be such 
that many band series must overlap, and 
hence the greater definition of focus. 

At close ranges, therefore, both the width 
of the wire (in relation to the independent 
shadow bands of each of its edges) and the 
distance apart of the wires (in relation to 
the above Figs. 8-8) must be of proper 
value to produce coincident effects. At 
long ranges coincidences depend more on 
the diagrams. 

From another point of view we may con- 
sider the band series of the right and left 
hand edges of the wire of the grating in- 
dependently. The former will be brought 
to focus at those points of the axis where 
the successive images of corresponding 
edges overlap. The latter equally so. The 
two images so formed, and corresponding re- 
spectively to the two edges of all the wires 
of B, will not blend in a compound image, 
unless the images coincide. If the sep- 
arate edge images are apparently displaced 
relatively to each other, 7. e., if there is ap- 
preciable non-coincidence of shadow bands, 
there will be no focal plane even if the im- 
ages of the separate edges are perfect. 
Hence there is an adequate account given 
of the absence of focal planes predicted by 
the above constructions. Again, just as 
there may be color effects for a single wire 
at certain distances, so for the wires con- 
jointly there will be color phenomena be- 
tween the images of all corresponding 
edges. Finally, an inkling is given as to 
why focal planes which from diagrams 3-8 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


one would expect to be strong, do not 
so appear; and vice versa. Images which 
would be strong for the right and left 
edges separately need not be so when the 
former are superimposed on the latter. 
With these remarks I believe to have 
given a sufficient account of theseinteresting 
diffractions. I began the work since in all 
my reading in physics I had never seen a 
reference to these ubiquitous phenomena, 
and I hoped with the present paper to fur- 
nish at least one contribution of known 
whereabouts. In the course of the work I 
found much greater subtlety than I was 
prepared for, and some of the cases given 
are available for more rigorous treatment 


elsewhere. 
Cart Barvs. 
BRown UNIVERSITY, 
PROVIDENCE, R. I. 


THE CROSSLEY REFLECTOR OF THE LICK 
OBSERVATORY. 

Tue leading article in the June number 
of The Astrophysical Journal has the above 
title and was written by Professor Keeler. 
It is a very full account of the instrument 
and of the work accomplished with this 
telescope since its installation on Mt. 
Hamilton. Iam very glad to comply with 
the request of the editor to furnish an ab- 
stract for ScIENCE. 

The frontispiece of the number is an ex- 
cellent heliogravure plate of the ‘Trifid’ 
nebula in Sagittarius, from a negative 
made with the Crossley reflector. In this 
connection it ought to be said that no 
known method of reproduction gives all 
the detail to be seen on the original nega- 
tives of such subjects. There are also half- 
tone illustrations, from photographs, of the 
detaiis of the telescope and its observatory. 

This telescope was made by Dr. A. A. 
Common, of London, in 1879, and used by 
him until 1885, when he decided to build 
one of 5 feet aperture. He then sold the 


SCIENCE. 


627 


3-foot instrument to Edward Crossley, Esq., 
of Halifax, England. For the construction 
of the instrument and for photographs ob- 
tained with it, Dr. Common was awarded 
the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical 
Society in 1884. 

Mr. Crossley built a very complete ob- 
servatory and dome for the telescope and 
used it for anumber of years. The climate 
of Halifax was not adapted to the use of 
reflectors, however, and in 1895, at the 
request of Professor Holden, then director 
of the Lick Observatory, Mr. Crossley pre- 
sented the telescope and its dome to this 
institution. The expenses incurred in 
transporting it from England and in erect- 
ing a suitable building on Mt. Hamilton 
were borne by friends of the Lick Observ- 
atory, principally residents of California. 
It was mounted here the same year. Its 
dome is situated on a spur of the mountain 
some 350 yards to the south of the main 
observatory and about 150 feet lower. 
The building contains, in addition to the 
dome and vestibule, a photographic dark- 
room, a study, a room for apparatus and 
storage, and aroom for the hydraulic ma- 
chinery which was used in England to re- 
volve the dome. The present site is such 
that the hydraulic system which is used 
for the large refractor is not available for the 
Crossley reflector. The dome is turned by 
hand by means of an endless rope and a 
set of gears working in a cast-iron rack 
bolted to the inside of the sole plate of the 
dome. The dome is covered with sheet- 
iron, the framework being of iron girders. 
It is of the usual form, with a shutter in 
two parts which are rolled to each side, ex- 
posing a slitsix feet wide. Theslit extends 
well beyond the zenith. From the inside 
of the dome is swung asystem of platforms 
around thetelescope for the observer to stand 
upon. The cylindrical walls upon which 
the dome rests are double, 364 feet inside 
diameter. The dome itself is 38 feet 9 


628 


inches in diameter. The lower half of the 
observing slit was fitted with a screen of tar- 
paulin by Professor Keeler, which proved 
very useful against the winds which are so 
prevalent on Mt. Hamilton. 

The telescope and its mounting are very 
completely described and figured by Dr. 
Common in Vol. 46 of the Memoirs of the 
Royal Astronomical Society. The telescope 
was designed especially for photographic 
work, in which it is very desirable to con- 
tinue an exposure uninterrupted, across the 
meridian. This cannot be done in the usual 
form of mounting where the declination axis 
is attached to the middle of the tube of the 
telescope and to one end of a short polar 
axis. Dr. Common obviated this difficulty 
by placing the declination axis at the ex- 
treme lower end of the telescope tube, the 
axis of the telescope always being in the 
same meridian plane as the polaraxis. The 
large mirror is above the declination axis, 
and hence requires to be counterbalanced. 
This counterbalancing of mirror and tube 
is effected by placing slabs of lead in two 
boxes which extend a short distance he- 
yond the declination axis. Professor Keeler 
points out that the construction adopted by 
Dr. Common for his 5-foot reflector is a 
great improvement. In the latter instru- 
ment the tube is swung near its lower end 
between two large ears attached to the 
polar axis, the pivots forming the declina- 
tion axis. The mirror is placed at the ex- 
treme end of the tube and thus acts as a 
counterbalance. 

The construction of the mounting limits 
observations to 25° south declination. In 
London, for the latitude of which the mount- 
ing was constructed, this meant a zenith 
distance of 77° on the meridian, but at Mt. 
Hamilton it is only 62°. Inour more south- 
ern latitude a considerable region is thus 
unfortunately out of reach of the telescope. 

From his experience with the Crossley 
refiector, Professor Keeler came to the con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 204. 


clusion that the definition in the case of a 
reflector, as well as a refractor, depends al- 
most wholly on external conditions, and that 
large masses of metal near the mirror have 
little effect, at least where the range of 
temperature is as small as at Mt. Ham- 
ilton. 

The telescope is used asa Newtonian. It 
is provided with two large mirrors, each 
three feet in aperture, and of 17 feet 6.1 
inches focal length. These mirrors were 
made by Mr. Calver. The one in use at 
present (mirror A) was refigured by Sir 
Howard Grubb, and is practically perfect 
for photographic work. It may be added 
that this mirror has so far been used with 
the same coating of silver which it had 
when received from England. Mirror B 
has not been used at Mt. Hamilton. 

The diagonal mirror is round, its diameter 
being 8.9 inches. Its distance inside the 
focus is 29 inches. 

The field of view after reflection is, there- 
fore, elliptical. Its mounting is such, how- 


ever, as to cut off an almost circular sec- 


tion of rays from the large mirror. 

The tube of the telescope is a square 
framework of iron tubes braced by diagonal 
rods and is provided with curtains of black 
cloth to close the tube in. Professor Keeler 
found that any fogging of the plate was due 
to diffused skylight and the curtains have 
therefore been dispensed with. The outer 
end can be rotated about the axis of the 
telescope to bring the eyepiece into as com- 
fortable a position as possible. This section 
carries the diagonal mirror and the eye end. 
The latter has the customary arrangement 
for focusing and is made to take the short 
tubes, one of which is arranged for visual 
and the other for photographic work. The 
photographic slide contains, in addition to 
the double motion device, an adjustable 
slide carrying an eye-piece with cross wires 
for guiding. This is placed very close to 
the plate-holder slide and clamped to it. 


OcTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


The image of a star is kept bisected by 
turning the proper screws attached to the 
movable frame. 

Upon taking charge of the Lick Obser- 
vatory in June, 1898, Professor Keeler de- 
cided to devote his own observing time to 
the Crossley reflector, notwithstanding 
that his previous experience had all been 
with refractors. Upon making a careful 
examination of the instrument, he found 
that a number of changes would be necessary 
before satisfactory results could be expected. 
Some of these were required on account of 
the change in latitude and the different 
climatic conditions existing at Mt. Hamil- 
ton. The brick pier upon which the tele- 
scope rested was found to be too high for 
the greatest convenience and usefulness and 
was lowered two feet. The polar axis was 
found to work hard, the plan of mercury 
flotation not being successful and the con- 
struction being such that the friction was in- 
creased in this lower latitude. This caused 
the driving clock to run irregularly, and a 
more powerful one was built at the observa- 
tory from designs by Professor Hussey. A 
further cause of irregularity was found in 
one of the wheels of the differential gearing 
for giving slow motion in right ascension. 
As long exposure photographs near the 
pole required a considerable degree of ac- 
curacy in the position of the polar axis, 
some time was spent in devising methods 
for adjusting a telescope of this design. 
The methods used for a telescope of the 
ordinary construction do not suffice. One 
very promising plan was to secure trails of 
the stars near the pole on the same plate in 
two positions of the telescope 180° apart. 
Consistent results were not obtained, how- 
ever, owing to the instability of the large 
mirror. The axis was finally adjusted by 
using a long finder for observations of 
Polaris in the usual way, a watch tele- 
scope being fastened to the mounting in 
such a way that an object on the southern 


SCIENCE. 


629 


horizon could be observed during the proc- 
ess of shifting the iron pier. 

The resolving power of the telescope 
was tested by visual observations of close 
double stars, with the result that stars of 
about the 8th magnitude and of nearly 
equal brightness could be separated with a 
magnifying power of 620, if as much as 0.3 
apart. Stars of 5th magnitude and this 
distance could not be seen double owing to 
the increased amount of light. In con- 
nection with these observations Professor 
Keeler remarks: ‘‘ Although the theoretical 
limit of resolution for a three-foot aperture 
is not reached in these observations, I do 
not think the mirror can do any better.” 

It is, however, in photographic work that 
the greatest field for the Crossley reflector 
appears to lie, and it is largely with respect 
to this line of work that any changes have 
been considered. 

The ratio of aperture to focal length is so 
large in the instrument (a little greater 
than 1 to 6) that the field of view over 
which the star images are sufficiently free 
from distortion is only about 16’, or one 
inch, in diameter. The photographic equip- 
ment was designed to use plates 3}x4} 
inches in size. These are sufficiently large, 
for even with this size the star images 
show decided wings near the edges of the 
plates. 

Several minor changes and improvements 
were made in the eye-end apparatus. Metal 
plate-holders were substituted for the wood- 
en ones, as the latter could not be de- 
pended upon to keep their positions through- 
out the long exposures. Clamping screws 
were added to hold the plate-holder firmly 
in place. Spider threads were substituted 
for the coarse wires in the guiding eye- 
piece, and a system of mirrors added to 
illuminate the declination thread. A small 
electric lamp is used to illuminate the 
wires, current being supplied from the 
storage battery at the main observatory. 


630 


A piece of ruby glass between the lamp and 
wires prevents fogging of the plate. 

As designed, the wires of the guiding 
eye-piece were in the same plane as the 
photographic plate, but as they were some 
three inches from the optical axis of the 
telescope a star’s image was a crescent, and 
therefore unsuitable for purposes of aceu- 
rate guiding. Outside this plane the star 
image, as seen in the guiding eye-piece, 
changes to an arrow-head whose point is 
directed to the optical axis of the telescope. 
As it was found that the focus of the tele- 
scope changed during long exposures, an 
image of the guiding star which was sensi- 
tive to changes of focus was highly de- 
sirable. Professor Keeler found that be- 
tween the crescent and the arrow-head 
there was an image formed by the intersec- 
tion, at an acute angle, of two well defined 
caustic curves in the aberration pattern. 
The intersection of these caustics offers a 
very satisfactory image on which to guide, 
and at the same time is very sensitive to 
changes of focus. The relation of the 
plane of the photographic plate and of the 
guiding threads was so altered that when 
the former was adjusted to accurate focus, 
by means of a high power positive eye- 
piece, a star’s image assumed this partic- 
ular form in the guiding eye-piece. By 
noting carefully at the commencement of 
the exposure the form of the star’s image, 
the focus could be corrected by means of 
the focusing screw as changes were seen to 
occur. Photographs of four hours’ dura- 
tion were secured on which the star disks 
near the center of the plate were almost 
perfectly round, the smallest disks being 
from 2’ to 3” in diameter. 

In compensating for the variations of the 
motion of the telescope from that of the 
stars by moving the plate-holder, there is 
a limit which Professor Keeler has pointed 
out, to the amount which the plate-holder 
may be moved without causing distortions 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


in some of the starimages. This distortion 
arises from the fact that the motion of 
the plate-holder is in a straight line, while 
the stars describe smal] circles about the 
pole. Hence compensation by such a 
method of guiding is exact at the equator 
only. The amount which the plate-holder 
may be moved without causing an appre- 
ciable elongation of the star’s image may 
be found from the formula, 


€ COS 0, 
cos 0, — COs 6, 


in which d is the displacement of the plate- _ 
holder ; ¢ the amount of elongation in the 
star’s image which becomes perceptible; 9, 
the declination of the guiding star, and 6, 
the declination of the star on the plate 
farthest from the guiding star in declination. 
In the Crossley reflector it was found that 
at a declination of 70° (where many nebulz 
were to be photographed) the plate-holder 
could not be moved in right ascension 
more than 1.0 mm. without causing an 
elongation of the fainter star images which 
were farthest from the guiding eye-piece in 
declination, of an amount equal to their 
own diameters. There is also a small dis- 
tortion in declination, but on the scale of 
the Crossley photographs it is negligible. 

To prevent halation in the long ex- 
posures, the plates are backed with a coating 
of Carbutt’s ‘Columbian Backing,’ which 
has proved very satisfactory. 

One of the earliest photographs obtained 
by Professor Keeler was a very successful 
one of the great nebula in Orion. This 
and similar photographs pointed to the 
great efficiency of the instrument for show- 
ing the structure in the nebule, and led to 
the systematic photographing of all the 
brighter ones within reach of the telescope. 
This program had been about half com- 
pleted by Professor Keeler before his un- 
timely death. In the prosecution of this 
work, great numbers of faint nebule were 


OCTOBER 26, 1900.] 


revealed ; on one plate no less than thirty- 
one new ones were found. The accurate 
positions of these new nebule are now being 
measured by Mr. Palmer. He finds, on the 
average, about ten new nebule to the plate. 

Professor Keeler summarizes the con- 
clusions to be drawn from the work so far 
accomplished as follows: 

“1. Many thousands of unrecorded neb- 
ule exist in the sky. A conservative es- 
timate places the number within reach of 
the Crossley reflector at about 120,000. The 
number of nebule in our catalogues is but 
a small fraction of this. 

“9. These nebule exhibit all gradations 
of apparent size, from the great nebula in 
Andromeda down to an object which is 
hardly distinguishable from a faint star 
disk. 

‘3. Most of these nebule have a spiral 
structure. 

‘To these conclusions I may add another, 
of more restricted significance, though the 
evidence in favor of it is not yet complete. 
Among the objects which have been photo- 
graphed with the Crossley telescope are 
most of the ‘ double’ nebule figured in Sir 
John Herschel’s catalogue (Phil. Trans., 
' 1838, Plate XV.). The actual nebule, as 
photographed, have almost no resemblance 
to the figures. They are, in fact, spirals, 
sometimes of very beautiful and complex 
structure; and, in any one of the nebule, 
the secondary nucleus of Herschel’s figure 
is either a part of the spiral approaching 
the main nucleus in brightness, or it can- 
not be identified with any real part of the 
object. The significance of this somewhat 
destructive conclusion lies in the fact that 
these figures of Herschel have sometimes 
been regarded as furnishing analogies for 
the figures which Poincaré has deduced, 
from theoretical considerations, as being 
among the possible forms assumed by a ro- 
tating fluid mass ; in other words, they have 
been regarded as illustrating an early stage 


SCIENCE. 


631 


in the development of double star systems. 
The actual conditions of motion in these 
particular nebule, as indicated by the 
photographs, are obviously very much more 
complicated than those considered in the 
theoretical discussion.”’ 

As evidence of the power of the Crossley 
telescope it may be noted that a very faint 
image of the Ring Nebula in Lyra was 
obtained with an exposure of thirty sec- 
onds; with an exposure of two minutes a 
well marked impression of the nebula is 
obtained and a surprisingly strong image 
of the central star, which is a very faint 
object visually in the 36-inch refractor. 

In the course of the work on the nebule, 
two new asteroids have been discovered, by 
means of their trails, one at least of which 
was so faint as not to be seen with certainty 
with the large refractor. Observations of 
these asteroids were made photographically, 
and were found to compare very favorably 
in accuracy with such observations made 
visually with a large refractor. ‘These re- 
sults point to the great value of this 
instrument for finding and giving the 
positions of asteriods, whose places are 
approximately known. 

One of the most promising fields for the 
Crossley reflector is undoubtedly that of 
stellar spectroscopy. Two spectrographs 
have been designed and built at the obser- 
vatory. One is due to the generosity of 
Miss C. W. Bruce, and contains three 
prisms of 60° and one of 30°, with an aper- 
ture of two inches; the other has a single 
quartz prism and is intended to give meas- 
urable, though small, spectra of some spe- 
cial objects nearly at the limit of vision of 
the telescope. 

From what has been said, it will be seen 
that a large amount of work of great impor- 
tance has already been accomplished with 
the Crossley reflector, besides opening up 
new fields for future investigation. 

Professor Keeler clearly recognized the 


632 


necessity for attention to the small details 
as an element of success. He says: 

“The foregoing account of the small 
changes which have been made in the Cross- 
ley telescope and its accessories may appear 
to be unnecessarily detailed, yet these small 
changes have greatly increased the practical 
efficiency of the instrument, and therefore, 
small as they are, they are important. Par- 
ticularly with an instrument of this charac- 
ter, the difference between poor and good 
results lies in the observance of just such 
small details as I have described.” 


C. D. PERRIneE. 
Lick OBSERVATORY, 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
September 23, 1900. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHEM- 
ICAL SECTION OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIA TION. 

THE MODERN SYSTEM OF TEACHING PRACTIOAL 
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY AND ITS DEVELOP- 
MENT. 


In choosing for the subject of my Ad- 
dress to-day the development of the teach- 
ing of practical inorganic chemistry I do so, 
not only on account of the great importance 
of the subject, but also because it does not 
appear that this matter has been brought 
before this Section, in the President’s Ad- 
dress at all events, during the last few 
years. 

In dealing generally with the subject of 
the teaching of chemistry as a branch of sci- 
ence it may be wellin the first place to con- 
sider the value of such teaching as a means 
of general education, and to turn our atten- 
tion for a few minutes to the development 
of the teaching of science in schools. 

There can be no doubt that there has 
been great progress in the teaching of sci- 
ence in schools during the last forty years, 
and this is very evident from the perusal 
of the essay, entitled ‘ Edueation: Intellec- 
tual, Moral, and Physical,’ which Herbert 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou XII. No. 304. 


Spencer wrote in 1859. After giving his rea- 
sons for considering the study of science of 
primary importance in education, Herbert 
Spencer continues: ‘ While what we call 
civilization could never have arisen had it 
not been for science, science forms scarcely 
an appreciable element in our so-called 
civilized training.”’ 

From this it is apparent that science was 
not taught to any appreciable extent in 
schools at that date, though doubtless in 
some few schools occasional lectures were 
given on such scientific subjects as physi- 
ology, anatomy, astronomy and mechanics. 

Herbert Spencer’s pamphlet appears to 
have had only a very gradual effect towards 
the introduction of science into schemes of 
education. For many years chemical in- 
struction was only given in schools at the 
schoolroom desk, or at the best from the 
lecture table, and many of the most modern 
of schools had no laboratories. 

The first school to give any practical in- 
struction in chemistry was apparently the 
City of London School, at which, in the 
year 1847, Mr. Hall was appointed teacher 
of chemistry, and there he continued to 
teach until 1869.* Besides the lecture thea- 
ter and a room for storing apparatus, Mr. 
Hall’s department contained a long room, 
or rather passage, leading into the lecture 
theater, and closed at each end with glass 
doors. In this room, which was fitted up asa 
laboratory, and used principally as a prepa- 
ration room for the lectures, Mr. Hall per- 
formed experiments with the few boys who 
assisted him with his lectures. As accommo- 
dation was at that time strictly limited, he 
used to suggest simple experiments and 


*Mr. A. T. Pollard, M.A., Head Master of the 
City of London School, has kindly instituted a search 
among the bound copies of the boys’ terminal re- 
ports, and informs me that in the School form of 
Terminal Report a heading for Chemistry was intro- 
duced in the year 1847, the year of Mr. Hall’s ap- 
pointment. 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


encourage the boys to carry them out at 
home, and afterwards he himself would 
examine the substances they had made. 

From this small beginning the teaching 
of chemistry in the City of London School 
rapidly developed, and this school now pos- 
sesses laboratories which compare favorably 
with those of any school in the country. 

The Manchester Grammar School appears 
to have been one of the first to teach prac- 
tical chemistry. In connection with this 
school a small laboratory was builtin 1868: 
this was replaced by a larger one in 1872, 
and the present large laboratories, under 
the charge of Mr. Francis Jones were 
opened in 1880. 

Dr. Marshall Watts, who was the first 
science master in this school, taught prac- 
tical chemistry along with the theoretical 
work from the commencement in 1868. 

As laboratories were gradually multiplied 
it might be supposed that boys were given 
the opportunity to carry out experiments 
which had a close connection with their 
lecture-room courses. But the program 
of laboratory work which became all but 
universal was the preparation ofa few gases, 
followed by the practice of qualitative anal- 
ysis. The course adopted seems to have 
been largely built up on the best books of 
practical chemistry in use in the colleges at 
that time; but it was also, no doubt, largely 
influenced by the requirements of the syl- 
labus of the Science and Art Department, 
which contained a scheme for teaching 
practical chemistry.* Even down to quite 
recent times it wasin many schools still not 
considered essential that boys should have 
practical instruction in connection with 
lectures in chemistry. 

A Report issued in 1897 by a special 


* J find, on inquiry, that examinations in the Ad- 
vanced Stage and Honors of Practical Chemistry were 
first held by the Science and Art Department in 1878, 
the practical examination being extended to the Ele- 
mentary Stage in 1882. 


SCIENCE. 


633 


Committee appointed by the Technical Edu- 
cation Board of the London County Coun- 
cil adduces evidence of this from twenty- 
five secondary schoolsin London, in which 
there were 3,960 boys learning chemistry. 
Of these 1,698 boys, or 34 per cent., did no 
practical work whatever ; 955 boys, or 24 
per cent., did practical work, consisting of 
a certain amount of preparation of gases, 
together with qualitative analysis; but of 
these latter 743, or 77 per cent., had not 
reached the study of the metals in their 
theoretical work, so that their testing work 
ean have been of little educational value. 
It was also found that in the case of 655, 
or 68 per cent. of the total number of boys 
taking practical work, the first introduction 
to practical chemistry was through quali- 
tative analysis. 

But some years before this Report was 
issued a movement had begun which was 
destined to have far-reaching effect. A 
Report ‘on the best means for promoting 
scientific education in schools’ having 
been presented to the Dundee Meeting of 
this Association in 1867, and published in 
1868, a Committee of the British Associa- 
tion was appointed in 1887; ‘ for the purpose 
of inquiring and reporting upon the present 
methods of teaching chemistry.’ The well- 
known Report which this Committee pre- 
sented to the Neweastle meeting in 1889 
insisted that it was worth while to teach 
chemistry in schools, not so much for the 
usefulness of the information imparted 
as for the special mental discipline it af- 
forded if the scientific method of investiga- 
ting nature wereemployed. It was argued 
that ‘learners should be putin the attitude 
of discoverers, and led to make observations, 
experiments, and inferences for themselves.’ 
And since there can be little progress 
without measurement, it was pointed out 
that the experimental work would neces- 
sarily be largely of a quantitative char- 
acter. 


634 


Professor H. EK. Armstrong, in a paper 
read at a conference at the Health Exhibi- 
tion five years before this, had foreshadowed 
much that was in this Report. He also drew 
up a detailed scheme for ‘a course of ele- 
mentary instruction in physical science,’ 
which was includedin the Report of the Com- 
mittee, and it cannot be doubted that this 
scheme and the labors of the Committee 
have had a very marked influence on the 
development of the teaching of practical 
chemistry in schools. That this influence 
has been great will be admitted when it 
is understood that schemes based on the 
recommendation of the Committee are now 
included in the codes for both Elementary 
Day Schools and Evening Continuation 
Schools. The recent syllabuses for elemen- 
tary and advanced courses issued by the In- 
corporated Association of Headmasters and 
by the Oxford and Cambridge local board 
and others are evidently directly inspired 
by the ideas set forth by the Comm ittee. 

The department of Science and Art has 
also adopted some of the suggestions of the 
Committee, and a revised syllabus was is- 
sued by the Department in 1895, in which 
qualitative analysis is replaced by quanti- 
tative experiments of a simple form, and 
by other exercises so framed ‘as to prevent 
answers being given by students who have 
obtained their information from books or 
oral instruction.’ This was a very consid- 
erable advance, but it must be admitted 
that there is nothing in the syllabus which 
encourages, or even suggests, placing the 
learners in the attitude of discoverers, and 
this, in the opinion of the Committee of 
this Association, is vital if the teaching is 
to have educational value. 

Many criticisms have been passed upon 
the 1889 Report. It has been said that life 
is much too short to allow of each individ- 
ual advancing from the known to the un- 
known, according to scientific methods, and 
that even were this not so too severe a tax 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 304. 


is made upon the powers of boys and girls. 
In answer to the second point it will be 
conceded that while it is doubtless futile to 
try to teach chemistry to young children, 
on the other hand experience has abun- 
dantly shown that the average schoolboy of 
fourteen or fifteen can, with much success, 
investigate such problems as were studied 
in the researches of Black and Scheele, of 
Priestley and Cavendish and Lavoisier, and 
it is quite remarkable with what interest 
such young students carry out this class of 
work. 

It may be well to quote the words which 
Sir Michael Foster used in this connection 
in his admirable presidential address to this 
Association in 1899. He said : “‘ The learner 
may be led to old truths, even the oldest, 
in more ways than one. He may be brought 
abruptly to a truth in its finished form, 
coming straight to it like a thief climbing 
over a wall; and the hurry and press of 
modern life tempt many to adopt this 
quicker way. Or he may be more slowly 
guided along the path by which the truth 
was reached by him who first laid hold of 
it. Itis by this latter way of learning the 
truth, and by this alone, that the learner 
may hope to catch something at least of the 
spirit of the scientific inquirer.” 

I believe that in the determination of a 
suitable school course in experimental sci- 
ence this principle of historical develop- 
ment is a very valuable guide, although it 
is not laid down in the 1889 Report of the 
British Association. 

The application of this principle will lead 
to the study of the solvent action of water, 
of crystallization, and of the separation of 
mixtures, of solids before the investigation 
of the composition of water, and also be- 
fore the investigation of the phenomena of 
combustion. It will lead to the investiga- 
tion of hydrochloric acid before chlorine, 
and especially to the postponement of 
atomic and molecular theories, chemical 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


equations, and the laws of chemical com- 
bination, until the student has really suf- 
ficient knowledge to understand how these 
theories came to be necessary. 

There can be no doubt that this new sys- 
tem of teaching chemistry in schools has 
been most successful. ‘Teachers are de- 
lighted with the results which have already 
been obtained, and those whom I have had 
the opportunity of consulting, directly and 
indirectly, cannot speak too highly of their 
satisfaction at the disappearance of the old 
system of qualitative analysis, and the in- 
stitution of the new order of things. Es- 
pecially I may mention in this connection 
the excellent work which is being carried 
on under the supervision of Dr. Bevan 
Lean at the Friends’ School in Ackworth, 
where the boys have attained results which 
are far in advance of anything which would 
have been thought possible a few years 
since. 

It is, of course, obvious that if a school- 
boy is made to take the attitude of a dis- 
coverer his progress may appear to beslow. 
But does this matter? Most boys will not 
become professional chemists; but if while 
at school a boy learns how to learn, and 
how to ‘make knowledge’ * by working out 
for himself a few problems, a habit of mind 
will be formed which will enable him in 
future years to look in a scientific spirit at 
any new problems which may face him. 
When school days are past the details of 
the preparation of hydrogen may have been 
forgotten ; but it was really understood at 
the time that it could not be decided at 
once whether the gas was derived from 
the acid or from the metal, or from the 
water, or in part from the one and in part 
from the other, an attitude of scepticism 
and of suspended judgment will have been 
formed, which will continue to guard from 
error. 


* Cf. Professor J. G. Macgregor in Nature, Septem- 
ber, 1899. 


SCIENCE. 


635 


In the new system of teaching chemistry 
in schools much attention must necessarily 
be given to weights and measurements ; in- 
deed, the work must be largely of a quanti- 
tative kind, and it is in this connection that 
an important note of warning has been 
sounded by several teachers.* They con- 
sider, very rightly, that it is important to 
point out clearly to the scholar that science 
does not consist of measurement, but that 
measurement is only a tool in the hand of 
the inquirer, and that when once sufficient 
skill has been developed in its use it should 
be employed only with a distinct object. 
Measurements should, in fact, be made only 
in reference to some actual problem which 
appears to be really worth solving, not in 
the accumulation of aimless details. 

And, of course, all research carried out 
must be genuine and not sham, and all as- 
sumption of the ‘obvious’ must be most 
carefully guarded against. But the young 
scholar must, at the same time, not forget 
that although the scientific method is nec- 
essary to enable him to arrive at a result, 
in real life it is the answer to the problem 
which is of the most importance. + 

Although, then, there has been so much 
discussion, during the last ten years, on the 
subject of teaching chemistry in schools, 
and such steady progress has been made 
towards devising a really satisfactory sys- 
tem of teaching the subject to young boys 
and girls, it is certainly very remarkable 
that practically nothing has been said or 
written bearing on the training which a 
student who wishes to become a chemist is 
to undertake at the close of his school-days 
at the college or university in which his 
education is continued. 

One of the most remarkable points, to my 
mind, in connection with the teaching of 


* Cf. H. Picton in The School World, November, 
1899 ; Bevan Lean, ibid., February, 1890. 

+ Cf. Mrs. Bryant, Special Reports on Educational 
Subjects, Vol. II., p. 113. 


636 


chemistry is the fact that although the sci- 
- ence has been advancing year by year with 
such unexampled rapidity, the course of 
training which the student goes through 
during his first two years at most colleges 
is still practically the same as it was thirty 
or forty years ago. Then, as now, after 
preparing a few of the principal gases, the 
student devotes the bulk of his first year to 
qualitative analysis in the dry and wet way, 
and his second year to quantitative analy- 
sis, and, although the methods employed in 
teaching the latter may possibly have under- 
gone some slight modification, there is cer- 
tainly no great difference between the rou- 
tine of simple salt and mixture followed by 
quantitative analysis practiced at the pres- 
ent day and that which was in vogue in the 
days of our fathers and grandfathers. 
Since, then, the present system has held 
the field for so long, not only in this country 
but also on the Continent, it is worth while 
considering whether it affords the best 
training which a student who wishes to 
become a chemist can undergo in the 
short time during which he can attend at 
a college or university. In considering 
this matter I was led in the first place to 
carefully examine old books and other rec- 
ords, with the object of finding out how the 
present system originated, and I think that 
valuable and interesting information bear- 
ing on the subject may be obtained from a 
very brief sketch of the rise and develop- 
ment of the present system of teaching 
chemistry, and especially in so far as it 
bears on the inclusion of qualitative analy- 
sis. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to 
gain a good historical acquaintance with 
the matter as I first imagined would be the 
ease, and this is due in a large measure to 
the fact that so few of the laboratories which 
took an active part in the development of 
the present system of chemical training 
have left any record of the methods which 
they employed. In this connection I may, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 304. 


perhaps, be allowed to suggest that it would 
be a valuable help to the future historian 
if all prominent teachers of chemistry 
would leave behind them a brief record of 
the system of teaching adopted in their lab- 
oratories, showing the changes which they 
had instituted, the object of these changes 
and the results which followed their adop- 
tion. 

There is no doubt that the progress of 
practical chemistry went largely hand in 
hand with the progress of theoretical chem- 
istry, for as the latter gradually developed> 
so the necessity for the determination of 
the composition, first of the best known, 
and then of the rarer minerals and other 
substances, became more and more marked. 

The analytical examination of substances 
in the dry way was employed in very early 
times in connection with metallurgical op- 
erations, and especially in the determina- 
tion of the presence of valuable constitu- 
ents in samples of minerals. Cupellation 
was used by the Greeks in the separation of 
gold and silver from their ores and in the 
purification of these metals. Geber knew 
that the addition of niter to the ore facili- 
tated the separation of gold and silver, and 
subsequently Glauber (1604-1668) called 
attention to the fact that many commoner 
metals could easily be separated from their 
ores with the aid of niter. 

But it was not till the eighteenth century 
that any marked progress was made in 
analysis in the dry way, and the progress 
which then became rapid was undoubtedly 


‘due to the discovery of the blowpipe, and 


to the introduction of its use into analytical 
operations. The blowpipe is mentioned for 
the first time in 1660, in the transactions of 
the Accademia del Cimento of Florence, but 
the first to recommend its use in chemical 
operations was Johann Andreas Cramer in 
1739. The progress of blowpipe analysis 
was largely due to Gahn (1745-1818), who 
spent much time in perfecting its use in the 


OcTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


examination of minerals, and it was he who 
first used platinum wire and cobalt solution 
in connection with blowpipe analysis. The 
methods employed by Gahn were further 
developed by his friend Berzelius (1779- 
1848), who gave much attention to the 
matter, and who with great skill and pa- 
tience gradually worked out a complete 
scheme of blowpipe analysis, and published 
it in a pamphlet, entitled ‘ Ueber die An- 
wendung des Lothrohrs,’ which appeared 
in 1820. After the publication of this work 
blowpipe analysis rapidly came into general 
use in England, France and Germany, and 
the scheme devised by Berzelius is essen- 
tially that employed at the present day. 

Indeed, the only notable additions to the 
method of analysis in the dry way since the 
time of Berzelius are the development of 
flame reactions, which Bunsen worked out 
with such characteristic skill and ingenuity, 
and the introduction of the spectroscope. 

The necessity for some process other than 
that of analysis in the dry way seems, in 
the first instance, to have arisen in quite 
early times in connection with the exami- 
nation of drugs, not only on account of the 
necessity for discovering their constituents, 
but also as a means of determining whether 
they were adulterated. In such cases analy- 
sis in the dry way was obviously unsuitable, 
and experience soon showed that the only 
way to arrive at the desired result was to 
treat the substance under examination with 
aqueous solutions of definite substances, the 
first reagent apparently being a decoction 
of gallnuts, which is described by Pliny as 
being employed-in detecting adulteration 
with green vitriol. 

The progress made in connection with 
wet analysis was, however, exceedingly 
slow, largely owing to the lack of reagents , 
but as these were gradually discovered wet 
analysis rapidly developed, especially in the 
hands of Tachenius, Scheele, Boyle, Hoff- 
man, Margraf and Bergmann. Boyle (1626— 


SCIENCE. 


637 


1691) especially had an extensive knowl- 
edge of reagents and their application; and, 
indeed, it was Boyle who first introduced 
the word ‘analysis’ for those operations by 
which substances may be recognized in the 
presence of one another. Boyle knew how 
to test for silver with hydrochloric acid, for 
calcium salts with sulphuric acid, and for 
copper by the blue solution produced by 
ammonia. 

Margraf (1709-1782) introduced prus- 
siate of potash for the detection of iron, and 
Bergmann (1735-1784) not only introduced 
new reagents and new methods for decom- 
posing minerals and refractory substances, 
such as fusion with potash, digestion with 
nitric acid or hydrochloric acid, but he also 
was the first to suggest the application of 
tests in a systematic way, and, indeed, the 
method of analysis which he developed is 
on much the same lines as that in use at 
the present day. He paid special attention 
to the qualitative analysis of minerals, and 
gave careful instructions for the analysis 
of gold, platinum, silver, lead, copper, zine 
and other ores. The work of Scheele 
(1742-1786) had indirectly a great influ- 
ence on qualitative analysis, as, although 
he did not give a general systematic method 
of procedure in the analysis of substances 
of unknown composition, yet the methods 
which he employed in the examination of 
new substances were so original and exact 
as to remain models of how qualitative 
analysis shall be conducted. 

Great strides in analytical chemistry in 
the wet way were made through the work 
of Berzelius, who, by the discovery of new 
methods, such as the decomposition of sili- 
cates by hydrofluoric acid and the introdue- 
tion of new tests, greatly advanced the art. 
He paid special attention to perfecting the 
methods of analysis of mineral waters, and 
these researches as well as his work on 
ores, and particularly his investigation of 
platinum ores, stamp Berzelius as one of 


638 


the great pioneers in qualitative and quan- 
titative analytical chemistry. 

By the labors of the great experimenters 
whom I have mentioned qualitative analy- 
sis gradually acquired the familiar appear- 
ance of to-day, and many books were writ- 
ten with the object of arranging the mass 
of information which had accumulated, and 
of thus rendering it available for the stu- 
dent in his efforts to investigate the com- 
position of new minerals and other sub- 
stances. Among these books may be men- 
tioned the ‘Handbuch der analytischen 
Chemie,’ by H. Rose, and especially the 
well-known analytical text-books of Fres- 
enius, which have had an extraordinarily 
wide circulation and passed through many 
editions. 

The work of the great pioneers in analyt- 
ical chemistry was work done often under 
circumstances of great difficulty, as before 
the end of the seventeenth century there 
were no public institutions of any sort in 
which a practical knowledge of chemistry 
could be acquired. Lectures were, of course, 
given from very early times, but it was not 
until the time of Guillaume Francois Rou- 
elle (1703-1770), at the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, that lectures began to 
be illustrated by experiments. Rouelle, 
who was very active as a teacher, num- 
bered among his pupils many men of emi- 
nence, such as Lavoisier and Proust, and it 
was largely owing to his influence that 
France took such a lead in practical teach- 
ing. In Germany progress was much 
slower, and in our country the introduc- 
tion of lectures illustrated by experiments 
seems to have been mainly due to Davy. 

When it is considered how slowly experi- 
mental work came to be recognized as a 
means of illustration and education, even 
in connection with lectures, it is not sur- 
prising that in early times practical teaching 
in laboratories should have been thought 
quite unnecessary. 


SOLENOE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 304. 


The few laboratories which existed in the 
sixteenth century were built mainly for the 
practice of alchemy by the reigning princes 
of the time, and, indeed, up to the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth century, the private 
laboratories of the great masters were the 
only schools in which a favored few might 
study, but which were not open to the pub- 
lic. Thus we find that Berzelius received 
in his laboratory a limited number of stu- 
dents who worked mostly at research : these 
were not usually young men, and his school 
cannot thus be considered as a teaching in- 
stitution in the ordinary sense of the word. 

The earliest laboratory open for general 
instruction in Great Britain was that of 
Thomas Thomson, who after graduating in 
Edinburgh in 1799, began lecturing in that 
city in 1800, and opened a laboratory for 
the practical instruction of his pupils. 
Thomson was appointed lecturer in Chem- 
istry in Glasgow University in 1807, and 
Regius Professor in 1818, and in Glasgow 
he also opened a general laboratory. 

The first really great advance in labora- 
tory teaching is due to Liebig, who, after 
working for some years in Paris under Gay- 
Lussac, was appointed in 1824 to be Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry in Giessen. Liebig was 
strongly impressed with the necessity for 
public institutions where any student could 
study chemistry, and to him fell the honor 
of founding the world-famed Giessen Lab- 
oratory, the first public institution in Ger- 
many which brought practical chemistry 
within the reach of all students. 

Giessen rapidly became the center of 
chemical interest in Germany, and students 
flocked to the laboratory in such numbers 
as to necessitate the development of a sys- 
tematic course of practical chemistry, and 
in this way a scheme of teaching was de- 
vised which, as we shall see later, has 
served as the foundation for the system of 
practical chemistry in use at the present 
day. 


OcTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


When the success of this laboratory had 
been clearly established many other towns 
discovered the necessity for similar institu- 
tions, and in a comparatively short time 
every university in Germany possessed a 
chemical laboratory. The teaching of prac- 
tical chemistry in other countries was, how- 
ever, of very slow growth; in France, for 
example, Wurtz in 1869 drew attention to 
the fact that there was at that time only 
one laboratory which could compare with 
the German laboratories, namely, that of 
the Ecole Normale Supérieure. 

In this country the provision of suitable 
laboratories for the study of chemistry 
seems to date from the year 1845, when the 
College of Chemistry was founded in Lon- 
don, an institution which under A. W. 
Hofmann’s guidance rapidly rose to such a 
prominent position. 

In 1851 Frankland was appointed to the 
chair of chemistry in the new college 
founded in Manchester by the trustees of 
John Owens, and here he equipped a lab- 
oratory for the teaching of practical chem- 
istry. Under Sir Henry Roscoe this labor- 
atory soon became too small for the grow- 
ing number of chemical students, a defect 
which was removed when the new build- 
ings of the college were opened in 1873. In 
1849 Alexander Williamson was appointed 
Professor of Practical Chemistry at Uni- 
versity College, London, where he intro- 
duced the practical methods of Liebig. 

Following these examples, the older uni- 
versities gradually came to see the necessity 
for providing accommodation for the prac- 
tical teaching of chemistry, with the result 
that well-equipped laboratories have been 
erected in all the centers of learning in this 
country. 

Since Liebig, by the establishment of the 
Giessen Laboratory, must be looked upon 
as the pioneer in the development of prac- 
tical laboratory teaching, it will be inter- 
esting to endeavor to obtain some idea of 


SCIENCE. 


639 


the methods which he used in the training 
of the students who attended his laboratory 
in Giessen. From small beginnings he 
gradually introduced a systematic course of 
practical chemistry, and a careful compari- 
son shows that this was similar in many 
ways to that in use at the present day. 
The student at Giessen, after preparing the 
more important gases, was carefully trained 
in qualitative and quantitative analysis ; 
he was then required to make a large num- 
ber of preparations, after which he engaged 
in original research. 

Although there is, as far as I have been 
able to ascertain, no printed record of the 
nature of the quantitative work and the 
preparations which Liebig required from 
his students, the course of qualitative anal- 
ysis is easily followed, owing to the ex- 
istence of a most interesting book published 
for the use of the Giessen students. 

In 1846, at Liebig’s request, Henry Will, 
Ph.D., Extraordinary Professor of Chem- 
istry in the University of Giessen, wrote a 
small book, for use at Giessen, called ‘Gies- 
sen Outlines of Analysis,’ which shows 
clearly the kind of instruction given in that 
laboratory at the time in so far as quali- 
tative analysis is concerned. This book, 
which contains a preface by Liebig, is par- 
ticularly interesting on account of the fact 
that it is evidently the first Introduction to 
Analysis intended for the training of ele- 
mentary students which was ever published. 
In the preface Liebig writes: ““The want 
of an introduction to chemical analysis 
adapted for the use of a laboratory has 
given rise to the present work, which con- 
tains an accurate description of the course 
I have followed in my laboratory with great 
advantage for twenty-five years. It has 
been prepared at my request by Professor 
Will, who has been my assistant during a 
great part of this period.” 

This book undoubtedly had a consider- 
able circulation, and was used in most of 


640 


the laboratories which were in existence at 
that time, and thus we find, for example, 
that the English translation which Liebig 
“hopes and believes will be acceptable to 
the English public’ was the book used by 
Hofmann for his students at the College of 
Chemistry. In this book the metals are 
first divided into groups much in the same 
way as is done now; each group is then 
separately dealt with, the principal char- 
acteristics of the metals of the group are 
noted, and their reactions studied. Those 
tests which are useful in the detection of 
each metal are particularly emphasized, and 
the reasons given for selecting certain of 
them as of special value for the purposes of 
separating one metal from another. 

Throughout this section of the book there 
are frequent discussions as to the possible 
methods of the separation, not only of the 
metals of one group, but of those belonging 
to different groups; and the whole subject 
is treated in a manner which shows clearly 
that Liebig’s great object was to make the 
student think for himself. After studying 
in a similar manner the behavior of the 
principal acids with reagents, the student 
is introduced to a course of qualitative anal- 
ysis comprising, 1, preliminary examina- 
tion of solids; 2, qualitative analysis of the 
‘substance in solution. 

Both sections are evidently written with 
the object, not only of constructing a system 
of qualitative analysis, but more particu- 
larly of clearly leading the student to argue 
out for himself the methods of separation 
which he will ultimately adopt. The book 
concludes with a few tables which differ 
considerably in design from those in use at 
the present day, and which are so meager 
that the student could not possibly have 
used them mechanically. 

The system introduced in this book, no 
doubt owing to the excellent results ob- 
tained by its use, was rapidly recognized as 
the standard method of teaching analysis 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 304. 


in most of the institutions existing at that 
time. Soon the course began to be further 
developed, book after book was published 
on the subject, and gradually the teaching 
of qualitative analysis assumed the shape 
and form with which we are all so well 
acquainted. But the present-day book on 
qualitative analysis differs widely from 
‘Giessen Outlines’ in this respect, that 
whereas in the latter the tables introduced 
are mere indications of the methods of 
separation to be employed, and are of such 
a nature that the student who did not think 
for himself must have been constantly in 
difficulties, in the book of the present day 
these tables have been worked out to the 
minutest detail. Hvery contingency is pro- 
vided for; nothing is left to the originality 
of the student ; and that which, no doubt, 
was once an excellent course has now be- 
come so hopelessly mechanical as to make 
it doubtful whether it retains anything of 
its former educational value. 

The question which I now wish to con- 
sider more particularly is whether the sys- 
tem of training chemists which is at present 
adopted, with little variation, in our col- 
leges and universities is a really satisfac- 
tory one, and whether it supplies the stu- 
dent with the kind of knowledge which 
will be of the most value to him in his 
future career. 

Those who study chemistry may be 
roughly divided as to their future careers 
into two groups—those who become teach- 
ers and those who become technical chem- 
ists. Now, whether the student takes up 
either the one or the other career, I think 
that it is clear that the objects to be aimed 
at in training him are to give him a sound 
knowledge of his subject, and especially to 
so arrange his studies as to bring out in 
every possible way his capacity for original 
thought. 

A teacher who has no originality will 
hardly be successful, even though he may 


OCTOBER 26, 1900.] 


possess a very wide knowledge of what has 
already been done in the past. He will 
have little enthusiasm for his subject, and 
will continue to teach on the lines laid 
down by the text-books of the day, without 
himself materially improving the existing 
methods, and, above all, he will be unable, 
and will have no desire, to add to our store 
of knowledge by original investigation. 

It is in the power of almost every teacher 
to do some research work, and it seems 
probable that the reason why more is not 
done by teachers is because the importance 
of research work was not sufficiently in- 
sisted on, and their original faculty was not 
sufficiently trained, at the schools and col- 
leges where they received their education. 

And these remarks apply with equal force 
to the student who subsequently becomes a 
technical chemist. 

In the chemical works of to-day sound 
knowledge is essential, but originality is an 
even more important matter. A technical 
chemist without originality can scarcely 
rise to a responsible position in a large 
works, whereas a chemist who is capable of 
constantly improving the process in oper- 
ation, and of adding new methods to those 
in use, becomes so valuable that he can 
command his own terms. 

Now, this being so, I think it is extraor- 
dinary that so many of the students who 
go through the prescribed course of train- 
ing—say for the Bachelor of Science degree 
—not only show no originality themselves, 
but seem also to have no desire at the con- 
clusion of their studies to engage in orig- 
inal investigation under the supervision of 
the teacher. That this is so is certainly 
my experience as a teacher examiner, and 
I feel sure that many other teachers will 
endorse this view of the case. 

If we inquire into the reason for this 
deficiency in originality we shall, I think, 
be forced to conclude that itis in a large 
measure due to the conditions of study and 


SCIENCE. 


641 


the nature of the courses through which 
the student is obliged to pass. 

A well-devised system of quantitative 
analysis is undoubtedly valuable in teaching 
the student accurate manipulation, but it 
has always seemed to me that the long 
course of qualitative analysis which is usu- 
ally considered necessary, and which gen- 
erally precedes the quantitative work, is 
not the most satisfactory training for a 
student. 

There can be no doubt that to many stu- 
dents qualitative analysis is little more than 
a mechanical exercise: the tables of sepa- 
ration are learnt by heart, and every sub- 
stance is treated in precisely the same 
manner: such a course is surely not calcu- 
lated to develop any original faculty which 
the student may possess. Then, again, 
when the student passes on to quantitative 
analysis, he receives elaborate instructions 
as to the little details he must observe in 
order to get an accurate result; and even 
after he has become familiar with the sim- 
pler determinations he rarely attempts, and 
indeed has no time to attempt, anything of 
the nature of an original investigation in 
qualitative or quantitative analysis. It in- 
deed sometimes happens that a student at 
the end of his second year has never pre- 
pared a pure substance, and is often utterly 
ignorant of the methods employed in the 
separation of substances by crystallization ; 
he has never conducted a distillation, and 
has no idea how to investigate the nature 
and amounts of substances formed in chem- 
ical reactions; practically all his time has 
been taken up with analysis. That this is 
not the way to teach chemistry was cer- 
tainly the opinion of Liebig, and in support 
of this I quote a paragraph bearing on the’ 
subject which occurs in a very interesting 
book on ‘Justus von Liebig: his Life and 
Work,’ written by W. A. Shenstone (pp. 
175, 176). 

“Tn his practical teaching Liebig laid 


642 


great stress on the producing of chemical 
preparations; on the students preparing, 
that is to say, pure substances in good 
quantity from crude materials. The im- 
portance of this was, even in Liebig’s time, 
often overlooked ; and it was, he tells us, 
more common to find a man who could 
make a good analysis than to find one who 
could produce a pure preparation in the 
most judicious way. 

“There is no better way of making one’s 
self acquainted with the properties of a 
substance than by first producing it from 
the raw material, then converting it into its 
compounds, and so becoming acquainted 
with them. By the study of ordinary anal- 
ysis one does not learn how to use the im- 
portant methods of crystallization, fractional 
distillation, nor acquire any considerable 
experience in the proper use of solvents. 
In short, one does not, as Liebig said, be- 
come a chemist.”’ 

One reason why the present system of 
training chemists has persisted so long is 
no doubt because it is a very convenient 
system : it is easily taught, does not require 
expensive apparatus, and, above all, it lends 
itself admirably for the purpose of competi- 
tive examination. 

The system of examination which has 
been developed during the last twenty years 
has done much harm, and is a source of 
great difficulty to any conscientious teacher 
who is possessed of originality, and is de- 
sirous, particularly in special cases, of leay- 
ing the beaten track. 

In our colleges and universities most of 
the students work for some definite exami- 
nation—frequently for the Bachelor of Sci- 
ence degree—either at their own University 
or at the University of London. 

For such degrees a perfectly definite 
course is prescribed and must be followed, 
because the questions which the candidate 
will have to answer at his examination are 
based on a syllabus which is either pub- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


lished or is known by precedent to be re- 
quired. The course which the teacher is 
obliged to teach is thus placed beyond his 
individual power of alteration, except in 
minor details, and originality in the teacher 
is thereby discouraged: he knows that all 
students must face the same examination, 
and he must urge the backward man 
through exactly the same course_as his 
more talented neighbor. 

In almost all examinations salts or mix- 
tures of salts are given for qualitative anal- 
ysis. ‘ Determine the constituents of the 
simple salt A and of the mixture B’ isa 
favorite examination formula; and as some 
practical work of this sort is sure to be set, 
the teacher knows that he must contrive to 
get one and all of his students into a condi- 
tion to enable them to answer such ques- 
tions. 

If, then, one considers the great amount 
of work which is required from the present- 
day student, it is not surprising that every 
aid to rapid preparation for examination 
should be accepted with delight by the 
teacher ; and thus it comes about that tables 
are elaborated in every detail, not only for 
qualitative analysis in inorganic chemistry, 
but, what is far worse, for the detection of 
some arbitrary selection of organic sub- 
stances which may be set in the syllabus 
for the examination. I question whether 
any really competent teacher will be found 
to recommend this system as one of educa- 
tional value or calculated to bring out and 
train the faculty of original thought in 
students. 

If, then, the present system is so unsatis- 
factory, it will naturally be asked, how are 
students to be trained, and how are they to 
be examined s0 as to find out the extent of 
the knowledge of their subject which they 
have acquired ? 

In dealing with the first part of the ques- 
tion—that is, the training best suited to 
chemists—I can, of course, only give my 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


own views on the subject—views which, no 
doubt, may differ much from those of many 
of the teachers present at this meeting. 
The objects to be attained are, in my opin- 
ion, to give the student a sufficient knowl- 
edge of the broad facts of chemistry, and at 
the same time so to arrange his practical 
work in particular as to always have in 
view the training of his faculty of original 
thought. 

I think it will be conceded that any stu- 
dent, if he is to make his mark in chem- 
istry by original work, must ultimately 
specialize in some branch of the subject. 
It may be possible for some great minds to 
do valuable original work in more than one 
branch of chemistry, but these are the ex- 
ceptions ; and as time goes on, and the mass 
of facts accumulates, this will become more 
and more impossible. Now a student at 
the commencement of his career rarely 
knows which branch of the subject will 
fascinate him most, and I think, therefore, 
that it is necessary, in the first place, to do 
all that is possible to give him a thorough 
grounding in all branches of the subject. 
In my opinion the student is taken over too 
much ground in the lecture courses of the 
present day: in inorganic chemistry, for ex- 
ample, the study of the rare metals and 
their reactions might be dispensed with, as 
well as many of the more difficult chapters 
of physical chemistry, and in organic chem- 
istry such complicated problems as the con- 
stitutions of uric acid and the members of 
the camphor and terpene series, etc., might 
well be left out. As matters stand now, 
instruction must be given on these subjects 
simply because questions bearing on them 
will probably be asked at the examination. 

And here perhaps I might make a con- 
fession, in which I do not ask my fellow- 
teachers to join me. My name is often at- 
tached to chemistry papers which I should 
be sorry to have to answer ; and it seems to 
me the standard of examination papers, and 


SCIENCE. 


645 


especially of Honors examination papers, is 
far too high. Should we demand a pitch 
of knowledge which our own experience 
tells us can not be maintained for long? 

In dealing with the question of teaching 
practical chemistry it may be hoped, in the 
first place, that in the near future a sound 
training will be given in elementary science 
in most schools, very much on the lines 
which I mentioned in the first part of this 
address. The student will then be in a fit 
state to undergo a thoroughly satisfactory 
course of training in inorganic chemistry 
during his first two years at college. With- 
out wishing in any way to map out a 
definite course, I may be allowed to suggest 
that instead of much of the usual qualita- 
tive and quantitative analysis, practical 
exercises similar to the following will be 
found to be of much greater educational 
value. 

(1) The careful experimental demonstra- 
tion of the fundamental laws of chemistry 
and physical chemistry. 

(2) The preparation of a series of com- 
pounds of the more important metals, either 
from their more common ores or from the 
metals themselves. With the aid of the 
compounds thus prepared the reactions of 
the metals might be studied and the simi- 
larities and differences between the differ- 
ent metals then carefully noted. 

(8) A course in which the student should 
investigate in certain selected cases: (a) the 
conditions under which action takes place ; 
(6) the nature of the products formed; (c) 
the yield obtained. If he were then to pro- 
ceed to prepare each product in a state of 
purity, he would be doing a series of exer- 
cises of the highest educational value. 

(4) The determination of the combining 
weights of some of the more important 
metals. This is in most cases compara- 
tively simple, as the determination of the 
combining weights of selected metals can be 
very accurately carried out by measuring 


644 


the hydrogen evolved when an acid acts 
upon them. 

Many other exercises of a similar nature 
will readily suggest themselves, and in ar- 
ranging the course every effort should be 
made to induce the student to consult orig- 
inal papers and to avoid as far as possible 
any tendency to mere mechanical work. 

The exact nature of such a course must, 
however, necessarily be left very much in 
the hands of the teacher, and the details 
will no doubt require much consideration ; 
but I feel sure that a course of practical in- 
organic chemistry, could be constructed 
which, while teaching all the important 
facts which it is necessary for the student 
to know, will, at the same time, constantly 
tend to develop his faculty of original 
thought. 

Supposing such a course were adopted 
(and the experiment is well worth trying), 
there still remains the problem of how the 
student who has had this kind of training 
is to be examined. 

With regard to his theoretical work there 
would be no difficulty, as the examination 
eould be conducted on much the same lines 
as at the present time. Im the case of the 
practical examination I have long felt that 
the only satisfactory method of arriving at 
the value of a student’s practical knowledge 
is by the inspection of the work which he 
has done during the whole of his course of 
study, and not by depending on the results 
of one or two days’ set examination. I 
think that most examiners will agree with 
me that the present system of examination 
in practical chemistry is highly unsatisfae- 
tory. This is perhaps not so apparent in 
the case of the qualitative analysis of the 
usual simple salt or mixture ; but when the 
student has to do a quantitative exercise, 
or when a problem is set, the results sent in 
are frequently no indication of the value of 
the student’s practical work. Leaving out 
of the question the possibility of the stu- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 304. 


dent being in indifferent health during the 
short period of the practical examination, 
it not infrequently happens that he, in his 
excitement, has the misfortune to upset a 
beaker when his quantitative determina- 
tion is nearly finished, and as a result he 
loses far more marks than he should do for 
so simple an accident. 

Again, in attacking a problem he has 
usually only time to try one method of so- 
lution, and if this does not yield satisfac- 
tory results he again loses marks; whereas 
in the ordinary course of his practical work, 
if he were to find that the first method was 
faulty he would try other methods until he 
ultimately arrived at the desired result. 

It is difficult to see why such an unsatis- 
factory system as this might not be replaced 
by one of inspection, which I think could 
easily be so arranged as to work well. 

A student taking, say, a three years’ 
course for the degree of Bachelor of Science 
might be required to keep very careful 
notes of all the practical work which he 
does during this course, and in order to 
avoid fraud his notebook could from time 
to time be initialed by the professor or 
demonstrator in charge of the laboratory, 
An inspection of these notebooks could then 
be made at suitable times by the examiners 
for the degree, by which means a very good 


- idea would be obtained of the scope of the 


work which the student had been engaged 
in, and if thought necessary a few questions 
could easily be asked in regard to the work 
so presented. Should the examiners wish 
to further test the candidate by giving him 
an examination, I submit that it would be 
much better to set him some exercise of the 
nature of a simple original investigation, 
and to allow him two or three weeks to 
earry this out, than to depend on the hur- 
ried work of two or three days. 

The object which I had in view in writ- 
ing this address was to call attention to the 
fact that our present system of training in 


OcTroBER 26, 1900. ] 


chemistry does not appear to develop in the 
student the power of conducting original 
research, and at the same time to endeavor 
to suggest some means by which a more 
satisfactory state of things might be brought 
about. I have not been able, within the 
limits of this address, to consider the con- 
ditions of study during the third year of the 
student’s career at college, or to discuss 
the increasing necessity for extending that 
course and insisting on the student carry- 
ing out an adequate original investigation 
before granting him a degree, but I hope on 
some future occasion to have the opportu- 
nity of returning to this very important part 
of the subject. If any of the suggestions 
I have made should prove to be of practical 
value and should lead to the production of 
more original research by our students, I 
shall feel that a useful purpose has been 
served by bringing this matter before this 
Section. In concluding I wish to thank 
Professor H. B. Dixon, Professor F. 8. Kip- 
ping, and others, for many valuable sugges- 
tions, and my thanks are especially due to 
Dr. Bevan Lean for much information 
which he gave me in connection with that 
part of this address which deals with the 
teaching of chemistry in schools. 
W. H. Perxin. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

La face de la terre. By EpouARD SUESS. 
Translated from the German Das Antlitz der 
Erde, by EMMANUEL DE MARGERIE and 
others. Vol. II. Paris, Armand Colin & 
Cie., 1900. Pp. 878. 

The first volume of this important transla- 
tion has already been noticed in the pages of 
ScIENCE (Vol. VII., p. 803). The second vol- 
ume contains the third part of the work dealing 
with ‘The Seas.’ After a brief review of the 
opinion of geographers concerning the question 
of changes of level of the sea in relation to the 
land, Suess adopts a terminology intended to 
avoid any implication of the movement of the 
land in relation to the sea in observed dis- 


SCIENCE. 


645 


placement of shore-lines. These ‘shifts of 
relative level,’ as Robert Chambers termed 
them, are then qualified as negative when the 
sea-level appears to fall and positive when it 
appears to rise, in accordance with the termi- 
nology employed in reading tide-gauges. For 
the expression ‘elevation of the continent,’ 
we may substitute then ‘negative displace- 
ment of the shore-line,’ and for ‘submergence 
of the continent,’ positive displacement. 

The geological structure of the lands about 
the Atlantic is treated with much care in order 
to bring out the history of displacements of 
shore-linein this part of the world. A similar 
discussion is devoted to the contours of the 
Pacific Ocean. In summarizing the characters 
of these two great ocean basins, Suess finds 
that ‘‘ with the exception of the Cordillera of 
the Antilles and of the mountainous trunk of 
Gibraltar which circumscribes the two Mediter- 
raneans, no part of the contours of the Atlantic 
Ocean is determined by a folded chain. The 
internal border with groups of folds, the coasts 
cut by rias indicating a sinking of chains, the 
inclined fractures of horsts and the step-faults— 
such are the varied elements which determine 
the plan of the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.”’ 

As for the Pacific Ocean, ‘‘ with the ex- 
ception of a segment of the coast of Central 
America in Guatemala where the Cordillera 
making the turn of the Antilles is depressed, 
all parts of the border of the Pacific Ocean, 
of which the geology is known, are formed by 
chains of mountains folded towards the ocean 
in such a way that their external plications 
serve to outline the continent itself or consti- 
tute a belt of peninsulas and aligned islands.”’ 
He then considers the ancient Paleozoic seas 
with the view of sifting the evidence which 
their sediments and faunas present in relation 
to the question of ‘submergence and emer- 
gence of lands’ and ‘movements of the 
hydrosphere.’ Our author finds insuperable 
difficulties in the commonly accepted explana- 
tion, and in this and following sections of the 
work develops the idea of swayings of the 
ocean waters alternately towards the equator 
and the poles to account for the numerous 
instances of advance and retreat of the sea 
afforded by the Paleozoic and Mesozoic for- 


646 


mations of the existing continents. Mesozoic 
and Tertiary geology are treated in the same 
comprehensive way, in the endeavor to show 
the former relations of sea-level to the lands. 

In the last chapter of this volume, Suess 
gives the principal points in his theory. 
‘* Once,’’ he states, ‘‘ that the marine depres- 
sions are regarded as sunken tracts, the con- 
tinents acquire the character of horsts, and 
the pointed form directed towards the south, in 
the case of Africa, India and Greenland, is ex- 
plained by the intersection of fields of sinking 
of which the principal domain is found in the 
south. 

‘(The crust of the earth sinks ; the sea follows 
it. But inasmuch as the sinkings of the litho- 
sphere are limited in extent, the lowering of 
the surface of the sea affects the entire perim- 
eter of the oceanic areas; it produces a gen- 
eral negative movement. 

‘The formation of sediments causes a posi- 
tive uninterrupted eustatic displacement of the 
shore-lines.’’ Other causes, such as variation in 
the quantity of water in the seas dependent 
upon the rate of formation of silicates and 
upon the variable action of volcanoes, give rise 
also to eustatic movements of the ocean. 

. These changes with the movements of the 
ocean above noted form the outlines of his 
theory. 

Suess appears to be placed in the necessity 
of minimizing the changes of level which 
many geologists have postulated in recent 
geologic time, for these supposed changes 
exceed the effects attributable to the operations 
which he invokes. Thus, to take but one ex- 
ample of evidence adduced in favor of profound 
alteration of level—that of the so-called sub- 
marine gorges of the Hudson, the Congo, and 
other rivers, Suess contends with Forel and 
others that these channels are the result 
of excavation and deposition now going on 
as in Lake Geneva. In this view such 
cafions are not criteria of change of level. 
To this criticism of the doctrine of extreme 
changes of recent level may be added that 
made by Davis upon the interpretation of 
fjords in high glaciated latitudes, that the ice 
has excavated the deep fjords and that their 
depth below sea level is not necessarily a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


measure of depression of the land (Proc. Bos- 
ton Soc. Nat. His., Vol. XXIX. 227-322. 
1900). So also the high terraces reported in 
the far north are not without close scrutiny to 
be taken as evidence of elevation since there 
are diverse kinds of terraces, some of them 
built in ice-confined waters far above sea-level. 

It is understood that the venerable author of 
Das Antlitz der Erde has in preparation a con- 
cluding section of his great work. In that we 
may expect to find the discussion of many 
questions, which his singularly attractive 
hypothesis of a swinging, rising and falling 
ocean raises, in the light of the work of Lord 
Kelvin and other physico-geologists upon the 
rate of contraction of the earth and upon the 
apparent tilting of a continent with its Great 
Lakes, as in the case of North America. 

The two volumes of the new French edition 
form perhaps the best summary extant of the 
geology of the globe and should find an English 


translator. 
J. B. WoopWworRTH. 


Mesures électrique ; 
VIGNERON and P. LETHEULE. 
ier Villars. (No date.) 

Resistance électrique et fluidité. By GOURE DE 
VILLEMONTER, Paris. Gauthier-Villars. (No 
date.) 

These two small octavo volumes, of one hun- 
dred and eighty and one hundred and eighty- 
seven pages respectively, are installments of 
the Encyclopédie scientifique des aide-mémoire. 

The first contains a good discussion of the 
methods for measuring electric current, electro- 
motive force, resistance, electrostatic capacity- 
and self-induction. 

The second is a very complete résumé of the 
experimental work that has been done in the 
attempt to discover the relationship between the 
electrical resistance of electrolytes and their vis- 
cosity. 

Vigneron and Letheule devote eight intro- 
ductory pages to généralités sur les grandeurs. 
They say that ‘‘une grandeur est dite mesur- 
able quand on peut la comparer 4 une grandeur 
de méme espéce et que le résultat de la compa- 
raison donne 4 notre esprit une satisfaction com- 
pléte.’’? This statement is, indeed, somewhat 


essais laboratoire. By KE. 
Paris, Gauth- 


OcTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


cleared up by subsequent statements given by 
the authors, but on the whole the introduction 
seems very unsatisfactory. 

Length, angle, mass and time are called 
measurable quantities because these attributes 
(to speak of them briefly) may be divided into 
parts, which by means of one or another kind 
of congruence, are judged to be equal or like 
parts, and these parts may then be counted. 
This fundamental notion which is due, we be- 
lieve, to Helmholtz, is no doubt the real basis 
of quantitative relations in physics; and it 
should be remembered that, although we fre- 
quently speak of the measurement of an elec- 
tric current, of a magnetic field and what not, 
we never do actually measure anything but 
lengths, angles, masses and time intervals. 

In the first chapter, on electrical units and 
quantities, Vigneron and Letheule make a dis- 
tinction between electromotive force and poten- 
tial difference, which distinction, being largely 
in vogue among electricians and not being 
based upon the fundamental conception of 
potential, it is a disservice to perpetuate. A 
distinction, however, there certainly is between 
the two, and it is, according to Maxwell, as 
follows : 

When electric charge is transferred from one 
point to another work is usually done. The 
amount of work done depends in general upon 
the path along which the charge is carried. 
The work done in carrying unit charge along a 
given path is called the electromotive force along 
that path. 

In special cases the electromotive force is the 
same along any two coterminus paths. In such 
a case the common value of the electromotive 
force is called the potential difference between 
the terminal points. 

Now it seems to us that no author should at- 
tempt to make any other distinction between 
electromotive force and potential difference than 
theabove. In particular the distinction between 
the total electromotive force of an electric gener- 
ator and the electromotive force between the ter- 
minals of the generator should not be confused 
with the distinction between electromotive force 
and potential difference. One may answer, in- 
deed, that the practical electrician is concerned 
with the distinction between total and external 


SCIENCE. 


647 


electromotive forces of electric generators, and 
not at all concerned with the fine distinction, 
according to Maxwell, between electromotive 
force and potential difference. This is too true, 
but this is no reason why electricians should be 
permitted to misuse these terms without pro- 
test, for very certainly the distinction between 
total and external electromotive force of a gen- 
erator has nothing essentially in common with 
the distinction between electromotive force and 
potential difference in the sense in which Max- 
well uses these terms. 

There is one thing in which we know of only 
one person (Heaviside) who agrees with us, 
namely, that the notion of electric potential 
might best be dropped in the subject of electro- 
dynamics, and we are convinced that the pref- 
erence of most electricians for the term poten- 
tial to the term electromotive force is in their 
tongues, not in their heads. 

W.S. FRANKLIN. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Text-book of Physiology. Edited by E. A. SCHAFER. 
Edinburgh and London, Young J. Pentland. New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 1900. Vol. II., 
pp. xxiv-++ 1365. $10.00. 

The Theory and Practice of Hygiene. J. LANE NOTTER 
and W. H. Horrocks. Philadelphia, P. Blakis- 
ton’s Sons & Co. 1900. Second Edition. Pp. 
xvii + 1085. $7.00. 

A Treatise on Zoology. Edited by E. RAy LANKES- 
Ter. Part II., The Porifera and Calentera. KE. A. 
MINCHIN, G. HERBERT FOWLER and GILBERT C. 
BouRNE. London, Adam and Charles Black. New 
York, The Macmillan Company. 1900. $5.50. 

Free-hand Perspective. VictoR T. WILson. New 
York, John Wiley & Sons. London, Chapman & 
Hall, Limited. 1900. Pp. xii 268. $2.50. 


Dynamo Electric Machinery. SAMUEL SHELDON. 
New York, D. Van Nostrand Company. 1900. 
Pp. 281. $2.50. 


Die Lehre von Skelet des Menschen. F. FRENKEL 
Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1900. Pp. vi-176. M. 
4.50. 

Among the Mushrooms. 
CAROLINE A. BURGEN. 
1900. Pp. xi+ 175. 

The Principles of Mechanics. FREDERICK SLATE. 
New York and London, The Macmillan Company. 
1900. Pp. x + 299. 


ELLEN M. DALLAS and 
New York, Drexel Biddle. 


648 


Die Urspriingliche Verbreitung der angebauten Nutz- 
pflanzen. F.HOcK. Leipzig, Teubner. 1900. Pp. 
78. M. 1.60. 

Lehrbuch der vergleichenden mikroskopischen Anatomie 
der Wirbeltiere. ALBERT OPPEL. Jena, Gustav 
Fischer. 1900. Part III. Pp. x +1180 and 10 
plates. 

A School Chemistry. JOHN WADDELL. New York 
and London, The Macmillan Company. 1900. 
Pp. xiii + 278. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

Popular Astronomy for October contains an ex- 
cellent sketch by Professor C. D. Perrine of the 
late James Edward Keeler, of Lick Observatory, 
accompanied by his photograph. The opening 
address by Dr. A. A. Common, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., 
at the Bradford meeting of the British As- 
tronomical Association for the Advancement 
of Science is begun in this number and will be 
concluded in the November number. Also the 
first part of Kurt Laves’ paper on ‘ The Adjust- 
ment of the Equatorial Telescope’ is given. 
Tables for the observation of the planet Eros 
and an illustrated article upon that planet by 
the editor, W. W. Payne, together with a 
résumé of recent work at the Lowell Observa- 
tory are important features of this issue, as 
well as the usual spectroscopic, planet, comet 
and general notes. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


AT the meeting of the Society on October 
13th, Mr. O. H. Tittmann told in an informal 
way of some of the incidents of the marking 
of the provisional boundary between Alaska 
and the British possessions, at the head of the 
Lynn Canal, during the past summer. 

Dr. Artemus Martin read a paper on ‘A 
Method of Computing the Logarithm of a 
Number without making use of any Logarithm 
but that of 10 or some power of 10.’ The 
method in this paper consists in modifying some 
of the ordinary forms of logarithmic series so 
that the logarithm used in the computation is 
the logarithm of 10 or some power of 10. 

Dr. T. J. J. See read a paper on the ‘Sys- 
tem of Uranus.’ It combines a statement of 
some of the recent results of observations, a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


comparison of these with former results and a 
critical statement of the uncertainties involved 
in the present knowledge of the system. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


AT the first meeting of the autumn, held on the 
evening of October 15th, there were sixteen per- 
sons present. Mr. William H. Roever, of Wash- 
ington University, presented an elaborate paper, 
discussing in detail the subject of the establish- 
ment of the method of least squares. Profes- 
sor F, E. Nipher presented two papers, entitled 
respectively ‘ Positive Photography,’ with spe- 
cial reference to eclipse work and the frictional 
effects of railway trains upon the air ; and Mr. 
C. F. Baker exhibited an interesting collection 
representing nearly all of the species of fleas 
thus far known, which he had prepared for the 
United States National Museum. 

Four persons were elected to active member- 
ship. 

WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ARITHMETICAL NOTE. 


In the second edition of the Exercices d’ arith- 
métique of MM. Fitzpatrick and Chevrel (Paris, 
Hermann, 1900), there is given the following 
interesting application of the binary system of 
notation (p. 490). Russian peasants, when they 
have to perform a multiplication, in general 
proceed thus: They divide the multiplicand by 
2, and at the same time double the multiplier ; if 
the multiplicand is odd, they discard the unit 
remainder and mark the multiplier with asign. 
This being done as often as possible, the multi- 
pliers affected with the sign are added together 
to obtain the result. Thus, for example, the 
multiplication of 35 by 42 proceeds as follows : 


42 + 84 -+ 1344 — 1470. 


It is easy enough to construct a similar 
process, €. g., for the ternary system of nota- 


OCTOBER 26, 1909. ] 


tion ; the example might then be worked out in 
this manner: 


Giocnocdoneocsaccp0o odes 42 — 
TIP) nooscnosndo penpsan00e60 126 
fh doconeseosoboncansenss 378 + 
Tacoescadactoaconaccéode: 1134+ 


378 + 1134 — 42 — 1470 ; 
but the possibility of constructing similar proc- 
esses throws no light on the origin of such a 
method among the Russian peasants. 
C. A. ScorrT. 


CAMPHOR SECRETED BY AN ANIMAL. 


TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Mr. O. F. Cook’s 
article in a recent number of SCIENCE recalls 
some observations by the late E. D. Cope. 
Cope wrote (Zrans. Amer. Entom. Soc., Vol. 3, 
May, 1870, pp. 66-67), as follows: ‘‘ The spe- 
cies of Spirobolus and Julus discharge a yellow- 
ish juice having much the smell of aqua regia 
and a very acrid taste. The Spirostrephon lac- 
tarius exudes from a series of lateral pores a 
fluid which has in its odor a close resemblance 
to creasote. The Polydesmus virginiensis is de- 
fended by a fluid which has almost exactly the 
smell of hydrocyanie acid and is fatal to small 
animals. Petaserpes rosalbus secretes a consid- 
erable quantity of a milky substance, which has 
the perfume of gum camphor.’’ 

Quite possibly there are other references to 
the subject, but I have not examined the litera- 
ture of the Myriapoda very carefully. 

NATHAN BANKS. 

Hast END, VA. 


A CORRECTION. 

To THE EpiToR OF SCIENCE: In the issue of 
ScIENCE for October 19th I notice your state- 
ment under ‘ University and Educational News’ 
of my appointment as acting president of Wells 
College. Permit me to say that a misspelling 
of my name completely changes it into that of 
another person. Instead of Feeley, it should be 
Freley. 

J. W. FRELEY. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
PROLIXITY IN BOTANICAL PAPERS. 
WHat botanist has not groaned in spirit in 
these recent years over the increasing prolixity of 
American botanical writers? There wasa time 


SCIENCE. 


649 


when it was the exception for a botanist to write 
a paper of great length, and some of us werea 
little ashamed of what appeared to be the in- 
ability of botanical writers to prepare papers 
whose length, at least, would suggest pro- 
fundity. Doubtless at that time there were 
fewer men who could write anything better 
than short notes, and perhaps there was some 
need of a change. But now, alas, we have 
learned the lesson only too well. One takes up 
journal after journal and finds that many of 
the papers are drawn out through pages and 
pages until in very weariness he turns to the 
‘conclusions,’ hoping to obtain a summary of 
the author’s results, often to find that here, 
too, there is such prolixity as to suggest the 
need of a ‘summary’ of the ‘ conclusions.’ 

Is it not time that botanical teachers gave 
some instruction in conciseness of statement, 
while they are making investigators out of the 
raw material which they find in their classes ? 
Paper and ink do not cost much, and the long- 
suffering editors of botanical journals have not 
made, as yet, any audible protest, but we speak 
for the readers of these long-drawn out papers 
whose time is too valuable to be given to the 
absorption and assimilation of the vast mass of 
excellent but uncondensed matter which now-a- 
days finds publication. Many a good paper 
would be much more readable if condensed to 
half its length, while at the same time it would 
lose nothing in clearness of statement of all 
essential facts. 


THE STUDY OF PLANT DISEASES. 


AN instructive paper by Mr. Galloway, in the 
‘Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture’ 
for 1899, gives a brief history of the develop- 
ment of the study of plant pathology in the 
United States. Little has been done by Amer- 
ican botanists previous to 1875, and practically 
nothing at all by the Government. With the 
establishment of the agricultural experiment 
stations, an impetus was given to the begin- 
nings made by Professors Farlow, Burrill and 
Arthur, and about the same time in the De. 
partment of Agriculture a beginning was made 
of what eventually developed into the Division 
of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. This 
was done by the appointment of Professor 


650 


Lamson Scribner to be assistant botanist, with 
instructions to devote himself to the study of 
plant diseases. For a minor and secondary 
place in the Division of Botany, this work, thus 
begun, has grown into a separate division with 
a large force of trained physiologists and pathol- 
ogists. With this development in Washington, 
there has been a corresponding growth in the 
work in the experiment stations, while in many 
of the agricultural colleges and larger universi- 
ties courses of study in plant physiology and 
pathology have been introduced into the botan- 
ical departments. Where but a few years ago 
so little was done in the study of plant diseases 
that the term ‘plant pathology’ was almost un- 
known, good introductory courses in physiology 
and pathology are now offered, and increasing 
numbers of young men are familiarizing them- 
selves with the scientific and practical aspects 
of the problems involved. j 


THE ANNUAL SHEDDING OF COTTONWOOD TWIGS. 


JusT now (the middle of October) the Cot- 
tonwood trees (Populus deltoides Marsh.) are 
shedding their twigs, the ground beneath the 
large trees being well littered over with fallen 
twigs of all sizes. This curious phenomenon 
has been noticed repeatedly, but still it appears 
not to be generally known, even by botanists. 
As the autumn advances the cortical tissues of 
the bases of many of the twigs become so much 
swollen as to produce bulbous enlargements. 
At the same time there is a loosening of the 
woody tissues in the same region, the result be- 
ing that the woody cylinder is larger in diam- 
eter at the base of each affected twig, and the 
wood-wedges are separated from one another by 
thicker medullary rays. There appears to be 
a good deal of longitudinal tension exerted by 
the swollen cortical tissues, the result being 
that the woody tissues are pulled asunder, 
showing a complete transverse fracture of the 
whole of the woody cylinder. A breeze now 
easily fractures the cortical tissues and the 
twig drops to the ground. 

There is much apparent waste in this shed- 
ding of these twigs, since they invariably have 
large, well-formed terminal buds and generally 
a good many lateral buds also. Among the 
latter one often finds well-grown flower buds. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


These facts show that the twigs which are shed 
are not the feeble and dying ones, but are 
among the most vigorous and active on the 
trees. It is an interesting fact that the Tam- 
arisks (Tamarix sp.), which are held by some 
botanists to be closely related to the Poplars, 
shed their twigs by exactly the same device as 
that described above. In the Tamarisks the 
shedding of the twigs is a part of the annual 
process of defoliation, their leaves being so 
small that it appears to be less trouble and ex- 
pense to drop twig and all than to separate 
every individual leaf. Possibly in the Cotton- 
woods, with their large leaves, we have a sur- 
vival of the Tamarisk twig-shedding habit long 
after its original significance has disappeared. 


THE IMMEDIATE EFFECT OF POLLEN. 


For a long time it has been known that in the 
crossing of some plants the pollen seems to 
produce an effect upon more than the embryo, 
in other words, that not only the embryo but 
other structures, also, show evidences of hy- 
bridity. Focke named this phenomenon zenia 
in a paper published nearly twenty years ago, 
and this is the term now used by writers of 
papers on this subject. The latest paper is an 
exceedingly interesting one by H. J. Webber: 
‘Xenia, or the Immediate Effect of Pollen, in 
Maize,’ published as a bulletin (No. 22) of the 
Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathol- 
ogy of the United States Department of Agri- 
culture. In it an attempt is made to throw 
light upon the real nature and meaning of the 
phenomenon. Many experiments were made 
by him to determine whether xenia actually 
takes place in maize, with the result that its 
occurrence is no longer to be doubted. It is 
shown, moreover, that this immediate effect of 
the pollen is limited to the endosperm of the 
maize kernel. Thus where a change of color 
occurs in the hybrid, this color is in the endo- 
sperm cells, and furthermore, where the color 
is in the pericarp (as in the variety known as 
Red Dent) no change in color takes place. 

The explanation suggested by DeVries and 
Correns in papers published almost simulta- 
neously in December, 1899, that xenia is the 
result of double fecundation is adopted by Mr. 
Webber without modification. In fact the same 


OcTOBER 26, 1900.] 


explanation had suggested itself to him early 
enough in 1899 to enable him to make a num- 
ber of experiments that year, with a view to 
obtaining evidence in regard to it. This theo- 
retical explanation, in short, is as follows: As 
is now admitted, in the process of fecundation 
(in some plants, at least) not only is there a 
union of one of the generative nuclei of the 
pollen tube with the egg nucleus, but also, 
there isa union of the second generative nu- 
cleus with the embryo-sac nucleus. As the en- 
dosperm develops from this nucleus thus fecun- 
dated, it is clearly a hybrid organism also. In 
other words, in the fecundation of the egg a 
hybrid sporophyte is produced, but at the same 
time the supporting gametophyte (the endo- 
sperm) is itself developed as a hybrid. This is 
possible because of the tardy development of 
the gametophyte tissue, which is so delayed 
that actually it is formed simultaneously with 
that of the sporophyte which it bears, and 
which it should precede. 
CHARLES EH. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. 

IMPROVEMENTS in the New York Botanical 
Garden are going steadily forward. A contract 
amounting to $22,000 for grading and roadways 
near the Museum is approaching completion, 
and a series of working greenhouses is now 
under construction in the eastern part of the 
Garden in a locality little frequented by vis- 
itors. These houses comprise two main ranges 
20 by 60 feet, storage rooms, potting sheds and 
an independent heating plant, in which the 
open hot water system will be used. 

The New York Central and Hudson River 
Railroad is building a new passenger station at 
the Bedford Park entrance to the Garden. 
The new station will be of stone and brick 
costing about $40,000. The offices will be lo- 
cated on the western side of the tracks, con- 
nected by a tunnel with the extensive passenger 
shelters and waiting rooms on the eastern side 
which open directly into the plaza. The name 
of the station will be changed to Bronx Park 
(Botanical Garden) upon completion of the new 
building which will save much confusion to 
visitors. 


SCIENCE. 


651 


Professor L. M. Underwood spent the summer 
in investigations upon American ferns in the 
British Museum, Kew Gardens and the Cosson 
Herbarium in Paris. The Cosson Herbarium 
contains the Feé collection, formerly owned by 
Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil. The Feé col- 
lection has the largest and best set of West 
Indian ferns in existence. 

Other exploration work was carried out in 
connection with the Garden is as follows: Dr. 
Rydberg accompanied by Mr. F. K. Vreeland 
made extensive collections in the Sierra Blanca 
in southeastern Colorado; Dr. D. T. Mac- 
Dougal explored the Priest River Forest Re- 
serve, also carrying out investigations under a 
grant from the American Association ; Dr. C. C. 
Curtis made a series of collectionsin western Wy- 
oming, Professor F. E. Lloyd in cooperation with 
Professor Tracy visited the islands in the Missis- 
sippi delta; Messrs R. M. Harper and Percy- 
Wilson made collections in Georgia, and Dr. 
M. A. Howe investigated the marine and land 
flora of Bermuda and the coast of Maine, also 
carrying out the terms of a grant from the Pea- 
body fund; Dr. and Mrs. N. L. Britton made 
a brief tour in the Adirondacks, securing many 
living specimens of alpine plants for the 
grounds. 

Dr. N. L. Britton is now in Europe for the 
purpose of securing exhibits from the Paris 
Exposition and negotiating for the purchase of 
several herbaria. 

Contributions for the conservatories have 
been received from many sources, the most 
valuable of which are those given by Miss 
Helen Gould, Mrs. F. L. Ames and Siebrecht 
and Son. 

The fall lecture course now in progress has 
been announced as follows: 

October 13th. ‘Autumn Flowers,’ by Mr. Cornelius 
VanBrunt. 

October 20th. ‘Evergreen Trees,’ by Professor F. E. 
Lloyd. 

October 37th. ‘Freezing of Plants,’ by Dr. D. T. 
MacDougal. 

November 3d. ‘Evolution of Sex in Plants,’ by 
Professor L. M. Underwood. 

November 10th. ‘Poisonous Plants which Live in 
our Bodies, and how we contend against them,’ by 
Professor H. H. Rusby. 


November 17th. ‘The Sedges,’ by Professor N. L. 
Britton. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

AN oil portrait of Professor Henry A. Row- 
land, of Johns Hopkins University, painted by 
Mr. Harper Pennington, has been presented to 
the University and hung in the large lecture 
room in the physical laboratory. 

Dr. Oscar LoEw, for some time expert 
physiologist in the Division of Vegetable Physi- 
ology and Pathology of the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture, has resigned in order 
to accept a position in the Agricultural College 
of the Imperial University of Tokyo, Japan, as 
lecturer on physiological chemistry. By his 
resignation the Department loses one of its 
best investigators in the special field which he 
occupied. He sailed from Vancouver on Oc- 
tober 8th. 

Dr. OUSTALET has been appointed professor 
of zoology in the Natural History Museum at 


Paris, as successor to the late Professor Milne- 
Edwards. 


PROFESSOR BASHFORD DEAN, of Columbia 
University, is spending his Sabbatical year in 
zoological work in Japan. He has begun his 
work at the Marine Biological Station of the 
Government on the east coast. 

THE expedition to Labrador under Professor 
Delabarre of Brown University and Dr. Daly of 
Harvard University has returned, having made 
numerous observations and collections in Lab 
rador. 

THE Gold Medal of the Paris Exposition 
was awarded to Professor A. S. Bickmore, of 
the American Musem of Natural History, and 
his assistants especially for the photographic 
slides illustrating the lectures: ‘Across the 
American Continent’ and ‘The Hawaiian 
Islands.’ The ‘ wide system of free education ’ 
carried on by this department in cooperation 
with the State Board of Education was espe- 
cially mentioned in the award. Professor Bick- 
more was moreover invited to give two public 
lectures in the Trocadero illustrating his method 
of visual instruction. 

Dr. B. M. DuGear, of Cornell University, 
has been elected a member of the German Botan- 
ical Society. : 

PrRoFEssOR H. VY. HILPRECHT, who has been 
carrying on explorations in Babylonia, is ex- 


SOCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 304. 


pected to return to the University of Pennsyl- 
vania at the end of the present month. 


Mr. FRANK M. CHAPMAN, assistant curator 
of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology, of 
the American Museum of Natural History, will 
give a special course of six lectures on birds, 
at the Museum on Saturday afternoons at three 
o’clock, beginning November 10th. 


Dr. RoBERT Kocu, who is employed by the 
German Government to investigate tropical dis- 
eases, arrived at Marseilles on October 19th from 
German New Guinea by way of Hong-Kong. 
He is on his way to Berlin, where he will present 
to the Academy of Medicine the result of fifteen 
months’ study of malaria in New Guinea, Java 
and adjacent German territories. 


IT appears that Elias Howe, the inventor of 
the sewing machine, is not to be included 
among the 30 eminent Americans of the Hall 
of Fame of New York University. A mistake 
was made in counting up the votes, Howe re- 
ceiving 47 instead of 58 as originally an- 
nounced. This leaves 21 panels to be filled 
two years hence. 


THE house in which Samuel F. B. Morse lived 
from 1864 until 1872, at No. 5 West 22d street, 
New York City, has been torn down and an of- 
fice building erected in its place. The original 
house contained a bronze commemorative tab- 
let which was last week moved to the new 
building. The tablet bears the inscription: 
‘Tn this house 8. F. B. Morse lived for many 
years and died.’’ Under it has been added: 
‘“‘ This tablet was removed from building for- 
merly on this site and replaced A. D. 1900.”’ 


Sir HENRY WENTWORTH DYKE ACKLAND, 
for many years regius professor of medicine at 
Oxford, and Radcliffe Librarian, died on Oc- 
tober 16th at the age of 85 years. Sir Henry 
was appointed reader in anatomy at Oxford in 
1845 and regius professor of medicine in 1858, 
resigning the chair in 1894. 


A DISPATCH from Daker, Senegal, states that 
M. Paul Blanchet, the well-known French ex- 
plorer, has died of yellow fever. He was about 
to embark on his return to France. 


THE positions of assistant in zoology and in 
mineralogy in the State Museum at Albany 


OcTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


will be filled by civil service examination on or 
about November 10th. The salaries of these 
positions are $1,200 and $900, respectively. In 
the examinations, experience and education 
count three, and the answers to questions on 
the science seven points. In zoology the ex- 
amination will have special reference to verte- 
brate and systematic zoology. The positions 
are open only to men over twenty-one years of 
age who must be citizens of New York State. 


THE government of the Canton of Zurich 
has voted to increase its annual subsidy to the 
Concilium Bibliographicum. In the preamble 
it is stated that this is done in recognition of 
the high value of the work of the Concilium 
Bibliographicum, in the hope that others may 
aid in securing for the undertaking a firm finan- 
cial basis, with the purpose of offering the full 
support permitted by the funds at our disposal, 
be it enacted, ete. This vote which was taken 
August 15th has led to a similar decision on the 
part of the town of Zurich, and now a bill has 
been introduced by the Department of Interior 
providing for quintupling the federal subsidy 
and for placing the Concilium under the more 
immediate control of the Swiss Government. 
The ultimate result of these votes will doubt- 
less be the expansion of the field of activity of 
the Concilium, so as to include botany, anthro- 
pology, etc., but for the time being all will be 
done to render the bibliographies now in exist- 
ence more complete and to issue them more 
promptly. 

THE Duke of Abruzzi has given the Stel- 
lar Polare, the vessel in which he made his 
recent exploring trip to the North, to the 
Italian Navy. She is to be kept in the naval 
arsenal at Spezia as a souvenir. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE has presented £10,- 
000 to the town of Hawick, Roxburgh County, 
Scotland, for a public library. 

THE late Edwin H. Bugbee of Danielson, 
Connecticut, bequeathed $15,000 and his pri- 
vate library to the public library of that town. 

THE fine new lecture hall of the American 
Museum of Natural History will be opened 
with appropriate exercises on Tuesday, October 
30th. The president of the institution, Mr. Mor- 
ris K. Jesup, will receive invited guests from 3 


SCIENCE. 


653 


until 6 o’clock. At 4 0’clock some views of the 
Paris Exposition will be exhibited in the lecture 
hall by Professor Bickmore. Admission to the 
new halls in the west wing and an inspection of 
their archeological and ethnological collections 
will also be permitted. 

THE Library Building of the Historical So- 
ciety of the State of Wisconsin was dedicated 
on October 19th. The building, which is practi- 
cally part of the University of Wisconsin, has 
been erected at a cost of $575,000. 


WE learn from the Botanical Gazette that the 
Division of Vegetable Physiology and Path- 
ology of the Department of Agriculture has 
secured a table at the Marine Biological Lab- 
oratory at Woods Holl for the use of its staff 
during the summer months. 


THE British Museum (Natural History) has 
started a collection of ‘sports’ and ‘ monstrosi- 
ties’ among insects and will be glad to receive 
contributions from entomologists. 


THE new dynamometer car which the Illinois 
Central Railroad has been building for the Me- 
chanical Department of the University of Tli- 
nois, is now ready for use. It is fully equipped 
and is fitted up with every convenience. The 
car will be put into active service immediately 
on a series of tests begun some time ago by the 
Illinois Central. 


THE collection of rare African antelope skins 
received in exchange from the Field Columbian 
Museum are now all mounted and placed on 
exhibition in the American Museum of Natural 
History. 

As the daily papers have very fully reported, 
Count von Zeppelin’s air-ship made two ascents. 
On October 17th it stayed in the air about an 
hour and was apparently able to make some 
headway against a light breeze. It could not, 
however, return to its starting point. 

THE German Anthropological Society held its 
thirty-first annual meeting at Halle from Sep- 
tember 23d to 27th. 

THE new laboratories at King’s College, 
which have been in course of construction dur- 
ing the past year, are finished and ready for 
occupation, and the opening ceremony has 
been fixed for Tuesday, October 30th. Lord 


604 


Lister, P.R.S., will deliver an address after 
which the laboratories wil] be open for inspec- 
tion. We learn from the British Medical Jour- 
nal that although a considerable sum has already 
been subscribed toward defraying the cost of the 
building, much has still to be raised, and it is 
hoped that those interested in higher educa- 
tion may see their way to assist the Council to 
defray the debt. It is also hoped that funds 
may be available from the reconstituted Univer- 
sity of London for the same purpose. The 
movement for the extension of the College 
primarily arose from the difficulties experienced 
by the professors of bacteriology and physiology 
in dealing with the great increase in their 
classes which has occurred during recent years, 
and at the same time to afford space to those 
who wish to prosecute original research. The 
already spacious bacteriological laboratory 
has been nearly doubled in size and a 
complete bacteriological library added to it. 
The physiological laboratory is entirely new, 
the rooms are handsome, well lighted and 
fitted in a most complete way. The old phys- 
iological laboratory has been absorbed by the 
extension into it of the anatomical department 
which was previously much cramped for room. 
The museum has been completely rearranged ; 
the old museum now becomes the architectural 
department. Geology and botany are provided 
with new laboratories and other departments 
which have benefited by the change are physics, 
materia medica and State medicine. 


THE London Standard states that Dr. Sven 
Hedin, according to the latest reports, reached 
Abdal, on the Tarim River, in eastern Turke- 
stan, on June 27th. He states that the Tarim 
is the largest river in the interior of Asia. 
He surveyed the river from Arghan to Ab- 
dal in a ferryboat. From Jeggeli-ku, where 
the river becomes a multitude of small lakes, 
he continued his journey in a craft made up of 
three canoes lashed together, with a deck sur- 
mounted by a felt tent. In the beginning of 
March he made an excursion from the Yangi- 
kol, where he had his winter camp, to the 
southern slope of the Karruk-tagh Mountains, 


where he surveyed the Kumdarya bed of the . 


Tarim which is nowdry. In the neighborhood 
he found the marks of a large dried-up lake, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 304. 


probably the old Lob-Nor, which lies east of 
the present Lob-Nor, or rather the four lakes 
discovered by him in 1896. The dry soil was 
covered with a thick layer of salt and millions 
of mussel shells, while the banks held many 
withered reeds, dead trees, consisting exclu- 
sively of poplars and ruins of houses, fortifi- 
cations, temples, etc., which were often adorned 
with artistic wood carvings. Dr. Hedin in- 
tended to return to this region in the autumn. 
In the middle of the desert he found and in- 
vestigated a larger lake of salt water and then 
returned to his winter camp. During his stay 
at Abdal he wrote down several songs sung for 
many generations by the Lob-Nor men when 
fishing. When he left this district the ther- 
mometer registered forty-two degrees above 
zero, Celsius; whereas it falls to thirty-two 
degrees below zero during the winter. 


WE learn from the American Museum Journal 
that the photographs collected by members of 
the Jesup North Pacific Expedition will be re- 
produced by the heliotype process in large 
quarto form, and published under the title 
‘Kthnographical Album of the North Pacific 
Coasts of America and Asia.’ It is intended 
to issue the album to subscribers only, in parts 
of at least 24 plates annually, the whole series 
to embrace 120 plates. Part I., consisting of 
28 plates, illustrating Indian types from the 
interior of British Columbia, has already ap- 
peared. 


THE British Office of Woods and Forests has 
purchased from the Duke of Beaufort the Tin- 
tern Abbey estate which comprises the famous 
abbey and 5,334 acres of land. This area in- 
cludes nearly 3,000 acres of woodland, the 
most picturesque portions of which are the 
wooded hills and slopes with a frontage of 
eight miles on the River Wye. ‘The estate is 
near the extensive woods of the Crown in the 
Forest of Dean. At the same time the Crown 
has also purchased the whole of the Duke’s 
farms surrounding Raglan Castle, 3,169 acres 
in extent. 


DuRING the past summer the division of soils 
of the department of agronomy at the Univer- 
sity of Illinois has undertaken a study of the 
soils of Illinois. With this end in view, over 


OCTOBER 26, 1900. ] 


five hundred samples have been collected from 
various parts of the State. These samples, 
which are being prepared for permanent speci- 
mens and for purposes of study, represent a 
large proportion of the many different types of 
soil which are to be found within the State. 
It is proposed to study these soils mechanically, 
chemically and biologically, to determine the 
individual properties peculiar to each different 
type, and the proper methods of handling and 
cropping best adapted to each. The work 
which has been done indicates that there are 
numerous problems of a fundamental character 
and of vital importance which are demanding 
the attention of the farmers of the State. Not 
the least among these is the question of soil ex- 
haustion which is beginning to force itself upon 
the attention of the people of some parts of the 
State in such a way that its importance and in- 
fluence are being seriously felt. 

Durineé the last few years, several thousand 
samples of drinking water from various ordinary 
house wells throughout the State have been sent 
to the State University of Illinois, for analysis 
and report as to quality. By far the greater 
proportion of these water samples have proved, 
upon analysis, to be contaminated with drain- 
age from refuse animal matters and conse- 
quently have been regarded with grave suspic- 
ion, or have been pronounced unwholesome 
for use as drink. The present prevalence of 
typhoid fever in a number of places in the 
State makes it desirable that the public should 
remember that the State has made provision for 
the examination of all suspected waters. It is 
not practicable to isolate actually the typhoid 
fever germs or to prove directly their absence 
from waters submitted for analysis ; this for the 
reason that the work entails more labor and 
time than is madeavailable by the means which 
the State provides. However, the chemical ex- 
amination is sufficient ordinarily to show 
whether the water is contaminated with house 
drainage or drainage from refuse animal mat- 
ters or whether it is free from such contami- 
nation. Any citizen of the State may have 
examinations made of the drinking water in 
which he is interested, free of charge, by ap- 
plying to the Department of Chemistry of the 
State University. 


SCLENCE. 


655 


The Journal of the Board of Trade, as quoted 
by the London Times, states that deposits of 
sulphur have been discovered in Russia only in 
recent years, and that small works for treating 
the ore have been established at various times, 
the largest being in Daghestan, in the northern 
Caucasus. The chief output of these was in 
1888, when it reached 1,500 tons, but since then 
the works have been closed. The deposits in 
Daghestan are known to be extensive, while the 
ore contains 20 per cent. of sulphur, and the 
geological formation is very similar to that in 
which the Sicilian deposits occur. But the 
situation is unfavorable, being a mountainous 
district 4,500 feet above the level of the Caspian, 
from which it is separated by numerous steep 
ridges which are difficult to traverse, even for 
mules. In Russia now only two sulphur works 
are in operation, and they produce only 1,000 
tons a year, while the consumption of sulphur 
in the country, owing to the growth of the 
petroleum industry, is about 20,000 tons. The 
vast bed lately discovered in Trans-Caspia is 
one of the richest in the world, and will un- 
doubtedly prove of great importance. It com- 
prises several distinct mounds in an area of 28 
square miles, and is situated 100 miles from 
Khiva, near the Amu Daria river and about 
170 miles from Askabad on the Trans-Caspian 
railway. None of the minerals discovered in 
the province are being worked, and sulphur is 
doubtless the most important of these. The 
mounds above mentioned are dome shaped, 
about 300 feet high, the sulphur being practi- 
cally exposed, while the ore is generally sand- 
stone and contains on an average 60 per cent. of 
sulphur. It is estimated that the mounds con- 
tain over 9,000,000 tons of sulphur, and the local 
circumstances are said to be favorable to work 
on alargescale. lWabor is plentiful and cheap, 
and transportation could be effected by means 
of a narrow-gauge line to Askabad, and this 
could be extended beyond the deposits to 
Khiva, where wool and other commodities may 
be had in quantities sufficient to make the line 
profitable. Nor, it is said, are there any en- 
gineering difficulties in the coustruction of such 
a line. 

WE have already called attention to the com- 
paratively few awards made at Paris for Amer- 


656 


ican machinery. The Electrical World holds 
that the country has been unfairly treated. It 
says: ‘‘In electricity, Austria, with 25 entries, 
had 5 grand prizes and 17 gold medals. The 
United States, with 283 entries, had 6 grand 
prizes and 238 gold medals. In machinery, 
Switzerland, with 14 entries, got 9 grand prizes 
and 15 gold medals. The United States, with 
282 entries, got a paltry 10 grand prizes and 26 
gold medals. The relative proportions are pre- 
posterous. Werefuse to believe that American 
machinery, now sweeping Europe, is inferior 
to the Swiss or Austrian in any such degree as 
this implies.”’ 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


Mrs. JANE K. SATHER, of San Francisco, has 
given $1000,000 to the University of California. 


Ir is reported that three alumni of Yale Uni- 
versity have offered to subscribe each $100,000 
for the memorial building in case the further 
sum of $300,000 is secured. 


THE United States Supreme Court has finally 
rendered a decision sustaining the trust left by 
Mrs. Katherine M. Garcelon of Oakland, Cali- 
fornia. After long and expensive litigation, the 
wishes of Mrs. Garcelon will be carried into 
effect and three-fifths of the sum will be used 
to establish a hospital in Oakland and two- 
fifths will revert to Bowdoin College which will 
receive about $500,000. 


Tue Bartram memorial library of botanical 
books has been presented to the library of the 
University of Pennsylvania. 


Mr. R. F. BALK, of Cincinnati, has given to 
the University of Cincinnati his collection of 
specimens of natural history said to be of con- 
siderable value. 


A NEw bacteriological laboratory has been 
built for the University of Melbourne at a cost 
of $20,000. 


THE Department of Geology of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago had three parties of students in 
the field during the past summer. Two of 
these parties were in Wisconsin, one during 
July and one during August, while the third 
party was in the West, along the line of the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 304. 


Great Northern Railway. The principal stops 
made by the third party were at Midvale and 
Lake McDonald, Montana, and at Lake Chelan 
in Washington. A trip was also made into the 
Kootenai region of British Columbia. Each 
party was in the field four weeks, and the total 
number of students participating was between 
thirty and forty. 


THE registration at Yale University is 2,474, 
a decrease of 48 as compared with last year. 
The Sheffield Scientific School has, however, 
an increase of 36 students. 


Str MicHArEL Foster has been reelected 
member of the British Parliament, representing 
the University of London, without opposition ; 
Sir John Batty Tuke has been returned under 
the Universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews 
also without opposition. 


THE daily papers report that eight of the 
former professors of the reorganized University 
of Havana are to receive pensions of $1,200 a 
year each during the term of the military 
occupation. 


THE Rey. Dr. Robert Sheppard, professor of 
history and political economy at Northwestern 
University, has been appointed president of the 
University. 


EpwARp M. Paxson, ex-Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, has been 
elected president of the Medico-Chirurgical 
College in Philadelphia. 


WitiiAMm T. Horne and Albert T. Bell, fel- 
lows in botany in the University of Nebraska, 
have resigned, the former to accept a position 
in Kadiak, Alaska and the latter an instructor- 
ship in the High School of Lincoln, Nebr. Mr. 
Horne expects to make collections of the flora 
of Kadiak Island for study on his return a 
year or two hence. Miss Daisy F. Bonnell, 
of the class of 1899, has been appointed fellow 
in botany. 


PROFESSOR J. W. FRELEY has been appointed 
acting president of Wells College. 


Dr. SPENCER W. RICHARDSON, lecturer on 
mathematical physics at University College, 
Nottingham, has been elected principal of 
Hartley College and professor of physics. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaRD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuppER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

N. L. Britton, Botany ; C. 8. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpitcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WeEtLcH, Pathology; 


J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, NovemBer 2, 1900. 


CONTENTS: 
The Relation of Educated Men to the State: PRES- 
IDENT HENRY S- PRITCHETT...............00000-+6 657 
Engineering Education in the United States at the 
End of the Century: IRA O. BAKER.............5 666 
Progress in Irrigation Investigations : W.H. BEAL. 674 
Remeasurement of the Peruvian Arc: I. W.........+4 676 


The Annual Meeting of the Botanical Society of 
America: PROFESSOR GEORGE F. ATKINSON... 677 


Scientific Books :— 
Publications of the Earthquake Investigation Com- 
mittee: PRESIDENT T. C. MENDENHALL ; The 
International Congress of Applied Mechanics : 
PROFESSOR R. H. THURSTON ; Fricker on the 
Antarctic Regions: PROFESSOR WILLIAM LIB- 
BEY ; Elementary Text-books in Physiology : PRo- 
FESSOR FREDERICS. LEE; Folk-lore in Borneo : 
JXS (08 1 hpcRc00 ppadsangonbsondaodsdosnonqSnegenoaoDoIGeBseoC 678 

Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Newspaper Science: T. C. M. ; The Date of Pub- 
lication of Brewster’s American Edition of the 
Edinburgh Encyclopedia: WITMER STONE; 
The Spencer-Tolles Fund of the American Micro- 


SED PLC SOCICLY Rremmncnaaccscaccitenscec ence corer eceteneeds 684 
Societies and Academies : 
PLOT TCYIPBOLANUCAL OlUDwecenccecexs ee -ce-aceenescoenerecce 686 


Notes on Oceanography :— 
The Deepest Fiord on the Labrador Coast ; Drift- 
Ice and the Theory of Ocean Currents ; Nomen- 
clature of Terms used in Ice Navigation: DR. 


REGINALD A. DADY.........0.cescceescsecseceneeee 688 
American Electricians in London : PROFESSOR R. 

H. THURSTON ........02c000eesseeees RoqooodooUoUeDbAeLooENE 689 
Wareless  Telegrcplhiiaacescenasessc ose ehceteeseecesteeeses 690 
Species of Mosquitoes Collected for the British Mu- 

EU [Ureoopr cones eqandagsosocnanne zooaccnnsHocesNgoE0es 20500000 691 
Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes... ...........cesseeseacenees 692 
Scientific Notes and News..........scseccceesecencseeneeeen 693 
University and Educational News ........+.s..seseeenens 695 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE RELATION OF EDUCATED MEN TO THE 
STATE. * 


I sHounp fail to do justice to my own 
feeling did I not pause for one moment to 
acknowledge the kindly greeting which has 
just been extended to me at the beginning 
of my life among you. For the words of 
encouragement which have been spoken, 
for the assurance of cooperation and sup- 
port, for the cordial personal welcome, I am 
more grateful than Ican say. The response 
to such words and to such welcome is not 
to be made at this time and at this place. 
It can be given only in the years of service 
which lie before us. 

In choosing a subject upon which I might 
address you to-day, I have felt strongly in- 
fluenced to call to your attention certain 
conclusions which touch upon that great 
interest which is the common bond which 
brings us together to-day—the education of 
men. 

It was my fortune some years ago to pass 
from a university place to that of an execu- 
tive office of the general government; to go 
from the work of training students to a 
corps of men who are recruited almost 
wholly from the ranks of college graduates. 
In the attempt to secure for the government 
service men of the best training, the relation 


* Inaugural Address of Dr. H. S. Pritchett, late 
Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey, aS President of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology. 


658 


of the educated man to the government, 
whether as an employe or as a citizen, has 
been a matter of immediate practical con- 
sideration. 

In such a position one studies the output, 
if one may use that term, of our universities 
and of our colleges from a different point of 
view from that which the teacher occupies. 
He is measuring the college man in com- 
parison with other men, from the standpoint 
of his ability to do things and not from 
the standpoint of the knowing how to do 
things. 

The two points of view are very different, 
and it is for this reason, as well as for the 
strong interest which I have in the subject, 
that I have deemed it not entirely without 
interest to say a word to you at this time 
concerning higher education in relation to 
the government, and more particularly to 
consider the part which educated men are 
to-day taking, and ought to take, in gov- 
ernment, the obligations of the higher in- 
stitutions of learning to the State, and fin- 
ally to discuss briefly the question whether 
these obligations are being fairly and hon- 
estly and intelligently met. 

There is a saying which is current in the 
student talk of German universities to the 
effect that of those who enter the university 
doors one-third breaks down, and one-third 
goes to the devil, but that the remaining 
third governs Europe. Such expressions 
are oftentimes more apt than true; yet, on 
the other hand, they sometimes represent 
popular conviction more correctly than 
formal tables of statistics, just as a bit of 
floating straw shows the direction of the 
current more truthfully than the powerful 
cruiser. 

Unfortunately, it is not easy to subject 
such a statement to accurate examination. 
The statistics of the unsuccessful are neces- 
sarily far more incomplete than the statis- 
tics of those who attain prominence. The 
devil keeps no books, so far as I know; or 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


if he does, they are not open to examina- 
tion of the student. But it requires only a 
limited study to show that the last part of 
the statement is certainly true, at least so 
far as Germany is concerned. The edu- 
cated man, trained in either the university 
or polytechnicum, governs Europe to-day. 

No one connected with the government 
of the United States in any executive ca- 
pacity can fail to see that the government 
of this country is also passing rapidly into 
the hands ofeducated men. The population 
of the country at this time is approximately 
76,000,000 of people. The number of col- 
lege trained men is perhaps less than one per 
cent. of the population. From this small 
percentage, however, are filled a majority 
of the legislative, executive and judicial 
places of the general government which have 
to do in any large way with shaping the 
policy and determining the character of the 
government. 

Not only in the ordinary positions of the 
government service is this true, but the 
government is calling more and more fre- 
quently upon the educated man for the 
expert service for which his training is sup- 
posed to fit him, and this not only in the 
relation of scientific experts, but in all other 
directions in which the government seeks 
the advice and the assistance of trained men. 

On the other side of the Pacific a com- 
mission of five American citizens has under- 
taken the most delicate, the most difficult, 
doubtless the most thankless task in the 
establishment of civil government to which 
any group of our citizens has ever devoted 
its unselfish efforts. It is a significant fact 
that a majority of that commission are col- 
lege professors. : 

In the service of the government, as in 
all other fields where intelligence and skill 
are factors, the educated man is displacing 
from the higher places the one who has 
no training or who has a poor training. 
Whether wisely or unwisely, whether for 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


good or ill, it may be accepted as a fact that 
the government of this country is passing 
rapidly into the hands of the educated 
man. 

It is a matter of the highest practical im- 
portance to inquire whether the man who is 
coming into this power is worthy of it, and 
whether the training which he has received 
in the college or in the technical school is 
given with any purpose of fitting him for 
this trust. 

Before approaching this question it may 
be well to call to mind the attitude of the 
government of the United States and of the 
State governments toward higher education 
and toward scientific investigation. 

Notwithstanding the crudeness of our 
legislation, it is still a fact that Congress 
and the State governments of the United 
States have been generous in gifts to higher 
education and to scientific work. ‘The gifts 
of the general government have come from 
the sale of public lands; to the separate 
States has been left, heretofore, the power 
to lay taxes for the support of institutions 
of higher training. 

It is difficult to bring together the data 
for a trustworthy statement of the value of 
all these gifts, but they aggregate an enor- 
mous amount. At the present time the 
Federal government is devoting more than 
ten millions annually to the work of the 
scientific departments of the government. 
At the very beginning of organized govern- 
ment in this commonwealth the question of 
education was one of the first with which 
the State concerned itself. 

The principle of State aid to higher edu- 
cation, then recognized, has been since that 
time accepted by the general government 
and by every State government. In New 
England, Harvard and Yale and other 
foundations of higher learning are now de- 
pendent upon private endowments ; yet al- 
most every one of these has at one time or 
another received State aid. Harvard was 


SCIENCE. 


659 


in reality a State institution, having re- 
ceived from John Harvard only £800 and 
320 books. 

And while the more generous gifts to 
New England colleges have come from pri- 
vate sources, they have never hesitated, in 
time of emergency, to come before the repre- 
sentatives of the people and ask for assist- 
ance—these petitions have never been dis- 
regarded by the State. 

The American republic may fairly claim 
to have adopted, and to have followed out 
Macaulay’s motto: ‘The first business of 
a State is the education of its citizens.’ In 
no land and at no time has the State re- 
sponded so quickly and so generously to 
the demand for higher education as in the 
United States of America, and during the 
last half-century. 

If this aid had been rendered by an indi- 
vidual, if one could imagine the spirit of 
the whole people, both State and National, 
incarnated in a personal intelligence, which 
should take cognizance of the obligations 
of those whom the State had befriended, I 
can imagine that one of the most direct 
questions which such an intelligence would 
address to those who direct the education 
of the youth would be: 

‘T, representing the whole people, have 
given you freely of my national domain, the 
heritage of the whole people; I have founded 
and supported colleges and universities and 
technical institutions. What direct return 
has been made to me for this assistance, and 
have those who control the training of the 
youth kept in view their obligations to me 
and the dignity and the needs of my ser- 
vice ?”’ 

The question is a perfectly legitimate and 
a perfectly fair one. And while it is easy 
to answer it in generalities, it is not so easy 
to give a reply of that definite sort which 
shall lead somewhither. The subject is too 
large and has too many ramifications to be 
discussed in full on this occasion. 


660 


Perhaps the best I can do is to call atten- 
tion to the importance of the inquiry itself, 
and to the obligation which exists for a def- 
inite and full, and most of all an honest 
answer. In addition, I shall endeavor to 
point out certain directions in which, to my 
thinking, the ends of government have been 
well served in our system of education, and 
certain others in which, it seems to me, we 
need improvement. 

It may be stated as a general result that 
the State (using that term to characterize 
both the general government and the State 
governments), has been well served by the 
institutions of higher learning. It can be 
shown satisfactorily that in the main these 
institutions have not only served the gen- 
eral purpose of the diffusion of knowledge 
among men, that they have trained men in 
such a way as to make them more effective 
in the pursuit of their own fortunes, but 
also that they have given back to the State 
men well trained to serve it. 

In a very real sense, education and sci- 
ence have been handmaidens of the State, 
for they have not only thrown their friendly 
light upon the problems of statecraft, but 
their children have been more numerous 
and more helpful in the service of the State 
than any other group of citizens. It may 
be said with perfect truthfulness that the 
higher institutions of learning have well 
earned from the State the assistance they 
have received. 

Notwithstanding this general outcome, 
there are certain directions in which the 
State may reasonably demand additional 
results. It is to be remembered that the 
State represents, as does no other agency, 
the whole people, and in considering the 
obligations due the State, and the best 
method of discharging them, the institu- 
tions of learning are attempting to serve, in 
the most direct and, at the same time, in the 
broadest way, the whole body of citizens. 

One thing which the government has a 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XIL No. 305: 


right to expect of those educated in the 
higher institutions of learning is a decent 
respect for the service of the State. 

Iam sure I express the sentiment of all 
men of serious purpose who have stood in 
executive places in Washington when I say 
that there is no greater source of discourage- 
ment to those who are honestly striving for 
good administration than the facility with 
which good and honest and intelligent men 
will ascribe the worst motives to those in 
government office. 

Again and again a man of pure life and 
of high purpose, who has accepted a post 
under the government, discovers with in- 
finite pain and surprise that the silliest 
charge against him is accepted, not only 
among the idle and the curious, but by those 
upon whose support he had most counted. 
This tendency is not peculiar to our time 
or toournation. Itisapart of ‘that touch 
of nature which makes the whole world 
kin,’ a kinship as universal as it is detest- 
able. 

One cannot think of the failure to dis- 
criminate between the dishonest few and the 
honest many, of the courage brought to 
failure by the wellnigh universal suspicion, 
of the unmerited pain, from Washington’s 
day to this, inflicted by the careless judg- 
ment of men’s motives, without recalling 
the words of Edmund Burke: ‘‘It is very 
rare, indeed, for men to be wrong in their 
feelings concerning public misconduct; as 
rare to be right in their speculation upon the 
cause of it. I have constantly observed 
that the generality of people are at least 
fifty years behind in their politics. There 
are very few men who are capable of com- 
paring and digesting what passes before 
their eyes at different times and occasions 
so as to form the whole into a distinct sys- 
tem. But in books everything is settled for 
them without the exertion of any consider- 
able diligence of sagacity. For which rea- 
son men are wise with but little reflection, 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


and good with little self-denial in the busi- 
ness of all times except their own.” 

Let me say that no man can be brought 
into contact with the actual machinery of 
our government, can mingle with the men 
who make our laws, who interpret them and 
who execute them, without gaining not only 
a wholesome respect for the service of the 
State, but also a reasonable hopefulness for 
the future of our institutions. 

So far asmy judgment goes, there are 
few conventions of men brought together 
for any purpose in which the average of in- 
telligence and of honesty is higher than in 
the American Congress. It goes without 
saying that its members are influenced by 
personal considerations, by social ties, by 
all the things which move men—in other 
words, they are human—but it is a gather- 
ing of men who honestly desire to do the 
right thing. 

It is the fashion to speak of the honesty 
and the intelligence of the good old days 
when the republic was young and when 
statesmen were pure, and to deprecate the 
decadence of the present day. Such talk 
is the purest nonsense. The general intel- 
ligence of the body of Congress is higher 
to-day then it ever was, and its conscience 
is quite asacute. Unfortunately, the work 
of quiet and serious men receives little at- 
tention from the public, although these men 
count enormously in the actual work of 
legislation. 

In the executive branches of the govern- 
ment as well, one will find a quality of ser- 
vice to command respect. There are in- 
competents in greater numbers than one 
could wish, but the quality of men entering 
government service is improving steadily 
since the civil service law has made it pos- 
sible for men of education and energy to 
find a career there. And, notwithstanding 
the half-hearted service of the few, it is true 
that the government receives quite as much 
of devotion and of unselfish service as one 


SCIENCE. 


661 


ean find in the ranks of those engaged in 
private business. 

The government of the United States is 
honestly conducted. Its condition furnishes 
to those who know it best the basis of a 
rational optimism as to the future of demo- 
cratic institutions. In its service men of 
education should find, in increasing num- 
bers, careers of the highest usefulness and 
of the highest dignity. 

Another quality of the education given to 
the youth upon which the State has a right 
to insist is its catholicity. The State makes 
no distinctions in the matter of education. 
It aims to make its highest training acces- 
sible to the humblest as well as to the most 
aristocratic. 

No system of education is a good one for 
a free State in which the students and grad- 
uates of its institutions of learning get out 
of touch with the great body of their fellow- 
citizens. Such a lack of contact between 
the men of education and those who lack 
education brings about a feeling of distrust 
as between men of two distinct classes, 
Under such circumstances the educated man 
is likely to lose the perspective concerning 
social facts and tendencies, and becomes 
suspicious and narrow; to feel that the 
country is fast going to the bad, and that 
the advice and the service of the educated 
man are not properly appreciated. 

One of the practical results of this feeling 
has been that the college man has not al- 
ways realized that he was to take his place 
side by side with the man who had no col- 
lege education ; that he must expect to begin 
where the uneducated man begins, and that 
his education was not a mark to distinguish 
him from other men, but a training which 
ought to enable him to do his part of the 
world’s work better than the man who 
lacked this training, but that he was not 
one whit better, nor was he to receive the 
slightest consideration because of his better 
opportunity. 


662 


It is the protest againt this feeling of 
superiority, whether real or imagined, 
which is at the basis of most of the ob- 
jections now offered to a college education 
as a preparation for the active work of life. 
The feeling is voiced in the following words 
from the late Collis P. Huntington. Ina 
magazine article published just before his 
death, entitled ‘Why Young Men should 
not go to College,’ he says: ‘‘ Somehow or 
other our schools which teach young people 
how to talk, do not teach them how to live. 
It seems to me, that slowly, but surely, 
there is growing up a stronger and stronger 
wall of caste, with good, honest labor on one 
side and frivolous gentility on the other.” 

In so far as this charge is true that a 
college training tends to make those who 
receive it a class apart, and prompts them 
to make extravagant demands, in just that 
-proportion is it a fair criticism of our system 
of instruction. We have a right to expect 
that the college trained man, more than any 
‘other, shall be tolerant and patient. That 
che shall understand, as no one else can, 
that truth and honesty and virtue belong 
‘to no age and to no nation; that they are 
the property of no party, and no sect, and 
no class. And we have a right to expect 
‘that, realizing this, he shall have whole- 
some views regarding human nature. If 
the college atmosphere does not encourage 
all this, then the college atmosphere needs 
quickening. 

In the great wave of enthusiasm for 
education which has been the remarkable 
‘social phenomenon of the last quarter-cen- 
tury’s progress it was, perhaps, to have 
‘been anticipated that some mistakes of this 
‘kind would occur. When education—and 
a. very narrow conception of that term—was 
proposed as a cure for all ills, it was natural 
that some should assume that the man who 
received a certain training should also re- 
ceive, ipso facto, special consideration in the 
world. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XI. No. 305. 


How far this criticism has been justified 
in the past I do not feel able to say. Ido 
believe, however, that the college spirit of 
to-day is wholesome and catholic; that the 
men in the higher institutions of learning 
are in closer touch with the great body of 
mankind than ever before, and that men 
who go through college and take their 
places in the world do so in accordance 
with the rules of common-sense. 

But beyond all such questions, and in- 
cluding them all, is another in which the 
state is vitally interested, and this is the 
quality of citizenship which our system of 
education is adapted to produce. This I 
hesitate to approach, since to discuss it is 
to open the whole qtiestion as to what the 
object of education is and what subjects 
should be taught to accomplish that object. 

It is the old question which has been 
discussed for 2,500 years, and never more 
vigorously than during the past decade. 
However we have improved the methods, 
we have certainly never been able to state 
the questions involved more clearly than 
the old Greeks. Listen to Aristotle; he 
writes : 

“What, then, is education, and how are 
we to educate? As yet there is no agree- 
ment on these points. Men are not agreed 
as to what the young should learn, either 
with a view to perfect training or to the 
best life. It is not agreed whether educa- 
tion is to aim at the development of the in- 
tellect or of the moral character. Nor is it 
clear whether, in order to bring about these 
results, we are to train in what leads to 
virtue, in what is useful for ordinary life, 
or in abstract science.” 

Could any modern state more aptly or 
in fewer words than these, the questions 
which have formed the basis of discussion 
during the last quarter-century among those 
interested in education, with the marked 
difference that education for the develop- 
ment of character is less talked about. 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


Is education to have for its object the 
training of the intellect, or is it to aim at 
the development of character, or is it to 
undertake both objects? And if the char- 
acter is to be developed, what are the for- 
mal means which are to be used in this 
development ? 

These questions have been asked anx- 
iously since systems of education had their 
beginning. In our day they seem to have 
settled themselves, so far as the practical 
efforts of the universities and colleges are 
concerned, by a process of exclusion. It is 
tacitly assumed, at present, that education 
—like all other training—has for its end 
the acquisition of power. In order to ac- 
quire power quickly the whole effort in 
modern education is directed toward the 
training of the intellect. 

There is no disputing the fact that the 
educated man has in the world a higher 
potential by reason of his education. Is it 
equally true that he has, on the average, a 
stronger and higher type of character? Is 
the college man broader in his sympathies, 
more tolerant, more courageous, more pa- 
triotic, more unselfish by reason of his life 
in the walls of a university or of a technical 
school? Are the men who come each year, 
in ever-increasing thousands, from the col- 
lege doors, prepared to shoulder more than 
their proportionate share of the burdens of 
the State and of the country, or are they 
provided with a training which will enable 
them to more easily escape its obligations ? 

Let there be no misunderstanding in this 
matter. Whatever our system of educa- 
tion is doing or is leaving undone in the 
development of character among its stu- 
dents, the State is saying in terms which 
are becoming every day more emphatic, 
this: 

However desirable it is to train the mind 
when it comes to the service of the State (if, 
indeed, the same is not true in all service), 
character is above intellect. It is vastly 


SCIENCE. 


663 


important to the State that her servants 
shall be quick, keen-witted, efficient, but 
it is absolutely necessary that they shall 
be honest, patriotic, unselfish; that they 
should have before them some conception 
of civic duty and proper ideals of civic 
virtue. Give me men, intellectual men, 
learned men, skilled men, if possible, but 
give me men. 

It is the old story, this cry. It is the les- 
son which every age preaches anew to the 
age about to follow. Shall we ever learn 
it? Will it ever come to pass that in our 
system of education the development of 
character will go hand in hand with the de- 
velopment of the intellect; when to be an 
educated man will mean also to be a good 
man? 

Probably no one looks upon Plato’s Ideal 
Republic as the basis for any effort in prac- 
tical politics, nevertheless it ought to be 
true that civic virtue should be a part of 
the life and of the environment of our seats 
of learning, and that men, along with the 
training of their minds, should grow into 
some sort of appreciation of their duties to 
the State, and come to know that courage 
and patriotism and devotion rank higher in 
this world’s service than scholarly finish or 
brilliant intellectual power. 

When we look back on our own history 
as a nation we can but realize that in the 
crises of our national life this truth has 
been forced home to us. In the darkest 
hours of the revolution it was the courage, 
the never-failing patience, the unselfish de- 
votion, in a word, the civic virtue of George 
Washington which was the real power upon 
which the people leaned. 

In the agony of our civil war, when the 
fate of the nation trembled in the balance, 
the character of Abraham Lincoln, his devo- 
tion, his hopefulness—above all, his knowl- 
edge of and his faith in the plain people— 
counted more than all else in the decision. 
Neither of these men was the product of 


664 


university training, nor did they grow up 
in an academic environment; but each had 
learned in a school where devotion to the 
State was the cardinal virtue. When next 
a great crisis comes, no doubt there will be 
a Washington or a Lincoln to meet it, but 
will he come from a university ? 

When Washington came toward the close 
of his life he thought deeply over the dan- 
gers of the new State and the necessity for 
the cultivation of a spirit of intelligent pa- 
triotism. As a best means for inculcating 
this spirit he conceived the idea of a great 
national university. One of the main ob- 
jects of this university was to afford to the 
youth of the country the opportunity for 
‘acquiring knowledge in the principles of 
politics and good government.’ The idea 
was a splendid one, and while the need for 
a national university no longer exists (un- 
less, indeed, one is needed to teach the 
principles of good politics), Washington’s 
idea that the university is a place which 
should train not only the intellect, but the 
character; that it is a place where the stu- 
dent should find an atmosphere adapted 
not only to the development of accurate 
thought, but also to a wise and tolerant 
spirit; that in the university he should 
gain not only intellectual strength, but also 
a just conception of the duty to the State, 
was a right view. 

And until this is recognized; until we 
bring into our college life and into our college 
training such influences as will strengthen 
the character as well as the intellect ; until 
the time shall come that the educated man 
shall by reason of his training be not only 
more able than his untrained neighbor, but 
also more patriotic, more courageous, better 
informed concerning the service of the State, 
and more ready to take up its service; until 
such a spirit is a part of our system of 
higher education, that system will not have 
served the ends which education should 
serve in a free State and for a free people. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 305, 


And in this connection I cannot refrain 
from a reference to the aim of those who 
founded the Institute of Technology, and to 
the conception of duty which they have im- 
pressed upon the institution. The recogni- 
tion of the value of exact science as a means 
for the training of mind came slowly. Even 
after it did come men were slow to recog- 
nize the value to the race of the results of 
science. The spiritual side of scientific re- 
search is a matter which even to this day 
men are slow to comprehend, notwithstand- 
ing the powerful effect which it has had 
during the last generation upon the thought 
and upon the conscience of the world. 

“‘ Newton was a great man,”’ writes Cole- 
ridge, ‘‘ but you must excuse me if I think 
it would take many Newtons to make one 
Milton.” 

Forty years ago there were few men in 
this republic who appreciated in any clear 
way the value of science in the training of 
men. To William B. Rogers, and to those 
who labored with him, belongs the credit of 
anticipating the value of this training and 
the demand for it, 

But outside and beyond all these consider- 
ations of fitness and of practical results at- 
tained, they also impressed upon the insti- 
tution certain principles which are dominant 
in its life to-day. One of these concerns 
itself with the very situation and environ- 
ment of the institute. 

The Institute of Technology has its roots 
in the same soil which supports the indus- 
trial life of the city and of the nation. Its 
contact with the practical side of life is im- 
mediate and real. It not only draws its 
strength thence, but expresses as only that 
can which has a real and vital connection, 
the aspiration of those who labor in science 
for the upbuilding and the improvement of 
civilization. The Institute of Technology 
not only aims to serve the people: it is 
itself of the people. 

One of the lessons which the study of 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


exact science leaves with the student is the 
necessity not only for exact work, but for 
ahighideal. Science is satisfied with noth- 
ing short of perfection, and this principle 
when it pervades a body of men comes to 
govern and control the spirit in which their 
work is done. No better heritage can be 
left to any institution than that which has 
been faithfully handed down to you,namely, 
in education itis not sufficient to be merely 
accurate, but it is necessary to hold fast to 
the highest ideal. 

Once this idea gains control of a student 
life, that student will undertake faithfully 
and courageously whatsoever duties lie be- 
fore him, whether they concern his profes- 
sional life, his social life or his country’s 
service. 

Let me add, in conclusion, a word of 
personal greeting, speaking as one may 
when he addresses those who have come 
together, drawn by a common interest. 

In the name of the corporation, and of 
the faculty, and of the students of the In- 
stitute of Technology, I thank those who 
represent here other institutions for your 
presence on this occasion. Your coming is 
not only a source of pleasure, but of en- 
couragement to us, and helps to emphasize 
that spirit of common interest and of com- 
mon helpfulness which ought ever to mark 
the relation of those who have to do with 
education. The Institute of Technology 
extends to you, and through you to the in- 
stitutions which you represent, the assur- 
ance of its cordial good feeling. 

Two of those who sit upon this platform 
the President of Lehigh University and the 
President of Harvard came from the faculty 
of the institute. This fact gives to your 
presence here an additional element of in- 
interest, and we extend to you a special 
greeting. 

To Lehigh University in the sturdy work 
which she has done and is doing, for the 
courage with which she has not hesitated to 


SCIENCE. 


665 


face difficulties, we extend our warm con- 
gratulations. 

To our near neighbor, the oldest and 
largest of American universities, we offer 
most hearty greeting. We rejoice in the 
greatness and in the strength of Harvard 
University, and take courage in the thought 
that we join hands with her to-day—as an 
elder sister—in a work not only for this 
city and for this commonwealth, but for hu- 
manity. 

Gentlemen of the Corporation: In ac- 
cepting the responsibility which you have 
this day formally invited me to share with 
you, I do so hopefully and with full con- 
fidence in you, in this community, and in 
the future. There is no greater work com- 
mitted to men’s hands than that to which 
we are called. 

As I think of those who have preceded 
me in this place, when I call to mind their 
splendid services to the institute, to the 
commonwealth and to the country, I accept 
this work with a feeling of great humility, 
but with the earnest hope that through our 
common effort the institution may grow not 
only in strength, but in usefulness ; not only 
in facilities for work, but in the better under- 
standing of what work means, and that it 
may ever seek to lead in all that concerns 
the rational and helpful teaching of applied 
science. 

Gentlemen of the Instructing Staff: For 
the cordial welcome to your number I am 
most grateful. I come to you with no new 
message and as the herald of no new 
gospel. The same spirit of work and of 
devotion which has been the glory of your 
body in the past must be our source of 
strength for the future. 

In all that leads to the uplifting of techni- 
cal education in the development and ex- 
tension of the work of the institution, in 
the suggestion of new means by which it 
can minister more directly to the work of 
education upon the one side, and to the 


666 


promotion of scientific research upon the 
other, I ask your hearty cooperation and 
assistance. An institution, like an indi- 
vidual, must grow in its experience, in its 
appreciation of truth, in comprehension of 
the meaning of art and of science and_ of 
life, if it is to minister to a growing civili- 
zation. The inspiration which shall stand 
back of this growth must rest, in large 
measure, upon your zeal and your effort. 

Alumni of the Institute: To each of you 
- has been mailed an invitation to this gather- 
ing. These missives have gone to every 
country and to every climate. Some are at 
this moment being borne on the backs of 
men or in snow-sledges to the interior of 
Alaska, to be read months hence amid the 
winter snows. Some will be read in the 
tropics, under the glare of a summer sun. 

Your alma mater would gladly have wel- 
comed each one of you this day to her fire- 
side, though the fare be frugal and the feast 
modest. Since this cannot be, let her invi- 
tation carry at least this suggestion: How 
farsoever from her halls your path may lead, 
it can never take you beyond the circle of 
her affection. 

The institute is proud of the men it has 
sent forth, and she counts upon their loyalty 
and their devotion. She invites your coun- 
sel, your suggestion, your friendly criticism, 
your help. And while she listens with will- 
ing ear to every voice which rings true, she 
asks you to remember that no greeting so 
thrills her as that which comes up from one 
of her own children who is doing a man’s 
work in the world. 

Students of the Institute: In a more real 
sense than any other body you are the In- 
stitute of Technology. As such I salute 
you to-day, and assure you not only of my 
earnest wish for your advancement and 
your success, but also of my wish for your 
friendship and for your help. I prefer to 
think of such an institution as that in 
which we work together, not as an empire 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


governed by the few, but as a republic in 
which faculty and students alike are charged 
with the government of the whole body. 

I congratulate you on taking up the study 
of engineering, using that term in the broad- 
est sense. There was never a more oppor- 
tune time to enter such work, nor was there 
ever a period in the history of our country 
when the trained engineer had open before ~ 
him so attractive a field. 

This is the day of the trained man, and 
to him the responsibilities and the rewards 
will go. Tothe American engineer a whole 
series of new problems of the highest inter- 
est have in recent years been presented. 
Railways are to be built, canals are to be 
cut, a whole empire of desert land is to 
blossom under his hand. The Pacific Ocean 
and the countries which border upon it are to 
be the theater of an enormous development. 

Cables will be laid, cities will be devel- 
oped, the tropics will be subdued. In all 
this development the engineer, the trained 
engineer, is to play a rdle that he has never 
yet played since civilization began. The 
next quarter-century is to belong preemi- 
nently to him, and in all these world prob- 
lems and world enterprises you are to share. 

May I hope that in your preparation you 
may bear in mind as your ideal of an engi- 
neer, not only one who works in steel and 
brick and timber, but one who by the 
quality of his manliness works also in the 
hearts of men; one who is great enough to 
appreciate his duty to his profession, but, 
likewise, and in a larger and deeper sense, 
his duty to a common country and to a 
common civilization. H.S. PrircHert.: 


ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED 
STATES AT THE END OF THE 
CENTURY.* 

THERE is no reason apart from custom 
why any special significance should be at- 

* Address of the President of the Society for the 
Promotion of Engineering Education. 


NovEMBER 2, 1900.] 


tached to’ the arbitrary measure of time 
that we call a century. The main course 
of history is not much affected by the ar- 
bitrary transition from one century to an- 
other. But custom has established the 
turn of the century as an appropriate time 
to record the past and forecast the future. 
Since to this Society is entrusted more than 
to any other agency the future of engineer- 
ing education in this country, and since we 
as a nation have risen out of the Monroe 
doctrine and our isolation, and have taken 
our first steps to become one of the number 
of great powers that assume to direct the 
course of civilization and decide the destiny 
of the rest of the world, and since this 
nation largely through the work of the en- 
gineer is making rapid progress toward the 
commercial conquest of the world—the 
present seems an auspicious occasion on 
which to study briefly the progress of en- 
gineering education. 

The century just closing has witnessed a 
marvelous development in all matters re- 
lating to education. Probably the most re- 
markable feature of the educational history 
of the century is the extension of the op- 
portunities of an education to the common 
people as aright. To-day there is nothing 
in this country so free as education, and 
the United States is far in the lead of foreign 
countries in school attendance, about one- 
fourth of the school population of the world 
being Americans. 

At the beginning of the century there 
were thirty colleges in the United States 
with about 3,000 students, while to-day 
there are 472 collegiate institutions with 
155,000 students. But the mere increase 
in numbers is not the most significant fea- 
ture. The colleges then were of a lower 
grade than most academies to-day. This 
is the explanation of the frequent mention 
in the biographies of men of that time that 
they graduated at the age of 15 or younger. 
The remarkable improvements in the meth- 


SCIENCE. 


667 


ods of instruction have been both a cause 
and an effect of the popularization of edu- 
cation. 

Another important element in the de- 
velopment of education in America has 
been the munificent contributions of indi- 
viduals and of governments to the cause of 
education. The movement in this direction, 
during the closing years of the century, has 
been at-a rapidly accelerated rate, and is 
therefore an element of great promise for 
the future. 

Technical education, the application of 
the sciences to the needs of man, is a 
growth entirely of this century. Appar- 
ently the first technical school in the world 
was the Ecole Polytechnique in France, es- 
tablished in 1794 to train men for the artil- 
lery and engineering corps of the army. 
The U. S. Military Academy was founded 
in 1802, and for more than thirty years 
thereafter was the only organized agency 
for engineering education in America. For 
three-quarters of a century a surprising 
proportion of the graduates of this insti- 
tution practiced engineering in civil life, 
not because the education there- given was 
what would now be called engineering in- 
struction, but because it was the best prep- 
aration for engineering practice that could 
then be obtained. Apparently this fact has 
been overlooked alike by friendly and un- 
friendly critics of this noted institution. 
In 1825 at Troy, N. Y., was organized the 
first institution in the world for giving in+ 
struction in engineering not military. Ap- 
parently at the time of the founding of this 
institution the term civil engineering had 
not been coined, the word engineering being 
synonomous with military engineering. 

For thirty years after the establishment 
of the engineering school at Troy, 7. e., from 
1825 to the close of the civil war, only four 
engineering schools were founded, of which 
only two were really entitled to the name 
engineering. During this time the engi- 


668 


neering schools gave but little technical in- 
struction ; most of the so-called engineering 
part of the course consisted of mathematics 
and elementary science. 

In 1862 Congress passed an act giving to 
the several states public lands for the bene- 
fit of ‘instruction in the arts and sciences 
relating to agriculture and the mechanical 
arts.’ Shortly after the close of the civil 
war many of our engineering schools were 
organized under this act. Never was there 
a movement more timely or more successful 
than this, since it has resulted in the estab- 
lishment of sixty-four technical colleges— 
at least one in each state and territory. 
Fifty of them give instruction in one or 
more branches of engineering. 

The number of institutions at present 
giving instruction in engineering is shown 
in Table I. The institutions are classified 

TABLE I. 


Number of Institutions giving Instruction in Different 
Branches of Engineering in 1898-99. 


Institutions. Number Offering Courses in 
j ahaa ps 
ica) <3) [ea] a 
Grade. | No. silela I E z 5 
= a 
Class A | 30 || 27 | 21 | 21 5 8 2 2 
Class B | 27 ;, 24 | 17 | 14 | 10 6 
Class C | 20 || 12 | 12 7 5 1 
Class D| 9 i 9 5 
Class E 3 3 2 2 1 
Total | 89 || 67 | 61 | 49 | 21 | 15 2 2 


with reference to their requirements for 
admission according to the scheme pre- 
sented by the Committee on Entrance Re- 
quirements—see the annual report of the 
Society for 1896, pages 103-4. The report 
of the Committee includes 110 institutions, 
but the writer concludes from a careful 
study of their catalogues that at least twelve 
of these have no engineering course. The 
writer has received no report from seven of 
the United States institutions listed by the 
Committee, nor from the two Canadian en- 
gineering schools. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


Table II. shows the number of students 
in the several branches of engineering for 
the year 1898-99; and Table III. the 
number of graduates for the year 1899. 
These data were collected from the institu- 
tions for this purpose. A few schools were 
not heard from, but in each case they were 
small ones having few, if any, engineering 
students, which fact probably accounts, in 
some cases at least, for their failure to report. 
Therefore, Tables II. and III. may be con- 
sidered as representing the total number of 


TABLE II. 
Number of Students in Different Branches of Engineering 
in 1898-99. 
a Number Offering Courses in 
is) 
Ee epee sal | se 
2 iolsi/ale]/4aielala 
4 = a 
Class A || 1359) 1579, 1405) 245) 366) 54) 19) 5027 
Class B|| 794) 435) 510) 313) 20 2072 
Class C|} 463) 919) 299) 298 3 1902 
Class D 10) 337) 156 503 
Class E|} 41) 23) 27 4 95 
Total || 2667) 3293 2397| 860) 389) 54/ 19) 9679 


engineering students and graduates for the 
year 1898-99. During the decade 1889-99 
the number of students increased from 3,043 
to 9,659, or 317 per cent. ; and the gradu- 
ates increased from 483 to 1,413, or 242 per 
cent. However, in this connection aver- 
ages are misleading, since the rate of growth 
for the different courses vary greatly. For 
TABLE III. 
Number of Engineering Graduates in 1899. 


Number of Graduates in 


iE 
i=] 
£ : : 
3S ss 
SB iid | A | a Ses ee ey = 
a sid jel/a/s]/ale 
pe linc = i 
Class Aj; 210} 299} 252) 43) 54 9 1| 868 
Class B|} 143} 52) 77) 14 2 288 
Class C 56} 89) 27) 21 193 
Class D By aie) 538 
Class E 5 3 3 11 
Total || 419] 480) 370) 78) 56 9 1) 1413 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. | 


example, from 1889 to 1899 the increase of 
civil engineering graduates was 56 per cent., 
and of mechanical 117 per cent.; while the 
entire growth in electrical engineering is 
practically a matter of the past decade. 
Table IV. presents some interesting sta- 
tistics as to engineering education in com- 
parison with the so-called three learned 
professions—theology, medicine and law. 
The data for the first three columns of 


SCIENCE. 


669 


need of these data was not foreseen when 
those in the preceding tables were asked 
for. Farther, the value of a year of high- 
school study varies greatly even within 
the limits of a single State, which adds 
materially to the difficulty of making a cor- 
rect general statement as to the conditions 
for admission. 

There are several matters in these tables 
that: invite discussion. For example: 1. 


TABLE IY. 


PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 


DATA FOR 1898-99. 


Item Theology. Law. Medicine.* | Engineering. 

INumberot Schoolssecseercensceseteeecececsee eee eee 165 86 156 89 

Growth since 1878,...............- 32% 144% 82% 21% 
Number of Instructors... 1070 970 6416 
Number of Students,..... 8099 11833 26088 9659 

Growth since 1878...... 87% 294 142%, 516% 
Number of Graduates,........:ssssssseseeseenseeeeeees 1193 3110 5725 1413 
Requirements for Admission, 

Colles epMeaneeyearsesatectessrseeccterceeseeneasstiece 43% 2.3% Re- 

Completion of Junior Year,.......... .... 86 2 quire Col- 0.7% 1.1% 

Completion of Freshman Year,.......... 11 lege work. 

4-yr. High School Course,................ 3.5% 8% 41 

3-yr. ‘ GG ORs 11 14 2 24 

2-yr. “ce (73 “cc 4 13 3 51 

ices | es BY ll Mapdaodedéonondbopbea0b00G il 9 62 17 

Common 2 Be gocopoouDocaDsaaDLessO0 11 30 19 

None or Indefinite,.............sccccsceeseeeesereeees 17 28 1 4 

Total Reported, ........ ..cccsessesssscesereneneee 100% 100% 100% 100% 

Length of Course, ; 

4-yr. Course, 24% 91% 98% 

3-yr. Course, 70 51% 6 1 

IDG NEI B57 pecpedoccobooecsoHbobceeccds 0se000 000000 4 43 3 1 

otal Reported) .::-c-.cess+e--eecenseeserecsseoees 98%, 94%, 100% 100% 

Average Length of Yearly Session,...............-- 8 mo. 7k mo. 7 mo. 8.7 mo. 


Table IV. were compiled from Bulletins 7, 
8 and 9—‘ Professional Education in the 
United States ’—published by the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York. 

The data in Table IV. concerning the 
length of high school course required for 
admission to engineering schools must be 
regarded as only roughly approximate. It 
is difficult for one not acquainted with all 
the facts to determine from the catalogue 
just what the requirements are; and the 


* Does not include Dentistry, Pharmacy and Vet- 
erinary. 


Why do so few institutions offer instruction 
in architecture ?—see Table I. Why so few 
students in architecture ?—see Table II. 2. 
The significance of the fact that mote than 
half of the engineering students are receiyv- 
ing their education in Class A institutions, 
i. é., those having the highest requirements 
for admission—see Table II. 3. Are the 
number of graduates more or less than re- 
quired to fill the ranks of the profession? 
4. Is the number of engineering graduates 
greater or less, in proportion to the de- 
mands of the profession, than law and med- 


670 


icine? 5. Do the data in Table IV. justify 
the usual classification of schools of law 
and medicine as post-graduate and engi- 
neering as under-graduate? In this con- 
nection the fact must not be overlooked 
that some of the students in law and med- 
icine have more or less college training be- 
fore entering upon their professional course, 
and the same is true in engineering but to 
a much less extent. Time forbids a con- 
sideration of these questions here. 

But statistics can not represent the 
most important developments in engineering 
education in the last third of the closing 
century. Immense strides have been taken 
in both the methods and the scope of in- 
struction. At the close of the civil war 
there were nominally only six institutions 
giving any grade of instruction in engineer- 
ing ; and for ten or fifteen years thereafter, 
the engineering instruction offered by the 
best institutions is hardly deserving the 
name in comparison with that offered by 
many institutions at the present time. 
During this period some of the engineering 
instruction was practical and not scientific, 
and some was scientific and not practical ; 
but none of it consisted of the principles 
of scientific engineering, nor of the rela- 
tions of the sciences to engineering prob- 
lems. Text-books were few and poor. The 
equipment of the schools was inadequate. 
Then the student went to college to learn 
details of practice and to fill his note- 
book with formulas; he was reluctant to 
give his best efforts to the acquisition of 
fundamental principles and to the develop- 
ment of the ability to see straight and to 
reason correctly. Happily now all that is 
changed, and the schools of America are 
now offering unexcelled facilities for the 
acquisition of the fundamentals of an en- 
gineering education, and the students are 
laboring heroically to ground themselves in 
the principles of scientific engineering. 

Twenty-five years ago practitioners had 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


doubt as to the value of a technical training 
for young engineers, and distrusted the en- 
gineering graduate ; but now general man- 
agers and chief engineers prefer technical 
graduates, since they have been trained in 
scientific methods of working, and have a 
knowledge of the fundamental principles 
underlying all engineering practice, and 
look out upon the world of truth from the 
view-point of a man of science. The na- 
tional engineering societies now give credit 
for training in the engineering school to- 
ward the requirements for admission to 
membership. The most cordial relations 
now exist between practitioners and the 
schools of engineering. Within recent 
years, largely if not mainly through the 
influence of the technical schools, engineer- 
ing has ceased to be traditional and has 
become scientific. 

The technical school met with no wel- 
come from the older colleges and univer- 
sities. In the beginning the devotee of the 
non-technical subjects was not willing to 
admit the study of engineering as being 
upon the same high plane as that of litera- 
ture, history and philosophy. Now all 
who know the facts are ready to admit that 
the engineering student secures greater ad- 
vancement during his college career than 
any other undergraduate. This result is 
due to the definiteness of the aim of the 
engineering student, to the stimulus of 
professional preparation and to the nature 
of the study. 

One of the most important advances in 
engineering education has been the intro- 
duction of the laboratory method of in- 
struction. Now all the better institutions 
have extensive and well-equipped labora- 
tories fitted up especially for experimental 
work, in which the student receives in- 
struction of the very highest value. In 
this respect our American schools are 
unrivaled in the world. In Kurope, par- 
ticularly in Germany, are some notable 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


and well-equipped engineering laboratories 
which have done much to advance engi- 
neering science, but which are used by ex- 
perts in research and commercial work and 
not for purposes of instruction. Although 
our engineering laboratories are maintained 
primarily for purposes of instruction, a con- 
siderable amount of research work is per- 
formed in them. 

The curriculum of the engineering col- 
lege at present consists of about 10 per 
cent. of English or modern foreign lan- 
guage, usually the latter; 30 to 40 per 
cent. of indirect technical studies, as mathe- 
matics, physics and drawing ; and 50 to 60 
per cent. of technical work. The tendency 
is to make the engineering courses as com- 
pletely professional as are courses in law 
and medicine. Experience has shown that 
it is impracticable to teach culture subjects 
in a course with strongly marked technical 
tendencies, since the student devotes all 
his time to the latter and neglects the for- 
mer. Very recently there has been a ten- 
dency to force some of the indirect techni- 
cal subjects, as advanced algebra and trigo- 
nometry, into the preparatory school to get 
more time in the engineering college for di- 
rectly technical subjects. The effect of this 
is still further to curtail the culture studies 
of the engineering students by eliminating 
these subjects from the preparatory course. 

A number of institutions offer post- 
graduate instruction in engineering; but 
the number doing post-graduate work in 
engineering is less than that in science or 
literature. In 1898-99 at twenty-three 
leading institutions the average per cent. 
of graduate to undergraduate students in 
non-engineering departments was 9.94 ; in 
the engineering departments, 2.3; or, in 
other words, the per cent. doing grad- 
uate work in non-engineering courses is 
more than four times greater than in en- 
gineering courses. In the above computa- 
tions graduates doing undergraduate work 


SCLENCE. 


671 


are considered as undergraduate students 
But few, if any, Americans now attend 
European engineering schools, for it is 
generally conceded that the American 
schools, in equipment, methods and scope 
of instruction, are superior to any Huropean 
schools, at least for American engineers. 
There are at least three reasons for the 
relatively small number doing graduate 
work in engineering : 

a. In many cases, if not in a majority, 
the chief object of post-graduate study is 
to secure the preparation necessary for 
teaching the subject. In many branches 
the whole range of study, both under- 
graduate and post-graduate, is purely ac- 
ademic and can be obtained in college en- 
vironments better than anywhere else. But 
in engineering the prospective teacher must 
secure a personal acquaintance with the 
conditions of practice, which can be ob- 
tained only by engaging in actual engineer- 
ing work. In short, the future teacher of 
engineering prefers to engage in practice 
after graduation rather than to return to 
college halls for further study. 

b. Probably many students pursue an en- 
gineering course chiefly because it promises 
an early means of securing a livelihood, 
and not unnaturally feel that they can ill 
afford the means required for post-graduate 
study. Others who are financially able to 
continue collegiate work beyond graduation 
are more anxious to have a part in the ac- 
tivities of the outside world than to pursue 
post-graduate study. At present the de- 
mand for engineering graduates is such 
that in both of these classes, at least those 
that are really deserving, find little or no 
difficulty in obtaining remunerative posi- 
tions in practical engineering work. The 
engineering college is attempting to give a 
professional training to its graduates, and 
it is not surprising that they are anxious to 
apply in practice that which they have been 
studying incollege. A few years ago many 


672 


engineering students were unable to resist 
the seductive offers of positions in actual 
practice, and left college before graduation. 
Recently the demand has been almost ex- 
clusively for graduates, and now a much 
larger proportion than formerly stay to 
graduate. ‘When the competition of young 
engineers for positions becomes greater, as 
it doubtless will, probably a greater propor- 
tion will be willing to engage in post-gradu- 
ate study. But this element may not be- 
come very effective in increasing the number 
of engineering students seeking advanced 
collegiate work, for some of them may pre- 
fer to serve for a time after graduation as 
apprentices at comparatively low salaries. 
Already there are evidences of a consider- 
able tendency in this direction. 

c. The third reason for the less number 
of post-graduate engineering students is by 
far the most important. Ordinarily post- 
graduate study is primarily intended for 
independent research work; and this is 
properly so, for after a young person has 
been under the direction of tutors for fifteen 
or twenty years, ibis time that he should 
attempt to blaze a road for himself. If 
this research work is really original, it will 
inspire the highest ambition of the student, 
and will secure his utmost efforts. This 
class of work will always attract. But de- 
partments of study differ greatly in the op- 
portunities for original research. The less 
fully developed branches of study doubtless 
have many unsolved problems waiting for 
investigation, and some of these are such 
that a recent graduate may reasonably be 
expected to solve them, or at least to collect 
part of the data required for a subsequent 
solution. Engineering post-graduate study 
offers fewer opportunities for this class of 
work than many other departments of col- 
legiate work, because of the more fully de- 
veloped state of most branches of engineer- 
ing knowledge. Again, the nature of the 
investigations in many departments is 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


such that they thrive better in a college 
atmosphere than anywhere else. This is 
not true, in general, of engineering investi- 
gations. Finally, and most important of 
all, original research in most departments 
of study is carried on only because of the 
enthusiasm of the investigator or by public 
or private benevolence ; while in engineer- 
ing most of the research work is done 
in connection with practical work at the 
expense of individuals or corporations or 
municipalities having a direct financial in- 
terest in the result. Many engineers de- 
vote a large part of their time to original 
research work, and nearly all practicing 
engineers have more or less of such work. 
The life of an engineering student before 
and after graduation is much more nearly 
continuous than that of a student in most 
other departments. The ambitious engi- 
neering student knows that, shortly, if not 
immediately, after graduation, he can se- 
cure actual engineering practice of high 
educational value, and many choose posi- 
tions chiefly with reference to the value of 
the experience to be obtained. The salary, 
the educational value of practical experi- 
ence, the possibility of promotion—all draw 
the engineering student away from post- 
graduate study. In other words, the study 
of engineering is essentially graduate work, 
and there will probably never be any con- 
siderable number who will pursue engineer- 
ing studies beyond the present four-year 
course. But there are sufficient reasons 
why adequate provisions should be made 
for the competent and ambitious few who 
seek truly graduate instruction in engineer- 
ing. 

All the preceding is intended to show 
in rough outline the present state of en- 
gineering education, and particularly the 
rapid growth. The present phenomenal 
rate of progress promises still larger things 
for the future, and lays upon this Society 
important responsibilities in directing the 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


future development of engineering educa- 
tion in America. In this connection there 
are several matters which invite the care- 
ful attention of individual members of this 
Society, and possibly are worthy of official 
action by the Society itself. 

1. Is any general movement for increas- 
ing the requirements for admission desir- 
able? The standard has been rising quite 
rapidly within the past five years, partic- 
ularly in mathematics, English and foreign 
languages; but even now comparatively 
few of the engineering departments of the 
universities have as high requirements for 
admission as the literary departments. Is 
this justifiable ? 

2. Is it wise to require advanced algebra 
and trigonometry for admission to the en- 
gineering courses? Is it wise to require 
prospective students to take these subjects 
in secondary schools to the exclusion of 
subjects in science, literature or history ? 
Will the forcing of these subjects into the 
curricula of the secondary schools handicap 
them in discharging their just obligations 
toward students who are not seeking an 
engineering education? Which subject can 
the preparatory school teach the better? 
Which school will teach the mathematics 
the better ? 

3. At some institutions a considerable 
number of engineering students have had 
previous collegiate training. Can anything 
be done to increase their number ? 

4, Engineering courses have become so 
highly specialized that frequently students 
of one course receive no instruction in the 
fundamental technical subjects of a closely 
allied branch of engineering. This prac- 
tice is burdensome upon the school and is 
probably not of the highest advantage to 
the student. But the colleges are not likely 
to retrace their steps, and therefore the 
highly specialized course is a condition to 
be reckoned with. Should anything be 
done to prevent further specialization ? 


SCIENCE. 


‘often 


673 


Some students correct the defects due to 
high specialization by remaining a fifth 
year and pursuing the allied course. Can 
anything be done to increase the number 
who do this? 

5. The engineering course of to-day is so 
loaded with required technical and scien- 
tific work that the student has little or no 
time to cultivate those subjects, indefinitely, 
but not inappropriately, called the human- 
ities. Engineering students, more _ per- 
haps than any others, need training in 
such subjects. Those who follow the other 
learned professions deal constantly in their 
technical work with the relationships of 
their fellow men, while the engineer in his 
professional work deals mainly with the in- 
animate world. The engineer has little 
opportunity to come into intimate relations 
with men either through the study of his- 
tory, economics and sociology, or through 
personal contact. The engineer usually 
possesses strong character, sound judgment, 
thorough knowledge of his business; but 
frequently because of a lack of that knowl- 
edge which other men consider essential in 
a liberal education, he is ranked as a rela- 
tively uncultivated man, and therefore is 
unable to exercise the influence his train- 
ing justifies, and fails to secure the reward 
his abilities merit. Can the instructors in 
engineering create in the mind of the engi- 
neering student such a hungering for a 
knowledge of the humanities that he will 
secure it after graduation by private study 
and personal intercourse ? 

Such, then, are the conditions and the 
problems of engineering education as we 
step into the twentieth century. The pres- 
ent conditions have been determined largely 
by the engineering colleges themselves in 
advance of the demands of the engineering 
profession and of the general public, and 
in opposition to such demands. 
Chiefly through the influence of the engi- 
neering college the engineering profession 


674 


has developed during the past third of a 
century into a truly learned profession. 
There was never a time in the history of 
the world when the questions of general 
education were more carefully considered 
than at the present ; and there was never a 
time when this country was more concerned 
with the work of the engineer than now. 
The nation, just awakening to a conscious- 
ness of its power and responsibility, is tak- 
ing its place among the nations of the earth, 
and is seeking to decide the destiny of the 
peoples of the earth. We are now sending 
our manufactured products to all parts of 
the world, and if we are to have part in the 
commercial conquest of the earth, it will be 
because of the ability, the foresight, the 
wisdom of our own engineers. The only 
agency seeking to prepare engineers for 
their work is the engineering college. Their 
work in molding and directing the engi- 
neering education of the future will be no 
less important than in the past. They en- 
joy the respect and confidence of the public, 
and a still wider field of influence and re- 
sponsibility lies open before them. May 
the deliberations of this Society continue to 
be a source of strength and inspiration to 
the engineering colleges. May the engineer 
of the twentieth century have better tech- 
nical training, broader culture and nobler 
aspirations. May the profession of engineer- 
ing come to occupy a still higher position 
in the esteem and respect of the public. 


Tra O. BAKER. 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. 


PROGRESS IN IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS. 


Tue organization and objects of the irri- 
gation inquiries of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture have been partly explained in 
an earlier number of this JourNAL.* Con- 
gress at its last session increased the ap- 


* SCIENCE, 11 (1899), p. 798. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


propriation for this work from $35,000 to 
$50,000. 

It was realized at the outset of these 
investigations that a basis of settlement 
of the controversies over rights to water 
for irrigation purposes, which are very 
frequent and acute in the arid region, where 
the supply of water is limited, must be 
reached before it would be wise to at- 
tempt to greatly increase the use of water 
for irrigation. The uncertainty of water 
rights and ignorance as to the amounts ac- 
tually needed for successful agriculture led 
irrigators to claim more water than they 
could possibly use, frequently more than 
the natural supply yielded, and encouraged 
extravagant rather than economical use of 
water. It was for this reason that the De- 
partment directed attention first to the col- 
lation and publication of information re- 
garding the laws and institutions of the 
irrigated region in their relation to agricul- 
ture, and a number of bulletins dealing 
with this phase of the subject, as well as 
with general irrigation practice, have been 
published. At the same time it was realized 
that an exact knowledge of the water re- 
quirements of cultivated plants at different 
stages of growth and under varying condi- 
tions of soil, climate, ete., is fundamental 
to an economical, rational practice of irriga- 
tion. It was therefore determined that one 
of the two main lines of work undertaken 
should be the collation and publication of 
information regarding the use of irrigation 
waters in agriculture as shown by actual 
experience of farmers and by experimental 
investigations. It was decided, however, 
that the strictly scientific studies provided 
for in this plan could be more intelligently 
pursued after the actual practice as regards 
irrigation in the various localities where it 
is already engaged in had been ascertained. 
Inquiries having the latter object in view 
were planned and put into operation on a 
comprehensive scale. The results of the 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


first year’s work along this line are given in 
a bulletin * on ‘The Use of Water in Irri- 
gation,’ which is now in press. This bulle- 
tin deals with the methods in use in the 
arid States in the distribution and.use of 
water in irrigation, and gives a large num- 
ber of measurements made to determine the 
‘duty of water’ and the losses from seepage 
and evaporation in canals; and discusses the 
methods by which the water supply may be 
more effectively and economically applied 
to crops. It contains papers discussing the 
results of the year’s investigation by Elwood 
Mead, expert in charge; tables for use in 
measuring water and diagrams showing use, 
by Clarence T. Johnston, assistant; and re- 
ports and discussions of irrigation investiga- 
tions in different localities by special agents 
Thomas Berry, Colorado ; W. M. Reed, New 
Mexico; W. H. Code, Arizona ; W. Irving, 
California; R. C.Gemmell and George L. 
Swendsen, Utah; D. W. Ross, Idaho; 
Samuel Fortier, Montana; and O. V. P. 
Stout, Nebraska. The bulletin is illus- 
trated by numerous plates, diagrams, and 
maps showing the location and character of 
the investigations made. It is probably 
the most complete collection of data on the 
‘duty of water’ in irrigation which has 
ever been published, and is especially valu- 
able because it is based on measurements, 
systematically planned and synchronously 
made, of the amount of water actually used 
on a large number of farms in widely sepa- 
rated portions of the arid region. 

Among the important facts brought out 
in the report is the enormous loss of water 
from canals and reservoirs by seepage and 
evaporation. From actual measurements 
made it is estimated that in some cases at 
least the loss from these causes might be 
so far reduced by better methods of con- 
struction and management as to double the 
area at present irrigated by the canals. At- 


*U.S.Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, 
Bul. 86, pp. 248. 


SCIENCE. 


675 


tention is also called to the large losses occur- 
ring when water under small head is spread 
in a thin layer over soils heated to the high 
temperatures common in some parts of the 
arid region, and to the great advantages of 
rotation in the use of water as contrasted 
with the wasteful methods encouraged by the 
common system of contracts which gives to 
theirrigator the right to a uniform and con- 
stant flow of water. The results, therefore, 
not only furnish the basis for improving 
methods of irrigation already in use and 
for framing more equitable laws, but it is 
believed that they indicate more clearly the 
lines along which strictly scientific inquiries 
may be most successfully directed. 

Owing to the absolute dependence of 
agriculture upon irrigation in the arid re- 
gion, attention was first directed to the irri- 
gation problems of that region, but the 
work is being extended to the eastern or so- 
called ‘humid’ portion of the United States, 
for the necessity for irrigation is by no 
means confined to the region west of the 
hundredth meridian. The aggregate loss 
from total or partial crop failure as a con- 
sequence of periods of drought in the re- 
gion where the rainfall is usually considered 
sufficient for the needs of agriculture is far 
greater than is generally realized. This 
fact is clearly brought out in a report by 
E. B. Voorhees on ‘ Irrigation in New Jer- 
sey.”* This bulletin discusses the need of 
irrigation in New Jersey, reports the results 
of experiments at the experiment station at 
New Brunswick and elsewhere in New Jer- 
sey during 1899 to determine whether irri- 
gation during periods of drought is a profit- 
able undertaking, and gives descriptions 
and statements of cost of a number of 
small irrigation plants in New Jersey. 

The rainfall records of Philadelphia for 
70 years are cited to show the frequency of 
injurious droughts: 

*U.S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, 
Bul. 87, pp. 40. 


676 


“Tn 62 years out of 70 there was one month in the 
growing season from April to August in which such a 
marked deficiency occurred as to cause a serious short- 
age of crop, and for the same period there were 39 
years in which the deficiency extended throughout 
two months, while in 21 years it extended through- 
out three months, or in 30 per cent. of the years in- 
cluded in this record there were three months during 
the growing period in which the average rainfall was 
deficient one inch ormore. It is thus observed that 
a wide series of crops would be likely to suffer in 
‘more than one-half of the years for which the record 
is available, while a still larger number would suffer 
in nearly one-third of the years, for it must be re- 
membered that even a slight deficiency in one month 
may result in a serious reduction in yield and conse- 
quent loss, if it occurs at a time when the crop is 
making its largest development.’’ 


Some idea of the extent of the losses 
occasioned by such periods of drought may 
be gained from Professor Voorhees’ estimate 
that the loss to the hay crop of New Jersey 
alone from the drought in May and early 
June, 1899, was $1,500,000, while small 
fruits, vegetables, and other crops were also 
seriously affected. 


“Tn 1897 and 1898, years of abundant rainfall in 
April and May, the yield of hay [at the Station] 
averaged 2.65 tons per acre. In 1899 it was a fraction 
over one ton, owing to the deficiency of rainfall in 
April and May—at the low price of $10 per ton, a loss 
for the 25 acres of over $400. The yield of crimson 
clover forage for 1897 and 1898 was &.5 tons per acre ; 
in 1899 the yield was but five tons, or in a good year 
the yield was 70 per cent. greater. The deficiency in 
the rainfall at the critical period was alone respon- 
sible for this difference in yield. . . . Oatand pea for- 
age in 1897 and the early seeding of 1898 averaged 
six tons per acre ; in 1899 the yield was but 3.3 tons.’’ 


In experiments at the Station with small 
fruits the increase in yield due to irrigation 
was as follows: Blackberries, 1,038 quarts 
per acre, worth $93.42; raspberries, 329 
quarts per acre, worth $32.90; currants, 
311 quarts per acre, worth $31.10. The 
results of similar experiments in other parts 
of the State with a variety of crops con- 
firmed those obtained at the Station. These 
results show beyond question that supple- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


mental irrigation under such rainfall con- 
ditions as those noted above is a profitable 
undertaking, especially on fruits and gar- 
den crops. Since the rainfall conditions 
described may be considered typical of the 
whole eastern half of the United States, 
the conclusions reached regarding the profit- 
ableness of irrigation are believed to be 
generally applicable to the agriculture of 


that region. 
W. H. But. 


REMEASUREMENT OF THE PERUVIAN ARC.* 


Iy 1889 the question of the remeasure- 
ment of the Peruvian Are was brought be- 
fore the International Geodetic Association 
by the Delegate of the United States (Pro- 
fessor George Davidson, Assistant Coast 
and Geodetic Survey) who suggested that 
France should have a prior right to execute 
this work in consequence of: the first meas- 
ure having been made by her savants, 
members of the French Academy in 1736- 
43. Circumstances prevented any active 
work until 1898, when the discussion of 
the subject was renewed in the same Asso- 
ciation as the result of a motion offered by 
the Delegate of the United States (Mr. E. 
D. Preston, Assistant Coast and Geodetic 
Survey ). 

The Association voted in favor of the 
proposition to remeasure the Are and the 
French Delegates undertook to bring the 
matter to the attention of their government 
and to have an examination made, so that 
they could report to the next meeting of 
the Association at Paris during the present 
year. 

Captains Maurain and Lacombe of the 
Geographic Service of the French Army 
left Paris in May, 1899, and remained in 


* The information is derived from the Comptes Ren- 
dus, hebdomadaires des Scances de l Académie des Sci- 
ence, No. 26, June 25, 1900 (page 1740), and the 
Bulletin de la Societé de Géographie, No. 7, July 15, 
1900 (page 1). 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


Ecuador from July to November of the 
same year, successfully accomplishing in 
this time the reconnoissance for the new 
work. 

Unfortunately all the marks left in the 
old work have been destroyed, even the 
base monuments having been demolished. 
Aecording to the plan proposed the Are of 
Quito which will replace the Arc of Peru 
covers 6° of latitude nearly double the 
length of the old Are. 

Fifty-two triangulation stations will be 
occupied. Three fundamental astronomical 
stations have been selected, one near Quito 
and one at each extremity of the Arc, where 
latitude and longitude will be determined. 
Other determinations of latitude will be 
made at intermediate stations to permit a 
study of the deviation of the vertical. 
Three base lines from eight to nine kilo- 
meters in length will be measured. 

One is situated near Riobamba about the 
middle of are and is to be connected with 
sea level by levels of precision which are 
expected to determine its elevation with an 
error not exceeding a few centimeters. Two 
verification base lines will be measured, one 
near each end of the Are. Observation of 
gravity and magnetism will be made, and 
studies of topography, geology and other 
subjects of natural science undertaken. 
Quito possesses an observatory with modern 
instruments, in charge of a French astron- 
omer, situated only fourteen minutes of 
latitude south of the equator, at an eleva- 
tion of 3,000 meters above sea level. 

To execute the measure of the new equa- 
torial arc and complete the complementary 
studies that should be made in connection 
with it, it is estimated that five geodesists 
should devote four years of uninterrupted 
labor to this work. The difficulties to be 
overcome will tax the courage and scientific 
devotion of those upon whom the honor of 
its execution may be bestowed. 

I. W. 


SCIENCE. 


677 


SIXTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOTAN- 
ICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 


THE sixth annual meeting of the Botan- 
ical Society of America was held in New 
York City, June 26 to 28,1900. For the 
reading of papers the Society met in joint 
session with Section G of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence, June 28th, in Room 502, Schermer- 
horn Hall, Columbia University. The 
meeting of Section G was called to order 
by the Vice-President, Wm. Trelease, who 
announced the arrangements for the joint 
session and called B. lL. Robinson, presi- 
dent of the Society, to the chair. The re- 
tiring president, L. M. Underwood, then 
read his address-—‘ The Last Quarter: A 
Reminiscence, and an Outlook.’ The full 
text of the address has already been printed 
in SCIENCE. 

Following is the program of papers pre- 
sented : ’ 


‘ The Significance of Transpiration’: C. R. BARNES. 

‘Relationship and Variability of the Adirondack 
Spruce’: CHas. PECK. 

‘Nuclear Studies on Pellia’: B. M. Davis. 

‘On the Structure of the Stem of Polytrichadelphus 
dendroides’: Mrs. E. G. BRINTON. 

‘Observations on the group Yuccee’: WM. TRE- 
LEASE. 

“Spermatogenesis in the Gymnosperms’: J. M. 
COULTER. 

‘The Pollen Tube, and Division of the Generative 
Cell, in Pines,’ by invitation of the Council: Miss 
M. C. FERGUSON. 

“On the Homologies and Probable Origin of the 
Embryo-Sac’ : Gro. F. ATKINSON. 

‘Observations on Leisonia’ : CONWAY MACMILLAN. 

‘Thigmotropism of Roots’: F. C. NEWcoMBE. 

‘Starch in Guard Cells’: B. D. HALSTED. 

‘ Coenogametes’: B. M. Davis. 

‘The Development of the Archegonium, and Fer- 
tilization in the Hemlock Spruce,’ by invitation of the 
Council : W. A. MURRILL. 

“The Causes Operative in the Formation of Silage,’ 
by invitation of the Council: H. L. RussELL and 
S. M. BABcocK. 

“A Closed Circuit Respiration Apparatus,’ by invi- 
tation of the Council: H. L. RusseLz and S. M. 
BABCOCK. 


678 


The officers for the ensuing year are: 
President, B. D. Halsted; Vice-President, 
R. A. Harper; Treasurer, C. A. Hollick ; 
Secretary, G. KF. Atkinson. Members of 
the Council; B.D. Halsted, B. L. Robinson, 
R. A. Harper, C. A. Hollick, G. F. At- 
kinson, C. E. Bessey, F. V. Coville. 

An important step was taken by the So- 
ciety in appointing a committee to consider 
the best means of realizing the purposes of 
the Society, ‘in the advancement of botan- 
ical knowledge,’ as defined in the constitu- 
tion. Among other things this committee 
will consider the uses to which the accumu- 
lating funds of the Society may be put. The 
committee will report at the next annual 
meeting of the Society. 

Gro. F. ATKINSON, 
Secretary. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 
PUBLICATIONS OF THE EARTHQUAKE INVESTI- 
GATION COMMITTEE—IN FOREIGN 
LANGUAGES, NUMBERS 3 
AND 4 TOKYOo—1900. 


THERE is one science which the Japanese 
have practically made their own. Blessed or 
cursed (according to how you look at it), by the 
frequent occurrence of earthquakes, and blessed 
(certainly) by the presence of a large number 
of able and enthusiastic students of physical 
science, Japan has become within twenty 
years a vast seismological laboratory in which 
seismic phenomena are being studied as they 
never were before. Indeed, modern seismology 
had its birth there, and there it has been and is 
being most carefully nurtured. About twenty 
years ago there were in Japan a considerable 
number of foreigners employed as professors of 
engineering, geology, physics, etc., and of 
necessity they became interested in the one 
characteristic natural phenomenon, the unpleas- 
antly frequent manifestations of which none of 
them will ever forget. 

In the observational study of earthquakes 
one of them, Professor John Milne, F.R.S., 
now residing on the Isle of Wight, then Pro- 
fessor of Geology in the School of Engineering, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


exhibited a zeal and enthusiasm together with 
untiring patience and fertility of resource be- 
yond all others, and mostly through his efforts 
the ‘Seismological Society of Japan’ was or- 
ganized. In its organization and maintenance 
the foreign professors received the hearty co- 
operation of the Japanese officials in the Uni- 
versity and out of it. For several years the 
society issued annual volumes of Proceedings, 
the great value of which has been everywhere 
recognized. The gradual and finally almost 
complete withdrawal of foreigners from the 
educational work of the country resulted at last 
in the suspension of the active work of the so- 
ciety, but happily this did not occur before the 
Japanese had come to realize fully the impor- 
tance of the work it had done, and, indeed, not 
until anumber of their own young men had been 
fully trained to carry that work on. 

In 1891 official interest in seismology took 
definite form in the passage of a vote by the 
Chamber of Peers or House of Lords, upon the 
initiative of one of its members Dr. Dairoku 
Kikuchi, now President of the Imperial Uni- 
versity of Japan. By a large majority the 
Cabinet was urged to appoint an ‘ Harthquake 
Investigation Committee,’ and on June 25, 1892, 
an Imperial Ordinance was promulgated estab- 
lishing such a Commission and naming its 
members. Its duties were defined in a general 
way in this Ordinance and the payment to its 
members of a small annual salary was author- 
ized. 

The Committee prepared a very elaborate and 
comprehensive scheme of work which it has fol- 
lowed pretty closely up to the present. The 
President is Dr. Kikuchi, and Dr. Omori, of the 
Faculty of Sciences of the Imperial University, 
is Secretary. There are nearly thirty mem- 
bers, including professors of pure and applied 
sciences in the University, engineers, archi- 
tects, etc. 

It has been the wise practice of the Com- 
mittee to publish its principal proceedings and 
most important papers in foreign languages 
and of the two under review No. 3 is mostly in 
the French language and No. 4is in Hnglish. 

One of the principal objects of the Committee 
is to consider the practical aspects of seismology 
with a view to a lessening of the loss of life, 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


damage to buildings and other structures, as far 
as may be found possible, so that much attention 
has been given to studies of resistance of 
materials of construction and to the effect of 
actual earthquakes upon existing structures of 
various kinds. No. 3 consists, in the main, 
of an account of a most elaborate and in- 
teresting experimental investigation of some 
of the more important physical properties of 
bricks, and briquettes of cement, mortar, etc., 
especial attention being given to those qualities 
which give strength and stability against seismic 
disturbance. This report is by S. Tanabe, a 
member of the Committee, and is a valuable 
contribution to our knowledge of the subject. 

There is also, in the same volume, a short 
description by B. Mano of a machine by which 
a platform or ‘shaking table’ is made to 
oscillate as it would during the passage of a 
series of seismic waves, the horizontal and 
vertical motions being produced independ- 
ently, each capable of adjustment as to ampli- 
tude and frequency, so that almost any kind of 
disturbance may be imitated, except minute 
earth ‘tremors.’ The motive power consists of 
two steam engines, and as many as 270 oscilla- 
tions per minute may be maintained. Thereis 
also a brief note on the damage suffered by tall 
chimneys in the earthquake of June, 1894, and 
in that of October, 1893. In the ease of the 
latter 230 chimneys in all were examined, rang- 
ing in height from 30 feet to 150 feet. Of 
these 53 suffered serious injury, the highest per- 
centage being for those between 60 feet and 80 
feet high. The volume closes with a paper in 
English on ‘The Scope of the Volcanological 
Survey in Japan,’ by Dr. B. Koto, member of 
the Committee, who has undertaken to study 
the geological aspects of the seismic problem. 
For the great majority of earthquakes the 
author rejects the volcanistic hypothesis and 
adopts the tectonic, believing that seismic dis- 
turbances are intimately related to the process 
of mountain building. 

No. 4 begins with a condensed statement 
on the ‘Construction of Harthquake-proof 
Wooden Buildings.’ Although very brief, this 
paper is of great interest, and as nearly all 
houses in Japan are built of wood it must prove 
to be of great practical value. Rules for the 


SCIENCE. 


679 


making of joints, the construction of frame 
work and especially of roof framing are given 
with sufficient detail and clearness (aided by 
numerous illustrations), and particular emphasis 
is placed on the character of the foundation. 
Even ordinarily constructed wooden houses 
are damaged less by earthquake disturbances 
than structures of brick or stone, and when 
built according to the rules and suggestions 
given in this paper they will be generally im- 
mune except during unusually violent shocks. 
The worst part of an ordinary Japanese house, 
from the seismic standpoint, is the heavy 
tile roof, and the importance of making the 
roof as light as possible, and of having the 
tile securely fastened, is dwelt upon in this 
compendium. The use of iron plates and 
straps, with bolts, in the formation of joints is 
strongly advised. It may be interesting to 
note here that the new palace for the use of the 
Prince Imperial is to be a modern ‘structural 
steel’ affair, the material having been obtained 
in this country, and in the structural plans, 
made by American architects, especial care has 
been exercised to provide against damage by 
earthquake. By the use of numerous cross- 
braces and ‘ties’ it is made to resemble some- 
what a huge steel basket which, although it 
may, and indeed, should be capable of a little 
elastic yielding, can never be seriously injured 
in any imaginable seismic disturbance. 

Anent the generally damaging effect of 
earthquakes upon brick buildings Dr. F. Omori 
discusses the records of a number of disturb- 
ances as shown by two of Professor Ewing’s 
horizontal pendulum seismographs, one of 
which was set up on a wall of a large brick 
building, known as the Engineering College, 
and the other on the ground near by. Ten 
earthquakes were thus observed and recorded, 
none being very strong. The results appear to 
show that in comparatively long period oscilla- 


tions, that is to say those somewhat above .5 


second, there was no noticeable difference in 
amplitude between those of the second story of 
the brick building and those of the ground, 
while with quick period motions the movement 
was greater on the wall of the building than 
on the ground, the average amplitude of the 
former being double that of the latter. Omori 


680 


calls attention to the fact that injury to brick 
buildings by earthquakes is nearly always 
much greater in the upper stories than in the 
lower, and he illustrates this by photographs of 
the condition after the great earthquake of 
1891 of the Aichi Cotton Mill and the Post and 
Telegraph Office, both at Nagoya. The Charles- 
ton earthquake in 1886 afforded many examples 
of this. 

Omori furnishes two very interesting notes on 
the great earthquakes of 1891 and 1894. These 
are the most violent disturbances that Japan 
has suffered in recent years, and that of October 
28, 1891, was probably at least equal in inten- 
sity to any other earthquake of which we have 
authentic record. Its greatest activity was dis- 
played in the provinces of Mino and Owari. 
The land area disturbed was about 250,000 
square kilometers, and as the mean radius of 
propagation was about 520 kilometers the total 
shaken area was about double the area of the 
whole empire. The total number of people 
killed was 7,000, and 80,000 houses were en- 
tirely destroyed. The fact that only one life 
was lost for every 11 houses destroyed illustrates 
(when compared with the effects of earthquakes 
in brick- and stone-building countries) the 
greater safety of wooden houses which, even 
when destroyed, afford ample warning and 
time to enable their inmates to escape. 

The actual motion in this earthquake was no- 
where satisfactorily recorded on seismographs, 
but Omori has made up for this lack as far as 
possible by the observation and calculation of a 
large number of overturned stone lanterns and 
tomb stones, noting as well those not over- 
turned. The horizontal acceleration necessary 
to overturn is calculated by West’s formula 
which is very simple and unquestionably very 
nearly correct under the conditions considered. 

It is 

pate 
in which g is the acceleration due to gravity, 
and x and y the horizontal and vertical coordi- 
nates of the center of gravity of the column, the 
origin being the edge about which overturning 
takes place. It is assumed that the motion is 
entirely horizontal which introduces no sensible 
error except for points, very near the epifocus. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


Results are computed for about sixty points in 
the disturbed area, and in several instances a 
horizontal acceleration of over 400 centime- 
ters per second, isshown. The seismograph at 
Nagoya, one of the principal points shows that 
the complete period of the principal vibra- 
tions was about 1.3 seconds, and as the maxi- 
mum acceleration there was 260 em., it follows 
that the range or amplitude of vibration of the 
earth particle was between 23 cm. and 24 em. 

The earthquake of June 20, 1894, although 
the most violent experienced in the Tokyo dis- 
trict since 1855, was much less strong than that 
of the Mino-Owari district referred to above. 
Twenty-six persons were killed and 171 were 
wounded. Fortunately the disturbance was 
very satisfactorily recorded by a strong-motion 
seismograph at the Seismological Observatory 
in Tokyo. The actual amplitude of horizontal 
motion was 7.3 cm., and the maximum ac- 
celeration was about 100 em. per second. In the 
greater shock of 1891 this was probably not less 
than 1,000 cm. per sec. per sec.—being a little 
greater than the acceleration due to gravity. 

Dr. H. Nagaoka has a very interesting paper 
on the experimental determination of the elastic 
constants of rocks, leading to important conclu- 
sions relating to the velocity of seismic waves. 
From observations made in Italy and also in 
Japan, Omori has concluded that the velocity 
of the first tremor is generally as high as 13 kilo- 
meters per second, which is surprisingly great, 
the principal shocks usually showing a speed of 
3 kilometers to 4 kilometers per second. 

Nagaoka discusses the conditions under which 
the very high velocities may occur, and one 
cannot avoid being impressed with the great 
value of earthquake observations as a means of 
ascertaining the nature and conditions of the 
interior of the earth. 

The greatest part of No. 4 consists of an ac- 
count, by Omori, of an elaborate series of 
‘Experimental Studies upon Fracturing and 
Overturning Columns,’ and this is not only one 
of the most interesting, but perhaps the most 
important paper in the whole series. In this 
investigation the ‘shaking table’ already re- 
ferred to was made use of and columns of con- 
siderable dimensions and various materials were 
used. Many were of dimensions equal to those 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


of the stone lanterns and tombstones made use 
of in computing the intensity of the Mino-Owari 
earthquake. The accelerations necessary to 
overturn were also calculated by West’s for- 
mula, and it is surprising to see how closely 
they accord with those obtained from the 
graphic record of the ‘shaking table.’ 

Because the contents of these volumes are 
made up of carefully conducted observations of 
actual and very strong earthquakes, for the 
first time recorded by means of satisfactory in- 
struments, together with elaborate experimental 
investigations of important related phenomena, 
and because all these results are fully dis- 
cussed with remarkable skill and keen scientific 
insight, it is, perhaps, not too much to say that 
they constitute the most valuable contributions 
yet made to the literature of seismology. 

Even those who know the men who are do- 
ing this work, through familiar association and 
often close personal relations, cannot avoid a 
feeling of astonishment at the extraordinary 
performances of a people whose contact with 
the world at large has been only that of the 
present generation, and with whom the so- 
called civilized nations have been strangely and 
unreasonably unwilling to treat on a basis of 
equality until within three or four years. 
When I reflect that seismology is only one of 
the many sciences in which in original research 
the Japanese are well in the front rank, and 
this, too, without the inspiring example of an 
ancestral Galileo, Newton, La Place, Hum- 
boldt or Franklin, I wish to do figuratively 
what I have done many times actually—I 
take off my hat to an oriental nation that in 
peace or in war need ask no odds of Hurope or 


America. 
T. C. MENDENHALL. 


Rapports présenté aw Congrés International de 
Mécanique appliquée ; Exposition Universelle de 
1900. TomelI. Cu. DuNnop, Editeur. Paris. 
1900. 8vo. Pp. 546. 

The various congresses of the Paris Expo- 
sition of 1900 are now bringing out their pub- 
lished papers and discussions, and the royal 
octavo volumes of the Congress of Applied Me- 
chanics are finely illustrative of the character 
of the work performed at these conventions and 


SCIENCE. 


681 


of the manner in which it is to be published. 
Of the innumerable books printed relating to 
the Exposition, these are the most valuable 
and, to the serious student of that great cyclo- 
pedia, most interesting. The ‘questions’ dis- 
cussed in Vol. I. are nine in number : ‘ Organi- 
zation of Works’; ‘ Organization of Mechanical 
Laboratories’; ‘Mechanical Applications of 
Electricity ’; ‘ Hoisting Apparatus’; ‘ Hydraulic 
Motors’; ‘Sectional Boilers’; ‘ High-speed En- 
gines’; ‘Heat Motors’; ‘ Automobilisme.’ 

The first topic is discussed by M. Touissant, 
who presents a study of the manufacturing 
establishment generally, and Mr. Dickie, who 
gives a most interesting account of the organi- 
zation and administration of the Union Iron 
Works of San Francisco, the birthplace of the 
famous battleship Oregon, and the source of 
innumerable steamships, steam-engines and 
pumping and winding engines, and of mining 
and manufacturing machinery in enormous 
amount. M. Boulvin discusses the organization 
of mechanical laboratories, and his valuable 
paper is introductory to that of Dwelshauvers, 
who describes that of the University of Liége, 
organized by him after years of struggle and 
strife with the ultra-conservative administra- 
tion of the University and the Government. 
The evolution of the mechanical laboratory in 
America, as an element of technical instruc- 
tion, is described by Thurston and includes 
papers by a number of representatives of engi- 
neering schools in the United States, giving ac- 
counts of an equal number of the most exten- 
sive and interesting laboratories of that class 
in ourcountry. The development of the labora- 
tory of applied mechanics and its accessories as 
a means of instruction, primarily, and as an 
item in the equipment of the technical school 
and as an essential element of the curriculum, 
was first effected satisfactorily in the United 
States. The European schools are now com- 
ing to the same plan in rapidly increasing 
numbers, often modeling after our own in both 
equipment and methods of employment. An- 
other instructive divisien of this subject is dis- 
cussed by Commandant Mengen, who tells of 
the organization and the details of equipment 
of the laboratory of the ordnance department 
of the French army, which is very extensive 


682 


and complete and is evidently conducted ina 
modern and fruitful manner. 

The third ‘ question’ includes a paper by Dr. 
Kennelly, describing mechanical applications 
of electricity, especially as observed in the 
United States. Messrs. Delmas and Henry 
discuss the use of the current in hoisting ma- 
chinery and in the establishments of public 
works departments. M. Basséres discusses the 
fourth question and especially the work of the 
‘Compagnie des Fives- Lillie.’ Hydraulic mo- 
tors, as constructed in Switzerland, the home 
of that form of prime mover, 1889-1900, are 
reported upon by M. Prazill. M. Rateau writes 
of their theory and construction as illustrated 
by contemporary practice in general. 

Dr. W. F. Durand takes up the sixth topic and 
gives an account, complete and exact, of the wa- 
ter-tube boilers employed in the United States, 
and M. Brillié also discusses the ‘chaudieres a 
petits éléments,’ their classification, efficiency, 
operation, with characteristic thoroughness. 
MM. Lefer and Lecornu write of high-speed 
engines and of regulators, the former including 
the ancient Greek type, just revived, the steam- 
turbine. ‘Thermic Motors,’ apparently only 
intending to include the gas-engines in the 
class, are the subject of valuable papers by MM. 
Diesel, who reports on his own invention and 
construction; by Mr. Donkin, who discusses 
those employing the waste gases of the blast 
furnace ; and by M. Witz, the well-known au- 
thority on that class of motor, who tells of 
gas-engines of large power employed in metal- 
lurgy. The final discussion in this volume is 
that of ‘automobilisme,’ by MM. Rochet, Cué- 
not and Mesnager. 

All the papers here published have special 
value in their several departments of applied 
science and some of them are extremely im- 
portant. The contributors to the volume are 
usually French writers and practitioners of au- 
thority ; a few are American, and we recognize 
the name of but one German in the list. The 
German government took a leading part in the 
Exposition and German exhibitors abounded, as 
did German visitors; but the scientific men of 
Germany, in this department, at least, seem to 
have held aloof. 

The book is a fine sample of the style and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


finish of the French official document. In 
paper, type and finish, and illustration, while 
not what a French critic would consider illus- 
trative of a high class of bookmaking, it is, for 
its place and purpose, most excellent. In many 
eases of condensation and of abstracting, on 
the part of the editors, as especially in the 
ease of the descriptions of American mechan- 
ical laboratories, where the original contained 
very extensive and very extensively illustrated 
details, the necessary work of merciless con- 
densation has been, in the main, very well 
done. The translations from the English into 
the French are, so far as a first rapid survey 
would indicate, excellently performed. The 
collection will have great and permanent value 
to the engineer and to the professor of engi- 
neering, as wellas to all having interest in these 
divisions of applied mechanics. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


The Antarctic Regions. By Dr. KARL FRICKER. 
Translated by A. SONNENSCHEIN. New York, 
The Macmillan Company. 1900. Pp. xii+ 
292. With many maps and illustrations. 
Price, $3.00. 

In view of the widely extended interest in the 
Antarctic region at the present time, it would 
seem as though it would almost be unneces- 
sary to say that this was a timely production. 
It is, however, not the only requisite of a book 
that it is timely. Its substance should be of a 
high character and its form of statement should 
be clear. In this particular case, the historical 
portion of the work is good, but its character 
is marred by too great condensation. This fact 
alone would make it a poor book to put in the 
hands of the general reader, who is looking for 
pleasure as well as for information, Even if 
the original work was intended for the scientific 
man, the translator should have had tact enough 
to recognize the fact that it was not at all neces- 
sary to follow the German construction of the 
sentences tooclosely. A good translation should 
take some account of the spirit of the language 
into which the work is to be rendered, and not 
make its perusal a burden by the introduction 
of too many parenthetical sentences. Of course 
in such a work as this much new information is 
not to be expected, and the major portion of 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


the book is given over to a historical summary 
of the various voyages to the South Polar re- 
gion. Butthatis no reason for closing this sec- 
tion of the book with the following sentence 
(p. 131): 

‘This survey indicates what parts of the 
Antarctic regions have principally been visited, 
and sums up how much or how little has been 
achieved by each attempt. It will be the aim 
of the subsequent pages to gather into a whole 
the results of all these explorations so far as 
their fragmentary nature renders such a task 
possible.”’ 

This portion of the book is followed by a de- 
scription of the ‘conformation of the surface 
and geological structure,’ which would be a 
very acceptable piece of work were it not for 
the cumbersome English sentences which defy 
all attempts to parse them. 

A splendid opportunity to offer a summary 
of our knowledge of the climate, the structure 
of the ice, the fauna and flora is simply anni- 
hilated by such sentences as the following 
(p. 250): ‘The non-melting of the snow is of 
necessity accompanied by a change in its trans- 
formation.’ 

Again, scientific men do not usually speak of 
a species of animals being ‘ extirpated,’ as they 
are said to be on pages 270 and 2738. 

The maps and charts are, however, the re- 
deeming features of the book. They form a 
very interesting collection of illustrations and 
are worthy of a better fate than burial in such 
ponderous and heavy verbiage. 

It is also to be regretted that in giving a list 
of books, articles and maps upon this subject, 
no attempt was made to make the list as 
nearly complete as possible. In these days of 
careful bibliographical work the preparation of 
such a list would have been a comparatively 
easy task. Furthermore, a labor of this char- 
acter would have been very much appreciated 
by the scientific world, and it is a pity that it 
was not done. 

By what has been said above, it is not in- 
tended to produce the impression that the book 
is without merits. It will be a useful com- 
pend for a person who desires to become ac- 
quainted with the leading facts in connection 
with Antarctic investigations, but it will never 
be a book of popular interest. In the scientific 


SCIENCE. 


683 


summaries too little has been given to satisfy 
the scientific man, and it is therefore evident 
that there is still an opportunity left for a book 
which will satisfy these conditions. 

WILLIAM LIBBEY. 


Physiology for the Laboratory. By BrERtTHA MIL- 
LARD BROWN. Boston, Ginn & Co. 1900. 
Pp. viii + 167. 

A Syllabus of Elementary Physiology with Refer- 
ences and Laboratory Exercises. By ULYSSES 
O. Cox.. Mankato, Minn., Free Press Print- 
ing Co. Pp. viii-+ 167. 

If one were to judge by the number of books 
on ‘ Practical Physiology’ that appear yearly, it 
would seem that the long-hoped-for day had 
come in which Physiology had become a labora- 
tory study in all academic grades from the 
grammar school to the university. Even if it 
fulfills the ideal of its author only, each book 
in this field, if well done, is to be welcomed, 
for it means at least an attempt in the right 
direction. 

Of the two books now before us Miss Brown’s 
is the more modest. In less than 150 pages 
there are given the essential experiments in a 
course in. Vertebrate Physiology, presumably 
for the high school or normal school. A chap- 
ter on the cell and one on the bacteria are 
added. The matter is in large part purely 
physiological, but the dissection of the various 
organs is included. Vivisection is excluded ex- 
cept the slight amount that is involved in a 
study of reflex action in the brainless frog. 
The directions simply point the way, and the 
chosen ground is well covered. A few correc- 
tions should be made: The chromosomes are 
said to ‘be scattered through the protoplasm’ ; 
epidermis is ‘the outer, dead skin’; the ex- 
panded portion of the external ear is misnamed 
the ‘concha,’ while the reflex character of the 
knee-jerk is settled by requiring the student to 
trace the course of the nerve impulse. 

The book by Mr. Cox consists of a syllabus 
with references to reading, and a series of lab- 
oratory exercises. The syllabus is a detailed 
but crudely expressed classification of the con- 
ventional subject-matter of Physiology, of which 
students could make little use. The references 
are chiefly to well-known American and English 


684 


text-books, most of which are good but some of 
which are sadly out of date. The laboratory 
exercises partially cover the conventional ele- 
mentary ground, but are inferior to those of 
Miss Brown and of other authors. Unfortu- 
nately the book is marred by slovenly English, 
colloquial expressions and typographical errors. 
FREDERIC S. LEE. 


Physiology, illustrated by Experiment. By BUEL 
P. Cotron. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. 
1900. Pp. xiii + 386. 

This book is intended as a ‘ Briefer Course’ 
of Mr. Colton’s ‘Physiology, Experimental 
and Descriptive.’ As an elementary text-book 
for secondary schools it can be recommended. 
It contains an unusually large amount of matter, 
concisely, briefly, and upon the whole at- 
tractively presented. It is preeminently phys- 
iological and hygienic as distinguished from 
anatomical. Its language is not overburdened 
with technicalities. Its directions for practical 
work are limited, but this is excusable in view 
of the many satisfactory laboratory books now 
in existence. Most of its figures and diagrams 
are excellent. 

The treatment of the subject of alcohol, while 
fairly moderate as compared with that of some 
writers of text-books, is somewhat intemperate 
in its use of adjectives. At the beginning of 
the chapter devoted to this subject the bald 
statement is made that ‘ alcohol is not a food.’ 
At the close of the chapter it is allowed, on the 
authority of well-known quoted writers, that 
‘technically it may be called a food.’ 

FREDERIC §. LEE. 


FOLK-LORE IN BORNEO. 


Dr. WILLIAM HENRY FuRNEsS 34d, had pri- 
vately printed an attractive little volume called 
‘Folk-lore in Borneo: A Sketch,’ in which is 
given a brief report of an ethnological field that 
has acquired a new interest because of the re- 
cent discoveries made in the group of islands to 
which Borneo belongs. The influence of a 
tropical environment is noted by the author in 
the Kayan myth of creation, which he narrates 
as a ‘purely Bornean’ product, and contrasts 
it with the Dyak account of the genesis of the 
race, wherein he discerns Malay influence. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


Among the interesting pages of the book are 
those which tell of head-hunting, ‘the one 
ruling passion of the people.’ The tradition 
of its origin is given, and the author thought- 
fully remarks: ‘‘It is not unfair to infer from 
this tradition that they have a crude, germinal 
sense of the barbarity of their actions, in so far 
as they think it necessary to invent an excuse 
to palliate that savage love of trophy-hunting 
which seems inborn in mankind.’’ And he 
points out how the native beliefs concerning 
the five peculiar regions in ‘the land of de- 
parted spirits’ tends to conserve the practice of 
the head-hunting ‘rite.’ Among the many in- 
teresting subjects touched upon are the con- 
nection between the Pleiades and agriculture ; 
the omen birds and the devices the people 
practice to avert bad luck ; the function of fire 
as a ‘go-between of man and the birds’; and 
the glimpses of ariver cult among these na- 
tives. The illustrations really illustrate the 
text; they are admirably selected, and the 
pictures of old and young, men and women, 
inspire confidence as types, as they are without 
exaggerated peculiarities. The book is a wel- 
come addition to the literature of folk-lore. 
A. C. F. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
NEWSPAPER SCIENCE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I have had so 
much satisfaction in the review and criticism 
recently published in ScrENcE, of Mr. Tesla’s 
magazine article on ‘ Human Energy’ that I can- 
not avoid making public acknowledgment of 
my appreciation of its justice and timeliness, 
especially the latter. Is it not the imperative 
duty of men of science to do what the author 
of this review has done, more frequently than 
they have during the past ten years? 

Within this decade there has been an enor- 
mous decrease in the cost of publication and 
especially in the expense of illustration, and 
this has brought about a deluge of reading 
matter of such infinite variety and general 
worthlessness that the formation of a society 
for its systematic suppression is worthy of seri- 
ous consideration. With the daily newspapers 
it has been distinctly an era of sensationalism. 

A reporter for a daily paper recently de- 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900.] 


elared that he was required by his chief to ‘ fur- 
nish at least two sensations a week.’ Nearly 
all the more respectable and conservative 
magazines have yielded somewhat to this de- 
mand. The general reading public has recog- 
nized in an indistinct and uncertain way that 
much that is wonderful in this ‘ wonderful cen- 
tury ’ is due to scientific discovery, and it is ap- 
parently hungry for easy exposition of scientific 
work. It seems to like, at any rate it is largely 
fed upon, science of the ‘head-line’ variety, 
and those who can furnish this sort are in great 
demand. Unfortunately there are a few men, 
fortunately not many, who have done and are 
doing really excellent scientific work who are 
ready to cater to this morbid appetite, and 
there are many others, merely ‘ hack’ writers 
with neither knowledge or reputation, who find 
it easy to imitate them. The result tends to 
dull the scientific sense and corrupt the judg- 
ment of the great majority of readers. What 
we see in print concerning what we do not un- 
derstand we almost invariably accept as true 
unless it violently opposes our prejudices or 
accepted theories, and the general public, 
therefore, is in a very receptive mood towards 
announcements of scientific discoveries and 
accomplishments. That this is taken advan- 
tage of to reach the purse of the public no one 
can deny, and it is impossible not to find certain 
very respectable and otherwise conservative 
journals largely responsible for losses of thou- 
sands of dollars by comparatively poor people 
through stock subscriptions in schemes believed 
to be backed by scientificmen. It is no valid de- 
fense to say that the editors of these journals 
were imposed upon, for if they were they need 
not have been. Other journals, including 
some daily papers, know very well how to 
avoid such imposition and have the courage to 
do it. It appears to be accepted as a funda- 
mental principle of what is called ‘journalism’ 
in these days that any one who is gifted with a 
little facility in writing, a far-reaching imagi- 
nation and a conscience without elastic limit 
may be properly ‘assigned’ to prepare an ar- 
ticle on any subject whatever, and thus we are 
treated to weekly or monthly essays by one au- 
thor covering, in fact sometimes rather more 
than covering, in a few months the whole area 


SCIENCE. 


685 


of human knowledge. Perhaps they, too, have 
their orders to produce a given number of 
‘sensations’ in a given time. 

Among many other evils growing out of what 
may be called ‘Newspaper Science’ not the 
least is the manufacturing and maintaining of 
false reputations. The constant appearance of 
a name in connection with the development of 
a given art, science, discovery or invention 
makes an impression which it is difficult to de- 
stroy, and this is true even among the most intel- 
ligent classes. To find who is really and truly 
eminent in any field of human activity one must 
go to the specialists in that field. The popular 
verdict is more than likely to be wrong because 
it is based on fictitious, newspaper-created re- 
nown. Is there not, indeed, some danger that 
in spite of the carefully selected and altogether 
able jury, the newly created roll of American 
honor may, in certain cases and for the lack of 
this appeal to specialists, become a Hall of 
Notoriety rather than Fame? The selection of 
S. F. B. Morse for a place therein must have 
been due to the general belief among the jurors 
that he was the inventor of the electro-mag- 
netic telegraph. Yet it was long since proved 
beyond dispute that his share in that invention 
was among the least of the many who contrib- 
uted to make the telegraph possible, and that 
he justly deserves only a relatively very small 
share of the honor belonging thereto. 

T. C. M. 


THE DATE OF PUBLICATION OF BREWSTER’S 
AMERICAN EDITION OF THE EDINBURGH 
ENCYCLOPADIA. 


InN commenting on a recent paper by Mr. J. 
A. G. Rehn (Amer. Nat., XXIV., p. 575), Dr. 
J. A. Allen states (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 
XIII., p. 186) that the reference to ‘‘ Brewster’s 
American Edition, Edinburgh Encyclopedia, 
Vol. XII., Part II., p. 505, 1819,” given by 
Mr. Rehn, ‘‘is erroneous as to date, and mis- 
leading as to the title of the work cited.”’ 

There is nothing whatever in Mr. Rehn’s 
statement to warrant the idea that he had taken 
the reference at second hand, as Dr. Allen 
seems to have inferred, and as a matter of fact 
his reference is perfectly correct. 

As Dr. Allen’s positive statement that the 


686 


work dates from 1832 is calculated to mislead 
others, it seems desirable to call attention to 
the facts in the case. 

The earliest American edition of the work, 
entitled ‘The American Edition of the New 
Edinburgh Encyclopedia,’ was published at 
Philadelphia by Edw. Parker and Jos. Dela- 
plaine, Edw. Parker, and Jos. Parker (the firm 
changing twice apparently), in 18 volumes, each 
in two parts, making 36 volumes in all. Each 
has the full title printed on the outside cover, 
together- with the date of publication, which 
ranges from 1812 to 1831. 

This edition was probably printed directly 
from the Edinburgh one, as fast as the parts 
came out. Of this, however, I am not sure, as 
I have not the dates of the latter at hand. 

After this publication was finished, extra 
copies, which were apparently struck off from 
the same type, as they are absolutely identical, 
were bound up in 18 volumes with a new title 
page: ‘ The Edinburgh Encyclopedia conducted 
by David Brewster, first American edition,’ all 
the volumes bearing date of 1832. 

The statement ‘ first American edition’ prob- 
ably misled Dr. Allen, though except for the 
title page and introduction, this edition seems 
to be identical with the real first American edi- 
tion of 1812-1831. Both ‘editions’ are in the 
library of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia. WITMER STONE. 


THE SPENCER-TOLLES FUND OF THE AMERICAN 
MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: At the annual 
meeting of the American Microscopical Society, 
held in New York City during the last week in 
June, the especial attention of the Society was 
directed toward the Spencer-Tolles fund. As 
many are unfamiliar with the movement, per- 
mit us to state its history briefly as follows: 

After the death of Charles A. Spencer in 1881 
and of Robert B. Tolles a few years later, it 
was deemed fitting that a sum should be raised 
to provide a proper memorial to the father of 
American microscopy and his distinguished 
pupil, as a tribute due their services to the sci- 
entific world. The first notice of the movement 
was sufficient to bring, unsolicited, from the 
Royal Microscopical Society of London a con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


tribution for this purpose. Additional sums 
subscribed by the members and others, together 
with the natural increase under the careful 
management of the Custodian, have brought the 
sum to a total at date of $756. The recent 
death of Herbert R. Spencer, the last of the 
three famous American workers, to whose ef- 
forts toward the perfecting of microscopic ob- 
jectives the entire scientific world is so deeply 
indebted, serves as the immediate impulse of 
this movement toward the enlargement of the 
fund to a point at which its income may be suf- 
ficient to encourage in some way the advance- 
ment of science. It is accordingly desired that 
this tribute to the Spencers, father and son, and 
to their co-worker, Mr. Tolles, should be in- 
creased at once to the sum of at least $1,200, 
in order that the income therefrom may be 
offered each year under proper conditions as a 
reward for or assistance toward some scientific 
work or investigation of suitable character. 

To this end the undersigned were appointed 
by the Society to secure cooperation in the 
effort to increase the fund, and to solicit con- 
tributions toward that end. ~We believe that 
the object will appeal to every one who is called 
upon to use the microscope in any capacity 
whatever, and contributions will be welcomed 
from al]. Remittance should be made to Mr. 
Magnus Pflaum, Custodian of the Spencer- 
Tolles Fund, Bakewell Law Building, Pittsburg, 
Pa., who will at once return a proper receipt for 
the same. 

For the American Microscopical Society. 

Committee : 
Henry B. WARD, The University of Ne- 
braska, Lincoln. 
ADOLPH FEIEL, 520 Hast Main St., Colum- 


bus, Ohio. 
HENRY R. HOWLAND, 217 Sumner St., 
Buffalo, N. Y. 
Custodian : 


MAGNus PFLAUM, Bakewell Law Building, 
Pittsburg, Pa. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB, OCTOBER 9, 1900. 


THE scientific program consisted of reports 
of summer work. 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


Mr. Harper reported collections in Georgia 
during three and a half months, traversing all 
the geological formations from the mountains 
to the sea, and collecting 754 numbers. 

Dr. Rydberg reported two months spent in 
southern Colorado, with several new species; 
among them an interesting cactus from eleva- 
tion of 8,000 feet in the Bitter Root mountains, 
now growing at the Botanic Gardens. 

Dr. Howe reported nine weeks spent in 
collecting marine alge at three very differ- 
ent stations, Bermuda, Martha’s Vineyard (at 
Edgartown), and at Seguin Island, near the 
mouth of the Kennebec, an island four miles 
from the mainland, of about 150° elevation, 
its only inhabitants the three lightkeepers 
and families. Dr. Howe discussed the Ber- 
muda flora in the light of the Challenger re- 
port, which recognizes 326 species, of which 
144 are indigenous (in 109 genera and 50 fami- 
lies) ; out of the 144, 109 occur in the south- 
eastern United States and 108 in the West 
Indies. The Bermuda vegetation is essentially 
West Indian in character, and includes only 
eight endemic species. Among the few found 
also at New York are Osmunda regalis and cinna- 
momea, Woodwardia Virginica, Solidago semper- 
virens and Typha augustifolia. Practically the 
only trees are the Palmetto and the Bermudian 
Cedar, the latter 20 to 50 feet high, and only 
one or two feet thick, though some old shells 
are five feet. The oleander is naturalized and 
in some quarters covered the whole landscape 
with bloom. Because of the practical absence 
of frost, tropical trees are acclimated with sur- 
prising success. The coffee tree has run wild 
in the sink-holes. About 25 ferns were known 
and eight Musci and six Hepatic had been al- 
ready observed. There is nowhere any brook, 
and only one moss and one hepatica are com- 
mon ; the others are in the Devonshire marsh 
and the sink-holes of the Walsingham region. 
These are open caves 30 or 40 feet deep, with 
more moisture and shade and less wind, and 
therefore showing quite a different flora. There 
Dr. Howe discovered as many as 15 Hepatice. 
He also greatly increased the number of the 
marine alge beyond the 132 of the Challenger 
report. The marine flora seems at first scanty 
on account of the absence of Fucus and Asco- 


SCIENCE. 


687 


phyllum, but proves to be varied and interest- 
ing. It is practically that of southern Florida 
and the West Indies. 

Dr. MacDougal reported work in northern 
Idaho in the Priest River basin which had per- 
haps never been visited by a botanist before. 
There was frost nearly every night. The 
tangled wildwood could not be penetrated more 
than four miles a day, except as it is entered 
by meadows stretching back from the lake. 
Beaver-dams a quarter mile long cross these 
meadows and convert the upper portions into 
sedgy marshes. A colony of beavers was active 
within 400 yards of hiscamp. Great stretches 
of Drosera carpet the marshes. Interesting 
plants were collected to 325 numbers. 

Mrs. Britton sent in a brief report of her dis- 
covery of the protonema of Schizaea, observed 
as a green mat of thread-like bodies on the 
ground. On bringing them to the Botanic Gar- 
dens and cultivating them, she proved their de- 
velopment into Schizaea, and found the branch- 
ing protonema to bear 2 to 15 flask-like arche- 
gonia on basal parts and a number of globose 
antheridia toward the apex. Description will 
follow in the November Bulletin. Dr. Mac- 
Dougal remarked upon his observation of a 
mycorhizal association of a fungus in enlarged 
cells of this protonema. A similar association 
has been seen in the prothallus of Botrychium. 

Professor Lloyd reported upon work on the 
Gulf coast begun after the close of his classes 
at the Columbia University summer school. 
Professor Lloyd and Professor Tracy procured 
a barge at Biloxi, Miss., by which they ex- 
plored the flora of the islands of the Mississippi 
Sound and of the delta proper. It was neces- 
sary to sail for miles in two feet of water, oc- 
casionally jumping out to push. Always a 
furrow of mud followed in their wake. The 
islands bear a pine-barren and a sand-dune 
flora, with masses of Pinguicula and Drosera. 
The island surfaces are flat and form remnants 
of the tertiary Mississippi delta; they average 
only two feet above water, with a ridge a foot 
higher on the seaward side, composed of shell- 
fragments and continually shifted inward by 
the wind, the waves meanwhile gnawing off 
the seaward edge at the same rate. 

Professor Burgess reported his continued ob- 


688 . 


servations on certain asters at stations near 
Lake Erie, Boston, the White Mountains, New 
York City, etc., at each of which he has kept 
certain varying species under scrutiny for some 
years, to determine their range of variation in 
nature under unchanged environment. 
Professor Underwood reported herbarium 
work at Kew, the British Museum, and Paris, 
with particular reference to the herbarium of 
Cosson which is very rich in ferns, especially of 
South America and the West Indies. An inter- 
esting week was given to a trip to Biarritz, 
Spain, and the Landes, with views of the tur- 
pentine industry now flourishing among pine 
forests of the Landes originally planted as a 
protection from the sand-dunes. These pines 
average about ten inches in diameter. Maize 
was seen cultivated in the Basque provinces and 
to Bordeaux, the tops being cut off to favor the 
ripening of the ears, as in our South. 
EDWARD 8S. BURGESS, 
Secretary. 


NOTES ON OCEANOGRAPHY. 
THE DEEPEST FIORD ON THE LABRADOR COAST. 


AN expedition on the schooner Brave spent 
the past summer exploring the northeastern 
coast of Labrador. Twenty-one soundings in 
Nachvak Bay sufficed to show that it is a typical 
fiord. The line of dangerous reefs two miles 
to seaward from’the mouth of the bay belongs 
to a rock-sill which bars off the inlet from the 
deeper water of the Atlantic. Already at the 
mouth the depth is 107 fathoms. Six miles to 
westward, in the axis of the bay, the depth is 
110 fathoms; for the next six miles it averages 
100 fathoms. Then the bottom rapidly shoals 
to a narrow bar covered by no more than 18 
fathoms. On account of its continuity with a 
projecting spur of bed rock on each side, it was 
concluded that the bar is composed of the same 
material. From the summit of this submerged 
ridge a second steep slope leads to a depth of 80 
fathoms which persists to a point opposite the 
Hudson Bay Company’s Post. Twenty miles 
from the mouth, a second bar of similar com- 
position gave only 15 fathoms; it is flanked by 
depths of 60 fathoms. The bay has two branches, 
each heading about 25 miles from the bay-mouth, 
and is from one to two miles wide. Precipitous 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


cliffs from 2,000 to 3,400 feet high appear in the 
profile of the U-shaped cross-section which is 
the rule in all parts of the bay. The deepest 
sounding recorded on the Admiralty charts for 
the bays of this coast is 100 fathoms in Hamil- 
ton Inlet. 

The temperatures on August 30th were: at 
110 fathoms, —1°.7 C, (29° F.); at 50 fathoms, 
—1°.4C. (29°.4 F.); at 20 fathoms —1°.2 C. 
(29°.9 F.); at the surface, + 6°.8 C. (44°.3 F.). 
The temperature of the water from 20 fathoms 
downward to 50 fathoms is colder. than the 
water at corresponding depths in the open 
Atlantic outside. The bottom temperature is 
very close to that characteristic of the envelope 
of brackish water formed about a piece of sea- 
ice melting in normal open-Atlantic water. 
Drift-ice finally left Nachvak Bay this year as 
late as the first week in July. 


DRIFT-ICE AND THE THEORY OF OCEAN 
CURRENTS. 


THE extraordinary smoothness of the sea 
covered by drift-ice, even when the pans are 
widely spaced, is truly astonishing to one mak- 
ing his first voyage in such waters. His sail- 
ing ship may be favored with a fresh breeze and 
yet the ocean surface be quite level, save for 
the minute rippling characteristic of a small 
pond ruffled by asummer breeze ; ground-swell 
does not exist. It is a matter of common 
knowledge among the fishermen of the Atlantic 
Labrador coast that the Labrador current, or 
‘tide,’ as they invariably express it, often 
shows high velocity, although its surface, for 
a length of a thousand miles and a breadth of 
from one hundred to three hundred miles, is 
covered with loose pan-ice. Atsuch times, the 
wind is, or has just been, strong and from a 
northerly quarter. We are justified in believ- 
ing that the pans act as the sails which, in ice- 
free waters are represented by wind-waves. 
Floes and pans project above the surface from 
one to twenty feet or more. They may be 
expected to exert a coercive force on the film 
of relatively fresh water derived from the melt- 
ing of the ice in contact with the heavier salt 
water beneath. According with the behavior 
of such ‘dead water,’ as described by Nansen 
and others, the light surface layer will tend to 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


move en masse and in the direction of common 
pull exercised by the wind-driven masses of ice, 
By reason of friction the motion will be com- 
municated to lower layers of the sea. This 
cause of surface currents is of importance to 
the theory of movement of those polar waters 
which, for several months after the winter ice 
begins to break up, are free from larger wind- 
waves. Deprived of its chief sails, the Labra- 
dor current, always sensitive to wind conditions 
and at times subject to temporary reversal with 
contrary winds, yet preserves and perhaps ex- 
ceeds, during the period of ice-drift, the average 
velocity of current-flow for the year, 


NOMENCLATURE OF TERMS USED IN ICE NAVI- 
GATION, 


A USEFUL ‘ list of some of the terms used in 
ice navigation by whalers, sealers and others’ 
has been prepared by Commander William 
Wakeham, of the Canadian Marine and Fish- 
eries (Report of the Expedition to Hudson Bay 
and Cumberland Gulf in the steamship Diana, 
1897, Ottawa, 1898). Among the terms, the 
following are here noted with their definitions 
as expressed by Commander Wakeham : 


Floe—A large mass of floating ice. 

Pan—A small floe or small piece ; one that can be 
forced aside or slewed. 

A field—A large body of ice that may be seen 
around. 

Land floe—Ice frozen ast to the shore. 

Collar ice—Is the margin of ice frozen fast to an 
island or shore, presenting an abrupt wall against 
which the floating ice rises and falls with the tide. 

Growler—Is a more or less washed and rounded 
lump of ice which rolls about in the water, formed 
from broken up bergs or detached pieces of heavy 
old Arctic floe ice. [So called from the sound of 
heavy churning as the swell breaks at the undercut 
portion of the pan. ] 

Packed ice—Are small pieces closed together and 
held by the pressure’of ice and currents. 

Batture—Rafted ice [described on page 12 of the 
report]. 

Pressure ridge—Is the ridge or wall thrown up 
while the ice has rafted. 5 

Slack ice—Is detached, so that it may be worked 
through. Ice is said to be slacking when it begins to 
be open so as to be navigable. 

Running abroad—Ice is said to be running abroad 


SCIENCE. 


689 


when it opens out or slacks away so as to be nayi- 
gable. 

A nip—Ice is said to be nipping when it begins to 
close by reason of the action of winds or currents, so 
as to prevent the passage of a vessel. 

Calving—lIce is calving when the small pieces 
break off from the bottom and rise to the surface of 
the water. 

Slob—Is snow afloat and forming into ice. 

Sish—Is thin young new ice, just formed in thin 
sheets. 

Lolly—Is loose new ice. 

Porridge ice—Is small, finely ground up ice. 

Rafting—Occurs when two pans meet by force 
either by the action of wind or currents ; the edges 
are broken off and either rise on top of or pass under 
the body of the pans. 

A lead—Is a strip of navigable water opening into 
the pack. 

Slatches—Are considerable pools of open water in 
the ice. 

Swatch—Is a small pool of open water in the ice, 

Wash—Is the sound of the sea breaking against 
ice. 

Rote—Newfoundland term for wash. 

Water sky—Is a dark or bluish appearance of the 
sky indicating open water beyond the pack. 


REGINALD A. DALY. 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


AMERICAN ELECTRICIANS IN LONDON. 

THE Central London Railway, the ‘ Electric 
Underground,’ of London,, the ‘two-penny 
tube,’ is one of the most important and, in 
some respects, far the most remarkable ex- 
ample of the work of the American electrician 
and engineer in Europe, perhaps in the world, 
It is a subterranean road running from Shep- 
ard’s Bush, at the west, to the Bank in the city. 
It was opened last June by the Prince of Wales, 
Its 52 miles of route have seen the expendi- 
ture of about $15,500,000 during the four years 
of construction, and many minor bits of work 
remain to be performed. The original engineer 
of the work was the late Mr. T. H. Great- 
head. It was found necessary to come to the 
United States to secure its exceptionally large 
and powerful machinery and motive power. It 
is, in fact, an American electric railway in 
operation in London, the center of the brains 
and business of Great Britain. In one respect 
at least, however, it is novel as to its roadbed ; 


690 


it is an ‘undulating railway,’ its stations are 
all set on the crest of gradients rising from 
either side, illustrating the plan proposed in 
Robert Stephenson’s day by Badnall with the 
published approval of that great engineer.* 
This arrangement is perfectly feasible whereas 
here, the stops are all made at precisely the 
same points and with practically similar inter- 
mediate speed of trains. It insures gain in 
operation by the utilization of the stored energy 
of the train at a stop, instead of its waste by 
the use of the brake. Leaving the station, the 
descent is utilized in securing the required ac- 
celeration, thus again saving power. The 
gradients are 1.66 to 2.33 per cent., and the 
latter is equivalent to 74 pounds per ton on the 
draw-bar. One hundred horse-power minutes 
are thus gained at each stop and at each start. 

The electric locomotives were supplied by the 
General Electric Co., the converters by the 
Thompson-Houston Co., the electric ‘lifts’ at 
the stations, dropping the passenger 60 to 90 
feet at the start and raising him to the surface at 
his destination, were furnished by the Sprague 
Electric Co. The tunnel is double-barreled, 
each tube being 11 feet 6 inches in diameter. 
There are 13 stations and the running speed 
ranges from 14 to a maximum of 25 miles an 
hour between stations. Twenty-eight locomo- 
tives are employed; each hauling a train of 
seven carriages, conveying at most 336 passen- 
gers, the train weighing, empty, 105 tons, ex- 
clusive of the locomotive. The latter weighs 
about 50 short tons. Power is supplied also by 
an American firm, the E. P. Allis Co., who 
furnish six cross-compound engines, designed 
by Reynolds, of 1,300 to 1,990 horse-power 
each, and these are supplied with steam by 16 
Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers—another 
American invention. The generators are three- 
phase, alternating current, with revolving fields. 
The armatures weigh 48,000 pounds. The out- 
put is 850 kilowatts, each, at 5,000 volts, 25 
periods per second. Four six-pole exciters, 
driven, each, by a compound engine at 450 r. 
p. m., direct, supply to each generator 50 kilo- 
watts at 125 volts. The switchboard is of mar- 
ble. There are 19 miles of cable, weighing 78.4 


* Treatise on ‘ Railway Improvements,’ by R. Bad- 
nall ; London, Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 1833. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 305. 


tons. The engineers of the line are Messrs: 
Benjamin Baker and Basil Mott. 
R. H. THuRsTON. ~ 


WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. 

PrRoFEssSOR J. A. FLEMING writes to the Lon- 
don Times the following letter on recent ad- 
vances in wireless telegraphy : 

As the subject of wireless telegraphy has not 
yet apparently lost interest for the. general 
reader, I venture to ask a little space to make 
known for the first time some recent achieve- 
ments by Mr. Marconi which have astonished 
those who have been allowed to examine them. 
Every one is aware that in his system of elec- 
tric wave telegraphy an important feature is the 
employment of an elevated conductor, which 
generally takes the form of a wire suspended 
from a mast. When Mr. Marconi attracted at- 
tention by his feat of establishing communica- 
tion across the Channel without wires, critics 
raised a not altogether valid argument against 
its commercial utility, that a wave or signal 
sent out from one transmitter would affect 
equally all receivers within its sphere of influ- 
ence and hence the privacy of the communica- 
tion would be destroyed. No one felt the force 
of this objection more strongly than the dis- 
tinguished inventor himself, whose original 
work has caused so many others to attempt to 
follow in his steps. For the last two years he 
has not ceased to grapple with the problem of 
isolating the lines of communication, and suc- 
cess has now rewarded his skill and industry. 
Technical details must be left to be described 
by him later on, but meanwhile I may say that 
he has modified his receiving and transmitting 
appliances so that they will only respond to 
each other when properly tuned to sympathy. 
I am well aware that other inventors have 
claimed to be able to do the same thing, but I 
do not fear refutation in saying that no one has 
given practical proof of possessing a solution 
of this problem which for a moment can com- 
pare with that Mr. Marconi is now in a position 
to furnish. 

These experiments have been conducted be- 
tween two stations 30 miles apart, one near 
Poole in Dorset and the other near St. Cath- 
arine’s in the Isle of Wight. At the present 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


moment there are established at these places 
Mr. Marconi’s latest appliances, so adjusted 
that each receiver at one station responds only 
to its corresponding transmitter at the other. 
During a three days’ visit to Poole, Mr. Mar- 
coni invited me to apply any test I pleased to 
satisfy myself of the complete independence of 
the circuits, and the following are two out of 
many such tests: Two operators at St. Cath- 
arine’s were instructed to send simultaneously 
two different wireless messages to Poole, and 
without delay or mistake the two were cor- 
rectly recorded and printed down at the same 
time in Morse signals on the tapes of the two 
corresponding receivers at Poole. 

In this first demonstration each receiver was 
connected to its own independent aérial wire 
hung from the same mast. But greater won- 
ders followed. Mr. Marconi placed the re- 
ceivers at Poole one on the top of the other, 
and connected them both to one and the same 
wire about 40 ft. in length, attached to a mast. 
I then asked to have two messages sent at the 
same moment by the operators at St. Cather- 
ine’s, one in English andonein French. With- 
out failure each receiver at Poole rolled out its 
paper tape, the message in English perfect on 
one and that in French on the other. When it 
is realized that these visible dots and dashes 
are the results of trains of intermingled elec- 
tric waves rushing with the speed of light across 


the intervening 30 miles, caught on one and © 


the same short aérial wire and disentangled 
and sorted out automatically by the two ma- 
chines into intelligible messages in different 
languages, the wonder of it all cannot but 
strike the mind. 

Your space is too valuable to be encroached 
upon by further details, or else I might men- 
tion some marvellous results, exhibited by Mr. 
Marconi during the same demonstrations, of 
messages received from a transmitter 30 miles 
away and recorded by an instrument in a closed 
room merely by the aid of a zinc cylinder, four 
feet high, placed onachair. More surprising is 
it to learn that, whilst these experiments have 
‘been proceeding between Poole and St. Cathe- 
rine’s, others have been taking place for the 
Admiralty between Portsmouth and Portland, 
these lines of communication intersecting each 


SCIENCE. 


691 


other ; yet so perfect is the independence that 
nothing done on one circuit now affects the 
other, unless desired. A corollary of these 
latest improvements is that the necessity for 
very high masts isabolished. Mr. Marconi now 
has established perfect independent wireless 
telegraphic communication between Poole and 
St. Catherine’s, a distance of 30 miles, by means 
of a pair of metal cylinders elevated 25 or 30 
feet above the ground at each place. 

I need not enlarge on the possibilities thus 
opened out for naval and military purposes. 
The importance of this practical solution of the 
problem of independent electric wave teleg- 
raphy, in which each wireless circuit is as 
private as one with a wire, is obvious without 
comment. My desire is solely to mention the 
above facts for the benefit of general readers, 
whose minds will thus perhaps be eased of any 
doubts lest this brilliant application of elec- 
trical discoveries should, like some others, fall 
short of satisfying the requirements of practical 
use and be relegated to the region of imperfect 
inventions or unfulfilled hopes. 


SPECIES OF MOSQUITOES COLLECTED FOR 
THE BRITISH MUSEUM.* 

AT the latter end of 1898 a committee was 
appointed jointly by Mr. Chamberlain and the 
Royal Society to exercise a general supervision 
over a scientific investigation of malaria, and 
it was then suggested that, in view of the con- 
nection of malaria with mosquitoes, it would be 
desirable to obtain exact knowledge of the dif- 
ferent species of mosquitoes and allied insects 
in the various tropical colonies. Acting on this 
suggestion, Mr. Chamberlain at once issued a 
circular despatch to the Governors of all the 
Crown colonies, requesting them to take the 
necessary steps to have such collections made 
and sent to the Natural History Museum for 
examination and classification of the specimens. 
For the guidance of those who might be em- 
ployed on the work, directions for collecting, 
mounting and preserving the insects were drawn 
up by the museum and distributed in the colo- 
nies. Asa result of these measures considerably 
over 3,000 specimens of mosquitoes have, we 
learn, been received at Cromwell-road up to 

* From the London Times. 


692 


the present from various quarters, and collec- 
tions are still coming in almost every week. 
The work of identifying and describing the 
specimens was at first entrusted to Mr. E. E, 
Austen, the dipterist on the staff of the museum, 
but later he volunteered for active service in 
South Africa and joined the City Imperial Vol- 
unteers. Apart from his duties as a soldier Mr. 
Austen has, we hear, done useful service in his 
capacity of naturalist in the South African Field 
Force. There are not many professional dip- 
terists in this country, and it was therefore 
fortunate that the director of the museum, Pro- 
fessor Ray Lankester, was able to obtain the 
services of Mr. F. V. Theobald, a graduate of 
the University of Cambridge, who is one of the 
few men in England who has studied mosqui- 
toes, to carry on the work in Mr. Austen’s 
absence. Mr. Theobald is now engaged in the 
preparation of a monograph on mosquitoes, 
based on the collections at the museum, the 
printing of which has been sanctioned by the 
trustees, 

Pending the issue of this catalogue, it has 
been thought desirable, for the satisfaction of 
those who have been at the trouble to make the 
eollections, to print a preliminary report of the 
progress made by Mr. Theobald in identifying 
the specimens already received. The com- 
bined collections contain a large number of spe- 
cies, the majority belonging to the genus 
Culex. Mr. Theobald at present has completed 
the genus Anopheles, which has been hopelessly 
convicted of being the medium by which the 
malaria parasite is transmitted from person to 
person. The genus is represented in the mu- 
seum by 22 species, 10 of which are new to sci- 
ence. The Anopheles, unlike the comparatively 
inocuous Culex, does not appear to have a wide 
distribution in regard to species, although the 
genus is world-wide. One of the greatest dis- 
tances between any two localities for the same 
species is Formosa and the Straits Settlements. 
A long series sent by Mr. Wray from the Straits 
Settlements contained 66 Anopheles and 72 
Culex, the former being remarkable for their 
great variation both in color and in size; 
whereas all the other specimens of the genus 
received appear very constant in color and 
markings. Some species of Culex seem to have 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


a very wide distribution. Thus one species has 
been sent from the following widely-separated 
localities: Japan, Formosa, Hong-kong, Ma- 
lay Peninsula, India, South and West Africa, 
North and South America, West Indies and 
Gibralter. As many of the species are very ob- 
scure, photographs of the wings and drawings 
of various parts are being prepared, and com- 
plete figures of the majority of species will also 
be given in the proposed monograph. The col- 
lection and preservation of these tiny and very 
delicate insects are a most difficult matter, in- 
volving unwearied patience and extreme care. 
The fact that most of the collections have ar- 
rived at the museum from remote parts of the 
world in fair condition says much for the zeal 
and care with which the gentlemen concerned 
have endeavored to carry out the wishes of the 
Colonial Secretary in this important investiga- 
tion. 


YELLOW FEVER AND MOSQUITOES. 

A PRELIMINARY paper on the etiology of yel- 
low fever, by Walter Reed, surgeon, United 
States army, and James Carroll, A. Agramonte, 
Jesse W. Lazear, assistant surgeons, United 
States army, was read at the recent meeting 
of the American Public Health Association at 
Indianapolis and is published in the last issue 
of the Philadelphia Medical Journal. It appears 
that in eleven cases in which non-immune indi- 
viduals were inoculated through the bites of 
mosquitoes (culex fasciatus) two attacks of yel- 
low fever followed and that another attack is 
directly traced to the bite of a contaminated 
mosquito. The authors conclude as follows: 

For ourselves, we have been profoundly im- 
pressed with the mode of infection and with the 
results that followed the bite of the mosquito 
in these three cases. Our results would appear 
to throw new light on Carter’s observations in 
Mississippi, as to the period required between 
the introduction of the first (infecting) case and 
the occurrence of secondary cases of yellow 
fever. 

Since we here, for the first time, record a case 
in which a typical attack of yellow fever has 
followed the bite ofan infected mosquito, within 
the usual period of incubation of the disease, 
and in which other sources of infection can be 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


excluded, we feel confident that the publication 
of these observations must excite renewed in- 
terest in the mosquito-theory of the propagation 
of yellow fever, as first proposed by Finlay. 

From the first part of our study of yellow 
fever, we draw the following conclusions : 

1. The blood taken during life from the gen- 
eral venous circulation, on various days of the 
disease, in 18 cases of yellow fever, successively 
studied, has given negative results as regards 
the presence of B. icteroides. 

2. Cultures taken from the blood and organs 
of 11 yellow fever cadavers have also proved 
negative as regards the presence of this bacillus. 

8. Bacillus icteroides (Sanarelli) stands in no 
causative relation to yellow fever, but, when 
present, should be considered as a secondary 
‘invader in this disease. 

From the second part of our study of yellow 
fever, we draw the following conclusions: 


The mosquito serves as the intermediate host: 


for the parasite of yellow fever, and it is highly 
probable that the disease is only propagated 
through the bite of this insect. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

ProFressor S. P. LANGLEY, director of the 
Smithsonian Institution returned to the United 
States on October 24th. He was given the hon- 
orary degree of Doctor of Science on October 
11th, by Cambridge University. 

THE Rumford Committee of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences has voted a grant 
of $200 to Mr. C. EH. Mendenhall of Williams 
College for the furtherance of his investigations 
on a hollow bolometer, and a grant of $500 to 
Professor George E. Hale of the Yerkes Obser- 
vatory in furtherance of his researches in con- 
nection with the application of the radiometer 
and a study of the infra-red spectrum of the 
chromosphere. 

Dr. E. W. Hosson, F.R.S., has been nomi- 
nated for the presidency of the London Mathe- 
matical Society, succeeding Lord Kelvin. 

Str LowTHIAN BELL, F.R.S8., succeeds the 
Hon. C. A. Parsons, F.R.S. as president of the 
British Institution of Junior Engineers. 


PROFESSOR BRUHNES, who holds the chair of 
physics in the University of Dijon, has been ap- 


SCIENCE. 


693 


pointed director of the observatory on the Pui- 
de-Déme. 

Mr. MARSHALL H. SAVILLE, of the Amer- 
ican Museum of Natural History, left for South- 
ern Mexico on November 1st, where he will con- 
tinue his excavations in the territory formerly 
occupied by the Zapotecans. 


Dr. KARL EH, GuTHE, of the department of 
physics of the University of Michigan, is spend- 
ing the present year in Leipzic, Germany, con- 
ducting inveStigations in the general subject of 
physical chemistry. 


A BRONZE medallion with a likeness of Syl- 
vester will hereafter be awarded as a mathe- 
matical prize at the Johns Hopkins University. 


THE death is announced, at the age of seventy- 
seven years, of Dr. Friedrich Max-Miller, Cor- 
pus professor of comparative philology at Ox- 
ford University, well-known throughout the 
world for his researches in oriental philosophy 
and literature and for his more popular writings, 
covering a wide field. 


Dr. Mosrs C. WHITE, emeritus professor in 
the Yale Medical School, died on October 24th 
aged seventy-nine years, and Dr. Lawrence 
Turnbull, the author of numerous works on 
diseases of the eye and ear, and a well-known 
specialist, on October 24th, aged seventy-nine 
years. : 

WE regret also to record the death at the age 
of sixty-one years of Dr. A. B. Frank, pro- 
fessor of botany in the Agricultural School at 
Berlin and director of the biological division of 
the Imperial Board of Health; of Dr. Robert 
Hegler, docent in chemistry in the University 
at Rostock, on September 29th, aged thirty-one 
years, and of Dr. Ferdinand Anton, director of 
the astronomical and meteorological observa: 
tory of Trieste, on October 3d, at the age of 
fifty-six years. 


WE have already called attention to the ap- 
pointment of a Baird Memorial Committee, of 
which Dr. H. M. Smith is chairman, the object 
of which is to erect a tablet or monument at 
Woods Holl in memory of the late Spencer F. 
Baird. The nature of the proposed memorial 
has not yet been determined as it must depend 
on the amount subscribed, but the committee 


694 


are now prepared to receive subscriptions. Any 
contribution will be acceptable, but the com- 
mittee are especially anxious to receive a large 
number ofsmall individual subscriptions. These 
may be sent to the treasurer of the committee, 
the Hon. EH. G. Blackford, Fulton Market, New 
York City. } 

THE Highteenth Congress of the American 
Ornithologists’ Union will convene in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., on Monday, November 12th at 
8 o’clock P. M. The evening session will be 
devoted to the election of officers and the trans- 
action of other routine business. The meet- 
ings, open to the public and devoted to the read- 
ing and discussion of scientific papers, will be 
held in the Nash Lecture room, University 
Museum, Oxford St., beginning Tuesday, No- 
vember 13th, at 10 A. M., and continuing for 
three days. 


THE Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, Pitts- 
burg, have sent invitations for the celebration 
of Founders Day in Music Hall and for an ex- 
hibition of the Art Gallery, Library and Mu- 
seum on Thursday afternoon, November 1st. 
The Museum has been greatly enriched during 
the present year by the fossil vertebrates of 
Wyoming and South Dakota, which will be 
described by Dr. J. B. Hatcher in the next 
issue of this Journal. 

THE lecture arrangements of the London In- 
stitution for the present season include the fol- 
owing: ‘The Rise of Egyptian Civilization,’ 
by Professor Flinders Petrie; ‘The Earth’s Be- 
ginning,’ by Sir Robert Ball; ‘The Earth’s 
Earliest Inhabitants,’ by Professor Grenville 
Cole; ‘The Caves of Jenolan,’ by Mr. F. Lam- 
bert ; ‘The Tercentenary of the Science of Elec- 
tricity,’ by Professor Sylvanus Thompson ; ‘ The 
Evolution of the Brain,’ by Dr. Alex Hill; 
‘Modern Aeronautics,’ by Mr. Eric S. Bruce; 
‘The First Ascent of Mount Kenya,’ by Mr. 
H. J. MacKinder ; ‘The Effect of Alcohol on 
the Nervous System,’ by Professor Victor Hors- 
ley ; ‘The Decorative Art of Primitive Peoples,’ 
by Professor A. C. Haddon, and ‘ Aquatic Au- 
tocrats and Fairies,’ by Mr. F. Enock. 


A CIVIL service examination will be held on 
November 20th to fill the position of assistant 
biologist in the Division of Biological Survey, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


Department of Agriculture, at an annual salary 
of $1,500. The subjects and their weights are 
as follows: Essay writing, 1; French, 1; Ger- 
man, 1; physical geography of the United 
States, 1; ornithology and mammalogy, 3; 
identification of specimens, 3. 


ACCORDING to the St. Petersburg Gazette, the 
Russian Government has decided to adopt the 
metric standard of weights and measures, and 
the ministry of finance is now engaged in con- 
sidering the time and manner of introducing 
this reform. 


THE expedition sent by the Harvard Observa- 
tory to observe the planet Eros in its approach- 
ing opposition has arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, 
and is being afforded facilities for its work by 
the Government. 


A CABLE dispatch to the New York Sun states 
that an official report of the Duke of the Ab- 
ruzzi’s discoveries in the north is published in 
the Rivista Maritima. It says the expedition 


‘corrected the position of Cape Flora, and re- 


ports that King Oscar Island and Petermann 
Land do not exist. 


A PATHOLOGICAL INSTITUTE is being built at 
Quala Lumpoy, the capital of the federated 
Malay States, and Dr. Hamilton Wright has 
been appointed director. The British Colonial 
Office has offered to pay the expenses of stu- 
dents who wish to study beri-beri and malaria 
at the new institute. 


VICcE-CoNSUL GENERAL HANAUER, of Frank- 
fort, under date of September 29, 1900, says: 
Molten wood is a new invention by Mr. De 
Gall, inspector of forests at Lemur, France. 
By means of dry distillation and high pressure, 
the escape of developing gases is prevented, 
thereby reducing the wood to a molten condi- 
tion. After cooling off, the mass assumes the 
character of coal, yet without showing a trace 
of the organic structure of that mineral. This 
new body is hard, but can be shaped and pol- 
ished at will ; is impervious to water and acids, 
and is a perfect electrical non-conductor. 


THE London Times states, that a meeting of 
the British and American members of the Inter- 
national Association for the Advancement of 
Science, Arts and Education was held in the 


NOVEMBER 2, 1900. ] 


United States pavilion at the exhibition on Sep- 
tember 14th. Mr. Bryce, M.P., vice-president of 
the British group, wasinthe chair. The officials 
and various members of the French, Russian, 
and German groups of the Association were also 
present. A report prepared by the secretaries 
of the work of the first year was read by Pro- 
fessor Patrick Geddes. He described the work 
in Paris, which has been to provide, on the one 
hand, arendezvous and center for scientific men 
and others attending the congresses of the ex- 
hibition ; and, on the other, to provide for the 
public interested in various sections expert 
guidance to these. He further stated that a 
series of brief reports were being prepared by 
members of the assembly on special phases of 
the exhibition, and that it was proposed to or- 
ganize assemblies at the Glasgow Exhibition of 
1901 and the St. Louis Exhibition of 1903. 
Resolutions commending the work of the Associ- 
ation in all its branches and approving the pro- 
posals for future activities were proposed and 
carried unanimously. The chairman, in sup- 
porting the resolutions, said that he hoped all 
present would endeavor to bring the aims of the 
organization to the knowledge of those who 
would be able to give it financial help. He 
wished to dwell for a moment on the excellent 
evidence of international cooperation which was 
to be seen in this Association. Lately there had 
been a meeting of Chambers of Commerce in 
Paris, and much had been said of the advantages 
to be gained from peace and harmony among the 
nations. But commerce, much as they desired 
it to be means of peace, sometimes led to 
strife. He thought there was something which 
made far more strongly for peace, and that was 
science and learning, which did not depend for 
their growth on competition and rivalry. For 
this reason he felt that their association should 
be a great factor towards international under- 
standing. He felt the exhibition had made an 
opportunity for the coming together of the 
savants of the world, and the International As- 
sociation gave the means to continue the 
friendly relations there begun. 

A REPORT on the plague in Egypt, covering 
the period from May, 1899, to July, 1900, 
which has been issued from the Sanitary De- 
partment of the Ministry of the Interior at 


SCIENCE. 


695 


Cairo, according to the London Times, contains 
a very full and clear account of the outbreak at 
Alexandria which commenced in the first named 
month, and the last case of which occurred on 
the 5th of the following November. In all 
96 cases became known to the authorities ; 
and it was estimated that 27 more, of mild 
character and followed by recovery, might pos- 
sibly have escaped notification. The 96 were 
made up of 66 natives and 30 foreigners, the 
latter mostly Greeks, Frenchmen or Italians 
employed in groceries, bakeries, wine shops 
or at restaurateurs. The mortality among re- 
ported cases was 48 per cent., and there was 
reason to believe that no death from plague es- 
caped notice. The precautions taken for ar- 
resting the course of the disease appear to have 
been admirably devised and conducted, and are 
set forth under the three heads of—(1) measures 
to assure prompt discovery of each case of 
plague and of all suspicious cases; (2) direct 
measures to prevent the propagation of the dis- 
ease from individual cases; and (8) indirect 
measures, such as general cleansing of dirty 
quarters, with a view to eliminate all condi- 
tions favorable to the existence or propagation 
of the disease. A sum of £E.30,000 was granted 
by the Caisse de la Dette to defray the extra ex- 
penses, and was placed at the disposal of the 
Director-General of the Sanitary Department ; 
but the total outlay exceeded this sum by 
£E.4000; and the whole of the work required 
seems to have been carried out with great dis- 
cretion and tact, and with the minimum of of- 
fence to religious or other susceptibilities. The 
description of the administration, which is in 
English, is followed by a report in French on 
the clinical histories of the more important 
cases, a history from which it appears that, 
without bacteriological examination, the di- 
agnosis of plague is beset by great difficulties 
and must often be extremely uncertain. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


THE daily papers report that a trustee of 
Beloit College has offered to contribute $200,- 
000 in case the further sum of $150,000 is col- 
lected for the College. 


Mr. HoLBrook GASKELL has given $5,000 


696 


towards a new physical laboratory for Univer- 
sity College, Liverpool. It appears from the 
report of the treasurer of the College that there 
was last year a deficit of $6,000 and that the 
debt of the College is $55,000. 


THE Oxford City Council has secured a new 
valuation of the property of the University and 
the Colleges which would subject them to an 
increased tax of $23,000 a year. The question 
of increased valuation will probably come be- 
fore the Courts. 


ACCORDING to the daily papers Lafayette 
College conferred on October 24th, an honorary 
Ph.D. degree on the Rev. Ernest P. F. Pfat- 
techer of Lebanon. If this news is correct the 
Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools 
of the Middle States and Maryland should at 
its approaching meeting take action that will 
prevent the improper use of this degree. 


THE registration at Harvard University is as 
follows: in the college, senior class, 391; junior 
class, 379; sophomore, 539; freshman, 537; 
special students, 149; total in college, 1,995, a 
gain of 99 over last year; the scientific school, 
506, a gain of 12; graduate school, 327, a gain 
of 12; divinity school, 25, a loss of 2; law 
school, 618, a gain of 14; medical school, 590, 
a gain of 40; dental school, 129, a loss of 3; 
veterinary school, 17, a loss of 7; Bussey in- 
stitution, 27, a gain of 2; total for the academic 
year 1900, 4,234; total gain, 167. 


THE enrollment of undergraduates at Prince- 
ton University shows a total gain of 120 com- 
pared with the figures of last year. There are 
745 academic students, an increase of fifty-nine, 
and 421 in the scientific department, a gain of 
fifty-eight. Seven men are registered in the 
electrical school, against four last year. 


AT Williams College Dr. F. H. Howard, of 
the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New 
York, has been appointed instructor in physiol- 
ogy and hygiene in place of Dr. Woodbridge, 
who died a year ago. 

THE income of the Stearns’ Fellowship in 
the pharmaceutical department of the Univer- 
sity of Michigan for the present and sixth year 
has been divided between Harold C. Watkins 
and Charles R. Eckler, who are at work in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 305. 


parallel lines upon the same subject, namely, 
the chemical and botanical characteristics of 
certain plants of the poppy family. Mr. Wat- 
kins will investigate the chemistry, Mr. Eckler 
the botanical characteristics of the plants. 
The work is under the supervision of Professor 
Julius O. Schlotterbeck. 


Sir H. E. Roscor, F.R.S., is vice-chancellor 
of the reorganized University of London, and 
Sir John Wolfe Wolfe-Barry, F.R.S., is one of 
the crown members of the senate. The faculty 
members representing science are Sir Michael 
Foster, Sec. F.R.S., Dr. William B. Hallibur- 
ton, F.R.S., Professor William Ramsay, F.R.S., 
and Professor A. W. Ricker, F.R.S. The rep- 
resentatives of the different institutions in the 
senate also include a number of scientific men 
—Lord Lister, Professor G. C. Foster, Dr. P. 
H. Pye-Smith and others. 


PrRoFEssoR T. G. BONNEY, F.R.S., has re- 
signed from the chair of geology in University 
College, London, which he has held for thirty- 
three years. 

THE Committee of the School of Geography, 
at Oxford University, has elected the Rev. 
Edward Clarke Spicer, of New College, to the 
Geographical Scholarship for 1900-1901. 


Dr. HANS GEORGES, engineer-in-chief of the 
firm of Siemens & Halske, has been appointed 
director of the Electrical Engineering Institute 
and professor of electrical engineering in the 
Dresden Institute of Technology. 

Dr. LORENZ, of the University at Halle, has 
been made director of the Physical and Tech- 
nological Institute of the University at Got- 
tingen. 

Dr. M. von RACIBORSKI has been appointed 
professor of botany and director of the botanical 
gardens in the agricultural school at Dublaney, 
near Lemberg. 

Dr. FRANZ KOLACEK, of the Bohemian Uni- 
versity at Prague, has been appointed professor 
of physics in the School of Technology at Brinn, 
and Dr. Sauer of Heidelberg professor of min- 
eralogy and geology in the Polytechnic Institute 
at Stuttgart. Dr. Emil Borras of the Geodetic 
Institute at Pottsdam has been promoted to a 
professorship. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NeEwcomsB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaRD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MeRRrIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 


N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. 
Physiology; J. S. BILLINGS, 


S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownpircH, 
Hygiene ; 


WitntAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, NoveMBER 9, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 

The Imperial Physico- Technical Institution in Char- 

lotienburg: PROFESSOR HENRY S. CARHART... 
Plant Geography of North America :— 

The Physiographie Ecology of Northern Michigan : 

DR. HENRY C. COWLES..............cc.scee-eeceee 708 
The Relations of the North American Flora to that 

of South America: . PROFESSOR WILLIAM L. 


697 


IB RAY Gai seitecc sinsecictsco asset waoiatesiciae oationtenseasiecstess 708 
Names of Animals published by Osbeck in 1765: 

ANVBNIG Do HQ ocodaocbs conoocanbshoobsbeobeabsoconopse00009 716 
The Carnegie Museum Paleontological Expeditions 

Of IOOKN Je B PEAT CHIR jsteeiereieteesesctesseeseaae 718 
Opening of the Anthropological Collections in the 

American Museum of Natural History ............ 720 


Scientific Books :— 
Ostwald’s Grundlinien der anorganischen Chemie : 
PROFESSOR WILDER D. BANCROFT. Twelfth 
Annual Report on the Railways of the United 


States: PROFESSOR R. H. THurRstToNn. Bed- 

dard on Whales: PROFESSOR H. C. BUMPUS. 

General. Books Received.......0cs00cnseso---<-----+8 722 
Scientific Jowrnals and Articles.......c.csseceeereereeeece T2T 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Biological Society of Washington: F. A. 
Lucas. The New York Academy of Sciences : Sec- 
tion of Biology, PROFESSOR F. E. Luoyp. Sec- 
tion of Anthropology and Psychology: PROFES- 
SOR CHARLES H. JUDD 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Earliest Use of the Names Sauria and Ba- 
trachia; DR. THEO. GIDL ....2..----.--2rseeceeeenee 730 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry : J. L. H.......-21...-+. 
Notes on Meteorology :— 
Vonthly Weather Review; Climate of Cordoba 
(Argentina): R. DEC. WARD.........0....0.eseeeeee 731 


An Explosion of Sees Interest: PROFESSOR R. 


H. THURSTON .. z apasondeocbon see) 
Scientific Notes bpd Reon. J ononndogasonooodaasetosboscoosbed 733 
University and Educational News .........11.0.eseeee0es 736 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE IMPERIAL PHYSICO-TECHNICAL INSTI- 
TUTION IN CHARLOTTENBURG.* 


I. HISTORICAL. 


THRouGH the courtesy of Professor Kohl- 
rausch, President of the Reichsanstalt, and 
the Curatorium or governing body of the 
institution, the writer was accorded the 
privilege of working in the Physikalisch- 
Technische Reichsanstalt as a_ scientific 
guest during the last few months of 1899. 
An unusual opportunity was thus afforded 
of learning rather intimately the methods 
employed and the results accomplished in 
this famous institution for the conduct of 
physical research, the supply of standards 
and the verification of instruments of pre- 
cision for scientific and technical purposes. 

It is well-known that the Reichsanstalt 
is situated in Charlottenburg, a suburb of 
Berlin just beyond the renowned Thier- 
garten. The buildings occupy an entire 
square, the larger part of which, valued at 
500,000 Marks, was the gift of Dr. Werner 
Siemens. In making this gift, which was 
offered in land or money at the option of 
the government, Dr. Siemens declared that 
he had in mind only the object of serving 
his fatherland and of demonstrating his 
love for science, to which he avowed him- 
self entirely indebted for his rise in life. 


* A paper presented at the 146th meeting of the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers, New York, 
September 26, 1900. 


698 


The gift was made as a stimulus to the 
government to establish an institution for 
physical research. The kind of institution 
desired had been amply described in suit- 
able memorials prepared by himself, Pro- 
fessor von Helmholtz and others of scarcely 
less distinction. The first memorial bears 
the date of June 16, 1883. Itrelates to ‘The 
Founding of an Institution for the Experi- 
mental Promotion of Exact Natural Phi- 
losophy and the Technical Arts of Precis- 
ion.’ It points out the need of such an 
institution, details the benefit likely to 
accrue from it, lays great stress on the inti- 
mate relation existing between scientific in- 
vestigations and their application in the 
useful arts, and sets forth somewhat in de- 
tail a plan of organization. The memorial- 
ists had in mind at that time a ‘ Physico- 
Mechanical Institution,’ but in the me- 
morial of the following year (March 20, 
1884) the title was changed to the one 
which the institution now bears— Physi- 
kalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt.’ From 
this second memorial it is learned that the 
first steps toward the furtherance of exact 
science and technical precision, in an insti- 
tution to be founded and maintained by the 
State, were taken as early as 1872. This 
movement had the support of the crown- 
prince, the late Emperor Frederick, and the 
matter was taken in hand by Count von 
Moltke as chairman of the Central Bureau 
for Metrology in Prussia. He called to- 
gether a commission near the end of the 
year 1873, and in the following January 
this commission reported a series of propo- 
sitions for the improvement of the scien- 
tific, mechanic arts, and of instruments of 
precision. These propositions formed the 
foundation for a memorial on the same sub- 
ject to the Chamber of Delegates of the 
Prussian Government in 1876. The result 
was that appropriate rooms were set aside 
in the new building of the Technical High 
School in Charlottenburg for the organiza- 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


tion of an institution for the cultivation of 
the arts of precision. 

The general plan of the Reichsanstalt 
was adopted in 1887, and an appropriation 
of 868,254 Marks was made and spread 
over the budget for three years. The main 
building for the first or scientific division 
was completed in 18938. The second or 
technical division was housed in a portion 
of the Technical High School till the build- 
ings for this division were completed in 
1897. All departments of activity of the 
Reichsanstalt are now accommodated on the 
square facing on March Strasse in Charlot- 
tenburg. They include the division for 
pure scientific research, mechanical meas- 
urements of precision, electrical measure- 
ments and instruments, the measurement 
of large direct and alternating currents and 
electromotive forces, the optical depart- 
ment, the department of thermometry, the 
department of pyrometry and the depart- 
ment of chemistry. To these as auxiliaries 
should be added the power plant and the 
workshop. 

II. ORGANIZATION. 

The two divisions into which the Reichs- 
anstalt is divided correspond to the two 
paramount objects which the founders had 
in view, viz., research in pure science, and 
the cultivation of precision in the technical 
applications of science. The same idea is 
embodied in the very name of the institu- 
tion—the Imperial Physico-Technical In- 
stitution. Ifthesole purpose of the Austalt 
had been the promotion of improvement in 
the mechanic arts, in engineering and in 
instruments of precision, the first or scien- 
tific division would still have been essential 
to secure the ends sought. All the applica- 
tions of science rest on the foundation of 
pure scientific discovery. The creation of 
new and improved methods and instru- 
ments for physical measurements requires 
the most exhaustive and painstaking inves- 
tigations as a preliminary to a steady and 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


confident advance. The practical value of 
research in pure science is no longer in 
question. The wise founders of the Reichs- 
anstalt made no mistake in coupling an 
institution for the promotion of technical 
precision with one for the prosecution of 
~research in physical science. 

The governing body or Curatorium of the 
Reichsanstalt is appointed by the Emperor. 
At its head is Herr Weymann, Imperial 
Privy Counsellor. The function of the 
Curatorium is the appointment of the offi- 
cials and the general management of the 
institution. The chief officer of the Reichs- 
anstalt is the President, and the most dis- 
tinguished physicist of the realm is sought 
for this position. Helmholtz was taken 
from the University in Berlin to become the 
first incumbent of the office ; after his death 
in 1893, his successor as professor of physics 
in the University, Professor F. Kohlrausch, 
became his successor as President of the 
Reichsanstalt. 

The President, who is at the same time 
director of the first division, is held respon- 
sible for the successful work of the Reichs- 
anstalt. All other officials are therefore 
subordinate to him. In his absence the 
duties of his office devolve upon the Director 
of the technical division. Subordinate to 
the director of this second division are the 
professors, associates, and assistants of 
various grades. A professor in charge of a 
department has the direction of all those 
employed in it, including a skilled depart- 
mental mechanician. 

The specific duties of the President may 
be briefly enumerated. He must lay before 
the Curatorium at its annual meeting the 
following : 

1. A report on the work executed in both 
divisions. 

2. The plan of work for the undertakings 
to be carried out the ensuing year. 

3. Propositions relative to the money to 
be expended for scientific and technical 


SCLENCE. 


699 


work ; 
tions. 

4. Propositions relative to the rank of 
permanent associates and assistants; also 
relative to the bestowal of places to work 
in the Reichsanstalt as scientific guests. 

He takes a vote on the propositions in 3 
and 4, and reports the conclusions of the 
Curatorium to the government for approval. 
It is also the duty of the President to sign 
vouchers for all payments, and he is held 
responsible for the proper expenditure of 
the money appropriated for the maintenance 
of the institution. 

The different functions of the two divi- 
sions composing the institution are defined 
in rather broad terms. It is the duty of 
the first division to carry out physical in- 
vestigations requiring more uninterrupted 
time on the part of the observer, and better 
accessories in the way of instruments and 
local appliances, than private individuals 
and laboratories of institutions for teaching 
as a rule can offer. These investigations 
shall be carried out partly by officers of the 
Anstalt and partly, under their oversight, 
by scientific guests and voluntary workers. 
By scientific guests in general are meant 
the holders of scientific positions in the 
German Empire who wish to prosecute 
scientific researches, the plan of which they 
have submitted, and for which they have 
not at home the necessary appliances. They 
must be recommended by the State in which 
they reside and must be accepted by the 
Curatorium. 

Young men may be accepted as voluntary 
workers who have proved their ability by 
scientific publications. They will under- 
take researches which have been deter- 
mined upon by the Curatorium or the Di- 
rector ; or they may investigate subjects 
which they themselves suggest, and which 
appear to the Director to be practicable and 
worthy of execution. Thescientific results 
obtained must be published only at the dis- 


also for salaries and remunera- 


700 


cretion of the authorities of the institution, 
who reserve also the right to publish them 
in the researches of the Reichsanstalt. Pro- 
vision is made that voluntary workers shall 
not use the institution for private ends nor 
to obtain patents. 

The second division of the Reichsanstalt 
is placed under a Director, who is subject 
to the higher authority of the President. 
Such a Director was considered necessary 
on account of the special work of this di- 
vision, as well as because of the intimate 
relations into which it is brought with many 
persons engaged in industrial pursuits. He 
should therefore not only be a scientific man, 
but should at the same time have some 
technical knowledge of the applications of 
science. Under the Director are placed the 
permanent heads of the subdivisions of the 
technical department, one having the over- 
sight of thermometry, one of optics, two of 
electricity, and one of mechanical measure- 
ments of precision. Along with these, and 
of the samé rank and compensation, is the 
director of the workshop. Under him at 
present are eight mechanics, and the shop 
is provided with the finest tools for the ex- 
ecution of the most exact work required by 
the institution. For example, it has a cir- 
cular dividing engine that cost $2,500. The 
founders of the Reichsanstalt foresaw the 
necessity of such mechanical aids for the 
furtherance of the exact work to be under- 
taken. They wisely concluded that such 
special constructions and new types of in- 
strumentsas they might require from time 
to time could be more conveniently and 
more cheaply built in their own shop than 
by private instrument makers. 


III. COST AND MAINTENANCE. 


The following are the official accounts of 
expenditures for the grounds, buildings, 
furniture and instruments for the two di- 
visions, to which are added the yearly ex- 
penses : 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


DIVIsIon I. 
1. Acquisition of ground, the 
gift of Dr. Werner Sie- 
TAEIS) conoccensocadoooda nosto4 500,000 M. 
2. For erection of buildings : 
a. Main Building........ 387,000 ‘‘ 
b. Machinery Building. 50,000 ‘‘ 
ce. Administra’n Build- 
FANG) Oe rerccaeacee veces: 100,000 ‘ 
d. President’s House.... 99,254 ‘‘ 
e. Grading, Paving,ete. 10,472 “ 
f. Paving Half of Street 30,274 ‘ 
g. Building for Battery 8,500 ‘‘ 
3. Fittings and Furniture.... 58,000 “ 
4. Equipment of Machinery 
82,310 “« 


and Instruments......... 1,325,810 M. 


Division II. 
1. Acquisition of Ground......373,106 M. 
2. Erection of Buildings: 
a. Main Building........ 922,000 “ 
b. Laboratory Build- 
inp acssdte-seeeeetes 218,000 ‘‘ 
c. Machinery Building.180,000 ‘‘ 
d. Dwelling for Offie’ls.140,000 ‘ 
e. Additional Improve- 


3. Fittings and Furniture...108,300 ‘ 
4. Equipment of Machinery 
and Instruments......... 471,390 ‘ 


2,760,796 M. 
Less reduction for 1895-96... 47,500 ‘‘ 2,713,296 M. 


4,039,106 M. 


Divisions I and II together. 


The annual expenditures for 1899 were 
as follows: 


1. Expenditures for Salariesand Laborers 206,604 M. 
2. Miscellaneous Articles, Experimental 


Work and Care of Buildings........... 127,000 ‘ 


333,604 M. 


The receipts for calibrating instruments, 
testing materials, verifying standards and 
the like now amount to about 40,000 M. an- 
nually. Thissum should be deducted from 
the yearly expenditures, leaving a net sum 
of about 300,000 M. 

In round numbers the Reichsanstalt has 
cost $1,000,000, and the annual appropria- 
tion for its maintenance is $75,000. 


NovEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


Iv. RESULTS. 

A very pertinent inquiry is, what are the 
results of all thisexpenditure? Might not 
more good be accomplished by State aid to 
some existing technical school or university? 
The results attained must beset by the side 
of the objects which the founders of the in- 
stitution had in view in order to ascertain 
whether the sequel has justified their pre- 
dictions. In the memorials to which ref- 
erence has already been made, Professor 
von Helmholtz and Dr. Werner Siemens 
pointed out the advantages likely to accrue 
to Germany from the maintenance of an 
imperial institution for research, which 
should at the same time assume the cog- 
nate function of fixing and certifying stand- 
ards of mechanical and physical measure- 
ments. Attention was drawn to the fact 
that other countries, notably England, had 
enjoyed great renown in science because of 
‘the brilliant researches and discoveries of 
some of her scientific men, who had the 
good fortune to be possessed of leisure and 
large private means, and the scientific spirit 
to devote them to investigations demanding 
both as a sine qua non. 

These conditions the memorialists de- 
clared were lacking in the fatherland. Her 
scholars who had the enthusiasm and the 
capacity for exact scientific investigation 
possessed neither the private fortune to de- 
vote to it, nor the uninterrupted time for 
the execution of the work. They were to 
be found among the men engaged in teach- 
ing, but their professional duties absorbed 
their time to such an extent that only an 
inadequate residue remained; and even 
this little was divided into fractions too 
small to admit of the sustained and con- 
tinuous attention which any important in- 
vestigation demands. 

It was further pointed out that if the 
government would supply the conditions 
favorable to scientific discovery, the men 
could be found whose work would reflect 


SCIENCE. 


701 


great credit on the State, while the interac- 
tion between pure science and its applica- 
tions to arts and manufactures would put 
Germany in the forefront of scientific re- 
nown and of the intelligent application of 
science to useful purposes. 

It was further urged by von Helmholtz 
that the brilliant investigations of Regnault 
and other French physicists many years 
ago should now be repeated with the su- 
perior methods and instrumental appliances 
available at the present time. These in- 
vestigations drew the attention of the sci- 
entific world to France and made it the 
focus of scientific interest. Her instru- 
ment makers, even up to the present, have 
reaped a rich reward in foreign orders for 
instruments made eminently desirable and 
almost indispensable by these distinguished 
French investigators. 

Other problems, too, needed solution, 
problems forced to the front by modern re- 
quirements and discoveries. The applica- 
tions of electricity, for example, present 
new questions for science to answer, while 
the interests of the consumer at the same 
time call for some form of control by the 
State of the instruments employed in ful- 
filling contracts. The very units in which 
such measurements are made need to be 
authoritatively settled—a task demanding 
the highest manipulative skill in experi- 
ment and the most refined appliances 
which experience can suggest and money 
purchase. 

The German government admitted the 
force of these considerations and made 
splendid provision, for both pure science 
and its technical applications, by founding 
the Imperial Institution at Charlottenburg. 
The results have already justified in a re- 
markable manner all the expenditure of 
labor and money. The renown in exact 
scientific measurements formerly possessed 
by France and England has now been 
largely transferred toGermany. Formerly 


702 


scientific workers in the United States 
looked to England for exact standards, es- 
pecially in the department of electricity. 
Now they go to Germany. So completely 
has the work of the Reichsanstalt justified 
the expectations of its founders, and so 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


Observatory, and other buildings will be 
added at once for the extension of the 
functions of this Observatory so as to in- 
clude the larger enterprise contemplated in 
the establishment of the new National 
Laboratory. 


WERNER-SIEMENS STRASSE | 


MAGNETIC BUILDING 


FRAUNHOFER STRASSE 


PRESIDENT’S 
HOUSE 


MAIN BUILDING OF FIRST DIVISION j 


' 
Boo DoSoSSoSo ooo Sood eer 
' 


| SCALE OF FEET 


GUERICKE STRASSE 


BUILDING FOR 
OFFICIALS 


100 200 : : | 


MARCH STRASSE 


aan ee 


! 


Fic. 1.—General Plan of Ground and Buildings. 


substantial are the products of this already 
famous institution that other European 
nations are following Germany’s example. 
Great Britain has already made an initial 
appropriation for a National Physical Lab- 
oratory to be organized ona plan similar to 
that of her Teutonic neighbor. Mr. R. T. 
Glazebrook, who has long served as secre- 
tary of the electrical standards committee 
of the British Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science, has been appointed Di- 
rector and has entered on his duties. The 
new institution will absorb the old Kew 


Russia also has a number of large and 
well equipped laboratories in connection 
with her Central Bureau of Weights and 
Measures. One of these is devoted to the 
verification of instruments for electrical 
measurement. It employs fourteen men 
and the budget is about $45,000 per annum. 

France is moving in the same direction. 
The great service of France in fixing stand- 
ards of length and mass has long been freely 
recognized by the civilized world. But her 
national bureau for this purpose is now con- 
sidered to be too limited in scope to solve 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


the new problems presented. Quite re- 
cently a committee of learned men from 
Paris, under the leadership of Minister 
Bourgeoise, visited Charlottenburg for the 
purpose of examining into the working of 
the renowned institution located there. 
Professor Violle, one of the most illustrious 
physicists of the French capital, accompa- 
nied the committee. What better evidence 
of the success of Germany’s great institu- 
tion can be demanded than the consensus 
of favorable opinion among those best quali- 
fied to judge that its fruits are already of 
the highest order of merit, and its imitation 
by other European nations—the sincerest 
form of flattery. 

It would not be just to form an estimate 
of the success of the Reichsanstalt without 
taking into account its scientific publica- 
tions. These are numerous and of great 
value. Most of the reports of work done 
are made public with official sanction in 
various scientific and technical journals. 
During the past year thirty such papers 
have been published. The detailed ac- 
counts, however, of the most important 
undertakings thus far completed are con- 
tained in three quarto volumes of investi- 
gations. Among those contained in the 
first two volumes may be mentioned papers 
pertaining to thermometry and to units of 
electrical resistance. 

The investigations in thermometry com- 
prise such topics as the influence of the glass 
on the indications of the mercurial ther- 
mometer, division of the thermometer and 
determination of the errors of division, de- 
termination of the coefficient of outer and 
inner pressure, determination of the mean 
apparent coefficient of expansion of mer- 
cury between 0°C. and 100°C. in Jena glass, 
and investigations relating to the compari- 
son of mercurial thermometers. 

Four papers of exceptional value relate 
to normal standards of electrical resistance. 
They are, the probable value of the ohm 


SCIENCE. 


703 


according to measurements made up to 
the present time, the determination of the 
caliber correction for electrical resistance 
tubes, the normal mercury standard ohm 
and the normal wire standard ohm of the 
Reichsanstalt. When one recalls that the 
ohm as a practical unit of measurement is 
defined in terms of the resistance of a 
specified column or thread of mercury, it 
will readily be seen that the work done at 
Charlottenburg in this particular field is 
fundamental in character and of the most 
universal importance. 

In passing it is worthy of remark that 
all the standard resistances designed and 
constructed at the Reichsanstalt are care- 
fully compared with the mercurial stand- 
ards early in each year. This custom is 
in accordance with the action taken by 
the electrical standards committee of the 
British Association at Edinburgh in 1892, 
when the mercurial standard was definitely 
adopted. At this meeting of the com- 
mittee, representatives of American, French 
and German physicists (including von 
Helmholtz) were invited to sit as members. 
The methods employed in these comparisons 
and the forms of the standards are original 
with the Reichsanstalt. The new forms and 
methods admit of a combined accuracy and 
convenience not previously attained. 

In addition to the work done in electrical 
resistance, the investigation of the silver 
voltameter and the electromotive force of 
standard Clark and Weston cells has been 
highly productive of useful results for the 
other two fundamental electrical measure- 
ments. Much remains to be done in this 
latter direction, for the electromotive force 
assigned to the Clark and Weston cell, even 
in the latest report of the Reichsanstalt, is 
derived from measurements by the silver 
voltameter, while the electrochemical equiv- 
alent of silver is in doubt to a greater 
extent than the electromotive force of the 
Clark cell. 


704: : SCIENCE. [N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


Perhaps the best indication of the valu- lished in the ‘ Zeitschrift fur Instrumenten- 
able work of the Reichsanstalt is to be kunde,’ and the reprint for 1899 forms 


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found in the annual ‘ Thatigkeitsbericht.’ a pamphlet of twenty-five large, closely 
This report of the year’s activity is pub- printed pages. The following abstract will 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


convey some impression, though an imper- 
fect one, of the extent of the work ac- 
complished : — 


FIRST (PHYSICAL) DIVISION. 


I. Work in Heat.—Determination of the density of 
water between 0° C. and 40° C. 

Determination of the pressure of water vapor at low 
temperatures. 

Determination of the pressure of water vapor near 
50° C. 

Investigations of thermometers for temperatures be- 
tween 100° and 200° C. 

Investigation of the nitrogen thermometer with a 
platinumiridium bulb for very high temperatures. 

Investigation of thermometers for low tempera- 
tures. 

Determination of the thermal and electrical con- 
ductivity of pure metals. (These determinations are 
to be extended down to the temperature of liquid air 
and up to 1,000° C.) 

Investigations with the Fizeau-A bbe dilatometer. 

Investigation of the transmission of heat through 
metal plates. 

Il. Work in Electricity.—Comparison of the normal 
wire resistances of Divisions I and II. 

Determination of the capacity of an air condenser. 

Comparison of the standard cells of Divisions I and 
Il. 

Determination of the conductance of water solu- 
tions with a higher degree of accuracy than has been 
attained hitherto, especially with dilute solutions. 

Ill. Work in Light. Investigation with electrically 
heated black bodies. 

Proof of Stefan’s law between 90° and 1,700° abso- 
lute temperature. 

Determination of the relation between the intensity 
of light and the temperature. 

Measurement of radiation in absolute measure. 

Determination of the distribution of energy in the 
spectrum of black bodies. 

Determination of the distribution of energy in the 
spectrum of polished platinum and other substances ; 
also their reflective power. 


SECOND (TECHNICAL) DIVISION. 


I. Work of Mechanical Precision.—Investigation of 
the errors of length and of the division of 300 scales, 
tubes, etc. 

Coefiicient of expansion of 18 bars, tubes and wires. 

Verification of 86 tuning forks for international 
pitch. 

Construction of a new transverse comparator. 

Study of the variations of angular velocity of rota- 
ting bodies. 


SCIENCE. 


705 


Il. Electrical Work.—Calibration of direct current 
apparatus, 183 pieces. 

Calibration of alternating current apparatus, 58 
pieces. 

Examination of other electrical apparatus, 76 ar- 
ticles. 

Examination of accumulators, primary elements 
and switches, 37 articles. 

Examination of insulating and conducting mate- 
rials and carbons, 23 articles. 

Installation of storage cells for a current of 10,000 
amperes. 

Installation of small storage cells for an electric 
pressure of 20,000 volts. 

Installation of alternating current instruments for 
measuring potential difference up to 500 volts and 
current up to 100 amperes. 

Examination of 29 samples of alloys for specific re- 
sistance and temperature coefficient. 

Examination of 126 samples of insulating materials 
with an electric pressure up to 800 volts. 

Verification of single resistances, 123 samples. 

Calibration of 33 resistance boxes, compensation 
apparatus, etc., containing 1,153 resistances. 

Comparison and verification of 133 standard cells— 
111 Clark and 22 Weston elements. 

Determination of the ratio Clark 15° €. to cadmium 
20° C., and Clark 0° C. to cadmium 20° C. with a 
large number of standard cells. 

Examination of 21 samples of dry and storage cells. 

Calibration of 25 galvanometers to measure high 
and low temperatures with thermal elements. 

Magnetic examination of 25 samplesof iron and steel. 

Investigation of the difference between the contin- 
uous and the discontinuous magnetization of steel. 

Investigation of the influence of repeated heating 
on the magnetic hardness of iron. 

Ill. Work Relating to Heat and Measurement of 
Pressure.—Calibration of 18,777 thermometers. 

Examination of 4 safety appliances and benzine 
lamps. 

Calibration of 317 thermal elements. 

Verification of 9 manometers and 22 barometers. 

Testing of 190 samples of apparatus for petroleum 
investigations. 

Testing of 3,210 samples of safety rings and plugs. 

Testing of 32 samples of indicator springs. 

IV. Work in Light.—Testing of 119 Hefner lamps 
for photometric purposes. 

Testing of 189 incandescent lamps. 

Testing of 143 gas and other lamps and adjunct ap- 
pliances. 

Investigation of the relation between the tempera- 
ture of sugar solutions and their rotary power on po- 
larized light. 


706 


Investigation of quartz plates for the examination 
of sugars. 

Determination of 100 points in the normal Ventzke 
scale for sodium light. 

Especially careful collection of sugars from Ger- 
many, Austria, France, Russia and North America 
for the investigation of specific rotatory power. 

V. Work in Chemistry.—Continuation of the study 
of the solubility of important salts. 

Electrolysis of platinic chloride and the migration 
of the ions. 

The quantitative determination of metallic plat- 
inum. 

Investigation of liquids for use in thermometers to 
measure low temperatures. 


In addition to the above work attention 
is drawn to the fact that there are two in- 
stitutions for the calibration and certifica- 
tion of thermometers under the control of 
the Reichsanstalt, one at Ilmenau and the 
other at Gehlberg. During the last ten 
years the institution at Ilmenau has tested 
in round numbers 350,000 thermometers. 

The number of persons employed in the 
Reichsanstalt the past year was 87. 


Vv. A LESSON FOR US. 


If Germany has found it to her scientific 
and industrial advantage to maintain the 
Reichsanstalt, and is proud of what it ac- 
complishes; and if Great Britain is so im- 
pressed with the success of the institution 
that she has decided to imitate it, it is 
surely the part of wisdom for the United 
States to move in the same direction. Itis 
therefore very gratifying that at the sug- 
gestion of Secretary Gage a bill was intro- 
duced in the last Congress to establish a 
National Standardizing Bureau, and that 
the Committee on Coinage, Weights and 
Measuresreported unanimously and strongly 
in favor of its passage. So great is the im- 
portance of this movement from the point 
of view of science, of national pride and of 
the higher interests of industrial pursuits, 
that the effort so happily begun to secure 
suitable legislation should be repeated with 
redoubled force and enthusiasm. Some of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XTI. No. 306. 


the reasons for making this effort one does 
not need to go far to seek. 

In the first place the scientific interests 
to be served are certainly as great as in any 
other country in the world. Science is cul- 
tivated here with increasing assiduity and 
success. Weare no longer content to follow 
in the footsteps of Huropean savants and 
modestly repeat their investigations. Orig- 
inal work of a high order is now done in 
many American universities ; but the diffi- 
culties under which university instructors 
prosecute research are even greater here 
than in Germany, and we are still compelled 
to go to Europe for most of our standards. 
As a result, inventions of an almost purely 
scientific character originating here have 
been carried to perfection in the Reichsan- 
stalt, and Germany gets the larger part of 
the credit. I need only instance the Wes- 
ton standard cell, which has been so fully 
investigated at the Reichsanstalt, and the 
alloy ‘ manganin,’ which the same institu- 
tion employs for its standard resistances 
after a searching inquiry into its properties. 
Both of these are the invention of Mr. 
Edward Weston, one of the Past-Presidents 
of this Institute. So long as there is no 
authoritative bureau in the United States 
under Federal control, and presided over by 
men commanding respect and confidence, 
we must continue ‘ to utilize the far superior 
standardizing facilities of other govern- 
ments.’ It is true that science knows no 
nationality, but the scientific workers of any 
nation can serve their own country better 
if they are not compelled to obtain their 
standards and their best instruments from 
distant parts of the globe. America has the 
cultivation in physical science, the ability 
on the part of her investigators and the 
inventive faculty to do work in a national 
institution that we shall not be ashamed to 
place by the side of Germany’s best prod- 
ucts. The establishment of a national in- 
stitution for physical and technical purposes 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


can not fail to foster a vigorous and healthy 
growth in science, to which we already owe 
so much of our national prosperity and re- 
nown. 

In the second place Congress should be 
stimulated to take action because of national 
pride. It is not creditable for a capable 
and self-reliant nation to continue to de- 
pend on foreign countries for its standards 
of measurement, for the certification of its 
instruments and for the calibration of its 
normal apparatus for precise work. Differ- 
ent departments of our Government and 
offices under its control must at present 
appeal to foreign bureaus for the certifica- 
tion of their standards and instruments of 
precision. The first day the writer spent 
at the Reichsanstalt he was consulted with 
reference to an extended correspondence 
between the Director of the technical di- 
vision and the officials of the Brooklyn 
Navy Yard relative to the calibration of a 
large number of incandescent electric lamps 
for use in our Navy department. The 
spectacle of a Government bureau going to 
a foreign imperial institution for standards 
in an industry whose home is in the United 
States is a humiliating one. Yet the pro- 
ceeding was entirely proper and justifiable 
because there is in this country no standard- 
izing bureau for the purpose desired. Are 
the representatives of the American people 
willing to have this state of affairs continue ? 

Again, the higher interests of the indus- 
trial utilization of scientific knowledge re- 
quire the establishment in Washington of 
an institution similar to the Reichsanstalt, 
and in no degree inferior to it. Weare an 
inventive people and may justly claim re- 
nown in the prompt and efficient utilization 
of the discoveries in physical science. Itis 
highly improbable that a practical limit has 
already been reached in the field of applied 
physics. We are not estopped from making 
further discoveries. Still, it may be affirmed 
with confidence that the most important 


SCIENCE. 


707 


and promising work to be done, except in 
the rare instances in which genius makes a 
brilliant discovery, will consist in the more 
perfect adaptation of known physical laws 
to the production of useful results. It is 
precisely this field which has not been ex- 
tensively cultivated as yet in the United 
States. We have explored the surface and 
presumably gathered the largest nuggets 
and the most brilliant gems. To increase 
the output we must now delve deeper and 
scrutinize more closely. To drop the met- 
aphor, what will be required for future 
preeminence is the more intensive and ex- 
haustive study of the scientific conditions 
in the industrial utilization of physical laws. 
This study will require the best talent of 
our technical schools, aided and supported 
by an authoritative national institution, 
itself far removed from patents and com- 
mercial gains, but jealous of our national 
renown and eager to cooperate with manu- 
facturers for the sake of national prosperity. 

Germany is rapidly moving toward in- 
dustrial supremacy in Europe. One of the 
most potent factors in this notable advance 
is the perfected alliance between science 
and commerce existing in Germany. Sci- 
ence has come to be regarded there as a 
commercial factor. If England is losing 
her supremacy in manufactures and in com- 
merce, as many claim, it is because of Eng- 
lish conservatism and the failure to utilize 
to the fullest extent the lessons taught by 
science ; while Germany, once the country 
of dreamers and theorists, has now become 
eminently practical. Science there no 
longer seeks court and cloister, but is in 
open alliance with commerce and industry. 
This is substantially the view taken by Sir 
Charles Oppenheimer, British Consul-Gen- 
eral at Frankfurt, in a recent review of the 
status and prospects of the German Empire. 

The Reichsanstalt is the top stone of _ 
Germany’s scientific edifice. It has also 
contributed much to her industrial renown. 


708 


It is necessary to cite only her manufactures 
involving high temperatures, such as the 
porcelain industry, to appreciate the help 
afforded by the Reichsanstalt. The meth- 
ods and instruments elaborated there for 
the exact measurement of high tempera- 
tures constitute a splendid contribution 
toward industrial supremacy in those lines. 
The German government sees with great 
clearness that the Reichsanstalt justifies the 
expenditure made for its maintenance, not 
by the fees received for certifications and 
calibrations, but by the support it gives to 
the higher industries requiring the applica- 
tion of the greatest intelligence. In this 
connection it should be thankfully acknowl- 
edged that the services of this imperial es- 
tablishment are placed at the disposal of 
foreign institutions of learning with the 
most generous liberality. The charges for 
calibration are only about one-fourth the 
expense incurred in making them, but the 
support thus given to German makers of 
instruments of precision, by increasing their 
foreign orders, is deemed a sufficient return 
for the services rendered. 
Henry S. CarHART. 
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN- 


PLANT GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA. 
I. 


THE PHYSIOGRAPHIC ECOLOGY OF NORTHERN 
MICHIGAN. 


I. The Physiographic Standpoint in Ecology. 
—Warming’s classification of plant forma- 
tions, doubtless the best we have, is in- 
adequate to explain many of the facts that 
are brought out in field study. While 
water is certainly the most important single 
ecological factor, it cannot be made the 
only standard for classification; the differ- 
ence between the flora of drained and un- 
drained swamps is not a question of water 
content, but probably of drainage; a heath 
and a moor have similar ecological adapta- 
tions, but are very diverse as to water con- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


tent. A classification to be correct must 
also be dynamic and must present the flora 
of a district from the standpoint of its past 
and future, thus dealing with genetic rela- 
tionships. A classification which runs par- 
allel with the normal physiographic changes 
in a region meets all these needs and pre- 
sents the flora as a unit, taking account of 
all the interrelations. The various ecolog- 
ical groups or plant formations are pre- 
sented in a historical sequence, ending in a 
normal climax or culminating type, corre- 
sponding to the base level of physiography. 

II. Application of the Physiographic Stand- 
point to Northern Michigan.—A. Progressive 
Development of Plant Formations. The 
vast majority of natural formations are de- 
veloping toward the climax type, which for 
Northern Michigan is a mixed forest in 
which the hemlock, beech and sugar maple 
dominate. At the outset the conditions 
may be xerophytic or hydrophytic (using 
these terms in the original sense as referring 
to the water content of the soil). 

1. Xerophytic to Mesophytic. In a 
young region, xerophytic formations are 
found commonly on hills and along exposed 
shores. The development on the hills is 
widely variant; perhaps the climax condi- 
tion is first reached on clay hills, because 
of the ease with which water is held and 
humus formed. Sand hills reach meso- 
phytic conditions relatively late, because 
they possess opposite physical characters. 
Rock hills commonly have a slow develop- 
ment because disintegration and soil forma- 
tion are first necessary ; a lichen vegetation 
first appears, then a crevice vegetation, 
finally other stages, closing with the meso- 
phytic forest. Rock hills of course vary 
greatly among themselves, the development 
being almost inconceivably slower on gran- 
ite or quartzite than on limestone or shale. 
Xerophytic shores are much more uniform, 
having first an annual, then a perennial 
vegetation, and finally the several forest 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


types in succession; often a dune phase is 
interposed in this series, immediately after 
the beach. 

2. Hydrophytic to Mesophytic. Hydro- 
phytic areas are common in young regions 
and are either drained or undrained. Un- 
drained lakes and swamps are very com- 
mon at first, but are very rapidly filled by 
vegetation, so that one formation rapidly 
follows another from the lake to the forest ; 
zonal arrangement is usually found in these 
places. Drained swamps and rivers often 
increase as a region grows older; progres- 
sive development is best seen on the flood 
plains, where the order of succession is 
commonly well marked and rapid, culmi- 
nating in the very highest type of meso- 
phytic forest. There are often hydrophytic 
shores along the lakes, usually in the less 
exposed places; their history is much like 
that of a swamp. 

B. Retrogressive Development of Plant 
Formations. Retrogression is commonly 
local or evanescent. It is best seen along 
lake or river bluffs, where constant erosion 
causes the destruction of mesophytic forma- 
tions. When erosion ceases, progressive 
movements begin, culminating again in 
mesophytie floras. Retrogressive move- 
ments may also be caused by crustal move- 
ments, changes in climate, or through the 


action of man. 
Henry C. Cow ss. 


UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


II. 


THE RELATIONS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN 
FLORA TO THAT OF SOUTH AMERICA. 
. In my paper on ‘The Relation of the 
Flora of the Lower Sonoran Zone in North 
America to the Arid Zones of Chile and 
Argentine,’ attention was called especially 
to discussions by Gray and Hooker and by 
Engler on the presence of North American 
or boreal floral elements in South America. 
The species considered in the two citations 
were chiefly alpine and mountain xerophil- 


SCIENCE. 


709 


ous plants of the Rocky Mountain Region 
and the arid Southwest (the latter especially 
by Engler) which occur in the Mexican 
Cordilleras and in the boreal altitudes of 
the tropical Andes, becoming more generally 
distributed in the extra-tropical Andes and 
the higher plains of Chile and Argentine. 
My own paper attempted to show that a 
very significant number of the genera rep- 
resenting the most extremely xerophilous 
elements of the enclosed desert plateaus 
and valleys of the Lower Sonoran Zone, 
reappear in correspondingly arid regions 
far south of the equator, and that the in- 
tervening territory contains these rarely or 
not at all. It further discussed the prob- 
lems of distribution between the two re- 
gions, going in some detail into a discus- 
sion of certain species which illustrate the 
case especially well. 

In this paper the purpose will be to 
point out the generally known and accepted 
facts of relationship between the floras of 
North and South America as illustrated 
in all the floral elements represented in 
both, emphasizing more particularly the 
elements which I have studied in some de- 
tail which furnish additional evidence for 
conclusions already suggested rather than 
offer a new solution to the more difficult 
problems of distribution. 

It may be said as an elementary observa- 
tion, that if we consider only the present 
aspects of plant life, and conceive the floral 
zones of North and South America to be 
due to and lie coincident with zones of lati- 
tude, we should have in the two Americas 
only the tropical zone in common, shading 
off into the north and south zones of lower 
temperature, in which the likelihood of a 
mixture of boreal and austral elements of 
any two corresponding boreal or austral 
zones would grow less with increasing 
proximity to the poles. The question of 
distribution would be chiefly one of distance 
which might or might not be overcome by 


710 


any of the various agencies operating now. 
In other words, we should expect endemism 
to increase with latitude and a consequent 
minimum of forms common to two corre- 
sponding zones. Asa matter of fact, how- 
ever, these simple conditions are wholly 
changed because of the existence of north- 
south zones of elevation, shading off vert- 
ically from tropical to Arctic Alpine, and 
cutting through the tropical and sub-trop- 
ical latitudinal zones at right angles, and 
so approximating a connecting bridge be- 
tween boreal and austral zones. Here, 
again, if we take any given era in the 
history of vegetation and assume the north- 
south zones to be continuous, the results of 
distribution could be fairly predicted. 

But in considering the relations of the 
floras of the two continents, no fact stands 
forth more prominently than this, namely, 
that we have to deal largely with the geo- 
logical and climatic changes which have 
taken place during the time since the flora 
of the earth began to assume its present as- 
pect, and to possess its present specific con- 
tent. For many elements of vegetation 
which still persist we could reasonably go 
back as far as the Eocene Tertiary, although 
much of whatare called Peculiar West Amer- 
ican Elements must have developed at a very 
much later period. Assuming, however, 
the Eocene Tertiary as the starting point, 
some very important conditions and changes 
in the relations of the two continents may 
be pointed out, which would influence the 
development and the distribution of plant 
life most profoundly. These are to be borne 
in mind when we seek to explain the floral 
relations of North and South America. 
Such, for example, are the following: 

1. At the beginning of the Tertiary period, 
a large part of Western North America 
was at sea level. The Rocky and the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains ranged from 3,000 to 
5,000 feet in elevation. West America was 
separated from Atlantic America by a wide 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


sea. By the end of the Tertiary Period the 
elevation of West America was tripled, 
bringing the mountains to at least their 
present height and elevating the plains and 
Great Basin region. 

2. During the Eocene and Miocene eras, 
Central America was submerged, thus sep- 
arating the two continents. 

3. With the beginning of the Tertiary 
Period, the Andes stood but little above sea 
level. A Cretaceous sea had extended along 
their eastern front from Venezuela to Ar- 
gentine, separating the Brazilian region 
from the Andean. By the close of the Ter- 
tiary, the Andes had emerged as much as 
20,000 feet on their east front, and the re- 
gion at their eastern base stood emerged 
from the sea. : = 

4. During some portion of the late Ter- 
tiary upheaval, or subsequently, South 
America was joined to Cuba and probably 
to Florida. There is reason to believe that 
at a similar period the land masses of 
Mexico and the Californian region included 
the now isolated islands lying to the west- 
ward, thus making a broad highway for 
distribution between the American conti- 
nents. 

5. The climate of the Eocene and Mio- 
cene eras in North America was mild, and 
permitted an extension of warm-temperate 
flora as far north as Alaska. 

6. In the Pleiocene era the climate be- 
came cooler. Subsequently in the Glacial 
Pleistocene, the encroaching ice-sheet drove 
all plant life far southward. As the Andes 
were at their present height approximately, 
and as the Central American highlands 
in common with the Mexican Cordilleras 
and the Rocky Mountains were in a period 
of upheaval, probably greater than the pres- 
ent, a highway was opened to the south for 
Alpine and Arctic-Alpine elements, as well 
as for the southward migrating warm tem- 
perate flora. 

7. The sequence of upheavals which 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


brought the Great Basin and the arid 
Southwest from sea level or submergence 
to their present elevation, also witnessed 
the development of a vigorous flora which 
has continued to occupy these regions, con- 
taining many of the peculiarly West-Amer- 
ican groups. The same sequence of up- 
heavals may have opened up similar areas 
southward at the east of the Andes upon 
which this flora could also extend, though 
subsequently excluded by tropical condi- 
tions more like the present. 

A vegetation developing under such con- 
ditions as those cited above, would have had 
a most varied, not to say precarious history, 
now reaching far northward in luxuriance, 
now driven back by the encroaching ice- 
sheet; now, a species distributed over a 
wide area, and again only the remnants of 
it in widely separated areas. Here, a ter- 
rain covered with a varied vegetation 
which with the next change of conditions 
becomes a sea or an arid basin. Not only 
were these tremendous changes going on 
in the make-up of the two continents and 
their relations to each other, but conditions 
existed which related each to other land 
masses, whereby floral elements were re- 
ceived which were to play a part in the 
subsequent development of the floral his- 
tory. Such was the contact of the North 
American region with Europe and Asia, 
and of South America through the Ant- 
arctic Continent with Australia, New Zea- 
land and probably South Africa. 

In taking up a more specific analysis of 
the floral elements common to both Amer- 
icas, we must therefore bear in mind certain 
physical conditions involving not only those 
which prevail at the present time, but also 
-the varying conditions, which haveprevailed 
since at least the middle Tertiary period. 

First, the north-south zones of elevation 
have interruptions of distances great enough 
to offer a very efficient check to north-south 
distribution, greater in the case of Arctic 


SCIENCE. 


711 


Alpine conditions, less in the transition 
zone and greatest of all in the case of ex- 
treme xerophilous elements of enclosed des- 
ert basins and valleys. 

Second, we must allow for fluctuations 
in elevation and depression of the conti- 
nental axis, especially in the region of junc- 
ture of the two continents, and consequent 
changes in relation of the two land masses. 
These fluctuations would extend back over 
a period in which the flora of the earth was 
undergoing tremendous changes, migrations 
and adjustments, all of which would be in- 
fluential in the final setting. 

Third, as to the sources of elements 
which might be brought into the field of in- 
fluence, we must allow for the intimate re- 
lation of North America to the Eur-Asian 
continent whereby floral elements were 
shared in common, and for the early iso- 
lation of the South American continent 
from Antarctic land masses, although the 
Antarctic flora of South America does show 
a community of elements with South Africa, 
Australia, New Zealand and Antarctic 
islands. 

Fourth, the prevalent southward pres- 
sure of elements is to be associated with 
glacial influences which may well have been 
most powerful in driving so great a boreal 
element southward. This would be all the 
more notable in the case of the warm tem- 
perate xerophilous elements, which have 
shown such vigor of development and en- 
croachment, constituting the most charac- 
teristic and unique elements of the New 
World flora. 

The relationship of the floras of North 
and South America will be discussed under 
the following heads: 1st, The Gulf Zone 
Neo Tropical, 2nd, The Alpine and Arctic- 
Alpine, and 8rd, the Warm-temperate and 
Semi-tropical xerophilous elements embrac- 
ing (a) high plateau and mountain forms of 
the Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones ; 
(6) enclosed basin and valley forms of the 


rele 


Lower Sonoran Zone; (c) semi-tropical 
xerophilous forms of Gulf Zone distribution. 


. THE GULF ZONE NEO-TROPICAL ELEMENT. 

The territory embraced within the Gulf 
Zone includes those regions which have 
had a common history in the development 
of their flora during the fluctuating geolog- 
ical conditions of the Gulf area. While 
this zone is but a part of the greater Neo- 
tropical, its association with a common 
sequence of geological changes has, as Eng- 
ler* thinks, given it a degree of distinctness 
from the Brazilian region. The regions so 
associated are: The coast lands, plains and 
sub-Andean parts of Guiana, Colombia and 
Venezuela; the Central American region 
except the tierra templada, the tierra frias 
of Guatemala and the isolated elevations 
(above 8,000 feet) in Nicaragua and Costa 
Rica; the tierra caliénté of Mexico which 
on the west reaches northward to include 
the lower Colorado Valley in California and 
Arizona, and embraces the point of the lower 
California peninsula, and on the east coast 
is a narrow belt extending northward to the 
lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the 
lower third of Florida and the greater and 
Lesser Antilles. On the west, the tropical 
elements pass vertically rather gradually 
into the vegetation of the tierra templada 
of Mexico and Guatemala, and at the north 
a semitropical Gulf strip from the mouth of 
the Rio Grande to and including upper 
Florida, marks the transition to the subtrop- 
ical flora of the Gulf States which, though 
distinctly a part of the Atlantic Coast Plain 
or Austro-riparian flora, has numerous 
elements of tropical extraction, as, for ex- 
ample, the Palme, the Tillandsias, some Hu- 
phorbiacee as Argithamnia, Acalypha, Sebas- 
tiana, Stillingia and Hippomane ; Bignonia, 
Phoradendron, Persea and many others. 

At the west, the northward extension of 


* Entwickelungsgeschichte der Pflanzenwelt, II., 
p- 197. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


tropical flora is checked by xerophytic con- 
ditions, so that a very meager tropical ele- 
ment reaches the United States in that 
quarter. On the other hand, the free 
northward extension to the Florida prov- 
ince, whose physical conditions favor a 
purely tropical flora, has been retarded by 
interruptions in the continuity of land 
masses, so that while the flora of South ~ 
Florida is not a part of the Austro-riparian 
and sub-tropical, it is comparatively meager 
in South American species. It has, however, 
many elements in common with the Antilles. 
The sharp distinction between South Flor- 
ida and the remaining Gulf States and 
North Florida, is shown in the following 
data compiled by Drude* from Chapman’s 
Flora. ‘There are 360 species in Florida 
which do not extend north of the 29th 
parallel ; of these 169 belong to 132 genera 
which have no distribution further north- 
ward, or 16 families reach a northern limit 
in this peninsula.” 

It is interesting to note that some of the 
genera cited above and others, as marking 
the transition from tropical to sub-tropical 
United States, also extend into extra-trop- 
ical South America, namely, to Argentine. 
Those cited by Engler} are Argithamnia, 
Bignonia, Lippia, Chaptalia and Galphimia, 
to which may be added many Amaranths 
and others. But as this element consists so 
largely of xerophytic and halophytic spe- 
cies, I have discussed it under the head of 
semi-tropical xerophilous forms of Gulf 
zone distribution. 


2. ALPINE AND AROCTIC-ALPINE FLORAL 


ELEMENTS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 

As previously stated, the extension of an 
elevated continental axis from Alaska to 
Cape Horn makes an approximately con- 
tinuous boreal zone across the equatorial 
regions. This continuity has fluctuated 


* Pflanzengeographie, 511. 
+ Entwickelungsgeschichte II., p. 189. 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


greatly during the period of development 
of the plant life of the present era, and 
with profound effect in molding the pres- 
ent conditions. As a highway for north- 
south distribution of the boreal elements, 
its efficiency has of course varied. As at 
present constituted, it is interrupted by a 
stretch of moist tropical conditions for a 
distance of some 10 degrees of latitude, 
namely, from the southern downfall of the 
Guatemala highland, 15° N., to the Colom- 
bian Andes, 5° N., at an altitude of some 
12,000 feet. Practically, however, one 
must allow for a degree of continuity even 
over this stretch as offered by the highest 
peaks of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and even 
in the Panama district. An analysis of 
the floral elements of this north-south Arc- 
tic and Arctic-Alpine zone shows the fol- 
lowing interesting phenomena : 

First, that the flora of the Rocky and 
Sierra Nevada Mountains above the Transi- 
tion zone, the Mexican Cordilleras in the 
tierra frias (from 8,000 to 12,000 feet), of the 
Guatemalan tierra frias and of the tropical 
Andes above 12,500 feet, and the extra-trop- 
ical Andes and highlands, is one of North- 
ern extraction, abounding in genera asso- 
ciated with the colder zones of North Amer- 
ica and Hur-Asia. Such, for example, are, 
Ranuneulus, Anemone, Berberis, Geranium, 
Spirea, Geum, Rubus, Ribes, Saxifraga, Hy- 
drocotyle, Gaultheria, Vaccinium, Veronica, 
Eritrichium, Gentiana, Polemonium, Hiera- 
cium, ete. 

Second, that while possessing very many 
genera in common, by far the greater per 
cent. of species in the Mexican Cordilleras 
are endemic, as are those of the Alpine 
Andes. This points to a long continued 
and effective isolation of the Mexican and 
South American Andes from each other and 
from the Rocky Mountains. 

Third, that of Arctic-Alpine genera those 
are most common which belong to the ele- 
ment common to the Himalayan and Hast- 


SCIENCE. 


713 


Asiatic regions and the Rocky Mountains 
from Alaska to Colorado; that such genera 
occur sparingly in the Mexican and trop- 
ical Andes, and then with endemic species ; 
that there is an increase of this element in 
the extra-tropical Andes toward the Straits 
of Magellan. Here is to be noted that cer- 
tain species of the Rocky Mountain Arctic- 
Alpine region reappear in the extra-trop- 
ical Andes toward the southern extremity 
of South America, being, so far as known, 
absent from the Mexican and Tropical 
Andes. Among these are: Gentiana pro- 
strata, Trisetum subspicatum, Primula farinosa 
and var. magellaniea; Draba incana = Draba 
magellanica ; Alopecurus Alpinus = A. antare- 
ticus; Sawifraga cespitosa = 8. cordillerarum ; 
Polemonium micranthum = P. antareticum; Col- 
lomia gracilis.* 


8. WARM TEMPERATE AND SUB-TROPICAL 
XEROPHILOUS ELEMENTS COMMON TO 
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. 


These elements of flora common to both 
Americas deserve special emphasis. They 
embrace for the most part, the flora of the 
arid regions of the western and south- 
western states and North Mexico. This 
flora occupies the mountain slopes of the 
transition zone, the plains and plateaus of 
the Upper Sonoran and the hot deserts of 
the Lower Sonoran zones. This area has 
been the field of development of many 
groups peculiarly American. It is the re- 
gion of xerophytic composites, Nyctagi- 
nace,  Polygonacee-Eriogonee, Onagracee, 
Amaranthacece-Gomphrenee, Malvacee, Bor- 
raginacee-Lritrichiaee, Gilias, the Yucca 
and Agave kinships and the Cactacee. 

When this peculiar flora was in the vigor 
of its development and occupation of new 
territory, the climatic conditions seem to 
have exerted a pressure to the southward 
which geological conditions favored, with 


* This list is taken mostly from Engler’s Entwick- 
elungsgeschichte, II., p. 256. 


714 


the consequence of carrying a great richness 
of forms into the South American region. 

There has also apparently, been an en- 
eroachment of elements developed in South 
America northward, as shown in the Loas- 
acee (Mentzelias) and species of Prosopis, 
whose great development occurs in the 
Chilean and Argentine regions respectively. 

Greater details of distribution may be 
discussed as follows: (1) The mountain 
forms; (2) Forms of the arid basins and val- 
leys of the Lower Sonoran Zone; (3) Sub- 
tropical xerophilous forms of Gulf Zone dis- 
tribution. 


(1) The Mountain Xerophilous Sonoran 
Elements. 

In North America this element occupies 
the arid mountain slopes and high plateaus 
of the Transition and Upper Sonoran zones, 
extending also into the deserts of the Lower 
Sonoran. Its southward distribution has 
been favored by the existence of an arid 
zone comprising the moistureless west 
slopes and enclosed plateaus of the Mexican 
and Tropical Andes, lying mostly below the 
altitudes of Alpine conditions. Both the 
aridity and continuity of this zone have 
varied with the changes in elevation, and 
in all probability a north-south distribu- 
tion of xerophilous mountain elements was 
much easier at some earlier period than at 
present. The facts of endemism are much 
the same for the North American, Mexican 
and Andean regions as in the case of Alpine 
forms. 

Tllustrations of this element include Xer- 
ophilous ferns of the genera Gymnogramme, 
Pellea, § Eupellea and § Cincinalis, Notho- 
lena and Cheilanthes, many of which range 
from West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, 
ete., to Mexico, Guatemala and in the South 
American Andes to Chile; of the Leguminose: 
Astragalus, Dalea, Lupinus, Trifolium, Vicia 
and Lathyrus ; Rosacece-Quillajee, Onagracee: 
Cinothera, Gayophytum, Chammissonia, La- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


vauxia, Godetia, and Boisduvallia; Artemisia, 
Perezia and Asterew-Soladiginee of the Com- 
posite ; many Cactacee ; Borraginacee-Eritri- 
chee ; Gilia and many others. 


(2) Lower Sonoran Elements. 


These forms are of special interest because 
they include the most extreme xerophytes 
and halophytes occupying the most arid 
deserts of both North and South America 
in the extra-tropical regions, and mostly unrep- 
resented in the long stretch of moist, trop- 
ical and high mountain areas between. 
Such are the mimosee, Prosopis, § Strombocarpa 
with 8 species in Argentine, and 3 Lower 
Sonoran species of west Texas, north Mex- 
ico and westward ; § Algarobia with 19 spe- 
cies mostly Argentine; Polygonacee-Hriogonee 
with eleven Lower Sonoran genera (ex- 
cept some Eriogonums) and the peculiar 
subgenus Chorizanthopsis of the Chorizanthes, 
endemic in Chile, and three species common 
to both zones ; namely, Oxytheca dendroidea, 
Chorizanthe commissuralis and Lastarricea chi- 
lensis, all originally from the Californian re- 
gion; Frankeniacee, with the very distinct 
Frankenia jamesii of the west Texas region, 
F. Palmeri of the southern California region, 
F. triandra of the Puna region six nearly 
allied Chilean species, one of which is in 
California and Arizona .and WNederleinia 
juniperoides of the Argentine Salt Steppes, 
more nearly related to the Lower Sonoran 
than to the Chilean species. These, appar- 
ently, constitute remnants of a previously 
widespread development. 

The Zygophyllace also present an excellent 
illustration of the phenomena of distribu- 
tion here considered. Perhaps no plant is 
more prominent as an indicator of the 
Lower Sonoran Zone than Larrea mexicana 
which is exceedingly abundant and wide- 
spread over this zone. No representatives 
of this genus occur between the southern 
limits of the Lower Sonoran in Mexico, and ~ 
the Andes and Salt Steppes of Cardoba and 


+ il 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900.] 


Mendoza southward to the Rio Colorado in 
South America, where three species occur 
which are sharply distinct from each other 
and especially from Larrea Mexicana. One 
of these South American species, L. divari- 
cata, is described as covering great areas of 
Cordoba and Mendoza as L. Mexicana cov- 
ers areas in Texas, Arizona and Northern 
Mexico. 

From these and other illustrations, it is 
necessary to conclude that we are here deal- 
ing with forms which were connected by a 
remote ancestry, which flourished at a time 
and under conditions which permitted a 
more general distribution. We may pos- 
sibly ascribe these condition to a certain 
stage in the elevation of land masses along 
the continentalaxis. At any rate, the fluc- 
tuations in climatic and geological condi- 
tions since the Tertiary Period would have 
very different conditions of distribution and 
relationship from those we observe now. 

On the other hand, that the same spe- 
cies may occur in both these widely sepa- 
rated areas, and nowhere between, indicates 
the energy of certain agencies acting now 
and in spite of climatic and geological bar- 
riers, ¢. g., Fagonia creticd, Frankenia grandi- 
flora, Munroa squarrosa and the three pre- 
viously cited species of Polygonacew-erio- 
gonec. 


(3) The Semi-tropical xerophilous forms of Gulf 
Zone Distribution. 

In discussing the Neo-tropical and semi- 
tropical elements, attention was called to a 
Gulf Zone distribution between extra-trop- 
ical regions. The forms involved here are 
the less extremely xerophytic species of the 
warmer and less arid portions of the Lower 
Sonoran Zone; e. g., the Rio Grande Plain 
in Texas and Mexico below Eagle Pass. 
Such species occur also in the xerophytic 
areas of Colombia, Venezuela, Guiana, Bra- 
zil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentine, and 
in similar areas of the Antilles. Some are 


SCIENCE. 


715 


undoubtedly sea-coast species. The fol- 
lowing are illustrations : 

Sida leprosa: Uruguay, Patagonia, Argen- 
tine, Cuba, Lower Sonoran Zone (even 
north to Washington). 

Sida hastata : Argentine, Uruguay, Mexico, 
Texas, Arizona. 

Sida Anomala: Mattogrosso, Uruguay, 
Argentine, Bolivia, Cuba, Florida, Texas, 
Mexico. 

Cienfugosia sulphwrea: Southwest Texas, 
Mexico, South Brazil, Paraguay. 

Spergularia plattensis: Texas to California, 
South Brazil. 

Polygala paludosa: Brazil, Paraguay, Louis- 
iana and Texas. 

The Amaranth-Gomphrenee are prevail- 
ingly of the Gulf Zone distribution, especi- 
ally Frelichia, Alternanthera and Gomphrena, 
but in the last case, mention should be 
made of the massing of species in Southern 
Brazil and Argentine, and their compar- 
ative absence northward until the Mexican 
plateau is reached, where, again, are many 
species, mostly distinct from the South 
American forms. This fact would suggest 
the propriety of including Gomphrena in the 
category of genera like Larrea, Frankenia, 
Spirostachys, Malvastrum, Chorizanthe, and oth- 
ers, in which the present conditions of dis- 
tribution and kinship point to them as rem- 
nants of a previous general distribution over 
territory not now adapted to their needs. 

SUMMARY. 


Reviewing the floral relations of North 
and South America as illustrated in the 
foregoing instances, we may say that the 
phenomena of distribution agree fairly with 
the record of physical conditions which 
have succeeded each other and those which 
still exist, and upon which we might almost 
@ priori have predicted an analogous set of 
distribution phenomena. In this relation- 
ship we may distinguish three categories of 
distribution : 

(1) Those due to the conditions of hu- 


716 


man Civilization, commerce, ete. This has 
resulted in placing the same species in sim- 
ilar regions of both continents, as, for ex- 
ample, Fagonia cretica in Lower California 
and Chile ; Munroa squarrosa, western plains 
of North America, plains of Argentine and 
high plateaus of Chile and Bolivia; Frank- 
enia grandiflora, Southern California and 
Arizona, coast lands of Chile; Oxytheca 
dendroidea, Lastarrica chilensis, and Chor- 
izanthe commissuralis, all in Southern Cali- 
fornia and Western Chile. 

(2) Those due to the operation of natural 
causes acting under present conditions of 
climate, geology, etc. Under this head 
may be cited such species as sida leprosa, 
hastata, anomala, Cienfugosia sulphurea, Sper- 
gularia plattensis and, in general, elements of 
Gulf zone distribution; also certain ele- 
ments which still find a pathway along the 
continental axis, including some alpine 
and mountain xerophilous genera. 

(3) The third category of distribution 
would include those phenomena due to 
geological and climatic changes acting 
through long periods. Under this head are 
included the elements of greatest signifi- 
cance in the relationsip of the North and 
South America floras. The endemic boreal 
flora of the Andes, the equally’ endemic 
boreal flora of the Mexican Cordilleras, 
and genera with sharply distinct species or 
sub-genera in the arid extra-tropical regions 
of both continents, which may be called 


remnant elements. = 
WiwiraAm L. Bray. 


ScHOOL OF BOTANY, 
UNIVERSITY oF TEXAS. 


NAMES OF ANIMALS PUBLISHED BY OSBECK 
IN 1765. 

In 1757, Peter Osbeck, a pupil of Linné 
published in Stockholm a work entitled: 
‘ Dagbok ofver en Ostindisk resa aren 1750- 
1752.’ The work* was subsequently trans- 


*The German translation is entitled : Reise nach 
Ostindien und China. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


lated into several languages, with dates of 
publication as follows: in German, 1765 
(Rostock), and 1772 (Leipzig), two editions; 
in French 1771 ; in English,1771. Of these 
translations I have examined the German, 
1765, and the English. The latter transla- 
tion is not from the original, as we learn 
from its editor, but from the German, the 
latter having had the advantage of revision 
by Osbeck, who, we are told, made some 
additions to it. 

On comparison of Osbeck’s proposed 
names for the various species of animals 
discovered with the tenth and twelfth edi- 
tions of Linné’s Systema Nature, one is struck 
by the number which are not referred to in 
those works ; and, as far as I can learn, these 
omissions have not been included in later 
works in most instances. It is for the pur- 
pose of bringing them to the attention 
of naturalists that I offer the present 
notes. 

Such of Osbeck’s names which are tenable 
should date from the 1765 translation which 
follows the tenth edition of Linné. The 
pagination noted herein refers to that 
volume. 


MAMMALIA. 
CERVUS JAVANICUS. Page 357. Java. 
This is, probably, the Tragulus (= Mos- 
chus) javanicus Gmelin, 1788. The synon- 
ymy should be Zragulus javanicus (Os- 
beck), 1765, = Moschus javanicus Gmelin, 
1788. 


AVES. 

SITTA CHINENSIS. Page 326. China. 

The British Museum Catalogue of Birds 
gives as a synonym of Sitta cesia, a Sitta 
chinensis Viellot, 1819, but on reference to 
the Nowv. Dict., v. XX XI, p. 332, it will be 
seen that Viellot gives Osbeck as authority 
for the name. Therefore Sitta chinensis Os- 
beck, 1765 and 1771, has priority over Sitta 
cesia M. and W., 1810. 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 

ANAS CHINENSIS. Page 340. China. 

In the work just referred to there is a 
reference under Anas hina Gmelin, as fol- 
lows: Anas chinensis Osbeck, Voy. II, p. 33. 
This is to the English edition, 1771. The 
synonymy should be Anas Chinensis Osbeck, 
1765 (= Anas hina Gmelin, 1788). 

Gmelin gives ‘ Osbeck (it. 2, p. 33)’ as au- 
thority for Anas hina; but no such name 
occurs in the latter’s book. It would there- 
ford seem that Aina is a misprint for chinen- 
828. 

DIOMEDEA ADSCENSIONIS. 
cension Isld. 

This is evidently synonymous with Sula 
piscator (= Pelecanus piscator Linné, 1758), 
with which species Osbeck compares it. 


Page 382. As- 


REPTILIA AND BATRACHIA. 


TEsTUDO JAVANICA. Page 128. Java. 
From the description this is clearly a 
Chelone, and without doubt the same as 
Chelone imbricata (Linné), 1766. The latter 
thus becomes Chelone javanicus (Osbeck), 
1765. 
RANA CHINENSIS. Page 244. China. 
Without doubt a Bufo, and referable to 
Bufo bufo (Linné). If the Chinese and Jap- 
anese representatives are not distinct races, 
then Osbeck’s name would have precedence 
over Schlegel’s Bufo bufo javanicus. 
It is well to point out here that Boulenger 
(Tailless Batrach. Hurl. 11, 265) has erred in 
_referring Osbeck’s Rana chinensis as a variety 
of Rana esculenta Linné. Osbeck says in his 
description, ‘ The body above warty,’ which 
sufficiently indicates that the species is not 
- a Rana. 

Stone (Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci., Phila., 183, 
1899) states that Rana chinensis Boulenger 
(nee Osbeck) is quite distinct from Rana 
esculenta, in which event the former will re- 
quire another name, which will be Rana 
marmorata Hallowell, 1860 (teste Stone). 

LACERTA CHINENSIS. Page 366. China. 

This lizard is probably identifiable from 


SCIENCE. 


Ct 


the description, which indicates that it be- 
longs to the Geckonide. This name has 
been entirely overlooked by subsequent 
writers. 


PISCES. 


SQUALUS CANINUS. 
Good Hope. 

A synonym of Carcharodon carcharias 
(Linné), 1758, the great blue shark. 

BALISTES CHINENSIS. Page 147. China. 

Richardson (Rep. Brit. Assoc. Ad. Sct., 
201, 1845) refers this to the genus Mona- 
canthus. However, in Bleecker (Atlas) and 
in the Brit. Mus. Catal. Fishes, Bloch is 
given as authority for the species; it is also 
described by Gmelin as Balistes sinensis. It 
should stand Monacanthus chinensis (Osbeck ), 
1765 and 1771 = Balistes sinensis Gmelin, 
1788. 

PERCA ADSCENSIONIS. 
sion Isld. 

Now Holocentrus ascensionis (Osb.) J. & H. 
The date for this species should be 1765. 
Note that the original name is adscensionis, 
not ascensionis. 


Page 102. Cape of 


Page 388. Ascen- 


ScoMBER GLAUCUS. Ascen- 
sion Isld. 

Originally named Scomber adscensionis by 
Osbeck, 1757, but in the later translations 
1765 and 1771 called S. glaucus, perhaps in- 
dicating it to be the same as S. glaucus 
Linné. Jordan and Evermann suggest its 
identity with Caranx guara. 

In addition to the foregoing fishes Osbeck 
describes the following, whose names are 
not to be found in recent synonymy: 


Page 387. 


SPARUS CHINENSIS. Page 340. China. 

Not the Sparus chinensis Lacép. 

SQUALUS ADSCENSIONIS. Page 388. As- 
cension Isld. 

Gopius TRopicus. Page 392. Ascension 
Isld. 

Sy[N]GNATHUS ARGENTEUS. Page 396. 


South Atlantic. 


718 


MOLLUSCA. 


CHITON LAEVE. Page 80. Spain. 

According to Linné, this is the same as his 
Chiton punctatus. Professor Pilsbry, to whom 
Ishowed Osbeck’s description says it is prob- 
ably the same as Chiton olivaceus Speng. 

CUNNUS CHINENSIS. Page 247. China. 

Osbeck does not state whether this bivalve 
is a fluviatile or a marine form, which 
makes his short description valueless. Were 
it a fresh-water form, the generic name 
Corbicula would be replaced by Cunnus. In 
the English translation this name is mis- 
printed, Conus. 


INSECTA. 


PHALAENA FENESTRATA. Page 269. China. 

Osbeck proposes this name for the ‘ Pha- 
lena plumata permaxima Orientalis ocu- 
lata.’ (Petiver, Gazophylacw, Pl. 8, f. 7), 
which, however, was named Phalena atlas 
by Linné, 1758, Osbeck’s name becoming 
thereby asynonym. ‘The fenestrata Osbeck 
must not be confused with the Phalena fen- 
estratw Fabricius (Syst. Ent., p. 641, 1775). 

PapiLio LINTINGENSIS. Page148. China. 

This name will have to be adopted for 
the Indo-Chinese variety of Junonia enone 
Linné, known as var. hierta Fabricius. 
The synonymy should be Junonia enone 
Linné, 1758, var. Lintingensis (Osbeck), 1765 
and 1771, = hierta Fabricius, 1798. 

Apis RUFA. Page127. Java. 

This is not the Apis rufa Linné, 1758. The 
description is, however, too meager to admit 
of identification of the insect. 


CRUSTACEA. 

There are two species described by Os- 
beck, which appear to have been omitted 
from synonymy. They are: 

CANCER CHINENSIS. Page 151. 

CANCER ADSCENSIONIS. Page 389. 
cension Isld. 


China. 
As- 


WILLIAM J. Fox. 
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES 
OF PHILADELPHIA. 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


THE CARNEGIE MUSEUM PALEONTOLOG- 
ICAL EXPEDITIONS OF 1900. 

THRouGH the generosity of the founder 
of this institution, the Department of Pa- 
leontology has been able to continue the 
work begun in the season of 1899 in the 
Upper Jurassic formations of central South- 
ern Wyoming. Mr. O. A. Peterson has 
had charge of the work in this region, and 
the splendid results obtained there are due 
to his skill and energy and to those of his 
assistant, Mr. C. W. Gilmore of the Wy- 
oming State University, who joined Mr. 
Peterson in June and continued with him 
until the close of the season. 

The investigations were confined chiefly 
to the Atlantosaurus beds on Sheep Creek, 
some twenty-five miles northeast of Med- 
icine Bow, though some attention was also 
given to the Baptanodon beds in the im- 
mediate vicinity. 

The chief results obtained were a com- 
plete pelvis with sacrum and one hind limb 
and foot of Diplodocus in position; one 
maxilla and a posterior portion of the skull 
and a number of series of vertebree from 
various regions of the vertebral column. 
Numerous other isolated bones belonging 
to the same genus were also recovered. 
All this is most welcome material and will 
form an important supplement to the Dip- 
lodocus skeleton collected by the expe- 
dition of 1899, which we hope soon to be 
able to mount as a complete, though com- 
posite, skeleton. ‘The fore limb and foot 
are at present the only important parts 
missing. 

The party was quite fortunate in secur- 
ing the greater portion of a skeleton of 
Brontosaurus, as well as considerable re- 
mains of Stegosaurus and a large car- 
nivorous Dinosaur. The Baptanodon beds 
yielded a skull and anterior cervicals and 
ribs of Baptanodon. In all some ninety 
large cases of Jurassic vertebrates were 
taken up and packed, and will, it is hoped, 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


not only add materially to the Museum 
collections, but also throw additional light 
on several of the many vexed questions re- 
garding the structure and relationships of 
the several genera of Dinosauria to which 
the collections pertain. 

In addition to the work carried on in the 
Jurassic, another field party, under the 
immediate charge of the writer, operated 
in the Laramie deposits of Converse County, 
Wyoming, and in the Tertiary of the same 
region and in Sioux County, Nebraska. 

The early part of the season was devoted 
to an exploration of the Laramie in the re- 
gion immediately adjoining that which af- 
forded the writer all the mammals and 
most of the horned dinosaurs collected by 
him under the direction of the late Pro- 
fessor Marsh for the U. 8. Geological Sur- 
vey. The success that it was hoped might 
reward an exploration of these deposits was 
not entirely realized, though some impor- 
tant material was obtained, including a 
fairly representative series of Laramie 
mammals and the other vertebrate remains 
(fish, lizards, small dinosaurs, ete.) with 
which they are always found associated. 
One extremely interesting discovery in this 
connection consists of a portion of a dental 
plate with the teeth in position, of Plata- 
codon nanus, described as a mammal by the 
late Professor Marsh. The mammalian 
nature of these remains has long been 
doubted, our material showing the teeth 
firmly ankylosed to the surface of the 
dental plate demonstrates conclusively the 
ichthyian nature of these teeth and that 
Platacodon should now be removed from 
the Mammalia to the Pisces. These re- 
mains and others will be figured and fully 
described by the writer in an article now 
in course of preparation, which will be pub- 
lished in the Museum Bulletin in the near 
future. 

Among the more important dinosaurian 
remains there is a considerable portion of 


SCIENCE. 


719 


the skeleton of Claosaurus, with some 25 
or 30 vertebre in position. This specimen 
is believed to be unique among the known 
remains of dinosaurs, in that there are pre- 
served in it, in the region of the anterior 
caudal vertebree, an impression of the der- 
mis which shows these animals to have been 
enveloped in life with a covering of small 
hexagonal plates or scales, something more 
than. one-half inch in diameter. This, I 
believe, is the first accurate information we 
have as to the nature of the dermal cover- 
ing of dinosaurs. 

Late in July the Laramie was abandoned 
and operations were commenced in the De- 
monelix beds of the Upper Tertiary deposits 
near Harrison, Nebr. These deposits, made 
famous by Dr. HE. H. Barbour of the Ne- 
braska State University, are extremely rich 
in the remains of these imposing and per- 
plexing fossils. A very complete series of 
Deemonelix spirals and rhizomes were col- 
lected, as well as important mammalian re- 
mains from the same beds, and much valu- 
able evidence secured, bearing directly upon 
the different species and phylogeny of Dee- 
monelix and the conditions attending the 
deposition of the beds in which the remains 
are found. 

After some three or four weeks spent in 
the Demonelix beds, our attention was 
given to the underlying White River de- 
posits. In these beds we were successful in 
securing a nearly complete skeleton of Ti- 
tanotherium in splendid condition, besides 
many other animal remains of hardly less 
importance. 

Of especial interest in connection with 
these deposits was the discovery in the Ore- 
odon beds of a thin layer of limestone, from 
eight inches to a foot in thickness, contain- 
ing in great abundance and in a beautiful 
state of preservation the remains of mol- 
lusca. Heretofore molluscan remains have 
been extremely rare in the White River, 
and have usually consisted of only imper- 


720 


fectly preserved casts. In a neighboring 
locality in the lower Titanotherium beds a 
fruit-bearing horizon was discovered in 
which were found the fossil fruits and silici- 
fied woods of the various trees and plants 
which grew in the Oligocene and Miocene 
forests of this region. From these fortu- 
nate discoveries we shall learn something 
of the invertebrate and plant life of this re- 
gion in middle Tertiary times, and be the 
better able to form an intelligent idea of the 
physical conditions that prevailed here dur- 
ing the deposition of the clays, sandstones 
and limestones of the White River series. 

In his work in this region the writer was 
very materially assisted by Mr. W. H. Ut- 
terback, and in all some ninety boxes of 
fossils have been packed by this party 
alone. ‘Taken as a whole, the field work of 
the Department of Paleontology of the Car- 
negie Museum for the season of 1900 may 
be considered as successful, and the friends 
of the Museum have every reason to be 
grateful to its founder for the generosity 
shown in supplying the needed funds, with- 
out which the successful accomplishment 
of the work would have been impossible. 
The best thanks of the writer, under whose 
direction the work has been carried on, are 
due to Dr. W. J. Holland, the Director of 
the Museum, and to the President and mem- 
bers of the Museum Board for the very 
great interest they have shown in the work 
and their ever-ready aid in facilitating its 
accomplishment. 

J. B. Hatcuer. 


OPENING OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL COL- 
LECTIONS IN THE AMERICAN MU- 
SEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 

Own October 30th the new anthropological 
collections in the American Museum of 
Natural History were opened to the public. 
While three years ago the anthropological 
material gathered in the Museum was in- 
stalled in a single hall, its increase has 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


been so rapid that at the present time the 
collections occupy five halls of the building, 
and two more halls are being arranged and 
will probably be opened in the near future. 
The accessions to the anthropological col- 
lections of the Museum obtained during the 
last three years have largely been due to 
extended scientific research undertaken by 
the institution. In this respect the methods 
of the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory differ considerably from those pursued 
by a number of other institutions. It has 
not been the policy of the Museum to ac- 
cumulate rapidly and indiscriminately more 
or less valuable specimens collected on trad- 
ing expeditions or purchased from dealers, 
but an endeavor has been made to build up 
representative collections, and to obtain at 
the same time the fullest and most detailed 
information in regard to specimens, so that 
each addition to the exhibit of the Museum 
can be made thoroughly instructive and will 
represent a material contribution to science. 
In South America Dr. A. F. Bandelier 
carried on researches on the plateaus of 
Peru and Bolivia. Dr. Bandelier first went 
to South America for the Museum under 
the patronage of Mr. Henry Villard, while 
during later years the expenses of the ex- 
pedition were borne by the Museum. The 
results of his work fill one of the new halls. 
Setting aside the beautiful fabrics, pottery, 
and other specimens, the collection abounds 
in skeletons and crania, which will be of 
great value in determining the physical 
characteristics of the ancient Peruvians. 
Extensive archeological investigations 
have been carried on in Mexico. These were 
in charge of Mr. Marshall H. Saville. The 
work was liberally supported by the Mu- 
seum and by the Duke of Loubat, to whose 
interest the Museum also owes a magnifi- 
cent collection of reproductions of Central 
American sculptures. It is believed that 
in no other museum are the monumental 
works of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


and Central America so fully represented 
as in the American Museum of Natural 
History, where they fill an imposing hall. 
The Duke of Loubat also sent the renowned 
Americanist, Dr. Eduard Seler, to Mexico, 
the results of his labors being divided be- 
tween the American Museum of Natural 
History and the Royal Ethnographical Mu- 
seum of Berlin. 

During the year 1898 the Museum em- 
ployed Dr. Carl Lumholtz and Dr. A. 
Hrdlicka in an ethnological investigation 
of the present tribes of the Sierra Madre 
Range, in western Mexico. While there 
Dr. Lumholtz continued his studies into the 
customs and religious beliefs of the Huichol 
Indians, which he had begun on a previous 
expedition undertaken for the Museum. 
Part of the results of his expedition have 
been published by the Museum, and the 
specimens which form the basis of this pub- 
lication are now for the first time exhibited. 
Dr. Hrdlicka studied the physical types of 
these people, but the specimens collected by 
him have not yet been arranged. 

Another inquiry, carried on by officers of 
the Museum, has been directed towards an 
exploration of the ruins of the Southwest. 
This exploration has been undertaken at 
the expense and under the active super- 
vision of Messrs. B. T. B. and F. H. Hyde, 
Jr., and has been carried on five years. 
The material collected includes the arehe- 
ology as well as the physical anthropology 
of this area. The extensive series of spe- 
cimens collected in the Southwestern ruins 
is at present being arranged, and will be 
opened to the public in the near future. 

A thorough examination of the Trenton 
gravels with a view to discovering the geo- 
logical distribution of remains of the early 
inhabitants of America has been continued 
during all these years. The means for this 
work have been provided by the Duke of 
Loubat for one year and by Dr. F. E. Hyde 
for the last three years. 


SCIENCE. 


721 


Attention has also been paid to problems 
of local archeology, and a considerable 
amount of work has been done in exploring 
the Indian sites in the neighborhood of 
New York City. 

Most important additions have been made 
to the collections illustrating the cultures of 
the people of the northern part of our conti- 
nent. Most of these are due to the work of 
the Jesup North Pacific Expedition—a great 
undertaking, made possible by the munifi- 
cence of Mr. Morris K. Jesup, President of . 
the Museum. The collections obtained by 
this expedition up to the present time cover 
the region of the State of Washington, the 
coast of British Columbia, the interior of that 
province, Arctic Alaska, and southeastern 
Siberia, and large additional collections are 
expected from the Arctic coast of eastern 
Siberia. Some of the results of this expedi- 
tion have been published in a large quarto 
volume, while a second volume is under 
way. The expedition promises to result in 
a thorough and exhaustive examination of 
both coasts of the North Pacific Ocean, and 
will settle the vexed question of the re- 
lations between the peoples of northeastern 
Asia and northwestern America. 

The Museum has also been enabled to 
undertake work in the difficult field or 
Californian ethnology. The means of this 
work was provided by the late Mr. C. P. 
Huntington. Up to the present time atten- 
tion has been paid particularly to an inves- 
tigation of the tribes of central California, 
and valuable data regarding the distribu- 
tion of human types and languages have 
been obtained, as well as an exceedingly in- 
teresting collection illustrating the culture 
of this region. 

Farther to the north, work has been 
taken up in Oregon, where a number of al- 
most unknown tribes exist which are fast 
disappearing. This work has been provided 
for by the liberality of Mr. Henry Villard, 
and has resulted in the acquisition of a 


722 


beautiful collection from the tribes living 
near the boundary between Oregon and the 
State of Washington. In the course of 
this work, information has been secured on 
the customs and languages of the Alsea, a 
tribe which is on the verge of extinction. 

The industries and arts of the Indians of 
the Great Plains have received their share 
of attention. The work of the Museum 
was directed particularly to an investiga- 
tion of the Arapaho Indians. The funds 
for this inquiry were given by Mrs. Morris 
K. Jesup. The work has resulted in a 
most remarkable expansion of the North 
American collections of the. Museum; and 
much information of great scientific value, 
largely referring to the specimens collected, 
has been obtained. 

A favorable combination of circumstances 
has made it possible for the Museum to 
collect from several points of the Arctic 
coast of America interesting scientific data, 
illustrated by numerous specimens. In this 
way has been obtained an almost complete 
series of collections illustrating the life of 
the Eskimo, extending from Smith Sound 
in the east, to the west coast of Hudson 
Bay, and accompanied by notes on the 
customs and beliefs of the various tribes, 
which are in process of publication in the 
Bulletin of the Museum. 

Besides these collections, which are due 
to systematic investigation, additional ma- 
terial has come into the possession of the 
Museum by gift and by purchase. Some of 
the important gifts of the Duke of Loubat, in 
connection with Central American and Mex- 
ican archeology, have already been men- 
tioned. He also presented to the Museum 
reproductions of ancient Mexican codices, 
and archeological specimens from Guate- 
mala and South America. The Museum 
received as a gift from Mr. J. Pierpont 
Morgan a beautiful collection of gold, silver 
and copper objects from Peru. Mr. W. 
Curtis James donated a collection from the 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


Aino of Japan. Mr. Morris K. Jesup gave 
the means for a collection illustrating the 
domestic life of the Japanese. The Museum 
is indebted to Mr. James Douglas for an 
excellent collection of Apache basketry. 
Mr. Jacob Schiff gave to the Museum a 
collection illustrating the development of 
the iron industry among African negroes. 
A number of beautiful old pieces collected 
in the early part of our century among 
North American Indian tribes were given 
to the Museum, prominent among which is 
a donation made by Miss E. H. Cotheal. 

A rather remarkable addition to the col- 
lections of the Anthropological Department 
was made by the transfer of the missionary 
exhibit arranged at the time of the ‘ Keu- 
menical Council’ in April of this year. 
This collection gives an excellent start for 
the development of special exhibits illus- 
trating the religions of primitive people. 
Among the purchases made by the Museum 
a large archeological collection from Il- 
linois, the valuable Stahl connection from 
Porto Rico, the Gibbs collection from 
Turk’s Island, and the Finsch collection 
‘from Melanesia, are worthy of special men- 
tion. 

The new exhibits, just made accessible 
to the public, are proof of lively activity, 
and of a genuine interest taken by liberal 
patrons of science in the development of one 
of the most important scientific institutions 
of the City. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Grundlinien der anorganischen Chemie. By W. 
OsTWALD. 14x 22cm., pp. xix + 795. Leip- 
zig, Wilhelm Engelmann, 1900. Price, linen 
bound, 16; half leather, 18 marks. 

The educational importance of this book is 
so great that it will not be amiss to paraphrase 
certain portions of the preface, the quotation 
marks referring to the ideas and not to the 
words. C 

‘The object was to present the newer the- 
ories and their consequences at the beginning 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


of the educational course so that the student 
should not be forced to master antiquated ways 
of looking at things, only to discard them later. 
While it was necessary in doing this to remodel 
the conventional type of text-book, as much as 
possible of the time-honored form of presenta- 
tion has been kept. * * * 

‘One might perhaps teach chemistry as a 
deductive science, starting from a few general 
principles and introducing the properties of the 
different substances as illustrations of the gen- 
eral laws. This plan has not been followed, 
partly from an interest in the historical devel- 
opment and partly from a feeling that there 
were too many important details to make such 
a method satisfactory pedagogically. I have 
therefore kept the traditional arrangement ac- 
cording to elements and compounds, and have 
worked in the general laws as best I could. * * * 

‘« Special pains have been taken with the de- 
velopment of the conception of ions. Sufficient 
attention has, perhaps, not been paid to the 
fact that it is possible and necessary to intro- 
duce this conception as a purely chemical and 
not as an electrical one. Although this idea 
was actually developed to explain the electrical 
phenomena, its importance in chemistry lies in 
its accounting for the chemical facts of reactions, 
characteristic of the constituents of salts. This 
is the point upon which stress has been laid. 
The electrolytic phenomena and Faraday’s law 
serve, then, to widen and deepen the concep- 
tion already deduced from the chemical phe- 
nomena.”’ 

The first three chapters form an introduction 
in which we find a brief but very lucid exposi- 
tion of our fundamental concepts in regard to 
matter ; a statement of the facts from which we 
deduce the laws of the conservation of mass 
and of energy ; a discussion of combustion phe- 
nomena, with special reference to the changes 
of weight involved, and to the dissociation of 
mercuric oxide. The epistemological stand- 
point taken in the first chapter is very much 
more satisfactory than the materialistic one 
usually adopted. It is difficult to see any ped- 
agogical advantage in postulating ‘matter,’ 
and it is certainly better, from a scientific 
point of view, to state what we know than to 
start with an assumption, however plausible. 


SCIENCE. 


723 


The besetting sin of most chemists is to “substi- 
tute hypotheses and analogies for facts, and to 
believe that an analogy is an identity. The 
chemist is very ready to reason that, since 
Brown acts like Jones under certain cireum- 
stances, Brown must therefore be Jones. 

In the fourth chapter, Ostwald gives a brief 
sketch of the different elements, and is then 
able to refer to any element at any time asa 
substance with which the student is already 
familiar. Probably every chemist has tried his 
hand at an arrangement of the subject which 
should require no use of, nor reference to, any- 
thing unknown, except the one point or sub- 
stance under discussion. The difficulties in the 
way of such a task are enormous, and it is by 
no means certain that the problem can be 
solved without sacrificing other points of vastly 
more importance. The method followed by 
Ostwald, and before him by Bunsen, eliminates 
these difficulties and leaves one free to treat the 
subject in any desired way. It is a method to 
be defended along other lines. The student 
has a speaking acquaintance, at any rate, with 
zine, iron, lead, mercury, silver, gold and other 
elements before he begins the study of chemis- 
try. If this previous knowledge is not to be 
ignored, there is no reason why it should not 
be extended in an equally superficial way to 
include all the other elements. 

The chemistry proper is divided into two 
parts, the non-metallic elements and the metals. 
Successive chapters are devoted to oxygen, hy- 
drogen, water, hydrogen peroxide, chlorine, 
the oxygen compounds of chlorine, the remain- 
ing three halogens, sulphur and its compounds, 
selenium and tellurium, nitrogen, phosphorus, 
carbon, silicon, boron, and the gases argon, 
helium, ete. Under the metals, the order is: 
potassium, sodium, rubidium ete., calcium, 
magnesium, strontium etc., aluminum and the 
rare earths, iron, manganese, chromium, cobalt 
and nickel, zinc and cadmium, copper, lead, 
mercury, silver, tellurium, bismuth, antimony, 
arsenic, vanadium etc., tin and the allied 
metals, uranium ete., gold and the platinum 
metals. The book closes with a chapter on the 
choice of combining weights and on the periodic 
law. 

The treatment is excellent throughout. In 


724 


addition to the orthodox chemistry the student 
learns about many things which are ordinarily 
included in a special course on physical chem- 
istry: rate of diffusion, reversible equilibrium, 
mass action, catalysis, phase rule, thermochem- 
ical relations, dissociation theory, electrolysis 
and Faraday’s law, free energy, theorem of 
LeChatelier, strength of acids, relation of mon- 
otropic and enantiotropic forms, hydrolysis, 
reaction velocity. 

The dissociation theory is introduced in a 
very natural way. It is first shown that the 
hydrogen of an acid differs from the hydrogen 
of other compounds in that it always shows the 
same reactions quite irrespective of the nature 
of the acid radical. Certain other properties 
are characteristic only of the hydroxy] of bases 
and are further independent of the basic rad- 
ical. All soluble chlorides react with silver 
nitrate to form silver chloride. The radical 
whose reactions are independent of the other 
radical forming the salt is defined as an ion, 
and the characteristic properties of these ions 
are then discussed. It is then shown that salts 
are electrolytes, and that the ions of chemistry 
are also the ions of electrolysis. 

There is no question but that this book is the 
official sign of the beginning of a new era in 
teaching introductory chemistry. Hitherto 
physical chemistry has been an independent 
branch of chemistry rather than the science of 
chemistry. While physical chemistry has ex- 
erted an influence upon elementary, analytic, 
inorganic, and organic chemistry, this has been 
an influence from without. An occasional fact 
has been worked into the frame here, an open- 
ing for a new view has been made there; but 
this has been a case of patching old garments in 
a vain attempt to keep them decently present- 
able. It is evident that the whole teaching of 
chemistry must be put on a new basis and car- 
ried on along scientific lines. This has been 
done for elementary chemistry in the book now 
under discussion, and it is now possible for 
those teaching introductory chemistry to pre- 
sent their subject in a satisfactory way, even 
though they may not themselves have been 
trained in physical chemistry. 

The time is ripe for such a change. 
has been working up to it for years. 


Ostwald 
In this 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von XII. No. 306. 


country, as well as in Europe, there are uni- 
versities and colleges where lectures on element- 
ary chemistry are now being given by physical 
chemists along similar, though not identical, 
lines. Holleman has recently published a text- 
book which may be looked upon as a forerunner 
of Ostwald’s volume. While the reviewer is not 
so sanguine as to expect that Ostwald’s book 
will be adopted at once throughout the length 
and breadth of the scientific world, yet the 
time is surely coming when the right way of 
teaching the subject will be the general way. 

The fact that this book will revolutionize the 
whole teaching of introductory chemistry is a 
striking illustration of Ostwald’s ability as an 
expounder. Ostwald has done much brilliant 
scientific work; but his real strength is asa 
teacher. It is not an exaggeration to say that 
the first edition of his Lehrbuch created the 
science of physical chemistry. Horstmann had 
had a glimpse of the promised land ; but it was 
Ostwald who led the chemists into it. Van’t 
Hoff originated the modern theory of solutions, 
Arrhenius the theory of electrolytic dissocia- 
tion, and Nernst the osmotic theory of the 
voltaic cell; but it is Ostwald who has de- 
veloped these theories and who has forced their 
acceptance. It is to Ostwald that we owe the 
rejuvenation of analytical chemistry and we 
now owe to Ostwald by far the best text-book 
on introductory chemistry. 

WILDER D. BANCROFT. 


Twelfth Annual Report on the Railways of the 
United States, for the year ending June 30, 


1899. By the Statistician to the Interstate 
Commerce Commission. Washington, Gov’t 
Print. 1900. 8vo. Pp. 712. 


It is unfortunate that some such system as is 
employed by the Census Bureau, adapted to 
this special line of work, cannot reduce the 
period of waiting for these reports. The Com- 
mission dates its report for the year ending 
June, 1899, precisely one year later than that 
date and the shortening of this delay and wait- 
ing would have value in high ratio with the 
proportion by which the period of delay 
might be reduced. Undoubtedly the Commis- 
sion and its employees do their best, however, 
and we must hope for some later Hollerith to 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


aid them in approximating coincidence of date 
of report with the close of the period reported 
upon. It is, nevertheless, a report worth wait- 
ing for. It gives us the mileage of all the rail- 
ways of the country ; a classification for the 
purposes of the report; data relating to equip- 
ment, number of men employed ; capitalization 
and valuation of property, magnitude of the 
freight traffic, of the passenger movement, pub- 
lic service, earnings and expenses and profits, 
gross and net. A condensed summary follows 
and a general balance sheet. Railway acci- 
dents are discussed, recommendation made and 
a completely tabulated set of figures secured 
by the Commission is appended. It is a useful 
compendium to engineers, to railway men, to 
economists and to that rarer class, statesmen. 

The total mileage, June 30, 1899, was 189,- 
294.66 miles, a gain of 2,898.34 for the year. 
It is interesting to note that this increase has 
occurred mainly in the Southern States. The 
track mileage was 252,364.48, a gain of 4,831.96 
miles, single track and sidings. This track is 
distributed among 2,049 railway corporations, 
of which about one-half are ‘operating roads’ 
and the balance leased lines or purchases, with 
142 ‘private roads.’ Of the total, 35 have been 
reorganized during the year, 20 have been con- 
solidated and 42 merged in other lines, while 30 
were abandoned, averaging, however, but 10 
miles each. The larger systems are made up 
of a number of lines, each originally independ- 
ent, and still holding, often, original charters. 

Locomotives number 36,703, of which more 
than one fourth are passenger engines, one-half 
freight and the balance switching and special- 
service engines. Cars in service numbered 
1,375,916, of which 33,850 were for passenger 
traffic and 46,556 assigned to the service of the 
company. Increasing economy of transporta- 
tion is shown by a gain in density of traffic, 
both passenger and freight. Two-thirds of the 
trains were fitted with the train-brake, and 
nearly all with the automatic coupler, obviously 
an immense gain in safety over the conditions 
of but a few years since. 

Employees numbered 928,924, or 495 per mile, 
a gain in two years of 105,448, with a decrease 
in number per mile of 20, indicating, again, 
gain in economy of operation. Their pay was 


SCIENCE. 725 


$522, 967,896, a gain of $27,912,278 for the em- 
ployees’ account during the year. This is 40 
per cent. of the gross earnings and 60 per cent. 
of the operating expenses. ‘‘ The fact indicates 
the extent to which wage-earners are interested 
in the conservative management of railways.’’ 

Capital aggregates $11,033, 954,898, a gain of 
$215,400,867, more than twice that of the 
preceding year. Of the stock, $5,515,011,726, 
or 59.39 per cent., paid no dividends; but even 
this is better than the preceding year, in which 
66.26 per cent. paid nothing. The funded 
debt, which passed its interest, amounted to 
$572,410,746, and was 10.45 per cent. of the 
total, a better statement than that of 1898, 
when 15.82 per cent. thus failed to meet its 
obligations. 

Of the freight traffic, mines furnished 51.47 
per cent.; manufactured products, next in or- 
der, 13.45; agriculture, 11.33; forestry, 10.89 
—a distribution probably very surprising to 
many. The number of passengers carried one 
mile was 14,591,327,613, a gain of over 10 per 
cent. ; the number of ton-miles of merchandise 
was 123,667,257,153, a gain of eight per cent. 
The gross earnings were $1,313,610,118 ; net, 
$482 090,923 ; net dividends, $94,992,909. Op- 
erating expenses aggregated $896,968,999, and 
practically an equal sum was distributed to 
employees and outside recipients as an addition 
to their incomes in form of wages, dividends, 
ete. The total surplus for the year was $53,- 
064,877, to be compared with the deficit of the 
preceding year, $6,120,483. 

Gross earnings were $7,005 permile; operat- 
ing costs, $4,570, and income $2,435. The rey- 
enue per unit was, per ton-mile, 0.734 cent; 
per passenger-mile it was 1.925, practically two 
cents. Per train-mile, the revenue was $1.01 
for passengers and $1.79 for freight. Costs per 
train-mile are $0.9839. 

Accidents remain a serious item, 7,123 people 
having been killed during the year and 44,620 
injured, an increase for the year of four per 
cent. killed and over eight per cent. injured, 
notwithstanding the great increase in the use 
of automatic couplers, this being the dangerous 
point in railway operation. Of these totals, 
the passenger list of killed amounted to but 
239, about three per cent., but employees con- 


726 


stituted one-third the list. Of the injured, 
passengers were about eight per cent. only, the 
employees nearer 80 per cent. A passenger 
must travel, on the average, over 60,000,000 
miles to lose his life; in New England, how- 
ever, he must travel 125,290,750 miles; in the 
southwest he may lose it at the end of 34,327,- 
929 miles. The average traveler is hurt after 
traveling about 4,000,000 miles. 

The report is a most important one, and 
should be carefully studied by all interested in 


any phase of the subject. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


A Book of Whales. By F. E. BEDDARD. The 
Science Series. Published by G. P. Put- 
nam’s Sons, New York, and John Murray, 
London. 40 illustrations. 8yo. Pp. xv + 
320. 

The seventh publication of this well-known 
series is from the pen of the English editor, 
and attempts to gather into a comparatively 
small compass a general account of the Cetacea, 
and ‘to illustrate by means of the group of 
whales a very important generalization, the 
intimate relation between structure and environ- 
ment.’ 

In the absence of any other comprehensive 
work on the subject, the book will receive a 
hearty welcome. Teachers of anatomy and 
custodians of museums have long felt the need 
of some general work on the Cetacea, and there 
is a growing popular interest in all matters that 
relate to the life of the ocean. It is a pity, 
however, that the author did not make a good 
thing better by publishing a list of the more im- 
portant papers bearing on his subject. Amer- 
ican zoologists have contributed no small amount 
to the literature of the Cetacea, and Professor 
Beddard acknowledges the help he has received 
from the works of True, Cope and Scammon. 

The introductory chapters make interesting 
reading. They deal with the external form and 
internal structure of whales, but assume that 
the reader has a general knowledge of the group 
and of comparative anatomy. The author him- 
self is often not satisfied with the explanations 
that he gives for the existence of certain struc- 
tures. It is indeed a hard matter to give plaus- 
ible reasons for the existence of many devices of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 306. 


nature, and phylogenetic explanations based on 
hypothetical ancestors are not as convincing 
now as they were a few years ago. 

The section on the stomach is especially in- 
teresting, and one is almost overcome when he 
reads of the amount of food that a hungry Ce- 
tacean can devour. The stomach of a ‘ bottle- 
nose’ contained ten thousand beaks of squid, 
and a grampus contained thirteen porpoises and 
fourteen seals, all perfectly whole and intact. 
It is thought that large stones in the stomachs 
of certain whales may perform the same func- 
tion that gravel performs in the bird’s gizzard. 

More than half the book deals with the 
various groups of Cetacea. The treatment is 
not technical, and the monotony of mere de- 
scription is varied by anecdotes, historical 
reviews and what is now known as natural 
history. 

The press work is of a high order, although 
the inversion of the figure of the right whale is 
evidence of some carelessness and gives the 
animal a most grotesque appearance. There 
are some other indications of lack of care in 
preparing copy and reading proof, but the 
general appearance of the book is good, and the 
text figures and many of the plates are excellent. 

H. C. Bumpus. 


GENERAL. 


ACCORDING to a plébicite taken by the 
London Academy the ‘ Life and Letters of Hux- 
ley’ is the most interesting book announced for 
publication this autumn. It is reported that in 
addition to this volume the letters exchanged 
between Huxley and Tyndall may be printed 
in full. 


Ir is stated in the New York Hvening Post 
that an interesting manuscript autobiography of 
the late Sir Richard Owen, the eminent paleon- 
tologist, has been discovered among a lot of old 
documents put up for sale in a London auction 
room. The existence of this manuscript was 
unknown and unsuspected, and it was only 
when the documents came into the hands of 
those familiar with the handwriting that its 
authorship was identified. A singular feature 
of the autobiography is thatit is written, not in 
the first person, but chiefly in the third person, 
the author referring to himself as ‘he’ or to 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


‘Richard Owen, a paleontologist of some re- 
pute.’ 

Iris stated that the bicentennial monographs 
to be written by Yale professors, publication of 
which will begin early next spring, will num- 
ber not fewer than twenty-five. President 
Hadley and Professors Morris, Chittenden and 
Dr. T. T. Munger, of the Yale corporation, will 
have charge of the publications. 

THE catalogue of the birds of New York 
State, undertaken by Dr. Marcus S. Farr, has 
made important progress and the first edition 
will probably be ready for publication within 
six months. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


The Laws of Gravitation. Memoirs hy NEwton, Bouc- 
UER and CAVENDISH. Edited by A. STANLEY 


MACKENZIE. New York, Cincinnati and Chicago, 
The American Book Company. 1900. Pp. vii-+ 
160. 


The Effects of a Magnetic Field on Radiation. Memoirs 
by FARADAY, KERR and ZEEMAN. Edited by E. 
P. Lewis. New York, Cincinnati and Chicago, The 
American Book Company. 1900. Pp. xviii+ 
102. 

A Handbook of Photography in Oolors. THOMAS 
BoLas, ALEXANDER, A. K. TALLENT and EDGAR 


SENIOR. New York and Chicago. E. and H. T. 
Anthony & Co. London, Marion & Co. 1900. 
Pp. 230. 


Studies of Animal Life. 
Boston, New York and Chicago. 
Co. 1900. Pp. 106. 

Von Richter’s Teat-book of Inorganic Chemistry. Ed- 
ited by H. KLINGER, translated by EDGAR F. 
SmitH. Fifth American Edition, Philadelphia. P. 
Blakiston’s Son & Co. 1900. $1.75. 


WALTER WHITNEY LUCAS. 
D. C. Heath & 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 


The American Journal of Science for Novem- 
ber contains the following articles: 


‘Elaboration of the Fossil Cycads in the Yale Mu- 
seum,’ by L. F. Ward. 

“Chemical Composition of Turquois,’ by S. L. 
Penfield. 

“Quartz Muscovite Rock from Belmont, Nevada ; 
the equivalent of the Russian Beresite,’ by J. E. 
Spurr. 

‘Volumetric Estimation of Copper as the Oxalate, 
with Separation from Cadmium, Arsenic, Tin and 
Zine,’ by C. A. Peters. 


SCIENCE. 


727 


“Synopsis of the Collections of Invertebrate Fossils 
made by the Princeton Expedition to Southern Pata- 
gonia,’ by A. E. Ortmann. 

‘Cathode Stream and X-Light,’ by W. Rollins. 

In the first report of the Michigan Academy 
of Science there is an abstract of a paper by 
Jacob Reighard on ‘ The Breeding Habits of the 
Dog-Fish, Amia calva,’ showing that the nests 
are made by the male sometime before the spawn- 
ing season by biting or tearing away aquatic 
plants, or other material on the bottom, leaving 
a concavity lined with roots, gravel or water- 
soaked plants. These nests may be quite near 
together or a considerable distance apart ac- 
cording to the numbers of fish and character of 
the bottom, and a single nest may be used by 
two fish in succession, consequently containing 
eggs in very different stages of development. 
The act of spawning occupies several hours, the 
eggs being deposited at considerable intervals. 


The American Naturalist for October has for 
its leading article a ‘Reconsideration of the 
Evidence for a Common Dinosaur-Avian Stem 
in the Permian,’ concluding that this hypoth- 
esis should not be discarded, but very seri- 
ously kept in view. W. A. Cannon discusses 
‘The Gall of the Monterey Pine’ and W.S. 
Nickerson has a ‘Note on Distomum arcanum 
(a. sp.) in American Frogs’ a species found so 
far only in frogs from Massachusetts. G. W. 
and EH. G. Peckham have a brief article ‘ In- 
stinct or Reason’ noting a case in which one of 
the solitary wasps was led to depart from the 
customary manner of dragging insects into her 
burrow. ‘The usual instalment of synopses of 
North American invertebrates is lacking. Edi- 
torial Comment, Reviews, etc., complete the 
number. 


The Popular Science Monthly begins its fifty- 
eighth volume with the November number and 
has for its frontispiece a portrait of the late 
James Edward Keeler. The first article is an in- 
stalment of Professor Newcomb’s ‘ Chapters on 
the Stars’ and treats of binary and multiple 
stars, star clusters, nebulee, and the methods by 
which they are investigated. Under ‘ Rapid 
Battleship Building ’ Waldon Fawcett notes the 
(comparatively) short time in which some of the 
very largest vessels have been constructed. 
The second part is given of ‘The Address of 


728 


the President (Sir William Turner) before the 
British Association for the Advancement of 
Science,’ H. S. Pritchett discusses ‘The Pop- 
ulation of the United States during the Next 
Ten Centuries’ computing that by 2900 it 
will amount to 41 billions, and Edward At 
kinson has an article on ‘The Distribution of 
Texas.’ Clinton Rogers Woodruff considers in 
a hopeful vein ‘Municipal Government now 
and a Hundred Years ago’ and William Bar- 
clay Parsons has an article on ‘ China’ giving 
a brief outline of its political and physical 
status. David Starr Jordan contributes a 
short skit on ‘ Rescue Work in History’ and 
W. W. Campbell presents an appreciative 
sketch of James Edward Keeler. In ‘ Discus- 
sion and Correspondence’ attention is called 
in an article that deserves to be read and 
heeded, to the literary sins of many writers on 
scientific topics. There are reviews of current 
scientific literature and notes of the progress of 
science. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 326th meeting was held on Saturday 
evening, October 20th, and was devoted toa 
‘Symposium on Cotton.’ 

H. J. Webber presented some ‘ Notes on Cot- 
ton Hybrids,’ stating that the attempt was 
being made to produce a plant which should 
possess the long staple of the Sea Island Cotton, 
have a seed that would admit of the ready re- 
moval of the fiber and would grow well on the 
uplands. Hybrids he said were as a rule more 
vigorous than the parent plants, although being 
as regards structure and appearance interme- 
diate between them. The speaker described 
some of the crosses that had been made and 
exhibited a series of specimens showing the 
successful results that had followed. 

L. H. Dewey spoke concerning ‘Some For- 
eign Varieties of Cotton,’ saying that while the 
United States annually produces cotton to the 
value of nearly $400,000,000, it imports each 
year about $4,000,000 worth for special pur- 
poses. Most of our imported cottons, it was 
said, came from Egypt where they have been 
developed from Sea Island cotton, by long cul- 
tivation under irrigation, in a dry and practi. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


cally rainless climate. The lint varies from 
snow white in ‘ Abbasi’ to brown in ‘ Mitafifi.’ 
The plants are large and spreading, similar to 
our Sea Island plants, but larger and with 
yellow flowers and small ‘3 locked’ bolls. The 
lint is strong, lustrous, soft, and with a well 
developed twist. It is used chiefly for fine 
knit goods and for mercerized goods. 

Peruvian cotton, which is borne on perennial 
cotton plants, hasashort, brown, finely crimped 
fiber, and is imported for mixing with wool 
which it resembles. 

A white uneven lint is produced in Porto 
Rico from a perennial plant, and plants of the 
“kidney cotton’ type are cultivated in the 
Philippines. In Paraguay the two principal 
varieties grown are red cotton (Algodon colo- 
rado), producing a reddish brown lint, and white 
cotton (Algodon blanco) producing white lint. 

Nearly all varieties mentioned were illus. 
trated by specimens, and leading American and 
Egyptian varieties were illustrated by full sized 
plants with flowers and mature bolls. 

W. A. Orton read a paper on ‘Selection for 
Resistance to the Wilt Disease of Cotton’ a 
malady which has caused serious injury in the 
Sea Island Cotton and is becoming more trouble- 
some in the upland cotton. It is caused by a 
soil parasite, Neocosmospora vasinfecta (Atk.) 
Erw. Sm., which attacks the young rootlets 
and grows from them into the vascular bundles 
of the main roots and of the stem, which are 
filled. The brown discoloration of the wood 
produced by the fungus is a characteristic 
symptom of thedisease. Trials had been made 
of a large number of soil fungicides, but none 
had been found successful and the greatest hope 
of remedy seemed to lie in the production by 
selection of immune races of cotton. 

A test of twenty kinds of cotton showed that 
the Egyptian sorts and one American upland 
variety, the Jackson, were strongly resistant to 
the wilt disease. These plants were somewhat 
dwarfed by the disease and there were numer- 
ous root tufts present, which demonstrated the 
presence of the fungus in the soil, and showed 
that the plants were actually resistant. In- 
dividual plants in diseased fields are often found 
living when all others around them have been 
killed, and seed from such plants has been 


NovEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


saved with the intention of producing resistant 
races by selection and cross-breeding. 

That the quality of resistance to the wilt 
disease is transmissible through the seed was 
proved by an experiment in which the seed of 
one such resistant plant of sea island cotton was 
planted beside an ordinary race. Every plant 
grown from the selected seed lived, while all 
the other cotton around it was killed. It is 
believed that a race of cotton entirely resistant 
to the wilt disease may be obtained by careful 
selection and cross-breeding. 

L. M. Tolman discussed ‘ The Economic Uses 
of Cotton-Seed Oil’ describing the methods of 
extracting and refining the oil of different 
grades, and noting the products of 2,000 pounds 
of seed. The rapid growth of the industry was 
described, as well as the various uses of the oil 
in salad oil, butterine, lard substitutes, etc., its 
value as food and digestibility as shown by 
recent experiments. Cotton-seed meal, a by- 
product in the manufacture of the oil was, the 
speaker said, valuable as a fertilizer and as food 
for cattle. F. A. Lucas. 


THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECTION OF BIOLOGY. 


A MEETING of the Section was held on Octo- 
ber 8th, Professor C. L. Bristol presiding. The 
program offered consisted of reports of summer 
work by members of the section. 

Professor E. B. Wilson reported that he spent 
the summer at Beaufort, N. C., where he prose- 
cuted experimental researches upon the eggs of 
Toxopneustes. Loeb’s experiments upon the 
eggs of Arbacia were confirmed, and further 
facts of great interest were determined. Later 
in the season Professor Wilson visited Woods 
Holl, Mt. Desert, Me., and the Bay of Fundy. 
He drew attention to the very great differences 
between the Beaufort and Bay of Fundy faunas. 
The transparent pelagic annelid Tomopteris was 
collected in the latter locality. 

Dr. D. T. MacDougal spent the summer in 
studying the flora of Priest Lake, which stands 
at an elevation of 3,000 feet, in northern Idaho. 
He was especially concerned in studying the 
effect of air temperatures on the distribution of 
plants. 

Professor H. F. Osborn visited the British 


SCIENCE. 


729 


Museum and the Museum of Comparative Anat- 
omy in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. The 
latter has, under the hand of Dr. Filhol, reached 
a high degree of effectiveness. At the British 
Museum Professor Osborn examined the remains 
of the new Patagonian sloth Neomylodon, the 
form said by Ameghino to be still extant. 

Mr. F. B. Sumner gave an account of experi- 
ments carried on at the marine laboratory at 
Naples. The work of Mr. Sumner was directed 
towards determining the validity of his confiu- 
ence theory of the origin of the embryo in fishes. 
The results are regarded as confirmatory. 

The workin the Bermuda Islands, carried on 
in previous summers by the expeditions from 
the New York University under the direction 
of Professor Bristol, was continued this summer. 
Mr. F. C. Waite was this year a member of the 
party, and reported the finding of much valuable 
and interesting material not heretofore collected. 

Dr. M. A. Howe also worked in the Bermudas 
during the first half of the summer, going later 
to Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard and to Sequin 
Island, Maine. He was especially concerned 
with the collection of marine algze, of which he 
reported the acquisition of a large number. 
He described also the general floral features of 
the Bermudas. 

Dr. H. E. Crampton stated that the summer 
session at Woods Holl has been a successful one. 

Mr. M. A. Bigelow, while at Woods Holl, 
confirmed his results on Lepas and added a 
number of new observations. He, with Dr. 
Crampton, carried on a study of the ponds along 
the southern shore of Martha’s Vineyard, with 
a view to studying the variation in their fauna. 

Professor F. E. Lloyd spent six weeks in 
company with Professor 8. M. Tracy in a pre- 
liminary study of the flora of the Mississippi 
Sound Islands and Delta. A full series of plants 
was collected. Professor Lloyd described the 
leading features of the vegetation of that region. 

F. E. Luoyp, 
Secretary. 


SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY. 


THE regular meeting of the Section was held 
on October 22d. Reports of anthropological 
investigations made during the past summer 
were received from Dr. Franz Boas, Dr. Liv 


730 


ingston Farrand, Dr. A. Hrdlicka, Dr. Put- 
nam and Dr. R. E. Dodge. These investigations 
were made in the Vancouver Islands, Oregon, 
New Mexico, Arizona and California. 
CHARLES H. JUDD, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE EARLIEST USE OF THE NAMES SAURIA AND 
BATRACHIA, 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In glancing 
over my ‘Address in Memory of Edward 
Drinker Cope,’ published by the American 
Philosophical Society, I find I have inadvert- 
ently referred to ‘Sauria and Serpentes’ as 
‘Linnean terms’ instead of ‘prior terms.’ Ser- 
pentes only was used by Linneeus, that natur- 
alist having confounded all his ‘Amphibia’ ex- 
cept the Serpentes under the group (‘ordo’) 
named ‘Reptiles.’ Brongniart first used the 
name ‘Sauriens.’ The slip would scarcely be 
of sufficient consequence to notice were it not 
that a question of nomenclature of some impor- 
tance is involved on which I am enabled to 
throw some light. 

Only the French form of the name—Sauriens 
—was used by Brongniart (1799) and it has been 
believed that Latreille (1804) or Duméril (1806) 
was the first to give a later equivalent. Mean- 
while, however, Shaw (1802) used the name 
Lacertes. There are many who hold that a 
vernacular name is insufficient and should be 
superseded by the first applicable Latin term. 
I do not share in that belief in respect to super- 
generic groups (orders, etc.), but for the benefit 
of those who do, give the following facts. 

Brongniart’s name Sauriens was used very 
speedily after its proposal by Cuvier in his 
Lecons @anatomie comparée in the ‘troisiéme 
tableau’ at the end of the first volume (‘an VIII’ 
= 1800), but there was no Latin equivalent. The 
Latin term SAURIA was first introduced by Dr. 
James Macartney in a translation of the first 
volume of Cuvier’s work published in 1802. 
This work must be quite rare, as the only copy 
I have been able to find is one I purchased at a 
second hand bookstore when a youth. Its full 
title is as follows: ‘ Lectures on Comparative 
Anatomy. | Translated from the French of |G. 
CuviER, |Member of the National Institute, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 306. 


Professor in the College of France, and in the 
| Central School of the Pantheon, &c.| By 
WILLIAM Ross; | under the inspection of | JAMES 
MACARTNEY, | Lecturer on Comparative Anat- 
omy and Physiology in St. Bartholomew’s Hos- 
pital, &c. |=] Vol. I | [ete.] |=] London, | 
printed at the Oriental Press, by Wilson and 
Co.,| for T, N. Longman and O. Rees, Pater- 
noster row. |—| 1802. 

Macartney is responsible for the nomencla- 
ture. In his ‘ Preface,’ (p. vi,) he remarks : 
‘“‘The names of the muscles [etc.] have been 
rendered into Latin’’ [ete.], and ‘‘the same 
mode has been adopted with respect to many 
of the terms in Natural History.’’ He adds: 
‘‘T have taken the liberty of correcting some 
errors in the original’’ [etc.], so there can be 
no doubt that to him is to be accredited the 
nomenclature adopted. His preface is dated 
‘London, March 18, 1802.’ 

All the ordinal names for reptiles are rendered 
into Latin in the third folded table at the end 
of the volume, viz.: Les Chéloniens by CHEL- 
ontA ; Les Sauriens by SAuRIA; Les Ophidiens 
by OpuipiA, and Les Batraciens by BATRA- 
CHIA. 1802, then, is the date for those names, 
and not 1804, as stated by Dr. Baur in SCIENCE 
(N. S., VI., 172), who attributes their first Latin- 
ization to Latreille (1804). In this work also, 
it will be seen, is the first Latinization of Batra- 
ciens. 

Dr. O. P. Hay (in Science, N. 8., VI., 772) 
has advocated the retention of Batrachia in- 
stead of Amphibia, apparently because he 
thinks that ‘‘ one thing is very certain, and that 
is that we cannot rigidly enforce, with respect 
to the appellatives of higher rank, the same 
rules that apply to genera. Common usage 
must and does determine much in the case of 
the former terms.’’ If I accepted these ideas, I 
should still be in favor of retaining the name 
Amphibia in place of Batrachia. ‘Common 
usage’ among the Germans generally, as well 
as among many other zoologists, would warrant 
it. To me the name Batrachia, extended to 
cover all the class so designated, is very objec- 
tionable from a philological as well as historical 
point of view, and Amphibia is an excellent one. 

THEO. GILL. 

WASHINGTON, October 24, 1900. 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

AN account is given in the Chemiker- Zeitung 
of a dangerous accident occurring in the ship- 
ment of sodium peroxid. The material was 
destined for Japan and was in nine cases of sixty 
kilos each. It was contained in thin zinc boxes. 
In unloading, one of the first two cases exploded 
with a very loud report, a number of workmen 
were injured, several fatally, and a fire was 
caused. Serious consequences to the shipper 
may ensue, for the cases were merely labeled 
‘chemicals,’ no evidence of the dangerous na- 
ture of their contents being furnished. 


In the manufacture of superphosphate for 
fertilizer, when apatite is used, large volumes 
of hydrofluoric acid are evolved, which contam- 
inate the atmosphere very seriously, aside from 
being a commercial loss. A process has been 
devised by C. Elschner, which is described in 
the Chemiker-Zeitung, for the recovery and util- 
ization of these gases in the form of fluorsilicic 
acid. This is used in the manufacture of arti- 
ficial stone, and for hardening bath for both 
soft limestone and soft sandstone. A patent 
has also been issued for the utilization of fluor- 
silicic acid as a medium for preserving stable 
manure. The crude acid is absorbed by burnt 
and ground clay. This is dried again, pul- 
verized and sprinkled upon the fresh manure 
in conjunction with a second powder consisting 
of either a mixture of sulfuric acid and kiesel- 
guhr or a ground bisulfate. It is claimed by 
the use of these powders all the valuable con- 
stituents of the manure are perfectly preserved. 


A SERIES of articles on hydraulic cements by 
O. Rebuffat has appeared in the Gazzetta, from 
the laboratory of the School of Engineering at 
Naples. The natural puzzolana mortar is, 
when used under sea water, changed into a hy- 
drated aluminum silicate containing little lime, 
and this silicate is very slightly influenced by 
the sea water. It seems to be much better to 
use the cement in the way generally used a few 
years ago that is, by grinding the puzzolana to 
an extremely fine powder rather than to mix 
it with sand. Artificial puzzolana can now 
rarely be made on terms which will enable it to 
compete with the natural product. 


.SoME time since Professor Fittica of Marburg 


SCIENCE. 


731 


announced that he had succeeded in transmut- 
ing phosphorus into arsenic. Professor Clemens 
Winklerseemed to be the only chemist who took 
Fittica’s astounding claims seriously enough to 
refute them. Winkler showed that Fittica’s 
results could indeed be obtained, but the ar- 
senic was due, not to transmutation from phos- 
phorus, but to impurity in the phosphorus. 
Fittica seems not to have availed himself of 
Winkler’s offer of a specimen of phosphorus 
free from arsenic, with which to repeat his 
transmutation experiments. Now a rather ex- 
tended paper by Fittica appears in the Chemical 
News, apparently translated frem the Chemiker 
Zeitung, in which the author not only repeats 
his claim to have transmuted phosphorus into 
arsenic, but also claims, by varying the method, 
to obtain small quantities of antimony. He 
claims that Winkler’s failure to obtain arsenic 
from pure phosphorus is due to his neglect to 
follow Fittica’s method with exactness. A 
dozen years ago Fittica gave public utterance 
to the expression that at heart all chemists are 
still alchemists, in the sense of believing possible 
the transmutation of metals. Now he consid- 
ers he has justified this expression. 

A sprigs of experiments have been carried 
out by Alex. de Hemptinne for the purpose of 
determining whether in general an influence is 
exerted by magnetism on the equilibrium of a 
chemical reaction. These are described in the 
Bulletin of the Royal Belgian Academy. The 
reactions included the solution of iron in hydro- 
chloric acid, the catalytic action of the hydrogen 
ion upon the saponification of methyl acetate 
and upon the inversion of sugar, and the union 
of hydrogen and chlorin. In all these cases the 
quantitative effect of a magnetic field was less 
than the probable error of experiment, so that 
it may be concluded that in these cases, at 
least, the influence of magnetism, if it exists at 


all, is very slight. 
: Up by, Ul, 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW. 

TuE Monthly Weather Review for August (dated 
October 16, 1900) contains a number of articles 
of more than ordinary interest. A report on 
‘ Meteorological Observations during the Burn- 


732 


ing of the Plant of the Standard Oil Company at 
Bayonne, N. J., July 5, 6, and 7, 1900,’ by W. H. 
Mitchell, notes the formation of cumulus clouds 
over the smoke from the fire, and the fact that 
the surface winds were drawn in towards the 
fire from a distance of over half a mile. The 
‘Climatology of St. Kitts, W. I.,’ by W. H. 
Alexander, Observer Weather Bureau, dis- 
cusses observations made in 1892-1899. Pro- 
fessor A. J. Henry considers ‘The Hot Weather 
of August, 1900.’ The initial movement which 
led to the hot wave during August was the slow 
drift of an area of high pressure southward and 
southwestward from southern New York, 
where it was located on August 4th, to the 
Ohio and Upper Mississippi valleys, in which 
region it culminated about the 8th. The warm 
weather extended from the Rocky Mountains to 
the Atlantic, and within this general area of 
high temperature there were small areas of ex- 
cessive heating, as near St. Paul and St. Louis. 
At St. Paul the monthly mean temperature was 
77.2 °, a higher average than has before been 
recorded there, and at St. Louis, also, the Au- 
gust mean was higher than any previously ob- 
served there. Two additional points are of 
special interest. From August 6th to August 
11th, when the highest temperatures were re- 
corded in Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District 
of Columbia and Virginia, the winds were from 
a northerly quarter. Secondly, between the 
6th and the 11th the diurnal variation of the 
barometer at Washington was almost tropical 
in its regularity, and was very marked. Pro- 
fessor Abbe calls attention to the fact that a 
Monthly Statement of Average Weather Condi- 
tions, giving a brief discussion of the average 
weather conditions of each month as determined 
by long observation, is hereafter to be issued by 
our Weather Bureau. These statements are 
prepared in response to a popular demand for 
something in the way of a long range weather 
forecast. The first of these statements, that 
concerning August weather, is printed in this 
number of the Monthly Weather Review. Pro- 
fessor Abbe also has a paper on ‘ The Influence of 
the Lakes on the Temperature of the Land,’ in 
which he concludes that ‘‘ the direct influence 
of the lake water upon the temperature is ap- 
preciable for a few miles only ; the indirect in- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 306. 


fluence, by reason of the formation of cloud and 
rain, may be felt for 50 miles.”’ 


CLIMATE OF CORDOBA (ARGENTINA). 


UNDER the direction of Mr. Walter G. Davis, 
the Argentine Meteorological Office is issuing a 
series of reports on the climate of Argentina 
with a rapidity and to an extent which is cer- 
tainly phenomenal. The latest volume, XIII., 
bearing the date 1900, embraces 620 pages, 33 
of which concern the Annual Reports of the 
Director for 1894 and 1895, and the remainder 
of which (@. e., 587 pages) consists of meteoro: 
logical tables for Cordoba. These tables are a 
continuation of those published in Vol. IX., of 
the Anales of the Argentine Meteorological 
Office, which ended with the year 1893. The 
number of years included in the present volume 
is five, ending with 1898. The completeness 
of tabular presentation is admirable, there be- 
ing, for example, twenty-six distinct tables giv- 
ing the results of observations on evaporation 
alone. It is impossible to overestimate the 
value of the data contained in such reports as 
this. 

R. DEC. WARD. 


AN EXPLOSION OF SCIENTIFIC INTEREST. 

A SINGULAR though not unprecedented acci- 
dent took place at the Mammoth mine, in Utah, 
recently, illustrating applied thermodynamics 
in an interesting but fatal manner, causing the 
death of one and the severe injury of another of 
the engineers of the mine. 

The cylinder of an air-compressor exploded 
while in operation in regular work, and with 
such violence as gave evidence of more than the 
action of the normal air-pressure in its produc- 
tion. The back cylinder-head and the cylinder 
itself were shattered; the violence of the ex- 
plosion was terrific. The two men were thrown 
across the room and badly mangled and one 
instantly killed. Fragments of metal and of 
flesh were found outside [the building and a 
long distance away. The air-pressure, at de- 
livery from the compressor, was but 80 pounds 
per square inch. The cause of the explosion is 
presumed to have been the compression of the 
vapors of petroleum given off by oil used for 
lubrication in too large quantity and of too light 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


a quality. Mingled with air in the right pro- 
portion for combustion, the mixture of air and 
vapor was heated by thermodynamic action of 
compression, approximately adiabatic up to the 
temperature of ignition, and the explosion fol- 
lowed. This action is precisely that relied 
upon in the Diesel gas-engine, recently attract- 
ing so much attention, for the ignition of its 
charge independently of gas-torch or electric 
spark. The phenomenon has long been known 


to the engineering profession, although in- . 


stances of this kind of accident are rare. The 
use of effective methods of cooling the com- 
pressor-cylinder and the employment of lubri- 
cating oils of high flashing point constitute the 
preventives. 

R. H. THURSTON. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

A Bust of the late Francis A. Walker is now 
being erected in the courtyard of the Boston 
Public Library, where it is planned to com- 
memorate other eminent citizens of the city. 
The bust, which is in bronze, has been made by 
Mr. Richard E. Brooks, and the cost has been 
defrayed by an appropriation of $2,500 by the 
City Council. 

THE London Society of Arts has awarded a 
silver medal to Professor R. W. Wood, of the 
University of Wisconsin, in recognition of his 
work on the diffraction process of color pho- 
tography. 

PROFESSOR MAX PETTENKOFER, of Munich, 
has been awarded the Pasteur medal of the 
Swedish Medical Association. This is the first 
award of the medal which is to be given every 
ten years for the most important work in hy- 
giene and bacteriology. 

Dr. HERMAN S. Davis, recently expert com- 
puter of the U. S. Coast Survey, has been ap- 
pointed observer at the International Latitude 
Observatory at Gaithersburg, Maryland, one of 
the six stations established by the Central- 
bureau der Internationalen Erdmessung for an 
investigation of variations of latitude. 


Lizut. C. LECOINTE has been appointed di- 
rector of the astronomical work at the Brussels 
Observatory. 


A LITTLE more than a year ago, says Nature, 


SCIENCE. 


733 


the attention of the Council of the Manchester 
Literary and Philosophical Society was directed 
to the fact that Dalton’s tomb in Ardwick cem- 
etery, Manchester, was in a very bad condition, 
owing to neglect. A committee was appointed 
to take steps to put the monument in a thor- 
ough state of repair, and there was no difficulty 
in obtaining subscriptions for this purpose. A 
full-page illustration of the tomb in its restored 
condition appears in the latest number of the 
Memoirs and Proceedings of the Society. 


THE New York Board of Health is building, 
at a cost of $20,000, a laboratory to be wholly 
devoted to the study of the bubonic plague. 
It will be erected on the East River front on 
the grounds of the Willard Parker Memorial 
Hospital, and special care will be taken in its 
construction. The laboratory is to be of two- 
stories 25x 50 feet. The ground floor will be 
occupied chiefly with eight stalls for horses that 
will supply the anti-plague serum. A staircase 
from the outside will lead to the upper floor, 
where experiments will be carried on. The 
walls and floor are of steel and cement, so as 
to be rat proof, and the windows are especially 
sereened to keep out flies and mosquitoes. 


During the recent visit of the Albatross to 
Japan considerable collections were made of 
the fauna of the coast within the 100-fathom 
line and on the edge of the Black Stream, the 
warm current which sweeps close to the eastern 
shores of the Japanese Islands. A number of 
rare and interesting species were taken and the 
collections will be worked up by specialists in 
the several groups represented. The fishes 
have already been placed in the hands of Presi- 
dent Jordan, of Leland Stanford Jr. University, 
together with specimens collected by the Alba- 
tross during a previous visit to Japanese waters. 
In addition to the Fish Commission collections, 
Dr. Jordan has in his possession the great col- 
lection made by him during the past summer 
and all the Japanese fishes of the United States 
National Museum, the Imperial University of 
Tokyo, the Imperial Museum of Japan and sey- 
eral minor collections. 


THE great Serpent Mound of Ohio, which has 
long been a subject of study and research for 
American archeologists, has been given by the 


734 


Harvard Corporation to the Ohio State Arche- 
ological and Historical Society. The mound 
has been in the possession of the Peabody Mu- 
seum since 1886, when it was purchased by 
private subscriptions amounting to $6,000, 
chiefly from citizens of Boston. The under- 
standing was that the Museum should take 
charge of the mound until some local society 
should be able to receive it. Of late years 
there has been difficulty in taking care of the 
Serpent Mound Park, and it has therefore 
been transferred to the Ohio society. 

THE appropriation of $20,000, made by the 
New York Legislature of this year for repairs 
and improvements in Geological Hall of the 
State Museum, is now being expended in the 
installation of a steam heating plant and vari- 
ous repairs and new features which will greatly 
aid the work of the museum and permit the 
concentration of the departments of the State 
botanist. and the State entomologist in the same 
building with the department of geology. 


PLANS are being formulated for an entomo- 
logical exhibit, in connection with other divi- 
sions of the New York State Museum, at the 
Pan American Exposition. A small synoptic 
collection, representing many of the more im- 
portant economic insects causing trouble in 
the house, field or forest, together with ex- 
amples and illustrations of their operations, 
and a collection showing something of the his- 
tory and work of the office, will be some of the 
principal features of the exhibit. 

A MUSEUM of commerce has recently been 
established at Bangkok under the direction of 
the Japanese Government, which pays all the 
running expenses except the salary of the direc- 
tor. It is proposed to exhibit in the museum 
samples of all the commercial products of 
Japan. 

PRESIDENT CLAUSEN, of the New York City 
Park Department, asked the Board of Estimate 
some time ago for a bond issue of $3,000,000, 
the proceeds to be used in building the New 
York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and Forty- 
second street. The application was referred to 
Comptroller Coler, and his engineer, Mr. Eugene 
McLean, has reported practically approving the 
proposed plans. He estimates that a bond issue 


SOIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 306. 


of $2,850,000 will cover the cost. Of this 
amount Mr. McLean estimates that $2,700,000 
will be needed for construction, $108,000 for 
architects’ fees and $27,000 for engineers’ sala- 
ries and other incidentals. In removing the 
old reservoir $500,000 has already been ex- 
pended. 


BESIDES small collections received in ex- 
change from other museums, the Peabody 
Museum has recently received some important 
additions to its general collection. Among 
them is a set of fossils and of Indian relics ob- 
tained by Professor Beecher during his trip to 
Arizona last summer. Professor Brewer and 
Dr. Coe, who went with the Harriman expedi- 
tion to Alaska in the summer of 1899, have 
presented to the Museum two painted Alaskan 
totem poles, one representing a bear, the other 
a kingfisher with extended wings. Professor 
Penfield has given the Museum some interesting 
calcite crystals obtained by him near Cayuga 
Lake, New York. The Egyptian collection, 
derived from the Egyptian exploration fund 
and secured at Abydos, is on its way to the 
Museum. It consists mainly of implements, 
pottery and ornaments, some of them of gold. 


THE American Section of the Free Museum 
of Science and Art of the University of Penn- 
sylvania has received an important collection 
of ethnological objects from many North Amer- 
ican tribes, the result of an expedition under- 
taken last summer by the curator, Mr. Culin. 
The expedition was fitted out at the expense of 
the Hon. John Wanamaker. Mr. Culin ac- 
companied Dr. George A. Dorsey of the Field 
Columbian Museum who planned the trip. 
Sixteen tribes were visited scattered from Iowa 
to British Columbia, and the collections illus- 
trate the life of the North American Indian in 
many phases. The objects obtained from the 
Pacific coast tribes are particularly valuable. 
Even more important collections were made by 
Dr. Dorsey for the Field Columbian Museum. 


THE U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross 
has now returned to San Francisco after a four- 
teen months’ cruise in the South Seas and in Jap- 
anese and Alaska waters. Mr. Alexander Agas- 
siz’s account of some of the scientific results of 
the voyage has already been published in this 


NOVEMBER 9, 1900. ] 


Journal, but it appears that in addition the 
steamship, under Commander J. F. Moser, has 
secured important data for charts and maps. 


Ir is stated in Nature that Mr. J. S. Budgett, 
of Trinity College, Cambridge, who, it will be 
remembered, accompanied Mr. Graham Kerr 
on his journey in search of Lepidosiren, and 
who last year spent several months investigat- 
ing the zoology of the Gambia region, has just 
returned to England from a second expedition 
to that river. Mr. Budgett’s main object was 
to obtain material for studying the development 
of the Crossopterygian fish Polypterus. In his 
first expedition he obtained eggs and larvee 
which were said to be those of this fish, but 
which, as it turned out, belonged apparently to 
a Teleost. Mr. Budgett has in his recent ex- 
pedition failed to obtain the Polypterus ma- 
terial, but he is to a certain extent compensated 
for this by having obtained a mass of embryo- 
logical material which appears to be of great 
interest. Amongst this is a practically com- 
plete series of eggs and larye of the Dipnoan 
Protopterus whose developmental history had 
hitherto remained quite unknown. The de- 
velopmental stages of all three surviving mem- 
bers of the important group Dipnoi—Ceratodus, 
Lepidosiren and Protopterus, belonging to 
Queensland, South America and Africa re- 
spectively—owe their discovery and first ob- 
servation to workers of the Cambridge school 
of zoology. 

In connection with the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey, the Yale School of Forestry is to 
undertake on an extensive scale the measure- 
ment of the flow of some of the larger streams 
of Connecticut. The first station has already 
been established at Merwinsville on the Housa- 
tonic River. 

PROFESSOR DAvip P. Topp, of Amherst Col- 
lege, in a lecture in Brooklyn, on November Ist, 
exhibited biograph pictures of the solar corona 
taken at the recent eclipse. About 300 pic- 
tures were taken in a period of one minute and 
twenty seconds, and these were reproduced on 
the screen at the same rate. 

THE survey of the crystalline rocks of the 
Adirondack region and of the Highlands area 
of southeastern New York has recently made 


SCIENCE. 


730 


rapid progress, and the results are now avail- 
able for the new edition of the large geologic 
map of the State, which will go to press before 
the close of this year. Important work has 
been done in quaternary geology by Dr. J. B. 
Woodworth, of Harvard University, and Pro- 
fessor H. L. Fairchild, of the University of 
Rochester. 


THE National Geographic Society has de- 
cided to discontinuet he technical course of lec- 
tures during November and December and to 
omit the Lenten course this season. The course 
of popular lectures will be opened Friday, No- 
vember 9, 1900, by Mr. M. H. Saville, of the 
American Museum of Natural History, New 
York, the subject being ‘The Ancient City of 
Mitla, Mexico.’ The second lecture will be 
given by General A. W. Greely, Chief Signal 
Officer, U. S. A., on Friday evening, November 
23, 1900. General Greely’s subject will be ‘A 
Trip through Alaska.’ 


THE course of free public lectures for the 
winter season at the University of Pennsyl- 
vania has been announced. The lectures will 
be delivered in the College Chapel on Tuesday 
afternoons at four o’clock. Those in science 
are as follows: March 19, 1901, Lightner 
Witmer, ‘Mind and Body’; March 26, 1901, 
John M, Macfarlane, ‘The Adaptation of Plants 
to their Surroundings’; April 2, 1901, Arthur 
W. Goodspeed, ‘Color’; April 9, 1901, Edwin 
G. Conklin, ‘Some Recent Advances in our 
Knowledge of Life’; April 16, 1901, Alexan- 
der C. Abbott, ‘The Management of Polluted 
Water Supplies and its Influences upon Public 
Health.’ 


AccoRDING to the daily papers officers of the 
German Government have arranged with the 
Principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Indus- 
trial Institute to send three graduates of that 
institution to the German colony on the west 
coast of Africa for the purpose of introduc- 
ing the raising of cotton among the na- 
tives. Two of the graduates are from the 
agricultural department and one from the me- 
chanical department. The latter will construct 
gin-houses, etc. Mr. J. N. Calloway, one of 
the instructors of Tuskegee, accompanies the 
party to assist in the inauguration of the work. 


736 


The German Government pays the men.a lib- 
eral salary as well as all travelling expenses. 
The party sails from New York, November 3d, 
and takes from Tuskegee a full outfit for cot- 
ton-raising, including cotton-seed, ploughs, cot- 
ton-gins, and wagons and carpentry tools. 


WE are requested to state that the second 
part of the ‘List of Private Libraries’ com- 
piled by Mr. G. Hedeler, of Leipzig, will soon 
be ready. It will contain more than 600 im- 
portant private collections of the United King- 
dom, including a supplement to Part I. (United 
States and Canada). Those possessors of 
libraries, with whom Mr. Hedeler has been un- 
able to communicate, are requested to furnish 


him with details as to the extent and character - 


of their libraries if they contain more than 
3,000 volumes or have a special character. 
By doing so, they will, of course, not incur any 
expense or obligation. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


RusH MEDICAL COLLEGE, Chicago, is to have 
anew building costing $80,000, for which Dr. 
Nicholas Senn has just given $50,000. It 
will be principally used for administrative pur- 
poses and will be named Senn Hall. 


THE will of Frank Williams, late of Johns- 
town, makes a bequest of $300,000 to Lehigh 
University, for the benefit of worthy students. 
The income is to be loaned to students who are 
unable to pay their way through college. Their 
notes are to be taken for the amount borrowed, 
and the money, when returned, is again to be 
placed in the fund. 


AMHERST COLLEGE receives $10,000 by the 
will of the late Edward N. Gibbs. 


AMONG the bequests in the will of John Sher- 
man are $5,000 to Oberlin College and $5,000 
to Kenyon College. 


Ir is the purpose of the friends of the late 
William L. Wilson and of the alumni of Wash- 
ington and Lee University, of which he was 
president, to raise by subscription a fund of at 
least $100,000 to maintain a professorship in 
the University, to be known as the Wilson en- 
endowment. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 306. 


Mrs. JANE K. SATHER, of Oakland, Cali- 
fornia, has given $10,000 to the University of 
California, the income to be used in the pur- 
chase of books for the library. This is in addi- 
tion to her recent gift of $100,000, the income 
from which she is to receive during her life. 


THE Harvard Medical School has outgrown 
its present building and the land on which it 
stands will sometime be needed for the Bos- 
ton Public Library. An estate has been bought 
in Brookline to which it is proposed at some fu- 
ture time to remove the Medical School as well 
as the allied schools of veterinary medicine and 
dentistry. 


Ir is proposed to build at Chicago University 
a group of buildings for the social functions of 
the University. The group includes a dining 
hall, assembly hall and a club-house for male 
students. It is hoped that the $400,000 needed 
for the buildings will be subscribed by next 
spring when building operations will be com- 
menced. 


THE total income of the colleges of agricul- 
ture and mechanical arts supported wholly or in 
part by the Government was for the year 1898— 
99 $6,193,016 ; 35,458 students were registered. 


THE total registration at the University of 
Michigan to date is 3,648, divided as follows: 
literary, 1,537; law, 840; medicine, 520; en- 
gineering, 345; dentistry, 268 ; homceopathy, 
71; pharmacy, 67. The total registration last 
year was 3,441, of whom 167 matriculated after 
the end of October. 


Mr. Huco DIEMER has been elected assist- 
ant professor of mechanical engineering at the 
Michigan State Agricultural College. 


PROFESSOR JOHN CRAIG has been appointed 
extension professor of agriculture and horti- 
culture in the Agricultural College of Cornell 
University. 

At Cambridge, Dr. G. EB. Rogers, of Gonville 
and Caius, has been appointed demonstrator in 
anatomy; Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, M.A., of 
Sidney Sussex College, has been appointed 
demonstrator in experimental physics and Mr. 
J. S. E. Townsend, B.A., fellow of Trinity 
College, has been appointed assistant demon- 
strator in physics. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwArp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 


Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THursTon, Engineerin 


g ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 


JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. DAvis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBorn, Paleontology ; 
W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScupDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 


N. L. 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. BowprtcH, 
Hygiene ; 


WiLLIAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, NovemMBer 16, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 
The Administration of Government Scientific Work.. 737 


A Determination of the Nature and Velocity of 
Gravitation: DR. REGINALD A. FESSENDEN 740 


The Address of the President before the Section of 
Geology of the British Association, 1: PROFESSOR 
Wo dJ5 BOIS occodcac »e90006 .ccocooon doonSbebos: anéa5uds 745 


The Geological and pareantalvqienl Collections in the 
American Museum of Natural History: Dr. 
EDMUND OTIS HOVEY........:..s.00esecsceeecceneees 797 

Scientific Books :— 

Demoor on Evolution by Atropy: PROFESSOR C.H. 

EIGENMANN. Rotch on Sounding the Ocean of 

Air: Proressor R. DEC. WARD. Wilson’s 

Free-hand Perspective ; Baker on Our New Pros- 

perity: PROFESSOR R. H. THURSTON. Gen- 

eral. Books Received .......:1s.00+ seeveeesccserseeeees 760 
Scientifie Journals and Articles 763 
Societies and Academies :— 

The American Mathematical Society : PROFESSOR 

TD If, COIR cs acoscacqoan9seossanqoeasodoncqcngdacos9q0000 764 

Discussion and Cor SHE o — 

On the Superintendency and Organization of the 
Coast Survey. OBSERVER........:...2.ecceeenees scene 7165 
Notes on Inorganic Chemistry: J. L. H.......-........ 766 
Recent Zoo-paleontology :— 
A Rhinoceros with a complete set of Cutting Teeth. 
Extinct Lemurs from Madagascar. Pareiasauri- 
ans or Theriodonts in Northern Russia. Fossil 
Mammals from Egypt. Extinct Birds of Pata- 
gonia. Relation of South American and Austra- 
lian Marsupials. Large Turtles from the Fort 
Pierre of South Dakota. Dinotherium Gigantis- 
simum. Fossil Camels of Europe. The Devonian 
Lamprey and the Classification of the Fishes : 
PROFESSOR HENRY F. OSBORN...........:020000-05 767 

Section of Horticulture and Botany of the Association 
of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. 

The Annual Congress of the German CDG 
AGI SINEAD) cocccosasccnoonsnoso5ncNnesc0o%. oechocaDenosere 770 

Scientific Notes and News.......s...ssessccrseecerserscenne vial 


University and Educational News .....-1.c1escsecreeeees 776 


MSS. intended for publication and books, ete., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y 


THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT 
SCIENTIFIC WORK. 

A CORRESPONDENT, whose letter is printed 
in another column, calls attention to the 
oft-recurring questions of the superintend- 
ency and organization of the U. S. Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. Whatever may be 
the merits or demerits of the considerations 
adduced by this correspondent with refer- 
ence to matters of detail, it is evident that 
the essentials of these questions are quite 
as important now as they have been at any 
time during the past half-century. These 
essentials are, in fact, not limited in their 
application to any one scientific bureau of 
the government, but are of equal impor- 
tance to all of them. The question of re- 
organization of the Naval Observatory is 
now pending, after a long and painstaking 
investigation by a committee specially dele- 
gated to consider the matter ; and the ques- 
tion of the establishment of a new bureau 
which may take charge of the indispensa- 
ble business of national standards is likely 
The mode 
of selection of a head, or director, of any 


to come up in the near future. 


one of these scientific bureaus is, then, or 
at least ought to be, a matter of concern to 
all men of science ; for whatever mode is 


738 


applied in any case is likely to serve as a 
precedent for the next. 

It goes without saying that the method 
of selection of such heads is, in our coun- 
Not that this 
method always secures incompetent ap- 


try, an unsatisfatcory one. 


pointees; many eminent men have come 
thus into the government service in spite 
of the method; but it presents an open 
door to the formidable class of opportunists 
whose claims to high office are not based 
Thus, not 
infrequently, notoriously unfit men are 


on professional qualifications. 


placed temporarily in charge of the highest 
grades of scientific work. Their ridiculous 
careers in such roles are generally short, 
but yet long enough to establish precedents 
which place-hunters of all sorts are not 
Hence it follows that the 
tenure of office of the heads of our scien- 


slow to utilize. 


tific bureaus is short; that the conduct of 
bureau work is usually less effective than 
it ought to be; and that the employees in 
such bureaus are periodically distracted 
with the fear that at the next turn of the 
kaleidoscope they may find themselves offi- 
cially decapitated. It is a fact, we believe, 
that the superintendents of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey have succeeded one another 
during several decades with a rapidity only 
surpassed by that of recent political events 
in China. One may well marvel how, un- 
der such adverse conditions, it has been 
possible for this bureau to accomplish so 
much first-class scientific work as is actu- 
ally recorded in its bulky annual reports. 

But the practical enquiry in this connec- 
tion is, ‘ what are we going todo about it?’ 
How long is it going to be possible, for ex- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


ample, for mere ‘ influence,’ often prepared 
in the most shameless manner, to stampede. 
the President of the United States into ap- 
pointing to professorships of mathematics 
in the navy men who know nothing of that 
science, or into appointing to the superin- 
tendency of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
men who may convert that bureau into a. 
manufactory of ten-place logarithms ? 

Our correspondent suggests, we think, a 
practicable way out of the difficulty. It 
does seem proper, as he urges, that the sci- 
entific organizations of our country should 
interest themselves in matters which, ac- 
cording as they are well or ill administered, 
must reflect credit or discredit on American 
science. Why may not the National Acad- 
emy of Sciences become in fact, as it is by 
law entitled to be, the adviser of the goy- 
Or, if it is 
for any reason impracticable for this Acad- 


ernment in matters scientific? 


emy to fulfill its natural functions, why may 
we not have a board of regents, similar to 
that of the Smithsonian Institution, whose 
duty it shall be to give the government ad- 
vice concerning the direction of national 
scientific work? There is no reason, ap- 
aarently, why we may not have such an 
advisory body unless it be the inadequate 
reason of ‘general apathy.’ Our govern- 
ment could, if it would, and our scientific 
organizations can, if they are willing to 
make the effort, secure just such expert ad- 
vice as is needed free of cost. We venture 
to assert, for example, that if either the 
National Academy of Sciences or the Amer- 
ican Society of Civil Engineers were asked 
to do so it would speedily suggest two or 


three eminentiy worthy candidates for the 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


position of superintendent of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey or for the directorship of 
the proposed bureau of standards. More- 
over, it is believed that either of these so- 
cieties would be willing to cite in the public 
prints reasons for the fitness of such can- 
didates based on lists of their published 
works and on histories of their professional 
careers. It is doubtful, of course, whether 
an eminently fit person would, under exist- 
ing circumstances, accept such a position ; 
but the establishment of a high standard 
of appointment would help more than any 
thing else to make the position worthy of 
an able man and to make his tenure of 
office reasonably secure. 

Has not the time arrived when the scien- 
tific societies of the country should unite in 
an effort to raise the standard of qualifica- 
tions for a directorship of government sci- 
entific work? We believe the time has 
come; and we believe also that Congress 
would welcome the advice of a representa- 
tive committee of scientific men of the coun- 
try on all questions relating to the work and 
administration of our scientific bureaus. 

It may be said, however, that experience 
has revealed well-nigh insuperable difficul- 
One 
must confess, in fact, that the reforms of 


ties in the way of the needed changes. 


the democratic and republican administra- 
tions of the Coast and Geodetic Survey dur- 
ing the past twenty years have corrected 
only minor evils; and that the efforts of the 
past thirty years to get the Naval Observa- 
tory on an astronomical rather than on a 
naval footing have proved almost fruitless. 
But depressing as this experience is, it 
ought not to suppress the optimism of pa- 


SCLENCE. 


739 


triotic men of science. It ought rather to 
lead them to renewed studies of these per- 
ennial questions, especially since the prose- 
cution of scientific work is apparently com- 
ing to be more and more a part of the 
business of civilized nations the world over. 
Possibly the reformers have failed hitherto 
because they have sought to accomplish too 
much, or because they have sought to ac- 
complish the wrong things. The problems 
presented are evidently very complex, and 
their solution may be unattainable except 
by the method of successive approximation , 
Perhaps we should be content as a first 
step to secure the necessary legislation for 
the creation of a board of advisers with ref- 
erence to appointments to prominent posi- 
It is hardly 
conceivable that such a board would, if 


tions in the scientific bureaus. 


composed of well-known men, ever propose 
any one conspicuously unfit for official posi- 
tion. Once establish the custom of choos- 
ing only men of good scientific repute to 
direct scientific work, and there would be 
little danger of relapse to the present hap- 
hazard system. In short, the plane of ref- 
erence for appointments to national posts of 
honor and trust in science needs to be 
raised at least to the level of that which is 
applied in the case of appointments to jus- 
When the 


office seeks the man, and when the office is 


ticeships in the Supreme Court. 


worthy of the untiring devotion essential to 
eminence in science, our government will 
secure officers of whom we need not feel 
ashamed, and the petty annoyances of 
which our correspondent complains, in a 
measure justly, no doubt, will disappear 
without special attention. 


740 


A DETERMINATION OF THE NATURE AND 
VELOCITY OF GRAVITATION.* 

THE present note is to be taken as a sup- 
plement to my previous paper on ‘ The Na- 
ture of the Electric and Magnetic Quanti- 
ties.’ A fuller development of the theory 
of gravitation advanced by the writer is in 
course of preparation. This will, however, 
be delayed for some time, possibly for several 
years, as it is desired to investigate certain 
phenomena rather more accurately than 
has hitherto been done, and at present the 
writer is occupied with pressing work in 
another line. 

It has seemed advisable, however, to 
publish this determination of the velocity 
of gravitation at the present time, and with- 
out waiting to complete the fuller treatment, 
for the reason that, as will be seen later, 
the value obtained clears up a number of 
perplexing optical problems, and removes 
a number of obstacles which have hitherto 
stood in the way of the development of that 
branch of physics. i 

On account of the fact that the writer’s 
papers on these subjects have unavoidably 
been published in somewhat scattered form, 
it is considered best to give a brief résumé 
of the work which forms the basis of the 
method by which this velocity is deduced. 

In 1893 the writer perceived that Four- 
ier’s ‘ Dimensions’ could be developed into 
a very powerful agent of research, and one 
which should beara relation to the usual 
methods similar to that which Qualitative 
chemistry bears to Quantitative. It was 
for this reason that the name ‘ Qualitative 
Mathematics’ was given to this new branch. 

As its name signifies, it is used, not for 
the exact determination of numerical quan- 


* Being a supplement to ‘A Determination of the 
Nature of the Electric and Magnetic Quantities and 
of the Density and Elasticity of the Ether.’ 

+ Phys. Rev., January, 1900; and also of the earlier 
papers: 1891-2, on ‘The Laws and Nature of Cohe- 
sion.’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


tities, but for the prediction and classifica- 
tion of phenomena.* 

It was first shown} that the nature of 
electricity and magnetism was, at that time, 
indeterminate, as all the electric and mag- 
netic phenomena which we were able to 
completely express dynamically could be 
comprised in three qualitative equations, 
whilst we had four unknown quantities. 

Then, by several methods, Williams’s re- 
sult, that either specific inductive capacity, 
(k), or permeability (#), must be a density, 
the other term being a compliancy, was 
confirmed. 

It was then further deduced that the one 
which is a compliancy must decrease with 
the first power, whilst the one which is a 
density must decrease with the second 
power, of the corresponding intensities, 7. e., 
if F' be the electric potential difference per 
unit length, and H be the magnetic poten- 
tial difference per unit length, then if » be 


* Such a branch of mathematics is absolutely neces- 
sary to supplement the work done by the other meth- 
ods. For the latter can tell us nothing of the nature 
of the quantity involved. Their very greatest strength 
is their greatest weakness. The fact that a certain 
function, which gives us the state of things at the end 
of an organ pipe, also gives us the way a current of 
electricity distributes itself near the end of a wire 
dipping in a mercury cup is gratifying in its compre 
hensiveness, but disappointing in that when we meet 
that function, we do not know which of the many 
possible phenomena it represents. Take, for instance, 
our equations for light. They fit in with a simple 
elastic-solid wave, and we have fallen into the habit 
of speaking of light as really being such a wave, 
and some eminent physicists, even, as I have pointed 
out elsewhere, have fallen into the mistake of sup- 
posing that the magnetic rotation of light neces- 
sarily implies a rotation of the medium in a mag- 
netic field, overlooking the fact that the whole 
proof is based on this unfounded, and, as we now 
know, certainly incorrect, supposition. AJ] that the 
equations really mean is that light is some kind of 
periodic motion, but, if I remember rightly (as it 
was some years ago that I investigated the matter), 
there are eight kinds of periodic motion which can be 
equally well represented by the light equations. 


+ Ibid., also Elect. World, May 18, 1895. 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


a compliancy, on increasing H, » will de- 
crease by an amount depending upon the 
first power of H, and on increasing F, k 
will decrease by an amount depending 
upon the second power of F. Also, in this 
latter case, the diminution of s must depend 
inversely upon the coefficient of volume 
elasticity. 

On the other hand, if it is & which is the 
compliancy, these relations will be inter- 
changed. 

It was at once noticed that several of the 
empirical formule expressing the relation 
between H and y» gave a diminution de- 
pending upon the first power of H. A 
somewhat elaborate investigation was then 
undertaken, extending over the greater part 
of a year, and the fact was definitely estab- 
lished that the diminution did depend upon 
the first power of H accurately, the maxi- 
mum amount of deviation from that called 
for being less than one-fourth of one per 
cent., which was about the limit of experi- 
mental accuracy. 

This, of itself, would have sufficed to 
have settled the point, but in addition the 
other relation, which should exist if the 
theory were correct, 7. e., that the specific 
inductive capacity, k, should vary with the 
inverse second power of the slope of electric 
potential, and as the coefficient of volume 
elasticity, was also discovered. This was 
found to be the complete expression of 
Kerr’s electrostatic phenomenon. 

A prism of glass, one cm. thick and one 
em. wide, stretched with a force of 30.10° 
dynes gave a change of density of nearly 
3.10—°. The change in the thickness of the 
glass was approximately 1.5.10~°. ‘The 
change in velocity of the light which passed 
transversely through the glass, was approxi- 
mately .7 x 107°. 

It was thus found that the actual me- 
chanically produced change in density of 
the glass was suflicient to account for the 
observed change of velocity, though the 


SCIENCE. 


741 


agreement was not so close as it might have 
been, possibly owing to experimental diffi- 
culties. 

From the observed change in velocity 
when placed in a strong electrostatic field, 
whose value was approximately determined 
by its sparkling distance, it was calculated 
that the value of the F’/8zk stress required 
to produce the same change of velocity as 
had been produced mechanically was nearly 
25.10° dynes. The value of the purely me- 
chanically applied stress, as given above, 
was 30.10°. The close agreement is prob- 
ably accidental, as the experimental error 
was considerably greater than the small dif- 
ference observed. It is intended to repeat 
these experiments under conditions permit- 
ting of a much higher degree of accuracy. 

The results obtained are however suffi- 
cient to show that Kerr’s effect can be ac- 
counted for by purely mechanical stresses, 
electrically produced and resulting in a 
change of density. 

Now it was pointed out above, that which- 
ever of the medium coefficients, & or », va- 
ries as the square of the corresponding in- 
tensity, that one must beadensity. Since, 
therefore, it has already been shown by 
Kerr that the change in velocity, and hence, 
as my experiments prove, the change in 
density ,* is proportional to the square of the 
electric intensity, it follows that & is a den- 
sity. 

Tt still remained to be shown that Kerr’s 
effect depended upon the volume elasticity. 
This was done by testing different glasses 
and noting that, the compensating pieces 
being made from the glass under test, the 
same force was always required to compen- 
sate, independent of the material tested. 

We see, therefore, that the results de- 
duced from the experiments on the relation 
between H and » are completely confirmed 

* Velocity is proportional to square root of density, 


but change of velocity is proportional to change in 
density, both being small. — 


742 


by the results obtained on investigating the 
relations between F' and k. 

A number of additional pieces of corrob- 
orative evidence were also given, 7. e.: 

3. The relation between the magnetic 
constant « and the elasticity. 

4. The relation between this constant and 
elastic strain. 

5. The relation between this constant and 
permanent strain. 

6. The relation between this constant and 
hysteresis. 

7. The relation between & and the den- 
sity of substances. 

Several phenomena were also predicted, 
a. €.: 

A. A changein the velocity of light, along 
a slope of electric potential. 

B. A relation between refractive index 
and piezo-electric effect in doubly refracting 
substances. 

These have not yet been confirmed, but 
arrangements are being made to investi- 
gate the former. 

This same result, originally obtained by 
qualitative mathematics, can also be ob- 
tained by Lagrangian methods. By con- 
sidering the way in which permeability and 
specific inductive capacity are affected in 
the case of stressed iron, and in the case of 
Kerr’s phenomenon, as influenced by the 
elasticity of the material, it can be shown 
that a change in » involves the first power 
of the magnetic intensity and that a change 
of k involves the second power of the elec- 
tric intensity. This proof will be given 
later. It, however, in reality, adds nothing 
to the proof already given, which in the 
opinion of the writer is of such a character 
that we may say that the nature of elec- 
tricity and magnetism is now definitely 
and finally determined, though no doubt it 
may be years before the absolutely decisive 
nature of the proof is generally appreci- 
ated. 

Next, it follows from the writer’s experi- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


ments on the relation between Hand » that 
the presence of matter does not alter the 
elasticity of the ether by as much as one- 
fourth of one percent. Also, knowing now 
that k is a density, we are enabled to say 
that aberrational and other optical phe- 
nomena show that the density of the ether 
is not appreciably altered by the presence 
of matter, otherwise the (n’?— 1) and sim- 
ilar formule would not hold. From these 
facts we see that the actual volume of the 
atom, compared with the space occupied by 
it, must be quite small. 

The diameter of the mercury atom I have 
shown to be 2.75 (+ 0.2) x 10-*, and in 
1899 I showed that the actual cross section 
of the space actually occupied by the atom 
must be less than one four-hundredth of 
the space occupied by the atom to the ex- 
clusion of other atoms, and that the atoms 
‘must have a configuration analogous, in its 
effects, to that of structures of thin plat- 
inum wire, suspended in oil.’ 

Later, J. J. Thomson, from his beautiful 
and wonderfully ingenious work on electric 
discharges in gases, was able to show that 
the atom is made up of a number of smaller 
bodies, which he calls corpuscles. 

On comparing the results of Thomson, 
Ewers, Kaufmann, Lenard, Lorenz, Wie- 
chert and Simon, we arrive at the conclu- 
sion that there are about 1,000 corpuscles 
in a hydrogen atom, and that the weight of 
a corpuscle is therefore about 1.5 10~” gm. 

Since, then, there are about 200,000 cor- 
puscles in a mercury atom, and their cross 
section is less than one four-hundredth part 
of the cross section of the mercury atom, 
we find that the diameter of the corpuscle 
is certainly less than 2.10—" em. 

From J. J. Thomson’s formula for the 
electrically produced inertia of a charged 
sphere, we find, as was shown by Thomson 
(and independently by the writer), that if 
the diameter of the corpuscle is approxi- 
mately 10—* ems., the ionic charge which 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900.] 


it carries will account for its full quantity 
of inertia. 

So long as we knew nothing of the size of 
the corpusele, and since there might be a 
thousand corpuscles in a hydrogen atom, and 
yet each corpuscle be about 3.10~° cms. in 
diameter, we were hardly justified in hold- 
ing that inertia is an electric phenomenon. 
But when we take into consideration, in ad- 
dition, the writer’s proof that the diameter 
of the corpuscle must be less than ;,4, the 
diameter of the atom, and that this is the 
superior limit in size, we have a reasonable 
basis for holding, as the writer has done,* 
that the corpuscular charges are the cause 
of the inertia of matter. 

Assuming this, we arrive at the result 
that the corpuscle is about ¢ x 10— cms. 
in diameter. The ionic equivalent being 
about 4 (+1) x 10~“e. s. units, we find 
for the electrostatic tension and pressure at 
the surface of the corpuscle, about 2.10” 
dynes. 

One of the theorems immediately dedu- 
cible by Qualitative Mathematics is that, 
‘“ Whenever the electric or magnetic forces 
act in the presence of matter, the resultant 
effect is made up of two terms, one express- 
ing the result of the action on the matter, 
the other that of the action on the ether.”’ 

We have seen that the electric stresses 
produce a change of volume in matter, and 
hence we must have also an effect of the 
same quality in the ether. Such a change 
of density in the ether would produce a 
gravitational attraction, and we may now 
caleulate what value the ether constants 
must have in order to produce the observed 
amount of gravity which is associated with 
the corpuscle. 

Taking Boys’s value for the gravitational 
attraction of two masses, each of one 
gramme, and one cm. apart, 2. e., 6.65 x 
10-*, we get for the gravitational energy of 
the corpuscle about 10~* ergs. 

* Elect. World, May, 1900. 


SCIENCE. 


743 


From this and the electrostatic stress we 
can calculate the volume elasticity, and we 
find it to be about 10”. 

But I have previously shown that the 
density of the ether is about 0.66 and its 
rigidity about 6.10”. 

Hence we can calculate the value of the 
compressional or gravitational wave, and 
find it to be approximately 5.10% ems. per 
second. 

It will be at once seen that this value 
agrees with our astronomical facts, and that 
if does away with a great many optical dif- 
ficulties. For in the first place it makes 
the compressional wave vanish, and in ad- 
dition, which is of the greatest importance, 
it makes the amount of energy in the com- 
pressional wave infinitesimally small.* 

We may summarize our conclusions as 
follows : 

The ether itself is a composite body, hav- 
ing a structure whose elastic properties are 
analogous to rubber. This is shown by the 
low value of the rigidity as compared with 
the compressibility, and by the form of the 
equation expressing the relation between 
Hand p. 

This would immediately suggest a vortex 
theory, even if the quality of the ionic 
charge, t. e., M/T, were not called to the 
attention. If we take Fitzgerald’s vortex 
theory, and develop it along the lines indi- 
cated by my theory we have the vortices 
analogous to what, in the case of india rub- 
ber, I have called the ‘ skein material,’ and 
the fluid in which the vortices form, which, 


*Tn a paper on Comet’s Tails, Astrophysical Review, 
January, 1897, the writer showed that all the phe- 
nomena so far noted in this connection, including the 
bridge of Biela’s comet, the apparent retardation, 
the shape, etc., could be accounted for by supposing 
that the ultra-violet light of the sun acted on the sur- 
face of the nucleus of the comet to throw off negatively 
charged particles. -Itis possible that this compressive 
wave may be a factor in this discharge, though on 
the other hand it is possible that the light itself may 
be sufficiently effective. 


744 


until some one suggests a better name, we 
will call ethéron, taking the place of the 
‘filling-in material.”* The compressibility 
of the ethéron is very high, as we have seen, 
it being the thing which determines the ve- 
locity of the compressive wave. The vortex 
structure is what is concerned in transmit- 
ting the light waves and its modulus; the 
rigidity modulus is much smaller and of a 
different order, just as in the case of india 
rubber. 

We do not need more than one vortex, 
‘the umbilical cord of the universe,’ as one 
aspect of it suggested itself, stretching with 
its ends fixed on some free surface of the 
ethéron and itself forming one inextrica- 
bletangle. The circulation being the same 
everywhere simplifies matters. The part- 
ing of the vortex anywhere means the de- 
struction of all matter. 

Such a medium, as Fitzgerald has shown, 
gives an ether which can transmit light. 
Following up this theory, we conclude that 
corpuscles are vortex singularities, and that 
it is the hydrodynamic head of their flow 
which gives the ethéron density-variation 
round them. ‘This change in density varies 
as the fourth power of the distance from the 
corpusele. All the gravitational energy 
tends to that of compression, and if two cor- 
puscles come together, their gravitational 
energy goes to increasing the compression 
energy of the ether. They do not come to- 
gether because their approach brings into 
play forces which depend upon the energy 
of the vortices themselves. The fact that 
there is but one vortex, and consequently 
the circulation is the same everywhere, 
gives the atoms definite sizes and the cor- 
puseles the same quantity of electricity, 
2. e., the ionic charge. 

A group of so many thousands of these 
corpuscles makes up the atom. The inertia 
of the atom is due to the electromagnetic 


* Ether is the structure formed by the fluid and the 
vortices, etheron the fluid alone. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


inductance of the corpuscular charge, and 
gravity is due to the change of density of 
the ether surrounding the corpuscles, pro- 
duced by the electrostatic stress of the 
corpuscular charge. Mass and gravity thus 
bear a constant ratio. 

The cohesive force of the atoms, as I have 
shown elsewhere,* is due to the electro- 
static attraction of the atoms for one an- 
other. Chemical force, as has been shown 
by Davy, Berzelius, Helmholtz, Ostwald and 
other workers, is due to the same cause. 

It may here be noted that the idea of the 
ionic charge aS an ever-present element of 
the atom is an interesting example of a 
theory, negatived absolutely, apparently, by 
fundamental principles, and yet develop- 
ing in spite of its apparent incompatibility 
with facts in many other directions, with 
such success as to finally obtain a firm foot- 
ing, although the arguments against it have 
never been answered. ; 

The fact that the ionic charge is the agent 
in chemical action had been shown by the 
physicists just mentioned above. The pres- 
ence of charged ions in electrolytes had also 
been firmly established, and J. J. Thomson 
had suggested that conduction in metals 
also took place through a breaking up of 
molecular groups, as in the case of electro- 
lytes. But when in 1890 and 18917 I in- 
troduced the theory that the ionic charge 
is attached to the atom, not only when it 
is concerned in chemical actions or formed part 
of a molecule, but in every case and always, 
and is the cause of a number of phys- 
ical phenomena, such as cohesion, rig- 
idity, etc., a number of objections were 
made ; that charges could not exist in the 
interior of a conductor ; that the atoms of 
metals must be conducting, and so could 
not have equal charges of electricity ; and 
others, as for example, the well founded 


*Blect. Soc., Newark, 1890; Elect. World, Aug. 8— 


22, 1891. 
+ Ibid. 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


criticism of Ostwald (under date Sept. 16, 
1891): “ The electrostatic theory of cohesion 
is new to me, * * * but for electrolytes there 
is the question to be answered, why stuffs 
like alcohol, ete., do not conduct? whilst 
according to your theory, all elements have 
electric charges.” 

These objections could not be met then, 
and have not been met up to the present 
time, in spite of the fact-that this new con- 
cept (of the ionic charge being a funda- 
mental part of the atom, apart from its 
chemical functions) has proved a most fer- 
tile one, and has been considerably devel- 
oped by the orignator and by later workers, 
Richartz, Chattock, Lorentz, Larmor and 
others. Nor will these objections ever be 
met until we know the nature of metallic 
conduction. 

This is one of the great outstanding 
problems. It has long been known that 
there is a relation between electric and 
heat conductivity. The writer has shown 
that there is a connection between the ve- 
locity of sound (and hence the elasticity 
and density) and the electric conductivity 
of wires. J. J. Thomson, as mentioned 
above, suggested that the current was 
carried by the electrolysis of molecular 
groupings, and his later work renders it 
probable that it is by means of the cor- 
puscles. It is possible that the atoms of 
a metal are realiy dissociated and the 
negatively charged corpuscles are in a state 
similar to that of theions of a solution, 7. e., 
the metallic atom is nota fixed combination 
of certain corpuscles, but is constantly 
changing in composition, the negative cor- 
puscles being, as it were, in solution in the 
metal, and changing about freely. 

Such an hypothesis would account for the 
relation between the velocity of sound and 
the electric conductivity. For the cohesion 
of the atoms would be due to these nega- 
tive corpuscles acting, as the mortar be- 
tween bricks, to bind together the positive 


SCIENCE. 


745 


groupings, and hence the greater the num- 
ber of free corpuscles the greater the elas- 
ticity and the greater the conductivity, the 
conductivity being simply the number of 
free corpuscles per cubic centimeter. The 
greater the number of corpuscles in the 
positive groupings, 7. ¢., the greater the 
molecular mass, the less the conductivity. 

In presenting this summary I am aware, 
of course, that much of it is in need of 
further experimental evidence, and I hope, 
in time, tosupply at leasta part of this. It 
is considered, however, that the scheme 
here presented has a weight apart from its 
experimental foundation, in that it is a 
whole and consistent theory by which for 
the first time all physical phenomena are 
reduced to the simplest possible elements. 

ReeinaLp A. FEssENDEN. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SEO- 
TION OF GEOLOGY OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


Me 
EVOLUTIONAL GEOLOGY. 


THE close of one century, the dawn of 
another, may naturally suggest some brief 
retrospective glance over the path along 
which our science has advanced, and some 
general survey of its present position from 
which we may gather hope of its future 
progress ; but other connection with geol- 
ogy the beginnings and endings of centuries 
have none. The great periods of move- 
ment have hitherto begun, as it were, in 
the early twilight hours, long before the 
dawn. Thus the first step forward, since 
which there has been no retreat, was taken 
by Steno in the year 1669; more than a 
century elapsed before James Hutton 
(1785) gave fresh energy and better direc- 
tion to the faltering steps of the young sci- 
ence ; while it was less than a century later 
(1863) when Lord Kelvin brought to its 
aid the powers of the higher mathematics 
and instructed it in the teachings of mod- 


746 


ern physics. From Steno onward the spirit 
of geology was catastrophic; from Hutton 
onward it grew increasingly uniformitarian ; 
from the time of Darwin and Kelvin it has 
become evolutional. The ambiguity of the 
word ‘uniformitarian’ has led to a good 
deal of fruitless logomachy, against which 
it may be as well at once to guard by indi- 
cating the sense in which it is used here. 
In one way we are all uniformitarians, 7. ¢., 
we accept the doctrine of the ‘uniform ac- 
tion of natural causes,’ but, as applied to 
geology, uniformity means more than this. 
Defined in the briefest fashion it is the 
geology of Lyell. Hutton had given us a 
‘Theory of the Earth,’ in its main outlines 
still faithful and true; and this Lyell spent 
his life in illustrating and advocating; but 
as so commonly happens the zeal of the 
disciple outran the wisdom of the master, 
and mere opinions were insisted on as 
necessary dogma. What did it matter if 
Hutton as a result of his inquiries into ter- 
restrial history had declared that he found 
no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of 
an end? It would have been marvellous 
if he had! Consider that when Hutton’s 
‘Theory ’ was published William Smith’s 
famous discovery had not been made, and 
that nothing was then known of the orderly 
succession of forms of life, which it is one 
of the triumphs of geology to have revealed; 
consider, too, the existing state of physics 
at the time, and that the modern theories 
of energy had still to be formulated; con- 
sider also that spectroscopy had not yet 
lent its aid to astronomy and the consequent 
ignorance of the nature of nebule; and 
then, if you will, cast a stone at Hutton. 
With Lyell, however, the case was differ- 
ent: in pressing his uniformitarian creed 
upon geology he omitted to take into ac- 
count the great advances made by its sister 
sciences, although he had knowledge of 
them, and thus sinned against the light. 
In the last edition of the famous ‘ Princi- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


ples’ we read: “It is a favorite dogma of 
some physicists that not only the earth, but 
the sun itself, is continually losing a por- 
tion of its heat, and that as there is no 
known source by which it can be restored 
we can foresee the time when all life will 
cease to exist on this planet, and on the 
other hand we can look back to a period 
when the heat was so intense as to be in- 
compatible with the existence of any or- 
ganic beings such as are known to us in the 
living or fossil world. * * * A geologist 
in search of some renovating power by 
which the amount of heat may be made to 
continue unimpaired for millions of years, 
past and future, in the solid parts of the 
earth * * * has been compared by an 
eminent physicist to one who dreams he 
can discover a source of perpetual motion 
and invent a clock with a self-winding ap- 
paratus. But why should we despair of detect- 
ing proofs of such generating and self-sustaining 
power in the works of a Divine Artificer?’’ Here 
we catch the true spirit of uniformity ; it 
admittedly regards the universe as a self- 
winding clock, and barely conceals a con- 
viction that the clock was warranted to 
keep true Greenwich time. The law of the 
dissipation of energy is not a dogma, but a 
doctrine drawn from observation, while the 
uniformity of Lyell is in no sense an induc- 
tion ; it is a dogma in the narrowest sense 
of the word, unproved, incapable of proof, 
hence perhaps its power upon the human 
mind; hence also the transitoriness of that 
power. Again, it is only by restricting its 
inquiries to the stratified rocks of our planet 
that the dogma of uniformity can be main- 
tained with any pretence of argument. 
Directly we begin to search the heavens the 
possibility, nay even the likelihood, of the 
nebular origin of our system, with all that 
it involves, is borne in upon us. Lyell 
therefore consistently refused to extend his 
gaze beyond the rocks beneath his feet, and 
was thus lead to do a serious injury to our 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


science ; he severed it from cosmogony, for 
which he entertained and expressed the 
most profound contempt, and from the mu- 
tilation thus inflicted geology is only at 
length making a slow and painful recovery. 
Why do I dwell on these facts? To depre- 
ciate Lyell? By no means. No one is 
more conscious than I of the noble service 
which Lyell rendered to our cause; his 
reputation is of too robust a kind to suffer 
from my unskilful handling, and the fame 
of his solid contributions to science will en- 
dure long after these controversies are for- 
gotten. The echoes of the combat are al- 
ready dying away, and uniformitarians, in 
the sense already defined, are now no more ; 
indeed, were I to attempt to exhibit any 
distinguished living geologist as a still sur- 
viving supporter of the narrow Lyellian 
creed, he would probably feel, if such a one 
there be, that I was unfairly singling him 
out for unmerited obloquy. 

Our science has become evolutional, and 
in the transformation has grown more com- 
prehensive ; her petty parochial days are 
done, she is drawing her provinces closer 
around her, and is fusing them together into 
a united and single commonwealth—the 
science of the earth. 

Not merely the earth’s crust, but the 
whole of earth-knowledge is the subject of 
our research. To know all that can be 
known about our planet, this, and nothing 
less than this, is its aim and scope. From 
the morphological side geology inquires, 
not only into the existing form and struc- 
ture of the earth, but also into the series 
of successive morphological states through 
which it has passed ina long and changeful 
development. Our science inquires also 
into the distribution of the earth in time 
and space; on the physiological side it 
studies the movements and activities of our 
planet; and not content with all this it ex- 
tends its researches into etiology and en- 
deayvors to arrive at a science of causation. 


SCIENCE. 


747 


In these pursuits geology calls all the other 
sciences to her aid. In our commonwealth 
there are no outlanders; if an eminent 
physicist enter our territory we do not be- 
gin at once to prepare for war, because the 
very fact of his undertaking a geological 
inquiry of itself confers upon him all the 
duties and privileges of citizenship. A 
physicist studying geology is by definition 
a geologist. Our only regret is, not that 
physicists occasionally invade our borders, 
but that they do not visit us oftener and 
make closer acquaintance with us. 


EARLY HISTORY OF THE EARTH: 
CRITICAL PERIOD. 


FIRST 


If Tam bold enough to assert that cos- 
mogony is no longer alien to geology, I may 
proceed further, and taking advantage of 
my temerity pass on to speak of things once 
not permitted to us. I propose, therefore, 
to offer some short account of the early 
stages in the history of the earth. Into its 
nebular origin we need not inquire—that 
is a subject for astronomers. We are con- 
tent to accept the infant earth from their 
hands as a molten globe ready made, its 
birth from a gaseous nebula duly certified. 
If we ask, as a matter of curiosity, what 
was the origin of the nebula, I fear even 
astronomers cannot tell us. There is an 
hypothesis which refers it to the clashing 
of meteorites, but in the form in which this 
is usually presented it does not help us 
much. Such meteorites as have been ob- 
served to penetrate our atmosphere and to 
fall on to the surface of the earth prove on 
examination to have had an eventful his- 
tory of their own of which not the least 
important chapter was a passage through 
a molten state ; they would thus appear to 
be the products rather than the progenitors 
of a nebula. 

We commence our history, then, with a 
rapidly-rotating molten planet, not impos- 
sibly already solidified about the center and 


748 


surrounded by an atmosphere of great 
depth, the larger part of which was con- 
tributed by the water of our present oceans, 
then existing ina state of gas. This atmos- 
phere, which exerted a pressure of some- 
thing like 5,000 pounds to the square inch, 
must have played a very important part in 
the evolution of our planet. The molten 
exterior absorbed it to an extent which de- 
pended on the pressure, and which may 
some day be learnt from experiment. Un- 
der the influence of the rapid rotation of 
the earth the atmosphere would be much 
deeper in equatorial than polar regions, 
so that in the latter the loss of heat by 
radiation would be in excess. This might 
of itself lead to convectional currents in 
the molten ocean. The effect on the at- 
mosphere is very difficult to trace, but it is 
obvious that if a high-pressure area origi- 
nated over some cooler region of the ocean, 
the winds blowing out of it would drive 
before them the cooler superficial layers of 
molten material, and as these were replaced 
by hotter lava streaming from below, the 
tendency would be to convert the high 
into a low-pressure area, and to reverse the 
direction of the winds. Conversely under 
a low-pressure area the in-blowing winds 
would drive in the cooler superficial layers 
of molten matter that had been swept away 
from the anticyclones. If the difference in 
pressure under the cyclonic and anticyclonic 
areas were considerable, some of the gas 
absorbed under the anticyclones might es- 
cape beneath the cyclones, and in a later 
stage of cooling might give rise to vast 
floating islands of scoria. Such islands 
might be the first foreshadowings of the 
future continents. Whatever the ultimate 
effect of the reaction of the winds on the 
currents of the molten ocean, it is probable 
that some kind of circulation was set up in 
the latter. The universal molten ocean was 
by no means homogeneous: it was con- 
stantly undergoing changes in composition 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


as it reacted chemically with the inter- 
nal metallic nucleus; its currents would 
streak the different portions out in directions 
which in the northern hemisphere would 
run from northeast to southwest, and thus 
the differences which distinguish particu- 
lar petrological regions of our planet 
may have commenced their existence at a 
very early stage. Is it possible that as our 
knowledge extends we shall be able by a 
study of the distribution of igneous rocks 
and minerals to draw some conclusions as 
to the direction of these hypothetical lava 
currents? Our planet was profoundly dis- 
turbed by tides, produced by the sun ; for 
as yet there was no moon ; and it has been 
suggested that one of its tidal waves rose 
to a height so great as to sever its con- 
nection with the earth and to fly off as the 
infant moon. This event may be regarded 
as making the first critical period, or catas- 
trophe if we please, in the history of our 
planet. The career of our satellite, after 
its escape from the earth, is not known till 
it attained a distance of nine terrestrial 
radii ; after this its progress can be clearly 
followed. At the eventful time of parturi- 
tion the earth was rotating, with a period 
of from two to four hours, about an axis in- 
clined at some 11° or 12° to the ecliptic. 
The time which has elapsed since the moon 
oceupied a position nine terrestial radii 
distant from the earth is at least fifty-six to 
fifty-seven millions of years, but may have 
been much more. Professor Darwin’s story 
of the moon is certainly one of the most 
beautiful contributions ever made by as- 
tronomy to geology, and weshall all concur 
with him when he says, ‘‘ A theory reposing 
on vere cause, which brings into quantita- 
tive correlation the length of the present 
day and month, the obliquity of the 
ecliptic, and the inclination and eccentricity 
of the lunar orbit, must, I think, have 
strong claims to acceptance.” 

The majority of geologists have long 


NovEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


hankered after a metallic nucleus for the 
earth, composed chiefly, by analogy with 
meteories, of iron. Lord Kelvin has ad- 
mitted the probable existence of some such 
nucleus, and lately Professor Wiechert has 
furnished us with arguments— powerful ’ 
arguments Professor Darwin terms them— 
in support of its existence. The interior 
of the earth for four-fifths of the radius is 
composed, according to Professor Wiechert, 
chiefly of metallic iron, with a density of 
8.2; the outer envelope, one-fifth of the 
radius, or about 400 miles in thickness, 
consists of silicates, such as we are familiar 
with in igneous rocks and meteorites, and 
possesses a density of 3.2. It was from 
this outer envelop when molten that the 
moon was trundled off, twenty-seven miles 
in depth going to its formation. The den- 
sity of this material, as we have just seen, 
is supposed to be 3.2; the density of the 
moon is 3.39, a close approximation, such 
difference as exists being completely ex- 
plicable by the comparatively low tempera- 
ture of the moon. 

The outer envelope of the earth which 
was drawn off to form the moon was, as 
we have seen, charged with steam and 
other gases under a pressure of 5,000 th. to 
the square inch; but as the satellite wan- 
dered away from the parent planet this 
pressure continuously diminished. Under 
these circumstances the moon would be- 
come as explosive as a charged bomb, steam 
would burst forth from numberless vol- 
canoes, and while the face of the moon 
might thus have acquired its existing 
features, the ejected material might possibly 
have been shot so far away from its origin 
as to have acquired an independent orbit. 
If so we may ask whether it may not be 
possible that the meteorites, which some- 
times descend upon our planet, are but 
portions of its own envelope returning to 
it. The facts that the average specific 
gravity of those meteorites which have 


SCIENCE. 


749 


been seen to fall is not much above 3.2, and 
that they have passed through a stage of 
fusion, are consistent with this suggestion. 


SECOND CRITICAL PERIOD. ‘ CONSISTENTIOR 


STATUS.’ 


The solidification of the earth probably 
became completed soon after the birth of 
the moon. The temperature of its surface 
at the time of consolidation was about 
1,170° C., and it was therefore still sur- 
rounded by its primitive deep atmosphere 
of steam and other gases. This was the 
second critical period in the history of the 
earth, the stage of the ‘ consistentior status,’ 
the date of which Lord Kelvin would 
rather know than that of the Norman Con- 
quest, though he thinks it lies between 
twenty and forty millions of years ago, 
probably nearer twenty than forty. 

Now that the crust was solid there was 
less reason why movements of the atmos- 
phere should be unsteady, and definite re- 
gions of high and low pressure might have 
been established. Under the high-pressure 
areas the surface of the crust would be de- 
pressed; correspondingly under the low- 
pressure areas it would be raised ; and thus 
from the first the surface of the solid earth 
might be dimpled and embossed.* 


THIRD CRITICAL PERIOD. ORIGIN OF THE 
OCEANS. 


The cooling of the earth would continu- 
ously progress, till the temperature of the 
surface fell to 370° C., when that part of 
the atmosphere which consisted of steam 
would begin to liquefy; then the dimples 
on the surface would soon become filled 
with superheated water, and the pools so 
formed would expand and deepen, till they 
formed the oceans. This is the third crit- 


*It would be difficult to discuss with sufficient 
brevity the probable distribution of these inequali- 
ties, but it may be pointed out that the moon is pos- 
sibly responsible, and that in more ways than one, 
for much of the existing geographical asymmetry. 


750 


ical stage in the history of the earth, dating 
according to Professor Joly, from between 
eighty and ninety millions of years ago. 
With the growth of the oceans the distinc- 
tion between land and sea arose—in what 
precise manner we may proceed to inquire. 
If we revert to the period of the ‘ consist- 
entior status,’ when the earth had just 
solidified, we shall find, according to Lord 
Kelvin, that the temperature continuously 
increased from the surface, where it was 
1,170° C., down to a depth of twenty-five 
miles, where it was about 1,430° C., or 
260° C. above the fusion point of the matter, 
forming a crust. That the crust at this 
depth was not molten but solid is to be ex- 
plained by the very great pressure to which 
it was subjected—just so much pressure, 
indeed, as was required to counteract the 
influence of the additional 260° C. Thus 
if we could have reduced the pressure on 
the crust we should have caused it to 
liquefy ; by restoring the pressure it would 
resolidify. By the time the earth’s surface 
had cooled down to 370° C. the depth be- 
neath the surface at which the pressure 
just kept the crust solid would have sunk 
some slight distance inwards, but not suffi- 
ciently to affect our argument. 

The average pressure of the primitive at- 
mosphere upon the crust can readily be 
calculated by supposing the water of the 
existing oceans to be uniformly distributed 
over the earth’s surface, and then by a 
simple piece of arithmetic determining its 
depth ; this is found to be 1.718 miles, the 
average depth of the oceans being taken at 
2.393 miles. Thus the average pressure 
over the earth’s surface, immediately before 
the formation of the oceans, was equivalent 
to that of a column of water 1.718 miles 
high on each square inch. Supposing that 
at its origin the oceans were all ‘ gathered 
together into one place,’ and ‘the dry land 
appeared,’ then the pressure over the ocean 
floor would be increased from 1.718 miles 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


to 2.893 miles, while that over those por- 
tions of the crust that now formed the land 
would be diminished by 1.718 miles. This 
difference in pressure would tend to exag- 
gerate those faint depressions which had 
arisen under the primitive anti-cyclonic 
areas, and if the just solidified material of 
the earth’s crust were set into a state of 
flow, it might move from under the ocean 
into the bulgings which were rising to form 
the land, until static equilibrium were es- 
tablished. Under these circumstances the 
pressure of the ocean would be just able to 
maintain a column of rock 0.886 miles in 
height, or ten twenty-sevenths of its own 
depth. It could do no more; but in order 
that the dry land may appear some cause 
must be found competent either to lower 
the ocean bed the remaining seventeen 
twenty-sevenths of its full depth, or to raise 
the continental bulgings to the same ex- 
tent. Such a cause may, I think, be dis- 
covered in a further effect of the reduction 
in pressure over the continental areas. . 
Previous to the condensation of the ocean, 
these, as we have seen, were subjected to 
an atmospherie pressure equal to that of a 
column of water 1.718 miles in height. 
This pressure was contributory to that 
which caused the outer twenty-five miles 
of the earth’s crust to become solid; it fur- 
nished, indeed, just about one-fortieth of 
that pressure, or enough to raise the fusion 
point 6° C. What, then, might be expected 
to happen when the continental area was 
relieved of this load? Plainly a liquefac- 
tion and corresponding expansion of the 
underlying rock. 

But we will not go so far as to assert that 
actual liquefaction would result ; all we re- 
quire for our explanation is a great ex- 
pansion ; and this would probably follow 
whether the crust were liquefied or not. 
For there is good reason to suppose that 
when matter at a temperature above its 
ordinary fusion point is compelled into the 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


solid state by pressure, its volume is very 
responsive to changes either of pressure or 
temperature. The remarkable expansion 
of liquid carbon dioxide is a case in point: 
120 volumes of this fluid at — 20° C. be- 
comes 150 volumes at 33° C.; a tempera- 
ture just below the critical point. A great 
change of volume also occurs when the 
material of igneous rocks passes from the 
crystalline stage to that of glass; in the 
case of diabase* the difference in volume 
of the rock in the two states at ordinary 
temperature is 13 per cent. If the relief 
of pressure over the site of continents were 
accompanied by volume changes at all ap- 
proaching this, the additional elevation of 
seventeen twenty-sevenths required to raise 
the land to the sea-level would be accounted 


for.t| How far down beneath the surface_ 


*(C. Barus so names the material on which he ex- 
perimented ; apparently the rock is a fresh dolorite 
without olivine. 

+ Professor Fitzgerald has been kind enough to ex- 
press part of the preceding explanation in a more pre- 
cise manner for me. He writes: ‘‘It would require 
a very nice adjustment of temperatures and pressures 
to work out in the simple way you state it ; but what 
is really involved is that in a certain state diabase 
(and everything that changes state with a consider- 
able change of volume) has an enormous isothermal 
compressibility. Although this is very enormous in 
the case of bodies which melt suddenly, like ice, it 
would also involve very great compressibilities in the 
case of bodies even which melted gradually, if they 
did so at all quickly, 7. e., within a small range of 
temperature. What you postulate, then, is that ata 
certain depth diabase is soft enough to be squeezed 
from under the oceans, and that, being near its melt- 
ing point, the small relief of pressure is accompanied 
by an enormous increase in volume which helped to 
raise the continents. Now that I have written the 
thing out in my own way it seems very likely. It is, 
anyway, a suggestion quite worthy of serious consid- 
eration, and a process that in some places must al- 
most certainly have been in operation, and may be is 
still operative. Looking at it again, I hardly think 
it is quite likely that there is or could be much 
squeezing sideways of liquid or other viscous ma- 
terial from under one place to another, because the 
elastic yielding of the inside of the earth would be 
much quicker than any flow of this kind. This 


SCIENCE. 


vissl 


the unloading of the continents would be 
felt it is difficult to say, though the problem 
is probably not beyond the reach of mathe- 
matical analysis ; if it affected an outer en- 
velope twenty-five miles in thickness, a lin- 
ear expansion of four per cent. would suffice 
to explain the origin of ocean basins. If 
now we refer to the dilatation determined 
by Carl Barus for rise in temperature in the 
case of diabase, we find that between 1093° 
and 1112° C. the increase in volume is 3.3 
per cent. As a further factor in deepening 
the ocean basins may be included the com- 
pressive effect of the increase in load over 
the ocean floor; this increase is equal to 
the pressure of a column of water 0.675 
mile in height, and its effect in raising the 
fusion point would be 2° C., from which we 
may gain some kind of idea of the amount 
of compression it might produce on the 
yielding interior of the crust. To admit 
that these views are speculative will be to 
confess nothing ; but they certainly account 
for a good deal. They not only give us 
ocean basins, but basins of the kind we 
want, that is, to use a crude comparison 
once made by the late Dr. Carpenter, ba- 
sins of a tea-tray form, having a somewhat 
flat floor and steeply sloping sides ; they 
also help to explain how it is that the value 
of gravity is greater over the ocean than 
over the land. 

The ocean when first formed would con- 
sist of highly heated water, and this, as is 
well known, is an energetic chemical re- 
agent when brought into contact with sili- 


would only modify your theory, because the diabase 
that expands so much on the relief of pressure might 
be that already under the land, and raising up this 
latter, partly by being pushed up itself by the elastic 
relief of the inside of the earth and partly by its own 
enormous expansibility near its melting point. The 
action would be quite slow, because it would cool it- 
self so much by its expansion that it would have to 
be warmed up from below, or by tidal earth-squeez- 
ing, or by chemical action, before it could expand 
isothermally. 


752 


cates like those which formed the primitive 
crust. Asa result of its action saline so- 
lutions and chemical deposits would be 
formed; the latter, however, would proba- 
bly be of no great thickness, for the time 
occupied by the ocean in cooling to a tem- 
perature not far removed from the present 
would probably be included within a few 
hundreds of years. 


THE STRATIFIED SERIES. 


The course of events now becomes some- 
what obscure, but sooner or later the fa- 
miliar processes of denudation and the 
deposition started into activity, and have 
continued acting uninterruptedly ever 
since. The total maximum thickness of 
the sedimentary deposits, so far as I can 
discover, appears to amount to no less than 
50 miles, made up as follows: 


Recent and Pleistocene...... 4,000...Man. 
IPUN@ESIG secososasosconos0an00RIees 5,000...Pithecanthropus. 


...Entheria. 
... Mammals. 
..Reptiles. 
... Amphibia. 
...-Fish. 
SHUI DT META, coo a5cotongegoonenpoNoDssS 15,000 
OxdowicianWrcmsctecscesceesccnrs 17,000 
(CYST TEI pcoosoosasassen600900000 16,000...Invertebrata. 
Keeweenawan ................++ 50,000 
TENORS co cosnsadooseooosaséoo0des 14,000 
TENTOROATEIT, poonceconcoscoab6aco36e0 18,000 


Geologists, impressed with the tardy pace 
at which sediments appear to be accumu- 
lating at the present day, could not contem- 
plate this colossal pile of strata without 
feeling that it spoke of an almost inconceiv- 
ably long lapse of time. They were led to 
compare its duration with the distances 
which intervene between the heavenly 
bodies; but while some chose the distance 
of the nearest fixed star as their unit, others 
were content to measure the years in terms 
of miles from the sun. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


EVOLUTION OF ORGANISMS. 


The stratified rocks were eloquent of 
time, and not to the geologist alone; they 
appealed with equal force to the biologist. _ 
Accepting Darwin’s explanation of the origin 
of species, the present rate at which form 
flows to form seemed so slow as almost to 
amount to immutability. How vast then 
must have been the period during which by 
slow degrees and innumerable stages the 
protozoon was transformed into the man! 
And if we turn to the stratified column, 
what do we find? Man, it is true, at the 
summit, the oldest fossiliferous rocks 34 
miles lower down, and the fossils they con- 
tain already representing most of the great 
classes of the Invertebrata, including Crus- 
tacea and Worms. Thus the evolution of 
the Vertebrata alone is known to have oc- 
cupied a period represented by a thickness 
of 34 miles of sediment. How much greater, 
then, must have been the interval required 
for the elaboration of the whole organic 
world! The human mind, dwelling on 
such considerations as these, seems at times 
to have been affected by a sur-excitation of 
the imagination, and a consequent paraly- 
sis of the understanding, which led to a re- 
fusal to measure geological time by years 
at all, or to reckon by anything less than 
“eternities.’ 


GEOLOGIC PERIODS OF TIME. 

After the admirable address of your Pres- 
ident last year it might be thought needless 
for me to again enter into a consideration 
of this subject ; it has been said, however, 
that the question of geological .time is like 
the Djin in Arabian tales, and will irre- 
pressibly come up again for discussion, 
however often it is disposed of. For my 
part I do not regard the question so de- 
spondingly, but rather hope that by per- 
severing effort we may succeed in discover- 
ing the talisman by which we may compel 
the unwilling Djin into our service. How 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


immeasurable would be the advance of our 
science could we but bring the chief events 
which it records into some relation with a 
standard of time ! 

Before proceeding to the discussion of 
estimates of time drawn from a study of 
stratified rocks let us first consider those 
which have been already suggested by other 
data. These are as follows: (1) Time 
which has elapsed since the separation of 
the earth and moon, fifty-six millions of 
years, minimum estimate by Professor G. 
H. Darwin. (2) Since the ‘consistentior 
status,’ twenty to forty millions (Lord 
Kelvin). (8) Since the condensation of 
the oceans, eighty to ninety millions, max- 
- imum estimate by Professor J. Joly. 

It may be at once observed that these 
estimates, although independent, are all of 
the same order of magnitude, and so far 
confirmatory of each other. Nor are they 
opposed to conclusions drawn from a study 
of stratified rocks; thus Sir Archibald 
Geikie, in his address to this Section last 
year, affirmed that, so far as these were 
concerned, one hundred millions of years 
might suffice for their formation. There is 
then very little to quarrel about, and our 
task is reduced to an attempt, by a little 
stretching and a little paring, to bring these 
various estimates into closer harmony. 

Professor Darwin’s estimate is admittedly 
a minimum; the actual time, as he him- 
self expressly states, ‘may have been much 
longer.’ Lord Kelvin’s estimate, which he 
would make nearer twenty than forty mil- 
lions, is founded on the assumption that 
since the period of the ‘ consistentior status ’ 
the earth has cooled simply as a solid body, 
the transference of heat from within out- 
wards having been accomplished solely by 
conduction.* 

_ It may be at once admitted that there is 

*The heat thus brought to the surface would 


amount to one-seventeenth of that conveyed by con- 
duction. 


SCIENCE. 


703 


a large amount of truth in this assumption ; 
there can be no possible doubt that the 
earth reacts towards forces applied for a 
short time as a solid body. Under the in- 
fluence of the tides it behaves as though it 
possessed a rigidity approaching that of 
steel, and under sudden blows, such as 
those which give rise to earthquakes, with | 
twice this rigidity, as Professor Milne in- 
forms me. Astronomical considerations 
lead to the conclusion that its effective 
rigidity has not varied greatly for a long 
period of past time. 

Still, while fully recognizing these facts, 
the geologist knows—we all know—that the 
crust of the earth is not altogether solid. 
The existence of voleanoes by itself sug- 
gests the contrary, and although the total 
amount of fluid material which is brought up 
from the interior to the exterior of the earth 
by volcanic action may be, and certainly is, 
small—from data given by Professor Penck, 
I estimate it as equivalent to a layer of rock 
uniformly distributed 2 mm. thick per cen- 
tury ; yet we have every reason to believe 
that volcanoes are but the superficial man- 
ifestation of far greater bodies of molten 
material which lie concealed beneath the 
ground. Even the wide areas of plutonic 
rock, which are sometimes exposed to view 
over a country that has suffered long-con- 
tinued denudation, are merely the upper 
portion of more extensive masses which lie 
remote from view. The existence of molten 
material within the earth’s crust naturally 
awakens a suspicion that the process of 
cooling has not been wholly by conduction, 
but also to some slight extent by convection | 
and to a still greater extent by the bodily 
migration of liquid lava from the deeper 
layers of the crust towards the surface. 

The existence of local reservoirs of molten 
rock within the crust is even still more im- 
portant in another connection, that is, in re- 
lation with the supposed ‘average rate of 
increase of temperature with descent below 


704 


the ground.’ It is doubtful whether we 
have yet discovered a rate that in any use- 
ful sense can be spoken of as ‘average.’ 
The widely divergent views of different 
authorities as to the presumed value of this 
rate may well lead to reflection. The late 
Professor Prestwich thought a rise of 1° F. 


= 
t 
a” 
ai 
4 ae 
i 
H 


mn | 
Eee 


THRE 
ade 
CCCP REET 


Fic. 1.—Map of the British Isles, showing the distribution 
The rates 
are taken from the ‘British Association Report,’ except in 


of rates of increase of temperature with descent. 


the case of those in the south of Ireland. 


for every 45 feet of descent below the zone 
of constant temperature best represented 
the average ; Lord Kelvin in his earliest es- 
timates has adopted a value of 1° F. for 
every 51 feet; the committee of this asso- 
ciation appointed to investigate this ques- 
tion arrived at a rate of 1° F. for every 60 
feet of descent; Mr. Clarence King has 
made calculations in which a rate of 1° F. 
for 72 feet is adopted; a re-investigation of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


recorded measurements would, I believe, 
lead to a rate of 1° F. in 80 or 90 feet as 
more closely approaching the mean. This 
would raise Lord Kelvin’s estimate to 
nearly fifty millions of years. 

When from these various averages we 
turn to the observations on which they are 
based, we encounter a surprising di- 
vergence of extremes from the mean ; 
thus in the British Isles alone the rate 
varies from 1° F. in 34 feet to 1° F. 
in 92 feet, or in one case to 1° F. in 
130 feet. It has been suggested, and 
to some extent shown, that these ir- 
regularities may be connected with 
differences in conductivity of the rocks 
in which the observations were made, 
or to the circulation of underground 
water; but many cases exist which 
cannot be explained away in such a 
manner, but are suggestive of some 
deep-seated cause, such as the distri- 
bution of molten matter below the 
1 ground. Inspection of the accom- 
panying map of the British Isles, on 
which the rates of increase in different 
localities have been plotted, will af- 
ford some evidence of the truth of this 
view. Comparatively low rates of in- 
crease are found over Wales and in 
the province of Leinster, districts of 
= relatively great stability, the remnants 
of an island that have in all prob- 
ability stood above the sea ever 
since the close of the Silurian period. 
To the north of this, as we enter a 
region which was subject to volcanic dis- 
turbances during the Tertiary period, the 
rate increases. 

It is obvious that in any attempt to esti- 
mate the rate at which the earth is cooling 
as a solid body the disturbing influence of 
subterranean lakes of molten rock must as 
far as possible be eliminated; but this will 
not be effected by taking the accepted mean 
of observed rates of increase of tempera- 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900.] 


ture; such an average is merely a compro- 
mise, and a nearer approach to a correct re- 
sult will possibly be attained by selecting 
some low rate of increase, provided it is 
based on accurate observations. 

It is extremely doubtful whether an area 
such as the British Isles, which has so fre- 
quently been the theater of volcanic activity 
and other subterranean disturbance, is the 
best fitted to afford trustworthy results ; the 
Archean nucleus of a continent might be 
expected to afford surer indications. Un- 
fortunately the hidden treasures of the 
earth are seldom buried in these regions, 
and bore-holes in consequence have rarely 
been made in them. One exception is af- 
forded by the copper-bearing district of 
Lake Superior, and in one case, that of the 
Calumet and Hecla mine, which is 4,580 
feet in depth, the rate of increase, as de- 
termined by Professor A. Agassiz, was 1° F. 
for every 223.7 feet. The Bohemian ‘ horst’ 
is a somewhat ancient part of Hurope, and 
in the Przibian mines, which are sunk in it, 
the rate was 1° F. for every 126 feet of de- 
scent. In the light of these facts it would 
seem that geologists are by no means com- 
pelled to accept the supposed mean rate of 
increase of temperature with descent into 
the crust as affording a safe guide to the 
rate of cooling of a solid globe; and if the 
much slower rate of increase observed in 
the more ancient and more stable regions of 
the earth has the importance which is sug- 
gested for it, then Lord Kelvin’s estimate 
of the date of the ‘ consistentior status ’ may 
be pushed backwards into a remoter past. 

Tf, as we have reason to hope, Lord Kel- 
vin’s somewhat contracted period will yield 
to a little stretching, Professor Joly’s on 
the other hand, may take some paring. 
His argument, broadly stated, is as follows: 
The ocean consisted at first of fresh water ; 
it is now salt, and its saltness is due to the 
dissolved matter that is constantly being 
carried into it by rivers. If, then, we know 


SCIENCE. 


755 


the quantity of salt which the rivers bring 
down each year into the sea, it is easy to 
calculate how many years they have taken 
to supply the sea with all the salt it at 
present contains. For several reasons it is 
found necessary to restrict attention to one 
only of the elements contained in sea salt: 
this is sodium. The quantity of sodium 
delivered to the sea every year by the riv- 
ers is about 160,000,000 tons; but the 
quantity of sodium which the sea contains 
is at least ninety millions of times greater 
than this. The periods during which riv- 
ers have been carrying sodium into the sea 
must, therefore, be about ninety millions of 
years. Nothing could be simpler; there is 
no serious flaw in the method, and Profes- 


_ sor Joly’s treatment of the subject is ad- 


mirable in every way; but of course in cal- 
culations such as this everything depends 
on the accuracy of the data, which we may, 
therefore, proceed to discuss. Professor 
Joly’s estimate of the amount of sodium in 
the ocean may be accepted as sufficiently 
near the truth for all practical purposes. 
We may, therefore, pass on to the other 
factor, the annual contribution of sodium 
by river water. Here there is more room 
for error. Two quantities must be ascer- 
tained: one the quantity of water which 
the rivers of the world carry into the sea, 
the other the quantity or proportion of sod- 
ium present in this water. The total vol- 
ume of water discharged by rivers into the 
ocean is estimated by Sir John Murray as 
6,524 cubic miles. The estimate being based 
on observations of thirty-three great rivers 
although only approximate, it is no doubt 
sufficiently exact; at all events such alterna- 
tions as it is likely to undergo will not greatly 
affeet the final result. When, however, 
we pass to the last quantity to be deter- 
mined, the chemical composition of average 
river water, we find that only a very rough 
estimate is possible, and this is the more 
unfortunate because changes in this may 


706 


very materially affect our conclusions. The 
total quantity of river water discharged 
into the sea is, as we have stated, 6,524 
cubic miles. The average composition of 
this water is deduced from analyses of 
nineteen great rivers, which altogether dis- 
charge only 488 cubic miles, or 7.25 per 
cent. of the whole. The danger in using 
this estimate is two-fold: in the first place 
7.25 is too small a fraction from which to 
argue to the remaining 92.75 per cent., and 
next, the rivers which furnish it are se- 
lected rivers, 7. e., they are all of large size. 
The effect of this is that the drainage of 
the voleanic regions of the earth is not 
sufficiently represented, and it is precisely 
this drainage which is richest in sodium 
salts. The lavas and ashes of active vol- 
canoes rapidly disintegrate under the ener- 
getic action of various acid gases, and 
among volcanic exhalations sodium chloride 
has been especially noticed as abundant. 
Consequently we find that while the pro- 
portion of sodium in Professor Joly’s aver- 
age river water is only 5.73 per million, in 
the rivers of the volcanic island of Hawaii 
it rises to 24.5 per million (Walter Max- 
well, ‘Lavas and Soils of the Hawaiian 
Islands,’ p. 170). No doubt the area oc- 
cupied by volcanoes is trifling compared 
with the remaining land surface. On the 
other hand the majority of volcanoes are 
situated in regions of copious rainfall, of 
which they receive a full share owing to 
their mountainous form. Much of the 
fallen rain percolates through the porous 
material of the cone, and, richly charged 
with alkalies, finds its way by underground 
passages towards the sea, into which it 
sometimes discharges by submarine springs. 

Again, several considerations lead to the 
belief that the supply of sodium to the 
ocean has proceeded, not at a uniform, but 
ata gradually diminishing rate. The rate of 
increase of temperature with descent into 
the crust has continuously diminished with 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


the flow of time, and this must have had 
its influence on the temperature of springs, 
which furnish an important contribution to 
river water. The significance of this con- 
sideration may be judged from the compo- 
sition of the water of geysers. Thus 
Geyser, in Iceland, contains 884 parts of 
sodium per million, or nearly 160 times as 
much as Sir John Murray estimates is 
present in average river water. A mean of 
the analyses of six geysers in different parts 
of the world gives 400 parts of sodium per 
million, existing partly as chloride, but 
also as sulphate and carbonate. 

It should not be overlooked that the 
present is a calm and quiet epoch in the 
earth’s history, following after a time of 
fiery activity. More than once, indeed, has 
the past been distinguished by unusual 
manifestations of voleanic energy, and these 
must have had some effect upon the supply 
of sodium to the ocean. Finally, although 
the existing ocean water has apparently 
but slight effect in corroding the rocks 
which form its bed, yet it certainly was not 
inert when its temperature was not far re- 
moved from the critical point. Water be- 
gins to exert a powerful destructive action 
on silicates at a temperature of 180° C., 
and during the interval occupied in cooling 
from 370 to 180° C. a considerable quantity 
of sodium may have entered into solution. 

A review of the facts before us seems to 
render some reduction in Dr. Joly’s esti- 
mate imperative. A precise assessment is im- 
possible, but I should be inclined myself to 
take off some ten or thirty millions of years. 

We may next take the evidence of the 
stratified rocks. Their total maximum 
thickness is, as we have seen, 265,000 feet, 
and consequently if they accumulated at 
the rate of one foot ina century, as evi- 
dence seems to suggest, more than twenty- 
six millions of years must have elapsed 
during their formation. W. J. Souuas. 

( To be concluded. ) 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


THE GEOLOGICAL AND PALEONTOLOGICAL 
COLLECTIONS IN THE AMERICAN MU- 
SEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.* 

Tuis informal paper was prepared by the 
author (in the absence of Professor R. P. 
Whitfield, who has been curator of the Geo- 
logical Department of the Museum for more 
than twenty-three years) at the request of 
the officers of Section E, so that members 
in attendance at the meeting of the Associ- 
ation might know in a general way what to 
look for on visiting the Museum. 

The first series of valuable fossils to be 
acquired by the American Museum of Nat- 
ural History was the Holmes collection from 
the Tertiary deposits of South Carolina. 
This included the types of the species de- 
scribed in Tuomey and Holmes’ works.+ 
The second important series to be put on 
exhibition was the set of eight mounted 
skeletons of moas from New Zealand, con- 
stituting the De Haas types of those birds. 
There are eight unmounted skeletons in the 
same collection, thirteen species being rep- 
resented in all. 

The main portion of the department’s 
specimens is composed of the James Hall 
collection, the acquisition of which in 1875 
placed the Museum in the lead among 
American institutions in respect to Paleo- 
zoic fossils, on account of the great number 
of types and figured specimens contained 
therein, such specimens being numbered by 
the thousand.{ Especially noteworthy in 
the Hall collection, aside from the wonder- 
fully rich New York series, are the Pots- 
dam fossils from Minnesota and Wisconsin ; 
Trenton forms from Wisconsin and Iowa, 

* Read before Section E of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, June 26, 1900. 

f Pleiocene Fossils of South Carolina, by M. 
Tuomey and F. S. Holmes. 4to. Charleston, S. C., 
1857 ; Post-Pleiocene Fossils of South Carolina, by 
F. S. Holmes. 4to. Charleston, S. C., 1860. 

} Published principally in the reports of the State 
Geological Surveys of New York, Iowa, Wisconsin 
and Indiana. 


SCIENCE. 


707 


the unfigured types of which have been 
republished by Professor Whitfield with 
figures in the Memoirs of the Museum; 
Niagara fossils from Waldron, Indiana ; 
corals from the Falls of the Ohio river; 
crinoids from Burlington, Iowa, and the 
remarkable Lower Carboniferous fauna of 
Spergen Hill, Indiana, both of which last 
have been republished by Professor Whit- 
field with figures from the original types, 
the former in the Memoirs and the latter 
in the Bulletin of the Museum. 

Other collections which may be men- 
tioned are the Chazy and Fort Cassin fos- 
sils from the vicinity of Lake Champlain, 
containing types which have been described 
by Professor Whitfield in the Bulletin of the 
Museum ; a complete set of the Vermont 
and New Hampshire rocks illustrating the 
geological survey of those States by Pro- 
fessor C. H. Hitchcock, and the types of the 
Tertiary plants from’ Brandon, Vermont; 
an excellent series of Paleozoic fossils from 
Illinois and neighboring States ; fossils from 
the Cretaceous marls of New Jersey, col- 
lected and presented to the Museum by 
Professor Whitfield, and fine sets of fish re- 
mains from the Triassic of the Connecticut 
valley and the Tertiary beds of Wyoming. 
The most recent noteworthy addition is one 
of the Tyrrell collections of placoderm fishes 
from the Devonian rocks of Ohio. 

The arrangement of the collection is that 
devised by Professor Whitfield when he 
came to the Museum, and it is worthy of 
careful consideration on account of the way 
it has stood the test of time and use. Be- 
ginning at the northeast corner of the hall 
(because that is beside what was originally 
the only entrance to the room and was un- 
derstood to be the permanent main entrance 
thereto) the specimens are arranged strati- 
graphically in ascending geological order. 
Under the stratigraphic arrangement, the 
grouping is by geographical or lithological 
provinees, first New York, or eastern and 


758 


then western. Under this again the ar- 
rangement is strictly biological, beginning 
with plants, where present, and then tak- 
ing the animals in ascending scale. This 
scheme has been carried out most definitely 
in the upright cases, while the desk cases 
contain many of the best specimens and fit 
into the classification as well as is practi- 
cable. <A part of each of twelve of the desk 
cases is occupied by specimens comprising 
the Dana’s Manual series. These illustrate 
the figures in that standard work on geology 
and form an epitome of the historical side 
of the science. Many of the figures are 
represented by the very specimens from 
which the originals were drawn. Large 
Specimens showing ripple marks, footprints, 
concretions, and other phenomena are 
placed on the tops of the cases and in other 
places out of series. 

A very valuable feature of the installa- 
tion is that of separating the biological 
units from one another, so that the indi- 
viduals, species, genera, families, ete., which 
belong together can be distinguished on the 
most rapid inspection. This is effected by 
means of narrow strips of wood of different 
colors placed between the trays holding the 
fossils, single black strips separating differ- 
ent species, red ones genera, white ones 
families, two white ones limiting orders and 
two black denoting the boundaries of classes 
and higher subdivisions. The specimens, 
furthermore, are arranged so that one nat- 
urally examines them from left to right and 
from below upwards, except that the upper 
shelves of the upright cases are occupied 
by large and small specimens showing the 
grouping of the fossils in the rocks and the 
geological features of the beds. More than 
nine-tenths of the hall is devoted to the 
American forms, the rest being given up to 
a synoptic series of European fossils and 
fossils from other foreign localities. 

The mineral collection, which is under 
the immediate care of Mr. L. P. Gratacap, 


SCIENCE. 


{N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


has grown to large proportions and well 
repays careful study. About five hundred 
species are represented by nearly ten thou- 
sand specimens which are arranged accord- 
ing to the sixth edition of Dana’s System 
of Mineralogy. The specialty of an insti- 
tution like the American Museum is large, 
showy specimens, and we havea great many 
such which are worthy the notice of the 
scientific as well as the popular visitor. 
Especially conspicuous among these are 
specimens of quartz, gypsum, barite, calcite 
and fluorite, but above all the unrivaled 
malachites, azurites and stalactites from the 
Copper Queen Co.’s mines at Bisbee, Ari- 
zona. The collection of gems and gem 
material, too, should not be overlooked, 
since it contains many unique and beauti- 
ful specimens. 

The Museum collections of the fossil re- 
mains of mammals and reptiles are in 
the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, 
and being thus outside of my province, I 
refer to them. with the permission of the 
curator of the department, Professor Henry 
F. Osborn. The exhibition series is to be- 
found in the hall of the east wing of the 
Museum building, on the same floor with 
the collections of the Geological Depart- 
ment, and it includes many wonderful 
specimens, the like of which are to be 
found in no other institution in the world. 
The department was organized and the 
work of collecting begun in the year 1891 
with Professor H. F. Osborn as curator, Dr. 
J. L. Wortman as assistant curator in charge 
of the field work, and Adam Hermann as 
head preparator. Thanks to the ability 
and energy of this corps of workers and 
their assistants, the collection has grown 
with great rapidity and substantiality, 
while the installation is a model. 

The amount of exhibition material on 
hand and mounted in 1895 was sufficient 
to warrant the opening of the hall, and the 
public obtained the first view of these col- 


“NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


lections in October of that year. One of 
the constant aims of the curator has been 
to obtain complete skeletons for the exhi- 
bition cases; and an inspection of the cases 
will show the extent to which this aim has 
been attained. Pains and expense have not 
been spared in the effort to make the col- 
lection attractive in appearance, as well as 
useful to the student. The primary idea 
in the arrangement of this collection is to 
show the evolution of the various types of 
animals represented, while the geological 
association is secondary. Thus on the 
south side of the room we have the perisso- 
dactyls, beginning with the titanotheres 
and passing on: through the tapirs, lophio- 
donts, rhinoceroses and paleotheres to the 
horses. On the north side of the room, 
and beginning, as before, at the west end 
of the hall, we have the amblypods (pan- 
tolambdas, coryphodonts and uintatheres), 
the elotheres, the oreodonts and the ances- 
tors of the llamas and the camels. 

Among the sets just mentioned are some 
specimens that deserve more than the pass- 
ing notice that can be given them here. 
Cope’s type specimen of Phenacodus prime- 
vus, the collateral ancestor of the hoofed 
animals, was acquired with the purchase of 
that famous scientist’s collection of fossil 
mammals in 1895. It has been worked out 
of the matrix since it came to the Museum 
and mounted, so that every bone on one 
side can be removed readily for the purpose 
of examination or study. Hophlophoneus 
primevus Leidy, the ancient saber-toothed 
tiger, is represented by an absolutely com- 
plete skeleton, even the smallest bones of 
the tail having been preserved. This, too, 
has been mounted so that every bone can 
be readily removed for study. Patriofelis 
ferox Marsh, the ancient aquatic tiger-cat, 
Coryphoden testis Cope and Palcosyops palu- 
dosus Leidy are represented by specimens 
which are almost equally good. An im- 
mense Titanotherium skeleton, which has 


SCIENCE. 


709 


been made up from but two individuals, 
shows an interesting fracture of one of the 
ribs on the right side which was healed 
during the life of the beast. Four rhinos- 
ceros skeletons show the long-legged, agile 
and short-legged, sluggish types. These 
have been described by Professor Osborn in 
a Memoir of the Museum. The bones of 
one of these skeletons are so perfect that 
they hardly look like fossils. The evolu- 
tion of the horse is represented by a series 
of skulls as well as by the more familiar 
series of leg bones. 

The subject of reptiles is now receiving 
much attention and some remarkable speci- 
mens have been placed on exhibition, the 
most noteworthy of which is the nearly en- 
tire skeleton of a mosasaur (Tylosawrus dis- 
pelor (Cope) ) from the Upper Cretaceous of 
Kansas. The individual must have been 
originally more than thirty feet in length. 
About twenty-eight feet of it have been 
preserved in this specimen, which has been 
mounted in the original matrix in which it 
was found and placed in a shallow case 
against the wall near the entrance to the 
hall. Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and other 
herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs from 
the western Jurassic and Cretaceous beds are 
represented in the cases by sets of vertebrae, 
pelvic bones, ribs and legs which give the 
visitor a very good idea of the immense 
size and the proportions of these ancient 
lizards. 

In 1895 the mammal remains in Profes- 
sor Cope’s famous collection were purchased 
by the Museum, and in 1898 the remainder 
of his collection was acquired. These ac- 
quisitions brought to the Museum a large 
number of invaluable type specimens and 
established the position of the institution 
as one of the most important, if not the 
most important, place in the world for the 
study of vertebrate paleontology. Aside 
from these types, the collection contains, 
as a matter of course, all the material de- 


760 


scribed and illustrated in the Bulletins and 
Memoirs of the Museum by Messrs. Os- 
born, Wortman, Matthew (W. D.), and 
Karle. 

A description of this department of the 
Museum would be very incomplete without 
mention of the life-like water-color restora- 
tions of mammals and reptiles which have 
been made by Charles R. Knight, under the 
direction and with the advice and assistance 
of Professors Osborn, Cope and Scott. These 
pictures are, without question, the best at- 
tempts that have ever been made to repre- 
sent the animal life and the scenery of 
Mesozoic and Cenozoic time in this country 
or Europe. The collection is very thor- 
oughly labeled, with elaborate descriptive 
as well as individual labels and photo- 
graphic transparencies of many of the west- 
ern fossiliferous localities occupy some of 


the windows. 
Epmunp Oris Hovey. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

Evolution by Atrophy in Biology and Sociology. 
By JEAN DEmoor, Agrégé of the Free Univer- 
sity of Brussels; JEAN MAssArtT, Chargé de 
Cours of the Free University of Brussels ; 
EMILE VANDERVELDE, Professor at the Insti- 
tute des Hautes Etudes of Brussels, translated 
by Mrs. CHALMERS MITCHELL. The Interna- 
tional Scientific Series. New York, D. Apple- 
ton & Co. 1899. 

An eminent American economist has declared 
the bankruptcy of biological sociology. The 
authors of ‘Evolution of Atrophy,’ have as- 
sumed the receivership of a section of biological 
sociology, namely, that dealing with degenera- 
tion. Realizing that ‘‘ biosociological investi- 
gations have hitherto been conducted either by 
naturalists with a limited knowledge of social 
questions, or by sociologists whose training was 
incomplete and superficial,’’ their researches on 
degeneration ‘‘ have been made separately from 
the social side and from the biological side, and 
have now been coordinated and combined.”’ 
The volume is divided into three books, dealing 
respectively with ‘ Universality of degenerative 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 307- 


evolution,’ ‘The path of degenerative evolu- 
tion,’ and ‘Causes of degenerative evolution.’ 
Kach book is divided into three parts, the third 
of which gives a summary and conclusions of 
the first two. The result of the collaboration 
of several authors has resulted in a well-systema- 
tized arrangement of topics and an attempt at 
balancing a part, chapter, or section in Biology ~ 
with a similar one in Sociology. Thus Part I. 
of Book I. deals with ‘ Degeneration in the de- 
velopment of institutions and organs.’ Chapter 
I. ‘In the evolution of organs all modification 
is necessarily attended by degeneration.’ Chap- 
ter II. ‘In the evolution of institutions all 
modification is necessarily accompanied by de- 
generation,’ and of Part I., Chapter I., ‘All 
organisms exhibit rudimentary organs.’ Chap- 
ter II. ‘Survivals exist in all kinds of societies.’ 
Orin Book II., Part II., Chapter I., we have : 
Section I. ‘Disappeared organs.’ Section II. 
‘Disappeared institutions.’ There is thus a 
constant interlarding of fat with Jean. 

Book I. is essentially a statement of facts from 
which the authors conclude that ‘‘ degenerative 
evolution exists everywhere * * * in the evo- 
lution of organs certain facts may disappear 
completely * * * in the evolution of organisms 
certain organs may also disappear. * * * Not 
only may a larval stage or an adult stage 
be completely suppressed, but a multicellular 
organism may even lose its power of dying.”’ 
Degeneration is not an accident and is not con- 
fined to unusual, abnormal or pathological cases. 
Living and superior civilizations drag behind 
them a trail of débris from dead civilizations. 

Book II. is an examination of the question 
whether the degeneration of individuals and 
of organs proceeds by successive atrophies oc- 
curring in the order opposite to that of ontolog- 
ical formation, In considering the series of 
pineal eyes offered by various animals they 
“cannot refrain from the conclusion that in 
this series degeneration retraces to a large ex- 
tent the steps of original advance.’”’ This, 
however, is not a universal application, and 
‘Calthough the most recently acquired features 
may disappear first, degeneration is not an 
actual retracing of steps until the point of de- 
parture is reached. The degenerate condition 
is a new point, and really the term retrogres- 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


sive evolution is misleading.’’ ‘‘ Rudimentary 
organs and institutions resemble the primitive 
states of these, in so far as they no longer pos- 
sess certain parts which the primitive stages 
did not yet possess. None the less profound 
differences exist between the primitive and the 
reduced forms.’’ This difference lies largely in 
the difference of potentiality of the primitive 
and the degenerate organ to vary in the direc- 
tion of new uses. ‘‘ After a certain degree of 
atrophy, there is no longer the possibility of 
re-development to resume old or to acquire new 
functions.’’ 

The Degeneration is in Book III. attributed 
to (1) lack of space ; (2) lack of use ; (8) lack of 
nutrition, as in the genitalia of neuter bees; (4) 
atrophy without apparent cause. If a function- 
less organ persists it is because neither variation 
nor selection has intervened. The struggle 
for existence between the various organs and 
the struggle for existence between various or- 
ganisms are in the opinion of these authors ‘ the 
principal if not the sole agents in degenera- 
tion,’ while inutility of function, insufficiency 
of nutriment or resource, and lack of space are 
occasional causes of degenerative evolution. 

The book is written in a popular and enter- 
JENEOG) Sinyla, C. H. KIGENMANN. 
Sounding the Ocean of Air. By A. LAWRENCE 

Rotcu, §.B., A.M. Romance of Science 

Series. London, Society for Promoting Chris- 

tian Knowledge, and New York, E. and J. B. 

Young. 1900. Small 8vo. Pp. 184. $1.00. 

The work in kite meteorology carried on 
during the past six years at Blue Hill Observa- 
tory under the direction and through the liber- 
ality of Mr. A. Lawrence Rotch needs no intro- 
duction to the readers of ScieNcE. Mr. Rotch’s 
pioneer work in scientific kite-flying has re- 
ceived the stamp of official approval at the 
hands of the International Meteorological Con- 
ference and of the International Aeronautical 
Committee, and similar investigations have 
lately been begun at several of the EHuropean 
meteorological observatories. ‘Sounding the 
Ocean of Air’ is the attractive title of a little 
book, issued in the Romance of Science Series, 
which comprises six lectures delivered by the 
author before the Lowell Institute of Boston, in 


SCIENCE. 


761 


December, 1898. The subjects dealt with in the 
six chapters are ‘The Atmosphere’; ‘Clouds’; 
‘Balloons’; ‘Ballons-sondes for Great Alti- 
tudes’; ‘ Kites,’ and ‘ Results of Kite-Flights at 
Blue Hill.’ The whole yolume presents a 
clear and systematic account of the history and 
present status of the exploration of the free 
air. The last chapter, on the ‘ Results of 
the Kite-Flights at Blue Hill,’ gives a useful 
summary, almost too condensed for understand- 
ing without careful study, of the notable results 
obtained by Mr. H. H. Clayton, of the Blue 
Hill Observatory staff, from the records made 
by the kite meteorograph. This chapter will, 
therefore, probably have the greatest interest 
for meteorologists, although the chapter on 
Clouds, in which the Blue Hill cloud work is 
given special attention, is hardly less important. - 
This little book is to be recommended to all 
who wish to inform themselves concerning the 
work that is now being done in ‘sounding the 
ocean of air,’ as Mr. Rotch has happily phrased 
it. The volume emphasizes once again the high 
scientific quality of the work done by Messrs. 
Clayton, Fergusson and Sweetland, under Mr. 
Rotch’s direction, at Blue Hill Observatory. 
The dedication is so appropriate as to deserve 
quotation here: ‘‘ This little Book is gratefully 
dedicated to the late Augustus Lowell, Esq., of 
Boston, U.S. A., who, as Trustee of the Lowell 
Institute, enabled Scientific Men of Two Conti- 
nents to present the Results of their Investiga- 


tions to the Publie.”’ 
R. DEC. WARD. 


HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 


Free-hand Perspective. By Victor T. WILSON. 
New York and London, Wiley and Sons; 
Chapman & Hall. 1900. 8vo. Pp. xii+ 
257. Ill., 139. 

This is a work intended for use in a section 
of the free-hand classes of the drawing depart- 
ments of technical schools and in similarly ap- 
propriate work. It is seldom that the writer 
of a book of this class can now expect to bring 
out anything essentially original in either mat- 
ter or manner, or treatment generally. In this 
case, however, original genius has found ex- 
pression, and we discover in Mr. Wilson’s book 
some entirely new and very valuable matter ; 


762 


while the system and tone of the discussion are 
characteristic of the expert in this department. 

In consequence of the fact that the free-hand 
classes are usually formed before the student 
has studied descriptive geometry, the writer of 
this work had found it necessary to give him 
some introductory work in that branch, and it 
thus furnishes a valuable series of exercises in- 
troductory to the more formal treatment of 
that subject later. The book is, in fact, a dis- 
cussion of the principles of linear perspective 
as employed in free-hand sketching. The illus- 
trations throughout the book are especially in. 
teresting as being fac simile reproductions of 
such actual sketches, made with a free hand, in 
the course of regular class work. The depar- 
ture from the absolute perfection of line obtain- 
able with instruments is clearly observable ; but 
the accuracy of these lines, rectilinear and curve- 
linear, made by the unaided hand, is a beauti- 
ful illustration of the nicety with which the 
senses may be developed in this field. A com- 
parison of Fig. 126 with the immediately suc- 
ceeding sketches, all of which are of peculiar 
interest, illustrates this point. Nearly all the 
illustrations are curiously perfect, in line and 
in tone, as illustrative of free-hand work. 

The last chapter, ‘Sketches from Working 
Drawings,’ involves the most original of the 
author’s inventions and the most helpful, to the 
student of mechanism. The methods of sketch- 
ing from simple drawings are indicated and ex- 
amples given, the principles of location of line 
and angle and plane are shown very clearly 
and a system is developed for the production of 
a perspective drawing of the object when the 
only data available are to be obtained from the 
ordinary plan and elevation of the working 
drawing of the shop. The perfection and the 
extensive applicability of this new system are 
well exhibited in the progression from Fig. 111 
to Fig. 114, in which a steam-engine crosshead 
is thus treated; in Fig. 118 and Fig. 119, in 
illustration of a complicated casting for an en- 
gine-bed, and even more remarkably in Figs. 
183-186, where a very difficult form of beam 
and bell-crank for a pumping engine is brought 
out. The teaching of this new art, to the 
young engineer, particularly, is likely to give 
him great facility in the reverse process of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vot XII. No. 307. 


reading the working drawing, and it must. 
prove very helpful; especially, where he is. 
compelled to explain to the workman draw- 
ings of peculiar or complicated forms, and! 
shapes difficult to picture in the mind’s eye, as 
the pattern-maker and the finisher must picture 
every piece on which he is to work and with 
no other aid to his imagination than the plans 
and elevation of the working drawings. 

Mr. Wilson has made a distinct advance in 
his art, an invention of striking interest, one 
probably of no small value. 

R. H. THURSTON. 


Our New Prosperity. By Ray STANNARD- 


BakER. New York, Doubleday & McClure. 
Co. 1900. 12mo., pp. 267; many illustra- 
tions. Price, $1.50. 


There is a class of books, illustrated by 
Carnegie’s ‘ Triumphant Democracy,’ Wright’s. 
‘Industrial Evolution of the United States,’ 
Gannett’s ‘Building of a Nation,’ and Dr. 
Strong’s ‘Our Country,’ which should interest, 
absorbingly interest, every thinking man, es- 
pecially every American citizen, and still more- 
especially every young man. To this class 
belongs Mr. Baker’s new book. It is a con- 
densed and very impressive statement, based 
upon official statistics, of the conditions which 
have brought about the present extraordinary 
flood of prosperity in all industrial departments 
in this country, the good results that followed 
the trying period of ‘hard times’ of earlier - 
years in the clearing off of old scores and re- 
duction of the business of the country to a solid 
basis, the effects of the ‘prosperity wave’ at 
home and abroad, the development of the in- 
dustries of the New South, the ‘invasion of the 
world’ by the exporters and manufacturers of © 
the United States, and glances at the prognos 
tications of a future, not likely to be free from 
trouble and an occasional retrogression, but on 
the whole one of enormous promise, and appa 
rently of certain rise to as yet unimagined 
greatness. The statistical matter, which con- 
stitutes the main and fundamental portion of 
the work, comes from the Treasury Department 
bureaux, those of the Mint, the Labor Commis- 
sioner, the Geological Survey and the various - 
other departments at Washington, with acces 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


sions from the technical journals and from many 
experts among business men. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


GENERAL. 


Messrs. GAUDRY AND BARROIS and their con- 
fréres in France have brought out in the form of 
a guide- book to the geological excursions under- 
taken this summer under the auspices of the 
International Congress of Geologists, a veritable 
hand-book of the geology of France, entitled 
‘Livret-guide des Excursions en France du 
VIII* Congrés Géologique Internalional.’ The 
work is beautifully illustrated with reproduc- 
tions from photographs, with cuts of sections and 
colored maps, making the collection of papers 
on the different geological provinces of the Re- 
public by far the most complete publication of 
the kind for any country. The matter is pre- 
sented in such a form that it will serve the 
reader as well as the geological traveler. Paper 
and press-work are of the best quality. 

J. B. W. 


In the first part of his work ‘Ueber Museen 
des Ostens der Vereinigten Staaten von Nord 
Amerika,’ Dr. A. B. Meyer, the director of the 
Dresden Museum, describes the museums of 
New York City, Albany and Buffalo. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Status of the Mesozoic Floras of the United States. 
LESTER F. WARD, with the corroboration of WM. 
M. FONTAINE, ATREUS WANNER and F. H. 
KNOWLTON. Washington, Government Printing 
Office. 1900: Pp. 213-430. Plates XXI-CXLIV. 

A Practical Course in Mechanical Drawing. WILLIAM 
Fox and CHARLES W. THomAs. New York, D. 
Van Nostrand Co. 1899. Pp. vi+98. 

Chemical Technology. Edited by C. E. GROVES and 
WILLIAM THORP, Vol. III. Gaslighting. CHARLES 
Hunt. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston’s Son & Co. 
1900. Pp. xviii-+ 312. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Botanical Gazette, October, contains an 
important paper by Dr. R. A. Harper, of the 
University of Wisconsin, on ‘Cell and Nu- 
clear Division in Fuligo varians,’ a common 
slime mold. The results have led Dr. Har- 
per to discuss in a general way the processes 


SCIENCE. 


763 


of cell division, and he discovers no such defi- 
nite rules of cleavage as have been urged by 
authors. Mr. W. J. G. Land, of the Hull Bo- 
tanical Laboratory, describes cases of double 
fertilization in Hrigeron and Silphium, in both 
of which cases he discovered the second male 
cell conjugating with the endosperm nucleus 
or with one of the polar nuclei. The male 
cells of Silphiwm are remarkable in that they are 
much elongated and spirally coiled. Miss Mary 
Hefferan, of the Bacteriological Laboratory of 
the University of Chicago, describes ‘A New 
Chromogenie Micrococcus,’ discovered in the 
course of an examination of river water for the 
Sanitary District of Chicago. Mr. E. R. Hod- 
son, of the Iowa Agricultural College, describes 
‘A New Species of Neovossia,’ a smut affecting 
the ovaries of Phragmites communis. Mr. Henry 
Kraemer, of the Philadelphia College of Phar- 
macy, writes concerning the origin of tannins 
in galls, coming to the conclusion that the erys- 
talline compound found in the galls which he 
examined is gallic acid, which becomes trans- 
formed into tannin. 


The Auk, for October, has for its first article 
an account of ‘A Nuptial Performance of the 
Sage Cock,’ witha plate showing how the bird 
slides along on its breast with distended air 
sacs. J. A. Allen discusses ‘Aptosochromatism,’ 
reviewing the most recent articles on alleged 
change of color in feathers without moult, 
changes which Dr. Allen does not consider as 
taking place. James J. Carroll presents ‘ Notes 
on the Birds of Refugio County, Texas,’ giving 
a list of 185 species, and William H. Kobbé 
in ‘The Birds of Cape Disappointment, Wash- 
ington,’ gives an annotated list of 63 species. 
W. E. Saunders describes the ‘ Nesting Habits 
of the Cerulean Warbler.’ J. A. Allen under 
‘North American Birds Collected at Santa 
Marta, Colombia,’ presents a list of 43 species. 
Finally Jonathan Dwight, Jr., makes another 
of his important contributions to ornithology in 
‘The Moult of the North American Shore 
Birds (Limicolz),’ which has a very direct 
bearing on the question of change of color 
without moult. Dr. Dwight emphatically states 
that changes of color in plumage are the results 
of moultingand wear. There are the customary 
General Notes and Reviews of Recent Litera- 


764 


ture, and the number contains the Index to Vol- 
ume XVII. It is noted that hereafter The Auk 
will be published by Edward W. Wheeler, 30 
Boylston Street, Cambridge, Mass. 

THE October number (Volume 7, No. 1) of the 
Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society con- 
tains the following articles: Report of the re- 
cent summer meeting of the Society, by the 
Secretary ; ‘The Undergraduate Mathematical 
Curriculum,’ report of the discussion at the 
Summer Meeting, by Professor W. H. Malt- 
bie; ‘On a Memoir by Ricardo de Paolis,’ by 
Professor Charlotte Angas Scott; ‘ Notes’; 
and ‘ New Publications.’ The November num- 
ber of the Bulletin contains: ‘The Interna- 
tional Congress of Mathematicians in Paris,’ 
report by Professor Charlotte Angas Scott; 
‘The Forty-ninth Annual Meeting of the Amer- 
ican Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence,’ report of the meeting of Section A, by 
Dr. G. A. Miller; ‘Note on Geometry of 
Four Dimensions,’ by Professor E. O. Lovett ; 
‘Notes’ ; and ‘New Publications.’ 

The October (closing) number of Volume 1 of 
the Transactions of the American Mathematical 
Society contains the following papers: ‘On Sur- 
faces enveloped by Spheres belonging to a Linear 
Spherical Complex,’ by P. F. Smith; ‘On Cer- 
tain Relations among the Theta Constants,’ by 
J. I. Hutchinson ; ‘On the Groups which have 
the same Group of Isomorphisms,’ by G. A. 
Miller; ‘Die Hesse’sche und die Cayley’sche 
Curve,’ by P. Gordan; ‘Application of a 
Method of D’Alembert to the Proof of Sturm’s 
Theorems of Comparison,’ by M. Bécher; ‘Two 
Plane Movements Generating Quartice Scrolls,’ 
by E. M. Blake; ‘The Invariant Theory of the 
Inversion Group: Geometry upon a Quadric 
Surface,’ by E. Kasner; ‘A Simple Proof of 
the Fundamental Cauchy-Goursat Theorem,’ 
by E. H. Moore; ‘Notes and Errata,’ Volume I. 


CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY press will begin on 
the first of January next the publication of a 
quarterly Journal of Hygiene, to be edited by 
Dr. G. H. F, Nuttall, Lecturer in Bacteriology 
and Preventive Medicine in the University of 
Cambridge, Dr. John Haldane, F.R.S., Lec- 
turer in Physiology in the University of Oxford, 
and Dr. Arthur Newsholme, M. O. H., Brighton. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY. 


A REGULAR meeting of the American Mathe- 
matical Society was held at Columbia Univer- 
sity, New York City, on Saturday, October 27, 
1900. Professor Thomas S. Fiske, Vice-Presi- 
dent of the Society, occupied the chair during 
the two sessions. The totalattendance amounted 
to thirty-two, including twenty-five members 
of the Society. 

The Council announced the election of the 
following persons to membership in the Society : 
Professor George L. Brown, South Dakota 
Agricultural College, Brookings, So. Dak. ; Mr. 
Charles H. Davis, New York, N. Y.; Dr. 
Derrick N. Lehmer, University of California, 
Berkeley, Cal. ; Miss Ida M. Schottenfels, Chi- 
cago, Ill.; Professor Frank D. Sherman, Co- 
lumbia University, New York, N. Y.; Mr. 
Burke Smith, Northwestern University, Hvans- 
ton, Ill. Twenty-five applications for admis- 
sion to membership were received. 

In response to the invitation of Cornell Uni- 
versity the Summer Meeting and Colloquium of 
the Society will be held at Ithaca, August, 1901. 

The following papers were presented at the 
October meeting : : : 


(1) PRorgessoR MAXIME BOcHER : ‘On linear de- 
pendence of functions of one variable.’ 

(2) PRorEessoR DAvip HILBERT: ‘ Ueber Flichen 
von constanter Gauss’scher Krimmung.’ \ 

(3) ProrEssor E. O. Loverr: ‘Three notes on 
the geometry of contact transformations.’ 

(4) Dr. G. A. Mi~LER: ‘On a theorem in substi- 
tutions.’ 

(5) Proressor 8. L. PENFIELD: ‘The solution of 
spherical triangles by graphical methods, and exhibi- 
tion of scales and protractors for plotting.’ 

(6) Miss I. M. ScHorrenFets: ‘On a set of defi- 
nitional functional properties for the analytic function 


AQ= tan TZ) 


(7) Proressor P. F. SmitH: ‘Geometry within a 
linear spherical complex.’ 

(8) Dr. E. J. Winezynsk1: ‘Invariants of sys- 
tems of linear differential equations.’ 

(9) Mr. H. W. Kuun: ‘Several theorems on im- 
primitive groups ’ 


Tw 


After the meeting several members of the 
Mathematical and Physical Societies dined and 
passed the evening together. 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900.] 


The next meeting of the Society will be the 
Annual Meeting for the election of officers, Fri- 


day, December 28, 1900. 
F. N. Coue, 


Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
ON THE SUPERINTENDENCY AND ORGANIZA- 
TION OF THE COAST SURVEY. 


In view of the fact that the superintendency 
of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey is about 
to pass from the present incumbent to some 
successor, the following statements may be of 
interest : 

First, as regards the selection of a superin- 
tendent. Here there ought to be no serious 
difficulty ; for, although persons suitable and 
available for the position are not numerous, the 
appointing power is free to select from all who 
may become knowntohim. He is not, like the 
voter, practically confined in his choice to two 
or three nominees. It seems proper that scien- 
tific bodies (notably the National Academy of 
Sciences), if not called upon as advisers, should 
take the initiative and bestir themselves, in 
order that a suitable man for this important 
position may be selected. Let them at least 
formulate the requirements for the place ; then 
he who best measures up to such requirements 
should be the one to be selected. Or, perhaps 
better still, an advisory committee of mathema- 
ticians, physicists and astronomers might be 
appointed by the Chief Executive from this 
Academy and the faculties of our leading uni- 
versities. What is wanted is a man of mature 
intellect and broad and thorough scholarship. 
If possible, he should already have made for 
himself a substantial reputation in the scientific 
world—this would, in fact, be a proof of his 
thoroughness and perseverance. But let no 
man be selected whose sole claim is a little 
technical skill or a familiarity with the organ- 
ization. This remark is in no wise intended to 
decry the importance of experience, whether in 
field, laboratory or observatory. 

It is perhaps not very generally understood 
that the organization of the Survey is radically 
wrong or at least not such as should underlie a 
scientific bureau in our day and generation. 
Its one fatal defect is its semi-military charac- 


SCIENCE. 


765 


ter. Isay semi-military because it is open to 
that favoritism so much complained of in our 
late Spanish War, without having the whole- 
some restrictions thrown about a purely military 
organization. ‘This places a fortunate few in 
virtual control of the many. Insomeinstances 
this might be excused on the ground of the ne- 
cessities of the case ; in other words, in certain 
matters there must be some head. But if the 
fortunate few are assumed to have, by virtue of 
their positions, a monopoly of all brain tissue, 
and so are made to constitute the sole advisers 
of the superintendent in all matters relating to 
the work of the Survey, and even in the eleva- 
tion and degradation of the personnel, it be- 
comes evident to any disinterested observer 
that no universal good-fellowship can exist— 
and without this, good scientific work is im- 
possible. 

Suppose this oligarchy were to fortify itself 
behind certain rules designed for bureaus whose 
work is chiefly clerical ; then an employee not 
specially empowered to look after others must 
needs be very guarded in his associations with 
his co-workers. Thusit might readily come to 
pass that persons working for years in the office 
at allied work scarcely have a speaking ac- 
quaintance with one another. Free discussion 
of work between non-commissioned employees 
would probably be frowned upon as seditious or 
as nursing conspiracies. The dangers of sucha 
system to scientific work and thought are so ob- 
vious to anyone that-its defense can hardly be 
seriously entertained. But there are other dan- 
gers as well asa great injustice in the system ; for 
the management might fall into the hands of un- 
scrupulous parties. In matters purely scientific, 
if there is to be any subordination, the smaller 
intellects should do homage to the greater; and 
in matters in general, unless there are most co- 
gent reasons to the contrary, the older and 
more experienced should have the directing of 
the younger. This is a Jaw of natural instinct 
and is in accordance with the laws of logic and 
of ethics; it is not to be lightly set aside. But 
enforced or artificial superiority and inferiority 
might put inferior minds over the superior, and 
make tyros chiefs of divisions and of field parties. 

In this brief space no elaborate scheme of re- 
organization will be attempted. But it is safe 


766 


to say here that the following considerations 
are of fundamental importance : 

1. Abolish all distinction between field and 
office force. 

2. Leave all examinations or other tests of 
qualifications for appointment into the Survey 
wholly with the Civil Service Commission. If 
the Commission cannot propound suitable ques- 
tions, let it consult the faculties of our lead- 
ing universities. But let them never appeal to 
the bureau interested, save as to the general 
scope of the examination or other tests. If the 
bureau can dictate to the Commission, there is 
grave danger that it will override the latter 
and frame requirements suited to some person 
in whom it is interested. Again, ridiculously 
specific or technical questions do not well test 
a man’s capacity nor his ability for doing work. 

3. So far as possible, let the individuals do 
that kind of work for which they are best fitted 
because of their education, ability and natural 
liking. 

4. Then base promotions in salary upon the 
quality and quantity of work done, unless it 
works obvious injustice to known abilities not 
well brought out by the assigned work. 

5. The same rule should generally be ap- 
plied in the selection of chiefs of divisions and 
of field parties. In doubtful cases favor the 
older candidates. 

6. Let no set of employees have the ear of the 
superintendent while the other employees are 
seldom or never consulted. 

7. Grant the greatest possible freedom in the 
pursuit of the work. Favor, and do not dis- 
courage, free consultation between all members 
of the Survey. 

The preceding remarks show that much de- 
pends upon the selection of a superintendent. 
They show how important it is that he should 
be a scholarly man capable of properly judging 
the merits of the persons employed, also that 
he should encourage scientific activity as gen- 
erally as possible throughout the bureau. 

OBSERVER. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
AN interesting paper by J. C. A. Simon 
Thomas, on the liquid carbon dioxid of com- 
merce, has recently appeared in the Zeitschrift 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


fiir angewandte Chemie. The author was incited 
to his investigation by the widely varying prices 
for the liquefied gas as supplied in steel cylin- 
ders for use in the ice machines on Dutch men- 
of-war. The gases examined were obtained 
from combustion of coke (Ozouf’s method), 
from magnesite, from carbonaceous rock, ‘ pre- 
pared artificially ’ (no further data obtainable), 
and from the natural carbonic acid gas from 
certain volcanic regions. Gas from brewery 
fermentation was not obtained. The gases were 
all found to be of fairly good quality. No sul- 
furous acid gas nor hydrogen sulfid was found 
inany case. The natural gas contained consid- 
erable water, but this was probably introduced 
accidentally into the cylinder. The other gases 
left little, if any, residue. The natural gas 
was almost perfectly pure, containing only a 
trace (0.8 per cent.) of air. The Ozouf gas and 
that from carbonaceous rock contained respec- 
tively 2 per cent. and 5.7 per cent. of air. That 
from magnesite and that artificially prepared 
contained 4 per cent. and 3.4 per cent. of 
carbon monoxid. This was doubtless due to 
the presence of the reducing materials used in 
the decomposition. This impurity should not 
be present when the gas is used in ice machines 
in confined spaces, as on men-of-war, as the 
machines are liable to leak when first set to 
work. These quantities of impurities are found 
in the first portions of the gas drawn from the 
cylinders, and after half the gas has been drawn 
off, the amount of gas unabsorbed by caustic 
potash is inappreciable. The result of this in- 
vestigation is to show that the quality of liquid 
carbon dioxid furnished by the European man- 
ufacturers leaves little to be desired. 

SINCE the investigation of the metallic car- 
bids by Moissan, the electric furnace has been 
applied to the preparation of many compounds 
of a similar nature, and some of these, like cal- 
cium carbid and carborundum, have already 
found important industrial applications. A 
paper was read before the Chemical Section at 
the Bradford meeting of the British Association 
by C. S. Bradley, on a series of silicids discoy- 
ered by Charles B. Jacobs of New York, which 
may prove to be of commercial value. They 
are silicids of calcium, strontium and barium, 
with the formule CaSi,, SrSi, and BaSi,, thus 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


corresponding to the carbids. They are formed 
in the electric furnace from mixtures of the 
carbonates with sand, and sufficient carbon to 
effect a reduction, or silicates of the alkaline 
earths and carbon may be used. When treated 
with water, hydrogen is evolved; with dilute 
acids the calcium compound evolves silicon 
acetylene, Si,H,. They are powerful reducing 
agents, and may find use in the dye-stuff indus- 
tries. They have also been found to be effec- 
tive in removing phosphorus and sulfur from 
molten steel. 


A RECENT issue of the Chemical News gives a 
description of the electrolytic refining plant of 
Boston and Montana Copper and Silver Mining 
Company of Great Falls, Montana, and of the 
Anaconda Copper Mining Company. It is an 
excellent instance of the revolution which is 
being worked in many industries by the use of 
electricity. In these plants the ore is ground 
and concentrated, and the rough metal is then 
east in pigs two feet square and two inches 
thick. These are used as the anodes in the 
bath, the kathodes being thin sheets of copper. 
The refined copper is deposited upon these thin 
sheets, while the refuse from the pigs falls to 
the bottom of the bath. This refuse consists 
chiefly of lead, silver and gold, and is said to be 
worth about $2,600 a ton. ‘This refuse is suffi- 
cient to pay for the whole electrolytic process. 
The process is carried on without intermission 
and the effective result is seen in the dividends 


of these companies. 
J. L. H. 


RECENT ZOO-PALEONTOLOGY. 
A RHINOCEROS WITH A COMPLETE SET OF CUT- 
TING TEETH. 


THE chronometer of evolution never errs. It 
is well known that modern rhinoceroses are 
distinguished by the loss of most, if not all, of 
their cutting teeth. On evolution principles it 
has been predicted that they sprang from an- 
cestors with four cutting teeth. 

A few years ago the American Museum party 
found a maxilla containing the ancestral upper 
canines, and now F. A. Lucas (Proc. U. 8. 
Nat’l, Mus., No. 1207) has described a still older 
type, Trigonias osborni, with a full set of upper 
cutting teeth, that is, canines and three incisors, 


SCIENCE. 


767 


the most anterior of which is enlarged, Fig. 1. 
In the lower jaw there is some evidence that 
the enlarged teeth, which have been usually 
described as canines, are really incisors, because 


tOIN 


Fia. 1.—Trigonias osborni. A. Jaw showing al. 
veoli of supposed canines. B. Anterior portion of 
cranium, showing three incisors and small canine. 
After Lucas. 


vestiges of small teeth are present just behind 
them. This is a most interesting discovery 
from the Lower Oligocene beds of South Da- 
kota and carries the line of the Rhinoceroses 
one step further back. The animal is almost 
as large as the classic Aceratherium occidentale 
of Leidy. 


EXTINCT LEMURS FROM MADAGASCAR. 


Dr. C. J. ForsytH MAsor has described from 
time to time the remarkable lemurs of ancient 
Madagascar, a zoological region otherwise 
known as ‘Lemuria’; they are of Pleistocene 
age and show a high degree of specialization 
or adaptive radiation. Megaladapis (see Phil. 
Trans., Vol. 198, pp. 47-50, 1900) is by far the 
largest monkey hitherto described ; as the name 
implies, it imitates on a large scale the well- 
known Adapis of the Oligocene of France. 
Another type, Nesopithecus (Proc. Zool. Soc., Dec. 
19, 1899), is remarkable in its adaptive resem- 
blance to the Hypsiprimnid marsupials of Aus- 
tralia, proving that the lemurs are a group 


768 


which in past time imitated other groups more 
closely. 


PAREIASAURIANS OR THERIODONTS IN NORTH- 
ERN RUSSIA. 


A RussIAN naturalist, Amalitzky, has made 
extremely important discoveries in northeastern 
Russia of a Permian fauna which resembles in 
part that of Scotland and of this country, but still 
more closely that of the Permian or Perm-Trias 
fauna of South Africa. Ina recent paper before 
the Society of Naturalists of St. Petersburg, Dec. 
28, 1899, he reports the discovery of 39 groups 
of bones in concretions, 5 of which are composed 
of complete skeletons, with 5 others more or 
less complete, and 10 large groups of scattered 
bones. They include horned types similar to 
Elginia of Scotland and Dicynodon of South 
Africa. Although imbedded in a very difficult 
matrix, probably the animals are in a remark- 
able state of preservation and they will not only 
add greatly to our knowledge of this important 
fauna, which is ancestral to all the modern rep- 
tiles, amphibians and mammals, but they actu- 
ally afford the most striking evidence of the 
cosmopolitan distribution of land vertebrates 
in Permian times. 


FOSSIL MAMMALS FROM EGYPT. 


AFRICA is the dark continent of Vertebrate 
Paleontology. With the exception of the 
Permian fauna of the South, and the Pleisto- 
cene fauna of the extreme North (which was 
virtually a part of Europe), Africa is a blank, 
although there is little doubt that a most im- 
portant evolution of mammals was in process 
there from the beginning of the Tertiary period. 
It is therefore of great interest to record the 
discovery, 100 miles nearly due west from Cairo, 
of a species of Anthracothere to which the name 
Brachyodus africanus is given by Mr. Andrews.* 
The horizon is Lower Miocene and the beds are 
alternating fluviatile, marine and lacustrine 
deposits. 


EXTINCT BIRDS OF PATAGONIA. 


WE are also indebted to Charles W. Andrews 
(Trans. Zool. Soc., London, October, 1899) for a 
very careful review of the fossil ratite birds of 
Patagonia, remarkable for their great size and 

* Geol. Mag., Decade IV., Vol. VI., p. 481 f. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 307. 


their incomplete parallelism with the ratites of 
other countries. These birds do not, like many 
other fossils which have recently been discoy- 
ered in South America, add to the series of ani- 
mals which connects this continent with Aus- 
tralia and New Zealand. On the other hand, 
they are, according to Mr. Andrews, entirely of 
independent origin. In fact, he concludes: 
“Tn the preceding pages only a few of the types 
with which the fossils have been compared are 
mentioned, they being the only types to which 
any resemblance pointing to possible affinities 
could be made out. And even among these 
there are some to which the similiarity is so 
slight that they also might perhaps have been 
omitted. For instance, in the case of Diomedea, 
it is only in the structure of the palate and one 
or two other points in the skull that any simi- 
larity with Phororhacos can be detected, the 
rest of the skeleton being strongly against any 
such relationship. In fact, it seems to the 
writer that the only groups that really come 
into question are the Falconiformes and aber- 
rant Gruiformes, Carima, Chunga, and to a less 
degree Psophia.’’? The general appearance of 
the skull is like that of the Falcons, while the 
general structure of the skeleton, particularly 
of the pelvis and hind limbs is strongly in favor 
of affinity with the storks and cranes. The 
especial type studied, Phororhacos, stands in 
somewhat the same relation to the Cariamides 
(Crested Screamer, Chunga) as such forms as 
Glyptodon stand to the modern Armadillos. 


RELATION OF SOUTH AMERICAN AND AUSTRA- 
LIAN MARSUPIALS. 


R. LYDEKKER (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1899, pp. 927), 
while discussing the dental formula of marsupial 
and placental carnivores, states as his opinion, 
that the Prothylacinide, of Patagonia, equiva- 
lent to the Sparassodonta of Ameghino, are 
undoubtedly marsupials and that they are not 
very far removed from the Dasyures of Aus- 
tralia, of which they may represent the ances- 
tral type. Lydekker also recedes from his 
former position that all the Mesozoic mammals 
should be classed as marsupials in the strict 
sense. 

He has recently described Ibid, p. 919 f. from 
Chubut, Patagonia, a new Dolphin to which 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


the name Prosqualodon is.given because of the 
resemblance of its teeth to those of Squalodon. 
The same author has previously described 
Argyrodelphis, so that this is the second primi- 
tive cetacean from this region. 


LARGE TURTLES FROM THE FORT PIERRE OF 
SOUTH DAKOTA. 


G. R. WIELAND has recently given a full de- 
scription (Amer. Jour. Sci., April, 1900) of his 
genus Archelon which he proves to be related to, 
but distinct from, Protostega. It comes from the 
Fort Pierre of South Dakota, both the skull 
and part of the skeleton being remarkably pre- 
served. This great sea tortoise belongs to the 
family Protostegide Cope, but its relations to 
the modern sea turtles or Chelonide cannot yet 
be positively ascertained. None the less this 
family (Protostegide) is much nearer the Che- 
lonide than is the existing family, Dermo- 
chelyidz, or modern leather-backed tortoises. 
In other words, Wieland differs from Baur, who 
placed the genus Spahrgis near the marine tur- 
tles, and inclines to the view of Cope and Bou- 
lenger that they belong in the separate division 
Atheca. 


DINOTHERIUM GIGANTISSIMUM. 


(Anuarulu Museului De Geologia si de Paleon- 
tologia * * * 1894, 1896.) 


THIS memoir is accompanied by a very inter- 
esting and complete history of Dinotherium and 
of the remarkable theories which have been 
entertained at various times as to the relation- 
ships of this animal. Although the genus has 
been known for half a century, there being 
three species: Dinotheriwm cuvieri, characteristic 
of the Lower Miocene; Dinotheriwm bavaricum, 
characteristic of the Upper Miocene, and Dino- 
therium giganteum, characteristic of the Lower 
Pliocene of Europe, little has been known of 
these animals except the skull, so that their rela- 
tions to the other Proboscidia have been very ob- 
secure. Professor Stefanescu, of Bucharest, has 
recently described a species from the Pliocene, 
which, as its name indicates, is much larger 
than Dinotherium giganteum. The type is re- 
markably preserved and shows that, wholly 
unlike the elephant, this animal has a func- 
tionally tridactyl pes, the first digit and prob- 
ably the fifth being greatly reduced. The 


SCIENCE. 


769 


skeleton was exhumed in Roumania, near the 
village of Mansati, between 1890 and 1894. 


FOSSIL CAMELS OF EUROPE. 


THE same author has recently described a 
fossil camel from Roumania, the first which 
has been known in Europe; previous remains 
have been found in the Pliocene Siwalik beds 
of India, in the Pleistocene of Algeria and in 
the Pleistocene of Siberia, the latter teeth being 
preserved in the Museum of Darmstadt, and 
described by Bojanus in 1836 as Merycotherium 
sibiricum; the fossil nature of these teeth is 
somewhat in question. There can be no doubt 
however about the discovery in Roumania be- 
cause the bones were associated with those of 
an Antelope and a Mammoth. After a most 
careful comparison and description, M. Ste- 
fanescu remarks that the animal probably emi 
grated from Asia but did not find its way into 
Europe until the Pleistocene ; this species there- 
fore adds a very important new type to the 
Pleistocene fauna of Europe. 


THE DEVONIAN LAMPREY AND THE CLASSIFI- 
CATION OF THE FISHES. 


Part 1 of Vol. II. of the Memoirs of the New 
York Academy of Sciences contains an impor- 
tant study of Palzospondylus by Bashford Dean. 
Since its discovery by Traquair in 1890 in the 
Devonian of Scotland, this minute fossil has at- 
tracted an amount of attention in inverse pro- 
portion to its size. Traquair placed it with the 
Cyclostomes ; Huxley, with the larval Coccost- 
eans ; Gill, in a new sub-class, Cyclie. Dean 
reviews the discussion and re-studies all the 
material with great care, coming to the con- 
clusion that the specimens hitherto found are 
not adult: ‘It is far more likely to prove, as 
Huxley believed, a larval Arthrodire.’ The 
Arthrodira include the armored fishes Dinich- 
thys and Coccosteus, and the most striking as 
well as the most permanent feature of Dean’s 
paper is a separation of these types into a new 
distinct sub-class, ARTHROGNATHI, distinguished 
by the hinged condition of the jaws both at 
their junction with the skull and with each 
other. This is probably an important advance 
in the classification of the fishes and it has al- 
ready been accepted by Woodward and East- 
man. HENRY F. OSBORN. 


770 


SECTION OF HORTICULTURE AND BOTANY 
OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AGRICUL- 
TURAL COLLEGES AND EX- 
PERIMENT STATIONS. 


THE meeting of the Section of Horticulture 
and Botany of the Association of Agricultural 
Colleges and Experiment Stations convened in 
New Haven, Connecticut, November 13th, with 
S. A. Beach, as Chairman, and Professor P. H. 
Rolfs, as Secretary. The program was as fol- 
lows : 


1. ‘The Function of the Station Botanist,’ Dr. 
George E. Stone, Amherst, Mass.; Discussion led by 
Professor P. H. Rolfs, Clemson College, S. C. 

2. ‘ Plant Physiology in its Relation to Agriculture 
and Horticulture,’ Albert F. Woods, Chief of Division 
of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, Washington, 
D. C. 

3. ‘Grasses and Forage Plant Investigation in Ex- 
periment Stations and the Division of Agrostology,’ 
Thomas A. Williams, Division of Agrostology, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 

4. Instructional Work. (a) ‘Laboratory and Field 
Work for Students in Horticulture,’ Professor E. 5. 
Goff, Madison, Wis. (0) ‘The Nature Study Moye- 
ment,’ Professor L. H. Bailey, Ithaca, N. Y. (c) 
‘The Educational Status of Horticulture,’ Professor 
Fred. W. Card, Kingston, R. I. 

5. Variety Testing and Plant Breeding. (a) 
“Progress of Variety Testing in Experiment Station 
Work,’ Professor F. William Rane, Durham, N. H. 
(b) ‘What our Experiment Stations have done in 
Originating Varieties of Plants by Crossing and Se- 
lection,’ Dr. B. D. Halsted, New Brunswick, N. J. 
(c) ‘The Relation of the Section of Seed and Plant 
Introduction to Experiment Stations,’ Jared G. 
Smith, Section of Seed and Plant Introduction, 
Washington, D.C. (d) Discussion led by Dr. Walter 
T. Swingle, Washington, D. C., and Professor Willet 
M. Hays, St. Anthony Park, Minn. 

6. ‘A Vegetable House arranged for Pot Experi- 
ments,’ Mr. W. E. Britton, Horticulturist, New 
Haven, Conn. 


THE ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE GERMAN 
ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY.* 

THE Thirty-first Congress of the German An- 
thropological Society was held in the Univer- 
sity town of Halle from September 24-27. In 
addition to its rich University collections, a 
special interest is attached to Halle as being 


* From Nature. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


the seat of the oldest German society for en- 
couraging the study of natural science, viz., the 
Leopoldina-Carolina Academy, which is thus 
comparable to the Royal Society in this coun- 
try. To the students of prehistoric archeology, 
the Prussian province of Saxony is chiefly in- 
teresting from the fact of the existence of the 
copper-mines at Hisleben, some little distance 
from Halle. The meetings were held under 
the presidency of Professor Virchow, assisted 
by Professor Ranke. At the opening session 
on Monday, September 24th, the presidential 
address (dealing with the general progress of 
anthropological study and teaching) was fol- 
lowed by a series of addresses from representa- 
tives of the University and town of Halle, of 
which that of the local secretary, Dr. Fortsch, 
is particularly noteworthy as containing a 
sketch of local prehistoric archeology, a field 
of research in which Dr. Fortsch has been par- 
ticularly active, and which he has popularized 
with evident success. Of the subsequent com- 
munications to the Congress, the majority 
which dealt with archeology, there appear to 
us most worthy of mention the discussion 
opened by Professor Virchow on the ‘ Earliest 
Appearance of the Slavs in Germany,’ and the 
account (illustrated with excellent lantern 
slides) given by Dr. Birkner (Munich) of the 
investigation of the graves of the German em- 
perors in Speyer. Professor v. Fritzsch (Halle) 
and Dr. Lehmann-Nitzsche (La Plata) rendered 
interesting accounts of discoveries of prehis- 
toric man in Thiringia and in the Argentine 
respectively, the latter’ record being still the 
subject of investigation as regards the exact 
antiquity (Tertiary period) claimed for the find. 

It is a matter of some surprise that the de- 
partment of physical anthropology should not 
haye been the subject of more papers than 
were actually presented at Halle, which Uni- 
versity claims the two Meckels and Welcker 
among its former professors of anatomy. The 
chief contributions to this subject were those of 
Dr. Schmidt-Monnard (Halle) on the relation 
between the growth and the weight of children 
of both sexes; of Dr. Eisler (Halle) on the 
Musculus sternalis ; and of Professor Klaatsch 
(Heidelberg) on the method of research adopted 
by anatomists, illustrated specifically by obser- 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ] 


vation on the ‘short head’ of the Biceps femoris 
muscle in the mammalian series. 

The chief excursion of the Congress was made 
on Wednesday, September 26th, to Hisleben, 
where the copper mines already referred to 
were visited, and demonstrations of copper- 
smelting were given by representatives of the 
Mansfield Co. Subsequently the local collec- 
tion of prehistoric pottery, etc., was inspected. 

The concluding session was held on Septem- 
ber 27th, when the presidency (for the ensuing 
year) was assumed by Professor Waldeyer (Ber- 
lin). It is a matter of interest to note that the 
Congress was made the occasion of circulating 
‘special inquiry’ sheets regarding the structure 
and building of boats in all parts of Germany. 
General proposals regarding cartography and 
systematic records for provincial localities were 
brought forward by Dr. Voss (Berlin). 

In addition to the anthropologists already 
mentioned in the foregoing notes, there were 
present Freiherr vy. Andrian- Werburg (Vienna), 
Professor Hein (Vienna), Professor Montelius 
(Stockholm), Professor Koganei (Tokio), and 
others to the number of about 120. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
PROFESSOR SCHIAPARELLI retired on Novem- 
ber 1st from the directorship of the Observatory 
at Milan, where he has been at work for the 
past forty years. His successor is Professor 
Celoria, heretofore assistant astronomer at the 
Observatory. 


THE vacancy caused by the death of William 
Saunders, for the past 38 years superintendent 
of Experimental Gardens and Grounds, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, has been filled by 
the appointment of B. T. Galloway, who in 
turn has been succeeded by Albert F. Woods as 
chief of the Division of Vegetable Physiology 
and Pathology. 

Dr. T. A. GEDDES, of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, Department of Agriculture, has been 
detailed as a special inspector and ordered to 
Great Britain to inspect cattle intended for im- 
portation into the United States. Dr. Geddes 
sailed on November 7th. 

PROFESSOR FREDERICK STARR, of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, has received a silver medal 


SCIENCE. 


771 


from Queen Wilhelmina, of Holland, as an ac- 
knowledgment for the anthropological collec- 
tion sent by him to the National Museum of 
Holland. 


Dr. W. C. RONTGEN has written from Mu- 
nich, under date of October 3d, a letter to the 
President of Columbia University, of which the 
following is a translation : 

From the Secretary of our University I received 
yesterday the Barnard Medal awarded to me, together 
with your esteemed letter of June 13th. 

Through the bestowal of this medal by a scientific 
institution, so illustrious as Columbia University, 
acting in conjunction with the National Academy of 
Sciences, my work upon the X-rays has received a 
recognition which, though in my own estimation 
greater than it deserved, has nevertheless pleased me 
very much and will be a spur to further effort. 

Permit me, Mr. President, to request you to con- 
vey to Columbia University my warmest thanks. 


Mr. WILLIAM ANDERSON, professor of anat- 
omy to the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 
died on October 27th at the age of fifty-eight 
years. He was the author of numerous contri- 
butions to anatomy and surgery, and the rela- 
tion of these sciences to the fine arts. He was 
for some years director of the Naval Medical 
College at Tokyo, where he made valuable col- 
lections now in the British Museum. 


Dr. JosePH MIK, a distinguished dipterolo- 
gist, died at Vienna on October 13th at the age 
of sixty-two years. 


SuRGEON MAgor REED and a board of ex- 
perts will continue the investigation into the 
propagation of yellow fever by mosquitoes, and 
an experimental station will be established out- 
side Havana. 

THE Secretary of Agriculture has published 
the following general order: ‘‘ For the purpose 
of unifying the work of certain branches of the 
Department, it is hereby ordered that the Chief 
of the Division of Vegetable Physiology and 
Pathology, the Chief of the Division of Agros- 
tology and the Chief of the Division of Pomol- 
ogy confer upon all matters of general policy 
and plan with the Superintendent of Experi- 
mental Gardens and Grounds, who is hereby 
designated as Director of Plant Industry. In 
carrying out this order the several branches of 
the Department named will maintain their pres- 


772 


ent integrity and organization.’’ A laboratory 
for the physical and chemical study of road ma- 
terials has been established in the Division of 
Chemistry. ‘‘ The object of the establishment 
of this laboratory is to secure the widest pos- 
sible knowledge of the nature of road materials, 
their resistance to stress, their hardness, their 
power of absorbing water, their deportment in 
freezing temperatures, their cementing proper- 
ties when reduced to powder, either alone or 
when mixed with other substances, their chem- 
ical composition and their geological origin 
and distribution.’’ 


Ir is reported that M. Daniel Osiris, a Greek 
millionaire, residing in Paris, has instituted a 
prize on the lines laid down by Mr. Nobel, 
though his offer is for Frenchmen only, except 
in a Paris Exposition year, when it becomes 
universal. He has set aside a sum to be awarded 
every three years in perpetuity to the discov- 
erer, inventor or producer of the most note- 
worthy idea or object for the benefit of hu- 
manity. The prize is to be never less than 
100,000 franes, and may be double that sum. 


EpGar J. TOWNSEND, professor of mathe- 
matics, and Cyril G. Hopkins, professor of 
agronomy, have returned to the University of 
Illinois after a leave of absence. Both have 
been studying during their absence abroad at 
the University of Gottingen, from which insti- 
tution each has received the degree of Ph.D. 
Professor Townsend studied pure mathematics 
under Professors Hilbert and Klein and the 
mathematics of physics under Professor Voigt. 
Professor Hopkins has been studying under 
Professor Tollans. 


PROFESSOR B. B. Ross, of the Alabama Agri- 
cultural and Mechanical College and Experi- 
ment Station, has been granted a year’s leave 
of absence, which he is spending in chemical 
investigation in Germany. 


PROFESSOR F’. W. WOLL, chemist of the Wis- 
consin Experiment Station, is spending a year 
in special study abroad. 


PRESIDENT HENRY S. PRITCHETT, of the Mas- 
sachusetts Institute of Technology, made an 
address on November 8th before the Boston 
Society of Arts on ‘America’s Contribution to 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 307. 


the Knowledge of the Size and Figure of the 
Earth.’ 

Mr. L. B. STILLWELL, formerly electrical 
director of the Niagara Falls Power Company, 
and now in charge of the electrical installation 
work of the Manhattan Railway Company, has 
been appointed electrical director of the New 
York Rapid Transit Subway Construction Com- 
pany. 

In memory of the late Dr. R. T. Manson, 
F.G.8., the naturalist and geologist, a large 
granite boulder, has, as we learn from Nature, 
been taken from the bed of the River Tees and 
placed on a pedestal in the Public Park, 
Darlington. The stone weighs about twelve 
tons, and it is admitted to have come originally 
from Shap, in Westmoreland, in the Great Ice 
Age. 

THE well known collection of mammals of E. 
A. and O. Bangs, comprising more than ten 
thousand specimens (in most cases skins accom- 
panied by skulls) and over one hundred type 
specimens, has been presented to the Museum 
of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University 
through friends of the Museum. 


THERE has been recently received at the Na- 
tional Zoological Park, Washington, D. C., a 
specimen of Steller’s sea-lion (Eumetopias stel- 
leri), from the Pribilof Islands. 


Ir is stated that the German Government has 
purchased Count Zeppelin’s airship and that it 
will be taken to Berlin. 


THE Indian Government will give an annual 
subsidy of £650 for three years to the Pasteur 
Institute at Kasouli, of which Major Semple is 
director. 


THE daily papers report that Dr. Leopold 
Kann has arrived at Dundee on the Whaler 
Eclipse, bringing news, not only of Dr. Robert 
Stein and Mr. Samuel Warmbath, but also of 
Lieutenant Peary and Captain Sverdrup. Lieu- 
tenant Peary is said to be now wintering at 
Fort Conger and has apparently put off his at- 
tempt to reach the far north until next year. 
Captain Sverdrup, on the Fram, is said to be 
wintering in Jones Sound. j 

ST. PETERSBURG scholars are planning a sci- 
entific expedition to examine the manuscripts at 


NOVEMBER 16, 1900. } 


Moukden, discovered by Russian troops, among 
them being ancient Greek and Roman docu- 
ments, supposedly taken by the Mongolians on 
their retreat from the Occident. They are be- 
lieved to be of great historical value. 


THE Peabody Museum is sending this week 
an expedition to continue the work of explora- 
tion in the ruined and prehistoric city of Copan, 
in Central America. 

THE United States Civil Service Commission 
invites attention to the fact that in view of the 
statement of the Department of Agriculture 
that no appointment is expected to be made at 
present to the position of assistant biologist, the 
examination scheduled for November 20, 1900, 
for the position of assistant biologist in the De- 
partment of Agriculture, will not be held at 
that time and not until further notice. 


From a private letter the following paragraph 
of interest to astronomers is taken: ‘‘The 
latest news concerns the building of a fine 
new meridian circle by Repsold for the obser- 
vatory at Kiel. It is to be of eight inches aper- 
ture with all possible modern improvements ; a 
full equipment of collimators, wires, ete. Of 
the latter two are to be at 60 meters distance 
and a third at 4,000 meters. There is to be a 
floating mirror suspended over the instrument 
for observations to supplement the usual nadir 
observations. The building is to be semi-cylin- 
drical with double walls about 12 meters square, 
and if I understand the matter correctly, the 
entire building is to be in two parts, so that the 
slit for observations is formed by separating the 
parts in the east and west direction. Professor 
Harzer is responsible for the design, I believe. 
The purpose for which the instrument is de- 
signed is the observation of faint, close circum- 
polar stars for latitude variation according to 
the method which has been used at the Paris 
Observatory, and the Prussian government is 
to furnish the money,’’ 

THE London Daily Mail states that the postal 
departmental commission will shortly report, 
after some months of deliberation, in favor of 
the earliest possible adoption of Marconi’s sys- 
tem of wireless telegraphy by the postal au- 
thorities. The commission is also arranging 
terms for the acquisition of the Marconi pat- 


SCIENCE. 


173 


ents, and negotiating with France and Ger- 
many regarding their attitude toward Marconi’s 
inventions. 


A FURTHER item of interest in regard to the 
Marconi system is the statement that when the 
Ostend-Dover mail packet Princess Clementine 
was nearing Dover, on November 9th, a mes- 
sage was received on board from La Panne. 
It was retransmitted to the Marconi station at 
Dover Court, in Essex, more than eighty miles 
distant. 


THE Pennsylvania Experiment Station has 
for some time been engaged in the construction 
of a respiration calorimeter on the general plan 
of the Atwater-Rosa respiration calorimeter, 
but adapted in size and mechanical arrange- 
ment to use in investigations with the larger 
domestic animals. In the experiments with 
man many of the operations are performed by 
the subject himself, but the problem in experi- 
ments with animals is much more complicated. 
Accordingly the adaptation of the apparatus to 
animals has called for the exercise of much in- 
genuity in providing devices which will make 
the apparatus more largely automatic, or al- 
lowing all the operations connected with an 
experiment to be managed from without the res- 
piration chamber. The apparatus is approach- 
ing completion. After being thoroughly tested 
it will be used for studying the fundamental 
problems connected with the nutrition of live 
stock. Comparatively little work of this char- 
acter has as yet been done by the American ex- 
periment stations, and it is hoped that with the 
aid of this new apparatus the Pennsylvania 
Station will be able to achieve important re- 
sults in a field where there is every year more 
pressing demand for exact information. 


Tue Association of Agricultural Colleges and 
Experiment Stations is this week meeting at 
New Haven under the presidency of Dr. 
Joseph E. Stubbs, president of the Nevada 
State University. 

AT a recent meeting of the Rontgen Society 
in London, Dr. J. B. Mackintyre stated that 
medical men were disappointed at the limited 
value of the X-rays in medical work. In the 
army hospitals in South Africa, however, the 
X-rays were found most useful. Seventeen 


774 


sets of apparatus had been sent to the field. 
They were now being adopted and supplied to 
all the larger military hospitals. 


Ar the tenth annual meeting of the British 
Astronomical Association, held on October 81st, 
Mr. W. H. Maw referred to the observations 
made on the solar eclipse and spoke at length 
of the automatic appliances for obtaining pho. 
tographs which Professor David P. Todd of 
Amhers tCollege has devised and which he used 
with success this year. Professor Todd hopes 
to employ his apparatus on a more extended 
scale in observations of next year’s eclipse in 
Sumatra. 


AT the last meeting of the Congress of Amer- 
ican Physicians and Surgeons a committee was 
appointed to urge upon Congress the repeal of 
those provisions of the War Revenue Act of 
1898 which lay a tax on legacies to educational, 
charitable and religious organizations. The 
committee, which consists of Professors Freder- 
rick C. Shattuck, Abraham Jacobi and William 
H. Welch, has written to the members of the 
Congress asking them to take an active interest 
in the subject by addressing members of the 
Senate and House of Representatives. Others 
interested in education and science should unite 
in the efforts for the repeal of this legislation. 


THE government of Argentine has published 
a decree declaring that Villa Concepcion is in- 
fected with the plague, and that other Para- 
guayan ports are suspicious. 

In the French Senate M. Piot has introduced a 
bill aiming to arrest the depopulation of France. 
It provides for a tax on celibates of both sexes 
after they reach the age of 30, and upon child- 
less couples who have been married for five 
years, the tax to be maintained until a child is 
born to them. 


A COMMUNICATION on the influence of the 
temperature of liquid hydrogen on bacteria 
was recently presented to the Royal Society by 
Dr. Allan Macfadyen and Mr. Sydney Rowland. 
In a previous communication these gentlemen 
had shown that the temperature of liquid air 
has no appreciable effect upon the vitality of 
micro-organisms, even when they are exposed 
to this temperature for one week (about — 190° 
C.) They now report, we quote from the Brit- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 307. 


ish Medical Journal, that they have been able 
to execute preliminary experiments as to the 
effect of a temperature as low as that of liquid 
hydrogen on bacterial life. As the approxi- 
mate temperature of the air may be taken as 
300° absolute, and liquid air as 80° absolute, 
hydrogen as 21° absolute, the ratio of these 
temperatures roughly is respectively as 15: 


4:1. In other words the temperature of liquid 


hydrogen is about one-quarter that of liquid 
air, just as that of liquid air is about one- 
quarter of that of the average mean tempera- 
ture. In subjecting bacteria, therefore, to the 
temperature of liquid hydrogen, the experi- 
menters place them under conditions which, 
in severity of temperature, are as far removed 
from those of liquid air as are those of liquid 
air from that of the average summer tem- 
perature. By the kindness of.Professor Dewar 
the specimens of bacteria were cooled in liquid 
hydrogen at the Royal Institution, the follow- 
ing organisms being employed: B. acid lactici, 
B. typhosus, B. diphtheriz, proteus vulgaris, 
B. anthracis, B. coli communis, staphylococcus 
pyogenes aureus, spirillum cholerz, B. phos- 
phorescens, B. pyocyaneus, a sarcina and a 
yeast. These organisms in broth culture were 
sealed in thin glass tubes and introduced di- 
rectly into liquid hydrogen contained in a 
vacuum jacketed vessel immersed in liquid air. 
Under these conditions they were exposed to a 
temperature of about — 250° C. (21° absolute) 
for ten hours. At the end of the experiment the 
tubes were opened, and the contents examined 
microscopically and by culture. The results 
were entirely negative as regards any alteration 
in appearance or in vigor of growth of the 
micro-organisms. It would appear, therefore, 
that an exposure for ten hours to a temperature 
of about — 250° C. has no appreciable effect on 
the vitality of micro-organisms. Dr. Macfadyen 
and Mr. Rowland hope in a future communi- 
cation to extend their observation upon the in- 
fluence of the temperature of liquid hydrogen 
on vital phenomena, and to discuss their bear- 
ing upon problems of vitality. 

THE new session of the Royal Geographical 
Society, London, as we learn from the London 
Times, began on November 12th, when it was 
expected that the president, Sir Clements Mark- 


NoOvEMBER 16, 1900.] 


ham, would give a brief introductory address, 
to be followed by a paper by Dr. A. Donaldson 
Smith on his recent remarkable journey through 
Somaliland to Lake Rudolf, and across from 
Lake Rudolf to the Nile and home by Khar- 
toum and Cairo. Thesecond paper, on Novem- 
ber 26th, willbe by Mr. J. E. S. Moore, on his 
recent expedition for the scientific exploration 
of Lake Tanganyika and the interesting region 
to the north. At the meeting of December 10th 
Major Gibbons will give an account of his ex- 
ploration of the Barotse country and his journey 
thence through Africa to the Mediterranean. 
After Christmas among the papers expected are 
one by Colonel G. E. Church, on the geography 
of South America, with special reference to its 
commercial development, and another on ‘ Fur- 
ther Studies in Wave Form,’ by Mr. Vaughan 
Cornish. It is hoped that the Duke of the 
Abruzzi may be able to arrange to go to 
England some time next year before the end of 
the session and give the Society an account of 
his recent remarkable expedition towards the 
North Pole. 


AT the opening of the new scientific labora- 
tories at King’s College, London, which took 
place on October 30th, Lord Lister made an 
address in which, according to the London 
Times, he said that it might seem strange that so 
large a gathering of distinguished men should 
come to witness the opening of certain labora- 
tories. Yet the occasion was not unworthy of 
celebration, for it was an event of significance 
in regard to the provisions for higher education 
in the metropolis. It was recognized that mere 
lectures were not sufficient, that practical in- 
struction was imperatively necessary. In some 
branches King’s College was long ago well 
equipped to this end ; the Wheatstone Museum 
contained a fine collection of physical appa- 
ratus, and in chemistry nothing could be better 
than the arrangements for practical teaching. 
The same might be said of other departments, 
but not of all. The dissecting room was by 
no means adequate, and the accommodation for 
the practical teaching of physiology was simply 
miserable, while there were defects in less de- 
grees in otherdepartments. Of these the Coun- 
cil had long been conscious, and, having de- 
termined to remedy them, had provided the 


SCIENCE. 


775 


new laboratories, which, as visitors would 
admit, were highly satisfactory. The labora- 
tory for practical physiology in all its branches 
was now second tonone in thecountry. It had 
really been in use for some time, and had at- 
tracted many students, not only from King’s 
College, but from elsewhere. Its removal to 
the second floor gave room for the expansion of 
the anatomical department, and at the same 
time there had been provided a fine anatomical 
museum, which, however, was not yet equipped. 
The bacteriological laboratory had received an 
important addition. This laboratory, which 
owed its inception to Professor Crookshank, 
though it attracted advanced students not only 
from this country but from the world, had 
hitherto consisted of a single apartment which 
was not suitable for research work. For this 
latter purpose a new room had now been added, 
and a fine class-room had also been constructed, 
common to the professors of bacteriology and 
physiology. No doubt his audience had watched 
with interest, and rejoiced at the success of the 
endeavors made to check the outbreak of plague 
in Glasgow, and they must also have felt a sense 
of relief when the suspected case in the metrop- 
olis was found not to be plague ; in both cases 
the means employed were entirely due to re- 
searches of the kind carried on in bacteriolog- 
ical laboratories. But it was not only the med- 
ical faculty of King’s College that had benefited 
by the alterations. Geology now had accom- 
modation proportionate to the importance of 
the subject, and in the architectural depart- 
ment there was abundant room for men en- 
gaged in drawing and designing. In short, 
King’s College was abreast of the age as re- 
gards opportunities for practical teaching in 
all departments. It was a happy coincidence 
that this great addition to its resources had 
been made at the time when it was entering on 
a new career as one of the colleges of the new 
University of London. He himself would have 
liked to see the old examining university re- 
tained and a separate teaching university es- 
tablished. But other views prevailed, and a 
compromise had been effected under which ex- 
amining and teaching existed side by side in 
the same institution. He wished the compro- 
mise all the success it was capable of, and vyen- 


776 


tured to express the hope that, now the matter 
was decided, all would work together for the 
common good. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

In addition to her recent gifts of $100,000 
and $10,000 which we have recently announced, 
Mrs. Jane K. Sather, of Oakland, has pre- 
sented to the University of California real 
estate worth $150,000. 


Mr. WILLIAM WALpoRF Astor has con- 
tributed $50,000 to the benefaction fund of 
Cambridge University, England. 


CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY has received a further 
anonymous gift of $10,000 for the purchase of 
books. 


AT the annual meeting of the Council of New 
York University it was reported that the gifts 
to the institution during the year had amounted 
to $348,000. 


Avr a recent meeting of the Board of Trus- 
tees of Columbia University the committee on 
buildings and grounds was authorized to select 
a site and prepare plans for a college hall. 


THE main building of the Cornell University 
Veterinary College was partly burned on Tues- 
day. The apparatus destroyed was worth $10,- 
000 ; the total loss is $30,000. 


Tue Yale‘Forestry School has opened with an 
enrollment#of seven regular students and seven- 
teen from other departments of the University. 
The residence’of the late Professor O. C. Marsh 
issused as a school building. In addition to 
lecture rooms, a library, laboratory and a her- 
barium room have been furnished with such 
equipment as is necessary for the present re- 
quirements of the school. A considerable 
amount of museum material has already been 
acquired by the school and is being classified and 
arranged as rapidly as possible. The grounds 
about the building, 10 acres, are already covered 
with a great variety of trees and shrubs, both 
native and foreign, and it is the intention to plant 
a considerable number of varieties which are 
not represented. A forest nursery will be es- 
tablished on the grounds, but the regular forest 
planting will be done on waste land on the out- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 307. 


skirts of New Haven. The New Haven Water 
Company has offered to the school the use of 
several hundred acres of woodland for the prac- 
tical field work of the students, and several other 
owners have expressed their desire to devote 
their wood-lots to this purpose. The degree of 
master of forestry will be given to such gradu- 
ates of the school as have previously received 
the bachelor’s degree from collegiate institu- 
tions of high standing. 


A BOTANICAL school is being erected at a 
cost of $20,000 in Shealey Park, Pittsburg. It 
is intended especially for children in the 
schools, as it is believed that they can carry on 
the study of botany to greater advantage in a 
special laboratory than in the school-room. 


TRINITY COLLEGE for the higher education of 
women, near the Catholic University at Wash- 
ington, will be dedicated towards the end of the 
present month. Its educational work has al- 
ready begun. 

Mr. T. NEtson DALE, geologist of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, has resigned his instructor- 
ship in geology and botany at Williams College 
and his curatorship of the College Museum. 


THE following appointments have been made 
at Columbia University : W. W. Comstock, as- 
sistant in physics; Hardy Chambiss and W. E. 
Dryfus, assistants in chemistry ; Charles E. 
Banker, assistant in normal histology, and 
Carlton P. Flint, assistant in demonstrative 
anatomy. 


Mr. I. H. Derpy, B.A. (Harvard, 1899), 
and F. C. Koch, M.A. (Illinois, 1900), have been 
appointed instructors in chemistry at the Uni- 
versity of Illinois. At the same university, 
Mr. E. W. Ponzer, B.A. (Illinois, 1900), has 
been appointed instructor in mathematics. 


Dr. ALFRED L. T. ScHAPER, formerly assist- 
ant professor of histology at the Harvard Med- 
ical School, has been appointed professor ex- 
traordinary of anatomy, and director of the 
division for embryology and bio-mechanics at 
the University of Breslau. 

PROFESSOR GEORG MEISSNER, director of the 
Physiological Institute at Gottingen, will retire 
at the end of the present college term on ac- 
count of ill health. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE: S. Nrwcoms, Mathematics; R. 8S. WoopwarRpb, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. Brssry, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownitcH, 


Physiology; J. 8S. BILLINGS, 


Hygiene ; 


WittraAmM H. WeEtcH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, NovEMBER 23, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


German Scientific Apparatus: PROFESSOR J. K. 
TRIES} son aconeononc0ccnnoc.n00tococano s7o¢noCHOSsooeeaseoo30000 777 

The First Species named as the Type of the Genus: 
PRESIDENT DAVID STARR JORDAN......-.....05- 785 


Address of the President of the Section of Geology 
of the British Association, II.: PROFESSOR W. J. 
SOLLAS................- Sesaodobeboncnabad nehessscbaEeonodelo 787 
The International Congresses of Meteorology and 
Aeronautics at Paris: A. LAWRENCE ROTcH... 796 
Scientific Books :-— 
Hertwig’s Elemente Entwickelungslehre: PRO- 
FESSOR C. §. Minor. Mushrooms: PROFES- 
sok GEO. F. ATKINSON. Barrus on Engine 
Testis: PROFESSOR R. H. THuRsTon. Newell’s 
Experimental Chemistry, Waddell’s Arithmetic of 
Chemistry: J. E.G. Lassar-Cohn’s Die Chemie 
in tdglichen Leben: PROFESSOR E. RENOUF. 
Anthropological Publications of the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York, in 


1900: PROFESSOR O. T. MAson. Books Re- 
GEIB «0s00090920 09d0ncAnD09AcCHOROHaaGSEDOsODD50900000900000 800 
Scientific Journals and Articles........1-.0e+secvereseeeer 806 


Societies and Academies :— 
The Biological Society of Washington: F. A. 
ILTICANS) cocsconcosnoa cossoccocecnscd oopennoconcosnbandoccoce 807 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Relation of the North American Flora to that 
of South America: DR. W. H. DALL............. 808 
Paleontological Notes :— 
Thespesius versus Claosaurus; A New Locality 
> for Thespesius; The Dermal Covering of Thes- 
pesius; The Dentition of Basilosaurus Cetoides ; 
The Hyoid of Basilosaurus ; The Cranial Cavity 


of Basilosaurus: EF. A. LUCAS...........0..0e 0s eeeee 809 
Forestry in the Philippines: B. EH. F.......e0sce0000e 810 
Professor Ross and Leland Stanford, Jr. University 811 
THe TRG OOOMOGIRIOP, ocoscasesaspocoes8aqnososenbbones60u000 812 
Scientific Notes and News ...........ceccececereseceeneeece 813 
University and Educational News.......1.0+:..s2s0e00ee 816 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


GERMAN SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS. 

To THE Eprror oF Science: At the In- 
ternational Exposition, Paris, 1900, the 
jury having in charge Group III., Class 
15, Instruments of Precision, Moneys and 
Medals, were very much impressed with the 
German exhibit. This exhibit was arranged 
in a different way from that used by any 
other nation. Germany made a joint ex- 
hibition of mechanicians and opticians, and 
arranged their apparatus in sections em- 
bracing certain classes of instruments, and 
thus departed from the usual custom of 
arranging the exhibits under various firms. 
This enabled the jury to see at once all in- 
struments of the same kind grouped to- 
gether in one case. 

The German Association printed com- 
plete catalogues describing and illustrating 
the apparatus exhibited, and these cata- 
logues and descriptions were of very great 
assistance to the jurors in making awards. 

The catalogues printed an introduction, 
which gave in a very condensed form the 
history of the work done in Germany in 
improving the manufacture of instruments 
of precision. I enclose an English transla- 
tion of this introduction furnished by the 
German Association, and suggest that it be 
published in full in Scrence, inasmuch as 
it shows by what methods the German 
mechanicians have been able to produce 
such splendid results. J. K. Ress, 


Member of the Jury, Group IIL, Class 15. 


778 


On this auspicious occasion, when the 
great French nation has invited the peoples 
of the world to inaugurate the 20th century 
by joining together under her hospitable 
sky in a brilliant exhibition of the works of 
peaceful competition, it would not seem ir- 
relevant to glance back upon the departed 
century. It has been essentially an age of 
scientific and technical development and, 
naturally, the mechanical and optical trades 
claim a prominent share in, the progress of 
mankind within the last hundred years. If 
we compare our present fundamental basis 
of all scientific measurements, our weights 
and measures, in their present perfection, 
with those existing a hundred years ago ; 
if we place our finest astronomical and sur- 
veying instruments side by side with the 
to us almost primeval forms as they existed 
at the beginning of the century; or if we 
glance at our present sensitive physical and 
electrical measurements, remembering that 
a hundred years ago these were undreamt-of 
things, or in existence only in the crudest 
form, we cannot escape from a gladden- 
ing appreciation of the enormous progress 
made within the last century in the con- 
struction of philosophical instruments, as 
well as their reaction upon the progress of 
scientific investigations by dint of improved 
methods. A prominent share in this de- 
velopment of the aids of science is due to 
the German mechanicians and opticians. 

At the commencement of the 19th cen- 
tury the French and English makers of 
scientific instruments were far in advance 
of the Germans. True, the 18th century 
knew of prominent mechanicians, and at 
the very beginning of the 19th century 
Fraunhofer and Reichenbach and their dis- 
ciples, Repsold, of Hamburg, Pistor, of Ber- 
lin, and others, had secured general respect, 
in the scientific world, for German mechan- 
ical skill; yet the French and English 
makers took the lead at that time, so as to 
almost supply the world’s entire demand in 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 308. , 


scientific instruments. This predominance 
had the further consequence of causing 
young Germans to emigrate to France or 
England in order to thoroughly master their 
subject. Many a German mechanician of 
the present day owes to French or English 
masters a substantial portion of his knowl- 
edge, and even in these days it is the aspira- 
tion of many a Teuton to widen his practical 
knowledge in France or England. The 
prominent position of the French and Eng- 
lish instrument-makers was mainly due to 
the support which in both countries the 
State bestowed upon technical art. In Eng- 
land, the interests of the navy and mer- 
chant service gave rise to the assiduous de- 
velopment of astronomical and nautical 
measuring instruments, more particularly 
of astronomical chronometers, so as to en- 
sure in these branches an absolute suprem- 
acy, which German mechanicians have only 
within the last ten or twenty years been 
able to contest. France owed her prominent 
position to the great geometrical survey of 
Cassini and his followers and, in a still 
greater degree, the admirable comprehen- 
sive labors leading to the establishment of 
the metrical system of weights and meas- 
ures, which in its turn resulted in far- 
reaching improvements in the construction 
of appliances for weighing and measuring, 
astronomical and surveying, physical and 
chemical instruments. 

In Germany, it is only within the last 
twenty or twenty-five years that the State 
has espoused the interests of the home in- 
dustry in scientific instruments, but such 
have been the efforts and results that the 
position has, at a blow, as it were, changed 
in favor of Germany. Every possible en- 
couragement was offered and great problems 
were created by the expenditure of the Ger- 
man governments, within the last thirty 
years, on art and science, the establishment 
of numerous large physicaleand chemical 
laboratories, the erection of new and the ex- 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


pansion of old observatories, the requisition 
of greatly improved surveying and astro- 
nomical instruments. Great progress re- 
sulted from the introduction of the metrie 
system in the construction of exact weights 
and delicate balances, and, in compliance 
with the requirements of modern meteorol- 
ogy, led to vast improvements in thermom- 
etry and barometry. The development of 
the German navy created a great demand 
for nautical instruments. All these influ- 
ences roused the productive powers of the 
nation and success has not been wanting. 

Soon also the necessity was recognized of 
the close cooperation of the scientists and 
practical men. Accordingly, in 1879, sev- 
eral scientists, mechanicians and opticians 
united in Berlin and formed the nucleus of 
the German Association of Mechanicians 


and Opticians, which was formed in 1881 and - 


embraced the whole German Empire, hav- 
ing for its object the scientific, technical and 
commercial development of philosophical 
instrument-making. The official organ of 
this Society, the Zeitschrift fiir Instrumenten- 
kunde, was likewise founded in 1881 and is 
devoted to the theoretical and practical de- 
velopment of scientific instruments. Spe- 
cialized schools were established, first in 
Berlin, then in Frankfort-on-the-Main and 
subsequently in many other towns, where 
savants and practical men are combined in 
training the rising generation in the theoret- 
ical departments of the subject. As a re- 
sult of these serious scientific aims, German 
mechanicians and opticians sought in their 
laboratories and workshops the assistance 
of scientists, and at the present time the 
majority of the leading German firms retain 
one or more experienced mathematicians or 
physicists in their permanent service. 

The greatest share of the impetus given 
to the manufacture of scientific instruments, 
however, is due to the Imperial Physical 
and Technical Institute, which was estab- 
lished in 1887. The first, or scientific, 


SCIENCE. : 


779 


department of this important institution is 
devoted to purely physical research, whilst 
the second, or technical, department deals 
with matters concerning the construction of 
philosophical instruments. This institution 
has already done great service, and a large 
proportion of recent progress is due to its 
stimulating and helpful influence. 

Seeing how comprehensive and systematic 
are the efforts brought to bear upon the art 
and science of instrument construction, it 
is not surprising that in this department 
Germany occupies now a foremost position. 
This fact was already apparent on the oc- 
casion of the Universal Exhibition of 1888 
at Brussels, even more strikingly so at the 
World’s Columbian Exhibition at Chicago 
in 1893, and remarkable achievements were 
shown by the combined members of the 
German Association of Mechanicians and 
Opticians at the Berlin Trades Exhibition 
of 1896. 

After witnessing this steady development 
of our mechanical and optical trade, we 
cannot but look with confidence and grati- 
fication upon the practical demonstration at 
the Paris Centenary Exhibition of the flour- 
ishing state of the scientific instrument 
trade in Germany, and a characteristic 
feature of the latter is the unity of its aims, 
which is traceable to the history of its de- 
velopment and its intimate connection with 
pure science. It appeared, therefore, de- 
sirable to depart from the usual custom of 
grouping the exhibits under various firms, 
and rather to place them in sections em- 
bracing certain classes of instruments, so as 
to demonstrate on broad lines and as a 
whole, within a well-arranged though con- 
densed area, the present position of German 
mechanical and optical art. 

The Joint Exhibition of German Mech- 
anicians and Opticians is, accordingly, sub- 
divided into the following sections : 


I. Metrological and Standardizing Instruments. 
II. Astronomical Instruments. 


780 


III. Surveying and Nautical Instruments :—a. 
Geometric Instruments, b. Surveying, Mining and 
exploring Instruments, c. Nautical Instruments. 

IV. Meteorological, Geo-magnetic, Thermometric 
and Calorimetric Instruments. 

V. Optical Instruments:—a. Photometrical Ap- 
pliances ; b. Spectroscopes and Optical Measuring In- 
struments ; c. Microscopes and their auxiliaries ; d. 
Photomicrography and Projection ; e. Photographic 
Ojectives ; f. Hand Telescopes and Terrestrial Tele- 
scopes ; g. Crystaloptics, Appliances for demonstrat- 
ing and observing the Phenomena of Light. 

VI. Electrical Measuring Instruments for Scientifio 
Purposes. 

VII. Electro-medical, Physiological and Biological 
Instruments. 

VIII. Applianees for Chemical and Chemico-phys- 
ioal Research, Laboratory and Educational Apparatus. 

IX. Drawing and Calculating Appliances. 

X. Appliances for the Examination of Materialg 
and for Special Purposes, Special Tools and Auxili- 
aries. 


Following the plan of grouping the ex- 
hibits into sections according to subjects of 
applied science, it may be profitable to ap- 
pend a short sketch of the present position 
of philosophical instrument-making in Ger- 
many. 

I. German mechanicians found them- 
selves for the first time in their history face 
to face with a task of some magnitude 
when called upon, some seventy years ago, 
to construct metrological and standardizing 
appliances for the purpose of determining, 
under the direction of the great astronomer 
Bessel, the standards of the old Prussian 
system of measures. Subsequently, the 
mechanical arts received an important 
impetus through the introduction of the 
metric system in general and the influence 
and requirements of the Standardizing 
Commission in particular. The numerous 
inducements and hints which German mech- 
anicians have received from the Stand- 
ardizing Commission have enabled them to 
effectually cooperate in the introduction of 
the metric system both in and outside Ger- 
many. Opportunities presented themselves 
for the construction of very exact compara- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


tors, dividing engines, terminal and divided 
measures, balances of the highest degree of 
precision, ete.; and while acquitting them- 
selves of these tasks, German mechanicians 
have both learned and accomplished much. 
A considerable portion of the equipment 
of the ‘ Bureau international des poids et 
mesures’ has proceeded from German work- 
shops. The achievements of Germany in 
the department of metrological instruments 
and appliances are prominently demon- 
strated within the Joint Exhibition of 
Mechanicians and Opticians by the Special 
Exhibits of the Imperial Normal-Aichungs- 
Kommission [Office of Standards]. 

II. From the measures, the indispensable 
fundament of all exact research, we pro- 
ceed to the astronomical instruments. 
This department is necessarily at a disad- 
vantage inasmuch as the largest and most 
costly instruments, the large refractors, can 
only be exhibited under very special cir- 
cumstances. Hitherto German telescope- 
makers have supplied large refractors 
almost exclusively to countries outside 
Germany, but in this respect they have 
actively competed with other makers. Re- 
cently they have been given an opportunity 
of proving their powers in the construction 
of the new Potsdam refractor, which is not 
only one of the largest instruments in 
Europe, but also the first large telescope 
built for a German observatory, and the 
results have been brilliant indeed. In the 
main, the German makers have devoted 
their attention to the construction of 
medium-sized and small astronomical in- 
struments, refractors, transit-circles, alti- 
tude - circles, heliometers, ete., but with 
such success that, as regards the precision 
and delicacy of the individual parts of the 
instrument, Germany stands now un- 
rivaled. Recently great progress has been 
made in the construction of astronomical 
objectives. The first optician who broke 
the ice in the important department of 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


optical glass smelting was a German, to wit 
Fraunhofer. His untimely death was fol- 
lowed by a long period of stagnation, and 
the limits of the possible were soon reached 
when attempts were made to construct very 
large objectives, at least as far as the op- 
tician’s art was concerned. About twenty 
years ago, Professor Abbe and Dr. Schott, 
of Jena, resumed the thread where Fraun- 
hofer had left off, and they succeeded in 
producing the old crown and flint-glasses in 
such perfection that the chromatic differ- 
ences of spherical aberration can be com- 
pensated almost completely. This led to 
great improvements in telescope lenses, and 
at the same time the Jena Glass Works 
have become so productive as to enable 
German opticians to cover their entire de- 
mandin Germany. Great progress has also 
been made in such an important branch of 
manufacture as that of spirit-levels. Not 
only are the finest spirit-levels incon- 
testably made in Germany, but, in addi- 
tion, the Imperal Physical and Technical 
Institute has successfully investigated the 
causes of the formation of deposits within 
the levels. Mechanicians possess now a 
ready means of detecting glass liable to de- 
terioration and have no difficulty in secur- 
ing suitable glasses. 

Ili. The third section, comprising geo- 
metric and nautical instruments, includes 
also those instruments which form a con- 
necting link between astronomy proper and 
the land-surveyor’s art, 7. e., those astro- 
nomical instruments which are employed 
for geodetic measurements. Many improve- 
ments in this group of instruments have 
emanated from German workshops and have 
had their origin in the requirements of the 
International Survey and especially the in- 
fluence of the Geodetic Institute and its 
present director, Dr. Helmert. We may 
here mention the conversion of the friction- 
rollers of transit instruments into a bal- 
ance beam, so as to completely compensate 


SCIENCE. 


781 


the errors of collimation. We may also 
refer to Repsold’s mode of fitting transit 
instruments so as to neutralize almost en- 
tirely the personal equation, and equally 
important are the improvements in zenith- 
telescopes and spirit-level testing appli- 
ances. The geophysical investigations of 
the International Survey have given birth 
to the most sensitive instrument of our 
times, the horizontal pendulum, which owes 
its origin and development to German sci- 
entists and mechanicians. The study of 
the movements of the oceans has recently 
been facilitated by greatly improved instru- 
ments, the most perfect-of which are those 
of Seibt-Fuess. Remarkable progress has 
in late years been made in the construction 
of surveying instruments, The require- 
ments of surveyors and engineers have 
reached such a high stage of development 
that they could not fail to beneficially affect 
the construction of theodolites, leveling in- 
struments and tacheometers. The manu- 
facture of surveying instruments is carried 
on in Germany on a very extensive scale, 
and the reputation of these instruments 
has obtained for them a wide market all 
over the world. Considerable improve- 
ments have also been made in small com- 
pactly built surveying instruments, which 
have been requisitioned by numerous Ger- 
man explorers. As the natural outcome 
of the developments of the merchant ser- 
vice and the creation of a powerful navy, 
considerable attention is paid to the manu- 
facture of nautical instruments. Whereas 
formerly Germany depended for these ac- 
cessories of navigation upon other coun- 
tries, England in particular, at the present 
time all nautical instruments are manufac- 
tured at home equally well, in some: re- 
spects even better than abroad. 

IV. The development of the meteoro- 
logical instruments and the appliances for 
measuring temperatures presents a typ- 
ical illustration of the close connection be- 


782 


tween theoretical science and manufacture 
in Germany. This applies in particular to 
thermometers. About twenty years ago 
the manufacture of thermometers had come 
to a dead stop in Germany, thermometers 
being then invested with a defect, their lia- 
bility to periodic changes, which seriously 
endangered German manufacture. Com- 
prehensive investigations were then carried 
on by the Normal-Aichungs-Kommission, 
the Imperial Physical and Technical Insti- 
tute and the Jena Glass Works, and after 
much labor brought the desired reward. 
Chemical analysis in conjunction with care- 
fully managed glass smeltings and practical 
tests showed that pure potassic and pure 
sodic glasses possess these defects in the 
least degree, whereas glasses containing 
both alkalis are subject to periodic changes 
to such an extent as to render them useless 
for thermometric purposes. The last out- 
come of these investigations was the pro- 
duction, at the Jena Glass Works, of an 
excellent sodium glass which shows depres- 
sions of not more than 0.1° per 100°. Re- 
cently a boro-silicate glass has been pre- 
pared which shows a maximum depression 
of only 0.05° and possesses, moreover, 
the important property of excellently agree- 
ing with the hydrogen thermometer. ‘The 
advantages which may result from these 
discoveries to meteorology as well as the 
physical, chemical and medical sciences, 
are obvious. The technical arts too have 
benefited by discovery. With the aid of 
the new glasses and the invention of a 
process by which mercury is kept in the 
thermometer under a pressure of from 20 
to 25 atmospheres, thermometers have been 
constructed for temperatures up to and be- 
yond 550° C.,as far as the region of in- 
cipient red heat, and reading accurately to 
zy’: In consequence of these systematic 
efforts the manufacture of thermometers has 
reached in Germany an unprecedented 
level, and now governs the market of the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


world. German thermometers are pur- 
chased everywhere with particular confi- 
dence, as they can be supplied with official 
certificates. The Thermometer Testing In- 
stitute of Ilmenau examine annually about 
40,000, and 16,000 are annually tested by 
the Imperial Physical and Technical Insti- 
tute. German barometers, mercurial] as 
well as aneroid, enjoy a high reputation and 
are everywhere esteemed for their delicate 
workmanship and reliability. The aneroid- 
barometers, which have obtained increased 
importance through the requirements of ex- 
plorers, are tested by the Imperial Physical 
and Technical Institute with respect to 
their liability to periodic changes. The 
merits of the German self-registering in- 
struments of the Sprung-Fuess type, ther- 
mographs and barographs, anemometers and 
rain-gauges are so well known that they 
need no furthercomment. These excellent 
instruments are used in all the meteorolog- 
ical observatories of the world. Finally, 
attention should be drawn to the pyrome- 
ters and calorimeters, which have also been 
considerably improved in recent years. 

VY. Like the mechanical arts, optical 
construction has made great and rapid 
progress in Germany. In this connection it 
is our gratifying duty to mention the name 
of Abbe, whose master-mind has had a 
profound influence upon the development 
of German optical science and manufacture. 
Abbe’s earliest great merit is the elucidation 
of the theory of the microscope, by which 
he has placed microscopical optics upon an 
entirely new basis. It is also due to his 
efforts, in conjunction with those of Dr. 
Schott, the head of the Jena Glass Works, 
that numerous optically valuable glasses 
have been rendered available for the pur- 
poses of optical construction and that many 
difficult problems have now been solved. 
The new Jena phosphate and baryte glasses 
have led to many improvements in micro- 
scopical optics. We need only refer to the 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


Zeiss Apochromatic objectives, which, in 
conjunction with the compensating eye- 
pieces, yield a much more perfect correction 
of the chromatic and spherical aberrations 
than was previously attainable. We believe 
that we are not going too far by saying that 
to Professor Abbe is due the world-wide 
fame of German microscope construction. 
This reputation is not limited to the micro- 
scope itself, but to all its accessories, and em- 
braces also microtomes, photo-micrographic 
and projection appliances and, in particu- 
lar, photographic objectives, the construc- 
tion of which has undergone wonderful 
changes since the introduction of the Jena 
glasses. The enormous exigencies of mod- 
ern artificial illumination has given rise to 
many improvements in photometry. In 
this department the path has been smoothed 
by the efforts of the Imperial Physical and 
Technical Institute, and photometers are 
now made by which the intensity of a 
luminary can be measured with a degree of 
accuracy within 4 per cent. The result is 
that German photometers enjoy a predomi- 
nant popularity.—Germany, the cradle of 
spectrum analysis, occupies naturally an 
important position in the manufacture of 
spectrum appliances. The construction of 
these instruments, varying from the largest 
and finest spectrometers for astronomical, 
physical and chemical research, to the 
smallest hand spectroscopes, employs a large 
number of establishments. The same ap- 
plies to the manufacture of polariscopic ap- 
pliances, which have a wide reputation and 
command a particularly large market in the 
sugar trade.—No less importance attaches 
to the optical measuring instruments de- 
signed for the special requirements of 
physicists, chemists, mineralogists, etc., 
which are made with astronomical precision, 
so as to satisfy the highest exigencies of 
modern research. Among these we may 
mention the crystaloptic instruments and 
those for studying the theory of the nature 


SCIENCE. 


783 


of light.—In the construction of telescopes 
Germany has, in addition to general im- 
provements, achieved a triumph, which has 
given her a great advantage. We are 
referring to the new form of binocular 
telescopes, in which, by the interposition of 
prisms, the dimensions of terrestrial tele- 
scopes are reduced to their lowest limits, 
while, at the same time, the defining power, 
light-gathering power and the stereoscopic 
effect are greatly increased as compared with 
the old types. The invention of these tele- 
scopes has created a wide demand in the 
army and navy. Very considerable, too, 
is the industry in optical auxiliaries, prisms, 
quartz and cale-spar preparations, etc., in 
which Germany excels both in quality and 
productiveness. 

VI. The manufacture of electrical meas- 
uring instruments for scientific purposes 
has, in Germany, kept pace with the great 
strides made in electrical engineering. A 
number of prominent firms apply them- 
selves to this technical branch and have 
made themselves a good name. This in- 
dustry has likewise profited by the funda- 
mental labors of the Imperial Physical and 
Technical Institute, in particular by the 
establishment of standards and by impor- 
tant investigations. We may here mention 
the introduction of new resistance materials, 
called manganine and constantan, which 
are not affected by changes of temperature 
and are now introduced by nearly all Ger- 
man firms occupied with the manufacture 
of electrical measuring instruments. Men- 
tion should also be made of the work ac- 
complished in standard cells, which facili- 
tate the application of the so-called methods 
of compensation for accurately measuring 
the strength and E.M.F. of electrical cur- 
rents. This is, therefore, another depart- 
ment where the influence of scientific re- 
search has been felt in practical manufac- 
ture. 

VII. Electro-medical appliances are also. 


784 


made in Germany and exported abroad in 
very large numbers. The growing applica- 
tion of the electric current as a curative 
agent in operations and for the illumina- 
tion of internal cavities of the human body 
has caused this department of industry to 
develop considerably both technically and 
commercially. To this group of appliances 
belong the various kinds of Rontgen ray 
apparatus, which are made and exported in 
stupendous numbers. Great importance 
attaches also to the manufacture of physio- 
logical and biological instruments, which 
engages the attention of several prominent 
firms. 

VIII. The manufacture of educational 
appliances has grown in proportion to the 
development of the methods of practical 
demonstration in elementary as well as in- 
termediate schools and technical colleges. 
The German output of educational appli- 
ances has at present reached a truly as- 
tounding magnitude. This is mainly due 
to their cheapness, simplicity and their 
suitable size. The laboratory appliances 
required for scientific investigations com- 
prise naturally the finest and costliest in- 
struments made. 

IX. The manufacture of drawing and 
calculating instruments employs a large 
number of German mechanicians. Excellent 
drawing instruments and other appliances 
for drawing, cartography, ete., are exported 
to all parts of the world. German mecha- 
nicians have likewise succeeded in consider- 
ably improving Thomas’s old calculating 
machine. 

X. In addition to purely scientific in- 
struments, a very large number of appli- 
ances are in constant requisition for special 
industrial purposes, and many a mecha- 
nician finds constant employment in this 
department. Besides, much thought and 
skill is brought to bear upon the needs of 
mechanical workshops. Formerly every 
mechanician made his own tools, and in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


many instances this is still done. Many 
changes have, however, been wrought in 
this respect by the influence of the Amer- 
ican system of manufacture, in which, it 
should be added, Germans have a consider- 
able share. Prominent mechanicians and 
engineers began to devote themselves more 
or less exclusively to the manufacture of 
special tools for philosophical instrument- 
making, and now form an important inde- _ 
pendent branch of industry. 

In conclusion, we have to draw attention 
to the separate exhibition of the Imperial 
Physical and Technical Institute, which 
could not be mortised into the general plan 
of the Joint Exhibition. The aims of this 
Institute, the greatest of its kind in the 
world, have already been explained. The 
exhibits of the Institute serve to illustrate 
in a concise form several spheres of its ac- 
tivity. 

The commercial importance of the me- 
chanical and optical trade of Germany is 
commensurate with its reputation, as will 
readily be seen from the following table 
showing the export of scientific instruments 
during 1898: 


Net weight Value in 
kilos. Marks. 
Astronomical, optical mathe- 
matical, physical and elec- 
trical instruments.............- 218,900 8,975,000 
Raw optical glass (flint and 
GROWAD))ecdonasosoaaoocoseonso900000 124,900 625,000 
Optical glasses (spectacles, 
reading-glasses, stereoscope 
FALBISESS))) connosncnosants soanasoaas 224,200 3,139,000 
Terrestrial telescopes, field- 
glasses, opera-glasses, m’ntd 
spectacles; etemcsssctereeeee: 33,900 1,526,000 
Motalinsesscscccceer 601,900 14,265,000 


The export has been trebled within ten 
years | 

Another measure of the magnitude of the 
mechanical and optical trade of Germany 
may be obtained from the number of manu- 
facturing establishments and their em-. 
ployés. 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


These are at present as follows: 


Number of Number of per- 
establish- sons em- 


Nature of manufacture. 


ments. ployed. 
Astronomical, optical, mathe- 
matical, physical and elec- 
trical instruments.............. 500 9,200 - 
Glass-blowing, glass instru- 
ments, glass thermometers... 125 1,773 
Optical instruments, specta- 
cles, reading-glasses............ 165 2,652 
Fex2L cosaooscencbot0 790 13,625 


THE FIRST SPECIES NAMED AS THE TYPE 
OF THE GENUS. 

In the suggestive article on ‘ The Method 
of Types in Botanical Nomenclature,’ by 
Mr. O. F. Cook, published in Scrence of 
September 28, 1900, is an admirable state- 
ment of the meaning of type in biological 
taxonomy. 

A species ‘is a coherent or continuous 
group of organisms.’ Its type is the first 
individual on which the specific name was 
bestowed. The type-specimen has an espe- 
cial value in fixing the name and meaning 
of the species. 

In like manner ‘a genus of organisms is 
a species without close affinities or a group 
of mutually related species.’ In other 
words, it too ‘is a coherent or continuous 
group of organisms.’ It is essential to its 
definition that some one of its species should 
constitute its type, to which the generic 
name should be inseparably attached. The 
large genera of earlier writers, subdivisions 
of their artificial orders, rather than groups 
of species, must become each associated 
around a special type before they can enter 
into modern conceptions of nomenclature. 

The first essential in nomenclature is 
fixity. To establish permanence we must 
eliminate all elements of personal choice. 
The fixity of specific names through the 
law of priority is now fairly well estab- 
lished. Generic names are not yet similarly 
fixed. The method of changing the con- 
ception of an old genus from that of a mere 


SCIENCE. 


785 


subdivision of a higher group to that of 
a group of related species associated about 
a type species has not yet been well deter- 
mined. In nomenclature, a genus must be 
fixed by its type, which is definite, not by 
its definition, which may be amended. 
Some writers have insisted that the first 
writer who subdivides a genus has the right 
and the duty to fix its type. Others main- 
tain that the type must always be fixed by 
the process of elimination. In this process 
authors who eliminated unconsciously or 
in ignorance must be considered, as well as 
those who attempted to limit and define the 
generic parts in a group of family rank, 
called by its author a genus. 

The method of elimination is now gen- 
erally approved, but there is great variation 
in the application of it. Its great defect 
lies in the necessary uncertainty of its 
definition. Toooften different assumptions 
or different points of view give different re- 
sults. Any result may be vitiated by the 
discovery of some note or discussion—use- 
less in itself, which may have been over- 
looked at the time of the first attempt at 
finding the type. 

Inasmuch as the thought of type is in- 
separable in modern taxonomy from the 
idea of genus or species, it is most desirable 
to find some way of fixing the type of an 
author through the words of the author 
himself—not trusting to the mazes of sub- 
sequent delimitation and elimination. 

The most convenient and most logical 
method of doing this, as well as the one most 
practically convenient, is to fix a group 
name to the first individual or the first spe- 
cies to which the name was tenably applied. 
If based on specimens, the species would rest 
with the individual actually in hand for de- 
scription. If based on a series of previous 
records, the one of these standing first in 
the list of synonyms should be the type. 

In the ease of the genus, if no type, cen- 
tral species or ‘ chef de file’ is indicated by 


786 


the author, the first species referred to the 
genus by the author or by any subsequent 
writer ought to be taken as the type. This 
would ensure fixity. It has no element of 
injustice.. The genus should stand or fall 
on the first species mentioned. 

As Mr. Cook observes: ‘“‘ The selection of 
the first species as the type would result in 
no complications by reason of the Linnean 


arrangement of species, and it may be con- — 


fidently expected that the uniform applica- 
tion of such a rule would necessitate far 
fewer changes than would the method of 
elimination whereby the doubtful or un- 
identifiable species are often the only 
residue on which time-honored names 
could be maintained.”’ 

The practicability of this rule must be 
tested by different taxonomists, each by its 
effects in his own field of work. In ichthy- 
ology it would bring an enormous gain in 
giving fixity of generic nomenclature which 
can be attained in no other way. The 
process of elimination has never been. con- 
sistently followed, nor can the process be 
so defined that it can yield fixed results in 
the case of the complex genera of the last 
century. The practice of taking the first 
species named as the generic type has been 
adopted and continuously followed by the 
most voluminous writer on fishes, Dr. 
Pieter van Bleeker, and others have used 
it as a guide in cases of doubt. 

The really strong and perhaps conclusive 
argument against it is derived from its ef- 
fect on the genera of Linneeus. In general, 
Linnzeus placed his central species or type 
in the midst of a genus, leaving the aber- 
rant species at either end of the list. 
Cuvier followed the plan of giving a full 
description of a type species or ‘ chef de 
file,’ letting the less known or less im- 
portant species follow after it. It was not 
until about the beginning of the nineteenth 
century that the thought of a type species 
came to be associated with the genus. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


Should we adopt the ‘first species type’ 
rule in relation to genera, the following 
changes would result from its application 
to the tenth edition of the Systema Natures. 

Raja would be transferred to 7etronarce (Torpedo). 

Squalus would remain with Acanthias. 

Gadus would replace Melanogrammus. 

Echeneis would replace Remora. 

Cottus would replace Agonus. 

Zeus would replace Selene. 

Pleuronectes would replace Achirus. 

Chztodon would replace Zanclus. 

Labrus would replace Sparisoma. - 

Trigla would replace Peristethus. 

Cobitis would replace Anableps. 

Silurus would replace Parasilurus. 

Esox would replace Spyrxna. 

Polynemus would replace Pentanemus. 

Cyprinus would replace Barbus. 

Ostracion would replace Lactophrys. 

Tetraodon would replace Spheroides. 

Diodon would replace Chilomycterus. 

Syngnathus would replace Typhle. 

Murena, Blennius, Gobius, Sparus, Scizna, Perca, 
Gasterosteus, Salmo, and Clupea would be unchanged. 

These changes in time-honored names are 
apparently out of the question. In ichthy- 
ology the rule, if adopted, must pass by 
Linneus to take effect with his successors 
or perhaps only among writers of this cen- 
tury influenced by the Cuvierian ‘ chef de 
file’ method or by the modern conception 
of type. 

The possibility of this suggestion is worth 
considering. It is stated on high authority, 
though I have not yet verified the quota- 
tion, that Linnzeus somewhere says in effect 
that the real type of each genus recognized 
by him is ‘the best known European or 
officinal species contained in it.’ It would 
be relatively easy to determine the species 
worthy of this distinction. It would be 
easy to put ourselves in Linneeus’ place in 
this regard. Then taking the Systema Na- 
ture as a starting point, it would be possible 
and just to hold each genus of each author, 
where no type is explicitly indicated, rigidly 
to the first species named under it. By 
this ruling it would be possible to avoid 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900.] 


certain very undesirable changes in Linnzean 
nomenclature, unavoidable under the rule 
of elimination. Among these are the fol- 
lowing : 

Esox for Belune. 

Syngnathus for Nerophis. 

Polynemus for Pentanemus. 

Meanwhile the confused generic messes 
of Bloch, Lacépéde, Swainson, Rafinesque 
and others, could be definitely crystallized 
and made to stand or fall on the generic 
distinction of the first species named. 

The general adoption of such means of 
determining types would go a long way to- 
ward stability of nomenclature, and it is 
possible to use it in case we may be per- 
mitted to apply another method to the 
genera of Linneus. If no exceptions can 
be properly made, then, for one, the writer 
would prefer its rigid application to all au- 
thors, Linnzeus included, to the present 
state of confusion. 

In any event, the suggestion of Mr. Cook 
merits serious consideration and reconsider- 
ation, for it has been several times rejected 


by zoologists. 
Davin STARR JORDAN. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SEC- 
TION OF GEOLOGY OF THE BRITISH 
ASSOCIATION. 


Il. 

OBSCURE CHAPTER IN THE EARTH’S HISTORY. 

BEFoRE discussing the validity of the ar- 
gument on which this last result depends, 
let us consider how far it harmonizes with 
previous ones. It is consistent with Lord 
Kelvin’s and Professor Darwin’s, but how 
does it accord with Professor Joly’s? Sup- 
posing we reduce his estimate to fifty-five 
millions; what was the earth doing during 
the interval between the period of fifty-five 
millions of years ago and that of only 
twenty-six and one-half millions of years 
ago, when, it is presumed, sedimentary 
rocks commenced to be formed? Hitherto 


SCIENCE. 


787 


we have been able to reason on probabili- 
ties; now we enter the dreary region of 
possibilities, and open that obscure chapter 
in the history of the earth previously hinted 
at. For there are many possible answers to 
this question. In the first place, the evi- 
dence of the stratified rocks may have been 
wrongly interpreted, and two or three times 
the amount of time we have demanded 
may have been consumed in their forma- 
tion. This is a very obvious possibility, 
yet again our estimate concerning these 
rocks may be correct, but we may have 
erroneously omitted to take into account 
certain portions of the Archean complex, 
which may represent primitive sedimentary 
rocks formed under exceptional conditions, 
and subsequently transformed under the 
influence of the internal heat of the earth. 
This, I think, would be Professor Bonney’s 
view. Finally, Lord Kelvin has argued 
that the life of the sun as a luminous star 
is even more briefly limited than that of 
our oceans. In such a case, if our oceans 
were formed fifty-five millions of years ago, 
it is possible that after a short existence as 
almost boiling water they grew colder and 
colder, till they became covered with thick 
ice, and moved only in obedience to the 
tides. The earth, frozen and dark, except 
for the red glow of her volcanoes, waited 
the coming of the sun, and it was not till 
his growing splendor had banished the long 
night that the cheerful sound of running 
waters was heard again in our midst. Then 
the work of denudation and deposition 
seriously recommenced, not to cease till the 
life of the sun is spent. Thus the thick- 
ness of the stratified series may be ameasure 
rather of the duration of sunlight than of 
the period which has elapsed since the first 
formation of the ocean. It may haye been 
so—we cannot tell—but it may be fairly 
urged that we know less of the origin, his- 
tory, and constitution of the sun than of 
the earth itself, and that, for aught we can 


788 


say to the contrary, thesun may have been 

shining on the just-formed ocean as cheer- 

fully as he shines to-day. 

TIME REQUIRED FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE 
LIVING WORLD. 

But, it will be asked, how far does a 
period of twenty-six millions satisfy the 
demands of biology? Speaking only for 
myself, although I am aware that eminent 
biologists are not wanting who share this 
opinion, I answer, Amply. But, it will be 
exclaimed, surely there are ‘comparisons 
in things.’ Look at Egypt, where more 
than 4,000 years since the same species of 
man and animals lived and flourished as 
to-day. Examine the frescoes and study 
the living procession of familiar forms they 
so faithfully portray, and then tell us, how 
comes it about that from changes so slow as 
to be inappreciable in the lapse of forty 
centuries you propose to build up the whole 
organic world in the course of a mere 
twenty-six millions of years? Toall which 
we might reply that even changeless Egypt 
presents us with at least one change—the 
features of the ruling race are to-day not 
quite the same as those of the Pharaohs. 
But putting this on one side, the admitted 
constancy in some few common forms 
proves very little, for so long as the environ- 
ment remains the same natural selection 
will conserve the type, and, so far as weare 
able to judge, conditions in Egypt have 
remained remarkably constant for a long 
period. 

Change the conditions, and the resulting 
modification of the species becomes mani- 
fest enough ; and in this connection it is 
only necessary to recall the remarkable 
mutations observed and recorded by Pro- 
fessor Weldon in the case of the crabs in 
Plymouth Harbor. In response to inereas- 
ing turbidity of the sea water these crabs 
have undergone or are undergoing a change 
in the relative dimensions of the carapace, 
which is persistent, in one direction, and 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII No. 308. 


rapid enough to be determined by measure- 
ments made at intervals of a few years. 
Again, animals do not all change their 
characters at the same rate: some are 
stable, in spite of changing conditions, and 
these have been cited to prove that none of 
the periods we look upon as probable, not 
twenty-five, not a hundred millions of years, 
scarce any period short of eternity, is suffi- 
cient to account for the evolution of the 
living world. If the little tongue-shell, 
Lingula, has endured with next to no per- 
ceptible change from the Cambrian down 
to the present day, how long, it is some- 
times inquired, would it require for the 
evolution of the rest of the animal king- 
dom? The reply is simple: the cases are 
dissimilar, and the same record which as- 
sures us of the persistency of the Lingula 
tells us in language equally emphatic of the 
course of evolution which has led from the 
lower organisms upwards toman. In re- 
cent and Pleistocene deposits the relics of 
man are plentiful: in the latest Pliocene 
they have disappeared, and we encounter 
the remarkable form Pithecanthropus; as we 
descend into the Tertiary systems the 
higher mammals are met with, always sink- 
ing lower and lower in the scale of organi- 
zation as they occur deeper in the series, 
till in the Mesozoic deposits they have en- 
tirely disappeared, and their place is taken 
by the lower mammals, a feeble folk, offer- 
ing little promise of the future they were 
to inherit. Still lower, and even these are 
gone; and in the Permian we encounter 
reptiles and the ancestors of reptiles, prob- 
ably ancestors of mammals too; then into 
the Carboniferous, where we find amphib- 
ians, but no true reptiles; and next into 
the Devonian, where fish predominate, after 
making their earliest appearance at the 
close of the Silurian times; thence down- 
wards, and the vertebrata are no more 
found—we trace the evolution of the in- 
vertebrata alone. Thus the orderly proces- 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


sion of organic forms follows in precisely 
the true phylogenetic sequence; inverte- 
brata first, then vertebrata, at first fish, 
then amphibia, next reptiles, soon after 
mammals, of the lowlier kinds first, of the 
higher later, and these in increasing com- 
plexity of structure till we finally arrive at 
man himself. While the living world was 
thus unfolding into new and nobler forms, 
the immutable Lingula simply perpetuated 
its kind. To select it, or other species 
equally sluggish, as the sole measure of the 
rate of biologic change would seem as 
strange a proceeding as to confound the 
swiftness of a river with the stagnation of 
the pools that lie beside its banks. It is 
occasionally objected that the story we 
have drawn from the paleontological record 
is mere myth or is founded only on nega- 
tive evidence. Cavils of this kind prove a 
double misapprehension, partly as to the 
facts, partly as to the value of negative 
evidence, which may be as good in its way 
as any other kind of evidence. 

Geologists are not unaware of the pitfalls 
which beset negative evidence, and they do 
not conclude from the absence of fossils in 
the rocks which underlie the Cambrian that 
pre-Cambrian periods were devoid of life; on 
the contrary, they are fully persuaded that 
the seas of those times were teeming with 
a rich variety of invertebrate forms. How 
is it that, with the exception of some few 
species found in beds immediately underly- 
ing the Cambrian, these have left behind 
no vestige of their existence? The expla- 
nation does not lie in the nature of the sedi- 
ments, which are not unfitted for the preser- 
vation of fossils, nor in the composition of 
the then existing sea water, which may 
have contained quite as much calcium car- 
bonate as occurs in our present oceans; and 
the only plausible supposition would appear 
to be that the organisms of that time had 
not passed beyond the stage now repre- 
sented by the larve of existing invertebrata, 


SCIENCE. 


789 


and consequently were either unprovided 
with skeletons, or at all events with skele- 
tons durable enough for preservation. If 
so, the history of the earlier stages of the 
evolution of the invertebrata will receive 
no light from paleontology and no direct 
answer can be expected to the question 
whether, eighteen or nineteen millions of 
years being taken as sufficient for the evo- 
lution of the vertebrata, the remaining 
available eight millions would provide for 
that of the invertebrate classes which are 
represented in the lowest Cambrian deposits. 
On @ priori grounds there would appear to 
be no reason why itshould not. If two mil- 
lions of years afforded time enough for the 
conversion of fish into amphibians, a similar 
period should suffice for the evolution of 
trilobites from annelids, or of annelids 
from trochospheres. The step from gastru- 
las to trochospheres might be accomplished 
in another two millions, and two millions 
more would take us from gastrulas through 
morulas to protozoa. 

As things stand, biologists can have 
nothing to say either for or against such a 
conclusion ; they are not at present in a 
position to offer independent evidence; nor 
can they hope to be so until they have 
vastly extended those promising investiga- 
tions which they are only now beginning to 
make into the rate of the variation of spe- 
cies. 


UNEXPECTED ABSENCE OF THERMAL MBETA- 
MORPHOSIS IN ANCIENT ROOKS. 

Two difficulties now remain for discus- 
sion: one based on theories of mountain 
chains, the other on the unaltered state of 
some ancient sediments. The latter may 
be taken first. Professor van Hise writes 
as follows regarding the pre-Cambrian 
rocks of the Lake Superior district: ‘‘ The 
Penokee series furnishes-an instructive les- 
son as to the depth to which rocks may be 
buried and yet remain but slightly affected 


790 


by metamorphosis. The series itself is 
14,000 feet thick. It was covered before 
being upturned with a great thickness of 
Keweenaw rock. This series of the Mon- 
treal River is estimated to be 50,000 feet 
thick. Adding to this the known thickness 
of the Penokee series, we have a thickness 
of 64,000 feet. * * * The Penokee rocks 
were then buried to a great depth, the 
exact amount depending upon their horizon 
and upon the stage in Keweenaw time, 
when the tilting and erosion, which brought 
them to the surface, commenced. 

“That the synclinal trough of Lake 
Superior began to form before the end of 
the Keweenaw period, and consequently 
that the Penokee rocks were not buried 
under the full succession, is more than 
probable. However, they must have been 
buried to a great depth—at least several 
miles—and thus subjected to high pressure 
and temperature, notwithstanding which 
they are comparatively unaltered.”’ * 

I select this example because it is one of 
the best instances of a difficulty that occurs 
more than once in considering the history 
of sedimentary rocks. On the supposition 
that the rate of increment of temperature 
with descent is 1° F. for every 84 feet, or 
1° C. for every 150 feet, and that it was no 
greater during these early Penokee times, 
then at a depth of 50,000 feet the Penokee 
rocks would attain a temperature of nearly 
333° C.; and since water begins to exert pow- 
erful chemical action at 180° C. they should, 
on the theory of a solid cooling globe, have 
suffered a metamorphosis sufficient to ob- 
scure their resemblance to sedimentary 
rocks. Hither then the accepted rate of 
downward increase of temperature is erro- 
neous, or the Penokee rocks were never de- 
pressed, in the place where they are exposed 
to observation, to a depth of 50,000 feet. 
Let us consider each alternative, and in 


*Tenth Annual Report U. 8. Geol. Survey, 1888-89, 
p. 457. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


the first place Jet us apply the rate of tem- 
perature increment determined by Professor 
Agassiz in this very Lake Superior district: 
itis 1° C. for every 402 feet, and twenty- 
five millions of years ago, or about the time 
when we may suppose the Penokee rocks 
were being formed, it would be 1° C. for 
every 305.5 feet, with a resulting tempera- 
ture, at a depth of 50,000 feet, of 163° C. 
only. Thus the admission of a very low 
rate of temperature increment would meet 
the difficulty ; but on the other hand, it 
would involve a period of several hundreds 
of millions of years for the age of the ‘ con- 
sistentior status,’ and thus greatly exceed 
Professor Joly’s maximum estimate of the 
age of the oceans. We may therefore turn 
to the second alternative. As regards this, 
it is by no means certain that the exposed 
portion of the Penokee series ever was de- 
pressed 50,000 feet; the beds lie in a syn- 
clinal the base of which indeed may have 
sunk to this extent, and entered a region of 
metamorphosis; but the only part of the 
system that lies exposed to view is the up- 
turned margin of the synclinal, and as to 
this it would seem impossible to make any 
positive assertion as to the depth to which 
it may or may not have been depressed. 
To keep an open mind on the question 
seems our only course for the present, but 
difficulties like this offer a promising field 
for investigation. 


THE FORMATION OF MOUNTAIN RANGES. 


It is frequently alleged that mountain 
chains cannot be explained on the hypoth- 
esis of a solid earth cooling under the 
conditions and for the period we have sup- 
posed. This is a question well worthy of 
consideration, and we may first endeavor 
to picture to ourselves the conditions under 
which mountain chains arise. The floor of 
the ocean lies at an average depth of 2,000 
fathoms below the land, and is maintained 
ata constant temperature, closely approach- 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


ing 0° C., by the passage over it of cold 
water creeping from the polarregions. The 
average temperature of the surface of the 
land is above zero, but we can afford to dis- 
regard the difference in temperature be- 
tween it and the ocean floor, and may take 
them both at zero. Consider next the in- 
crease of temperature with descent, which 
occurs beneath the continents: at a depth 
of 13,000 feet, or at same depth as the 
ocean floor, a temperature of 87° C. will be 
reached on the supposition that the rate of 
increase is 1° C. for 150 feet, while with the 
usually accepted rate of 1° C. for 108 feet it 
would be 120° C. But at this depth the 
ocean floor, which is on the same spherical 
surface, is at 0° C. Thus surfaces of equal 
temperature within the earth’s crust will 
not be spherical, but will rise or fall beneath 
an imaginary spherical or spheroidal sur- 
face, according as they occur beneath the 
continents or the oceans. No doubt at 
some depth within the earth the departure 
of isothermal surfaces from a spheroidal 
form will disappear ; but considering the 
great breadth both of continents and oceans, 
this depth must be considerable, possibly 
even forty or fifty miles. Thus the sub- 
continental excess of temperature may make 
itself felt in regions where the rocks still 
retain a high temperature, and are proba- 
bly not far removed from the critical fusion 
point. The effect will be to render the 
continents mobile as regards the ocean 
floor; or vice versa, the ocean floor will 
be stable compared with the continental 
masses. Next it may be observed that the 
continents pass into the bed of the ocean by 
a somewhat rapid flexure, and that it is 
over this area of flexure that the sediments 
denuded from the land are deposited. 
Under its load of sediment the sea floor 
sinks down, subsiding slowly, at about the 
same rate as the thickness of sediment in- 
creases ; and whether as a consequence or a 
cause, or both, the flexure marking the 


SCIENCE. 


(Gill 


boundary of land and sea becomes more 
pronounced. A compensating movement 
occurs within the earth’s crust, and solid 
material may flow from under the subsid- 
ing area in the direction of least resistance, 
possibly towards the land. At length, 
when some thirty or forty thousand feet of 
sediment have accumulated in a basin-like 
form, or, according to our reckoning, after 
the lapse of three or four millions of years, 
the downward movement ceases, and the 
mass of sediment is subjected to powerful 
lateral compression, which, bringing its 
borders into closer proximity by some ten 
or thirty miles, causes it to rise in great 
folds high into the air as a mountain chain. 

It is this last phase in the history of 
mountain making which has given geolo- 
gists more cause for painful thought than 
probably any other branch of their subject, 
not excluding even the age of the earth. It 
was at first imagined that during the flow 
of time the interior of the earth lost so 
much heat, and suffered so much contrac- 
tion in consequence, that the exterior, in 
adapting itself to the shrunken body, was 
compelled to fit it like a wrinkled garment. 
This theory, indeed, enjoyed a happy exist- 
ence till it fell into the hands of mathema- 
ticians, when it fared very badly, and now 
lies in a pitiable condition neglected of its 
friends.* 

For it seemed proved to demonstration 
that the contraction consequent on cooling 
was wholly, even ridiculously, inadequate 
to explain the wrinkling. But when we 
summon up courage to inquire into the data 
on which the mathematical arguments are 
based, we find that they include several as- 
sumptions, the truth of which is by no 
means self-evident. Thus it has been as- 
sumed that the rate at which the fusion 
point rises with increased pressure is con- 
stant, and follows the same law as is deduced 


* With some exceptions, notably Mr. C. Davison, 
a consistent supporter of the theory of contraction. 


192 


from experiments made under such pres- 
sures as we can command in our laboratories 
down to the very center of the earth, where 
the pressures are of an altogether differ- 
ent order of magnitude; so with a still 
more important coefficient, that of expan- 
sion, our knowledge of this quantity is 
founded on the behavior of rocks heated 
under ordinary atmospheric pressure, and 
it is assumed that the same coefficient as is 
thus obtained may be safely applied to ma- 
terial which is kept solid, possibly near the 
critical point, under the tremendous pres- 
sure of the depths of the crust. To this last 
assumption we owe the terrible bogies that 
have been conjured out of ‘the level of no 
strain.’ The depth of this, as calculated by 
the Rev. O. Fisher, is so trifling that it 
would be passed through by all very deep 
iuines. Mr. C. Davison, however, hasshown 
that it will lie considerably deeper, if the 
known increase of the coefficient of ex- 
pansion with rise of temperature be taken 
intoaccount. Itis possible, it is even likely, 
that the coefficient of expansion becomes 
vastly greater when regions are entered 
where the rocks are compelled into the solid 
state by pressure. So little do we actually 
know of the behavior of rock under these 
conditions that the geologist would seem to 
be left very much to his own devices; but 
it would seem there is one temptation he 
must resist—he must not take refuge in the 
hypothesis of a liquid interior. 

We shall boldly assume that the contrac- 
tion at some unknown depth in the interior 
of the earth is sufficient to afford the expla- 
nation we seek. The course of events may 
then proceed as follows: The contraction 
of the interior of the earth, consequent on 
its loss of heat, causes the crust to fall upon 
it in folds, which rise over the continents 
and sink under the oceans, and the flexure 
of the area of sedimentation is partly a 
consequence of this folding, partly of over- 
loading. By the time a depression of some 


SCIENCE. 


[N. §. Von. XII. No. 308. 


30,000 or 40,000 feet has occurred along the 
ocean border the relation between conti- 
nents and oceans has become unstable, and 
readjustment takes place, probably by a 
giving way of the continents, and chiefly 
along the zone of greatest weakness—. e., 
the area of sedimentation, which thus be- 
comes the zone of mountain building. It 
may be observed that at great depths read- 
justment will be produced by a slow flowing 
of solid rock, and it is only comparatively 
near the surface, five or ten miles at the 
most below, that failure of support can lead 
to sudden fracture and collapse ; hence the 
comparatively superficial origin of earth- 
quakes. 

Given a sufficiently large coefficient of 
expansion—and there is much to suggest 
its existence —and all the phenomena of 
mountain ranges become explicable; they 
began to present an appearance that in- 
vites mathematical treatment; they inspire 
us with the hope that from a knowledge of 
the height and dimensions of a continent 
and its relations to the bordering ocean we 
may be able to predict when and where 
a mountain chain should arise, and the 
theory which explains them promises to 
guide us to an interpretation of those 
world-wide unconformities which Suess can 
only account for by a transgression of the 
sea. Finally it relieves us of the difficulty 
presented by mountain formation in re- 
gard to the estimated duration of geological 
time. 


INFLUENCE OF VARIATIONS IN THE ECOEN- 
TRICITY OF THE EARTH’S ORBIT. 

This may perhaps be the place to notice 
a highly interesting speculation which we 
owe to Professor Blytt, who has attempted 
to establish a connection between periods 
of readjustment of the earth’s crust and 
variations in the eccentricity of the earth’s 
orbit. Without entering into any discus- 
sion of Professor Blytt’s methods, we may 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


offer a comparison of his results with those 
that follow from our rough estimate of one 
foot of sediment accumulated in a century. 


TABLE SHOWING THE TIME THAT HAS ELAPSED 
SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE SYSTEMS IN THE 
FIRST COLUMN, AS RECKONED FROM THICKNESS 
OF SEDIMENT IN THE SECOND COLUMN, AND BY 
PROFESSOR BLYTT IN THE THIRD. 


Years. Years. 
Eocene.............. 4,200, 000 3,250,000 
Oliogocene......... 3,000,000 1,810,000 
MiTOCENCrerncecen sa: 1,800,000 1,160,000 
IPMOcene sr ewssss= 900,000 700,000 
Pleistocene........ 400, 000 350,000 


Té is now time to return to the task, too 
long postponed, of discussing the data from 
which we have been led to conelude that a 
probable rate at which the sediments have 
accumulated in places where they attain 
their maximum thickness-is one foot per 
century. 


RATE OF DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENT. 


We owe to Sir Archibald Geikie a most 
instructive method of estimating the exist- 
ing rate at which our continents and islands 
are being washed into the sea by the action 
of rain and rivers: by this we find that the 
present land surface is being reduced in 
height to the extent of an average of 1/2400 
foot yearly (according to Professor Penck 
1/3600 foot). If the material removed from 
the land were uniformly distributed over an 
area equal to that from which it had been 
derived it would form a layer of rock 1/2400 
foot thick yearly—i. e., the rates of denuda- 
tion and deposition would be identical. But 
the two areas, that of denudation and that 
of deposition, are seldom or never equal, the 
latter, as a rule, being much the smaller. 
Thus the area of that part of North America 
which drains into the Gulf of Mexico meas- 
ures 1,800,000 square miles; the area over 
which its sediments are deposited is, so far 
as I can gather from Professor Agassiz’s 
statements, less then 180,000 square miles ; 
while Mr. McGee estimates it at only 100,- 


SCIENCE. 793 


000 square miles. Using the largest num- 
ber, the area of deposition is found to 
measure one-tenth the area of denudation; 
the average rate of deposition will therefore 
be ten times as greatas the rate of denuda- 
tion, or 1/240 foot may be supposed to be 
uniformly distributed over the area of sedi- 
mentation in the course of a year. But 
the thickness by which we have measured 
the strata of our geological systems is not 
an average, but a maximum thickness ; we 
have therefore to obtain an estimate of the 
maximum rate of deposition. If we assume 
the deposited sediments to be arranged 
somewhat after the fashion of a wedge with 
the thin end seawards, then twice the aver- 
age would give us the maximum rate of de- 
position; this would be one foot in 120 
years. But the sheets of deposited sedi- 
ment are not merely thicker towards the 
land, thinner towards the sea, they also in- 
crease in thickness towards the rivers in 
which they have their source, so that a very 
obtuse-angled cone, or, better, the down- 
turned bowl of a spoon, would more nearly 
represent their form. This form tends to 
disappear under the action of waves and 
currents, but a limit is set to this disturbing 
influence by the subsidence which marks 
the region opposite the mouth of a large 
river. By this the strata are gradually let 
downwards, so that they come to assume 
the form of the bowl of a spoon turned up- 
wards. Thus a further correction is neces- 
sary if we are to arrive at a fair estimate 
of the maximum rate of deposition. Con- 
sidering the very rapid rate at which our 
ancient systems diminish in thickness when 
traced in all directions from the localities 
where they attain their maximum, it would 
appear that this correction must be a large 
one. If we reduce our already corrected 
estimate by one-fifth, we arrive at a rate of 
one foot of sediment deposited in a century. 

No doubt this value is often exceeded ; 
thus in the case of the Mississippi River 


794 


the bar of the southwest pass advanced 
between the years 1838 and 1874 a distance 
of over two miles, covering an area 2.2 miles 
in width with a deposit of sediment 80 feet 
in thickness; outside the bar, where the 
sea is 250 feet in depth, sediment accumu- 
lates, according to Messrs. Humphreys and 
Abbot, at a rate of two feet yearly. It is 
quite possible, indeed it is very likely, that 
some of our ancient strata have been formed 
with corresponding rapidity. No gravel of 
coarse sand is deposited over the Missis- 
sippi delta; such material is not carried 
further seawards than New Orleans. Thus 
the vast sheets of conglomerate and sand- 
stone which contribute so largely to some 
of our ancient systems, such as the Cam- 
brian, Old Red Sandstone, Millstone Grit, 
and Coal Measures, must have accumulated 
under very different conditions, conditions 
for which it is not easy to find a parallel ; 
but in any case these deposits afford evi- 
dence of very rapid accumulation. 

These considerations will not tempt us, 
however, to modify our estimate of one foot 
in a century; for though in some cases this 
rate may have been exceeded, in others it 
may not have been nearly attained. 

Closely connected with the rate of depo- 
sition is that of the changing level of land 
and sea; in some cases, as in the Wealden 
delta, subsidence and deposition appear to 
have proceeded with equal steps, so that 
we might regard them as transposable 
terms. It would therefore prove of great 
assistance if we could determine the aver- 
age rate at which movements of the ground 
are proceeding ; it might naturally be ex- 
pected that the accurate records kept by 
tidal gauges in various parts of the world 
would afford us some information on this 
subject; and no doubt ‘they would, were it 
not for the singular misbehavior of the sea, 
which does not maintain a constant level, 
its fluctuations being due, according to 
Professor Darwin, to the irregular melting 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


of ice in the polar regions. Of more im- 
mediate application are the results of Herr 
L. Holmstrom’s observations in Scandina- 
via, which prove an average rise of the pen- 
insula at the rate of three feet in a century 
to be still in progress; and Mr. G. K. Gil- 
bert’s measurements in the Great Lake dis- 
trict of North America, which indicate a 
tilting of the continent at the rate of three 
inches per hundred miles per century. But 
while measurements like these may furnish 
us with some notion of the sort of speed of 
these changes, they are not sufficient even 
to suggest an average ; for this we must be 
content to wait till sufficient tidal observa- 
tions have accumulated and the disturbing 
effect of the inconstancy of the sea level 
eliminated. 

It may be objected that in framing our 
estimate we have taken into account me- 
chanical sediments only, and ignored others 
of equal importance, such as limestone and 
coal. With regard to limestone, its thick- 
ness in regions where systems attain their 
maximum may be taken as negligible; nor 
is the formation of limestone necessarily a 
slow process. The successful experiments 
of Dr. Allan, cited by Darwin, prove that 
reef-building corals may grow at the aston- 
ishing rate of six feet in height per annum. 

In respect of coal there is much to sug- 
gest that its growth was rapid. The car- 
boniferous period well deserves its name, 
for never before, never since, have Carbona- 
ceous deposits accumulated to such a re- 
markable thickness or over such wide areas 
of the earth’s surface. The explanation is 
doubtless partly to be found in favorable 
climatal conditions, but also, I think, in the 
youthful energy of a new and overmaster-. 
ing type of vegetation, which then for the 
first time acquired the dominion of the 
land. If we turn to our modern peat- 
bogs, the only Carbonaceous growths avail- 
able for comparison, we find from data given 
by Sir A. Geikie that a fairly average rate 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


of increase is six feet in a century, which 
might perhaps correspond to one foot of 
coal in the same period. 

The rate of deposition has been taken as 
uniform through the whole period of time 
recorded by stratified rocks; but lest it 
should be supposed that this involves a 
tacit admission of uniformity, I hasten to 
explain that in this matter we have no 
choice ; we may feel convinced that the rate 
has varied from time to time, but in what 
direction, or to what extent, it is impossible 


SCIENCE. 


19 


the greater magnitude and frequency of the 
tides, and thus while larger quantities of 
sediment might be delivered into the sea, 
they would be distributed over wider areas, 
and the difference between the maximum 
and average thickness of deposits would 
consequently be diminished. Indications 


of such a wider distribution may perhaps 
be recognized in the Paleozoic systems. 
Thus we are compelled to treat our rate of 
deposition as uniform, notwithstanding the 
serious error this may involve. 


CAMBRIAN. 
EUROPE 


— =e 
3 Set Impede 0 Ean ingens > » » 


Fia. 2.—Chart of the distribution of land and sea, and of the thickness of deposits of the Cambrian system- 
The dotted lines indicate distances of 100 and 200 miles from the shore. 


to conjecture. That the sun was once much 
hotter is probable, but equally so that at an 
earlier period it was much colder; and 
even if in its youth all the activities of our 
planet were enhanced, this fact might not 
affect the maximum thickness of deposits. 
An increase in the radiation of the sun, 
while it would stimulate all the powers of 
subaerial denudation, would also produce 
stronger winds and marine currents; 
stronger currents would also result from 


The reasonableness of our estimate will 
perhaps best appear from a few applications. 
Fig. 2 is a chart, based on a map by De 
Lapparent, representing the distribution of 
land and sea over the European area during 
the Cambrian period. The strata of this 
system attain their maximum thickness of 
12,000 feet in Merionethshire, Wales; they 
rapidly thin out northwards, and are ab- 
sent in Anglesey ; scarcely less rapidly to- 
wards Shropshire, where they are 3,000 feet 


796 


thick ; still a little less rapidly towards the 
Malverns, where they are only 800 feet 
thick ; and most slowly towards St. David’s 
Head, where they are 7,400 feet thick. The 
Cambrian rocks of Wales were in all prob- 
ability the deposits of a river system which 
drained some vanished land once situated 
to the west. How great was the extent of 
this land none can say; some geologists 
imagine it to have obliterated the whole or 
greater part of the North Atlantic Ocean. 
For my part, [am content with a somewhat 
large island. What area of this island, we 
may ask, would suffice to supply the Cam- 
brian sediments of Wales and Shropshire ? 
Admitting that the area of denudation was 
ten times as large as the area of deposition, 
its dimensions are indicated by the figure 
abcdonthechart. This evidently leaves 
room enough on the island to furnish all 
the other deposits which are distributed 
along the western shores of the Cambrian 
sea, while those on the east are amply pro- 
vided for by that portion of the European 
continent which then stood above water, 

If one foot in a century be a quantity so 
small as to disappoint the imagination of 
its accustomed exercise, let us turn to the 
Cambrian succession of Scandinavia, where 
all the zones recognized in the British 
series are represented by a column of sedi- 
ment 290 feet in thickness. If 1,600,000 
years be a correct estimate of the duration 
of Cambrian time, then each foot of the 
Scandinavian strata must have occupied 
5,513 years in its formation. Are these 
figures sufficiently inconceivable? 

In the succeeding system, that of the 
Ordovician, the maximum thickness is 17,- 
000 feet. Its deposits are distributed over 
a wider area than the Cambrian, but they 
also occupied longer time in their forma- 
tion ; hence the area from which-they were 
derived need not necessarily have been 
larger than that of the preceding period. 

Great changes in the geography of our 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


area ushered in the Silurian system: its 
maximum thickness is found over the Lake 
district, and amounts to 15,000 feet; but 
in the little island of Gothland, where all 
the subdivisions of the system, from the 
Landovery to the Upper Ludlow, occur in 
complete sequence, the thickness is only 
208 feet. In Gothland, therefore, according 
to our computation, the rate of accumula- 
tion was one foot in 7,211 years. 

With this example we must conclude, 
merely adding that the same story is told 
by other systems and other countries, and 
that, so far as my investigations have ex- 
tended, I can find no evidence which would 
suggest an extension of the estimate I have 
proposed. It is but an estimate, and those 
who have made acquaintance with ‘ esti- 
mates’ in the practical affairs of life will 
know how far this kind of computation may 
guide us to or from the truth. 

This address is already unduly long, and 
yet not long enough for the magnitude of 
the subject of which it treats. As we 
glance backwards over the past we see 
catastrophism yield to uniformitarianism, 
and this to evolution, but each as it disap- 
pears leaves behind some precious residue 
of truth. For the future of our science our 
ambition is that which inspired the closing 
words of your last President’s address, that 
it may become more experimental and 
exact. Our present watchword is Evolu- 
tion. May our next be Measurement and 
Experiment, Experiment and Measurement. 

W. J. Soxzas. 


THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES OF ME- 
TEOROLOGY AND AERONAUTICS 
AT PARIS. 

TueEsE Congresses were held nearly simul- 
taneously on account of their allied inter- 
ests. The Meteorological Congress, which 
began its sessions on September 10th, had the 
same character as the Congress held during 
the Paris Exposition of 1889, that is to say, 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


it was open to all meteorologists, and al- 
though the countries participating in the 
Exposition were invited to send delegates, 
yet these had no power to pledge their re- 
spective countries to any action. More 
than thirty countries were represented this 
year at the Congress and about one hun- 
dred persons of various nationalities at- 
tended its sittings, which, consequently, 
were more truly international than was 
the case with any preceding congress. The 
absence of the Chief of the United States 
Weather Bureau was much regretted and 
the United States was represented solely 
by the officials in charge of the Weather 
Bureau exhibit at the Exposition and by 
the writer, who had also been the delegate 
of the United States in 1889. The place of 
meeting was again at the rooms of the So- 
ciété d’Encouragement, outside the Exposi- 
tion grounds. 

M. Masceart, the director of the French Me- 
teorological Office, was chosen president of 
the Congress, which he directed with his 
usual ability, being ably seconded by M. 
Angot as general secretary. Three vice- 
presidents represented England, Russia and 
Norway, respectively. At least half of the 
hundred papers presented were discussed 
by five standing committees whose sittings 
were open to any persons interested in the 
subjects. The most important work of 
the Congress was performed by these com- 
mittees, foremost among them being the 
Aeronautical Commission, presided over by 
Professor Hergesell, that discussed the re- 
sults obtained in the exploration of the 
atmosphere by the international use of 
balloons and kites, and the improvements 
that could be effected in instruments and 
methods. Professor Violle, as president of 
the Commission on Solar Radiation, sum- 
med up the state of the subject and heard 
several papers. Professor Ricker left the 
meeting of the British Association to pre- 
side over the Commission on Terrestrial 


SCIENCE. 


197 


Magnetism which had presented to it the 
work being done by magnetic observa- 
tories and surveys throughout the world. 
The Cloud Commission, the oldest of these 
committees, has always had at its head 
the indefatigable Professor Hildebrandsson , 
who was now able to summarize the results 
of the cloud measurements that through 
his efforts had been executed in various 
parts of the world during the so-called 
‘international cloud-year.’ It was resolved 
to invite the meteorological observatories 
to undertake special observations of clouds 
each month on the days that the interna- 
tional ascents of balloons and kites were 
made in Europe. Eminently practical was 
the Commission for Weather Telegraphy, 
which proposed to accelerate the weather 
despatches in Europe by introducing the 
‘circuit system’ of the United States, but 
found it necessary to refer the matter to the 
International Telegraphic Bureau at Berne. 
From the scope of these committees it will 
be seen that comparatively few subjects 
were left for discussion in the general ses- 
sions, which, consequently, had less interest 
than usual and served mainly to confirm 
the resolutions of the commissions. 

Among the institutions visited, the most 
interesting was the observatory for dynamic 
meteorology at Trappes, near Versailles, 
where M. Teisserene de Bort maintains an 
admirably equipped observatory, especially 
engaged at the present time in investiga- 
tions of the upper atmosphere. This ob- 
servatory, designed in general after that at 
Blue Hill, possesses, besides, means of ob- 
taining temperature data at very high alti- 
tudes by the ‘ballons-sondes’ which are 
sent up twice a week and carry self-re- 
cording instruments to the height of ten 
miles or more. Owing to the many dis- 
tractions of Paris, the only general enter- 
tainment was the banquet on the Hiffel 
Tower, and this was notable for the eloquent 
discourse of M. Leygues, Minister of Public 


798 
Instruction, who welcomed the meteorolo- 
gists assembled from all parts of the globe 
as engaged in a science that benefits hu- 
manity and is independent of nationality. 
Coincident with the Congress, the In- 
ternational Meteorological Committee held 
a meeting and filled the vacancies exist- 
ing in it, caused by the retirement of Dr. 
Scott, of England, and Professor Tacchini, 
of Italy, by electing to membership Dr. 
Shaw and Professor Palazzo, their success- 
ors as heads of the meteorological bureaus 
in their respective countries. Professor 
Hildebrandsson becomes secretary of the 
committee, a position long and faithfully 
filled by Dr. Scott. 

The Aeronautical Congress convened on 
September 17th, the day that the Meteoro- 
logical Congress adjourned. The general 
sessions were held at the Astro-physical 
Observatory at Meudon, but the sections 
met at the Institute of France in Paris. 
The committee of organization continued 
in office, namely M. Janssen as president 
and M. Triboulet as general secretary. 
Among the honorary vice-presidents was 
Professor Langley, who, with the writer, 
was a delegate of the United States. No 
other Americans attended the meeting, and 
the difficulty of getting to Meudon, no 
doubt, was one reason why so few persons 
came of the one hundred and fifty enrolled. 
M. Janssen’s address was a masterly ré- 
sumé of the progress of aéronautics since the 
Congress of 1889, and contained apprecia- 
tive mention of the exploration of the at- 
mosphere by balloons and kites. In speak- 
ing of the future, M. Janssen predicted that 
the nation which first learned to navigate 
the air would become supreme, for while 
the ocean, which has given preeminence 
to the people using it most, has its bound- 
aries, the atmosphere has none. What then, 
asked the illustrious orator, will become of 
national frontiers when the aérial fleets can 
cross them with impunity? Two impor- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


tant conferences were given by the Renard 
brothers, the well-known officers in charge 
of the Central Establishment for Military 
Aéronautics at Chalais-Meudon. Major Paul 
Renard described the present state of aéro- 
nautics as exemplified at the Exposition. 
Colonel Charles Renard, who, with Major 
Krebs as collaborator, constructed at Cha- 
lais in 1884 the dirigible balloon named La 
France, the performance of which has never 
been equaled, gave a critical account of 
the various attempts to navigate the air by 
such balloon methods, terminating with the 
balloons recently constructed by M. San- 
tos-Dumont in Paris and the huge one of 
Count von Zeppelin on the Lake of Con- 
stance. The other lectures were by M. 
Teisserenc de Bort on the meteorological 
results at Trappes from ‘ballons-sondes’ 
and, kites and by the writer on the use of 
kites at Blue Hill to bring down such data 
from altitudes of three miles. In Paris 
special and technical papers were presented 
to four sections relating to different branches 
of aeronautics, and at the closing general ses- 
sion these communications were summar- 
ized and some resolutions were adopted. An 
international aéronautical committee was 
appointed, consisting, besides the officers of 
the Congress, of ten Frenchmen and ten for- 
eigners, whose duty it is to advance aéro- 
nautical work throughout the world. On 
September 21st a delightful banquet at the 
Orangerie of the Chateau of Meudon, where 
the first balloons were constructed during 
the Empire, closed the Congress, and pre- 
dictions were freely made that the conquest 
of the air was near at hand and that pos- 
sibly members might come to the next re- 
union in aerial conveyances. 

The noteworthy feature of this meeting, 
which could hardly be called international, ~ 
was the demonstration of the practical sta- 
tus of aeronautics in France. Through the 
courtesy of the Minister of War, the es- 
tablishment of Chalais was opened to the 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


public for the first time, permitting the 
construction and manipulation of the war- 
balloons to be seen, and what was more 
interesting to the student, the apparatus 
employed by Colonel Renard in determin- 
ing the resistance of the air to various 
bodies moving through it. At the Park of 
Vincennes, in connection with the aéro- 
nautical section of the Exposition and 
through the cooperation of the Aéro-Club, 
balloon races were organized, and each Sun- 
day the novel spectacle was presented of a 
great number of balloons starting on their 
journey without delay or difficulty. On 
one afternoon seventeen balloons rose suc- 
cessively, each aeronaut endeavoring to 
land as near as possible to some point 
that he had fixed beforehand. The skill 
shown in utilizing the prevailing currents 
and in manipulating the guide-ropes may 
be inferred from the fact that one aéronaut, 
after a voyage of thirty miles, landed within 
half a mile of his goal. The same evening 
eight more balloons ascended and on the 
following Sundays there were competitions 
for height and distance. In the former 
contest a balloon, filled with 106,000 cubic 
feet of illuminating-gas and carrying 4 
single aéronaut rose more than 27,000 feet, 
a height never before attained in France, 
unless perhaps by the ill-fated Zenith, when 
two of its passengers were asphyxiated. In 
the final long-distance race, about 1,400 
miles were traversed in thirty-seven hours 
and three of the six balloons landed in 
Russia. All these voyages, accomplished 
without accident, tend to popularize bal- 
looning as a sport and to facilitate its 
practical employment whenever the diri- 
gible balloon shall be realized. As be- 
fore mentioned, a very interesting attempt 
to solve this problem is being made at 
Saint Cloud, near Paris, by M. Santos- 
Dumont, who sits beneath a cigar-shaped 
balloon and controls a gasoline engine driv- 
ing the propeller placed in front. In the 


SCIENCE. 


799 


trial witnessed of his balloon No. 4 an 
accident to the rudder made it necessary to 
hold the balloon captive but, nevertheless, 
it advanced into a light wind and was 
easily managed. This balloon will com- 
pete for the Deutsch prize of twenty thou- 
sand dollars for a voyage to the Hiffel 
Tower and back, a distance of seven miles, 
in half an hour. The aéronautical exhibit 
in the Champ de Mars was chiefly retro- 
spective, but a novelty was the Avion, or 
flying machine of M. Ader, which resembles 
a gigantic bat and although it has never 
been tried in the open air yet the ingenious 
construction of the supporting surfaces and 
the extreme lightness of the steam-engine 
rendered it an object of attention. The 
kite competition at Vincennes, which the 
writer was called upon to judge, was sev- 
eral times postponed for lack of wind and 
had little interest, since the cellular kite of 
M. Lecornu was the only one possessing 
merit. 

The Congresses of Meteorology and Aéro- 
nautics in 1900 are especially interesting as 
affording a general retrospect of the prog- 
ress made by the twin sciences in the cen- 
tury just closing, and as giving a forecast 
of their possibilities in the next century, for 
meteorology and aéronautics are mutually 
dependent upon each other. The explora- 
tion of the air will give a better knowledge 
of the meteorology of the upper regions 
and perhaps will result in a more complete 
utilization of natural forces, such as solar 
energy and wind. ‘The sea, at present the 
great medium of international communi- 
cation, is only navigable on its surface 
while the aéronaut can use a vast depth of 
atmosphere and, while oceans separate con- 
tinents, the atmosphere unites and domi- 
nates them. It is certain, therefore, as M. 
Janssen said, that man will not stop until 
he has conquered the last domain open to 
his activity. 

A. LAWRENCE Rotou. 


800 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Die Elemente der Entwickelungslehre des Menschen 
und der Wirbelthiere. Von OscAR HERTWIG. 
Jena, Gustav Fischer. 1900. 8vo. Pp. vi+ 
406, mit 332 Abbildungen im Text. 

This work is an abbreviated reissue of the 
author’s well-known ‘Lehrbuch’—the new 
work being about one-third the size of its par 
ent. There is otherwise exceedingly little 
change, for there is no important modification 
of the general plan or of the style of treatment 
or in the point of view from which the author 
treats his subject. There has been no effort at 
all to recast the work so as to render it more 
suited to the requirements of embryological 
study in the laboratory. The text is taken from 
the ‘ Lehrbuch,’ with here and there modifica- 
tions of the phraseology, and with connecting 
new short parts to supply the place of some of 
the elided portions. The figures are nearly all 
from the ‘ Lehrbuch.’ 

Those who are familiar with the larger text- 
book will therefore have a very good con- 
ception of the character of the new volume and 
will find again the familiar merits and defects. 

The author has been one of the foremost of 
embryological investigators, confining, how 
ever, his original researches to a few fields. 
On such topics as the history of the genital 
products he writes with full mastery of the sub- 
ject, and his fine gift for the understanding of 
morphological problems, and his rare ability as 
an expositor, have combined to render all such 
parts of the volume of the very highest excel- 
lence. Unfortunately he seems to have been 
indifferent to the study of many other aspects 
of embryological study, and to have been satis- 
fied with a somewhat vague aquaintance with 
many important parts of the science. This 
general defect shows very strongly in the ab- 
sence of original illustrations, and in the fact 
that a large proportion of the minority of orig- 
inal figures are diagrams. Of these diagrams 
some are strangely incorrect, as, for instance, 
those of the development of the middle germ 
layers and those of veins. These diagrams indi- 
cate developmental processes, which are diamet- 
rically opposed to the observed facts. Equally 
unfortunate are his diagrams of the foetal en- 
velopes in birds and in mammals, since they are 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vox. XII. No. 308. 


in part quiteerroneous. Assome of the figures 
are copies after inaccurate originals, there is 
need for still further revision : thus in Fig. 144, 
the amnion and chorion are wrongly repre- 
sented, and the epithelium of the chorion is not 
only misdrawn but is labeled decidua reflexa. 
There are in the text also deficiencies which 
would certainly be corrected if the author’s 
study of the embryonic conditions were made 
to a larger degree at first hand, for example, 
and notably in the case of the liver, the veins, 
the thymus, the pharynx and its appendages, 
the brain and certain other parts. 

But though one may regret these and other 
deficiencies, some of which are very difficult to 
excuse, it remains true that the book deserves 
far more praise than fault-finding, and it ought 
to have a generous and hearty welcome, so that 
further editions may be called for soon, in 
which the author will have an opportunity to 
make the much-needed improvements. It is 
with regret that the reviewer finds himself 
obliged to qualify his recommendation of a 
work which he has found very helpful and 


stimulating. G. S. Minot 


Studies of American Fungi: Mushrooms, Edible, 
Poisonous, etc. By GEORGE FRANCIS ATKIN- 
son, Professor of Botany in Cornell Univer- 
sity, and Botanist of the Cornell University 
Agricultural Experiment Station. Andrus & 
Church, Ithaca, N. Y., U. 8S. A., publishers. 


8vo. Pp. i-vi, and 1-275, with 76 plates 
and over 150 text illustrations. Price, $3.00, 
postpaid. 


In the publication of this book, which has 
just come from the Genesee Press, Rochester, 
N. Y., it seems desirable that the author should 
calk attention to some of its features, the im- 
portance of which might at first be overlooked. 
In this connection it may not be out of place to 
first make some general statements regarding 
the book, a few of which are adapted from the 
introduction. 

Since the issue of my ‘Studies and Illustra- 
tions of Mushrooms,’ as bulletins 138 and 168 
of the Cornell University Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station, there have been so many inqui- 
ries for them, and for literature dealing with a 
larger number of species—it seemed desirable to 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


publish, in book form, a selection from the 
number of illustrations of these plants which I 
have accumulated during the past six or seven 
years. The selection has been made of those 
species representing the more important genera, 
and for the purpose of illustrating, as far as 
possible, all the genera of agarics found in the 
United States. This has been accomplished 
except in a few cases of the more unimportant 
ones. Nearly all of these genera, then, are 
illustrated by photographs and descriptions of 
one or several species, and in the more impor- 
tant genera like Amanita, Lepiota, Pleurotus, 
Mycena, Lactarius, Russula, Paxillus, Agaricus, 
Coprinus, etc., a larger number of species are 
very fully illustrated, showing stages of devel- 
opment in many instances, and with a careful 
comparison of the different kinds. 

Among the other orders of the higher fungi 
many genera and species of the Polypores, 
Hedgehog Fungi, Coral Fungi, Trembling Fungi, 
Puff Balls, Stinkhorns, Morels, etc., are illus- 
trated and described. Among these such gen- 
era as Boletus, Fistulina, Polyporus, Hydnum, 
Clavaria, Tremella, Morchella, ete., come in for 
a large number of species with beautiful photo- 
graphs and careful descriptions. In making 
the descriptions they have been drawn from 
studies of living specimens, in many cases 
showing important characters of development. 
An attempt has also been made to avoid, as far 
as possible, technical terms; or to use but few 
such terms, and the descriptions are intelligible 

- to one who is not a technical student of the 
fungi. There is some progression in the use 
of the technical terms in the book, fewer of 
them being employed in the first part of the 
book; here they are explained, so that the 
reader becomes gradually familiar with tltem. 
The first few chapters are devoted to a descrip- 
tion, in plain language, of the form and char- 
acters of mushrooms, as well as the course of 
development. In addition, there is a chapter, 
at the close, dealing with the more technical 
characters, and illustrating them. 

There are chapters on the collection and 
preservation of the fleshy fungi, how to photo- 
graph them and keep records of the important 
characters, which often disappear in drying; 
on the selection of the plants for the table, etc. 


SCLENOE. 


801 


Mrs. Rorer contributes an excellent chapter on 
‘Recipes for cooking Mushrooms,’ and Mr. J. 
F. Clark one on the chemistry and toxicology 
of mushrooms. There are also complete an- 
alytical keys to the genera of the agarics found 
in the United States, and keys to the orders of 
the higher fungi. The glossary deals only with 
the few technical characters employed in the 
book. 

The photographs have been made with great 
care after considerable experience in determin- 
ing the best means for reproducing individual, 
specific and generic characters, so important, 
and so difficult to preserve in these plants, and 
so impossible, in many cases, to accurately por- 
tray by former methods of illustration. Over 
200 of the illustrations are half-tone engravings 
from these photographs. Seventy of these are 
used as full-page plates and over 150 of the 
half-tones are text illustrations. Fifteen addi- 
tional species are illustrated in color. In the 
legend of the half-tones, text illustrations, as 
well as plates, the color of the cap, stem and 
gills is given. 

One feature, which the author regards as a 
very important one, needs explanation, since 
it might seem unnecessary to some to intro- 
duce it in the book. There is at present so 
much confusion in the determination of the 
American mushrooms, and so many references 
to them are made in some publications, which 
are unsupported by any evidence which would 
serve as a guarantee that the species has been 
rightly determined, or that it occurs at all in 
the locality cited, I have followed the plan in 
late years of preserving all the material from 
which the photographs are made, even of the 
common species. 

Furthermore, all material collected and pre- 
served for the herbarium, or for photographic 
purposes, is entered in a record book, even 
different collections of the same species, so 
that this material if divided and distributed 
will carry the original number. The nega- 
tives and photographs carry a corresponding 
number. In nearly all the photographs in 
this book, then, it is possible to find the 
actual specimens from which the photograph 
has been made if ever any doubt should arise 
as to the correct determination of the illustra. 


802 


tion in question. For this reason the number 
of the specimens from which the photograph 
has been made is given in parentheses usually 
following the description of the species. These 
specimens and photographs, then, become of 
nearly, if not quite, equal value to type speci- 
mens. 

The purpose of the book is to present the 
important characters which it is necessary to 
observe, in an intelligible way ; to present life- 
size photographic reproductions accompanied 
by plain and accurate descriptions, so that by 
careful observation of the plant, and by com- 
parison with the illustrations and text, even a 
beginner will be able to add many species to 
the list of edible ones, where now, perhaps, 
the collections are confined to the ‘ pink un- 
ders.’ The number of people in America who 
interest themselves in the collection of mush- 
rooms for the table is small compared with those 
in some European countries. This number, 
however, is increasing, and if a little more at- 
tention were given to the observation of these 
plants and the discrimination of the more com- 
mon kinds, many persons could add greatly to 
the variety of foods and relishes with compara- 
tively no cost. The quest for these plants in 
the fields and woods would also afford a most 
delightful and needed recreation to many, and 
there is no subject in nature more fascinating 
to engage one’s interest and powers of observa- 
tion. 

In addition to the purposes named above, the 
book has others. There are many important 
problems for the student in this group of plants. 
Many of our species and the names of the 
plants are still in great confusion, owing to the 
very careless way in which these plants have 
usually been preserved, and the meagerness of 
recorded observations on the characters of the 
fresh plants, or of the different stages of de- 
velopment. The study has also an important 
relation to agriculture and forestry, for there 
are numerous species which cause decay of 
valuable timber, or by causing ‘heart rot’ en- 
tail immense losses through the annual decre- 
tion occurring in standing timber. If the book 
contributes to the general interest in these 
plants as objects of nature worthy of observa- 
tion; if it succeeds in aiding those who are 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


seeking for information of the edible kinds; 
and stimulates some students to undertake the 
advancement of our knowledge of the group 
which may form a more scientific basis for 
their arrangement, it will serve the purposes 
the author had in mind in its preparation. 
Gro. F. ATKINSON. 


Engine Tests. By GEORGE S. BARRUuS, S8.B., 
New York, D. van Nostrand Co. 1900. 8vo. 
Illustrated. Pp. 338. 

This work is of a kind always welcomed by 
the scientific practitioner in engineering ; it is 
a collection of experimental data gathered to- 
gether by a well-known and skilled expert of 
rare experience and, what is still more rare, 
one who is accustomed to compel every scien- 
tific device and method to his service in his 
professional work. Mr. Barrus was one of the 
first in his profession to make use of the labora- 
tory and exact scientific methods of determin- 
ing the quality of steam supplied by the boiler 
and received at the engine, and to correct the 
previously always approximate figures for en- 
gine and boiler efficiency by reference to this 
datum. He had the exceeding good fortune to 
be engaged in some of the first and most impor- 
tant of the scientific studies of engine and boiler 
efficiency made at the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology. He went out into an extensive 
and varied and fruitful practice as consulting en- 
gineer for New England steam users and car- 
ried with him that knowledge of scientific 
methods and that appreciation of their value 
which made him a pioneer in the introduction 
of precise measurements into the practical work 
of the engineer. His publications represent the 
outcome of twenty-five years of excellent scien- 
tifie work. 

In 1891 Mr. Barrus published a volume of 
selected reports upon steam-boiler efficiencies, 
and its reception was such as to induce him to 
publish this volume on steam-engine data. The 
two volumes probably contain a larger body of 
recent and exact data of this kind than any 
similar mass of existing technical literature. 

The introductory portion includes a carefully 
written account of the methods employed in se- 
curing the data submitted, as of measuring the 
feed-water, determining leakage, calibration of 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


the delicate instruments employed, conduct of 
the work of collecting data, method in detail of 
working up results from the logs and indicator 
diagrams, and methods of adjustment of system 
of test to character of engines and boilers in 
hand. 

A second part presents the details of tests of 
simple, compound and triple expansion engines, 
summaries of the work, and a review in which 
are given his deductions as to magnitude and 
character of internal thermal wastes, effects of 
varying engine-speeds, steam-pressures, super- 
heating, condensing, and the relative values of 
the types of engine described, effects of steam- 
jacketing and of reheating in multiple-cylinder 
engines and of variations of proportion. The 
pressure diagrams taken with the indicator from 
the steam-chest or the steam-pipe of the engine 
constitute a rare collection of useful data. 
Sample indicator-diagrams are given from all 
the engines and are admirably reproduced by 
the engraver. The book is printed upon heavy 
calendared paper and is a good piece of work. 

The deductions and conclusions of the author 
are likely to be very helpful to the practitioner 
and there still is left for the reader the oppor- 
tunity to study out many interesting, and some 
valuable, practical and scientific facts, laws and 


important conclusions. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


Experimental Chemistry. By LyMAN C. NEWELL, 
Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), Instructor in Chem- 
istry in the State Normal School, Lowell, 
Mass. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. 1900. 
Price, $1.10. 

The aim of this book as expressed in the pre- 
face is ‘to provide a course in chemistry which 
shall be a judicious combination of the induc- 
tive and deductive methods.’ The author has 
selected representative experiments and has 
left many of the properties, of the substances 
experimented with, to be determined in the 
laboratory by the student. A number of simple 
quantitative experiments and problems are 
given and several features are added which 
give considerable choice in the selection of 
topics for discussion. A number of subjects, 
suggested by the experiments, are given for 
discussion in the laboratory and a number of 


SCIENCE. 


803 


classroom exercises, in the shape of subjects 
concerning the historical and descriptive side 
of chemistry, suggest different phases of the 
science upon which emphasis can be laid. The 
book ‘is clearly written and the explanations 
are sharp and to the point, and it will no doubt 
prove of value in normal schools and colleges. 
A teachers’ supplement accompanies it. 
J. EH. G. 


The Arithmetic of Chemistry. By JoHN WAD- 
DELL, B.Sc. (London), Ph.D. (Heidelberg), 
D.Sc. (Edin.), formerly assistant to the Pro- 
fessor of Chemistry in Edinburgh University. 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 1899. Pp. 
136. 

This book is intended to assist students in 
overcoming the difficulties they encounter in 
making chemical calculations. After describing 
the methods of calculating simple and complex 
weight relations, the author devotes chapters 
to the volume of gases, calculations involving 
weight and volume, calculations of analytical 
analysis and of formule. An appendix con- 
tains tables which may have to be consulted in 
making the calculations. In each chapter the 
principle is clearly explained by a number of 
examples, and a variety of problems taken 
from examination papers of different universi- 
ties are given, which can be solved by the 
student. One who has worked through this 
book should have a good grasp of the principles 


involved. 
J. E.G. 


Die Chemie im taglichen Leben. Von PROFESSOR 
LASssAR-CoHN. Vierte Verbesserte auflage. 
Hamburg, Leopold Voss. 1900. 4 Marks. 
Few popular works on chemistry have earned 

recognition in as short a time and in such 

degree as this. Not a text-book, its popularity 
is solely due to its acceptance by the general 
reader. The first edition appeared in Decem- 
ber, 1895, an English translation by M. M. Pat- 
terson Muir, with title, ‘Chemistry in Daily 

Life,’ being published shortly after by the J. 

P. Lippincott Co. Since then a Russian and an 

Italian translation have appeared, and also a 

second English edition, while translations into 

Servian, Portuguese, Bohemian, Swedish and 

Polish are announced. 


804 


The book is the record of popular lectures 
delivered at Konigsberg. Teachers of chem- 
istry will approve the skill and ease with which 
subjects seemingly difficult to present are made 
clear to the average reader. Among the topics 
treated are lighting, food, explosives, glass, 
soda, photography, paper, dyes, tanning, metal- 
lurgy, alloys. This work in the original or in 
the excellent English translation, should be in 
every school library and public library, for 
there is no other popular book giving the same 
information, while the information is given in 
an admirable way. 

E. RENOUF. 


ANTHROPOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE 
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISs- 
TORY, NEW YORK, IN 1900. 

Fhe Thompson River Indians of British Columbia. 
By JAMES TEIT, Mem. of the Am. Mus. of 
Nat. History, Vol. II, and of Anthropology, 
Part IV, Vol. I. The Jesup North Pacific 


Expedition. New York, April, 1900. Pp. 
168-390. Pls. XIV-XX. Figs. 118-315. 
Map. 4to. 

Basketry Designs of the Salish Indians. By Liy- 
INGSTON FARRAND. Same Series, Part Y. 
April, 1900. Pp. 391-400. Pls. XXI- 
XXIII. Figs. 316-330. 4to. 


Archeology of the Thompson River Region, British 
Columbia. By HARLAN I. SmirH. Same 
Series, Part VI. May, 1900. Pp. 401-454. 
Pls. XXITV-XXVI._ Figs. 331-380. 4to. 

Symbolism of the Huichol Indians. By CARL 


LuMHOLTZ. Same series, Part I, Vol. III. 
May, 1900. Pp. 1-228. Pls. LIV. Figs. 
291. Map. 4to. 


Traditions of the Chilcotin Indians. 
STON FARRAND. 
IV. Pp. 1-54. 
The Jesup North Pacific Expedition, organ- 

ized in 1897, has for its aim the history of man, 

past aud present, dwelling on the coasts of the 

North Pacific Ocean. Beginning at the Amur 

River in Asia, the exploration will extend 

northwestward to Bering Sea and thence south- 

eastward along the American coast as far as 
the Columbia River. 

The generous patron, whose liberality made 
possible both the research and the enjoyment of 


By Livine- 
Same Series, Part I, Vol. 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


it by the public through this series of mono- 
graphs, is Mr. Morris K. Jesup, during the last 
twenty years President of the American Museum 
of Natural History, New York City. The execu- 
tion of the tedious and difficult task is intrusted 
to the Anthropological Department, of which 
Professor F. W. Putnam is chief, the respon- 
sibility of the exploring and publishing falling 
on the shoulders of Professor Franz Boas. No 
pains or expense has been spared in the paper, 
the printing or the illustrations of the mono- 
graphs. We do not like the size, 11 x 14 inches, 
although Berlin, Dresden and Philadelphia 
have set the bad example. 

The Thompson River Indians and the Thomp- 
son River region come in for the lion’s share of 
attention. This stream is a branch of the 
Fraser River, in middle British Columbia, its 
headwaters almost touching those of the Co- 
lumbia and Mackenzie. The tribe here studied, 
better known as the ‘Couteau’ or ‘Knife’ 
Indians, belong to the Salishan family. There 
are 209 of them, and Dr. Boas finds their num- 
ber decreasing. Mr. Teit, author of the mono- 
graph, is an old resident of the region, con- 
versant with the language, and he has done 
his work under one of the foremost of ethnolo- 
gists. His descriptions of dress, food, arts, 
trade, travel, transportation, warfare, social 
life, fine art, folk-lore and religion, supple- 
mented by pictures drawn from specimens, and 
photographs made on the spot, form an ideal 
contribution to knowledge. From his minute 
examination it is shown that the Thompson 
River Indians and their ancestors were an up- 
land people, influenced greatly by tribes farther 
eastward, little by those on the coast. They 
are not high in the scale of social organization 
or religion, and, like other Salishan tribes, have 
absorbed much and given out little. 

Dr. Farrand’s paper on basketry patterns is 
most timely. It not only rounds out Mr. 
Teit’s studies, but it enters a new and inviting 
field. The basket fever is now raging, in most 
contagious form. The materials, patterns, 
stitches, colors and general designs are quite 
well understood; but no one dreamed until re- 
cently that there were mines of folk-lore in the 
patterns. The reader will findin Mr. Farrand’s 
paper about forty of these from Thompson 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


River and Quinaielt baskets deciphered. We 
have lately heard that Fig. 9, Plate XXIII, for 
which Dr. Farrand was not able to obtain ex- 
planation, stands for the forms assumed in the 
clear fresh water lakes. This design reaches 
far to the southward. Dr. Hudson has gath- 
ered the meanings of about 80 symbols from 
the Pomos; Dr. Hough, many from the Mokis ; 
and Mr. Roland B. Dixon understands many 
in middle California. 

Complementary to Mr. Teit’s studies is that 
of Mr. Harlan I. Smith, a trained archeologist, 
at Spence’s Bridge, Kamloops, and in Nicola 
Valley, a former paper (III) being devoted to 
Lytton, at the junction of the Fraser and the 
Thompson. There is noevidence on the upper 
Fraser of great antiquity. One interesting dis- 
covery of Mr. Smith’s was of rock-slide burial. 
The bodies of the dead were laid at the foot of 
a talus, at times covered with a framework as 
of a miniature tent. Rocks and débris were 
then slid down over all. In this exploration, 
the resources of the former population, includ- 
ing copper and nephrite, were brought to light, 
as well as their arts in stone, bone, shell, wood 
and textile. Not a shadow of pottery was en- 
countered. The ancient people were hunters, 
fishers and ‘diggers,’ skin-dressers, stone- 
workers and makers of basketry; they smoked 
and gambled. In fact, in all important respects 
they were the ancestors of the ‘Couteaux.’ 
They were not coast people, though they bor- 
rowed from the last named; but they had 
chosen affinities with tribes of Oregon and 
California, both physically and industrially. 

Dr. Farrand’s second paper (No. I of Vol. 
III) is devoted to the traditions of the Chilcotin 
Indians (Athapascan family), living on the 
Chileotin River, a branch of the Fraser, 52° 
north. This tribe of Athapascans, wedged in 
between Wakashan and Salishan tribes, offers 
an extraordinary opportunity of testing the 
modern fad in ethnology, that of ‘ independent 
development.’ -We are not surprised to find 
a practiced field hand like the author say- 
ing ‘‘ there is not a very rich, independent my- 
thology, but surprising receptivity to foreign 
influences. * * * Comparatively few of the 
traditions exhibit unmixed Athapascan char- 
acteristics.’? Nearly every element of the cul- 


SCIENCE. 


805 


ture-hero story is said to be found in one or 
more of the neighboring tribes, while in no one 
is there a complete correspondence in the whole 
myth. Mr. Farrand had a goodly mass of ma- 
terial for comparison in the voluminous writ- 
ings of Father Morice, Abbe Petitot, Boas, 
Teit and Rand. 

Mr. Lumholtz’s generous monograph, of 
228 pages, does not belong to the Jesup North 
Pacific Series, but treats of a little known tribe 
of Nahuatlan Indians, called Huichols, num- 
bering 4,000 souls and living in the Sierras, on 
the Chapalangana River, a branch of the Rio 
Grande de Santiago, in the northwestern corner 
of the State of Jalisco, Mexico. These Indians, 
though conquered by the Spaniards in the 16th 
century, keep their ancient customs, beliefs, 
and ceremonies. Mr. Lumholtz devotes a few 
pages to the Huichols and their arts and then 
sticks bravely to his text, the patient detail of 
their symbolism. The four principal male gods 
are the god of fire, the chief deer god, the sun 
god, and the god of wind or air (Elder Brother, 
or Grandfather). The chief female deities are 
Grandmother Growth, Mother East-Water, 
Mother West Water, Mother South-Water, and 
Mother North-Water. Sacrifices are made to 
these and many others as prescribed. 

The interesting cult of hi/kuli, the mescal 
button (Anhalonium Lewinii) is described and 
illustrated, and the names of cult animals iden- 
tified. With great care the author sets forth 
and pictures the ceremonial dress and objects 
and symbols. Mr. Lumholtz’s personal equa- 
tion has a decided leaning against accultur- 
ation. This prejudice reaches its climax on 
page 206, where he figures a musical bow of 
African origin and says: ‘‘ These facts settle 
beyond doubt the questions recently raised 
whether or not there is a musical bow indig- 
enous to America. To deny its existence 
among the Coras and their northern neighbors 
would be equivalent to denying the originality 
of the Huichol drum.’’ That is a little too 
strong. But the notched bones figured on the 
same page are infinitely more interesting, hay- 
ing a far more puzzling distribution. The con- 
cluding chapters, in which symbols and prayers 
are briefed and indexed, will enable the student 
to utilize the author’s material economically. 


806 


For the series here described, the American 
Museum and Mr. Jesup, the Maecenas of 
American ethnology, deserve hearty praise. It 
is now in order for others of our great museums 
to wake up and let us hear from them. 

O. T. MAson. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 


Geometrical Opties. 
University Press. 
Pp. x+344. $3. 


Photographic Optics. Otto LUMMER. Translated and 
augmented by SyLvVANUS P. THompson. London 
and New York, The Macmillan Co. 1900. Pp. 
xi-+ 135. $1.90. 


The Elements of Hydrostatics. S. L. LONEY. Cam- 
bridge University Press. New York, The Mac- 
millan Co. 1900. Pp. x + 248+ xii. $1.00. 


Botany. LL, H. Batney. New York and London, 
The Macmillan Co. 1900. Pp. xiv -+355. $1.10. 


A Text-book of Important Minerals and Rocks. S. E. 
TILLMAN. New York, John Wiley & Sons; Lon- 
don, Chapman & Hall (Ltd). 1900. Pp. 186. 
$2.00. 


R. A. HERMAN. Cambridge 
New York, The Macmillan Co. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

THE Bulletin of the American Geographical So- 
ciety for October 31, 1900, contains an excellent 
picture of the late president of the Society, the 
Hon. Charles P. Daly, which forms the frontis- 
piece of this number. Judge Daly was the 
honored president of this, the oldest Geograph- 
ical Society in America, and the portrait painted 
by Harper Pennington forms a fitting memorial 
of the thirty-five years of active service to the 
Society. The number contains a larger series 
than usual of what might be called new articles. 
First among these is an article upon the ‘ Ethnol- 
ogy of Madagascar,’ by the Hon. W. H. Hunt, of 
Tamatave, dealing largely with the tribal names 
and the early immigrations, showing that there 
must have been a series of migrations from an 
Asiaticsource. The second section of the paper 
discusses the early maps of the island, and then 
takes up the geography and cartography of 
Madagasgear as developed between 1897 and 
1899. This new work is due largely to the 
initiative of General Gallieni. This is followed 
by an article descriptive of the ‘Heaths and 
Hollows of Holland,’ by Dr. W. E. Griffiths, a 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


bright and entertaining tale of this ‘ water- 
logged’ country and its people. ‘Korea’s Geo- 
graphical Significance’ is discussed by H. B. 
Hulbert, of Seoul, in a scholarly paper showing 
the relations brought about by this stepping 
stone from Asia to Japan, giving the results 
produced asa link between two widely separated 
branches of the Turanian stock ; and then again 
when serving as a barrier between active Japan 
and ambitious Russia. Mr. Henry Gannett, of 
Washington, gives a careful résumé of the recent 
census of Porto Rico. This new addition to 
our domain has a population of 963,243, thus 
showing a very dense population of its 3,600 
square miles. An outline sketch of the geogra- 
phy of British Honduras is given by Hon. W. 
L. Avery, of Belize. This is followed by an 
account of a trip through the silk and tea dis- 
tricts of Kiangnan and Chepiang, by E. S. 
Fischer. The portion of the Bulletin devoted 
to notes in this number is particularly full, 
and covers the departments of physiography, 
map notices, climatology, geographical edu 
cation and the general geographical record. 
Cosmos Mindeleff gives a full account of the use 
and manufacture of geographical relief maps, 
and M. Henri Froideveaux gives a sketch ot 
geography at the Paris Exposition. At the end 
of the number there is a picture of the new 
home of the Society, Manhattan Square on 81st 
street, giving a view of the front of the building 
and plans of the grounds and library floors. 
The enterprise of the Council in constructing 
this building as a repository for its fine library 
and a commodious place for the intercourse of 
the Fellows of the Society, is deserving of the 
highest praise. 

The Plant World for October opens with 
‘Notes for the Beginner in the Study of Mosses,’ 
by F. H. Knowlton, the first of a series on the 
lower plants. A. S. Hitchcock describes ‘Col 
lecting Sets of Plants for Exchange’; EH. J. 
Hill has ‘An Observation on the Water-Shield 
(Brasenia peltata), dealing with the dissemina 
tion of its seed ; Charles Newton Gould de- 
scribes the ‘Radiate Structure of the Wild 
Gourd’ (Curcubita fetidissima), and Joseph 
Crawford has some ‘ Notes on Ophioglossum.’ 
In the supplement devoted to ‘The Families of 
Flowering Plants,’ Charles Louis Pollard deals 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


with the orders Verticellatz, Piperales, Sali- 
eales and Juglandes and their allies. 


THE Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 
Sciences for October begins with a discussion of 
‘The Antitoxin Unit in Diphtheria,’ by Theo- 
bald Smith, detailing various experiments made, 
and concluding that at present we cannot do 
better than to utilize the standard provided by 
Ehrlich which is described in the paper. John 
Lovett Morse has an abstract of a paper on 
‘The Serum Reaction in Feetal and Infantile 
Typhoid,’ and Albert P. Matthews describes 
‘ Artificially produced Mitotic Division in Un- 
fertilized Arbacia Eggs,’ caused by lack of 
oxygen, heat and the action of alcohol, chloro: 
form and ether. Martin H. Fischer has a pre- 
liminary communication on ‘The Toxic Effects 
of Formaldehyde and Formalin,’ and William 
Sydney Thayer has some ‘ Observations on the 
Blood in Typhoid Fever,’ being an analysis of 
the examinations of the blood in typhoid fever 
made in the Johns Hopkins Hospital during 
eleven years. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 327th regular meeting was held on Sat- 
urday evening, November 3d. 

Under the head of ‘Notes’ F. A. Lucas de- 
scribed a specimen of the buffalo-fish, recently 
received by the U. S. National Museum, which 
had no mouth, the bones of the jaws having 
failed to develop. The fish must have fed by 
means of the gill openings and had attained a 
weight of more than a pound when caught. 
W. H. Dall called attention to the discovery, 
by Mr. T. Wayland Vaughan, of a fossil coral 
reef in Decatur Co., Georgia. This reef, which 
was of Oligocene age, resembled the fossil reefs 
in the Island of Antigua and was noteworthy 
from the large number of species represented, 
the reefs of the Tertiary beds usually being 
poor in the number of species of corals. 

Under the title, ‘Insects affecting Cotton,’ 
L. O. Howard, following the ‘symposium on 
cotton,’ which occupied the last meeting of the 
Society, made some observations on the princi- 
pal insect enemies of the plant. He presented 
accounts of Aletia xylina, Heliothis armiger, Dys- 
dercus suturellus, and Anthonomus grandis, noting 


SCIENCE. 


807 


various outbreaks of these pests and describing 
their habits, transformations and the remedies 
employed. 

Henry James spoke of ‘Recent Progress in 
Forestry,’ saying that the great obstacles to 
improvement in the management of forests in 
America were first, from the point of view of a 
forester, the new trees and conditions which 
have made the application of European methods 
in this country impossible, and, second, the al- 
most total lack of examples of successful forest 
management, 

During the last two years, however, this con- 
dition of things has greatly improved. The 
offer of the Division of Forestry, through the 
Department of Agriculture, to examine forest 
tracts and prepare ‘working plans’ for their 
management free of charge, has been taken ad- 
vantage of on every side; and it has thus been 
made possible for the division to give object 
lessons in forest management in many parts of 
the country, and to gain knowledge and ex- 
perience in a most practical way. In New 
York, for instance, a working plan is now being 
prepared for a part of the State Forest Pre- 
serve in the Adirondacks. On the Pacific 
coast the day of conservative lumbering is 
being brought nearer by investigations of the 
habits of growth and reproduction of some 
important lumber trees. These are making it 
clear among other things that the Red Fir and 
the Redwood reproduce more easily and will 
grow to a merchantable size much sooner than 
has hitherto been supposed. Similar observa- 
tions are being made in other parts of the 
country, and interest in forestry is everywhere 
spreading rapidly. This is partly because peo- 
ple are realizing the importance of ample forest 
resources and a steady supply of water, partly 
because foresters can more often get down to 
terms which appeal to practical landowners. 
It means that soon many States will be follow- 
ing the example of Indiana, Pennsylvania and 
one or two others in taking hold in earnest of 
such important problems as those relating to 
protection from fire and reform in forest taxa- 
tion. Forestry is appearing daily as something 
practical and desirable to more and more own- 
ers of forest land and voters generally who 
shape legislation. 


808 


M. W. Lyon presented some ‘Notes on the 
Zoology of Venezuela,’ stating that he spent 
the months of July and August in that country 
in company with Lieut. Wirt Robinson, collect- 
ing zoological material, especially the mam 
mals. On the way down one day was spent at 
the interesting island of Curacao, a few miles 
from the South American mainland. The 
mammal fauna of this dry and rather barren 
island consisted of several species of bats and a 
rabbit. Of the former eight are known to be 
peculiar, but related to the mainland forms, 
although one genus, Leptonycteris, has never 
been taken nearer than Central America. We 
are indebted to Mr. Guthrie, in the United 
States Weather Bureau Service, for our knowl- 
edge of Curacaoan bats. 

On the continent, collecting was confined 
to the vicinity of La Guaira, at the base of 
the extensive range of mountains that border 
the northern coast of South America. The 
first few hundred feet of hills about La Guaira 
are remarkably dry and covered with scrubby 
trees and bushes, agaves and post-cactuses, but 
at higher elevations where the moisture is 
greater is an abundant growth of tropical trees, 
shrubs and vines. The fauna of the dry region 
is quite different from that higher up, and con- 
sists principally of certain species of birds and 
lizards. Mammals, as well as more or less 
characteristic birds and reptiles, are apparently 
confined to the better wooded regions, or in the 
narrow valleys that the mountain brooks make 
on their way to the sea. There are no rivers in 
the neighborhood. Diligent trapping does not 
result in thenumerous small mammals, as in tem- 
perate regions or certain places in the tropics. 
Bats are abundant in species and individuals, 
and may be found roosting in dense trees, in 
houses, or in the few small so-called caves in the 
region. Among the more interesting ones are 
dise-bats, of the genus Thyroptera, with a suck- 
ing dise near each wrist and ankle joint, by 
means of which it canadhere to and move over 
smooth surfaces as glass, in the manner of 
a fly, and the vampire, a moderately sized bat 
with a special dentition and alimentary canal 
for drawing blood from animals and digesting 
it. The native or spiny rat, Loncheres, while 
belonging to an entirely different section of the 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


rodents, shows a striking external resemblance 
to the house rats found about the towns and 
brought in with the advent of the Europeans. 
Several other rodents occur and four species of 
opossums are found, including one of shrew- 
like form and habits, of the genus Peramys. 

F, A. Lucas spoke of ‘The Deposit of Masto- 
don Bones at Kimmswick, Missouri,’ saying that 
this extraordinary aggregation of bones and 
tusks represented hundreds of individuals of all 
ages and sizes. But asmall portion of the deposit 
had as yet been worked, but from this had been 
obtained teeth and bones representing between 


two hundred and three hundred animals. The 
full paper will appear in SCIENCE. 
F. A. Lucas. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE RELATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN 
FLORA TO THAT OF SOUTH AMERICA, 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: In the inter- 
esting article by Professor Bray on the relations 
of the North American Flora to that of South 
America, in your issue of November 9th (pp. 
10-11), there are some geological assumptions 
which are so at variance with the information 
now attainable that it seems well to call atten- 
tion to them. It is true that most of them are 
of ancient date and found more or less accepted 
in the literaturé, and that their erroneous char- 
acter does not materially affect Professor Bray’s 
botanical conclusions; moreover, the present 
state of our knowledge has been set forth in the 
annotations to a table of our Tertiary horizons 
which appeared in the 18th Annual Report, U. 
S. Geological Survey, Part II, pp. 323-348, 
1898. Nevertheless, they are so confidently 
stated by Professor Bray that it is quite likely 
that they may be accepted by botanical stu- 
dents and others not especially conversant with 
geology, and prove less innocuous than in the 
present case. 

In the first place, Professor Bray has been 
misled by the long continued practice of authors 
in referring the basal Middle Oligocene of Cen- 
tral America and the West Indies to the Mio- 
cene. It was during this period that Central 
America formed a series of islands and the 
lagoon islets of south Florida first appeared 
above the sea. During the Miocene, however, 


NovEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


there is no evidence that any part of Central 
America which is now above it was below the 
sea. No true marine Miocene beds have been 
recognized in any part of the Caribbean, An- 
tillean or Middle American region. Florida 
alone shows Miocene, not only about the south- 
ern borders of the group of islets which formed 
the nucleus of the present peninsula, but also 
across the neck of the peninsula; which in Mio- 
cene times was a wide, shallow strait between 
the islands and the mainland of Georgia and 
has been named the Suwanee Strait. 

Secondly, this Oligocene (formerly called 
Miocene) time was warm, but the true Miocene 
was a relatively cold period and is marked by a 
climatic change so sharp that the marine Oligo- 
cene fauna was almost wholly driven out of the 
Gulf and Floridian region, which was invaded 
by a cool-water fauna from the north, corre- 
sponding to the present fauna of New Jersey. 
The Arctic and Alaskan leaf beds, called Mio- 
cene by Heer, are now generally referred to 
some part of the Eocene column, and in Alaska 
are overlaid by the cooler marine fauna of the 
true Miocene. In the Pliocene, on the other 
hand, at least in Florida and the coast northeast 
_ of it as far as Chesapeake Bay and probably to 
Martha’s Vineyard, there was a change to a 
warmer marine condition, which carried several 
semi-tropical forms of mollusks as far north as 
Massachusetts, and was accompanied by a 
slight subsidence in the Gulf region and on the 
Central American coast. In Tehuantepec the 
coastal plain was submerged to a depth of at 
least 600 feet, though whether the connection 
between the two oceans was renewed is not yet 
known. The ice age was, in the Gulf region, 
ushered in by a slight elevation of the land, and 
a return to slightly cooler conditions of the sea, 
but not to as great a degree as during the Mio- 
cene, the northern current, if any, being prob- 
ably diverted off shore or cut off entirely. 

Lastly, there is no reason, paleontologically 
speaking, for believing that the Antilles or the 
Florida peninsula has ever been connected with 
South America since the Mesozoic, if at all. 
On the contrary, there are strong reasons for 
believing that the insular condition has been 
maintained in nearly all the islands (excluding 
Trinidad and those adjacent to it) from an early 


SCIENCE. 


809 


period in the Eocene to the present day. It is 
probable that the distribution of the flora can 
be fully accounted for without resorting to the 
hypothesis of an unbroken land connection. 
Wo. H. DALL. 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, November 12, 1900. 


PALEONTOLOGICAL NOTES. 
THESPESIUS VERSUS CLAOSAURUS. 


In 1856 Dr. Leidy described in the Proceed- 
ings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of 
Philadelphia two vertebre and a proximal pha- 
lanx, for which he proposed the name of Thes- 
pesius occidentalis, stating that they probably 
came from some Dinosaur, although they might 
prove to be mammalian. Comparison of these 
bones with the similar parts of Claosawrus an- 
nectens of Marsh shows them to be identical and 
that consequently this Dinosaur must be known 
by Leidy’s name. 


A NEW LOCALITY FOR THESPESIUS. 


Tuer U. S. National Museum has recently re- 
ceived from Mr. Harvey C. Medford, of Tupelo, 
Miss., the greater portion of the right femur of 
a large Dinosaur obtained near that place. This 
femur agrees exactly with the corresponding 
femur of a large and very complete specimen of 
Thespesius occidentalis collected by Mr. J. B. 
Hatcher in Wyoming, and certainly belongs to 
the same genus if not the identical species. 
This is the most southern locality for Thespesius, 
if not the first record of Dinosaur remains in the 
State of Mississippi. 


THE DERMAL COVERING OF THESPESIUS. 


THE impressions of the dermal covering of 
Thespesius (Claosaurus), noted by Mr. Hatcher in 
Scrence for November 9th, are of great interest, 
although they are not the first that have been 
discovered. Some years ago the U.S. National 
Museum obtained from Mr. Robert Butler a 
fine skull of Thespesius, together with other 
bones, and several pieces of sandstone bearing 


-the impressions of small horny scutes, similar 


to those described by Mr. Hatcher. 


THE DENTITION OF BASILOSAURUS CETOIDES. 

In the American Naturalist for August, 1894, 
attention was drawn to the fact that at least the 
lower molariform series of Zeuglodon contains 


810 


six teeth, or one more than it is usually credited 
with. The specimen in the U. 8. National 
Museum shows also that the first upper pre- 
molar is not a two-rooted tooth, but a single- 
rooted canimiform tooth having a very small 
accessory cusp on the posterior face. The first 
lower premolar is a large tooth with two roots. 
A jaw of Dorudon collected by Mr. Charles 
Schuchert seems to show that the Zeuglodonts 
were diphyodont, for it contains several teeth 
much smaller than those found in other speci- 
mens and these teeth had apparently not been 
fully extruded. 


THE HYOID OF BASILOSAURUS. 


ACCOMPANYING the skull obtained by Mr. 
Schuchert is a series of bones considered as 
constituting the hyoid. The complete hyoid is 
much like that of a toothed whale but with very 
much longer arches. The basihyal is flat be- 
neath, slightly hollowed above, the ceratohyals 
are immensely long, 35 cm., and quite slender ; 
the thyrohyals are stout at the point of articula 
tion with the basihyal, taper slightly and are 
25 em. in length. 


THE CRANIAL CAVITY OF BASILOSAURUS. 


A CAsT made in the cranial cavity of an im- 
perfect specimen of Basilosawrus shows the 
brain to have been comparatively smooth and 
of a most extraordinary shape, being very 
much wider than long, owing to its excessive 
prolongation in the auditory region. The sep- 
aration between cerebrum and cerebellum was 
rather slight, the tentorium being a mere low 
ridge. 

F. A. Lucas. 


FORESTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
STRANGELY enough, there comes from our far 


distant possessions in the Pacific Ocean—which , 


we are apt to think backward in all directions 
of economic development—a call for technically 
educated assistants in a branch of economics, 
which in our own country is only just beginning 
to be appreciated. 

The Forestry Bureau at Manila, which is in 
charge of Capt. Ahern, U. 8S. A.—a most ener- 
getic officer who took great interest in advocat- 
ing rational forestry methods for our public 
domain—is an inheritance from the Spanish 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 308. 


government. It was established as long as 35 
years ago, and employed 66 foresters, as many 
rangers and 40 other subordinates supervising 
the exploitation of the government forest prop- 
erty, which, according to estimate, comprises 
between 20,000,000 and 40,000,000 acres. 

Capt. Ahern writes that he found ‘ the regula- 
tions in force in August, 1898, excellent, prac- 
ticable and in line with the most advanced for- 
estry legislation of Europe,’ so that they could in 
the main be re-enacted, but, to be sure, the laws 
and regulations were not fully enforced and 
scientific forestry not practiced, and ‘‘it did not 
take long to develop the fact that the foresters 
knew very little of practical forestry, beginning 
their work after the trees had left the forest, 
not before, 7. e., devoting all their attention to 
collecting revenues.’’ 

At present even a revenue of about $8,000 
per month is derived from licensees, who are 
mainly engaged in collecting guttapercha, rub- 
ber, gum, varnish, dye woods (some 17 kinds) 
and firewood, besides some of the very valuable 
hard woods. 

Over 400 species of trees are known and a 
more careful survey will bring the number 
nearer 500. Of these at least 50 are valuable, 
the Yang-ylang tree being considered among 
the most important. This furnishes an oil 
which forms the base of many renowned per- 
fumes. On the island of Romblon, a mass of 
cocoa palms, the result of planting under a 
former governor, covers the slopes from sea to 
mountain top, furnishing a yearly revenue of 
from one to two dollars per tree. 

There are altogether, according to Blanco’s 
magnificent work on the flora of the Philippines, 
28 genera of palms with 87 species, the most 
important of which is Coryphea wmbellaria. 

There are 22 species of Cupuliferze, with two 
oaks (Quercus costata and conocarpa), and five 
genera of conifers with nine species ; one only 
true pine, Pinus insularis, occurring in dense 
forests in the island of Luzon, above 4,000 feet 
altitude. 

The families of Rubiacez, Rutaceze, Eben- 
acece and Leguminose furnish quite a large 
number of arborescent species. Coffee trees 
grow wild on the slopes, replacing the original 
growth, when invaded by the wood chopper. 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


A very large number of the tree species have 
officinal value. 

Means of communication are hardly yet de- 
veloped, hence only the outer fringe of the forest 
has been cut away and lumbering is compara- 
tively expensive, especially as no one gregarious 
species may be exploited, but, as is usual in 
tropic forests, a profusion of species occupies 
the ground; hence systematic exploitation 
which uses all that is valuable at one and the 
same time can alone pay for development of 
means of transportation. Capt. Ahern calls 
upon the N. Y. 8. College of Forestry for six 
technically educated foresters to assist him in 
organizing his bureau on better lines than un- 
der Spanish rule and also proposes to send some 
Filipino college graduates to take forestry 
courses at Cornell. B. E. F. 


PROFESSOR ROSS AND LELAND STANFORD, 
JR. UNIVERSITY. 

THE enforced resignation of Professor H. A. 
Ross from the chair of sociology at Leland 
Stanford, Jr. University is unfortunate, what- 
ever the explanation may be. It is well known 
that Mrs. Stanford occupies a peculiarly re- 
sponsible position in her relations to the uni- 
versity. She has, we believe, exercised her 
authority in the construction of buildings, etc., 
but never, heretofore, has interfered with the 
work of the professors. Professor Ross has 
made public a statement from which we quote 
the following paragraphs : 

‘‘ At Stanford University the professors are 
appointed from year to year, and receive their 
reappointment early in May. I did not get 
mine then, but thought nothing of it until, on 
May 18th, Dr. Jordan told me that, quite unex- 
pectedly to him, Mrs. Stanford had shown 
herself greatly displeased with me, and had re- 
fused to reappoint me. He had heard from 
her just after my address on coolie immigra- 
tion. He had no criticism for me, and was 
profoundly distressed at the idea of dismissing 
a scientist for utterances within the scientist’s 
own field. He made earnest representations to 
Mrs. Stanford, and on June 2d I received my be- 
lated reappointment for 1900-01. The outlook 
was such, however, that on June 5th I offered 
the following resignation : 


SCIENCE. 


811 


“Dear Dr. Jordan—I wassorry to learn from you 
a fortnight ago that Mrs. Stanford does not approve of 
me as an economist and does not want me to remain 
here. It was a pleasure, however, to learn at the 
same time of the unqualified terms in which you had 
expressed to her your high opinion of my work and 
your complete confidence in me as a teacher, a scien- 
tist and a man. 

‘“ While I appreciate the steadfast support you have 
given me, I am unwilling to become a cause of worry 
to Mrs. Stanford or of embarrassment to you. I there- 
fore beg leave to offer my resignation as professor of 
sociology, the same to take effect at the close of the 
academic year 1900-01.’ 


‘‘When I handed in the above Dr. Jordan ~ 
read me a letter which he had just received 
from Mrs. Stanford, and which had, of course, 
been written without knowledge of my resig- 
nation. In this letter she insisted that my con- 
nection with the university end, and directed 
that I be given my time from January Ist to the 
end of the academic year. 

“My resignation was not acted upon at once, 
and efforts were made by President Jordan and 
the president of the board of trustees to induce 
Mrs. Stanford to alter her decision. These 
proved unavailing and on Monday, November 
12th, Dr. Jordan accepted my resignation in 
the following terms: 


‘*T have waited till now in the hope that circum- 


‘stances might arise which would lead you to a recon- 


sideration. 

‘“ As this has not been the case, I, therefore, with 
great reluctance, accept your resignation, to take ef- 
fect at your own convenience. 

“Tn doing so I wish to express once more the high 
esteem in which your work as a student and a teacher 
as well as your character as a man, is held by all your 
colleagues.’ ’’ 


President Jordan is reported to have said : 
‘Tn regard to the resignation of Dr. Ross, it is 
right that I should make a further statement. 
There is not the slightest evidence that he is a 
‘martyr to freedom of speech.’ Nor is there 
any reason to believe that his withdrawal has 
been due to any pressure of capital or any sin- 
ister influence. I know that Mrs. Stanford’s 
decision was reached only after long and 
earnest consideration, and that its motive 
was the welfare of the university, and that 
alone.”’ 


812 


THE TELEPHONOGRAPH.* 


THE telephonograph is a combination of the 
phonograph with the telephone, and is intended 
to take and record telephone messages by auto- 
matic means, and, to a limited extent, give an 
answer in the same way. Itis the invention 
of Mr. J. HE. O. Kumberg, and an example of 
the instrument is to be seen at the office of 
Messrs. H. F. Joel and Co., 31 Wilson street, 
Finsbury. The combination is simple in gen- 
eral principle, but some ingenious mechanism 
has been introduced to make the working effec- 
tive. 
sending it into the telephone in the usual way, 
and the vibrations set up by the voice are 
caused to act upon a recording stylus by the 
impact of the sound-waves. In this way the 
wax cylinder in the office of the person spoken 
to is indented and a phonogram is produced. 
This, of course, can be read off at leisure in the 
usual way. The vibrations are transmitted 
either directly or indirectly, in the latter case 
an electrical current effecting the object. A 
highly-sensitive transmitter of any well-known 
form is used. If it is desired, the instrument 
may be so arranged that two wax cylinders, or 
phonograms, may be inscribed, the one being 
in the office of the sender, to be retained as a 
record, and the other, an exact duplicate of the 
first, being produced in the office of the re- 
ceiver. To effect this end, the transmitter in- 
strument has two channels or tubes for the 
sound-wayes produced by speaking into the 
mouthpiece. One of these channels leads to 
the speaking or recording diaphragm of the in- 
strument at the transmitting station, which en- 
graves them upon the phonogram blank. At 
the same time identical sound waves are elec- 
trically conveyed to the receiving instrument 
at the distant station of the person spoken to, 
and are there imprinted on another phonogram 
blank. It is possible to throw the phonograph 
action out of play and use the telephone in the 
ordinary way. ; 

Neither the telephone nor the phonograph is 
perfect in its action, and unpracticed persons 
are apt at times to experience some difficulty in 
translating the sounds either one or the other 


* From the London Times. 


SCIENCE. 


The message is spoken by the person - 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


produces into articulate speech ; and when the 
deficiencies of the two are combined difficulty is 
still more likely to arise, although proficiency 
is retained to a remarkable degree by practice. 
In order to overcome this defect a special de- 
sign of recording diaphragm cell has been de- 
vised by the inventor. It consists of a double 
cell micro-diaphragm having two compart- 
ments, one of which is fitted with a multiple, 
or other suitable microphone diaphragm disc, 
and the other with a sensitive disc of glass. 
This receives the undulations produced by the 
sound-waves and communicates them to the 
recording stylus. Below the glass diaphragm 
is a guard, which serves to confine the sound, 
and also as a shield against the scraping noise 
which the stylus makes by cutting into the wax 
cylinder. One of the most important features 
of the invention is a floating weight controlled 
by a spring which is attached by means of a 
pivoted lever and a fine wire to the two discs, 
already mentioned, of the double cell micro- 
diaphragm. The pivoted lever carries the re- 
cording and reproducing tools by which the 
sound vibrations are respectively engraved upon 
or reproduced from the wax cylinder. The ac- 
tion of the weight is to give additional power, 
or perhaps, rather, additional certainty and 
steadiness to the reproducing tools. Such 
weights have before been used to supply what 
may be described as a fly-wheel effect, thus 
enabling the cutting tool to overcome any irreg- 
ularities in the composition of the wax. The 
weight, however, is apt to rebound through its 
own momentum, and thus defeat the end for’ 
which itis provided. To overcome this defect 
a spiral spring is fitted in the machine under 
notice, with the result that the jumping or vi- 
bratory motion is damped. It is claimed that 
by this device a deeper cut is made in the wax 
cylinder than has been before obtained, and the 
reproduction of the sound waves is thereby 
made more perfect. 

We lately had an opportunity of testing this 
invention to the extent of transmitting a mes- 
sage from one room to another adjoining, al- 
though the length of wire represented a consid- 
erable distance. As reproduced by means of 
the phonogram, on which the message was re- 
corded, the words were distinctly audible, the 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900.] 


result being equal to that of an ordinary phono- 
graph. Mr. Higgins, chief engineer to the 
Exchange Telegraph Company, has tested the 
apparatus over a line five miles in length. He 
reports that under favorable circumstances ‘ ar- 
ticulation is good, the impressions on the cylin- 
der being as deep as the impressions made 
when speaking into an ordinary phonograph.’ 
Large battery power was needed and a rein- 
forcing current is required at the receiving and 
registering line. 

In regard to the practical utility of the appa- 
ratus those who had experience with the tele- 
phone and the phonograph will be able to judge 
from the description here given. It would be 
most applicable in small offices where a limited 
staff is employed. Thus if the office is left 
without an attendant and a call is made the 
phonograph can be so set as to reply, ‘‘ Mr. 
is out. The instrument is fitted with a tele- 
phonograph which will automatically take down 
any message you may send and Mr. will 
read it on his return.’’ The arrangement of the 
mechanism is such that any number of mes- 
sages up to an aggregate of 15,000 words may 
be taken in this way. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 


Str WILLIAM HuGGINS, the eminent astron- 
omer, will succeed Lord Lister as the president 
of the Royal Society. The other officers of 
the Society will remain as at present with the 
exception of certain members of the council. 
They will be as follows: Treasurer, Mr. Al- 
fred Bray Kempe; secretaries, Sir Michael 
Foster, D.C.L., LL.D., Professor Arthur Wil- 
liam Rucker, D.Se.; foreign secretary, Dr. 
Thomas Edward Thorpe, C.B.; other mem- 
bers of the council, Professor Henry Edward 
Armstrong, V.P.C.S., Mr. Charles Vernon 
Boys, Mr. 
William Henry Mahoney Christie, C.B., Pro- 
fessor Edwin Bailey Elliott, Dr. Hans Friedrich 
Gadow, Professor William Mitchinson Hicks, 
Lord Lister, F.R.C.S., Professor William Car- 
michael McIntosh, F.L.8., Dr. Ludwig Mond, 
Professor Arnold William Reinold, Professor J. 
Emerson Reynolds, D.Sc., Dr. Robert Henry 
Scott, Professor Charles Scott Sherrington, 


SCIENCE. 


Horace T. Brown, F.C.S., Mr.. 


813 


M.D., Mr. 
Barry. 


J. J. H. Teall, Sir John Wolfe- 


THESE Officers will be elected at the anniver- 
sary meeting of the Society on November 30th, 
when medals will be presented as follows: 
The Copley Medal to M. Berthelot, For. Mem. 
R.S., for his services to chemical science ; the 
Rumford Medal to M. Becquerel, for his dis- 
coveries in radiation proceeding from uranium ; 
a Royal medal to Major MacMahon, for his con- 
tributions to mathematical science; a Royal 
medal to Professor Alfred Newton, for his con- 
tributions to ornithology; the Davy Medal to 
Professor Guglielmo Koerner, for his investiga- 
tions on the aromatic compounds; and the Dar- 
win Medal to Professor Ernst Haeckel, for his 
work in zoology. 

Lorp AvEBURY has given the first Huxley 
Memorial Lecture which the Anthropological 
Institute of London has established to com- 
memorate Huxley’s anthropological work. 

F. H. Snow, Chancellor of the University of 
Kansas and professor of organic evolution and 
entomology, has been given a year’s leave of ab- 
sence by the Board of Regents, on account of 
ill health. 


Dr. L. O. HowARD, chief of the Division of 
Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
has been elected an honorary member of the 
‘Allgemeinen Entomologischen Gesellschaft.’ 
The other honorary members are: Fr. Brauer, 
Vienna; Charles Janet, Paris; Sir John Lub- 
bock, London; A. S. Packard, Providence, R. 
I.; J. A. Portchinsky, St. Petersburg; M. 
Standfuss, Zurich; E. Wasman, Luxemburg ; 
Aug. Weismann, Freiburg. 

Dr. RAMON y CAJAL, the eminent histol- 
ogist, has been awarded a pension by the Span- 
ish Government, and additional funds have also 
been provided for the enlargement and main- 
tenance of his laboratory. 

YALE UNIVERSITY has conferred the honor- 
ary degree of M. A. on Professor H. S. Graves, 
director of the Yale Forest School. : 

PROFESSOR BEMIs, director of the New York 
State School of Ceramics at Alfred University, 
has been awarded a silver medal at the Paris 
Exposition for a collection of the economic 
clays of the United States. 


814 


PROFESSOR G. FREDERICK WRIGHT, of Ober- 
lin College, and Mr. F. B. Wright arrived at St. 
Petersburg on the 14th instant. It will be re- 
membered that they were in the midst of the 
troubles in northern China. 


Dr. N. L. Britron, director-in-chief of the 
New York Botanical Gardens, has returned 
from Europe, where he has secured a number 
of important collections and made arrange- 
ments for exchanges. 

LLEWELLYN LE Counr, assistant in engineer- 
ing at Columbia University, died on November 
15th at the age of twenty-two years. He wag 
graduated this yearfrom the school of applied 
science of the university. 


THE Auk records the death of Mr. Charles C. 
Marble until recently editor of Birds, a mag- 
azine of popular ornithology. 

APPLIED science is deeply indebted to Mr. 
Henry Villard for hisinterest and faith in engi- 
neering works, especially the application of 
electricity before their commercial importance 
was commonly understood. Mr. Villard was 
also interested in pure science. Thus the 
Baudelier Expedition from the American Mu- 
seum of Natural History to Peru and Bolivia 
was equipped! by him in 1892, and he main- 
tained it until 1894. The results of this expe- 
dition to the region of highest pre-Columbian 
culture in South America form the nucleus of 
the archeological collection that is now open to 
the public in the west gallery of the American 
Museum of Natural History. Mr. Villard also 
furthered investigations among the native peo- 
ples of the Columbia River Valley. 


Turts COLLEGE will open.a small laboratory 
for marine biology at South Harpswell, Maine, 
next summer. The fauna there is very rich, 
and the locality is a delightful one in which to 
spendthesummer. There will be opportunities 
for a few investigators. Allinquiries should be 
addressed to Professor J. 8. Kingsley, Tufts 
College, Mass. 


THE meeting of Naturalists of the Central 
and Western States at Chicago, last year, was so 
successful that a second meeting will be held at 
the Hull Biological Laboratories, University of 
Chicago, on Thursday and Friday, December 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 308. 


27 and 28, 1900, when it is expected that a per- 
manent organization will be effected. The 
provisional program is as follows: Thursday, 
10 A. M.—General meeting in Room 24, Zoolog- 
ical Building (furnished with a projecting lan- 
tern), for organization and reading of the more 
general papers. 1 to 2 Pp. mM.—Luncheon at 
the Quadrangle Club. 38 »P. M.—Discussion : 
State Natural History Surveys; methods, re- 
sults, cooperation. 6:30 P. M.—Dinner at the 
Quadrangle Club. Friday, 9 A. M.—General 
meetings for reading of papers. At this time 
at least two sections, one in Zoology and one 
in Botany, will be formed, at which the more 
special papers will be read. The committee 
on the meeting is HK. A. Birge, Chairman; C. 
R. Barnes, T. G. Lee, C. C. Nutting and C. B. 
Davenport, Secretary. 

THE New York section of the Society of 
Chemical Industry holds its next meeting on 
November 23d at the Chemists’ Club, 686 W. 
55th Street, instead of at the College of Phar- 
macy as hitherto. The usual informal dinner 
before the meeting will be held at the Hotel 
Grenoble, 7th Avenue and 56th Street. 


Tue American Forestry Association will hold 
a meeting in Washington, on the morning of 
Wednesday, December 12th. , The meeting will 
be primarily a business meeting. The Board 
of Directors will make its annual report and 
officers will be elected for the ensuing year. 
Members who are in the neighborhood of Wash- 
ington are urged to be present. 

THE National Irrigation Congress is meeting 
in Chicago this week. In addition to special 
papers on the scientific aspects of irrigation 
and forestry, addresses have been arranged by 
Secretary Wilson, of the Department of Agri- 
culture, General Miles and other prominent 
men. 

Ir is announced from St. Petersburg that 
Baron Toll’s polar expedition, under the aus- 
pices of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, is 
wintering in the Kara Sea, on the northeastern 
coast of Siberia. It will send an expedition to 
the Taimyr Peninsula next spring to establish 
an observation station. 

Ir will be remembered that Benjamin Frank- 
lin bequeathed to the city of Boston $5,000, 


NOVEMBER 23, 1900. ] 


the interest of which should accumulate for 100 
years and then be used for public purposes. 
The period ended some six or seven years ago 
and there has been much difference of opinion 
as to the disposition of the fund which now 
amounts to $366,880. It appears, however, that 
a committee of the City Council and the man- 
agers of the fund have agreed to recommend 
that the money be used for the erection of a 
building to be known as the Franklin Institute, 
which shall be used for educational purposes, 
with special reference to artisans. 


A NUMBER of American men of science were 
awarded gold and silver medals at the Paris 
Exposition. A circular has been sent them, 
in lieu of the medals, stating that these can 
be purchased—the gold medal for 600 fr. The 
value of the gold in the medal is not stated, 
but it probably allows a generous profit to the 
promoters of the Exposition. Hlectrotype 
blocks of the medals are also offered for sale at 
a cost that will allow somebody a profit of 
about 1,000 per cent. 


ATTEMPTS have been made to sell a certain 
book by a person who styles himself ‘ President 
of the Natural Science Association of America,’ 
and the name is now being used to promote the 
sale of mining stocks. There is probably no 
legal means of preventing the use of an honor- 
able name for such purposes, but there should 
be some agency such as a committee of the 
National Academy of Sciences or of the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of Science 
that would prevent people from being deceived 
by the misuse of a name such as the ‘ Natural 
Science Association of America.’ 


PROFESSOR SMEDLEY, supervisor of the Chi- 
cago Board of Education’s Department of Child 
Study has drawn, says the Medical News, the 
following conclusions from the examinations of 
the eyes of the school children: (1) Dull pupils 
have a greater number of eye defects than 
brighter pupils. (2) Defective eyesight causes 
dulness in the child. (3) The primary rooms 
in the public schools have the poorest light. 
(4) Boys haye better sight than girls. (5) 
School life is responsible for many eye defects. 
(6) The first three years of school life increases 
eye defects one-third. (7) Of pupils whose 


SCIENCE. 


815 


sight is but one-tenth the keenness of normal, 
the number grows steadily larger from the be- 
ginning to the end of school life. (8) While 
in ordinary schools 32 per cent. had only two- 
thirds of ordinary keenness of sight, in one 
school 48 per cent. had that degree of eye de- 
fects. (9) Such defects undoubtedly were the 
cause of the presence of many of the pupils in 
that school. (10) Something must be done at 
once, at almost any cost, to save school chil- 
dren’s eyes. 2 
PROFESSOR GRASSI has just published, says 
the Lancet, another note in the Rendiconti della 
R. Accademia dei Lincei, describing some obser- 
vations made by him in September of last year 
and during the past summer at Grosseto with 


- the object of controlling the results obtained 


last year in July and August by Professor 
Koch’s expedition. The latter, it may be re- 
membered, found very few anopheles, but a 
very great number of culices in this city, al- 
though malaria was very prevalent, and from 
this fact he considered it likely that culex pipi- 
ens is also an agent in the propagation of ma- 
laria. Professor Grassi, on the contrary, has 
found anopheles very abundant in the same 
houses where Koch had noted malaria the pre- 
vious year, and he concluded from this that 
Professor Koch’s party were inexpert at the 
work of looking for mosquitoes and that their 
search was not made in the proper places, 
which are the entrances of houses and out- 
houses, and not in the bedrooms. He found 
that the favorite time for the anopheles 
to feed at Grosseto was the thirty or forty 
minutes immediately after sunset, and to a 
much less extent, the same time before sunrise. 
They take long flights in search of food and like 
to go away shortly after feeding, for which 
reason they may be said to change every twenty- 
four hours, at least during the warm weather, 
only very few (about 1 per cent.) being conse- 
quently found infected in the height of summer. 
As the weather becomes colder they remain 
longer and a large proportion (about 8 per 
cent.) are found infected. The infected insects 
are apt to be conveyed passively over long dis- 
tances and so spread infection to fresh locali- 
ties hitherto exempt. Anopheles are found in 
some places where no malaria exists as, e. g.,_ 


816 


along the Lake of Como. Their larve live 
freely in salt water, and seaside places, though 
usually exempt, are not invariably so. Pro- 
fessor Grassi, in conclusion, confirms the obser- 
vations of Christophers and Stephens on the 
occasional presence in the salivary glands of 
the culex of bodies which resemble, but which 
he does not believe to be, sporozoites. He calls 
them pseudo-sporozoites. 


A PAPER on the metric system read by Mr. 
Rufus C. Williams, president of the New Eng- 
land Association of Chemistry Teachers, has 
been published in a pamphlet by the Decimal 
Association of London. It gives a very clear 
account of the advantages of the metric system. 
Mr. Williams reports that under the Govern- 
ment the system is used in the following cases : 

1. In the Department of the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, the meter was adopted as the standard in the 
beginning and has been so used ever since. 

2. In the Agricultural Department, in all scien- 
tific work in chemistry, etc.; and in the Natural 
History work metric measurements are exclusively 
used. 

3. The Post Office Department uses it for foreign 
mails to metric countries, but not for domestic. 
Postal cards are of metric dimensions, and certain 
coins have been made to metric weights and 
measures. 

4. In the Department of Surgeon-General of the 
Army and also that of the Navy, all contracts for 
medical supplies embody the metric system, and all 
containers—boxes and bottles—are of metric di- 
mensions. 

5. Regulations for U. 8. Marine Hospital Service, 
1897, made its use compulsory. 

6. In Cuba and Porto Rico the Government uses 
the system exclusively in all official and domestic 
work. ‘These countries adopted it years ago. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIE proposes to erect 
and furnish buildings for a polytechnic school 
in Pittsburg, giving it an endowment fund of 
$1,000,000. The city of Pittsburg is to fur- 
nish the site. 

THE amendment to the constitution of the 
State of California, permitting Leland Stanford 
Jr. University to receive bequests from those 
not citizens of the State, and permitting the 
legislature to exempt part of the property of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Vou. XII. No. 308. 


the University from taxation, was adopted at 
the recent election. 


WE recorded last week the partial destruc- 
tion by fire of the N. Y. State Veterinary 
College of Cornell University. It appears that 
the damage to the building, which is estimated 
at $30,000, is covered by insurance. The de- 
partments of histology and bacteriology, how- 
ever, lost equipments valued at $25,000 and 
collections that can scarcely be replaced. The 
loss of Professor Gage’s collections, made in the 
course of twenty years, is especially serious. 
It is thought possible that the fire originated in 
the lamps of incubators in the department of 
bacteriology which were kept burning all night. 


PROFESSOR GEORGE J. BRuSH, of Yale Uni- 
versity, has given $1,000 to a special fund 
for the Sheffield Scientific School. The general 
funds of the school have been increased by a 
gift of $2,500 from an anonymous donor. 
The university has also received the following 
gifts and bequests: $5,000 from Mrs. Isaac 
H. Bradley, the income of which is to be de- 
voted to a course of lectures on some subject 
connected with journalism, literature or public 
affairs; $700 by the will of the late James 
Campbell, of the medical faculty, to maintain 
the senior prize, provided for by him since 1888 
and known as the Campbell gold medal ; $1,000 
from Mrs. H. F. English for the Alice Kimball 
English prize fund in the Art School and $1,000 
from ex-President Dwight for the general funds 
of the Art School. 

JAMES MILLIKEN, the Decatur (Ill.) banker 
and philanthropist, has added $400,000 to his 
gift to the proposed industrial school to be es- 
tablished in Decatur. Hehad previously given 
$316,000. Citizens gave $100,000, and the 
Cumberland Presbyterian churches of Illinois, 
Indiana and Iowa will give $100,000. 

A COMPOUND engine to be placed in the 
boiler house erected by President Morton in 
connection with the Carnegie Laboratory of 
Engineering has been presented to the Stevens 
Institute of Technology by the Stevens family at 
Hoboken. 

Dr. A. KossEL, professor of physiology at 
the University at Marburg, has been called to 
Heidelberg. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JOSEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BEssEy, 

N. L. Britton, Botany; C. 8S. Minot, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. BowpirTcH, 
Physiology; J. S. Briunines, Hygiene; Win~LrAM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 

: J. MCKEEN’CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W: POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, NovEMBER 23, 1900. 


CONTENTS: 


The Association of American Agricultural Colleges 
and Experiment Stations: DR. A. C. TRUE...... 817 


Recent Work on Mollusks: DR. WM. H. DALL..... 822 
Richter and the Periodic System : PRESIDENT F. P. 


AV TERR TAISTETS) ao nocanardecooso.ens500ccncqncDocae6no00Gn0080000 825 
Vertebral Formula of Diplodocus (Marsh) : Dr. J. 
IBS PEVAT GHIBR scrote sstesicusscsictecssencnaciacescee 828 


Plant Geography of North America, I11.:— 
The Lower Austral Element in the Flora of the 
Southern Appalachian Region: THos. H. KEAR- 
INN, dL cososcsnoascosnssonnse0oscosnnoD9s55De0b9s00e00000 830 
Scientific Books :-— 
Gauss and the non-Euclidean Geometry : PROFES- 
SOR GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED..................2-006 842 
Scientific Journals and Articles........1...cecsesvereeeee 846 


Societies and Academies :— 
The National Academy of Sciences. New York 
Section of the American Chemical Society: DR. Du- 
RAND WOODMAN. Section of Astronomy, Phys- 
ics and Chemistry of the New York Academy of 
Sciences: DR. WILLIAM S. DAY............2..00008 848 
Discussion and Correspondence :— 
A Disclaimer: PROFESSOR J. MARK BALDWIN 
ANNA) (UTE CITES nocoonnebaonosnoosAdcedenn basssbaoncodesABeO 850 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
A Recent Study of Eclipse Meteorology, National 
Geographic Magazine ; The Cape Horn Passage ; 
Underground Temperatures during a Hot Wave in 
South Australia: PROFESSOR R. DEC. WARD... 850 
Botanical Notes :— 


The Powdery Mildews ; Plant Breeding ; The But- 
tercup Family ; Red Cedar Diseases ; PROFESSOR 
CHARLES ED BESSEY..-.:..0:c0..-0ccescsceesesseneeaee 


Scientifie Notes and News 
University and Educational News..........+.ssseeeseeee 855 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Profes- 
sor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN AGRICUL- 
TURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERI- 
MENT STATIONS. 


Tue fourteenth annual convention of the 
Association of American Agricultural Col- 
leges and Experiment Stations was held at 
New Haven and Middletown, Connecticut, 
November 13th—15th. Most of the sessions 
were held in the assembly room of the 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Univer- 
sity, where the delegates had the pleasure 
of meeting President Hadley, who delivered 
a short address. Professor W. H. Brewer, 
of the Sheffield Scientific School, and Dr. 
EK. H. Jenkins, of the Connecticut Experi- 
ment Station, actively promoted the com- 
fort of the delegates and the business of the 
convention. The Association went to Con- 
necticut this year especially to celebrate the 
twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of 
the Connecticut State Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. The colleges and stations 
of all sections of the country were repre- 
sented. 

The report of the Executive Committee 
pointed out that Congress had recognized 
the importance of the land-grant colleges 
to the country in a notable way during the 
past year by providing that when the pro- 
ceeds of the sale of public lands were in- 
sufficient to meet the annual appropriations 
for these institutions, the deficiency should 
be met by direct appropriations from the 
National Treasury. 


818 


President J. E. Stubbs, of the University 
of Nevada, presided at the general sessions 
and delivered the president’s annual ad- 
dress. He took strong ground regarding 
the fundamental necessity for the direct 
and indirect teaching of sound moral prin- 
ciples in our public educational institutions 
of all grades. ‘“‘ It is character and not in- 
telligence that determines the historical de- 
velopment of nations. It is character and 
not intelligence that distinguishes one in- 
dividual from another and contributes to 
social well-being. The morality of the 
race, together with its strength and vigor, 
must be the principal object of education ; 
all else is secondary.” 

A carefully prepared and eloquent ad- 
dress on the career of the late Senator Jus- 
tin S. Morrill, of Vermont, was delivered 
by President G. W. Atherton, of the Penn- 
sylvania State College. President Ather- 
ton’s close association with Senator Morrill 
for many years and his intimate familiarity 
with the history of the movement for the 
establishment of colleges and agricultural 
experiment stations under natioual auspices 
enabled him to treat this subject in a very 
thorough and satisfactory manner, so that 
his address will have a permanent histor- 
ical value. 

Dr. Bernard Dyer, of London, England, 
as the representative of the Lawes Agricul- 
tural Trust, delivered the biennial course of 
lectures provided for in that Trust. In these 
he gave a résumé of the investigations at 
the Rothamsted Experiment Station during 
the past fifty years with different kinds of 
fertilizers ou wheat, pointing out especially 
the effects of different systems of manuring 
on the amount and availability of the fertil- 
izing constituents in the soils experimented 
with. It is expected that a detailed ac- 
count of this work will be published later 
by the Department of Agriculture. Besides 
resolutions of thanks to Dr. Dyer, the As- 
sociation adopted a memorial showing its 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


high appreciation of the life and work of 
Sir John Bennet Lawes and his associates 
at the Rothamsted Station. 

One day was spent at Middletown, where 
the Association was most cordially received 
and hospitably entertained by Wesleyan 
University. The delegates were also given 
a reception at the residence of Professor W. 
O. Atwater and had the opportunity of see- 
ing the Atwater-Rosa respiration calori- 
meter in operation. Ata meeting held in 
the University chapel, Dr. W. H. Jordan, 
Director of the New York State Experiment 
Station, gave a historical address on the 
American Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tions. Besides reviewing the rapid growth 
of this great enterprise from its beginning 
at Middletown twenty-five years ago and 
pointing out the great scientific and prac- 
tical results which it has already achieved, 
Dr. Jordan strongly urged that the stations 
should use every effort to put their work 
more fully on a high scientific level and 
devote themselves very largely to original 
investigations. 

He was followed by Professor W. O. At- 
water, who gave a number of interesting 
details regarding the establishment of the 
Connecticut Station as the first State Station 
in this country and showed that the influ- 
ence of this station had been very great in 
shaping the organization and work of other 
stations. He also pointed out that a rela- 
tively large number of men, now promi- 
nently identified with the experiment station 
enterprise in this country, had been trained 
at Yale University, Wesleyan University, 
and in connection with the work of the 
Connecticut Experiment Stations. 

In the Section of Agriculture and Chem- 
istry much attention was naturally given to 
discussions of investigations on tobacco, 
the Connecticut State Station being engaged 
in important work in this line. Dr. H. H. 
Jenkins, Director of the Connecticut State 
Station, read a carefully prepared paper 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900.] 


on methods of experimenting with cigar- 
wrapper leaf tobacco, in which he showed 
that one important result of the experiments 
of the Connecticut Station has been the 
confirmation of the results obtained by the 
investigations under direction of Professor 
Milton Whitney, Chief of the Division of 
Soils of the Department of Agriculture, in- 
dicating that the character of the tobacco 
leaf is in a great degree dependent on the 
physical character of the soil in which the 
plant is grown. Professor M. A. Scovell, 
Director of the Kentucky Station, read a 
paper on the methods of growing and cur- 
ing white Burley tobacco. In discussing 
these papers Professor Whitney brought out 
the interesting fact that, with scientific 
management of the crop, tobacco almost 
identical with that grown in Sumatra can 
be produced in the Connecticut Valley. 
Among other papers read in this section 
were those on tests in feeding dairy herds, 
by Professor C. S. Phelps, of the Connecti- 
cut Storrs Station ; cooperative field ex- 
periments, by Director E. B. Voorhees, of 
the New Jersey Stations; on the raising of 
sugar beets as a new and profitable indus- 
try in this country, by Director I. P. 
Roberts, of the Cornell University Experi- 
ment Station ; and on available energy in 
foods, by Professor W. O. Atwater. 

The report of the section on Horticul- 
ture and Botany, presented by Professor S. 
A. Beach, of the New York State Station, 
showed that there had recently been a 
great growth of interest in the subject of 
plant breeding and that studies in this di- 
rection were being undertaken by both 
botanists and horticulturists. There is a 
marked tendency to devote relatively less 
time to systematic botany and give much 
more consideration than formerly to prob- 
lems in plant physiology. The testing of 
varieties still occupies a large place in the 
work of the stations, but it is being *sup- 
plemented by investigations conducted on 


SCIENCE. 


819 


a more scientific basis. Among the papers 
read in this section were the following : 


‘Plant Physiology in its Relation to Agriculture 
and Horticulture,’ by F. Woods, Chief, Division of 
Vegetable Physiology and Pathology, Department of 
Agriculture ; ‘Grasses and Forage Plant Investiga- 
tion in Experiment Stations and the Division of Ag- 
rostology,’ by T. A. Williams, Division of Agrostology ; 
‘Laboratory and Field Work for Students in Horti- 
culture,’ by E. S. Goff of Wisconsin ; ‘The Educa- 
tional Status of Horticulture,’ by F. W. Card of 
Rhode Island ; ‘ What Our Experiment Stations have 
done in Originating Varieties of Plants by Crossing 
and Selection,’ by B. D. Halsted of New Jersey ; 
‘The Relation of the Section of Seed and Plant Intro- 
duction to Experiment tSations,’ by Jared G. Smith, 
of the Department of Agriculture; ‘ Vegetation 
House arranged for Pot Experiments, by W. E. Brit- 
ton of Connecticut. 


The section on Entomology had a larger 
attendance than usual, and there was a full 
program, which brought out much interest- 
ing discussion. Among the papers read 
were the following : 


“Observations on the Banding of Trees to Prevent 
Injury by the Fall Canker-worm,’ by W. E. Britton 
of Connecticut ; ‘Suggestions towards Greater Uni- 
formity in Nursery Inspection Laws and Rulings,’ by 
E. P. Felt of New York ; ‘Nursery Inspection and 
Orchard Insecticide Treatment in Illinois,’ by 8. A. 
Forbes of Illinois; ‘Entomology in the Southern 
States,’ by H. Garman of Kentucky; ‘Economic 
Entomology in Florida,’ by H. A. Gossard of Florida ; 
‘Experiences in Nursery and Orchard Inspection ’ and 
“Some Recent Results with Hydrocyanic Acid in 
Large Buildings for the Destruction of Insect Pests,’ 
by W. G. Johnson of Maryland ; ‘Danger to Amer- 
ican Horticulture from the Introduction of Scale In- 
sects,’ by Geo. B. King of Massachusetts ; ‘ Entomo- 
logical Ecology,’ by C. W. Woodworth of California ; 
‘Recent Progress in Cotton Spraying, and New De- 
signs for Cotton Sprayers,’ and ‘Some Cotton Insects 
and Methods for Suppressing them,’ by Fred W. 
Mally of Texas ; ‘Observations on Artace punctistriga,’ 
by H. A. Morgan of Louisiana; ‘A Little Known 
Asparagus Pest’ and ‘A Power Sprayer for Aspara- 
gus,’ by F. A. Sirrine of New York; ‘Notes on 
Crude Petroleum and its Effects upon Plants and In- 
sects,’ by John B. Smith of New Jersey ; ‘ Nursery 
Inspection in a State free from San José Scale,’ by 
H. E. Summers of Iowa. 


For this section, Professor H. Garman, 


820 


of Kentucky, reported in the general session 
that much progress is being made in the 
specialization of the work of the station 
entomologists, in instruction in entomology 
in colleges, and in the improvement of 
facilities for research and instruction in this 
branch. There is a marked increase in 
recent years in the amount of inspection 
work required of station entomologists, 
and problems relating to the organization 
and management of this work require very 
careful thought and attention. Uniformity 
of inspection laws was advocated. It was 
shown that inspection had already caused 
much greater carefulness among nursery- 
men, thus removing one of the main causes 
of the dissemination of injurious pests. 

In the section on college work, President 
J. K. Patterson, of the Kentucky Agricul- 
tural and Mechanical College, made astrong 
appeal for more instruction in mechanic 
arts in the land-grant colleges. 

The Committee on the Collective Experi- 
ment Station Exhibit at the Paris Exposi- 
tion made its final report through its chair- 
man, Dr. H. P. Armsby, of Pennsylvania. 
This showed that the exhibit had been very 
successful in attracting the attention of in- 
vestigators and government officials of dif- 
ferent countries. The Association was 
awarded a grand prize for the exhibit as a 
whole, and collaborators were recognized 
by the award of a grand prize to Dr. A. C. 
True, Director of the Office of Experiment 
Stations; gold medals to Professors H. W. 
Hilgard, W. O. Atwater, C. F. Vanderford, 
T. B. Osborne, W. H. Jordan, W. H. 
Evans, L. G. Carpenter and W. A. Henry ; 
and silver medals to Professors Elwood 
Mead, Milton Whitney, C. F. Curtiss, P. 
H. Mell and Paul Schweitzer. Dr. S. M. 
Babeock was also given a grand prize in 
recognition of his successful scientific work 
on behalf of dairy husbandry. 

The Committee on Graduate Study at 
Washington made the following recommen- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Voz. XII. No. 309. 


dations which were adopted by the Asso- 
ciation : 

“In view of the improbability that the 
Smithsonian Institution will adopt the sug- 
gestions of this Association regarding the 
organization of a Bureau of Graduate Study, 
your committee recommends that the As- 
sociation take no further action in this di- 
rection. 

““The Committee also believes that for the 
present further advantage should be taken 
of the foundation already successfully laid 
by the Secretary of Agriculture, and it 
therefore recommends that the Association 
express its appreciation of the practical 
efforts which he has made on behalf of this 
movement, and ask him to consider the 
practicability of enlarging the present plan 
for graduate study in that department, and, 
if he deems it wise, to invite the cooperation 
of other departments of the Government, 
in order that wider opportunities may be 
open to the graduates of the institutions 
represented in this Association, as well as 
of other institutions, to engage in graduate 
study and research in connection with the 
work of the national Government.” 

One of the most important subjects on 
which the Association took action at this 
meeting was the report of the Committee 
on Cooperative Work between the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and the Experiment 
Stations. This was carefully prepared by 
a thoroughly representative committee after 
consultation with the directors of the sta- 
tions and was unanimously adopted by the 
Association. Itcommended the attitude of 
the present Secretary of Agriculture toward 
closer cooperation between the Department 
and the stations and pointed out the differ- 
ent ways in which the two institutions 
might aid each other. It also attempted to 
define the principles on which the joint 
work should be arranged and conducted and 
stated these in the following language : 

““Your Committee would deem it desir- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


able that both the Department and the sta- 
tions should feel entirely free to propose joint 
experimentation or to decline a proposal for 
such work. 

“Tt is very clear to the Committee that 
the autonomy of the stations should be pre- 
served, and that the stations should in no 
sense become extensions of the divisions of 
the Department for purposes of experimen- 
tal work. Not only is the autonomy of the 
stations necessary to the fulfillment of their 
function, but autonomy in scientific investi- 
gation is equally essential. Your Commit- 
tee would therefore deem it desirable, where 
cooperative work would seem advisable, 
that the agreement take the shape of a for- 
mal contract between the station, ag such, 


and the Department, as such, through the 


properly authorized channels of each. That 
is, that the high contracting parties be the 
station on the one hand and the Department 
on the other. Arrangements between indi- 
vidual officers in the two institutions are 
deemed inadvisable except under such con- 
tract. 

“The cost of cooperation should be borne 
jointly by the station and by the Depart- 
ment, and the amounts to be expended 
should, as far as practicable, be definitely 
agreed upon and specified. 

““ While it is understood that an absolute 
guarantee of continuance cannot be given, 
yet there should be reasonable mutual as- 
surance of a fixed policy, until the comple- 
tion of the work undertaken. 

‘The results of the investigation should 
be available to both institutions, priority of 
publication being a matter of mutual agree- 
ment at the outset. In all cases publica- 
tions should set forth that such work is the 
result of joint experimentation. 

“Your Committee deems it very desir- 
able that independent work be not under- 
taken in the several States by the Depart- 
ment without the knowledge of the station 
or consultation with the station, particu- 


SCIENCE. 


821 


larly along lines of investigation in which 
the State station is engaged. 

‘““ Whenever cooperation with practical 
men in the States is desired by the depart- 
ment in investigations, it is suggested that 
the State station be the agency through 
which such cooperation is conducted. For 
example, if the department wishes to dis- 
tribute seeds or plants for cooperative work, 
the knowledge both of men and physical 
conditions on the part of the station should 
be made available. 

‘“ Your Comimittee makes the above sug- 
gestions realizing that they are in no wise 
complete and that the subject is one requir- 
ing further inquiry and consideration.”’ 

The Association also passed a resolution 
pledging its support to the Secretary of Ag- 
riculture in his efforts to adjust the com- 
pensation of persons employed in the higher 
technical and scientific positions in the De- 
partment of Agriculture in such mauner as 
to secure and retain the services of thor- 
oughly competent officers. 

The following officers of the Association 
for the ensuing year were elected: 

President, A. W. Harris, of the Univer- 
sity of Maine; Vice-Presidents, J. K. Pat- 
terson, of the Agricultural and Mechanical 
College of Kentucky ; W. H. Jordan, of the 
New York State Experiment Station ; R. H. 
Jesse, of the University of Missouri; L. G. 
Carpenter, of the State Agricultural College 
of Colorado; and EK. A. Bryan, of the Wash- 
ington Agricultural College and School of 
Science ; Secretary-Treasurer, H. B. Voor- 
hees, of the New Jersey Experiment Sta- 
tions; Bibliographer, A. C. True, of the 
Department of Agriculture ; Executive Com- 
mittee, H. H. Goodell, of the Massachusetts 
Agricultural College; Alexis Cope, of the 
University of Ohio; G. W. Atherton, of the 
Pennsylvania State College, and H. C. 
White, of the Georgia State College of Agri- 
culture and Mechanic Arts. 

Officers of Sections: Agriculture and 


822 


Chemistry, C. D. Woods, of the University 
“of Maine, chairman ; College Work, J. H. 
Raymond, of the University of West Vir- 
ginia, chairman ; B. O. Aylesworth, of Col- 
orado Agricultural College, secretary ; En- 
tomology, M. V. Slingerland, of Cornell 
University, chairman; H. A. Morgan, of 
Louisiana University, secretary ; Mechanic 
Arts, H.W. Tyler, Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology, chairman; F. P. Anderson, 
of Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical 
College, secretary ; Horticulture and Bot- 
any, L. R. Jones, of the University of Ver- 
mont, chairman; W. J. Green, of Ohio 
Experiment Station, secretary. 
A.C. Trur. 
RECENT WORK ON MOLLUSKS. 

Tue land shell fauna of the Hawaiian 
Islands has been discussed by E. R. Sykes, 
with intercalations on anatomy by Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Godwin-Austen.* Mr. Sykes 
has worked upon museum material, espé- 
cially that collected by Perkins and the rich 
stores of the British Museum and the Bos- 
ton Society of Natural History. He finds 
the number of species much exaggerated, 
as every one familiar with the group was 
well aware. The fauna is considered to be 
Polynesian and to show hardly any tracé of 
Asiatic or American influence. Oahu is 
the center of distribution and the most 
populous in Achatinellide. The list given 
is a useful one, but the monographic study 
of the Achatinellas from an evolutionary 
standpoint remains to be written. 

A. §. Jensen, of Copenhagen, initiates 
what promises to be a series of ‘Studier 
over Nordiske Mollusker,’ by an investiga- 
tion of the forms and distribution of the 
boreal Myas.t The paper is illustrated by 
some excellent figures. 


* Fauna Hawaiiensis, II., pp. 271-412, pl. 11, 12. 
1900. 4to. 

+ Vidensk. Meddel. nat. Foren i Kjobenhavn, pp. 
133-158. 1900. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


F. C. Baker * discusses the gross anatomy 
of Limnea emarginata Say, var. Mighelsi. 
There are six plates, two illustrating what 
the author believes to be the range of varia- 
tion in the form of the shell, the others, 
which are rather diagrammatic, illustrating 
the anatomy. If carefully done, papers of 
this kind will have a permanent value. 

M. Maurice Cossmann continues his phe- 
nomenal activity in the field of Tertiary 
mollusks, by a paper which is to be followed 
by others on the ‘ Mollusques Eocéniques 
de la Loire Inférieure.’+ An interesting 
series of forms is figured, and it is curious 
to see how many of them recall parallel 
species from our own Claibornian horizon. 

Mr. W. J. Fox ina recent number (3806 
p. 718) of this Journal refers to a shell 
named by Osbeck in his ‘ Reise nach ost 
Indien und China,’ 1765, Cunnus chi- 
nensis. The objectionable generic name 
was doubtless derived from Linnzus, who 
used it in the manuscript of the Mu- 
seum Ludovic Ulrice for the shell now 
known as Venus dione. It was not pub- 
lished by Linnzeus, who substituted Venus 
in the tenth edition of the Systema Na- 
ture and afterward in the Museum Cata- 
logue referred to. A very interesting ac- 
count of the gradual evolution of the early 
Linnean generic names, and of the binomia] 
system itself, will be found in a paper by 
the late Professor Sven Lovén ‘On the 
species of Echinoidea described by Linnzeus,’ 
in the K. Svensk. vet. Akad. Handl., Bd. 13, 
IV., No. 5, 1887, pp. 3-60. Luckily Os- 
beck’s application of the name referred to 
seems unidentifiable. 

The great Baikal Lake of Eastern Siberia 
has long been regarded as having had con- 
nection with the sea at some previous 
epoch, and various opinions have been held 


* Bulletin Chicago Acad. Sci., II., No. 3, pp. 191— 
212. June, 1900. 

} Bull. Soe. Sci. Nat. Nantes, I., pp. 307-336, pl. 
XXII.-XXVI. 1900. 


NovEMBER 30, 1900.] 


as to which body of sea water it was origi- 
nally connected with. Dr. W. Dybowski 
contends that the ‘stammform’ of one of 
the Baikal sponges (Lubomirskia baicalensis) 
-is an inhabitant of Bering Sea. Hoernes 
has regarded the fauna of the lake as anal- 
ogous to that of the Sarmatic beds of South- 
ern Europe, but this analogy is hardly 
greater than it bears to various other late 
Tertiary lake-beds, including those of our 
Great Basin. In the September number 
of the Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen Malako- 
zoologischen Gesellschaft, Dybowski announces 
the discovery of a Nudibranch (Ancylodoris 
baicalensis, Dyb.) and the presence of nu- 
merous Trochophora larve in April, in the 
lake. These being strictly marine animals, 
never before reported from fresh water, the 
evidence as to the lake’s origin seems con- 
elusive, and its character as a ‘relicten-see’ 
positively established. 

Mr. Henry Hemphill has recently for- 
warded to the National Museum a photo- 
graph of a six-valved specimen of Ischnochi- 
ton obtained by him at San Diego, California. 
Seven-valved specimens (the normal num- 
ber being eight) are known to be preserved 
in the British Museum and the Academy of 
Natural Sciences at Philadelphia ; and now 
Mr. E. R. Sykes figures in the Journal of 
Malacology (VII., p. 164) a three-valved 
specimen of Ischnochiton contractus Reeve, 
from South Australia. The rarity of these 
abnormal individuals makes the discovery 
most interesting. In another note Mr. 
Sykes records the presence in the fauna of 
Natal of a species of the genus Cryptoplaz, 
previously supposed to be confined to the 
Indo-Pacific and Australian provinces. 

Dr. George W. Taylor, of Nanaimo, has 
added a new genus to the fauna of the Pa- 
cific coast in the shape of an undescribed 
species of Phyllaplysia (P. Taylori) which 
was found near Nanaimo on floating sea- 
weed. The animal is of a clear lemon-yel- 
low, about an inch in length and with a 


SCIENCE. 


823 


nearly smooth surface. The genus has 
heretofore been known only from the coasts 
of France and the Adriatic. 

Pelseneer has been pursuing researches 
on the various mollusks believed to exhibit 
archaic features.* He devotes attention 
chiefly to the Chitonacea, the Docoglossa, 
Rhipidoglossa and Solenoconcha. His con- 
clusions do not include any remarkable 
novelties, but afford in many cases addi- 
tional confirmation of opinions long’ held 
or occasionally expressed by macologists. 
Thus he considers the metamerism of chi- 
tons to be a secondary, not primitive, con- 
dition; recognizes the features of the Doco- 
glossa limpets which are analogous to those 
of the Amphineura, confirms the unlikeness 
of Scissurella to Plewrotomaria and the asym- 
metry of the epipodial processes in the 
Trochidz. Some interesting new facts are 
recorded among the Pyramidellide ; Odos- 
tomia was found to be hermaphrodite, but 
otherwise related to ordinary Pectini- 
branchs. The Scaphopods he considers to 
have distinct relations with the Rhipido- 
glossate gastropods, but one of the charac- 
ters, the opening of the genital duct into the 
right nephridium, has already been shown 
to be fallacious by H. Fischer, the error be- 
ing due to the torsion in the embryo. Itis 
probable that this supposed relation will 
not be accepted by students of the group. 
In regard to the nephridia of both Doco- 
glossate and Rhipidoglossate limpets, Pro- 
fessor Pelseneer is at variance with Er- 
langer; but in another contested hypothesis, 
the relation of the Placophora and Aplaco- 
phora, in which he differs from Thiele by 
regarding the groups as related, we believe 
Pelseneer to beright. At any rate, whether 
all details be confirmed by future research 
or not, the present paper contains much 
which will prove welcome to students of the 
Mollusks. 


*Mém. Acad. Roy. des Sci. de Belgique, LVI. 1899. 
Pp. 113. 


824 


Professor L. Cuenot (Arch. de Biologie, 
XVI., 1899) has published some interesting 
researches on the excretory organs and 
their functions in a variety of mollusks. 
In these he shows how different portions of 
the nephridia excrete different effete ele- 
ments of the fluids of the body and how 
these functions are distributed. The mem- 
oir has been crowned by* the Royal Bel- 
gian Academy. 

An unusual condensation of embryonic 
stages has been observed in two nudi- 
branchs, Cenia cocksi by Pelseneer, and in 
Pelta coronata by Vayssiére. These em- 
bryos do not exhibit the usual embryonic 
velum and shell of other Opisthobranchs, 
but the body at an early stage becomes cov- 
ered with vibratile cilia and rotates in the 
fluids of the egg (Zool. Anz., X XIIT., 1900). 

In the Proceedings of the Malacological So- 
ciety (1V., No. 3, October, 1900), Mr. M. F. 
Woodward gives some important informa- 
tion in regard to the anatomy of three 
members of the Volutacea, the significance 
of which is, however, somewhat obscured 
by the author’s want of knowledge of the 
present state of the nomenclature. The 
paper gives a general account of the mac- 
roscopic anatomy of Neptuneopsis Gilchrist 
Sowerby, a newly described and peculiar 
form from South Africa, and of ‘ Voluta’ an- 
eilla and ‘ Volutilithes’ abyssicola, Adams and 
Reeve. Of the anatomy of the latter nothing 
was known. The Neptuneopsis was described 
in a South African publication which has 
not reached this country, and is gener- 
ally inaccessible, so it is to be regretted that 
Mr. Woodward did not recapitulate the 
shell characters for the benefit of students. 
The radula also had been abstracted from 
the specimen before it was received by him, 
so that the chief aids to systematic classifi- 
cation are wanting. However, it seems 
pretty certain, from the characters of the 
neryous system, that the animal is nearly 
related to the Volutidz, and, since it has 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


an operculum, probably to the true volutes 
which Mr. Woodward calls Volutolyria, a 
name which is an absolute synonym of 
Voluta (u.) Lamarck. Until more informa- 
tion is received it would be rash to come to 
more precise conclusions as to its sys- 
tematic place. 

The only data in relation to the anatomy 
of Volutilithes properly speaking (as far as 
one can judge from the shell, the type 
being Voluta spinosa Lam., a fossil spe- 
cies) were given by me in the Proc. U. S. 
Nat. Mus. (X1II., No. 773, p. 315, 1889) from 
an examination of V. Philippiana Dall., 
from the South American coast. To the 
data there supplied it may be added that 
the dentition consists of a single longitudi- 
nal row of 50 tricuspid teeth, the cusps be- 
ing long, thornlike and somewhat decurved. 
It has no operculum and is blind. This 
radula is most like that of Cymba olla Li. and 
Volutilithes doubtless belongs to the Scaphel- 
lide as does Cymbiola (or Scaphella) ancilla. 


In 1890 I separated the group to which 


‘Volutilithes’ abyssicola belongs, as a sub- 
genus Volutocorbis, as it obviously could not 
be classed with the original Volutilithes. 
This course is now fully justified by the 
anatomical details supplied by Mr. Wood- 
ward, the most remarkable of which is the 
radula, which has two rows of unicuspid 
laterals, one on each side of the rhachidian 
tricuspid tooth. This radula is unlike any 
of the Volutacea yet known, as Volutomitra, 
which Woodward compares with it, has, 
like the others, only a single row and Tros- 
chel in his text explains how the deceptive 
appearance of laterals in one of his figures 
arises from the crushing of the base under 
a cover glass. The single rhachidian of 
Volutomitra is well figured by Stimpson 
(Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 37, pl. xxxiv., 
Fig.7). The radula of Volutocorbis is inter- 
mediate between that of Vasum and that of 
Oliva. The group will now take rank as a 
distinct genus. If it remains in the Volu- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


tacea it must be placed in the Scaphellide. 
The chief distinctive characters of this 
family, beside the conditions of the larval 
shell and the absence of an operculum, ap- 
pear, from Woodward’s researches, to be 
the extreme condensation of the chief gan- 
glia around the gullet, the development of 
a very large cesophageal execum (which led 
Poiret to suppose Halia had a double 
esophagus), and two pairs of preneural 
salivary glands. If the family is divided 
into two subfamilies on the basis of the 
radula, Volutomitrinze with a unicuspid 
median tooth, will include Amoria, Voluto- 
mitra and Halia; while Scaphellinee with a 
tricuspid tooth will include the others. 
The typical Voluta and Lyria have wide 
rhachidian teeth with many cusps, an oper- 
eculum, shelly protoconch, and other char- 
acters which separate them entirely from 
the Scaphellide. According to our present 
knowledge one of the most important results 
of Mr. Woodward’s labors is to show that the 
old family of Volutide included many di- 
verse types, and that a great deal remains 
to be done before we can proceed to gener- 
alize with safety on those of which the ne- 
pionic stages and anatomy are unknown. 
Wm. H. Dat. 


RICHTER AND THE PERIODIC SYSTEM.* 

A vERY remarkable work appeared at 
the close of the last century. This was 
‘Die Anfangs-griinde der Stochyometrie,’ 
by J. B. Richter, the first volume of which 
appeared in 1792, and the third and last 
volume in 1794. In this book we have the 
first definite statement of the law of pro- 
portionality, and some have thought that 
they have found in it also the Atomic 
Theory, though it was not claimed that 
this theory was definitely stated. 

Richter’s work attracted attention at the 
time because of his defense in it of the 


*Read before N. C. Section, Amer. Chem. Soc., 
Nov. 9, 1900. 


SCIENCE. 


825 


phlogistic theory and it was vigorously at- 
tacked by the supporters of the New Chem- 
istry,who followed Lavoisier and the French 
chemists. The deeper purport of the book 
and the new ideas advanced do not seem to 
have been well understood or to have been 
largely commented upon. Fischer, who in 
1802 translated into German Berthollet’s 
‘Statique Chimique,’ was apparently the 
first to draw general attention to the work 
of Richter and to its bearing upon the con- 
clusions drawn by Berthollet. This latter 
chemist and Guyton de Morveau acknowl- 
edged that Richter had anticipated them in 
the inference to be drawn from the per- 
manence of neutrality after the decompo- 
sition of certain neutral salts and the 
possibility of calculating beforehand the 
composition of the salts produced. The 
discovery of the law of proportionality 
was a most important one and Richter 
must, therefore, be regarded as a very re- 
markable man. In his discovery that the 
amounts of different metals combining with 
a given weight of acid combine with a 
fixed amount of oxygen, he went a step 
further, anticipating the work of Gay Lus- 
sac, and when he established the fact that 
such metals as iron and mercury have the 
power of combining with oxygen in several 
proportions, showing different degrees of 
oxidation, he was several years ahead of 
Proust and verged upon the discovery of 
the law of multiple proportions. 

With all his ability to see deeply into the 
workings of natural phenomena, Richter 
was not a clear and logical thinker. Wurtz 
rightly speaks of him as ‘the profound but 
perplexed author of the great discovery of 
proportionality.’ He was confused by his 
adherence to the illogical phlogistic theories 
which were becoming each year more un- 
tenable. He was further hampered by his 
determination to give a mathematical foun- 


‘dation to the science of chemistry and to 


express all chemical changes by formule 


826 


and equations worked out along algebraic 
lines. It was,doubtless, the presence of these 
mathematical equations all through his vol- 
umes which deterred many chemists from 
a full and patient examination of them 
for the kernel of truth which they might 
contain. The average experimental chem- 
ist is not much attracted by abstruse math- 
ematical speculations. 

Later chemists commenting upon his 
work have made some mention of the 
mathematical regularities observed by him 
and this led me to think that perhaps 
Richter might have caught some glimpse 
of the periodic law before the conception 
of the atom and the atomic theory had 
entered into chemistry. To investigate 
this question it was necessary to examine 
Richter’s writings and I was fortunate 
enough to secure the use of a copy of his 
Stochyometrie through the courtesy of the 
librarian of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences. 

It is of interest, first, to see how near an 
approach Richter made to the conception 
of atoms. In the preface to Volume I. the 
. question of solution is discussed and the 
statement is made that “ the chemist can- 
not boast of being able in any manner to 
divide a body up into the smallest parts 
because matter can be thought of as in- 
finitely divisible.” From many passages 
one may judge, however, that he held to 
the corpusclar view of matter, namely that 
it was composed of certain very small, dis- 
crete particles, which were, however, con- 
ceivably further divisible. Thus in giving 
the various definitions of elements he says 
that to one chemist the word meant the 
simplest indestructible substance, the subt- 
lest material which the creator had created 
for the formation of all other bodies; to 
another it meant such materials as could not 
be decomposed into dissimilar particles and 
in which no component particles could be 
recognized. For himself he prefers to di- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von, XII. No. 309. 


vorce the word from all connection with 
primal matter, or Urstoffe, and to make use 
of it simply as a part of the chemical tech- 
nology, attaching to it the meaning of a 
body undecomposable by any means known 
to the chemist. Chemistry as an art, ac- 
cording to Richter, consisted in the ability 
to separate elements from one another and 
to bring them together as constituents of 
a new body. Chemistry as a science was 
something greater, including its theories 
and fundamental axioms. A chemical ele- 
ment, he says, is one which, without being 
decomposed into unlike parts, can by mix- 
ing with other kinds of matter cloak their 
peculiar characteristics and bring about 
others. It is elementum immediatwm when it 
cannot be decomposed into unlike parts; 
mediatum when it can be thus decomposed 
(p. 5 seq.). 

Thus, as Richter adds in a footnote, 
vitriolic acid is an elementum immediatum, 
since no one has been able to decompose it 
into unlike parts, but sulphur is an elemen- 
tum mediatum, since any one knows that it 
can be decomposed into vitriolic acid and 
phlogiston and reformed from these two. 
This is of interest as showing the degree of 
knowledge on which he based his reasoning. 
His corpuscles are called ‘ Theilganzen,’ 
and in these the force of affinity resides. 
Thus he states, ‘‘ to each infinitely small 
particle of the mass of an element there be- 
longs an infinitely small portion of the 
chemically-attracting force of affinity” (p. 
123). 

The part of Richter’s work which appears 
to refer most nearly to the periodic system is 
found in his second volume on page vi of the 
preface. He refers to the fact that the sup- 
position had already been made in a paper 
on the ‘ Newer Objects of Chemistry, espe- 
cially the recently discovered half-metal 
Uranium,’ that the affinities of many chem- 
ical elements towards any single one might 
be in a definite progression. This sup- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


position, says Richter, has already in the 
ease of four quantitative series been raised 
to the dignity of an incontrovertible rule. 
The tables of masses form arithmetical pro- 
gressions and the affinities of the elements 
which belong to the series, proceed also, in 
so far as they are not disturbed by the in- 
dwelling elementary fire, in the order of 
the masses. Besides one is in position to 
see the probability of many homogeneous 
elements present in nature. Also the 
doubled affinities proceed in arithmetical 
progression and with careful observations 
one can scarce resist the thought that the 
entire chemical system consists of similar pro- 
gressions. 

It is well to examine a series given by 
Richter to get more fully at his meaning. 
Thus in the same volume, page 28, he gives 
the masses of the alkaline earths which 
neutralize 1,000 parts of hydrochiorie acid. 
Magnesia 734—=a 
Lime 858 —=a-+ 6 (734+ 1244 — 8584) 
Alumina 1,107 = a-+ 3b (734+ 3 X 1244 =1,1074) 

=a+5b (734 +5 < 124} = 1,3564) 
=at7% (734+5 >< 1245 =1,6054), 
eto. 
Baryta 3,099 = a+ 19d (734 + 19 X 124} = 3,0994) 

Similar series are given for the alkalies 
and alkaline earths with the different acids. 
Again these tables are compared with one 
another and thus was brought out the law 
of proportionality. One of the most re- 
markable regularities is obtained by exam- 
ining the differences in the masses in such a 
series made up of observed combining num- 
bers of known elements and interpolated 
combining numbers of hypothetical ele- 
ments. Thus (p. 38): 

616 —526—90 —1 90 
796 — 526 = 270 =3 X 90 
973 — 526 = 447 = 5 X 90 — 3 
1,152 — 526 = 626 = 7 « 90 —4 
1,330 — 526 — 804 —9 & 90 —6 
etc., etc. 

Of course, it is readily seen that all 

these regularities are more in the line of 


SCLENCE. 


827 


the triads of Dobereiner or the later work 
of Dumas than the periodic system. But. 
a close examination reveals something more 
—a really deeper insight into the nature of 
the elements which is marvellous when 
one considers that Richter was dealing with 
compounds not elements, and with com- 
bining numbers and not atomic weights. 
First, one must note his statement of the 
belief that ‘ the entire chemical system con- 
sists of like progressions.’ To his mind 
the elements formed a system correlated 
and made up of progressions. This is, of 
course, not the ascending series of de 
Chancourtois and Newlands, but it seems 
to me a position much nearer to it than 
was reached by any chemist for more than 
half a century afterwards. 

Again, in other portions of this volume 
Richter speaks of the necessity of deducing 
quality from quantity and vice versa. Thus 
he points out that the series of masses men- 
tioned as forming arithmetical progressions 
are really series of affinities also, and the 
relative affinities might be deduced from 
the relative masses. Much space is given 
also to the effort at tracing relationships of 
the specific gravities. While it cannot be 
positively stated that Richter foresaw that 
important part of the periodic law that the 
properties of the elements are dependent 
upon the weights, he seems at least to have 
been possessed with the idea that what he 
called the masses of the elements had some- 
thing to do with what he considered the 
qualities, or that they progressed similarly. 
And that they in the main progress simi- 
larly is about all that we know with regard 
to them at the present day. 

I acknowledge that there is some diffi- 
culty in sifting out Richter’s full meaning 
from the mass of mathematical calculation 
and one must be careful to avoid reading 
into his work the thought of later years. 
It is not strange that the tedium of follow- 
ing such involved calculations and specu- 


828 


lations as his should have deterred his con- 
temporaries from following his trend of 
thought or paying much attention to him. 
It cannot be claimed that he preceded Dal- 
ton in his conception of the Atomic Theory, 
but Richter belongs to the number of the 
great original thinkers of chemistry and it 
is time that greater justice be done him. 

F. P. VENABLE. 


VERTEBRAL FORMULA OF DIPLODOCUS 
(ITARSH). 

Tue splendid skeleton of Diplodocus, dis- 
covered in the Como Bluffs of Wyoming by 
the American Museum party of 1897, has 
enabled Professor Osborn to very materially 
increase our knowledge of the osteology of 
that genus.* Interesting and unique as was 
the material that formed the basis of Pro- 
fessor Osborn’s memoir, it nevertheless left 
many questions unsettled concerning the 
osteology of Diplodocus. In 1899 asecond 
skeleton was discovered in the Dinosaur 
beds of the Upper Jurassic, near Sheep 
Creek, in Albany County, Wyoming, by Dr. 
J. L. Wortman, while engaged as Curator of 
Vertebrate Paleontology of this Museum, 
in exploring the fossil-bearing horizons of 
that region. 

The second skeleton of Diplodocus was 
very carefully exhumed under the skillful 
direction of Dr. Wortman, and has since 
been entirely freed from the matrix and 
temporarily mounted by Mr. A. 8. Cogges- 
hall, Chief Preparator in the Department 
of Paleontology. 

Now that this material is available for 
study, it proves to supplement in a remark- 
able manner the skeleton belonging to the 
American Museum. A detailed descrip- 
tion of our material will be given in a 
paper by the writer which it is proposed to 
have appear among the memoirs of this in- 
stitution. In the present note only the 


* See ‘A Skeleton of Diplodocus,’ Part V., Vol. I., 
Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., pp. 191-214 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


vertebral column will be considered, and no 
attempt will be made to describe this in de- 
tail, but rather to correct some errors con- 
cerning the vertebral formula of Diplodocus 
as given by Osborn in his memoir cited 
above, and by Dr. W. J. Holland, in a subse- 
quent paper entitled ‘The Vertebral For- 
mula in Diplodocus, Marsh,’ published in 
this Journat, May 25, 1900, and based upon 
the material now under discussion. 

About 45 feet (14 meters) of the verte- 
bral column is preserved in our specimen. 
When discovered the vertebre did not lie 
in a connected and unbroken series, yet 
there can be little doubt that they all per- 
tain to the same individual, and they have 
been mounted as a continuous series com- 
mencing with the axis and ending with the 
twelfth caudal. In all 41 vertebre are repre- 
sented, including 14 cervicals (all but the 
atlas), 11 dorsals, 4 sacrals and 12 caudals. 

Assuming that no vertebre are missing 
from our series the vertebral formula of 
Diplodocus should now be written as fol- 
lows: 

Cervicals, 15. 

Dorsals, 11. 

Sacrals, 4. 


Caudals, 37, as estimated by Osborn, not 35, as 
attributed to him by Holland. 


The above vertebral formula will be seen 
to differ from that given by Holland, the 
latest contributor on this subject, as follows: 

1. The number of cervicals is at least 15. 

2. There are 11 dorsals instead of 10, as 
fixed by Holland, who mistook the first 
presacral of Osborn for a sacral. 

There are 4 sacrals, as given by Osborn 
and Holland, while the number of caudals 
is still placed at 37, as estimated by Osborn. 
Of the caudals, only the 12 anterior are 
preserved in our skeleton, and the second 
and third of these have coossified centra. 

In placing the number of dorsals at 11, I 
am assuming that Osborn is right in con- 
sidering the first vertebra with a free spine, 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


anterior to the 3 sacral vertebree with coa- 
lesced spines as a dorsal rather than a sa- 
eral. I also assume that we have repre- 
sented in our skeleton the complete dorsal 
series, but of this we cannot be absolutely 
certain, since the vertebre were not found 
in an articulated series. Unfortunately no 
diagram was made, at the time of exhum- 
ing the remains, showing the relative posi- 
tion of each of the vertebra in the quarry. 
Early last spring, at the request of the 
writer, Mr. W. H. Reed (who assisted in 
unearthing the skeleton), while again on 
the ground, made a diagram of the quarry, 
showing the relative positions, as he re- 
membered them, of the various bones of 
the skeleton. This diagram shows two 
rather marked breaks in the vertebral col- 
umn, and I may add that a close examina- 
tion of the dorsal series as now mounted 
seems to indicate that there are two or 
more missing vertebre. This is especially 
noticeable between presacrals 7 and 8 or 
dorsals 5 and 4. In presacral 7, the capit- 
ular facet is situated well up, on the side of 
the neural arch, while in the presacral im- 
mediately anterior it extends well down on 
the centrum. Not only does this sudden 
shifting of the position of this articular sur- 
face seem to indicate that there are wanting 
at this point in the series one or more ver- 
tebre, but I may add that according to 
Professor Osborn’s figures the actual posi- 
tion of the capitular facet on presacral 8 is 
much higher than that occupied by that 
facet on the vertebra that has been as- 
signed to the same position in our series, 
thus indicating a more anterior position for 
this vertebra, and consequently a greater 
number of dorsal vertebre than has been 
given above. Since the vertebre in the 
American Museum series were all found 
interarticulated by their zygapophyses, 
there can be no question of the position of 
each dorsal in that series, relative to the 
sacrum. ‘There also appears to be a break 


SOCLENCE. 


829 


in our series between the last cervical and 
the first dorsal, and it is barely possible 
that the first true dorsal or last cervical is 
wanting in our series. From the above it 
will be seen that there is a possibility that 
when the actual number of dorsal verte- 
bree in Diplodocus is definitely known, it 
will be somewhat greater than that given 
here, and that Professor Marsh was per- 
haps not far wrong when he figured it at 14. 

Should the first vertebra anterior to the 
three sacral vertebree with coalesced spines 
come eventually to be considered as a sa- 
eral, rather than a dorsal, the sacrum would 
then have to be considered as composed 
of 5 vertebra instead of 4, as has been 
done by Osborn, Holland and the present 
writer. If we consider this vertebra as a 
modified dorsal and not asacral, there would 
seem to be no good reason why we should 
not consider the fourth sacral, which also 
has a free spine, as a modified caudal, since 
the centra of each are firmly ankylosed 
with the sacrals bearing coossified spines. 
This interpretation would reduce the num- 
ber of true sacrals to 3, as was originally 
given by Marsh. 

Another marked character brought out 
by our skeleton is the great absolute and 
proportionate length of the cervical region 
in Diplodocus. Osborn has given the known 
and estimated lengths of the vertebral col- 
umn as follows: 

Caudals, 30 feet. 

Sacrals, 2 feet. 

Dorsals (estimated) 12 feet. 

Cervicals (estimated) 12 feet. 

Skull, 2 feet. 

The length of the cervical series alone in 
our skeleton is somewhat over 21 feet; and 
the atlas is yet to be found. The dorsal 
series is somewhat shorter than that esti- 
mated by Osborn. 

The main points that it is desired to em- 
phasize are : 

1. The number of cervical vertebre in 
Diplodocus is definitely fixed at at least 15. 


830 


2. There are at least 11 dorsal vertebre, 
perhaps two or three more. 

3. The great comparative and absolute 
length (21 feet) of the cervical series, a 
striking analogy to that exhibited in the 
struthious birds. 

4. The actual number of dorsals in Diplo- 
docus seems to be 11, but cannot be defi- 
nitely determined from our skeleton, and 
we must await further discoveries for its 


solution. 


J. B. HatcHErR. 
CARNEGIE MUSEUM. 


PLANT GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA. 
JOOC. 


THE LOWER AUSTRAL ELEMENT IN THE FLORA 
OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN RE- 
GION. A PRELIMINARY NOTE.* 


In that portion of the United States 
which lies south of the Potomac and Ohio 
Rivers and east of the Mississippi, three 
principal orographical areas are readily dis- 
tinguishable. These are generally known 
as the Pine Barren or Low Country (Coastal 
Plain), the Piedmont or Middle Country 
and the Mountains or Upper Country. 
Their respective characteristics—climatic, 
physiographical and biological—have been 
so often described in popular and scientific 
writings that to enumerate them here would 
be superfluous. So obvious are their dis- 
tinguishing features, that no observant 
traveler fails to take note of them as he 
crosses the southeastern States. 

The altitudinal limits of these three areas 
coincide roughly with those of three great 
continental life zones, 7. e., the Lower Aus- 

*In the matter of nomenclature, in this paper, I 
have followed that employed by Britton and Brown 
in their ‘Illustrated Flora of the Northern United 
States and Canada.’ But in order to be understood 
by readers who are not familiar with that nomencla- 
ture, I have added, in parentheses, the synonym gen- 
erally current among American botanists before the 


adoption of the ‘ Rochester Code,’ wherever a change 
has been made under that code. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


tral Zone in its humid or Austro-riparian 
Area; the Carolinian Area of the Upper 
Austral, and the Alleghanian Area of the 
Transition Zone.* 

The Coastal Plain, presenting but scant 
diversity in its orography, is occupied al- 
most exclusively by a Lower Austral fauna 
and flora. In the Piedmont Region the 
surface of the country is less uniform and 
we encounter within its general boundaries 
many scattered localities where conditions 
permit the occurrence of Lower Austral or 
of Transition colonies amid the prevailing 
Carolinian life. But in the Mountain Re- 
gion there exists such a variety of condi- 
tions that all the life zones from Lower 
Austral to Hudsonian are represented in 
places, although their limits are here very 
ill-defined, and the precise location of them 
presents many intricate problems. 

Thus along the higher Smoky Mountains 
and the Blue Ridge, we find a typically Can- 
adian forest of firs (Abies Fraseri), accom- 
panied by such trees and shrubs as the 
yellow birch (Betula lutea), mountain ash 
(Sorbus americana), mountain maple (Acer 
spicatum), red elder (Sambucus racemosa) and 
wild red cherry (Prunus pennsylvanica). 
Other characteristically Canadian species 
like the striped maple (Acer pennsylvani- 
cum), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), white 
pine (Pinus Strobus) and the arbor vite 
(Thuya occidentalis) descend to much lower 
elevations (900 meters or less). Along the 
crest of the highest mountains of this 
region, usually at an altitude of 1,800 meters 
(6,000 feet) or upwards, a sparse Hudsonian 
florais encountered. The green alder(Alnus 
viridis), and, of herbs, Arenaria groenlandica, 


* For a definition and description of these zones see 
Merriam in Nat. Geogr. Mag., 6: pp. 220-238, Maps, 
1894. Also, ‘Life Zones and Crop Zones of the United 
States’; Bull. Div. Biol. Survey, U. S. Dept. Agric., 
10: pp. 18-33, Map, 1898 (with a correction of the 
temperature data), in ScIENCE 9: No. 212, p. 116 
(1899). 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


Potentilla tridentata, and Trisetwm subspicatum, 
may be regarded as typical of this zone. 

By far the greatest part of the surface of 
the mountain region is covered with an 
Alleghanian (Transition) flora. To this 
zone may be reckoned such woody species 
as the cherry birch (Betula lenta), species of 
Magnolia (Umbrella, acuminata, Fraserd), 
sugar maple (Acer saccharum), the big laurel 
(Rhododendron maximum), mountain laurel 
(Kalmia latifolia), ete. Mingled with these 
are black walnut (Juglans nigra), tulip tree 
(Liriodendron tulipifera), shag-bark and 
mocker-nut hickories (Hicoria ovata or 
Carya alba and H. alba or Carya tomentosa), 
white and chestnut oaks ( Quercus alba and 
Q. Prinus), holly (Ilex opaca), chestnut 
(Castanea dentata), witch hazel (Hamamelis 
virginiana) and beech (Fagus americana, or 
ferruginea) which are perhaps somewhat 
more characteristic of the Alleghanian flora, 
but are hardly less abundant in the Caro- 
linian. 

The lower slopes of the mountains and 
the valleys between are largely occupied 
by extensions of the Upper Austral (Caro- 
linian) Zone. Very characteristic species, 
especially along the streams, are button- 
wood (Platanus occidentalis), river birch 
(Betula nigra), linden (Tilia heterophylla), 
hackberry ( Celtis occidentalis), sweet gum (Li- 
quidambar styraciflua), red mulberry (Morus 
rubra), sassafras (Sassafras officinale), persim- 
mon (Diospyros virginiana), tupelo (Nyssa syl- 
vatica), and species of pine, notably the serub 
pine (P. virginiana or inops), and the yellow 
pine (P. echinata or mitis). Usually inter- 
mingled with these are numerous partially 
Transition species, e. g., beech and Amer- 
ican elm (Ulmus americana). The dried 
summer slopes add to this list such species 
as the chinquapin (Castanea pumila), sour- 
wood ( Oxydendrum arboreum) and black-jack 
oak (Quercus marylandica or migra).* 


*T have purposely omitted from the above lists 
such species asare endemic in the Southern Appalach- 


SCIENCE. 


831 


Growing amid the often very large body of 
Carolinian forms, thus established in.the re- 
gion we are considering, there occurs a much 
smaller number of species which are most 
abundant in and characteristic of the Aus- 
tro-riparian area of the Lower Austral Zone. 
Only two or three trees and comparatively 
few shrubs which are distinctly of the Lower 
rather than the Upper Austral Zone extend 
into the mountain region. But of herbs 
the number is a respectable one. Over one 
hundred species which are most abundant 
and most widely distributed in the Austro- 
riparian area are known to occur in the 
mountains at an elevation of 300 meters 
(1,000 feet) or more. 

A faint indication of this Lower Austral 
element is perceptible as far north as West 
Virginia and southeastern Kentucky; while, 
on the mostly isolated granitic outcrops in 
northern central Georgia and northern Ala- 
bama, of which Stone Mountain is a type, 
it is so extensive as somewhat to obscure 
the mainly Carolinian character of the flora. 
In the former case the Austro-riparian 
forms are few and unimportant. In the 
latter instance the stations are so inferior 
in elevation, are so nearly isolated from the 
principal mountain chains and are so close. 
to the main borders of the Austro-riparian 
area as to possess small significance as ex- 
tensions of that area. Hence we had best 
confine ourselves here chiefly to that por- 
tion of the Appalachian Region which falls 
within the limits of North Carolina and 
Tennessee. Here we find some of the high- 
est elevations of eastern North America ; 
and therefore we are justified in regard- 
ing as of peculiar interest the presence in 
their neighborhood of numerous essentially 
Lower Austral forms of plant life. 

It may be well to limit still further the 
scope of the present investigation by omitting 
from discussion species which do not reach 


ian Region, as being less suitable to indicate the gen- 
eral zonal relationships. 


832 


an elevation of 300 meters (1,000 feet). Be- 
low that altitude, the flora of the Southern 
Appalachian Region is mainly Carolinian, 
and the presence in its midst of numerous 
Austro-riparian forms would be expected. 
The occurrence of Lower Austral species at 
higher elevations, in the midst of a chiefly 
Transition flora is the phenomenon which 
demands our attention.* 

Some of the species occurring on Lookout 
Mountain, but not reported from other sta- 
tions in the mountains, e. g., Pinus Taeda, 
Cebatha carolina ( Cocculus carolinus), Vacein- 
ium arboreum and Spigelia marilandica, also ex- 
tend farther up the Tennessee Valley. Fin- 
ally a considerable number of Lower Austral 
species, which are encountered rather rarely 
among the mountains, are frequent or com- 
10n along the Tennessee River, near Knox- 
ville (elevation 270 meters). We may cite: 


Poa Chapmaniana. 
Arundinaria macrosperma. 
Arundinaria tecta. 

Yucca filamentosa. 

Agave virginica. 
Centrosema virginiana. 
Hypericum densiflorum. 
Hypericum virgatum. 
Callicarpa americana. 
Aster concolor. 
Tetragonetheca helianthotdes 
Helenium nudiflorum. 


The Austro-riparian species which are 


* Naturally the extent of Lower Austral invasion 
is greatest along the water-courses of the region. 
Thus, in the valley of East Tennessee, which is in 
much of its length fully one hundred miles wide be- 
tween the Great Smokies southeastward and the 
Cumberland Range towards the north and west, there 
occur at an elevation of 240 to 270 meters not a few 
typically Austro-riparian species which apparently do 
not penetrate those smaller mountain valleys which 
are situated above 300 meters. Examples are: 

Agrostis Elliottiana. 

Ampelopsis cordata ( Cissus Ampelopsis). 

Cynoctonum Mitreola (Mitreola petiolata). 

Nemophila microcalyx. 

Lithospermum tuberosum. 

Diapedium brachiatum ( Dicliptera brachiata). 

Hupatorium incarnatum. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


met with in the region thus defined do not 
always grow scatteringly among Carolinian 
forms. Not infrequently, in peculiarly 
favorable localities, such as the diminutive 
pine barrens which cover sandy river bot- 
toms and the dry, sunny lower slopes of 
the hills, they occur in numbers so pro- 
nounced that a botanist suddenly set down 
amongst them might be puzzled for a mo- 
ment as to his zonal whereabouts. Yet a 
two or three hours’ walk would take him 
through a typical Transition vegetation into 
that which is almost wholly Canadian. 
Two colonies of this character with which 
I am personally familiar are worthy of 
more detailed description. 

Along the French Broad River below 
Paint Rock, North Carolina, and just within 
the limits of Tennessee, the stream is bor- 
dered by limited strips of flat land, which 
are mostly covered by a small growth of 
yellow pine (Pinus echinata or mitis), with 
frequent clearings among the trees. The 
altitude of the river-banks is here from 345 
to 360 meters (1,150 to 1,200 feet) above 
the sea. In these groves the herbaceous 
flora is, as it were, a bit of the carpet of 
the coastwise pine-barrens, which has been 
laid down intact along the banks of a moun- 
tain stream. The following list of species, 
all of which are abundantly represented, 
indicates the character of this flora. It will 
be noticed that Gramines, Leguminos& and 
Composite contribute a very large propor- 
tion. 

Brianthus alopecuroides. 

Andropogon argyraus. 

Ohrysopogon nutans var. Linneanus. 

Sporobolus asper. 

Danthonia sericea. 

Gymnopogon ambiguus ( G. racemosus). 

Triodia Chapmant. 

Crategus uniflora (C. parvifolia). 

Yorongia angustata (Schrankia angustata). 

Cracca spicata ( Tephrosia spicata). 

Stylosanthes riparia. 

Rhynchosia erecta. 

Croton glandulosus. 


NOVEMBER 30), 1900. ] 


Vitis rotundifolia. 

Hypericum Drumondii. 

Bignonia crucigera (B. capreolata). 
Hlephantapus tomentosus. 
Hupatorium aromaticum. 
Chrysopsis graminifolia. 

Silphium Asteriscus. 

Silphium compositum. 


Another noteworthy Austro-riparian col- 
ony occurs at a mean elevation of about 
300 meters (1,000 feet), in the cafion-like 
valley of the Hiwassee River, in extreme 
southeastern Tennessee. Here the number 
of almost purely Lower Austral Gramineze 
is particularly striking. Some of the most 
important species are : 

EHrianthus alopecuroides. 

Hrianthus contortus. 

Hrianthus brevibarbis. 

Andropogon argyraus. 

Andropogon Hiliottit. 

Paspalum purpurascens. 

Panicum gibbum. 

Panicum viscidum. 

Danthonia sericea. 

Uniola longifolia. 

Poa Chapmaniana. 

Decumaria barbara. 

Baptisia alba. 

Aralia spinosa. 

Ptilimnium capillaceum (Discopleura captilacea). 

Phlox amena. 

Melothria pendula. 

Lacinaria graminifolia (Liatris graminifolia). 

Helianthus angustifolius. 

Lookout Mountain, especially near its 
southwestern end, in Alabama, harbors a 
notable colony of Lower Austral plants ; 
but the precise altitudes at which most of the 
species occur are not known to me. Some 
of them which have not been reported from 
other stations in the mountains are: 

Pinus Teda.* 

Xyris communis. 

Asimina parviflora. 

Cebatha carolina ( Cocculus carolinus). 

Sarracenia flava (var. oreophila). 

Crotonopsis linearis. 

Berchemia scandens.* 

Vaccinium arboreum. 

Gelsemium sempervirens.* 


SCIENCE. 


833 


Spigelia marilandica. 
Yatesia lete-virens ( Gatesia laete-virens).* 
Chondrophora virgata ( Bigelovia nudatavirgata). 


These three localities are but a few 
among many which could have been se- 
lected to illustrate the extension of Lower 
Austral species beyond the normal alti- 
tudinal limits of their zone. Hardly a 
warm lower slope or a sunny valley in the 
mountains but shelters a greater or less 
number of them. The mapping of these 
colonies is one of the nicest and one of the 
most interesting pieces of work that awaits 
the future investigator of local floras in 
this territory, for it goes without saying that 
it is impossible to indicate them on any 
general map of the Southern Appalachian 
region. 

Let us now examine more in detail the 
composition of the flora which occupies 
these outposts of the Lower Austral Zone. 
A category which may be eliminated at the 
outset embraces those species which have 
been introduced into the mountains by the 
direct or indirect agency of man. Here 
belong a number of, for the most part, in- 
digenous weeds which are common in waste 
and cultivated land in the low country of 
the southeastern United States, and which 
have penetrated the Appalachian region 
chiefly along the railways, e. g.: 

Cynodon Dactylon. 

Commelina nudiflora. 

Croton glandulosus. 

Croton monanthogynos. 

Passiflora incarnata. 

Polypremum procumbens. 

Sitilias caroliniana ( Pyrrhopappus carolinianus ). 

EHupatorium capillifolium (EH. feniculaceum). 

Helenium tenuifolium. 

Of the lower Austral species whose oc- 
currence in the Appalachian region can not 
be referred to the agency of man, the 
greater number—about sixty per cent.— 
range elsewhere beyond the limits of the 


* Occurrence on Lookout Mountain needs confirma- 
tion. 


834 


Lower Austral Zone as generally recog- 
nized.* In other words they have a lati- 
ttdinal, as well as altitudinal, extra-zonal 
extension. Yet because of their much 
wider distribution and greater abundance 
within the proper limits of that zone, they 
are to be regarded as essentially Lower 
Austral species. 

This majority becomes, however, a small 
minority and the percentage is reduced to 
about twenty-five, if we exclude species 
whose northward extra-zonal range extends 
only as far as eastern Maryland, Delaware 
or southern New Jersey. When we con- 
sider how largely the Carolinian flora of 
this latter section is diluted with Austro- 
riparian forms, almost to the obscuring of 
its true zonal relationship, we can not at- 
tach very great weight to the occurrence 
here of any particular Lower Austral spe- 
cies. Or, better expressed, the extension of 
such a species into the heart of the Appa- 
lachian region must be regarded as more 
significant than its occurrence in the Coastal 
Plain no farther north than southern New 
Jersey. 3 

Of that large minority of Lower Austral 
species of the Appalachian region which 
exceed the general zonal limits in altitude 
but not in latitude, the following is a pre- 
liminary and, doubtless, very incomplete 
list : 

Hrianthus alopecuroides. 

Hrianthus brevibarbis. 

Hrianthus contortus. 

Chrysopogon nutans var. Linnwanus. 

Paspalum longipedunculatum. 

Paspalam purpurascens. 

Panicum gibbum. 

Panicum longipedunculatum. 

Triodia Chapmani. 

Uniola longifolia. 

*The Austro-riparian Area, as defined by Mer- 
riam in various papers (recently in Bull. 10, Div. 
Biol. Survey, U.S. Dept. Agric.) reaches its most 
northern limits at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; in 


extreme southwestern Indiana, southern IJJinois and 
southeastern Missouri ; and in southeastern Kansas. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


Arundinaria macrosperma. 

Cyperus echinatus (C. Baldwinit.) 

Lilium carolinanum. 

Ulmus alata. 

Asimina parviflora. 

Cebatha carolina ( Cocculus). 

Sarracenia flava (var. oreophila). 

Parnassia grandifolia. 

Decumaria barbara. 

Morongia angustata (Schrankia). 

Baptisia alba. 

Psoralea pedunculata. 

Berchemia scandens.* 

Vaccinium arboreum. 

Gelsemium sempervirens.* 

Phlox amena. 

Callicarpa americana. 

Yatesta laete-virens ( Gatesia).* 

Melothria pendula. 

Elephantopus tomentosus. 

Chondrophora virgata ( Bigelovia). 

Aster purpuratus (A. virgatus). 

Pluehea petiolata. : 

Antennaria solitaria Rydberg (A. plantaginifolia 
var, monocephala Torr. & Gray). 

. Stilphium compositum. 
Tetragonetheca helianthoides. 
Coreopsis auriculata. 

Coreopsis major ( CO. senifolia). 
Helenium nudiflorum. 


The presence, at an elevation of 300 meters 
or more, of this considerable number of 
Austro-riparian species which nowhere else 
venture beyond the limits of their life zone, 
is, on the whole, the most noteworthy fact 
in regard to the Lower Austral element in 
the highland flora of the Southern States. 
Species of this category would appear to 
possess less general tendency to exceed their 
zonal limits than do those which range 
farther northward, and this enhances the in- 
terest of their occurrence in the mountains. 

We now come to the difficult question of 
the probable past history of the Lower Aus- 
tral plants which occur to-day in the Appa- 
lachian region. Are they relics of a flora 
once more widely distributed there, or are 
they the vanguard of an invading army 
from lower altitudes and latitudes? Al- 


* Occurrence in the Appalachian region as above 
defined somewhat doubtful. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900.] 


though the answer must be largely specu- 
lative, it is hardly a pure assumption that 
both cases may be true in part. In study- 
ing this floral element, one soon reaches the 
conclusion that it comprises two categories 
of species which are markedly different not 
only in their systematic relationships, pres- 
ent distribution in the region and probable 
past history, but even, to a considerable 
degree, in their ecological constitution. 
But, in some cases, it is almost impossible 
to decide-to which of the two groups a given 
species should be referred. 

1. Plants of probably neotropical origin 
which have in all likelihood made their 
first appearance in the Appalachian region 
in geologically very modern times, probably 
after the close of the so-called Glacial 
Epoch. The following list embraces spe- 
cies which, from their distribution else- 
where, or from their affinities, are most 
likely to have had this history :* 


Frianthus alopecuroides. 
Hrianthus brevibarbis. 

EHrianthus contortus. 

Andropogon argyreus. 
Andropogon Hlliottti. 
Chrysopogon nutans var. Linneanus. 
Paspalum longipedunculatum. 
Paspalum purpuracens. 

Panicum gibbum. 

Panicum angustifolium. 

Panicum longipedunculatum. 
Panicum viscidum. 

Muhlenbergia capillaris. 
Sporobolus asper. 

Gymnopogon ambiguus. 

Triodia Chapmani. 

Cyperus echinatus (C. Baldwinii). 
Kyllinga pumila. 

Ayris communis. 

Oommelina erecta. 

Commelina hirtella. 

Yucca filamentosa. 

Agave virginica. 

Pogonia divaricata. 
Phoradendron flavescens. 

Asimina parviflora. 

Cebatha carolina ( Cocculus). 
Morongia angustata ( Schrankia). 


SCIENCE. 


835 


Cracca spicata ( Tephrosia). 
Stylosanthes riparia. 

Bradburya virginiana ( Centrosema). 
Clitoria mariana. 

Rhynchosia erecta. 

Crotonopsis linearis. 

Ascyrum stans. 

Hypericum densiflorum. 

Hypericum Drummondit. 
Hypericum virgatum. 

Rhexia mariana. 

Jussiwa decurrens. 

Geisemium sempervirens. 
Cynoctonum Mitreola (Mitreola petiolata). 
Spigelia marilandica. 

Callicarpa americana. 

Gratiola spherocarpa. 

Gratiola viscosa. 

Bignonia crucigera (B. capreolata). 
Yatesia lete-virens ( Gatesia). 
Diodia virginiana. 

Melothria pendula. 

Hlephantopus tomentosus. 
Hupatorium aibum. 

Hupatorium aromaticum. 
Lacinaria graminifolia (Liatris). 
Chrysopsis graminifolia. 
Chondrophora virgata. 

Pluchea petiolata. 

Silphium Asteriscus. 

Silphium compositum. 
Tetragonotheca helianthoides. 
Helianthus angustifolius. 
Helianthus atrorubens. 

Coreopsis major ( C. senifolia). 
Coreopsis auriculata. 

Marshallia lanceolata var. platyphylla. 
Helenium nudiflorum. 


By far the greater number of species in 
the above list belong to groups, whether 
genera, tribes or families, which are chiefly 
tropical in their present distribution. Thus 
of the three most largely represented fami- 
lies, the Gramineze belong chiefly to the 
tribes Andropogoneze and Panices; the 
Leguminosz to Mimose and Phaseole ; and 
the Composite to Eupatorize and Helian- 
thoidez. This category is furthermore re- 
markable in consisting almost entirely of 
herbaceous species. Most of them are of 
distinctly xerophytic structure, loving a dry 
sandy soil and much light and heat. 


836 


2. Plants, probably not of neotropical 
origin, which are, in several cases, probably 
the more or less modified descendants of 
that characteristic flora which in later 
Eocene or in Miocene time extended to 
high northern latitudes, also occupying the 
mountainous parts of what is now the North 
Temperate Zone.* Of this category, the 
number of identical species occurring both 
in the Coastal Plain and in the Appalach- 
ian region is notably smaller than in the 
first group. To be reckoned here, with 
more or less confidence, are: 


Danthonia sericea. 
Uniola gracilis. 

Uniola longifolia. 

Poa Chapmaniana. 
Arundinaria macrosperma (?). 
Arundinaria tecta (?) 
Lilium carolinanum. 
Ulmus alata. 
Parnassia grandifolia. 
Decumaria barbara. 
Itea virginica. 
Crategus uniflora. 
Crategus rotundifolia. 
Berchemia scandens. 
Ampelopsis cordata. 
Vitis rotundifolia. 
Aralia spinosa. 
Dendrium buaxifolium (Leiophyllum). 
Leucothoé racemosa. 
Oxydendrum arboreum. 
Gaylussacia dumosa. 
Vaccinium arboreum. 
Symplocos tinctoria. 
Ohionanthus virginica. 
Antennaria solitaria. 


Most of the species, as well as many of 


* According to De Saporta et Marion (Recherches 
sur les végétaux fossiles de Meximieux; Archiv. 
Mus. Hist. Nat. de Lyon, 1 : 304-324 (1875), a vege- 
tation of Magnolia, Lauracere, Liquidambar, Anona- 
cez, Ilicacesze, Liriodendron, etc., occurred on the 
mountains of southeastern France, at altitudes of 200 
to 700 meters, during the Pliocene. That a similar 
flora flourished contemporaneously in the mountains 
of eastern North America would seem by no means 
unlikely. Ifso, the Pliocene flora of the Appalachian 
region must have borne considerable resemblance to 
that which prevails there to-day. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


the genera, comprised in this second cate- 
gory are characteristic neither of tropical nor 
of high northern regions. They belong in 
great part to groups which are most largely 
represented at present in the mountainous 
parts of the Warm Belt of the Northern 
Temperate Zone, in both the Eastern and 
Western Hemispheres. Some of them, how- 
ever, are of floral types which are to-day 
most highly developed in the tropics. Such 
are the species of Arundinaria, Berchemia 
scandens, Ampelopsis cordata, Aralia spinosa 
and Symplocos tinctoria. Yet the groups to 
which several or all of these species belong, 
formerly had a much wider extra-tropical 
distribution than is now the case. <A few 
plants of this category, 7. e., the species of 
Poa, Parnassia and Antennaria belong to 
genera of mainly boreal and alpine distri- 
bution. 

To be considered in connection with this 
second category of the Lower Austral spe- 
cies which occur both within the main lim- 
its of the Austro-riparian area and in the 
mountains, is a very significant group of 
genera which are represented in eastern 
North America by two closely allied species 
or group of species, one in the Coastal Plain, 
the other in the Appalachian region. 

With the exception of Clethra (which is 
largely tropical) all these genera, like many 
of those represented by species of the 
second category, have their present center of 
distribution in the warmer part of the North 
Temperate Zone. This may be said also of 
the larger groups to which many of them 
belong, e. g., the families Calycanthacesx, 
Sarraceniaces, Hamamelidaces and Mono- 
tropacee, and the tribes Hydranges of 
Saxifragaceee and Andromedee of Hricacex. 
Some of them are known to belong to floral 
types which were very widely distributed in 
the Northern Hemisphere during the earlier 
part of the Tertiary, in not a few cases 
ranging as far north as Greenland and 
Alaska; and we may be permitted to con- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


jecture that the ancestors of most of these 
genera whose actual history is still undis- 
closed were thus distributed during Mio- 


SCLENCE. 


regan 


On the other hand, the number of shade- 
loving tropophytes or mesophytes is de- 
cidedly greater than in the first category. 


cene time. Very broadly speaking, sev- The plants of the second category are more 
Genus. Coastal Plain Species. Appalachian Species. 

Butneria( Calycanthus). florida. fertilis (glauca). 
Sarracenia. flava. flava var. oreophila. 
Philadelphus. grandiflorus. tnodorus. 

hirsutus. 
Hydrangea. quercifolia radiata. 

cinerea. 
Fothergilla. carolina ( Gardent). arborescens. 
Stuartia. Malachodendron (virginica). major. 
Clethra. alnifolia.* pentagyna. 
Monotropsis ( Schweinitzia). Reynoldsie. acuminata. 
Leucothoé. axillaris. odorata. 

racemosa.* Catesbat. 

Pieris. phyllyreifolia. TECUTVGa. 
Mohrodendron ( Halesia). dipterum. floribunda. 


parviflorum. 


eral of these genera represent groups 
which appear to be on the wane, as distin- 
guished from the dominant and, one may 
say, aggressive types of presumably neo- 
tropical origin to which the species of the 
first category chiefly belong. 

In another important respect the second 
category differs from the first, 7. e., in its 
ecological character. A majority of the 
species which it comprises are woody plants, 
shrubs, lianas or trees; and this majority 
becomes a large one if we take into account 
the list of representative species just given. 
The first category, as we have seen, con- 
sists almost wholly of herbaceous forms. 

A considerable number of species of the 
second category, notably several of the 
woody plants with thick, more or less per- 
sistent, leaves is essentially xerophytie in 
structure. But the xerophilous leaf-struc- 
ture is here in most cases probably a con- 
sequence of the long duration of that organ 
and a protection against winter conditions, 
rather than an adaptation to the effects of 
climate and soil during the growing season. 


* Ranges beyond the northern limits of the Aus- 
tro-riparian area. 


carolinum (tetraptera). 


often scattered among Transition and Car- 
olinian vegetation, showing generally little 
tendency to form well-defined Lower Aus- 
tral colonies. Finally, they are, on the 
whole, less characteristic of the Austro- 
riparian area, as distinguished from the 
Carolinian area, than are many of the spe- 
cies of our first category. 

Having thus segregated the two principal 
groups of species which constitute the floral 
element under discussion, are we in a posi- 
tion to draw conclusions as to its past 
history? The answer must be that it is 
possible as yet to formulate only broad 
generalizations which are hardly more 
than pure hypotheses. The paleontological 
record, during the period which doubtless 
witnessed the gradual rearrangement of the 
plant covering of the Southern Appalachian 
country in its present form, 7. e., from the 
Pleistocene to the present, is fragmentary 
in the extreme for the region in question. 
Wecan get only glimpses of what may have 
been the course of events. Here and there 
a headland can be seen, but the trend of 
the intervening shore-line is only to be 
guessed at. 


838 


That there is reason to modify the for- 
merly current assumption that extremelylow 
temperatures existed in the Northern Hem- 
isphere during the Glacial Epoch is now 
urged by not a few authorities.* In a paper 
which advocates revision of preconceived 
ideas on this point, Vater f calculates that 
points in middle Germany which were not 
distant from the edge of the great Ice 
Sheet, possessed, during the Glacial Epoch, 
@ mean annual temperature of 4° C., as 
compared with 10.6° C. at the present day. 
But even this amount of difference must 
have wrought great changes in the vegeta- 
tion, and, if the same ratio obtained in 
eastern North America, we may well assume 
that no member of what constitutes to-day 
the characteristic Austro-riparian flora 
could have maintained itself in the Appa- 
lachian region, during the climax of the 


*Thus J. D. Whitney, who goes much farther than 
most geologists in reaction against previously enter- 
tained ideas as to the extent and importance of the 
Ice Sheet, remarks as follows in his well known paper 
on ‘ The Climatic Changes of Later Geological Times’ 
(Contr. to Amer. Geology, Harvard University, Vol. 
2, p. 268, 1888): ‘‘A general refrigeration of the 
earth could never have caused that peculiar distribu- 
tion of snow and ice to which the term Glacial Epoch is 
commonly applied; and * * * the phenomena in ques- 
tion are entirely compatible with a higher mean tem- 
perature than now prevails.’’ Again (p. 321): ‘‘ We 
have no right to assume as having existed during the 
Glacial Epoch a period of intense cold, or even a 
lower mean temperature than that now prevailing 
over the earth.’ And (p. 387): ‘‘It is possible to 
]ay aside ail idea of explaining the phenomena of the so- 
called Glacial Epoch, by referring them to the exten- 
sion of a general or Polar ice-cap over the land of the 
Northern Hemisphere. * * * The entire body of facts 
presented brings out most clearly the true condition 
of things, namely that the Glacial Epoch was a local 
phenomenon, during the occurrence of which much 
the larger part of the land-masses of the globe re- 
mained climatologically entirely unaffected.’’ This 
author represents, however, an extreme view, which 
is rejected by many geologists. 

{ ‘Das Klima der Eiszeit’; Sitzungsber. d. na- 
turw. Gesellsch. Isis in Dresden, 1883, pp. 56, 57 
(1884). 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


Ice Age.* For we must remember, that the 
great glacier made its way southward as far 
as the present location of Cincinnati, on 
the Ohio River, and extended to the south- 
ern shore of Staten Island.+ 

We may premise, therefore, with consid- 
erable confidence, that any portion of the 
Lower Austral flora of to-day which may 
have inhabited the Appalachian region 
prior to the Pleistocene retreated to lower 
altitudes and latitudes when the Ice Sheet 
approached its most southern limit. If we 
were to maintain, on the other hand, that 
Lower Austral plants had survived the 
Glacial Epoch in the Appalachian region, 
we should be compelled to assume that 
species which had developed under the mild 
climatic conditions generally believed to 
have prevailed, even in high northern lati- 
tudes, during Miocene and Pliocene times, 
later adapted themselves to the considera- 
bly lower temperatures prevailing during 


the comparatively brief Glacial Epoch, 


and, after the close of that Epoch, read- 
justed themselves to the warmer tempera- 
tures which again held sway.{ 


* A.C. Seward, in discussing ‘ Fossil Plants as 
Tests of Climate’ (London, 1892), p. 50, after sum- 
ming up the evidence pro and con which has been 
brought forward to prove that forests could have 
maintained themselves amid or very near the great 
glacier, decides against the possibility of such sur- 
vival. On theother hand, we have no right to as> 
sume that a vigorous forest growth may not have con- 
tinued to flourish in the greater part of the Appa- 
lachian region, at least at low elevations, throughout 
the Glacial Epoch. For, as the same author re- 
marks, pines and even tree ferns thrive to-day at the 
very edge of the terminal moraines of New Zealand 
glaciers ; while, in Alaska, some glaciers (notably the 
Malaspina) are largely covered with spruce, alder and 
other trees. 

{+The area supposed to have been covered by the 
Ice Sheet in North America has been mapped by Pro- 
fessor T. C. Chamberlin ; 7th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. 
Survey, pl. 8 (1888). 

tIt will be objected that it is not always safe to 
argue from the present requirements of organisms 
(especially of genera and still larger groups), the 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


The difficulty of such an assumption is 
increased by the fact that some of the forms 
belonging to our second category have ap- 
parently undergone little modification since 
Pliocene times; and this may well be true 
of many of them whose past history is still 
unknown. ‘To the average mind, the alter- 
native hypothesis, that of an extensive 
migration of the less resistant species from 
the mountains to the warmer lowlands, is 
decidedly more thinkable. 

As the Ice Sheet began to recede, and the 
climate of the Appalachian Region became 
gradually milder, approaching its present 
character, those species which had resided 
in the Appalachian Region before the Pleis- 
tocene, would have gradually returned 
thither; but as the climate of to-day is 
probably considerably colder than that of 
the Pliocene, it is to be presumed that this 
floral element now occurs at a lower alti- 
tude than that at which it flourished in 
pre-Glacial times. It may be assumed, 
furthermore, that the neo-tropical forms 
which constitute our first category, then 
began to make their way, for the first time, 
into the Appalachian Region. 

To account for the presence to-day of 
representative species of certain genera 
(e. g., Stuartia, Fothergilla) in the moun- 
tains and in the Coastal Plain, respectively, 
it is conceivable that after the final retreat 
of the great glacier, the increasing heat of 
the lowlands induced in some individuals 


climatic conditions to which they have previously 
been adapted. ‘This point is well brought out by H, 
von Ihering in a paper on ‘ Die neotropische Tropen- 
gebeit und seine Geschichte’ (Engler Bot. Jahrb., 
vol. 17, Beiblatt 42, 1893). It is easily conceivable, 


for example, that vegetation as a whole has been ac-. 


customing itself, during long ages, to gradually de- 
creasing heat. But, in the case which we are here 
considering, this objection cannot be allowed much 
weight, as the climatic changes have been more or 
less oscillatory, rather than progressive and have 
taken place within a (geologically speaking) oom- 
paratively brief period. 


SCIENCE. 


839 


of a single ancestral species, which had 
sought refuge there during the Ice Age, 
changes of physiological constitution and of 
structure which fitted them to endure a 
warmer climate than that to which they 
had previously been accustomed. Other in- 
dividuals having gradually made their way 
to higher elevations on the heels of the re- 
treating Boreal flora, settled finally in the 
valleys and on the lower slopes of the 
mountains, where they have remained up 
to the present day, perhaps with little varia- 
tion from the Pliocene form. 

If we assume, on the other hand, that 
forms contained in our list of representa- 
tive species were enabled to survive the 
Glacial Epoch without migrating, in toto, 
from the Appalachian Region, an alterna- 
tive hypothesis becomes possible. 

In that case it may be conceived that 
while some individuals of each hypothetical 
Pliocene ancestral species maintained them- 
selves in well-sheltered situations and were 
not forced to a change of abode, others 
escaped the changing environment by a 
gradual retreat into the warmer lowlands. 
The individuals which remained in the 
mountains were the direct ancestors of the 
present Appalachian species ; while those 
which migrated and later accustomed them- 
selves in the Coastal Plain to the increas- 
ing temperatures that ensued upon the close 
of the Glacial Epoch, gave rise to the Aus- 
tro-riparian species that attract our atten- 
tion to-day because of their close resem- 
blance to Appalachian forms.* 

It is true that this theory leaves unex- 
plained the occurrence, both in mountains 
and plain, of identical species of the second 

*It is not impossible that in some of these cases of 
representative species, differentiation of the allied 
forms may have taken place before the advent of the 
Glacial Epoch. But in most instances the relation- 
ship is so extremely close that we need not assume for 
them an older origin, especially as no other convenient 


hypothesis offers to account for their present distribu- 
tion. 


840 


category, including such woody plants as 
Decumaria, Itea, Callicarpa, Oxydendrum, 
Aralia spinosa, Vitis rotundifolia, etc. A 
similar case is the presence of Azalia viscosa, 
an essentially Coastal Plain species, here 
and there in the mountains along with its 
mountain analogue, A. arborescens. Leucothoé 
racemosa, abundant in the swamps of the 
seaboard, is also found occasionally along 
highland streams, while a closely related 
and very similar species, LZ. recurva, is much 
more abundant in the mountains, to which 
it is confined. These are cases where the 
differentiation in distribution of correspond- 
ing forms, one in the Coastal Plain, and 
another in the Appalachian region, is either 
incomplete or has not taken place at all. 
But as no fact in biology is better known 
than the capacity of some species to endure 
a wide range of physical conditions, while 
others are fatally sensitive to compara- 
tively slight differences of environment, 
this difficulty is not an insuperable one. 

The initial appearance in the mountains 
of species of the first category, i. e., those of 
presumably neotropical origin, was probably 
somewhat subsequent to the return thither 
of the Miocene Boreal forms of the second 
category, for most of the former require 
decidedly higher temperatures than many 
of the latter. But we know little of the 
history of such groups as are chiefly repre- 
sented in this category and which make up 
a large part of the modern tropical Amer- 
ican flora, i. e., the above mentioned tribes 
of Gramineze, Leguminose and Composite. 
Hence we must content ourselves with as- 
suming that these species did not exist in 
the Appalachian region prior to recent geo- 
logic time, and that they constitute the most 
modern element of its flora. 

It is more than probable that the hy- 
pothesis just outlined is very incomplete as 
to details and will be found not to account 
forall the phenomena. Instead of the com- 
paratively simple progression of events 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


which it premises, the fact is pretty well 
established that there was more than one 
advance and recession of the Ice Sheet, 
and that the mutations of the flora have 
been correspondingly intricate. But of the 
complex of factors which have been at work 
since the middle of the Tertiary in giving 
to this flora its present distribution, we 
know far too little to permit the elaboration 
of a more comprehensive theory. Until 
we possess a much larger body of paleon- 
tological evidence, and a better understand- 
ing of past climatic conditions, we must be 
content with some such working hypoth- 
esis. 

When we come to inquire into the con- 
ditions of climate and of soil which permit 
the actual existence of numerous Lower 
Austral forms in juxtaposition to a Transi- 
tion and even Canadian flora, we enter 
upon an investigation that is within the 
domain of exact research. Here we are 
dealing with things tangible, which can to 
some extent be weighed and measured. 

First let us compare the climate of the 
Appalachian Region in the Southern States 
with that which prevails under the same 
latitude in the Austro-riparian area, direct- 
ing our attention to the factors of tempera- 
ture which have the largest effect in de- 
termining the zonal distribution of orgau- 
isms. These are believed to be: (1) the 
normal number of days during the year 
which possess a temperature above 6° C. 
(48° F.); (2) the normal sum total of tem- 
peratures above 6° C. during the period 
thus defined ;* and (3) the normal mean of 
the six consecutive hottest weeks.| In the 
following table data are given for four sta- 
tions in the mountain region and for two of 

* The factor which is believed to fix the northern 
and upper limit of the great life zones. See Mer- 
riam in Nat. Geogr. Mag., 6 : 229-238, 1894. Also 
Life Zones and Crop Zones, Bull. Div. Biol. Survey, 
U.S. Dept. Agric., 10: 54, 1898. 

+ The factor taken as determining the southern and 
lower limit of the zones, Merriam, 1. c. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


the most northern in the Austro-riparian 
area. 

The Highlands station is cited here for 
the sake of comparison, but does not other- 
wise answer our purpose, its elevation be- 
ing so great as to preclude the occurrence 


SCIENCE. 


841 


at Norfolk. Inshort, Norfolk temperatures 
are farther below those of Memphis, than 
Valley Head temperatures are below those 
of Norfolk. The occurrence of many Aus- 
tro-riparian species at Valley Head is there- 
fore small matter for wonder. But in order 


c Days with tem- Sum total above Normal Mean of 6 

STATION. Altitude. Pete aR 6°C. (43°F). WOttesthmealcs! 

| 

Highlands, N. C. .......... 3817 ft. 234 1970.5°C. eat | 18.9°C. (66.1°F). 
Asheville, N. C. ............ 1981-2250 ft. 249 2604.5°C. (4688°F).| 21.8°C. (71.3°F). 
Knoxville, Tenn. .......... 891-933 ft. 267 3090.5°C. (5563°F). | 24.5°C. (76.1°F). 
Valley Head, Ala. .........| 1027 ft. 293 3049.0°C. (5488°F). | 24.0°C. (75.2°F). 
OBO WEL sosanssoccosc600 11-12 ft. 295 3359.5°C. (6047°F). | 26.3°C. (79.3°F). 

Memphis, Tenn. ............ 117-273 ft. 307 3752.2°C. (6754°F). | 27.2°C. (81°F). 


of any important number of Lower Austral 
species. Knoxville falls slightly below the 
minimum altitude to which this discussion 
was limited at the outset; but owing to 
its proximity to some of the most interest- 
ing colonies described above, and in the 
absence of the requisite data from points 
lying nearer them, it has seemed best to 
give it place in the table. The most useful 
data are those given for Asheville and for 
Valley Head. Both have an altitude of 
more than 300 meters (1,000 feet) above 
the sea, and at both points a considerable 
number of Austro-riparian forms is known 
to occur. 

At Asheville the normal sum total of 
effective heat is only about 80 per cent. of 
that at Norfolk, and slightly more than 66 
per cent. of that at Memphis. The normal 
number of days of the year possessing 
physiologically effective temperatures is, at 
Asheville, about 85 per cent. of that at 
Norfolk, and about 82 per cent. of that at 
Memphis. At Valley Head, which is only 
about one-half as high as Asheville, and is 
considerably farther south, the normal sum 
total of heat stands to that of Norfolk in 
about the ratio of 11 to 12; and, to that at 
Memphis nearly as 4 to 5. The normal 
number of days of the year whose temper- 
ature exceeds 6° C. is only two less than 


to explain their presence at Asheville, and 
at other points along the French Broad 
River at elevations of 330 to 600 meters 
(1,100 to 2,000 feet),* where we find the 
temperature conditions as ordinarily ex- 
pressed so different from those of the Aus- 
tro-riparian area proper, other elements of 
the miliew must be brought into considera- 
tion. The two factors which are probably 
most effective in permitting those species 
to maintain themselves in what would seem 
to be an unfriendly environment are: (1) 
The amount of insolation; and (2) The na- 
ture of the soil. 

1. Insolation.— A favorite situation in 
the mountains for colonies of Lower Aus- 
tral species is on the southern exposure of 
hills, where the angle of inclination and the 
position with reference to the sun insure 
the greatest possible amount of insolation. 
The duration and intensity of the heat and 
light which such exposures receive from the 
sun On summer days must go far towards 
counterbalancing the effect of altitude in 
lowering the temperature during the hours 
of darkness, and in shortening the growing 
season. The flora of the Coastal Plain 


* At Biltmore, N. C., with an altitude of 1,993 to 
2,150 feet, occur Arundinaria macrosperma, A. tecta, 
Hypericum virgatum, Helenium nudiflorum and several 
other characteristic Lower Austral species. 


842 


under the same latitudes, while favored by 
the low elevation of the country, is less ad- 
vantageously situated in that it does not 
usually receive the greatest possible force of 
the sun’s rays during the hottest weeks of 
summer. 

2. Soiwl.— The soil preferred by the 
great majority of Austro-riparian plants 
which are met with in the mountains, 
especially those of our first category, 
which are assumed to be of neo-tropical 
origin, is light, sandy and poor in organic 
matter ; consequently readily permeable to 
water and becoming quickly and strongly 
heated. It is very similar to the soils 
which cover a great part of the Coastal 
Plain. Ina substratum of this character, 
whether on the lower slopes or in the river 
bottoms, we invariably find established the 
larger colonies of Lower Austral species. 
In consonance with their environment, 
most of them are xerophytic or hemi- 
xerophytic in structure, as is the case with 
a great portion of the vegetation of the 
coastwise pine-barrens. 

On the heavier and consequently colder 
and wetter soils, and on slope exposures 
other than southern, the flora is always of 
predominately Transition character, at the 
same elevation or even, in places, descend- 
ing to lower altitudes than are often reached 
on the opposite slope by Carolinian and 
Austro-riparian forms. 

Unfortunately no investigations have yet 
been made in this mountain region which 
afford us exact data as to the amount of 
isolation received by plants growing in the 
situations described; nor have we the 
measurements of soil temperature which 
are necessary to the further prosecution of 
the present inquiry. A comparative study 
of this question in various parts of the Ap- 
palachian region and of the Coastal Plain, 
coupled with an investigation of the ecology 
of the vegetation along anatomical-physi- 
ological lines, would beyond all doubt yield 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


results of the greatest interest and value. 
It is earnestly hoped that such an inves- 
tigation can be undertaken in the nea 


future. 
THos. H. KEARNEY, JR. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Gauss and the non-Euclidean Geometry. CARL 
FRIEDRICH GAUSS WERKE. Band VIII. 
Gottingen. 1900. 4to. Pp. 458. 

We are so accustomed to the German profes- 
sor who does, we hardly expect the German 
professor who does not. 

Such, however, was Schering of Gottingen, 
who so long held possession of the papers left. 
by Gauss. 

Schering had planned and promised to pub- 
lish a supplementary volume, but never did, 
and only left behind him at his death certain 
preparatory attempts thereto, consisting chiefly 
of excerpts copied from the manuscripts and let- 
ters left by Gauss. Meantime these papers for 
all these years were kept secret and even the 
learned denied all access to them. 

Schering dead, his work has been quickly 
and ably done, and here we have a stately 
quarto of matter supplemental to the first three 
volumes, and to the fourth volume with excep- 
tion of the geodetic part. 

Of chief interest for us is the geometric por- 
tion, pp. 159-452, edited by just the right man, 
Professor Staeckel of Kiel. 

One of the very greatest discoveries in mathe- 
matics since ever the world began is, beyond 
peradventure, the non-Euclidean geometry. 

By whom was this given to the world in 
print ? 

By a Hungarian, John Bolyai, who made the 
discovery in 1823, and by a Russian, Lobachéy- 
ski, who had made the discovery by 1826. 

Were either of these men prompted, helped, 
or incited by Gauss, or by any suggestion ema- 
nating from Gauss? 

No, quite the contrary. 

Our warrant for saying this with final and 
overwhelming authority is this very eighth vol- 
ume of Gauss’s works, just now at last put in 
evidence, published to the world. 

The geometric part opens, p. 159, with 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


Gauss’s letter of 1779 to Bolyai Farkas the 
father of John (Bolyai J&nos), which I gave 
years ago in my Bolyai as demonstrative evi- 
dence that in 1799 Gauss was still trying to 
prove Euclid’s the only non-contradictory sys- 
tem of geometry, and also the system of objec- 
tive space. 

The first is false; the second can never be 
proven. 

But both these friends kept right on working 
away at this impossibility, and the more hot- 
headed of the two, Farkas, finally thought he 
“had succeeded with it, and in 1804 sent to 
Gauss his ‘G6ttingen Theory of Parallels.’ 
Gauss’s judgment on this is the next thing 
given (pp. 160-162). He shows the weak spot. 
“Could you prove, that dkc—ckf—fkg, ete., 
then were the thing perfect. However, this 
theorem is indeed true, only difficult, without 
already presupposing the theory of parallels, to 
prove rigorously.’? Thus in 1804 instead of 
having or giving any light, Gauss throws his 
friend into despair by intimating that the link 
missing in his labored attempt is true enough, 
but difficult to prove without petitio principii. 

Of course we now know it is impossible to 
prove. 

Anything is impossible to prove which is the 
equivalent of the parallel postulate. 

Yet both the friends continue their strivings 
after this impossibility. 

In this very letter Gauss says: ‘‘I have in- 
deed yet ever the hope that those rocks some- 
time, and indeed before my end, will allow a 
through passage.’’ 

Farkas on December 27, 1808, writes to 
Gauss: ‘‘Oft thought I, gladly would I, as 
Jacob for Rachel serve, in order to know the 
parallels founded even if by another. 

‘¢ Now just as I thought it out on Christmas 
night, while the Catholics were celebrating the 
birth of the Saviour in the neighboring church, 
yesterday wrote it down, I send it to you en- 
closed herewith. 

“To-morrow must I journey out to my land, 
have no time to revise, neglect Lit now, may 
be a year is lost, or indeed find I the fault, and 
send it not, as has already happened with hun- 
dreds, which I as I found them took for gen- 
uine. Yet it did not come to writing those 


SCIENCE. 


843 


down, probably because they were too long, too 
difficult, too artificial, but the present I wrote 
off at once. As soon as you can, write me your 
real judgment.’’ 

This letter Gauss never answered, and never 
wrote again until 1832, a quarter of a century 
later, when the non-Euclidean geometry had 
been published by both Lobachévski and Bolyai 
Janos. 

This settles now forever all question of Gauss 
having been of the slightest or remotest help 
or aid to young Jénos, who in 1823 announced 
to his father Farkas in a letter still extant, 
which I saw at the Reformed College in Maros- 
VAasarhely, where Farkas was professor of 
mathematics, his discovery of the non-Euclid- 
ean geometry as something undreamed of in 
the world before. 

This immortal letter, a charming and glorious 
outpouring of pure young genius, speaks as 
follows : 

“ Temesvar 3 Nov., 1823. 
‘My dear and good father, 

“‘T have so much to write of my new crea- 
tions, that it is at the moment impossible for 
me to enter into great detail, so I write you 
only on a quarter of a sheet. I await your 
answer to my letter of twosheets ; and perhaps 
I would not have written you before receiving 
it, if I had not wished to address to you the 
letter I am writing to the Baroness, which 
letter I pray you to send her. 

“First of all I reply to you in regard to the 
binominal. 

* * * * % * 

“¢ Now to something else, so far as space per- 
mits. I intend to write, as soon as I have put 
it into order, and when possible to publish, a 
work on parallels. At this moment it is not 
yet finished, but the way which I have hit 
upon promises me with certainty the attain- 
ment of the goal, if it in general is attainable. 
It is not yet attained, but I have discovered 
such magnificent things that I am myself as- 
tonished at them. 

“Tt would be damage eternal if they were 
lost. When you see them, my father, you 
yourself will acknowledge it. Now I cannot 
say more of them, only so much: that from 
nothing I have created another wholly new world. 


844 


All that I have hitherto sent you compares to 
this only as a house of cards to a castle. 

“P.S. I dare to judge absolutely and with 
conviction of these works of my spirit before 
you, my father; I do not fear from you any 
false interpretation (that certainly I would not 
merit), which signifies that, in certain regards, 
I consider you as a second self.’’ 

In his autobiography Janos says: ‘‘ First 
in the year 1823 did I completely penetrate 
through the problem according to its essential 
nature, though also afterward further com- 
pletions came thereto. I communicated in the 
year 1825 to my former teacher, Herrn Johann 
Walter von Eckwehr (later imperial-royal gen- 
eral), a written paper, which is still in his hands. 
On the prompting of my father I translated my 
paper into Latin, in which it appeared as Ap- 
pendix to the Tentamen in 1832.’’ 

So much for Bolyai. 

The equally complete freedom of Lobachéy- 
ski from the slightest idea that Gauss had ever 
meditated anything different from the rest of 
the world on the matter of parallels I showed 
in ScreNcE, Vol. IX., No. 232, pp. 813-817. 

Passing on to the next section, pp. 163-164, 
in the new volume of Gauss, we find it impor- 
tant as showing that in 1805 Gauss was still a 
baby on this subject. It is an erroneous pseudo- 
proof of the impossibility of what in 1733 Sac- 
cheri had called ‘hypothesis anguli obtusi.’ 
To be sure Saccheri himself thought he had 
proved this hypothesis inadmissible, so that 
Gauss blundered in good company; but his 
pupil Riemann in 1854 showed that this hy- 
pothesis gives a beautiful non-Euclidean geom- 
etry, 2 new universal space, now justly called 
the space of Riemann. 

Passing on, we find that in 1808, Schumacher 
writes: ‘‘ Gauss has led back the theory of par- 
allels to this, that if the accepted theory were 
not true, there must be a constant d@ priori line 
given in length, which is absurd. Yet he him- 
self considers this work still not conclusive.’’ 

Again, with the date April 27, 1813, we read: 
‘Tn the theory of parallels we are even now 
not farther than Euclid was. This is the partie 
honteuse (shameful part) of mathematics, which 
soon or late must receive a wholly different 
form.’’ 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


Thus in 1813 there is still no light. 

In April, 1816, Wachter, on a visit to Got- 
tingen, had a conversation with Gauss whose 
subject was what he ealls the anti-Huclidean 
geometry. On December 12, 1816, he writes 
to Gauss a letter which shows that this anti- 
Euclidean geometry, as he understands it, was 
far from being the non-Huclidean geometry of 
Lobachévski and Bolyai Janos. 

The letter as here given by Staeckel, pp. 
175-176, is as follows : 

x * * ‘(Consequently the anti-Huclidean or 
your geometry would be true. However, the 
constant in it remains undetermined: why? 
may perhaps be made comprehensible by the 
following : 

‘cx * * The result of the foregoing may con- 
sequently be so expressed : 

“The Euclidean geometry is false ; but never- 
theless the true geometry must begin with the 
same eleventh Euclidean axiom or with the as- 
sumption of lines and surfaces which have the 
property presumed in that axiom. 

“Only instead of the straight line and plane 
are to be put the great circle of that sphere de- 
scribed with infinite radius together with its 
surface. 

“From this comes indeed the one inconye- 
nience, that the parts of this surface are merely 
symmetric, not, as with the plane, congruent ; 
or that the radius out on the one side is infinite, 
on the other imaginary. Only it is clear how 
that inconvenience is again overbalanced by 
many other advantages which the construetion 
on a spherical surface offers ; so that probably 
also then even, if the Euclidean geometry were 
true, the necessity no longer indeed exists to 
consider the plane as an infinite spherical sur- 
face, though still the fruitfulness of this view 
might recommend it. 

“Only, as I thought through all this, as I had 
already fully satisfied myself about the result, in 
part since I believed I had recognized the ground 
(la métaphysique) of that indeterminateness 
necessarily inherent in geometry—also even 
the complete indecision in this matter, then, if 
that proof against the Euclidean geometry, as 
I could not expect, were not to be considered 
as stringent; in part, so not to consider as 
lost all the many previous researches in plane 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


geometry, but to be used with a few modifica- 
tions, and that still also the theorems of solid 
geometry and mechanics might have approx- 
imate validity, at least to a quite wide limit, 
which perhaps yet could be more nearly deter- 
mined ; I found this evening, just while busied 
with an attempt to find an entrance to your 
transcendental trigonometry, and while I could 
not find in the plane sufficing determinate func- 
tions thereto, going on to space constructions, 
to my no small delight the following demonstra- 
tion for the Euclidean parallel theory. * * * 

“x * * Just in the idea to conclude I re- 
mark still, that the above proof for the Hu- 
clidean parallel-theory is fallacious. * * * 
Consequently has here also the hope vanished, 
to come toa fully decided result, and I must con- 
tent myself again with the above cited. Withal 
I believe I have made upon that way at least a 
step toward your transcendental trigonometry, 
since I, with aid of the spherical trigonometry, 
can give the ratios of all constants, at least by 
construction of the right-angled triangle. I yet 
lack the actual reckoning of the base of an 
isosceles triangle from the side, to which I will 
seek to go from the equilateral triangle.’’ 

As to Gauss’s transcendental trigonometry, 
nothing was ever given about it but its name. 
Requiescat in pace. 

Yet Gauss writes, April 28, 1817: 

‘Wachter has printed a little piece on the 
foundations of geometry. 

“Though Wachter has penetrated farther into 
the essence of the matter than his predecessors, 
yet is his proof not more valid than all others.”’ 

We come now to an immortal epoch, that of 
the discovery of the real non-Euclidean geom- 
etry by Schweikart, and his publication of it 
under the name of Astral-Geometry. 

On the 25th of January, 1819, Gerling writes 
to Gauss : 

‘¢ Apropos of parallel-theory I must tell you 
something, and execute a commission. I 
learned last year that my colleague Schweikart 
(prof. juris, now Prorector) formerly occupied 
himself much with mathematics and particu- 
larly also had written on parallels. 

“So I asked him to lend me his book. While 
he promised me this, he said to me that now 
indeed he perceived how errors were present 


SCIENCE. 


845 


in his book (1808) (he had, for example, used 
quadrilaterals with equal angles as a primary 
idea), however that he had not ceased to occupy 
himself with the matter, and was now about 
convinced that without some datum the Euclid- 
ean postulate could not be proved, also that 
it was not improbable to him that our geometry 
is only a chapter of a more general geometry. 

“‘Then I told him how you some years ago had 
openly said that since Euclid’s time we had 
not in this really progressed; yes, that you 
had often told me how you through manifold 
occupation with this matter had not attained to 
the proof of the absurdity of such a supposi- 
tion. Then when he sent me the book asked 
for, the enclosed paper accompanied it, and 
shortly after (end of December) he asked me 
orally, when convenient, to enclose to you this 
paper of his, and to ask you in his name to let 
him know, when convenient, your judgment on 
these ideas of his. 

‘<The book itself has, apart from all else, the 
advantage that it contains a copious bibli- 
ography of the subject; which he also, as he 
tells me, has not ceased still further to add to.”’ 

Now comes, pp. 180-181, the precious en- 
closure, dated Marburg, December, 1818, which, 
though so brief, may fairly be considered the 
first published (not printed) treatise on non- 
Euclidean geometry. 

It is a pleasure to give this here in English 
for the first time. 

The non- Euclidean Geometry of 1818 : By SCHWEI- 

KART. 

‘“‘There is a two-fold geometry—a geometry 
in the narrower sense—the Euclidean, and an 
astral science of magnitude.”’ 

The triangles of the latter have the pecu- 
liarity, that the sum of the three angles is not 
equal to two right angles. 

This presumed, it can be most rigorously 
proven : 

(a) That the sum of the three angles in the 
triangle is Jess than two right angles ; 

(6) That this sum becomes ever smaller, the 
more content the triangle encloses ; 

(c) That the altitude of an isosceles right- 
angled triangle indeed ever increases, the more 
one lengthens the side; that it, however, cannot 
surpass a certain line, which I call the constant. 


846 


Squares have consequently the following 
form : 


Is this constant for us half the earth’s axis (as 
a@ consequence of which each line drawn in the 
universe from one fixed star to another, which 
are ninety degrees apart from one another, 
would be a tangent of the earth-sphere), so is it 
in relation to the spaces occurring in daily life 
infinitely great. 

The Euclidean geometry holds good only 
under the presupposition that the constant is 
infinitely great. Only then is it true that the 
three angles of every triangle are equal to two 
right angles; also this can be easily proved if 
one takes as given the proposition that the con- 
stant is infinitely great. 

Such is the brief declaration of independence 
of this hero. 

Nor were Schweikart’s courage and inde- 
pendence without farther issue. Under his 
direct influence his own nephew, Taurinus, 
developed the real non-Euclidean trigonometry 
and published it in 1825, with successful ap- 
plications to a number of problems. 

Moreover, this teaching of Schweikart’s made 
converts in high places. 

In the letter of Bessel to Gauss of 10 Feb., 
1829 (p. 201), he says: ‘‘ Through that which 
Lambert said, and what Schweikart disclosed 
orally, it has become clear to me that our 
geometry is incomplete, and should receive a 
correction, which is hypothetical and, if the 
sum of the angles of the plane triangle is equal 
to a hundred and eighty degrees, vanishes. 

‘‘That were the true geometry, the Euclidean 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


the practical, at least for figures on the earth.” 

The complete originality and independence of 
Schweikart and of Lobachévski are recognized 
as a matter of course in the correspondence be- 
tween Gauss and Gerling, who writes, p. 238: 
““The Russian steppes seem, therefore, indeed 
a proper soil for these speculations, for Schwei- 
kart (now in Konigsberg) invented his ‘ Astral- 
Geometry’ while he was in Charkow.’’ 

This fixes the date of the first conscious crea- 
tion and naming of the non-Euclidean geom- 
etry as between 1812 and 1816. 

Gauss adopts and uses for himself this first 
name, Astral-Geometry (1832, p. 226; 1841, p. 
232). 

At length the true prince comes. On Feb- 
ruary 14, 1832, Gauss receives the profound 
treatise of the young Bolyai Janos, the most 
marvellous two dozen pages in the history of 
thought. Under the first impression Gauss 
writes privately to his pupil and friend Gerling 
of the ideas and results as ‘ mit grosser Eleganz 
entwickelt.’ He even says ‘I hold this young 
geometer von Bolyai to be a genius of the first 
magnitude.’ 

Now was Gauss’s chance to connect himself 
honorably with the non-Euclidean geometry, 
already independently discovered by Schwei- 
kart, by Lobachévski, by Bolyai Janos. 

Of two utterly worthless theories of parallels 
Gauss had already given extended notices in 
in the Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen (this vol- 
ume, pp. 170-174 and 183-185). 

To this marvel of Janos, Gauss vouchsafed 
never one printed word. 

As S8taeckel gently remarks, this certainly 
contributed thereto, that the worth of this 
mathematical gem was first recognized when 
John had long since finished his earthly career. 

The 15th of December, 1902, will be the cen- 
tenary of the birth of Bolyai JAnos. 

Should not the learned world endeavor to 
arouse the Magyars to honor Hungary by hon- 
oring then this truest genius her son? 


GEORGE BRUCE HALSTED. 
AUSTIN, TEXAS. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
In the July number of the American Journal 
of Insanity, Dr. J. G. Rogers, of Indiana, pre- 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


sents an article entitled ‘A Century of Hospital 
Building for the Insane,’ which is worthy of 
much attention. He favors the erection of 
buildings which will permit classification into 
separated groups, not less than sixteen and 
twenty are preferable. The common dining-hall 
and the common kitchen are commended on 
the score of economy. Details follow in regard 
to methods and materials of construction, light- 
ing, ventilation, etc. 

Special provision should be made for certain 
classes of the insane, such as farm colonies for 
a working class, separate buildings for tuber- 
cular patients and infirmary buildings for the 
harmless and helpless. 

Dr. C. A. Good, of Michigan, gives a ‘ Review 
of Chronic Progressive Chorea (Huntington’s), 
with Report of a Case.’ In the case reported 
excellent lithographs are given of microscopic 
sections which demonstrate degenerative 
changes in the muscles; pigment granules 
within the cells of the posterior root ganglion ; 
and cysts and cell degeneration in the cerebral 
cortex. 

Dr. H. J. Berkley, of Baltimore, reports a 
fatal case of dementia paralytica from a mul- 
tiple thrombosis of bacterial origin. The 
theory is advanced that the thrombosis of the 
cerebral vessels was due to changes in the 
blood induced by toxic products, as wellas from 
the presence of bacteria in such numbers as to 
form a nidus for a blood coagulation. 

Dr. C. W. Pilgrim, of Poughkeepsie, in a 
paper entitled ‘The Study ofa Year’s Statistics’ 
gives interesting conclusions respecting patients 
under treatment at the Hudson River State 
Hospital. Of the patients admitted during the 
year, 41.5 per cent. presented symptoms of mel- 
ancholia; 32.5 per cent. presented symptoms 
of mania; 20 per cent. were cases of dementia 
and 6 per cent. had dementia paralytica. 
Among those admitted 30 per cent. recovered 
during the year or had prospects of recovery ; 
12 per cent. were improved ; 11 per cent. died 
and 47 per cent. were chronic cases when they 
came to the hospital and probably will die un- 
cured. Some interesting statistics are given 
concerning the months during which deaths 
were most frequent: 61 per cent. of deaths 
occurred between October and April and 39 


SCIENCE. 


847 


per cent. only between April and October. 
The ‘hour of death’ showed that 26 per cent. 
died between midnight and 6 A. M.; 19 per cent. 
between 6 A. M. and noon; 31 per cent. between 
noon and 6 P. M., and 24 per cent. between 6 
Pp. M. and midnight. 

Dr. A. H. Harrington, of Danvers, Massa- 
chusetts, believes that 15 per cent. of all deaths 
in hospitals for the insane in the United States 
are due to tuberculosis, and declares it to be 
“the duty of the State to provide its hospitals 
with the means of taking care of its tuberculous 
insane in such a manner as shall prevent the 
infection of the non-tubercular, and also give 
the necessary care to those suffering from the 
disease.’’ _ 

Dr. C. P. Bancroft, of Concord, New Hamp- 
shire, discusses the trial and conviction of 
Bradford P. Knight, of Augusta, Maine, who 
committed an atrocious murder while evidently 
insane, and who, although declared guilty of 
murder in the first degree, was prior to sentence 
transferred to a hospital for the insane. The 
jury returned the only possible verdict under the 
explicit charge of the presiding judge, which 
was based upon the erroneous idea that legal 
insanity differs in some mysterious manner 
from medical insanity ; in other words, that the 
presence of insanity does not necessarily pre- 
clude responsibility for actions. 

Dr. P. M. Wise, of New York, traces the steps 
which have been taken in the creation and de- 
velopment of the Pathological Institute of the 
New York State hospitals, and mentions the 
difficulties which have been encountered in the 
prosecution of the work. 

‘Suicide and its Increase’ is the title of a 
paper by G. Styles, of Michigan, which presents 
the following suggestive statistics : 

Forty years ago it was shown that while only 
4 in every 10,000 persons rated as paupers died 
by their own hands, nearly 7 coachmen or other 
servants, 5 bankers or professional men, 7.8 
dragoons, 7.438 tailors, shoemakers and bakers, 
while the trades making the best showing (1.38) 
were carpenters, butchers and masons. Of the 
countries concerned, Sweden has the lowest 
average, only 1 to 92,000; Russia, 1 to 35,000 ; 
the United States, 1 to 15,000; Saxony, 1 to 
8,446; while in the cities of St. Petersburg 


848 


and London, England, the proportion was 1 
to 21,000. Taking the last fifty years, we 
find that for every 100,000 inhabitants of 
France there were, from 1841-45, 9 suicides ; 
from 1846-50, 10; from 1861-70, 13; from 
1871-75, 15; from 1876-80, 17; for 1889, 21; 
for 1893, 22; for 1894, 26. Durkheim shows 
that from 1826 to 1890 the number of suicides in 
Belgium increased 72 per cent. ; in Prussia, 411 
per cent.; in Austria, 238 per cent.; in France, 
318 per cent.; in Saxony, 212 per cent., while 
in Sweden and Denmark the increase has been 
the lowest, viz., 72 and 35, respectively. That 
religion seems to wield an important influence 
in connection with self-murder is evident from 
the fact that in Roman Catholic communities 
suicide is less prevalent.”’ 


THE Journal of Physical Chemistry, November, 
‘On the Solubility of Manganous Sulphate,’ by 
F. G. Cottrell. A determination of the solu- 
bility of the hydrates containing 1, 4, 5 and 7 
molecules of water of crystallization—no other 
hydrates were found. The salt of commerce 
is sometimes that with four, sometimes that 
with five molecules of water. ‘Catalysis and 
Chemical Energy,’ by Oscar Loew. In cataly- 
sis ‘‘it is the oscillations of the free heat energy 
of the atmosphere which are modified by cer- 
tain peculiarities of the platinum atom in such 
a manner that they can pass still more easily 
than they usually do into the oscillations of 
chemical energy. The catalytic action of cer- 
tain organic compounds is due to the chemical 
energy of labile atoms.’’ ‘The Reaction be- 
tween Chloroform and Potassium Hydroxide,’ 
by A. P. Saunders. In all probability the ac- 
tion proceeds in stages, in each of which only 
two molecules react together. ‘ Vapor-Pressure 
Relations in Mixtures of Two Liquids, III,’ by 
A. Ernest Taylor. Attention may well be 
called to the fact that to almost every article 
contained in this Journal since its inception is 
appended a brief summary of the results ob- 
tained and conclusions drawn. It would bea 
great advantage if this practice prevailed in all 
our scientific journals. 


THE Medical Society of New York Univer- 
sity has planned the establishment of a quar- 
terly journal to be called The New York Uni- 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


versity Bulletin of the Medical Sciences and to 
be edited by a committee of the Society under 
the business management to be designated by 
the University. The contents of the Bulletin 
are to be: (1) Original articles directly contrib- 
uted to the bulletin. (2) Abstracts or extenso 
reproductions of articles originally published 
elsewhere. (3) Short communications made at 
the meetings of the Medical Society. (4) Brief 
minutes of those meetings. (5) Reports on 
methods devised or tested in the departments 
of the medical college. (6) A reference list of 
publications by those connected with the med- 
ical college. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


At the winter meeting of the National Acad- 
emy of Sciences, held at Brown University, 
Providence, R. I., on November 18, 14 and 16, 
the following program was presented : 


I. ‘Investigations of Light and Electricity with 
the Aid of a Battery of Twenty Thousand Cells,’ by 
J. Trowbridge. 

II. ‘Progressive Evolution of Characters in the 
Young Stages of Cephalopods,’ by Alpheus Hyatt. 

III. ‘ Descriptive Method of Presenting the Phe- 
nomena of the Cycle of Evolution among Cephalo- 
pods,’ by Alpheus Hyatt. 

IV. ‘The Porous Cup Voltameter,’ by T. W. 
Richards. 

VY. ‘An Account of the Study of Growing Crystals 
by Instantaneous Microphotography,’ by T. W- 
Richards. 

VI. ‘Stereographic Projection and Some of its Pos- 
sibilities from a Graphical Standpoint,’ by S. L. Pen- 
field. : 

VII. ‘On the Development of the Pig,’ by C. S. 
Minot. 

VIII. ‘ Normal Plates illustrating the Development 
of the Rabbit and the Dogfish,’ by C. S. Minot. 

IX. ‘Note on the Energy of Recent Earthquakes,’ 
by T. C. Mendenhall. 

X. ‘Spectrum of Sodium in a Magnetic Field,’ by 
A. A. Michelson. 

XI. ‘A Report of the Spectrum Work carried on 
with the Aid of a Grant from the Bache Fund,* by 
H. A. Rowland. 

XII. ‘On the Explanation of Inertia and Gravita- 
tion by Means of Electrical Phenomena,’ by H. A. 
Rowland. 

XIII. ‘Distribution and Phylogeny of Limulus,’ 
by A. S. Packard. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


XIV. ‘ Male Preponderance (Androrhopy ) in Lepi- 
dopterous Insects,’ by A. 8. Packard. 

XV. ‘The Synthesis and Reactions of Sodium 
Acetate Ester, and their Relation to a New Interpre- 
tation of Chemical Metathesis,’ by A. Michael. 

XVI. ‘On the Genesis of Matter,’ by A. Michael. 

XVII. ‘Demonstration of the Projection of One 
Grating by Another,’ by C. Barus. 

XVIII. ‘ Exhibition of Certain Novel Apparatus ; 
A Wave Machine ; An Expansion Lens ; A Recording 
System of Two Degrees of Freedom; A Tube Show- 
ing Colored Cloudy Condensation,’ by C. Barus. 

XIX. ‘On Stability of Vibration and on Vanish- 
ing Resonance,’ by C. Barus. 

XX. ‘ Hysteresis-like Phenomena in Torsional 
Magnetostriction and their Relation to Viscosity,’ by 
C. Barus. 

X XI. ‘Progress in the Echelon Spectroscope,’ by 
A. A. Michelson. 

XXII. ‘ Report on the Meeting of the International 
Association of Academies held at Paris, July 31, 
1900,’ by J. M. Crafts. 


NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


THE regular meeting of the New York Sec- 
tion of the American Chemical Society was 
held October 5th at the Chemists’ Club. 

The following papers were read: ‘Dr. Meyer’s 
Tangent System of Sulphuric Acid Manufac- 
ture,’ by C. Glazer; ‘ Note on the Determina- 
tion of Zinc in the Franklin, New Jersey, Ores 
by the Ferrocyanide Method,’ by Wm. H. 
Bassett. 

The chair appointed C. Richardson, P. de P. 
Ricketts and M. Loeb a committee on prizes. 

M. T. BoGErt, 
Sec’y pro tem. 


AT the meeting on November 9th, Dr. C. 
A. Doremus presided and over fifty members 
were present. ‘A Brief Review of Antipyrine 
and its more Important Derivatives,’ was the 
subject of a paper by D. C. Eccles. Refer- 
ring to the matter of papers to be read before 
the Section during the season, Dr. McMurtrie 
said that every chemist actively engaged in any 
subject could bring topics before the Section, 
which would be of great interest to others, and 
of no less interest because of not being in 
shape for publication in the journal. And, 
further, he urged the members to realize that 


SCIENCE. 


849 


interesting meetings required that each should 
furnish his share of the work. 

The chairman, Dr. Doremus, said he thought 
the opportunity of bringing their work before 
the Society was not appreciated by the younger 
members, who had better seek the opportun- 
ity in their own interest than wait for invi- 
tation. 

Special announcement was made of the death 
of Dr. E. R. Squibb, so long an enthusiastic 
member and active co-worker in the Society. 
Personal reminiscences were given by Dr. Rice 
and by Messrs. Bogert, McMurtrie, Breneman, 
Eccles and Doremus. 

It was moved and seconded that a committee 
be appointed to draw up suitable resolutions 
expressing the Society’s appreciation of Dr. 
Squibb’s character, of his services to chemical 
science, and of the loss sustained by the Society 
in hisdeath. And, further, that the resolutions 
should be engrossed in duplicate—a copy to be 
sent to his family and one to be preserved by 


the Society. 
DuRAND WoopMAN, 


Secretary. 


NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND 
CHEMISTRY. 


A MEETING of the Section was held on No- 
vember 5th, at 12 West 31st Street, New York. 

A paper was read by Dr. F. L. Tufts, of Co- 
lumbia University, on ‘ The Flow of Air through 
Granular Materials at Different Pressures.’ 
These experiments were made in connection 
with others on the transmission of sound 
through the same materials. Three different 
materials were experimented on, composed of 
lead shot of three sizes, the diameters of the 
shot being respectively 4.37 mm., 2.79 mm., 
and 1.22 mm. The shot was placed in a tube 
and air was forced through at different pres- 
sures, the rate of flow of air being measured by 
a gas meter and the pressure differences by a 
water manometer. It was found that for a 
given size of shot and a given pressure gradient, 
the rate of flow was independent of the length 
of the column of shot through which the air 
flowed. The rate of flow, however, in the 
three cases experimented with, did not increase 


850 


as rapidly as the pressure gradient. This was 
more noticeable with the coarse shot than with 
the finer. For pressure gradients of about 0.01 
em. of water pressure per centimeter of length 
of material, the rate of flow through the coars- 
est shot was ten times the rate through the 
finest, while for a pressure gradient fifty times 
as great the rate of flow was a little less than 
three times as great in the coarsest as in the 
finest. With each size of shot the space occu- 
pied by air was about 39 per cent. of the total 


space occupied by the shot. 
Wm. S. Day, 


Sec’y of Section. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
A DISCLAIMER. 


THE attention of the undersigned has been 
called to the fact that an organization known 
as ‘The American College of Sciences,’ situ- 
ated in Philadelphia, is issuing circulars ad- 
vertising a course of instruction in hypno- 
tism as prepared in part by them. ‘These 
circulars contain many statements about hyp- 
notism and about the advantages to be derived 
from its study and practice which are not jus- 
tified by the articles written by the undersigned, 
which in their judgment cannot be substantiated 
by any facts known to science, and which they 
believe to be in the highest degree misleading. 
Furthermore, the undersigned are of the opin- 
ion that the practice of hypnotism by the gen- 
eral public is attended by dangers which have 
no compensating advantages, and would in no 
case countenance any scheme which encourages 
its practice under such conditions. They feel 
it incumbent upon them, therefore, to make 
a public statement of the circumstances under 
which these articles were written. 

Each of them was requested, individually, by 
‘The New York State Publishing Company,’ of 
Rochester N. Y., to prepare an article for a col- 
lection of such articles. Inquiries made of this 
Company elicited no suggestion that the col- 
lection was to be issued by any other than the 
usual method of publication and sale, and the 
articles were contributed by the undersigned 
without their having any knowledge or sus- 
picion that they would be used as constituent 
parts of a course of instruction in hypnotism. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


Had they known that they would be so used, 
they would have refused to contribute the 
articles in question. They now disclaim all 
responsibility for the methods adopted by the 
American College of Sciences and for all state- 
ments made in its publications, excepting only 
those found in the several articles above re- 
ferred to, and for them their individual authors 
are alone responsible. 

While the position of the undersigned on 
these questions is perhaps already suficiently 
well known to the academic world, they feel 
that this disclaimer is due to the general public. 

J. MARK BALpDwin, Princeton University. 

W. P. Carr, Columbian University. 

E. W. ScRIprurRE, Yale University. 

J. W. SLAUGHTER, University of Michigan. 

ALFRED REGINALD ALLEN, Philadelphia 
Polyclinic Hospital. 

GABRIEL CAMPBELL, Dartmouth College. 

ARTHUR MAcDoNALD, U. 8. Bureau of Edu- 
cation. 

JAMES H. LEuUBA, Bryn Mawr College. 

RoBERT M. YERKES, Harvard University. 

CLARK WISSLER, Columbia University. 

ERNEST CARROLL Moore, University of Cali- 
fornia. 

Epwarp H. ELpRIDGE, Temple College. 

WILLIAM ROMAINF NEWBOLD, University of 
Pennsylvania. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 

A RECENT STUDY OF ECLIPSE METEOROLOGY. 

“A Discussion on the Observations recorded 
during the Solar Eclipse of January 22, 1898, 
at 154 Meteorological Stations in India’ is the 
title of Vol. XI, Part II, of the Indian Meteoro- 
logical Memoirs (Calcutta, 1900). This is a re- 
port by Mr. John Eliot, Meteorological Reporter 
to the Government of India, consisting of 66 
pages of text and tables, together with 38 plates 
showing curves of temperature, pressure, cloud- 
iness, humidity, etc., at different stations. In 
these plates the actual and probable curves of 
the diurnal variation of the different weather 
elements are given for a large number of sta- 
tions, so that the effects produced by the eclipse 
can easily be seen. A brief summary of results 
gives in a very condensed form the most im- 
portant points brought out in Mr. Eliot’s study. 


NOVEMBEE 30, 1900. ] 


The total reduction of air temperature accom- 
panying and due to the eclipse varied directly 
as the amount of the greatest obscuration of 
the sun, and also to a slight extent with local 
conditions and peculiarities of air movement. 
The average maximum reduction near the belt 
of totality in the interior of India was 8°. The 
maximum reduction of temperature appears to 
have occurred at Karwar (12°), and at Sahdol 
(10°). The time of the greatest diminution of 
temperature followed the time of greatest ob- 
scuration of the sun by an average interval of 
23 minutes. The pressure observations indicate 
that there was a steady increase of pressure 
during the first stage of the eclipse, of little or 
no resulting variation during the second stage, 
and of increase after the termination of the 
eclipse at a smaller rate than during the first 
stage, and also at a decreasing rate. The air 
movement fell off very rapidly during the first 
stage (that of decreasing heat and light), and 
was feeble during the greater part of the second 
stage. One of the most noteworthy meteoro- 
logical features of the eclipse was a short sud- 
den gust which occurred about twenty minutes 
after the commencement of the eclipse at a 
majority of stations in and near the belt of 
totality. There was a large and rapid increase 
of the vapor pressure and also of the relative 
humidity, followed by an equally large and 
rapid decrease, the whole constituting an oscil- 
latory variation of large amplitude and very 
short period. 


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. 


THE National Geographic Magazine for No- 
vember contains three articles of meteorolog- 
ical interest. The first is an account of ‘The 
Manila Observatory,’ by Father José Algué, S. J. 
This observatory has done excellent work, espe- 
cially in connection with the typhoons of the 
Far Hast. Frequent reference has been made 
to the publications of the Manila Observatory 
in these Notes. The second paper is by Mr. 
F. H. Newell, of the U. §. Geological Survey, 
and deals with The Limited Water Supply of the 
Arid Region. The land west of the 100th me- 
ridian was, as Mr. Newell points out, at first 
thought to be worthless for agricultural pur- 
poses. Then the pendulum swung far in the 


SCIENCE. 


851 


other direction, and the general feeling was that 
there was abundant water for irrigation and 
that all the land could be utilized. Finally we 
have reached the present stage, when the limits 
of the water supply are coming to be fairly 
well seen, ‘and the statement that only five or 
ten per cent. of the land can be reclaimed ex- 
cites comparatively little interest.’ The third 
paper of meteorological importance is one by 
Gen. A. W. Greely, entitled ‘Hurricanes on the 
Coast of Texas,’ in which an account is given of 
the hurricane of September 15-16, 1875, ‘ which 
caused a relatively greater loss of life and prop- 
erty to the town of Indianola, Texas, than was 
inflicted on Galveston by the recent hurricane.’ 


THE CAPE HORN PASSAGE. 


THE November Pilot Chart of the North Pacific 
Ocean presents a brief but interesting discussion 
of the passage for sailing vessels around Cape 
Horn to the westward. This discussion is based 
on the reports received from 22 vessels which 
rounded Cape Horn from east to west during 
1899, and brings out in a very striking manner 
the direct control exercised over the sailing 
routes around Cape Horn by even the tempo- 
rary winds of acyclonic depression. It appears 
that the most favorable weather condition for 
the passage is the presence, during the period 
necessary for rounding Cape Horn and. for 
crossing latitude 50°S. in the Pacific, of a cen- 
ter of low pressure in the immediate vicinity of 
the Cape, and not too far to the southward. 
This distribution of pressure gives N.E., E. and 
S.E. winds in succession in the case of a west- 
bound vessel which keeps this center constantly 
on the starboard side, 7. e.; which passes the 
center to the southward. One of the fastest 
passages made around Cape Horn in 1899, that 
of the British bark Inveramsay, was made under 
these conditions. 


UNDERGROUND TEMPERATURES DURING A HOT 
WAVE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

In his report on the Rainfall in South Aus- 
tralia and the Northern Territory during 1897, 
Sir Charles Todd, Government astronomer of 
South Australia, calls attention to an interest- 
ing case of slow penetration into the ground of 
the high temperatures of a hot wave. During 


852 


February, 1897, there occurred a long spell of 
hot weather, lasting from the 7th to the 18th 
with maximum temperatures between 82.6° on 
the 7th and 107.3° on the 10th, or over 100° on 
five days and over 90° on ten consecutive days. 
On the morning of February 8th the tempera- 
ture at the Adelaide Observatory at three feet 
below the surface was 71.5°; at five feet, 68.6°; 
and at eight feet, 67.5°. On the morning of the 
18th the readings were 73.6°; 69.3° and 68.4° 
respectively, showing a gradual increase during 
the intervening period, the increase being 2.1° 
in the ten days at three feet, 0.7° at five feet 
and 0.9° at eight feet. These observations 
show clearly ‘that it requires a very long con- 
tinuance of heat to materially affect the ther- 
mometers ten feet only below the surface.’ 
R. DEC. WARD. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 


THE POWDERY MILDEWS. 


A NOTABLE contribution to the literature of 
fungology has appeared in Mr. Ernest 8S. Sal- 
mon’s ‘Monograph of the Erysiphacez,’ pub- 
lished as Volume XI. of the Memoirs of the 
Torrey Botanical Club. It constitutes a thick 
octavo pamphlet of nearly three hundred pages, 
and nine plates of one hundred and seventy- 
five figures. The paper opens with a couple of 
pages of remarks on the. limits of the family, 
eight or nine pages on morphology and life his- 
tory, a few pages devoted to the history of the 
study of the group, the connection between 
host and parasite, and distribution of the spe- 
cies. The family is restricted to the six genera 
Sphaerotheca, Podosphaera, Uncinula, Micros- 
phaera, Erysipheand Phyllactinia. All the known 
species in the world are included, and it speaks 
well for the conservatism of the author that 
although he examined the material in the most 
important collections in Europe and America, 
he has found it necessary to describe but two 
new species and two new varieties. Such con- 
servatism and self-denial are most commenda- 
ble and encouraging, and may well serve as a 
model for other monographers, who too often 
find new species every time they turn over 
their material. 

So conservative has been the writer of this 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 309. 
v 


monograph that under his treatment the grea 
number of specific names in the family is re- 
duced to but sixty species and varieties. Thus, 
while Erysiphe has had one hundred and sixty- 
five species and varietal names associated with 
it, there are here but nine; so the fifty-eight 
names under Microsphaera, are reduced to nine- 
teen ; the twenty-four under Podosphaera to five; 
the twenty-one under Sphaerotheca to six; the 
thirty-eight under Uncinula, to twenty; and the 
nine under Phyllactinia, toone. Of course it is 
not to be supposed that Mr. Salmon made all 
these reductions; to a large extent they had 
been made already by other students of the 
family, but it is greatly to his credit that with 
such an opportunity he did not give us a greatly 
increased list. 

According to this monograph the accepted 
names of some of the more common of the 
Powdery Mildews are as follows: Cherry Mil- 
dew, Podosphaera oxycanthae; Rose Mildew, 
Sphaerotheca pannosa; Gooseberry Mildew, 
Sphaerotheca mors-uve; Willow Mildew, Uncinula 
salicis ; Grape Mildew, Uncinula necator ; Lilac 
Mildew, Microsphera_ alni; Pea Mildew, Ery- 
siphe polygoni; Sunflower Mildew, Hrysiphe 
cichoracearum, 


PLANT BREEDING. 


FROM a paper by H. J. Webber and HE. A. 
Bessey on ‘ The Progress of Plant Breeding in 
the United States,’ recently published in the 
Year-book of the Department of Agriculture, 
the scientific botanist may learn much which 
may well surprise him as to what has been ac- 
complished in the work of plant breeding. 
That man can bring about definite results by 
the careful breeding of animals is more or less 
well known, but that plants may be bred with 
as definite an object in view, and assuccessfully, 
is not yet a matter of common knowledge. 

It is only during the latter half of the present 
century that much progress has been made in 
plant breeding proper, the earlier efforts at the 
improvement of plants having been through the 
selection of seeds of the most desirable plants 
for further cultivation. Downing, Hovey, 
Wilder and some other far-seeing horticulturists 
of the earlier days continually urged the breed- 
ing (‘ crossing’) of the better varieties of fruits 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900. ] 


in order to combine the qualities and character- 
istics of the kinds so treated. This advice 
eventually bore fruit, and to-day the florist 
plans to bring about a definite result by secur- 
ing offspring from the union of two plants, 
whose form, color, odor or other qualities he 
may wish to intensify or modify. Among fruits 
the grape, raspberry and strawberry have been 
much modified by careful breeding. The tomato 
illustrates what may be done by the skillful 
breeder, as practically all the improvement 
which it has undergone is due to carefully 
planned hybridization, followed by as careful 
selection. In like manner the cereals, maize 
and wheat, have been improved in recent years 
by the crossing of selected varieties. 


THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY. 


UNDER the title ‘A Taxonomic Study of North 
American Ranunculacez,’ Dr. C. K. Davis, of 
the State Normal School, St. Cloud, Minn., 
publishes a privately printed pamphlet of one 
hundred and seventy-three octavo pages de- 
scribing the genera and species of the North 
American Ranunculaceae, native and introduced. 
The studies (entirely taxonomic) on which the 
pamphlet is based were made in Cornell Uni- 
versity, where the author had access to the ad- 
mirable collection of cultivated plants known as 
‘Cornell Garden Herbarium,’ as well as of ma- 
terials and books in the National Herbarium, 
the Herbarium of the New York Botanical 
Garden, and the Gray Herbarium of Harvard 
University. The result is an arrangement of 
the family differing considerably from that of 
either Bentham and Hooker in their ‘Genera 
Plantarum,’ or of Prantl in Engler and Prantl’s 
‘ Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien,’ although much 
more like the latter than the former. Dr. Davis 
proposes to divide the family (which for some 
reason not given he calls an ‘ order’) into five 
tribes, which he arranges in the following se- 
quence: I. Crossosomeae; II. Peeonieae; III. 
Helleboreae; IV. Clematideae; V. Anemoneae. 
The genus Crossosoma of Nuttall, referred by 
Bentham and Hooker to the Dilleniaceae, and 
by Engler and Prantl made the type of a sepa- 
rate family, Crossosomatacez, is here included 
in the Ranunculacez. The two species and one 
variety occur in Southern California, Arizona, 


SCIENCE. 


853 


and Northern Mexico. In the Helleboreae the 
name Cammarum of Hill (Brit. Herb., 1756) 
is substituted for Salisbury’s name, Zranthis 
(1807), in accordance with the suggestion 
made by Professor Greene in Pittonia, April, 
1897. 

The work is quite uneven, some portions 
(notably those first published in the ‘ Minnesota 
Botanical Studies’) being much more scien- 
tifically treated than others which were first 
printed in horticultural magazines. The pages 
falling under the latter category are printed in 
different type, often in poor type, marring the 
appearance of the book, and giving it a ‘ patch- 
work’ appearance. However, in spite of its 
unfortunate printing it is worthy of a place in 
the library of every working botanist. 


RED CEDAR DISEASES. 


DR. VON SCKRENK, of the Shaw School of 
Botany and Special Agent of the Division of 
Vegetable Physiology and Pathology of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, de- 
scribes (in Bulletin 21, of the Division) two 
fungi which produce diseases of the wood of the 
Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana), known re- 
spectively as ‘white rot’ and ‘red rot.’ The 
first ultimately causes long holes, lined with 
the brilliant white remains of the decayed tis- 
sues, to appear in the wood at intervals of a few 
inches. This disease is found to be due to a 
species of Polyporus (Fomes) related to, if not 
identical with, P. fomentarius, and for which the 
author proposes the name P. juniperinus. It 
occurs in Kentucky and Tennessee. The ‘red 
rot’ is said to be more common than the pre- 
ceding, and is more widely distributed, oc- 
curring in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Virginia and New York. It produces 
large holes in the wood, but these are brown 
within, and are lined with the brown, cubically 
cracked remains of the decayed wood. This is 
found to be due to another species of Poly- 
porus, viz., P. carneus, a small, woody, flesh- 
colored polypore, which grows in the holes at 
the bases of the fallen branches. A number of 
photographs, excellently reproduced, illustrate 
this valuable paper. 

CHARLES E. BESSEyY. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


854 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE degree of Doctor of Science, established 
last summer by Oxford University, will soon 
be conferred in ordinary course for the first 
time. Those to whom it is to be granted are 
Professors E. B. Poulton, W. F. R. Weldon, 
H. A. Miers, A. E. H. Love and H. Turner; 
Mr. W. Hatchett Jackson, Radcliffe Librarian 
and the re-writer of Rolleston’s Forms of 
Animal Life; Mr. F. A. Bather, of the Brit- 
ish Museum (Natural History), and H. W. L. 
Tanner, professor in the University of South 
Wales. : 

PRESIDENT Ex1oT, of Harvard University, 
having been detained at Cambridge during the 
summer, has now been given leave of absence 
and has sailed for Europe. During his absence 
the duties of president will be performed by Dr. 
Henry P. Walcott, a member of the Corporation 
and chairman of the Massachusetts State Board 
of Health. Dr. Walcott graduated from Har- 
vard in 1858 and received the M.D. from Bow- 
doin in 1861. 


PROFESSOR BENJAMIN O. PEIRCE, of Harvard 
University, has been given a year’s leave of 
absence and has sailed for Europe. 


WE regret to learn that Professor John P. 
Marshal, emeritus Pearson professor of geology 
at Tufts College, is seriously ill. 


ProFessor Louis Dyer, of Oxford, is at 
present in the United States, having been in- 
vited by Mrs. Phoebe Hearst to give a course of 
eight lectures at the University of California. 
His subject is ‘Mycenzean Greek Art,’ and the 
lectures will be delivered from the Ist to the 
9th of November. 


THe Hughlings Jackson Lecture of the 
Neurological Society of London for 1900 was 
delivered by Dr. Eduard Hitzig, professor of 
psychiatry and nervous diseases at Halle, on 
November 29th. Professor Hitzig took as his 
subject, ‘ Hughlings-Jackson and the Cortical 
Motor Centers in the Light of Physiological 
Research.’ This triennial lectureship was 
founded by the Neurological Society in honor 
of Dr. Hughlings-Jackson, its first President, 
who three years ago delivered the first lecture, 


THE annual course of Christmas lectures, 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 309. 


specially adapted to young people, at the Royal 
Institution will be delivered by Sir Robert Ball, 
F.R.S., Lowndean professor of astronomy in 
the University of Cambridge, whose subject is 
‘Great Chapters in the Book of Nature.’ The 
first lecture will take place on December 27th, 
and the remaining lectures will be delivered on 
December 29, 1900, and on January 1, 3, 5and 
8, 1901. 

PROFESSOR MACALISTER, M.D., has been 
elected president, and Professor Woodhead, 
M.D., W. H. R. Rivers, M.D., and G. Elliot 
Smith, M.D., have been elected fellows, of the 
Philosophical Society of Cambridge University. 


THE sum of £200 has been granted from the 
Craven Fund of Oxford University to Mr. 
Grenfell and Mr. Hunt for expenses of a jour- 
ney to Egypt in search of papyri. 


Mr. A. J. DREXEL BIDDLE, of Philadelphia, 
has been elected a fellow of the Royal Meteor- 
ological Society of Great Britain. 

Dr. Epwarp D. Joners, of the School of 
Economics of the University of Wisconsin, re- 
ceived a grand prize at the Paris Exposition 
for an exhibit of charts and monographs deal- 
ing with the resources and industries of the 
United States. 

THE King of Denmark has forwarded to 
Lieutenant Amdrup for his recent exploration 
of the hitherto unknown east Greenland coasts 
the ‘ gold medal for brilliant service.’ 


WE regret to record the death, at the age of 
69 years, of Dr. Eugéne Janssen, member of 
the Superior Council of Hygiene and of the 
Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, well- 
known for his work in hygiene. 


WE have already described the plans for the 
erection of a building at Berlin for the German 
Chemical Society and as a center for chemical 
science. The first step was taken on the occa- 
sion of Professor A. W. Hofmann’s seventieth 
birthday in 1888, and the work was continued 
after his death in 1892. The building called 
the Hofmannhaus was formally opened on Oc- 
tober 20th. 

A party from the United States Geodetic and 
Coast Survey has sailed for Manila to chart the 
Philippine Archipelago. 


NOVEMBER 30, 1900.] 


THE chemical library of the late Professor 
Bunsen is now offered for sale at Leipzig. 


Tue eleventh annual meeting of the American 
Morphological Society will be held at the Johns 
Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., Decem- 
ber 27 and 28, 1900, under the presidency 
of Professor T. H. Morgan. The first session 
will begin Thursday, December 27th, at 9:30 
A.M. Other sessions will be held on Thursday 
afternoon and Friday morning. The titles of 
papers and lists of exhibits should be in the 
hands of the Secretary, Professsor J. 8. Kings- 
ley, Tufts College, Mass., not later than De- 
cember 10th; any title received after De- 
cember 23d will be admitted only by special 
vote of the executive committee. The sug- 
gestion has been made that the Society have 
an informal meeting on Wednesday evening 
which shall be of a social character and in 
some respects similar to the gatherings of the 
Physiological Society. If sufficient encourage- 
ment is received arrangements will be made for 
such a meeting of the Morphological Society. 


THE first annual meeting of the Illinois State 
Electric Association will be held at the Univer- 
sity of Illinois, November 27, 1900. The As- 
sociation was organized at Springfield, Ill., on 
April 24, 1900, and represents in its member- 
ship the leading electric light and power indus- 
tries of the State. 


PARTICULARS concerning the Ludwick Insti- 
tute courses of free lectures on the natural 
sciences and their applications at the Academy 
of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for the sea- 
son 1900-1901 have been announced. The pro- 

- gram is as follows : 

Course I. ‘Geographical Distribution of Animals.’ 
Dr. Henry A. Pilsbry. 

Course II. ‘Entomology.’ Dr. Henry Skinner. 

Course III. ‘Physiology and Hygiene.’ Dr. Seneca 
Egbert. 

Course IV. ‘The Bird Life of Philadelphia and 
Vicinity.’ Witmer Stone. 

Course V. ‘Metamorphism, as exemplified in the 
rocks of the Philadelphia Region.’ Dr. Amos P. 
Brown. 

Course VI. ‘Influence of the Environment on Ani- 
mal Life.’ Dr. Benjamin Sharp. 

Course VII. ‘ Botany.’ Stewardson Brown. 

Course VIII. ‘The Survival of the Fittest Animals.’ 
Dr. Philip P. Calvert. 


SCIENCE. 


855 


Each course consists of five lectures which 
are delivered on Monday and Thursday even- 
ings at 8 o’clock. Free season tickets can be 
obtained at the Academy from any of the lec- 
turers or from Mr. A. C. Ashmead, 11th and 
Walnut Sts., Philadelphia. 


THE annual report of the Council of the 
Royal College of Surgeons of England has 
recently been issued. According to the account 
in the London Times, it contains for the first 
time a list of honorary fellows. The list in- 
cludes the names of the Prince of Wales, Lord 
Salisbury and Lord Rosebury, and of 35 emi- 
nent surgeons from all parts of the world. 
There are 1,221 fellows of the College and 
17,510 members, being considerably over half 
of the number of names contained in the Med- 
ical Register for 1900. 

AT the fourteenth ordinary general meeting 
of the Egypt Exploration Fund on November 
7th, Professsor Flinders Petrie spoke of the 
new knowledge of ancient Egyptian civilization 
which ‘had resulted from the explorations sup- 
ported by the Society. The treasurer reported 
that about thirteen thousand dollars was spent 
in 1899-1900. 

AN international association for the further- 


ance of the exploration of Central Asia is being 
formed at St. Petersburg. 


THE Antarctic, the ship used by the Danish 
Lieutenant Amdrup during his recent successful 
East Greenland exploration expedition, has 
been bought by Dr. Otto Nordenskjold, for his 
proposed South Polar expedition. The Antarctic 
once before visited the South Polar regions and 
is the same ship that Professor Nathorst used in 
two Antarctic expeditions. 

THE French War Department has appropri- 
ated $80,000 for secret experiments on wireless 
telegraphy with a view to perfecting its appli- 
cations in war. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

TuE hall of Natural History of Trinity Col- 
lege will be formally opened on the afternoon 
of Friday, December 7th. Addresses will be 
given in Alumni Hall by Professor H. F. Os- 
born, of Columbia University, on ‘The Prog- 


856 


ress of Vertebrate Paleontology in the United 
States,’ and by Professor W. H. Howell, dean 
of Johns Hopkins University Medical Depart- 
ment, on ‘Biology as an Element in College 
Training.’ Following the addresses a reception 
will be held from five to seven o’clock in the 
Hall of Natural History. 


Dr. WILLIAM E. QUINE, dean of the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, has 
given $25,000 to the College to endow its li- 
brary, and Dr. D. A. K. Steele, another mem- 
ber of the faculty, has given a like amount to 
endow the pathological laboratory. 

THE Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University 
has published a list of donations to the Benefac- 
tion Fund, which brings the total up to more 
than £66,000. Some £1,600 have also been con- 
tributed for the special purpose of equipping an 
experimental farm for the department of agri- 
culture. 

THE department of pedagogy of the Univer- 
sity of Illinois, under the direction of Professor 
E. G. Dexter, is establishing a pedagogical 
library and museum. The exhibits, part of 
which are loaned, are divided as follows: (1) 
Photographs, plans and, as far as possible, spec- 
ifications and descriptions of school buildings ; 
(2) Old and current catalogues and courses of 
study of public school systems and educational 
institutions; (8) Material constructed or pre- 
pared by pupils, including models in wood, 
metal and clay; work in paper and paste- 
board, work in color and drawing, written 
exercises, etc.; (4) General educational reports 
and special publications ; (5) School text-books 
and literature of all kinds for all grades; (6) 
School furniture and appliances, including 
charts, globes, desks, ete.; (7) Apparatus of all 
makes and kinds for school laboratories ; (8) 
Catalogues, photographs and descriptions of 
material of the above descriptions. 


A NEW regulation has been made by the 
Harvard faculty of arts and sciences, to allow 
students to obtain both the Bachelor of Arts 
and Bachelor of Science degrees in five years. 
The regulation is as follows: ‘‘ Students who 
wish to take the degree of Bachelor of Science 
in addition to the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
may register in the Lawrence Scientific School 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 309. 


after their third year in Harvard College (or 
after the satisfactory completion of fourteen 
courses counting toward the degree of Bach- 
elor of Arts). They may obtain the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts on the satisfactory completion 
of the required number of courses counting 
toward that degree, and the degree of Bach- 
elor of Science after at least two years in the 
Scientific School, the last year to be devoted to 
work prescribed by the administrative board 
of the Scientific School.’’ 

LorpD BARNARD formally opened the new 
science building, costing over £4,000, attached | 
to the North-Eastern County School, Barnard 
Castle, England, on November 6th. The Bishop 
of Durham and others were present. Lord 
Barnard, in the course of his speech, advocated 
the endowment of a University for the north of 
England similar to the Birmingham University. 

PRESIDENT D. C. GILMAN, of the Johns Hop- 
kins University has privately intimated to the 
trustees his intention of resigning at the close 
of the present academic year, which will com- 
plete 25 years of service since the opening of 
the University in 1876. 

PROFESSOR CURIE has been appointed profes- 
sor of physics at Paris. 

Dr. ERSKINE-MuRRAY has been appointed 
lecturer and demonstrator of physics and mathe- 
matics at the University College, Nottingham, 
England. 

Mr. E. J. RUSSELL, B.Sc., assistant lecturer 
and demonstrator at Owens College, Manchester, 
has been appointed lecturer in chemistry at the 
South-Hastern Agricultural College in place of 
Mr. H. H. Cousins, M.A., who has been ap- 
pointed agricultural chemist to the Government 
of Jamaica. 

WE also note the following appointments in 
German Universities: Dr. Georg Thilenius, of 
Strasburg, associate professor of anatomy in the 
University at Breslau; Dr. Adolf Kneser, of 
Dorpat, professor of mathematics in the Berlin 
School of Mines; Dr. Immendorf, of Bremen, 
professor of agricultural chemistry in the Uni- 
versity at Jena and, at the experiment station 
of the same University, Dr. Oscar Bottcher, 
of Mokern, professor of agricultural chemistry 
and director of the station. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE: S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WooDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OSBORN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MurRiAmM, Zoology ; S.H. ScUDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSsEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownpitcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WitttAmM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, DECEMBER 7, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The History of the Neotropical Region: DR. H. 
VON THRRING -.2....0.02-.:c00scecnnssnsenssonsouenooenre 857 


A History of the Development of the Quantitative 
Study of Variation: PROFESSOR CHAS. B. 
IDYAN ADDS LEO LAI cnonoeongancopc9ocpooIodeannHooIGABAD90030000 864 


Plant Geography of North America :— 
Composition of the Rocky Mountain Flora: DR. 


12, ING UR SADISTIC} Scanqc6cneaqboaespaadonoxZon9a60000000050 870 
A Tertiary Coral Reef near Bainbridge, Georgia: 
DR. T. WAYLAND VAUGHAN.........0cc:ccsseeceee 873 


Peach Yellows: A Cause Suggested: O. F. CooK.. 875 


Scientific Books :— 
Van’t Hoff’s Legons de chimie physique: H.C. J. 
Meyer’s Determination of Radicles in Carbon 
Compounds: PROFESSOR W. R. ORNDORFF........ 881 


Scientific Journals and Articles........+-..-2+ssseeeseeeee 882 


Societies and Academies :— 
Geological Society of Washington: DR. F. L. 
RANSOME, DAVID WHITE. Section of Biology 
of the New York Academy of Sciences: PRo- 
FESSOR F. E. Lioyp. Torrey Botanical Club : 
PROFESSOR EDWARDS. BURGESS. Zoological 
Journal Club of the University of Michigan: DR. 
Els) Ss ENINNG Ss cetecnasaenseeerdseseled bec rcenenh sclce 884 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
The Electrical Theory of Gravitation: PRo- 
FESSOR W.S. FRANKLIN. The Homing Instinct 
of a Turtle: PROFESSOR C. L. BRISTOL..........-. 887 


Botanical Notes :— 
Peach Leaf Curl; A New Botanical Journal ; 
Engler’s Pflanzenreich: PROFESSOR CHARLES 
13), IBURST ansooqnnoccocobonbacacdodronaddooceccoaqop0aKHee 890 


Practical Results obtained from the Study of Earth- 
quakes: PROFESSOR JOHN MILNE 


Scientific Notes and News ......0.0-0.ceeseenseeeeseesecene 
University and Educational News........-+++.+.0++-0+0+s 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Pro- 
fessor J. McKeen Cattell, Garriso4-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE HISTORY OF THE NEOTROPICAL 
REGION. 


In No. 276 of Science, April, 1900, Dr. 
Henry F. Osborn published an article on 
the ‘Geological and Faunal Relations of 
Europe and America during the Tertiary 
Period,’ to which I may here refer, as it may 
be useful for science to discuss the different 
opinions to which our study has led us. 

It is singular that Mr. Osborn has no 
knowledge at all of the numerous papers 
published by the writer on the history of 
the neotropical fauna, and consequently it 
is necessary to say at first some words on 
these papers, and the new discoveries and 
ideas published in them. Referring here 
only to those of my publications in which 
the geological and zoogeographical rela- 
tions of South America were fully discussed, 
I name the following: 

1. ‘Die Geographische Verbreitung der 
Flussmuscheln.’ Das Ausland, Stuttgart, 
1890, Nos. 48-49 ; and translated ‘ The Geo- 
graphical Distribution of the Freshwater 
Mussels.’ The New Zealand Journal of 
Science, Vol. I., Dunedin, 1891, pp. 151-154. 

2. ‘Ueber die Beziehungen der chilen- 
ischen und suedbrasilianischen Suesswas- 
ser fauna.’ Verhandlungen des deutschen wis- 
senschaftlichen Vereines zu Santiago, Vol. IL., 
1891, p. 142-19. 

3. ‘Ueber die alten Beziehungen zwischen 
Neuseeland und Suedamerika.’ Ausland, 
Stuttgart, 1891, No. 18. Translated, ‘On. 


858 


the Ancient Relations between New Zea- 
land South America.’ Transactions of the 
New Zealand Institute, Vol. XXIV., 1891, 
p. 481-445. 

4. ‘Die Palaeo-Geographie Suedameri- 
kas.’ Ausland, Stuttgart, 1898, Nos. 1-4. 

5. ‘ Revision der von Spix in Brasilien 
gesammelten Najaden.’ Archiv. fiir Natur- 
geschichte, 1890, p. 117-170, Taf. IX. 

6. ‘Najaden von S. Paulo und die geo- 
graphische Verbreitung der Suesswasser- 
faunen von Suedamerika.’ Archiv. fiir Nat- 
urgeschichte, 1893, pp. 45-140, Taf. III.— 
IV. 

7. ‘Das neotropische Florengebiet und 
seine Geschichte.’ Engler’s Botanische Jahr- 
biicher, Vol. X VII., 1893, pp. 1-54. 

8. ‘Die Ameisen von Rio Grande do Sul.’ 
Berliner entomologische Zeitschrift, Band 39, 
1894, pp. 321-446. 

9. ‘Os molluscos dos terrenos terciarios 
da Patagonia.’ Revista do Museu Paulista, 
Vol. II., 1898, pp. 217-382, Pl. III.-IX., 
with Conclusions in English, pp. 372-380. 


The study of the fresh water fauna, and 
especially of the Unionide of South America, 
gave me as a practical result the separation 
of two sub-regions ‘Archiplata’ and ‘Archa- 
mazonia.’ The first contains Chili, Ar- 
gentina, Uraguay and Southern Brazil, the 
second Central and Northern Brazil (Archi- 
brazil) and Guyana, Venezuela, etc. (Archi- 
guyana). Archiplata contains numerous 
genera of Mollusca, Crustacea, etc., that are 
common to Chili and the La Plata district, 
such as Unio, Chilina, Parastacus, Aeglea, etc., 
including many species and even their para- 
sites (Lemnocephala), which are identical on 
both sides of the Andes. This contrasts 
sharply with the Archamazonian fauna, as 
tropical genera extend to Rio Plata and Rio 
Negro which are completely wanting in 
Chili and Peru. In Ecuador, however, the 
Cordillere form no such zoogeographical 
division, due certainly to differences in the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


geological history of both parts of the 
Andes. For example the Decapod Crus- 
tacea in Chili and in the whole of Archi- 
plata are the Parastacide and Aegleida, 
but the Potamonine are in Archamazonia. 
Dr. Ortmann has opposed to my explana- 
tions the hypothesis that biological differ- 
ences may be the true reason, exterminating 
the Potamoninesthatinvaded Archiplata, but 
favoring the Parastacidz. The observations 
made by the writer on the biology of these 
Crustacea emphatically annul the objection. 
In Northern Argentine, Rio Grande do Sul 
and St. Catherina, both coexist in the same 
waters and while the Potamonide prefer 
rivers and brooks, living among aquatic 
plants, the Parastacus selects muddy terri- 
tory where it can burrow. 

That the explanationis a geographical one 
is proved also by the fact that the species 
of Unionidx, Mutelidz, Ampullariide, ete., 
which occur in the La Plata and in the Rio 
Paraguay, are almost all Amazonic spe- 
cies. Moreover the faunal relations of the 
Paran& River are totally different from 
those of the Paraguay River. In confirma- 
tion of these zoogeographical facts the geo- 
logical ones indicate to us in the Entrerian- 
formation Unio of the Niza group, Chilina, 
Strophocheilus, etc., that is to say, the pure 
Archiplata fauna. These facts point out 
that the invasion of the Archamazonian 
element into Archiplata is quite a recent 
one. The intrusion of the Archamazonian 
element is Pliocene or post-Tertiary, and the 
Andes formed a barrier insurmountable to 
fresh-water crabs and mussels as well as to 
fishes, chelonians and alligators. 

It is evident that the two faunal ele- 
ments of South America correspond to geo- 
graphical districts which were separated by 
the ocean during the greater part of the 
Tertiary. The intermixture of the two ele- 
ments, and especially the intrusion of Boliv- 
ian ants, land snails, etc., in Hastern Brazil 
is by no means finished, but is a fact which 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


we observe to-day. It is highly probable 
that these conditions, which are decisive 
not only for the fresh-water fauna but also 
for the land gastropods, have determined 
also the history of the mammals, which 
may have reached Brazil only in the Plio- 
cene. 

Although these inferences concerning the 
different faunal elements of the neotrop- 
ical fauna, based on the zoogeographical 
work of the writer, seem to be quite con- 
elusive, the matter is more difficult and 
hypothetical if we turn to the ancient rela- 
tions of Archiplata and Archamazonia to 
other regions of the globe. 

The connection of Archiplata with a 
great antarctic continent during the Cre- 
taceous and Eocene formation seems now 
to be generally accepted, but the historic 
data given on the matter by Osborn are 
very incomplete. The first to discuss the 
question was the eminent botanist, Sir 
William Hooker, but the work of Wallace, 
and especially his axiom of the permanence 
of the great oceanic depths, for a long 
time retarded further progress. Not until 
1883 did Hutton, with reference to New Zea- 
land, and in 1890 the writer, with reference 
to Archiplata, turn aside to publish new 
facts in favor of the hypothesis of Hooker, 
which was also confirmed by F]. Ameghino. 

In relation to the ancient connection 
of Africa and Archamazonia I have given 
arguments (1890) in favor of a Mesozoic 
‘archiatlantic continent,’ which existed 
during the earlier Tertiary. At first be- 
cause of some paleontological facts noted by 
Schlosser, I believed that this continent 
could have transmitted Hocene mammals 
from South Africa to Europe, an idea now 
defended by Ameghino and Osborn; but in 
1893 I modified my opinion and set forth 
the hypothesis that no Hocene placental 
mammals had existed either in Archama- 
zonia or in Aithiopian Africa. The ancient 
continent uniting Archamazonia with Af- 


SCIENCE. 


859 


rica I named Archiatlantica in 1890, using 
in 1892 the term Helenis, and in 1893 that 
of Archhelenis, with the purpose of prevent- 
ing confusion with the ‘Atlantis’ a hypo- 
thetical land bridge between South Europe 
and Central America proposed by Unger. 

I will not repeat here what I have said 
elsewhere as to the intimate relation be- 
tween the fresh water faunas of Brazil, Gui- 
ana, and of equatorial Africa, but I shall 
make some remarks on the geographical dis- 
tribution of the fresh-water mussels. North 
America agrees in its Unionide with Eu- 
rasia, the genera Unio, Margaritana and 
Anodonta being predominant. The archi- 
platic element of South America is formed 
only by the genus Unio, and by a section 
of it which has no representatives in the 
holaretic region, forming the subgenus 
Nica, which is found also in New Zea- 
land and Australia. The numerous pre- 
sumed genera of Unio now admitted in 
North America all agree in the character- 
istic sculpture of the beaks, which is quite 
different in Miwa. I consider, therefore, 
Niea as a genus and the North American 
sections of Unio only as subgenera. In the 
archhelenic region we have representatives 
of Unio which are more intimately allied to 
Niea than to Unio, no Anodontas, but very 
numerous representatives of the Mutelide. 
The South American ‘ Anodonta’ are all 
Glabaris, a genus of Mutelide allied to 
Spatha of Africa. 

Considering the geological history, we 
find the precursors of the actual North 
American Unionide as far back as the 
Jurassic period, and what we know of 
fossil mussels of New Zealand and Archi- 
plata are only Unios of the Nica section. 
On the other hand, Cretaceous deposits of 
Bahia show us representatives of Gilabaris 
and Mycetopus. The actual conditions of 
distribution therefore predominated even 
in the Mesozoic time, and no explanation 
can be given of the intimate relation be- 


860 


tween the fresh-water faunas of tropical 
Africa and South America than the hypoth- 
esis of an ancient land bridge ; supposing 
that these faunas were only the remains of 
an ancient cosmopolitan tropical fauna, the 
paleontological evidence should be totally 
different. 

In regard to the geological distribution of 
the mammals of South America, the opin- 
ions of the respective authors are very diver- 
gent. There is, however, one point of which 
there can be no doubt, 7. e., the Pliocene 
exchange of North and South American 
types. It must be decided by North Ameri- 
can zoologists whether this interchange has 
commenced at the close of the Miocene or 
only in the Pliocene. We may therefore con- 
sider as Pliocene the Argentine Araucanian 
formation, where the northern Artiodactyla 
and other North American immigrants first 
appear ; the Entrerian formation, containing 
the neotropical forms must then be Miocene. 
This formation was considered by Ameghino 
Kocene (1889), or Oligocene (1898), and by 
the writer (1898), Miocene. In favor of 
his opinion Ameghino quotes the result of 
the study of G. Alessandri on the fossil 
selachian teeth of Entrerios which he be- 
lieves to be Eocene. Mr. A. Smith-Wood- 
ward, to whom I have sent the material 
of our museum, writes me: ‘‘I conclude 
that the formation cannot be earlier than 
Miocene and is probably Pliocene.” I have 
called attention to the fact that in the En- 
trerios deposits occurs Monophora darwini, 
a Scutellid with perforated disk which is 
common in the corresponding formation of 
the north Patagonian coast. No Scutellide 
with perforations of the disk are known 
earlier than the Miocene. On the other 
hand, the Mollusca of this formation are 
almost all extinct species and therefore I 
cannot believe it Pliocene. 

Zittel in his ‘Manual’ has well explained 
the relations between the two American 
mammal faunas. I am, however, disposed 


SCIENCE. 


LN. S. Vou. XII. No. 310, 


to believe, contrary to him and to Ame- 
ghino, that the genus Didelphys in South 
America appears as a member of the North 
American immigration. If derived from 
the Patagonian Microbiotheriide, as sug- 
gested by Ameghino, this genus may have 
issued in the earlier Eocene time from 
Patagonia and Archinotis and, after having 
reached EKurope in the Eocene and North 
America in the Miocene, turned to South 
America in the Pliocene. If Ameghino is 
right, the Proboscidia are derived from the 
Eocene Patagonian Pyrotheriide and, after 
having appeared in Europe and North 
America, returned to Argentina during the 
Pliocene in the form of the Mastodon. 

If this migration is a relatively well es- 
tablished fact, it is quite doubtful in what 
manner Patagonia received its rich mam- 
malian fauna in the Laramie period. Flor- 
entino Ameghino pointed out that this 
must have occurred by means of a land- 
bridge which united both Americas at the 
beginning of the Tertiary period. On this 
matter there has been a discussion between 
Ameghino and the writer in the Revista 
Argentina de Historia Natural, Vol. I., Buenos 
Ayres, 1891, p. 122 ff. and p. 281 ff., in 
which I have combated this hypothesis. 
The fresh-water faunas of the two Americas, 
as I have shown, are so completely differ- 
ent that only a prolonged and absolute 
separation can explain the fact; the geo- 
logical history of both North and South 
America demonstrate an enormous devel- 
opment of the Cretaceous Ocean, separating 
the two Americas, and in the Tertiary 
period the North American territory in- 
creased but slowly. This presumed prim- 
itive connection of the two Americas is not 
at all supported by facts, but only based on 
the predominance of wrong ideas of the 
history of the Australasian Territory. The 
Eocene mammals of Patagonia and North 
America certainly do not justify this hy- 
pothesis. The Hocene faunas of Reims and 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


Puerco, although these localities are much 
more distant from each other than North and 
South America, correspond closely, but the 
characters of the earliest Tertiary Pata- 
gonian and North American mammalian 
faunas are quite divergent. We find nothing 
of the Toxodontia, Typotheriide and true 
Edentata in North America, and nothing 
of the Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Ambly- 
poda, etc., in Patagonia. The orders and 
families which are represented in both 
Patagonia and North America may be such 
as were distributed over the whole area 
occupied by placental mammals in the 
Laramie period. 

The third line of migration according to 
Ameghino and Osborn was determined by 
the land masses which connected Brazil 
and Africa. In my papers, and especially 
in the discussion with Ameghino, I have 
insisted upon the value of this Hocene land 
bridge, but I do not believe that it has 
served for the distribution of mammals, as 
I believe that Archamazonia was in the 
greater part of the Tertiary separated by the 
ocean from Archiplata. In this case Brazil 
has received mammals only in the Plio- 
cene time, when the communication with 
Africa had long ago been interrupted. I 
have examined the deductions of Ameghino 
and Osborn with the purpose of verifying 
the facts proving their opinions, but these 
seem to be very insufficient. 
to the Pangolins and Aard Varks of the 
Aithiopian region as introduced from South 
America ‘via Antarctica.’ It must, how- 
ever, be noted that these Edentata of the 
old world occur also in Asia and that they 
belong to the Nomarthra, while all the 
Patagonian representatives are Xenarthra. 
Both may be derived from a common 
Australasian ancestor, but if the South 
African Edentata had been derived from 
the Patagonian Kocene fauna, they should 
be Xenarthra. The genus Orycteropus 
occurs also in the Miocene of Samos, and 


SCIENCE. 


Osborn refers . 


861 


may have immigrated both to Samos and 
to Africa from its Indo-australian home. 
It may be observed here that I have 
shown that the claw of the Dasypodide 
develops in the form of a hoof, and it is 
wrong to classify the Xenarthra with 
the Unguiculata, as they are Ungulata. 
The Proboscidea and Hyracoidea are not 
Patagonian mammals at all, although in 
the Patagonian Laramie or Pyrotherium 
fauna the Pyrotheriidz and Archeohyra- 
cide offer relations to the two above-men- 
tioned living families. The case is the 
same with the sole Patagonian Insectivore, 
the genus Necrolestes, somewhat compar- 
able with the Chrysochloridz of South 
Africa. Evidently the few representatives 
in the Patagonian Hocene of the Insec- 
tivora, Prosimiz and Hyracoidea are the 
isolated members of groups which were well 
represented in other regions then in con- 
nection with Patagonia. Thus the Chryso- 
chloris argument for the Patagonian-South- 
African migration is not better than the 
hypothesis of a land-bridge uniting the 
Antilles with Madagascar, the sole locali- 
ties where representatives are found to-day 
of the genus Centetes, which occurs also as 
Wallace affirms in the European Tertiary. 

The intimate relations between the fresh 
water faunas of Africa and Brazil, and the 
colossal difference which exists between the 
fresh water faunas of Archamazonia and 
Archiplata, prove that both territories dur- 
ing the greater part of the Tertiary were 
separated quite as completely as the two 
Americas. In this case the mammalian 
fauna of Patagonia may have reached Heu- 
ador or Colombia by means of the upheaval 
of the Andes, but not Brazil, and both Brazil 
and the Aithiopian region may have been 
without mammals and especially placental 
mammals, during the Eocene. When to- 
ward the close of the Eocene this land- 
bridge was submerged, there already ex- 
isted many types that have been conserved 


862 


until our time, and thus we find existing on 
the Central American and Brazilian coasts 
the same species of mangrove plants, and 
with them numerous identical forms of 
Crustacea, Mollusea, ete.; the distribution 
of Manatus must also be cited here. 

We now turn to the relations of South 
America with Australia and New Zealand. 
As the views put forth on this point by 
Hutton and the writer seem to be now gen- 
erally accepted, there is no reason for dis- 
cussing the question here. It may be ob- 
served, however, that not only does the 
fresh-water fauna give evidence of an ant- 
arctic land bridge between Australia, New 
Zealand and Patagonia, but also numerous 
other zoological as well as botanical and 
paleontological facts. Osborn says only 
that this migration established the links 
with Australia, ‘bringing in Marsupials, 
both polyprotodont and diprotodont.’ 
Ameghino (Censo, p. 250) says that on 
this vast antarctic land was distributed the 
cretaceous mammalian fauna which he has 
described. No other conclusion is logically 
possible, and we cannot doubt that the 


Eocene fauna of the Australian region, _ 


though not at all known to-day, must have 
been very analogous to and in part identical 
with the Patagonian. 

The different adaptive radiations of orders 
and families have given a very different as- 
pect to the existing faunas of Australia and 
Patagonia, in Australia only Monotremates 
and Marsupials having survived, in Pata- 
gonia principally histricomorph Rodents 
and Edentata. The existing fauna of Aus- 
tralia, New Guinea and other allied islands 
has received by Miocene immigration some 
placental mammalia, as Canis and Uromys 
in Australia, Sus and Uromys in New 
Guinea, and other genera in the Moluccas. 
This proves that Australia and New Guinea, 
at least during the Miocene, continued to 
be connected with Asia as in the foregoing 
periods. There existed therefore in the 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 310. 


earlier Tertiary a continuous land mas8 
from Antarctica and Patagonia, via Aus- 
tralia and Asia, to Europe and North Amer- 
ica. This enormous territory, my Eurygea, 
was the birthplace of the placental mam- 
mals. The Stenogzea (or Archhelenis) ex- 
tending from tropical South America to 
Africa, Madagascar and Bengal was in the 
Eocene without mammals. 

It is certain that we have to-day no 
knowledge at all of the Hocene mammals of 
Australia, Brazil and Africa, but from the 
facts given it seems to be highly probable 
that future discoveries may confirm what 
we expect. 

Paleophytical studies have given evi- 
dence of a great resemblance between the 
Cretaceous floras of North America and 
Eurasia. According to Fr. Kurtz, the same 
flora appears also at St. Cruz, Patagonia 
em Cerro Guido (Revista Museu La Plata, 
Vol. X., 1899, p. 43 ff.). According to the 
facts given above, this flora cannot have 
reached Patagonia from North America, as 
the two Americas were then separated and 
no South American continent existed. It is 
also impossible to admit that a land bridge 
formed by the Andes served for the migra- 
tion, because these did not then exist, as the 
Cretaceous marine beds of the Andes prove. 
There must then have been a connection be- 
tween the Antarctic Cretaceous continent, 
the Archinotis of the writer, and Asia. It 
may be observed that the genus Quercus was 
represented in the Cretaceous beds of both 
Patagonia and Australia, where to-day it 
has no representative. What has occurred 
in the case of Quercus and other genera in 
both Australia and Patagonia and what is 
observed in Patagonia with reference to 
mammals may have happened also in Aus- 
tralia to the earlier placental mammals. 
Further, it must be remembered that Aus- 
tralia, and South America also, developed 
by coalescence of different parts, each of 
which had its own history. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


I may note here one more fact referring 
to the fresh water fauna: the dispersion of 
the cyprinoid fishes. These Holarctic fishes 
did not reach Australia, already isolated 
by the sea, but invaded Africa and Mad- 
agascar. Lemuria must therefore have per- 
sisted in connection with Asia, when the 
Australian region was already isolated. 
Thus Africa offers the same mixture of an- 
cient indigenous elements and Neogene im- 
migrants as Argentina and Southern Brazil, 
on account of the intrusion of archamazonic 
immigrants. Had this invasion occurred in 
the Hocene period, the Cyprinids would 
have reached Brazil ; supposing it to be Pli- 
ocene, these fishes would not have reached 
Madagascar. Probably Africa received its 
placental mammals at the same time that 
the invasion of Cyprinide into Africa took 
place, one of the most remarkable events in 
zoogeography. 

We have no knowledge at all of the Cre- 
taceous and Eocene mammals of Brazil, 
Guyana, Africa and Australia; it is im- 
possible to give a complete history of the 
mammals with incomplete materials. But 
combination of the known facts makes it 
probable that during the Cretaceous and 
Eocene period Archhelenis, or Stenogza, 
was without placental mammals and that 
their origin was in Eurygeea. In regard 
to the flora the same holds good for many 
families of wide distribution, as for example 
the Cupulifere. 

With reference to the terms used by 
Blandford, Lydekker and the writer, it 
must be said that the intention of the first 
two was to give names to existing zoogeo- 
graphical regions, while the terms intro- 
duced by me refer to supposed, ancient zoo- 
geographical and geographical regions. The 
two great Cretaceous continents Hurygza 
and Stenogeea may have existed also during 
a part of the Eocene period and then dis- 
membered. From Stenogzea, or Archhelenis, 
were separated first Bengal and then Mada- 


SCIENCE. 


863 


gascar, while Archamazonia after the loss 
of the connection with Africa consisted of 
Archiguyana and Archibrazil. Eurygea 
split into (1) Archiboreas corresponding to 
the actual holarctic region and (2) Archi- 
notis from which, in the Eocene, Archiplata 
was separated. 

The comparison of the distribution of the 
mammals with the fresh water fauna makes 
especially evident the differences in the geo- 
graphical conditions which must have de- 
termined their distribution. While the dis- 
tribution of the existing types of mammals 
is a result of changes in geography during 
Tertiary time, the most fundamental facts 
in the distribution of the fresh-water fauna 
dates from the Mesozoic epoch. The fresh- 
water fauna of Chili preserved such a rem- 
nant of the Cretaceous fauna almost intact, 
and even the connection between the two 
Americas has not at all modified the South 
American fresh-water fauna. On the other 
hand, representatives of the Archamazon- 
ian fauna, in correlation with the geo- 
graphical modifications of Central America 
and the Antilles have invaded the southern 
parts of the nearctic region. Thus in the 
Rio Usumacinta of Mexicao beside Cyprini- 
de and Chromide we find also Characinidz 
and Lepidosteus, also species of Glabaris in- 
termediate between the northern Unios and 
Anodontas. There is a further difference 
in the distribution of mammals and fresh- 
water mussels. The former migrate on 
land bridges in both directions, the fresh- 
water fauna generally in only one, due to the 
opportunity given by the currents. Thus 
although there was an invasion of Cyprinid 
fishes into A frica there was no corresponding 
emigration of Althiopian types. A similar 
fact is the sudden appearance of the Athi- 
opian faunal elements in the valley of the 
Nile, which occurred only at the close of 
the Pleistocene, as proved by paleontolog- 
ical facts. While the Pliocene connection 
of the two Americas was sufficient to mod- 


864 


ify the distribution of the mammals in such 
a way that without paleontological re- 
searches it would be impossible to recog- 
nize the origin of the different faunal ele- 
ments, the fresh-water faunas have resisted 
almost unchanged all modifications in the 
configuration of the continent. 

The fresh-water fauna is not only older 
but also much more conservative than the 
distribution of the mammals. One of the 
most striking examples of this is given by 
the history of Africa. While the character- 
istic mammals are Neogene immigrants and 
Lydekker proceeds quite correctly in mak- 
ing Africa an annex only of the Holarctic 
region, thus establishing his Arctogzea, with 
relation to the fresh-water fauna, Africa is 
a part of South America, somewhat modi- 
fied by the Neogene invasion of Cyprinid 
fishes. If as regards mammals Africa be- 
longs to Arctogeea,.with relation to the 
fresh-water fauna it belongs to the Arch- 
helenic region. 

This example demonstrates the absurdity 
of the present system of construction of zoogeo- 
graphical regions and maps. We can construct 
maps of the different classes and orders but not 
at all of the animal kingdom, because the geolog- 
ical history of the different groups is quite differ- 
ent. When Osborn says that it is one prob- 
lem ‘to connect living distribution with 
distribution of past time,’ he says only what 
had been the leading idea of Wallace and 
of Engler in their eminent works on zoo- 
and phytogeography, but when he continues 
‘and to propose a system which will be in 
harmony with both sets of facts,’ he pro- 
poses a problem just as contradictory as 
would be the construction of descriptions 
and figures referring at the same time to 
egg, larva, nympha and imago of an insect. 
The works on ‘zoogeography’ are-almost 
exclusively discussions of the distribution 
of mammals and birds, and the few words 
spent on other classes are only ornamental 
supplements. A wrong method cannot give 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


valid results. For the exploration of the 
zoogeographical relations and regions of the 
beginning of the Tertiary and of the pre- 
ceding Mesozoic epoch it is necessary to 
study and to discuss the more ancient classes 
and, as I have insisted for ten years, prin- 
cipally the fresh-water fauna. 


H. yon IHERING. 
Sio PAuLo, July 20, 1900. 


A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF VARIATION.* 
THE quantitative study of variation has 

for its object the investigation of evolution 
by exact, quantitative methods. The study 
demands a mathematical method as well as a 
biological subject matter ; consequently the 
development of the science has proceeded 
along two main lines—the one biological 
and the other mathematical. Accordingly, 
the history of the development of the quan- 
titative method involves a consideration of 
both the study of variation and the elabo- 
ration of the necessary method. 

The fact of variation has been recognized 
since man began to think and to appreciate 
that in stature, color and mental capacity 
his fellow-men are diverse. The way for 
quantitative studies in biology was paved 
by the mathematical studies on the varia- 
tion of measurements which engineers and 
astronomers found it necessary to make for 
their own purposes. These mathematical 
studies led to the discovery and elaboration 
of the law of error by Gauss and others— 
and this law is the corner-stone of the 
quantitative biological studies. 

The application of the law of error to 
organic variation was, apparently, first 
made by an anthropological statistician, of 
the early part of the century, named Que- 
telet. In his book, entitled ‘ Lettres 4 Son 
Altesse Royale le Duc de Saxe-Coburg et 

ms Being part of the report of the Committee of the 


American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 
ence on the Quantitative Study of Variation. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


Gotha sur la théorie des probabilités appli- 
qués aux sciences morales et politiques,’ 
published in Brussels, 1846, and translated 
into English by O. G. Downes, 1849, Que- 
telet applied the mean and probable error 
to the designation of the peculiarities of 
different races of men; and he even com- 
pared an observed distribution of frequen- 
cies of human statures with a theoretical 
one calculated from the mean and the prob- 
able error by the use of the formula, 


ee efit, 
Vx Jo 


The possibilities of an extension of this 
method of quantitative analysis to bio- 
logical variation in general were, however, 
during twenty years unrecognized, for the 
time was not yet ripe. 

Meanwhile, on the biological side the 
clouds of a revolution were rising. During 
the fifties the variation of animals in nature 
was much discussed. In 1856 Wollaston 
wrote a book ‘On the Variation of Species,’ 
and at a meeting of the British Association, 
in the same year, Jenyns called for exact 
data on the variation of organisms. Then 
came the ‘Origin of Species,’ 1858, 1859, 
which used the facts of variation to enforce 
the conclusion of the mutability of species. 
At that time the study of the variation 
of species received a great impetus, but for 
forty years the observations have been for 
the most part qualitative or only roughly 
quantitative. Among the most important 
synoptic works on variation have been Dar- 
win’s ‘Variation of Animals and Plants 
under Domestication,’ 1868, and Bateson’s 
‘Materials for the Study of Variation,’ 
1894. 

To the rule that until a decade ago 
studies in variation were qualitative, the 
anthropological studies have formed a strik- 
ing exception. Anthropologists have been 
forced to measure by the necessity of mak- 
ing fine discriminations, and have sought 


SCLENCE. 


865 


by statistical methods to get the most out 
of the resulting data. The first to advance 
beyond Quetelet was Francis Galton, cousin 
of Darwin, and already well known on ac- 
count of his studies on heredity. In 1870, 
in his book on ‘ Hereditary Genius,’ he 
used Quetelet’s method of applying the law 
of error to organisms. He used it espe- 
cially to get a quantitative definition of his 
grades of ability, A to G. In 1879, Galton 
made a further and important step. He 
pointed out that ‘“‘an assumption which 
lies at the basis of the well-known law of 
‘Frequency of Error’ (commonly expressed 
by the formula, y=k. e-**) is incorrect in 
many groups of vital and social phe- 
nomena.’’ The assumption which Galton 
combats is ‘‘ that errors in excess or in de- 
ficiency of the truth are equally probable or 
conversely, that if two fallible measure- 
ments have been made of the same object 
their mathematical mean is more likely to 
be the true measurement than any other 
quantity that can be named.” Galton 
goes on to show that this assumption 
cannot be justified in vital phenomena ; 
for example, in guesses at a color con- 
taining 8 parts of white, we are equally 
apt to err by selecting one with 16 parts 
and one with 4 parts, yet the error in 
one case is twice the error in the second 
case. Conversely, in two guesses at a mid 
tint, the most reasonable conclusion is not 
the arithmetic mean of the two, but the geo- 
metric mean. If the guesses are 4 and 16, 


4 
the most probable value is not a =10 
but /4x 16=8; for 4:8::8:16. Gal- 


ton then extends this case to biological 
measures in general and calls for a law of 
error based on the geometric mean. At 
his suggestion Mr. Donald McAllister 
worked out a more general form of the 
probability curve, applicable to a distribu- 
tion of frequencies based on geometric 
error, and obtained the result, 


866 


= —hlog.2z 
Uae Va erate 

At about this time also, the anthropol- 
ogist Stieda called attention in Germany 
to the application of the probability methods 
to anthropological statistics. His paper 
published in the Archiv fiir Anthropologie, 
Band XIV., entitled ‘Ueber die Anwen- 
dung der Wabhrscheinlichkeitsrechnung in 
der anthropologischen Statistik,’ 1888, has 

‘had great influence in extending the use of 
the method. In this work the measure of 
variability is the probable error, here called 
the ‘ Oscillations Index.’ 

During the eighties, Galton, in a remark- 
able series of papers, developed the quanti- 
tative theory of individual variation. In 
1885 he introduced a graphic method of 
determining the probable error, using his 
“ogive’ or normal curve of distribution of 
error. In connection with his studies on 
pedigree peas he developed the theory of 
the mid-parent, the law of regression of the 
progeny of extraordinary parents toward 
mediocrity, and the law of ancestral inher- 
itance, according to which the mid-parent 
contributes one-half, the mid-grand-parent 
one-fourth, the mid-great-grand-parent one- 
eighth, and so on, of the whole heritage. 
In 1888, Galton made another important 
step. He obtained a method—somewhat 
rough, to be sure, because chiefly graphic— 
for measuring correlation between two or- 
gans. The measures of one organ, called 
subject, were taken, the mean found and the 
measures grouped into classes expressed in 
terms of the deviation from the mean divided 
by the probable error of the subject. The 
average of the corresponding measures of 
the other organ, called relative, was found, 
and the deviation of the average from the 
mean size of the organ was expressed in 
units of the probable error of the relative. 
The average (found graphically) of the 
ratios of the deviation of the relative divided 


SCLENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 310. 


by the deviation of the corresponding sub- 
ject class gives the correlation-index sought. 

The culmination of this epoch-making 
work of Galton was his ‘ Natural Inheri- 
tance,’ 1889, which applied the quantitative 
methods he had elaborated to the data of 
human inheritance which he had himself 
gathered. The book is important, not so 
much for its new material, for much of the 
matter had appeared elsewhere, but because 
it called attention to the possibilities of the 
quantitative method applied to biology gen- 
erally. But probably of even greater effect 
were Galton’s personal suggestions to biolo- 
gists such as Weldon and to mathemati- 
cians such as Pearson. At any rate, the 
beginning of the new decade saw the begin- 
ning of a wider interest in the quantitative 
study of variation ; and the source of this 
wider interest can be traced directly to one 
man—Francis Galton. 

While the impetus to the modern quanti- 
tative variation studies came from Galton, 
quantitative studies, in zoology at least, 
were not unknown before 1890. In our 
own country, Baird, Coues and J. A. Allen 
had measured numerous individuals of each 
of many species of mammals and birds 
and had published tables of measurements. 
Allen, in particular, had grasped the im- 
portance of the quantitative study of varia- 
tion, had compared the average dimensions 
of mammals and birds from different parts 
of the country and had established * a law 
of relation between the size of individuals 
and their distribution which has proved 
very fertile. 

As long ago as 1829, H. Milne- Edwards + 
gave a table of variations in size of various 
parts of the body of fourteen individuals of 


*J. A. Allen, ‘On the Mammals and Winter Birds 
of East Florida,’ etc., Bull. Museum Comparative 
Zoology at Harvard College, 1871, and ‘ Geographical 
Variation among North American Mammals,’ Bull. 
U.S. Geol. and Geog. Survey, Vol. II., 1876. 

+ Annales des sciences naturelles (1), 16, p. 87. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. | 


Lacerta muralis. Students of molluses have 
also been led in a few instances to quantita- 
tive studies. One of the most important of 
these was that of Bateson, who showed by a 
series of measurements the gradual change 
in form of the cardiums on the terraces of 
an inland sea which is gradually becoming 
denser. 

From 1890 on, the published works in the 
field we are considering became more 
numerous and appeared simultaneously in 
several countries and stimulated from va- 
rious sources. It was early in this decade, 
too, that the remarkable series, by Pearson 
and his pupils, of mathematical contribu- 
tions to the theory of evolution, began to ap- 
pear. Since these papers profoundly af- 
fected biological work, it will be well to 
consider them first. We may then consider 
in turn the English biological school—es- 
pecially the work of Weldon and his pupils 
—the continental biological work, and 
finally that of America. 

In 1894 Professor Karl Pearson published 
the first of his valuable series of papers 
on the mathematics of evolution, entitled 
‘On the Dissection of Frequency Curves.’ 
While the primary result of these investi- 
gations has as yet proved of no great ser- 
vice, the methods elaborated have formed 
the basis of all Pearson’s later analysis. 
These methods consisted of the analytical 
investigation of the frequency curve by re- 
duction to the first to fifth movements about 
an assumed vertical axis. The root of the 
mean square error was employed as the best 
measure of variability and was called the 
standard deviation. 

Pearson’s second paper: ‘Skew Varia- 
tion in Homogeneous Material,’ 1895, is the 
basis of the newer quantitative methods. 
Starting with the recognition of the fact that 
the vast majority of biological frequency 
curves are not symmetrical but ‘skew,’ 
Pearson undertakes an analysis of distribu- 
tion curves in general, gets a general for- 


SCIENCE. 


867 


mula and concludes that there are five types 
of curves altogether. These are the nor- 
mal curve—which is symmetrical and has 
an infinite range; the symmetrical curve 
with limited range; the skew curve with 
range unlimited in both directions, with 
range limited in both directions, and with 
range unlimited in one direction and limited 
in the other. The analysis of skew frequency 
curves was not entirely new, for it had pre- 
viously been made by an American, H. L. 
De Forest, of Connecticut. But Pearson’s 
work, having especially a biological aim, 
has become generally adopted by biolo- 
gists. In 1897 there was published, posthu- 


-mously, an analysis of frequency curves by 


Fechner ; but Fechner’s treatment is much 
clumsier than Pearson’s. Within recent 
years a fresh analysis of skew curves has 
been made by the English mathematician, 
Edgeworth in the Philosophical Magazine. 
Sheppard, too, has contributed methods of 
analysis of frequency curves. All these 
will doubtless eventually be of service to 
biologists. 

Pearson’s third paper, 1896, was devoted 
to the theory of correlation, which he placed 
on an analytical basis. His method of 
getting the index of correlation was a long 
one, which Duncker has greatly simplified 
in his paper published a year ago. 

Pearson’s fourth paper, published jointly 
with L. N. G. Filon in 1898, dealt with the 
probable errors of frequency constants and 
is of great importance for measuring pre- 
cisely the degree of unreliability of any re- 
sult. Pearson’s later papers, many of which 
are published under the uniform title ‘ Data 
for the Problem of Evolution in Man,’ have 
elaborated and extended the results of his 
earlier works. 

The results of the last six years, then, have 
placed the analysis of biological frequency 
curves at once upon a satisfactory scientific 
basis. But the limit of improvement in the 
method of analysis is by no means reached. 


868 


Passing now to the biological results, we 
consider first the work done in England, 
for it was there, in the home of Galton and 
Pearson that the new methods found their 
first application. Of the papers of the new 
era the first is that of Weldon, 1890, en- 
titled ‘The Variations occurring in Certain 
Decapod Crustaceze. I. Crangon Vulgaris.’ 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 
Vol. XLVII, pp. 445-453. This study was 
undertaken to test Galton’s prediction * 
that selection would not alter the dis- 
tribution of frequencies in any race. Wel- 
don measured four dimensions in several 
hundred individuals, calculated the means 
and probable errors, compared the observed 
and theoretical frequencies and concluded 
that Galton’s prediction is fully justified. 
He showed, in addition, that the variation 
in size of the organs measured occurs with 
a frequency indicated by the law of error 
and that the ‘ probable error’ of the same 
organ is different in different races of the 
same species. 

Next Weldon obtained measurements of 
the variation of the shrimp Palcemonetes 
varians in Plymouth, which have lately been 
made the basis of comparison with our 
American shrimps by Duncker and by John- 
son and Hall. These comparisons have es- 
tablished that the otherwise very similar 
English and American shrimps have modal 
numbers of rostral spines which are re- 
spectively 4and 8. In1892 Weldon studied 
correlative variation in the prawn Crangon 
vulgaris and drew the conclusion that a wide 
knowledge of the specific constants would 
give an altogether new kind of knowledge 
of the physiologic connection between the 
various organs of animals. 

In 1893 Weldon published a_ fourth 
paper, on correlated variations in Carcinus 
menas, in which he dealt with ratios of 
various dimensions of the body to the cara- 
pace length. It was in these studies that 

* Natural Inheritance, pp. 119-124. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


Weldon came across a distribution of fre- 
quencies which did not conform with the 
theoretical distribution, and which Pearson 
subsequently resolved into two symmetrical 
curves. Weldon found the coefficient cor- 
relations between similar organs in different 
races to be closely alike. 

While Weldon was making these studies, 
Bateson and Brindley published (1892) 
their quantitative studies on the length of 
the forceps of male earwigs, on the length 
of the cephalic horns of a rhinoceros beetle 
and on the length of the mandibles and the 
elytra of astag beetle. In the first two cases 
there was a marked discontinuity in the 
variations. Thus the forceps had modes at 
3.5 millimeters and 7 millimeters, and the 
horns had modes at 4 and 9.5 millimeters. 
In 1895 Bateson gave statistics of the mar- 
velous variation in color of a chrysomelid 
beetle, but the data hardly admitted of 
exact quantitative analysis. 

In 1895, Weldon presented to the Royal 
Society his first report of the committee for 
conducting statistical inquiries into the 
measurable characteristics of plants and an- 
imals. In this report he gives the results 
of studies on selective destruction of the 
rock crab. The climax of the studies of 
Weldon and his pupil, Thompson, on the 
rock crab is his presidential address before 
the British Association (1898) in which 
he showed that the proportional size of 
the frontal margin of the crab’s carapace 
had at Plymouth, during the preceding five 
years, diminished five per cent. Conse- 
quently he has been able by means of 
the quantitative method to measure a real 
evolutionary change. Moreover, he has 
been able to put his finger on the cause of 
this change, for he showed that the silting 
up of the harbor of Plymouth, and the 
greater quantity of mud in the harbor, tends 
to kill off the crabs with broad gill-openings 
and to let survive only those with narrow 
gill-openings and a narrow gill (or frontal) 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


margin. The expectation, then, that quan- 
titative studies would quickly demonstrate 
that evolution is going on rapidly in certain 
instances to-day has been realized. 

Another of Weldon’s pupils, Warren, has 
provided statistical data on variation in the 
crab Portunus, and on the variation of an- 
cient, barbarous races as compared with 
modern civilized ones. More recently he 
has measured quantitatively the effects on 
the little crustacean Daphnia of various ex- 
ternal conditions. Vernon, likewise, has 
given quantitative data on the effects of 
external conditions on the development of 
echinoid larve and on echinoid hybrids. 
Finally, the recent confirmation by Galton 
of his law of Ancestral Inheritance de- 
mands brief mention. 

The continental school of variation stu- 
dents includes chiefly botanists. Very 
early (1887) F. Ludwig, of Greiz, began to 
make quantitative studies on the variation 
in the number of ray flowers of the white 
daisy. These studies he continued and ex- 
tended to other species, and has published 
the results in a series of papers appearing 
in the Botanisches Centralblatt from 1895 to 
the present time. He finds that the varia- 
tion curves of plants are more frequently 
multimodal than are those of animals. 
Ludwig has published two comprehensive 
papers, in 1898 and 1900 respectively, which 
have served to extend a knowledge of the 
new method. At Amsterdam, de Vries has 
applied statistics to his experimental, chiefly 
selective, plant breeding. He has produced 
new races of certain very variable species 
within two to four years. Verschaffelt, a 
student of de Vries, did good service in 
calling attention to the importance of the 
coefficient of variation (or the index of 
variation divided by the average) for com- 
parative purposes. Verschaffelt also sug- 
gested an ingenious measure of skewness, 
which is very simple but has been largely 
replaced by Pearson’s index. Important 


SCIENCE. 


869 


work has also been done by L. MacLeod, 
of Ghent, Belgium, and his pupils, in papers 
published in Dutch in the Botanish Jahrboek. 

Among the continental zoologists Heincke 
was the first in the field. He has applied 
statistics especially to questions relating 
to the existence of local races of fishes, 
and especially the herring. George Dunc- 
ker, a student of fishes, has been occu- 
pied with biological statistics since the 
early part of the decade. He has written 
an excellent general treatise on the subject, 
(1899) in which the more important 
methods of Pearson are simplified and thus 
made more generally available. In Italy, 
Camerano has made a beginning with the 
quantitative methods. 

In America quantitative studies of human 
variation have been made by anthropolo- 
gists incited by the work of Galton. Promi- 
nent among these are Bowditch, Porter and 
Boaz. Minot also has made use of Gal- 
ton’s methods. Within late years Bumpus 
(1897-1899) has applied Galton’s methods 
to variation of Necturus, and to the problem 
of the relation of variation to environment 
and to selection. Higenmann and his stu- 
dent, Moenkhaus, have given data on the 
differences in the mode of certain fish char- 
acters in successive years and in different 
environments. The writer and his pupils, 
Blankinship, Brewster, Bullard and Field, 
have contributed certain quantitative data 
upon some of Darwin’s laws of variation 
and upon correlation. The writer has also 
published a small book on the newer 
methods which, containing the principal 
formule and tables for calculating curve 
constants, itis hoped may be found useful 
by students of the new methods. 

To sum up, the quantitative study of 
biology, the modern impulse to which we 
owe to Galton, has been furnished with 
good methods by Pearson. Already the 
application of these methods has borne 
fruit in our knowledge of the types of bio- 


870 


logical frequency curves, and their change 
with changing place and environment. 
The idea of correlation has received a pre- 
cise definition. The results of experimen- 
tation have been quantitatively expressed. 
The réle of natural selection, the method 
of evolution and the laws of inheritance 
are being discovered. Already we are able 
to predict greater results from the quanti- 
tative method in biology, especially where 
combined with experimentation, than any 
which have yet appeared. 
CHas. B. DAVENPORT. 
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 


PLANT GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH AMERICA. 
COMPOSITION OF THE ROOKY MOUNTAIN FLORA. 


In Southern Wyoming the Great Plains 
extend across the continental divide, mak- 
ing a break in the Rocky Mountain chain, 
and dividing it into two groups, the South- 
ern and the Northern Rockies. The former 
are for the greater part in the State of Colo- 
rado, but extend into northern New Mexico 
as well as southern Wyoming. The Wa- 
satch and Uintah Mountains, although sep- 
arated from the main claim by the Green 
River Basin, may also be noted here.* 

The Northern Rockies begin in northern 
Wyowing, but have their best development 
in western Montana, northern Idaho, west- 
ern Alberta and eastern British Columbia. 
The chain also extends into Alaska and 
Yukon Territory, but the flora of this re- 
gion is partly very little known and so 
merged into the Pacific Coast flora that it 
deserves a separate treatment. Some iso- 
lated mountains, as for instance the Black 
Hills of South Dakota and the Little Rockies 
and Bear Paw Mountains of Montana, may 
also be mentioned here. 

*The mountains of southern New Mexico and 
Arizona may also be accounted to the Rocky Mountain 
system, but their flora is so different and contains so 


many Mexican and Sonoran elements that it is better 
to exclude them from this discussion. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


The flora of the two groups is essentially 
the same, but some differences are found. 
These are most evident in the coniferous 
vegetation. Soare for instance Pinus edulis, 
Pinus aristata, Picea Parryana and Abies con- 
color confined to the Southern Rockies, while 
Pinus Murrayana, Picea Columbiana and Abies 
grandis take their place in the Northern. 
Psudotsuga mucronata, Picea Engelmann and 
Pinus flexilis are equally common in both re- 
gions. 

The flora of the mountain regions is made 
up of the following elements: 

1. The EnpEmiIo FLORA OF THE ROOKIES, 
which constitutes the largest element. In 
Montana it is represented by 33 per cent. of 
all the species and in the Southern Rockies 
the proportion is much larger. 

2. The TRANSCONTINENTAL FLoRA, made 
up mostly of hydrophilous plants. 

3. The Borat Frora or NortH AMER- 
Ica, which in British America is more or 
less transcontinental, but in the United 
States is found principally in the mountain 
regions. It is made up mostly of hyloph- 
ilous plants, but also represented by some 
hydrophilous ones, as for instance members 
of Cyperacece, Salicacee and Hricacec. 

4, The Arorio Frora, found only on the 
tops of the highest peaks at an altitude of 
over 3,000 m. in Montana and over 4,000 m. 
in southern Colorado. 

5. The Cascapr Mountain Fiora, which 
merges with that of the Rockies in British 
Columbia and partly extends south into 
Montana and Idaho. 

But in discussing the flora of the Rockies, 
one must not only take in consideration 
that of the mountain regions, but also that 
of the intermingling plains, valleys and foot- 
hills. If this is done, several new elements 
must also be considered. 

6. The Frora oF THE GREAT PLAINS. 
The Great Plains consist of high dry table- 
lands and make up a large portion of Sas- 
katchewan, Assiniboia, eastern Montana 


DECEMBER 7, 1900.] 


and Colorado, eastern and central Wyo- 
ming, and western Dakotas, Nebraska and 
Kansas. They have a flora of their own, 
mostly consisting of xerophilous plants, but 
in the valleys along the water courses are 
brought in besides the transcontinental flora 
mentioned above, also a few of another ele- 
ment, viz: 

7. The PRAIRIE FLoRA OF THE MissIssIPPI 
Vautey. The species of the typical Alle- 
ghanian flora found in the Rockies are so 
few that they may practically be disre- 
garded. In all cases they are also repre- 
sented in the Prairie flora. 

8. The Fiora or THE STAKED PLAtns, 
which extends into southeastern Colorado 
and northeastern New Mexico. The Staked 
Plains, with their best development in 
northwestern Texas, are but a southern ex- 
tension of the Great Plains, but contain 
numerous plants not found on the latter, so 
that its flora may well be treated separately. 

9. The Sonoran FtorA, the general flora 
of the table-lands of northern Mexico, Ari- 
zona and southern and western New Mexico. 

10. The Great Bastin Fiora of Nevada, 
Utah, southern Idaho and southeastern 
Oregon. This can almost be regarded as a 
desert flora. It is also met with outside of 
the Great Basin, especially in many places 
in the Green River valley of Wyoming, 
Utah and Colorado. 

11. The Cotumpra VaLiey Fiora. This 


SCIENCE. 


871 
flora extends along the headwaters and 
tributaries of Columbia River into the 
Rockies of Idaho, Montana and British 
Columbia. 

A flora made up of so many elements 
must naturally be very varied and exceed- 
ingly interesting. A comparison may well 
be made with that of the Alleghanies on 
one hand and that of the Cascade Moun- 
tains and Sierra Nevada on the other. If 
this is done we find that the flora of the 
Rockies resemble more the latter than the 
former. 

The bulk of the forest of the Rockies is 
made up of Conifers. Most of these are 
common to the region and mountains of the 
Pacific Coast, but none of the trees are 
found in the Alleghanies or around the 
Great Lakes. The White Spruce, Picea 
Canadensis, has been reported from northern 
Montana and Alberta, but I think errone- 
ously so. Probably P. Columbiana, which 
resembles it in habit and the glabrous 
branches, has been mistaken for it. P. Co- 
lumbiana is otherwise much more closely 
related to P. Engelmannii. Two prostrate 
shrubby species of Juniperus, J. Sibirica 
Burgsd. and J. postrata Pers. range across 
the continent. Both are subarctic and sub- 
alpine. Besides these none of the Rocky 
Mountain conifers are found in the East, 
although they are often represented there 
by closely related species.* 


* List of the Rocky Mountain Conifers and their representatives in the East and on the Pacific Coast 


Rocky Mountains. 
Pinus flexilis4 } 
Pinus albicaulis 


Pinus monticola 
Pinus edulis 
Pinus aristata 


Pinus ponderosa : : 
P Pinus resinosa 


Pinus scopulorum 


Pinus Virginiana 
Pinus Murrayana Pinus divaricata 
Pinus echinata 


East. 


Pacific Coast. 
Pinus flexilis 
{ Pinus albicautis 
Pinus monticola 
{ Pinus Lambertina 


codongcoorinéada0c0b0G0000 Pinus monophylla 


Pinus aristata 
Pinus Balfouriana 


Pinus ponderosa 


Pinus Murrayana 
Pinus contorta 


872 


Among the deciduous trees and shrubs, 
the number of species common to the 
Rockies and the East is much larger. Many 
of these common species are boreal, but 
some are truly transcontinental or nearly so. 


Of the SaLIcaAcE# about three-fifths of the Rocky 
Mountain species are endemic or western. The rest 
are nearly all boreal. The only ones that cannot 
come under these categories, as far as I can remember, 
are Salix Bebbiana, S. candida and S. cordata. The 
eastern Populus deltoides is represented in the Rockies 
by a western variety. 

Of BeruLAcEm, Betula papyrifera, B. glandulosa, 
Alnus Alnobetula and perhaps A. incana are found both 
in the Rockies and in the East. The other four Rocky 
Mountain species are western. 

Of FaGacEs, Corylus rostrata is common to the 
Rockies and the East. Besides by this species, the 
family is represented in the region by a few endemic 
low species of Quercus of the White Oak group. 

ULMACE is represented by three or four species of 
Celtis, of which C. occidentalis is found in the East. 
Ulmus Americana is found here and there in the val- 
leys of the Great Plains, but scarcely reaches the 
Rockies. 

All woody species of HYDRANGIACEH, GROSULA- 
RIACEH, ROSACEH, POMACER, DRUPACE®, PAPILION- 
ACEH, RUTACEH, RHAMNACEH, ACERACE®, CELAS- 
TRACE and ANACHARDIACE# are endemic or west- 
ern, except four species of Ribes, four of Rosa, Rubus 
strigosus, Dasifora fruticosa, Sorbus sambucifolia, Pru- 
nus Americana, P. Pennsylvanica, Amorpha fruticosa, 
Rhamnus alnifolia, Acer Negundo and Rhus glabra, 
which are also found in the East. 


Lariaz occidentalis . ee 
Laria laricina 


Larix Lyallii 
Picea Engelmannii Picea rubra 
Picea Columbiana 
Pseudotsuga mucronata 
Abies grandis | 
Abies amabilis 
Abies concolor f 

J 


Picea Parryana | | Picea Canadensis 


Abies baisamea 


Abies lasiocarpa 

Thuja plicata 

Juniperus scopulorum 
Juniperus Knighti } 
Juniperus occidentalis 
Juniperus monosperma } 
Juniperus prostrata 


SCIENCE. 


Picea Mariana 
( Tsuga Canadensis) 


Thuja occidentaiis 


Juniperus Virginiana 


Juniperus prostrata 


[N. 8. Von. XII: No. 310: 


The two species of ViTaAcEz found in the Rockies, 
viz., Vitis vulpina and Partenocissus quinquefolia ex- 
tend to the Atlantic coast, and so also the three spe- 
cies of ELHGANACEA. 


Taken as a whole, scarcely 20 per cent. 
of the woody plants of the Rockies are 
found in the Alleghanies or around the 
Great Lakes. Nearly all those common 
to both regions are transcontinental or 
boreal species. If on the contrary, the 
woody flora of the Rocky Mountains were 
compared with that of the mountains of 
the Pacific Coast, one would find that at 
least 50 per cent. of the former would be 
represented in the northern Cascade Moun- 
tains, which in British Columbia are more 
or less contiguous to the Rockies. 

It has been impossible for me to make a 
detailed comparison of the general flora of 
the Rockies with that of the East on one 
hand and with that of the Pacific States on 
the other. In my catalogue of the flora of 
Montana and the Yellowstone Park, I 
made such a comparison, and I think that 
the conclusion reached there with some 
modification may serve for the whole Rocky 
Mountain region. The catalogue contains 
1,976 species and varieties. Of these 487 
are found both east and west of the moun- 
tains and 268 only east thereof, or in other 


| Larix occidentalis 
Larie Lyallii 


Picea Engelmannii 
Picea Columbiana 
Pseudotsuga mucronata 

( Abies grandis 
| Abies amabilis 
Abies concolor 
| Abies lastocarpa, ete. 
Thuja plicata 


Picea Sitchensis 


Juniperus California 


Juniperus occidentalis 
Juniperus monosperma, ete. 
Juniperus prostrata 


Juniperus Sibirica 
Taxus brevifolia 


Juniperus Sibirica 
Taxus Canadensis 


Juniperus Sibirica 
Taxus brevifolia 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


words 755 of the Montana and Yellow- 
stone Park species are extending eastward. 
This includes transcontinental and boreal 
plants, as well as plain and prairie species. 
Of these not more than half or not fully 20 
per cent. of the whole number reach as far 
east as the Alleghanies or the Great Lakes. 
If the flora of Colorado should be com- 
pared in a similar way with that of the 
east, one would find that a much smaller 
number of species was common to the two. 
It is therefore safe to say that not 20 per 
cent. of the plants of the Rockies are found 
in the Alleghanian region and that these 
consist almost exclusively of transconti- 
nental and boreal plants. 

In comparing Montana with the Pacific 
Coast, I found that 487 (mostly transcon- 
tinental and boreal plants), plus 520 (mostly 
Columbian and Cascade Mountain plants) 
or 1,007 species or nearly 51 per cent. of the 
plants of that State are also found west 
thereof. These figures can not be taken 
as a fair average, for in Colorado we find 
fewer plants that are common to that State 
and the Pacific Coast. I should judge that 
even 20 per cent. would there be a high 
number. I think, however, that it is safe 
to say that between 30 and 40 per cent. of 
the plants of the Rockies are also found in 
some part of the Pacific Coast region. 

The families best represented in the 
Rock Mountain flora are the following in 
the order here given: Compositm, GRAMI- 
NE, PAPILIONACE®, CyPERACER, SCROPHU- 
LARIACE®, RosacEm®, CRUCIFER®, RANUNCU- 
LACE, CICHORIACE®, PoLyGoNacEm, ONA- 
GRACEH, UMBELLIFER®. 

In Montana the composites (with CicHo- 
RIACEZ and AMBROSIACEZ excluded), con- 
stituted about 154 per cent. of the species 
of flowering plants, the grasses about 10 
per cent., the pea family 6 per cent., the 
sedges and rushes 5 per cent., etc. Of 
Composit over 45 per cent., of GRAMINEX 
over 41 per cent., and of PAPmmionacEm 


SCIENCE. 


873 


nearly 50 per cent., but of CyprERACcEx only 
25 per cent. are endemic species. 

In Montana the following genera are rep- 
resented by the largest number of species : 
Carex, Senecio, Erigeron, Potentilla, Pentstemon, 
Astragalus, Poa, Aster, Ranunculus, Salix, Ar- 
temisia, Polygonum, Castilleja and Hriogonum. 
In the whole Rocky Mountain region these 
genera will have nearly the same order, 
except that Pentstemon and Polygonum have 
to be moved slightly further down and 
Friogonum a little higher in the scale. 

P. A. RYDBERG. 


A TERTIARY CORAL REEF NEAR BAIN- 
BRIDGE, GEORGIA.* 

Tuis fossil coral reef is located near Rus- 
sell or Blue Spring, about four miles below 
Bainbridge, Decatur County, Georgia, along 
the Flint River. My attention was first 
called to the presence of reef corals in this 
vicinity by finding two species, collected by 
Professor Raphael Pumpelly, in the United 
States National Museum. These species 
were described by me in Monograph 


XXXIX. of the United States Geological 


Survey, under the names Stylophora minu- 
tissima and Astrocenia pumpellyi, both species 
being compared with species from the An- 
tiguan Oligocene. Subsequently, in Febru- 
ary, 1900, Mr. Alfred H. Brooks, of the 
United States Geological Survey, brought 
me from the same locality a species of Orbi- 
cella, which I identified with an Antiguan 
species and specimens of Astrocenia pum- 
pellyi. Because specimens of Pecten (Pseuda- 
musium) ocalensis Dall and Orbitoides were 
brought with the corals, I referred the latter 
to Dall’s Ocala horizon of the Vicksburgian 
Oligocene. It will be shown later that I 
was mistaken as to the stratigraphic position 
of the corals. 

Because of the interesting character of 
the corals from Russell Spring, I requested 


* Published by permission of the Director of the 
U.S. Geological Survey. 


874 


permission from the Director of the Geolog- 
ical Survey to visit the locality during the 
present field season. 

Three localities where fossil reef corals'of 
the same horizon are found were studied: 
The best and most important one is on the 
left bank of the Flint River, about a quar- 
ter of a mile below where Russell Spring 
empties into the river. About a half mile 
farther down stream on the right bank is 
another exposure. At Cherry Chute, some 
three miles below Bainbridge and about a 
mile above Russell Spring, is another ex- 
posure of the same rock on the right bank 
of the river. The following section was 
observed at the locality just below Russell 
Spring and the locality one-half mile far- 
ther down stream. Itshould be stated that 
the Vicksburgian Oligocene was not seen 
at the latter locality. 

1. Yellow clay and yellow argillaceous 
limestone, composed largely of comminuted 
shells, spines of sea-urchins. Fossils fairly 
numerous, but only a few species are repre- 
sented ; they area large species of Orbitoides, 
several species of echinoids, Echinocyamus 
is one of the genera, and Pecten (Pseudamu- 
sium) ocalensis Dall. The stratum belongs 
to the Vicksburgian Oligocene. Its upper 
surface is very irregular, showing decided 
evidence in favor of Professor Pumpelly’s 
conclusion that the Vicksburg is separated 
by an erosion unconformity from the suc- 
ceeding Chattahoochee. Thickness (to wa- 
ter’s edge) a few feet. 

2. Bluish or whitish sandy clay, some- 
times purplish, rarely greenish. In this bed 
large limonitic segregations are abundant. 
The segregations occur in pockets often of 
many feet in horizontal extent and several 
feet thick. The purplish clay in places 
contains carbonaceous particles. Thick- 
ness variable, from 5 to 10 feet or even more. 

3. Cherty limestone, or chert—the fossil 
coral reef. In the section this does not ap- 
pear as a connected stratum, but in large de- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


tached masses, which very often have rolled 
down the incline to the river, but some are 
in situ. Dr. Dall identified from this bed 
for Professor Pumpelly Orthaulax and Amau- 
ropsis burnst, referring it to the Chatta- 
hoochee horizon.* Molluscan remains are 
abundant, but the state of preservation is 
poor. The shells are completely silicified, 
or there are only surface casts or chalce- 
donic internal fillings. Pecten, Venus, Xeno- 
phora and Natica are common genera. A 
very large portion of the rock is composed 
of coral heads, some more than a foot in 
diameter. Thespecimens of corals are more 
easily removed from the matrix in which 
they lie than are the mollusks. Thickness, 
3 feet. 

At Cherry Chute the thickness certainly 
exceeded 8 feet. 

4. Reddish sands, containing some gravel, 
8 feet. 

The bed of the greatest interest is No. 2. 
The corals from it belong to the basal por- 
tion of the Chattahoochee and not, as I once 
supposed, to the Vicksburg. 

The following is a rough characterization 
of the corals found in the stratum : 


Caryophylliidee (probably Paracythus) 1 sp. 
Other simple corals (several species).....2 or more. 


Bifurcating fOrms..............esecseeeeeeees 2 
Calamophy]lia......5.. ..seceecseceeeeeree cee 1 
(Oe imd HTD cascoganonoan.adsoscocanasaq5NsI05046 1 
Stylophora, probably.........-...sceeeeeeees 3 
Astroccenia, probably...........:..scsseeeees 2 
Orbicella, at least...............-seecceeereees 3 
Siderastrea ...........0..cescveseroeseesseseenens 1 
Mesomorpha ?.............c0cseceesessseecerees 1 
Isoporide (Madreporide Auct), at 
NER iscocogcon socoodenonnesaodooseoo0nsHNGeEseeCH 2 
Poritidee, ADOUE............ceceeeeeeeeeeeeenee 3 
NIV COPOL as... ccccccnsdenensereceererssreancass= 1 or more 


and several others. 


My estimate is that there are between 
twenty-five and thirty species. 
This is the richest fossil coral fauna 


* Dall and Stanley-Brown, Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 
Vol. V., 1894. Pp. 151, 152. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


known from any one locality of the conti- 
nental North American Tertiaries. How- 
ever, the state of preservation of the speci- 
mens is not always satisfactory, and it may 
not be possible specifically to describe all 
of them. 

The particular interest of this fauna does 
not lie in its richness, but in its geologic 
import. The Tertiary coral faunas of the 
United States below the Chipola horizon 
were very isolated, no species from the con- 
tinent, excepting the Orbicella mentioned, 
being found in any other area. This fauna 
is distinctly Antiguan in types. Besides 
the Orbicella referred to, there is a very 
large-celled Orbicella, very close to O. crassi- 
lamellata (Duncan), if not identical with 
that species, found abundantly at Russell 
Spring. An Astrocenia is extremely close 
to A. ornata of Duncan from Antigua. The 
same remark will apply to the Stylophora 
and Alveopora. 

From this field examination it appears 
that the reef corals of the Antiguan marls 
and cherts can be correlated with the base 
of the Chattahoochee limestone, the base 
of Dall’s Upper Oligocene. It is also quite 
probable that the Oligocene reefs in the 
vicinity of Lares, Porto Rico, and of Serro 
Colorado, Curacao, represent the same hori- 
zon. The Bowden, Jamaica, fauna would 
be slightly higher, to be correlated with the 
Chipola fauna. 

It is evident that this coral fauna from 
Russell Spring, besides filling a gap in the 
faunal succession on the continent, fur- 
nishes a basis for correlating many of the 
West Indian fossil reefs with the conti- 
nental Tertiary section, and we may confi- 
dently expect more light upon the correla- 
tion of American and European horizons. 

One interesting feature of these corals, 
not already mentioned, is that they appar- 
ently bring the fauna of Vicksburg, Mis- 
sissippi, into closer relation with the suc- 
ceeding faunas. A great deal is shown 


SCIENCE. 


875 


regarding the succession and interrelations 
of the faunas of the continent itself. 

A fossil coral reef is always interesting, 
as it reveals in an accurate manner the 
physical conditions prevailing in a region 
during a certain portion of its geologic 
history. 

When the material collected has been 
carefully studied in the office, a detailed 
account will be published. 


T. WAYLAND VAUGHAN. 
BAINBRIDGE, GA., Noy. 3, 1900. 


PEACH YELLOWS: A CAUSE SUGGESTED. 

Some scientific problems lie beyond the 
reach of present knowledge, in the sense 
that they are inaccessible through combi- 
nations of known facts or methods of re- 
search ; in dealing with such matters specu- 
lation is permitted full sweep in the hope 
that some hypothesis may point the way 
to experimental effort and demonstration. 
There are, however, other questions to 
which it seems that ascertained facts.should 
furnish a sufficient clue, though the solu- 
tion may long elude us. With regard to 
these, speculation appears to have less pro- 
priety, perhaps because we have learned to 
expect more from increased skill and im- 
proved methods of research than from 
theoretical considerations. But if one of 
these apparently ripe fruits of knowledge 
refuses to fall, the efforts of the investigat- 
ing scientists take on added interest, and 
the bystanders may become anxious to tell 
just how it should bedone. Thus far these 
well-intentioned people have not been per- 
mitted much satisfaction in connection 
with the mystery of the peach-yellows, the 
vigorous and sustained attack by the first 
investigator, Dr. Erwin F. Smith,* hav- 
ing left untried no theory or method which 
had been applied in previous studies of 


* Dr. Smith’s results were finally summarized in 
Farmer’s Bulletin No. 17, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, 1894. 


876 


plant pathology. Results of great economic 
value were reached, but the cause has still 
eluded proof or well-founded suspicion. 
And yet after the lapse of a decade inter- 
est in peach-yellows has increased rather 
than abated in the minds of those who 
witnessed and properly appreciated the 
original researches. It is true that the 
wish to repeat any of Dr. Smith’s compre- 
hensive investigations would scarcely occur 
to any one who realized the thoroughness of 
his methods, but in my experience, at least, 
every new fact or suggestion which seemed 
in any way likely to furnish an analogy or 
other clue to peach-yellows has been ecare- 
fully scrutinized. During the past summer 
it has seemed to me to be possible to meet 
the peculiar requirements of the facts by 
means of a hypothetical cause, and as this 
is of a nature such that observation and 
demonstration may be expected to prove 
difficult and time-consuming, it seems 
justifiable to place on record the circum- 
stantial evidence drawn from more general 
biological considerations, in order that those 
specially concerned with investigations in 
this line may have any advantage possible 
from a suggestion which there is no present 
opportunity to put to a practical test. 
Briefly stated, the proposition is simply 
that the ‘ yellows’ of the peach may be the 
result of the poisoning of the protoplasm of 
the living cells by the bite of a small ar- 
thropod, probably a mite of the family 
Phytoptide. The fact that plant cells 
may be so poisoned by mites as to become 
yellow and yet retain their vitality for 
many months, or even for years, was im- 
pressed upon my attention while observing 
a palm of the genus Thrinax, which had 
been infested with the so-called ‘ red-spider’ 
(Tetranychus). That this animal was the 
cause of the injury was inferred from the 
fact that the formation of yellow spots 
ceased as soon as it was exterminated from 
the plant. This was graphically shown in 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


a young leaf which while still folded was 
attacked on the exposed lateral segments, 
where the yellow spots are still distinct, 
though all other parts are entirely un- 
touched and have remained uniformly 
green. Discoloration spreading thus from 
the puncture of an insect or a mite is, of 
course, no new thing, and is often accom- 
panied by much more serious injuries; 
moreover, we have all the wonderful phe- 
nomena of galls as evidence of the power of 
animal secretions in profoundly modifying 
vegetable tissues and structures. The in- 
terest of the spots of the Thrinaz lies 
merely in the suggestion of a progressive 
and permanent injury of the tissues with- 
out malformation or other striking symp- 
toms. It is true that there is a wide gap 
between progressive change in a spot less 
than a quarter of an inch across and one 
which covers a whole peach tree, but the 
difference may be one of degree and not of 
kind, and from the physiological standpoint 
the galls go far to connect the two ex- 
tremes. This analogy is especially pointed 
with the galls induced by inoculation, such 
as those of the plant-lice and mites, which 
remain outside the tissues of the host-plant, 
and yet cause protective malformations. 

As the effects of yellows upon the plant 
tissues could scarcely be thought to be of 
any advantage to the animal, it may be sup- 
posed that no special secretion is involved 
other than the normal salivary fluid, which 
might be expected to contain digestive fer- 
ments or enzymes,* some of which are now 
known to exhibit the phenomenon of in- 
definite self-propagation when brought into 
contact with substances on which they are 
capable of acting. 


*Tam informed by Mr. A. F. Woods that he has 
for some time entertained an opinion of the enzymotio 
nature of peach-yellows, drawn from a study of the 
symptoms of the disease, and from the presence of 
abnormal quantities of oxydizing enzymes. Cf. Cen- 
tralblatt fiir Bakteriologie, etc., 2 Abt., V, p. 574. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


Among the important points demon- 
strated by Dr. Smith, in addition to the 
absence of any parasitic organism within 
the tissues, was the communicability of the 
disease. This fact the present theory 
amply accommodates, and at the same time 
does not require insects or mites in large 
numbers, since the disorder is known to be 
progressive throughout any tree which has 
once given evidence of infection. Inocula- 
tion by budding from diseased trees also 
communicates the yellows, a fact which 
would exclude insect injuries as commonly 
understood, but which is not inconsistent 
with the present theory, although the iso- 
lation of the deleterious substance or even 
direct inoculation by the application of the 
juices and disorganized tissues has thus far 
failed.* 

The presence of an infected tree has been 
believed to have a distinct effect in induc- 
ing the disease in others, though trees will 
sometimes remain healthy for a considera- 
ble period in close proximity or even in 
contact with those already victims of the 
malady, and young trees planted in the 
places of those killed by the yellows are 
no more liable than others to take the dis- 
ease. These facts seem peculiarly perverse 
in connection with a theory of direct infec- 


* Dr. Smith tells me that Phytopti were frequently 
found by him on yellowed peach trees, and that while 
the idea that they might cause the disease in the usual 
manner of parasitic insects suggested itself early in 
the course of his studies, he rejected it because 
entirely inadequate to explain the extensive constitu- 
tional symptoms which led him to compare the yel- 
lows to hydrophobia and smallpox, other commu- 
nicable diseases of which the causes have resisted 
investigation. It is true also that the infection phe- 
nomena of these diseases appear to include the neces- 
sity of inoculating or poisoning cells which remain 
alive, and from which the disease may be propagated 
by protoplasmic continuity. Bacteria, on the con- 
trary, are able to pass from one plant cell to another 
only by breaking down the cell-walls, though the dis- 
organizing effects of their chemical products may pre- 
cede them. 


SCIENCE. 


877 


tion by a parasitic organism, but become 
quite comprehensible if the injury be as- 
cribed to mites carried about by bees or by 
birds; infection would thus be largely ac- 
cideytal, and while the chances would be 
greater in the neighborhood of diseased 
trees, no regularity nor continuity in the 
spread of the disorder need be expected.* 
Finally, it was demonstrated by Dr. 
Smith that neither the character, condition 
or relative fertility of the soil, nor the age, 
vigor or variety of the tree has any appre- 
ciable influence in predisposing to attack or | 
in securing immunity. Such facts are evi- 
dently ample for the exclusion of any hy- 
pothesis based on the predication of a 
constitutional disorder originating inde- 
pendently in the tissues of the trees. The 
implications point uniformly in the contrary 
direction, to a definite cause in the form of 
a specific noxious substance the application 
of which is followed by a uniform bio-chem- 
ical reaction. This inference is not weak- 
ened by the fact that the reaction is slow, 
and that the results of infection become ap- 
parent only in new growth from buds or 
tissues which have been reached by the dis- 
ease. Thus the first definite symptom of 
debility caused by infections which may be 
supposed to have taken place in the spring 
appears in the premature ripening of the 
fruits. It has also been noted by Dr. 
Smith that the degree of prematureness is 
extremely variable, a fact which seems ex- 


*The presence of bird’s nests may prove to be 
connected with the not infrequent occurrence of sev- 


eral apparently simultaneous infections in the same 


immediate vicinity, though not necessarily on con- 
tiguous trees. If brought in by small birds it is easy 
to see that the chances of forming a colony of the in- 
jurious mites are many times greater on a tree where 
a nest is placed, and where the birds spend a large 
part of their time during the breeding season. More- 
over, the well-known persistence of the migratory 
birds in returning to the same nesting-place would 
tend to insure a rapid dissemination of the yellows in 
the year after a colony of the mites had been estab- 
lished in the orchard. 


878 


plainable by possible differences in the dates 
of infection and in the distances through 
which the disease must propagate itself be- 
fore it reaches the growing fruit, the normal 
development of which is inhibited, although 
the tissues previously formed remain appar- 
ently uninjured. The suggestive phenom- 
ena of the palm are also capable of a similar 
explanation, the susceptibility to spotting 
being apparently confined to the young 
leaves; otherwise it is difficult to under- 
stand why the entire area of the older leaves 
had not turned yellow long since. The 
same is likewise true of the leaf-spot or 
stigmonose of carnations, investigated by 
Mr. A. F. Woods.* 
It can scarcely be expected that many 
eases completely parallel to the yellows 
will be found in nature, sincé parasites 
which produce such disastrous effects upon 
their hosts must be unable to maintain ex- 
- tended existence. It is accordingly not to 
be supposed that the peach is the natural 
or exclusive habitat of an insect or mite 
which is able to produce such a disease as 
peach-yellows. In the biology of galls the 
localization of the irritant or pathological 
effect is essential to the establishment of a 
successful and permanent symbiotic rela- 
tion, although the possibilities of extensive 
change through animal irritants are amply 
shown in the general debility evident in 
some plants when parasitized by gall- 
forming insects. These considerations are 
of special interest in connection with a fact 
which is of use at least as an analogy, and 
which may possibly furnish a direct clue to 
the mystery, since on other plants both 
galls and hexenbesens have been connected 
with species of the same group of mites. 
In a disease of plum nursery-stock re- 


* Bulletin No. 19, Division of Vegetable Physiology 
and Pathology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
1900. This disease was formerly ascribed to bacteria, 
but is here shown to be due to the punctures of 
aphides. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 310. 


ported by Mr. M. B. Waite, one of the 
prominent symptoms of peach-yellows, the 
fasciculate branching or hexenbesen forma- 
tion, was found to be caused by a minute 
parasitic mite (Phytoptus?). In this instance 
the terminal bud is killed, while the lateral 
buds in the neighborhood are pushed into 
premature growth. That this latter de- 
velopment is not caused simply by the 
death of the terminal bud, but is stimu- 
lated by the presence of a noxious com- 
pound, is probable, though the disorder is 
not progressive in the plum, and the re- 
moval of the malformed branches permits 
the resumption of normal growth. The 
suspicion that the active cause may be sim- 
ilar, if not the same as that of the yellows, 
is considerably strengthened by the fact 
that the yellows, while recorded as occurring 
in almonds, apricots, nectarines and Japa- 
nese plums, is not known to affect other 
sorts of plums. With the supposition of 
such identity of cause we arrive at the 
proposition that the mite elaborates in its 
salivary or other glands an enzyme or other 
active compound to which the tissues of the 
peach and closely related fruits are pecu- 
liarly susceptible, and which produces in 
them a permanent and ultimately fatal 
debility accompanied by definite constitu- 
tional symptoms. And that this suscepti- 
bility depends on some delicate relation of 
structure or composition is shown by the 
fact that the Japanese plums are affected, 
while the European and American culti- 
vated species appear to stand on the plane 
of at least partial immunity, being able to 
resist and recover from the infection. It 
would thus be possible to accommodate all 
the related facts in the construction of a 
complete analogy with the known limita- 
tions of many other diseases to groups of 
related varieties and species.* 


*The force of this analogy is rather strengthened, al- 
though its terms may need to be altered, by a fact ver- 
bally communicated by Mr. Waite, that a similar dis- 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


The only novel proposition employed in 
this hypothetical solution of the problem is 
that of the indefinite propagation of the 
pathological effects of a toxic compound of 
animal origin, introduced in an infinitesimal 
quantity and of so mild a physiological ac- 
tion as to cause no immediately appreciable 
damage. And yet the fact of inoculation 
shows that this requirement must be ad- 
mitted as far as the internal phenomena are 
concerned, whatever be the supposed nature 
of the exciting cause. As already pointed 
out by Dr. Smith, this phase of the subject 
has analogy with other abnormal condi- 
tions such as variegation of foliage, which 
in some plants may also be propagated by 
grafting. But albinism may easily prove to‘ 
be a composite phenomenon, sometimes con- 
stitutional and sometimes induced, and then 
transmissible. That the albinism theory 
of peach-yellows is not, however, necessarily 
inconsistent with that of its origin through 
mites is indicated by a curious fact for 
which I am indebted to Mr. H. J. Webber. 
An albinistic variety of orange, ‘ Drake’s 
Star,’ was found in Florida to be entirely im- 
mune to the orange-rust, caused by one of 
the Phytoptide. As albinism, or variega- 
tion, is generally admitted to be connected 
with or accompanied by a lack of vigor, 
there is the greater warrant for expecting 
that the present instance of immunity will 
notprove to be due to any ability to resist the 
attacks of the mites, but will be found ex- 
plainable by the absence from the albinistic 
protoplasm of the compounds affected by 
the secretions of the Phytopti. A definite 
relation of incompatibility having been es- 
tablished between an albinistic condition 
and a disease caused by Phytoptus, and in- 


order of peach nursery stock has also been traced to 
a@ mite, even though it may be found that the an- 
imal is of a species different from that of the yellows. 
Neither can we as yet exclude the possibility that the 
peach may be less susceptible when young than after 
it has reached bearing age. — 


SCIENCE. 


879 


volving a yellow discoloration of the cells, 
the physiological analogy between yellows 
and albinism is strengthened, and the 
anomalous proposition of an animal poison 
causing a constitutional plant disease trans- 
missible by budding loses something of its 
apparent improbability. Further possibil- 
ities not unworthy of mention lie in the 
production of immunity in the peach 
through inoculation with a less harmful 
mite, or with a modified enzyme or antitox- 
ine, or with a mild form of albinism, or 
through the propagation of albinistic varie- 
ties. The uniform susceptibility of the sorts 
now in cultivation in the infested districts 
renders it extremely improbable that a nor- 
mal variety able to resist the yellows could 
be secured by selection or introduction from 
abroad. 

A further biological reason for belief in a 
definite external cause for peach-yellows is 
to be found in what may well be considered 
a second species of the same genus, the so- 
called ‘ peach-rosette,’ which has appeared 
in the orchards of Georgia and as far west 
as Kansas. This disorder is of a much 
more virulent type than the yellows, and is 
able to attack and destroy the plum. It 
has distinctly different, though similar, 
symptoms and is likewise contagious and 
communicable by budding. With two such 
diseases occupying reasonable definite geo- 
graphic areas and both repeatedly occurring 
sporadically within wide general limits, the 
probability is greatly increased that we are 
dealing with the injuries of two species 
of Phytoptus or related mites which are 
normally parasitic on native vegetation, 
probably indigenous species of Prunus, 
whence they are accidentally transferred to 
the peach and related fruits of foreign 
origin, supposably by bees or by birds. 
Such a method would explain the many 
independent reappearances of the diseases, 
and their capricious distribution in or- 
chards, where contiguity or even contact 


880 


has sometimes been found to have little or 
no effect in facilitating transmission. The 
facts which have been taken to indicate a 
gradual spread of the diseases, and thus 
have been used as an argument for an 
epidemic type of infection, are as well or 
even better provided for in the above sug- 
gestion, if proper allowance be made for 
the fact that such diseases are brought to 
the attention of pathologists only when 
they threaten serious damage to com- 
mercial interests in the hands of intelli- 
gent horticulturists. This would be by no 
means the first instance where the exten- 
sion of our knowledge of a disease has been 
interpreted as an extension of the disease 
itself. As with most other plant diseases, 
neither the yellows nor the rosette was rec- 
ognized as a definite malady until an or- 
ganized industry was attacked. Both were 
at first supposed to be local, and though 
a wide distribution has been ascertained, 
there is nothing to indicate that either was 
introduced from Europe or has spread to 
California, facts which also militate strongly 
against theories of the constitutional origin 
of the diseases, though possibly compar- 
able with the failure of the above-mentioned 
orange-rust mites to establish themselves in 
the dry atmosphere of California. 

That the yellows has-not gone south and 
that the rosette has not come north are also 
indications that the diseases are not spread 
entirely from the peach, if we admit that 
both disorders had probably existed for 
many decades before their scientific recogni- 
tion. In fact, the various considerations of 
distribution are sufficient to warrant a be- 
lief in local origin and external infection, 
and it is not even necessary to insist that 
they are transferred in nature from one 
peach tree to another, since the existence of 
the injurious species in the neighborhood 
of an orchard would mean that infection 
might be indefinitely repeated. It is also 
to be remembered that under the theory of 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


infection of an entire tree by a single punc- 
ture it is to be expected that there will be 
many trees with yellows where none of the 
injurious mites can be found, since only 
when fertilized females or both sexes are 
transferred will the species be multiplied. 
Thus might the yellows be ‘contagious’ 
from some trees, where colonies are formed, 
while not contagious from others. 

But though the mite should be found to 
breed upon the peach, insecticides would 
remain useless, since the infected trees are 
injured beyond repair and may as well be re- 
moved and burned, as Dr. Smith has urged. 
That this policy has appeared to keep the 
yellows in check in some parts of Michigan 
may mean that either our supposititious 
mite or the agent of its transfer to the 
peach is locally rare. We have, in fact, all 
gradations from an apparent epidemic in 
some parts of the Hast to a merely sporadic 
condition in Illinois, where competent in- 
vestigators are not yet convinced that the 
disease is contagious. 

It is a fact well known to entomologists 
that the numbers of many species of in- 
sects and other short-lived arthropoda vary 
enormously in different years or periods of 
years. An unfavorable season, an active 
enemy, or a disease may reduce a species to 
practical non-existence for a time, until the 
return of favorable conditions permits a 
gradual increase to the former numbers, or 
even to unrecorded abundance. These 
fluctuations are also closely comparable with 
those which appear in connection with par- 
asitic fungi and bacteria, species previously 
so rare as to have remained quite unknown 
to the botanist often appearing suddenly as 
the agents of extensive injury. Seasonal 
and periodic as well as local differences in 
the apparent ‘virulence’ of peach-yellows 
would thus be readily explainable on the 
present theory, to which plant pathologists 
need not object because of reasons drawn 
from the history of the malady. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


A permanent solution of the problem on 
these lines may be postponed by the fact 
that, notwithstanding their well-known 
economic importance, the Phytoptide re- 
main a little-known group, even from the 
systematic standpoint, doubtless owing to 
their excessively small size. Butif the pres- 
ent hypothesis should prove to have any 
basis in fact, it will probably be possible to 
control or even to exterminate the yellows 
by the local destruction of the wild rela- 
tives of the peach which may be found to 
harbor the offending creatures. The extent 
to which this would be necessary for the 
protection of peach-orchards will depend 
upon the agency of transmission. Fortu- 
nately the mites are without wings, and 
whether carried by small birds or by in- 
sects, the distances whence they would or- 
- dinarily be brought are not great. There 
is thus opened another possibility, at least, 
of the relief of this important industry from 
the ravages of maladies which not only 
cause thousands of dollars of damage an- 
nually, but which are chargeable with a 
further public injury in limiting the pro- 
duction and popular enjoyment of this finest 


of temperate fruits. 
O. F. Coox. 


WASHINGTON, D.C. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


Legons de chimie physique. Professées al’ Uni- 
versité de Berlin. Par J. H. VAN’T Horr, 
membre de |’Académie des Sciences de Ber- 
lin. Professeur ordinaire a 1’ Université, et 
directeur de |’Institut de Physique de Char- 
lottenbourg. Ouvrage traduit de l’allemand 
par M. Corvisy, Professeur agrégé au Lycée 
de Saint-Omer. Paris, Librairie Scientifique, 
A. Hermann. 1899. 

The book in hand is a French translation of 
Van’t Hoft’s lectures on ‘Selected Chapters in 
Physical Chemistry ’ which he now delivers at 
the University of Berlin. As the title implies, 
the book is not a systematic treatise on the 
whole subject of physical chemistry, but the 


SCIENCE. 


881 


number and importance of the subjects dealt 
with are so great that the scope of the work is 
not small. 

The order of arrangement is quite different 
from that usually adopted. It is the general 
custom to take up first the older work in phys. 
ical chemistry which has to do with the rela- 
tions between composition and physical prop- 
erties, and constitution and physical properties. 
This is then followed by the newer physical 
chemistry, dealing with solutions and energy 
transformations in the broad sense ; concluding 
with chapters on chemical dynamics and chem- 
ical statics. 

Van’t Hoff has, indeed, exactly reversed this 
order. Part first is on Chemical Dynamics, 
including chemical equilibrium and reaction 
velocity. Part second, on Chemical Statics, con- 
tains chapters on molecular weights, molecular 
structure and molecular grouping ; and it is not 
until the third and last part of the book is 
reached that we find a discussion of the rela- 
tions between properties and composition ; 
comprising relations between physical proper- 
ties and composition on the one hand, and 
chemical properties and composition on the 
other. 

In those who have been accustomed to the 
older order of things this new order of pres- 
entation produces a little discord. This, how- 
ever, may not argue against the method adopted 
by Van’t Hoff. It should, nevertheless, be 
noted in this connection that the more gener- 
ally accepted order of presentation is far more 
closely in accord with the historical develop- 
ment of the subject, and there are those who 
believe in the pedagogical value, at least, of 
the historical method. 

The newest work of Van’t Hoff, like every- 
thing which he has written, is full of original 
and brilliant suggestions. There is hardly a 
subject touched, in the whole book, without 
new light being thrown upon it and new rela- 
tions pointed out. No one can read the work 
without feeling that physical chemistry is here 
treated by a master hand, which not so much 
compiles as creates. 

These lectures are, for the most part, rather 
advanced, as we should naturally expect them 
to be. They should, therefore, not be placed 


882 


in the hands of a beginner. To any one who 
has mastered the elements of physical chemis- 
try this book is indispensable, and it should be 
read by all who desire to keep abreast with the 
newest and best which has appeared in the field 


of general chemistry. 
H. C. J. 


Determination of Radicles in Carbon Compounds. 
By Dr. H. Meyer, Docent and Adjunct of 
the Imperial and Royal German University, 
Prague. Authorized translation by J. BIsHop 
TINGLE, Ph.D., F.C.S., Instructor of Chem- 
istry at the Lewis Institute, Chicago, Ill. 
New York, John Wiley & Sons; London, 
Chapman and Hall. 1899. 

This English edition of Dr. H. Meyer’s 
‘Anleitung zur quantitativen Bestimmung der 
organischen Atomgruppen’ will be heartily 
welcomed by all teachers and advanced stu- 
dents in organic chemistry. As the translator 
well says in his preface: ‘The quantitative 
side of organic chemistry, apart from elemen- 
tary analysis, is almost always neglected in the 
ordinary courses of instruction, and when the 
need for it arises, in the prosecution of research 
work, for instance, it is difficult to obtain a com- 
prehensive view of the methods which are 
available without undue expenditure of time.’ 
The present work supplies a systematic treat- 
ment of the various methods in use for deter- 
mining quantitatively most of the groups ordi- 
narily found in carbon compounds in a very 
convenient and compact form. It is to be 
hoped that it will bring about the introduction 
of some quantitative work into the regular col- 
lege course of organic preparations. Some idea 
of the character of the book may be given by 
the following brief synopsis of its contents. 
The book is divided into five chapters. Chap- 
ter I., which is introductory, treats of the de- 
termination of hydroxyl (—OH) ; Chapter II. of 
methoxyl (CH,O—), ethoxy] (C,H,O—), and 
carboxyl (—COOH) ; Chapter III. of carbonyl ; 
Chapter LV. of the amino and related groups and 
Chapter V. of the diazo-, hydrazide-, nitro-, 
iodoso- and iodoxy-, and the peroxide-groups. 
The author has made various corrections and 
additions to the English edition, so that it is an 
improvement on the German one. The book 


SCLENOE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 310. 


is well printed and bound in convenient form 
for laboratory use. It has a good index of both 
subjects and authors’ names, and an appendix 
containing some useful tables. The book can 
be most heartily recommended to all organic 


chemists. 
W. R. ORNDORFF. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

In The American Journal of Physiology for 
November, J. C. Herrick reports an investiga- 
tion of the influence of temperature on nervous 
conductivity. He found that a strong or moder- 
ate action current produced by an induction cur- 
rent or condenser discharge was not changed in 
intensity when the nerve impulse passed through 
areas varying in temperature from 8° C. to 40° 
C. Usually a decrease in current followed the 
application of temperature beyond these limits. 
An increase in the strength of action current in 
passing the impulse through a warmer area oc- 
curs, however, under two conditions—when 
the action current is only a small fraction of the 
maximum, and when the entire nerve except 
the warmed part is below 10°C. From his 
observations he concludes that the action cur- 
rent ordinarily observed and studied probably 
lies far beyond those accompanying maximal 
functional impulses. 

Porter and Muhlberg present an experi- 
mental criticism of the theory that injury pro- 
duces prolonged inhibition of the activities of 
the spinal cord. Believers in automatism of 
the cord have explained the failure of the cord 
to continue orderly functioning after separation 
from the brain, by assuming that the conditions 
of experimentation inhibit the spinal centers 
for a long period. To settle the question, the 
cell bodies of the respiratory nerve of the dia- 
phragm were separated on one side of the 
spinal cord from the respiratory center in the 
brain. After this was done, these cells were 
still able to discharge motor impulses, but their 
apparently automatic rhythmic respiratory 
power was gone. Animals kept for a long 
period after this operation proved that the loss 
was permanent, and that it could not, therefore, 
be ascribed to inhibition. 

Artificial division of egg cells, now attracting 
s0 much attention, has been further investi- 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


gated by A. P. Mathews, who presents the 
results of observations on Arbacia eggs. Math- 
ews found that karyokinetic nuclear division 
followed by cell division may be produced by 
lack of oxygen, by heat and by exposure to 
ether, alcohol and chloroform. Since all the 
methods which induced karyokinesis in these 
eggs are well-known methods of causing lique- 
faction in protoplasm, Mathews suggests that 
the essential basis of karyokinetic cell division 
is the production of localized areas of lique- 
faction in the protoplasm. 

S. I. Franz’s paper, ‘On the methods of esti- 
mating the foree of voluntary muscular con- 
tractions and on fatigue,’ is largely a destruc- 
tive critique of the methods hitherto employed 
for determining muscular ability. With a 
weight ergograph or with an ordinary spring 
ergometer two variables are always present— 
the force and the extent of a contraction. 
These two factors are so variable in different 
individuals that accurate comparison of relative 
muscular ability is impossible. A third vari- 
able in the use of these instruments is noted in 
the nutrition changes of the working muscle. 
The isometric use of a spring is recommended 
because the main factor in an investigation of 
fatigue—muscular force—is practically isolated. 
The results of fatigue experiments show that 
after 150 maximum contractions the muscle 
can accomplish about 40 per cent. as much as 
it could at the beginning of the series. A large 
daily variation in results isnoted. This factor, 
which has been almost wholly neglected in 
previous researches, indicates that the conclu- 
sions of early investigators should be held only 
until they can be investigated further. 


THE American Journal of Insanity for June, in 
addition tothe articles noted in our last issue, con- 
tains a paper by Dr. F. Savary Pearce, of Phila- 
delphia, who presents ‘Further Laboratory 
Studies on Uric Acid in Neurzsthenia and on 
Auto-intoxication in Nervous Disease,’ in which 
he says: ‘‘ We have sufficient data to say posi- 
tively that neuresthenic conditions are asso- 
ciated with the circulation of such an irritant in 
the blood. From the observations of Haig, it 
seems clearly proved also that when the uric- 
acid elimination is decreased, the urea elimi- 
nation is normally increased. The amount of 


SCIENCE. 


883 


elimination of urea is in proportion to the album- 
inous food products properly absorbed into the 
blood, thus giving rise to strength and a feel- 
ing of latent vigor in the system so nourished. 
On the other hand, there assuredly follow a 
sense of feebleness and lack of resistance when 
the uric-acid elimination goes above the normal 
and, in consequence, the urea elimination falls. 
In ‘Degeneracy’ Dr. O. Everts, of Cincin- 
nati, calls attention to the fact that the term 
degeneracy is without uniformity of meaning 
or restricted definition. He regards degenerates 
as ‘‘all persons who by reason of mental de- 
ficiency are incapable of self-support, as well 
as those who by reason of mental deficiency 
are incapable of perceiving the sinfulness 
of sin or the beneficence of restraint there- 
from.’’ He believes degeneracy to be an in- 
evitable sequence of civilization without any 
hope ofremedy. Dr. W. L. Worcester, of Dan- 
vers, Massachusetts, presents ‘Three Cases of 
General Paralysis in Young Women’ together 
with the pathological findings at the autopsies. 
One of these cases was a young mulatto. 
Dr. Charles E. Woodruff, of the U.S. Army 
Medical Corps, has a paper entitled ‘ Degen- 
erates in the Army.’ He finds that few of 
these degenerates in the army present the 
characteristic stigmata of degeneration, a fact. 
which he believes to be due to the rigid ex- 
amination to which all recruits are subjected 
upon enlistment. Degenerates in the army 
come from the borderland of partial degeneracy, 
the criminaloids of Lombroso. Some are cases 
of slow development—partial infantilism—who- 
have run away from home in search of adven- ~ 
ture, but more are mild types of the neures- 
thenic tramp, restless, unstable and flitting 
from one employment to another. They are 
unable to endure monotony of army life with 
its rigid discipline and are generally deserters. 


The Journal of Comparative Neurology for Oc- 
tober contains the following articles: ‘A Con- 
tribution upon the Cranial Nerves of the Cod 
Fish,’ by C. Judson Herrick, with 2 plates; 
‘Notes on Professor Judson Herrick’s Paper on 
the Cranial Nerves of the Cod Fish,’ by F. J. 
Cole; ‘Further Observations on the Conditions 
determining the Number and Arrangement of 
the Fibers forming the Spinal Nerves of the 


884 


Frog (Rana virescens),’ by Irving Hardesty. 
‘Anastomosis of Nerve Cells in the Central 
Nervous System of Vertebrates,’ by N. Worth 
Brown, with plate; ‘A brief Summary of the 
Researches of Theodere Kaes on the Medulla- 
tion of the Intra-cortical Fibers of Man at dif- 
ferent Ages,’ by Helen Bradford Thompson ; 
‘Book Notices.’ 


THE Botanical Gazette for November con- 
tains an important paper, by Burton E. Liv- 
ingston, of the University of Chicago, on the 
nature of the stimulus which causes the change 
of form in polymorphic green alge. The form 
used was a species of Stigeocloniwm, and it was 
made to assume the spherical or filamentous 
form and to organize zoospores or not at will. 
The evidence seems perfectly clear that the re- 
sponses, both in form and reproductive activity, 
are due to changes in the osmotic pressure of 
the medium and are in no way functions of its 
chemical composition. A high osmotic pressure 
decreases vegetative activity, inhibits the pro- 
duction of zoospores, causes cylindrical cells to 
become spherical, and frees the alga from cer- 
tain limitations as to the orientation of planes 
of cell division, while a low pressure has the 
diametrically opposite effect in each case. Pro- 
fessor Conway MacMillan publishes some care- 
ful observations upon the structure of Lessonia, 
one of the huge Laminariaforms. The material 
studied was cast up upon the beach of Vancou- 
ver Island. Mr. C. D. Beadle, of the Biltmore 
Herbarium, describes ten new species of Cratzx- 
gus. Mr. John F. Cowell, Director of the 
Buffalo Botanic Garden, gives an appreciative 
biographical sketch, with portrait, of the late 
David F. Day. Mr. Carleton E. Preston, of 
Harvard University, records some field obser- 
vations as to the root system and vegetative 
propagation of Cactaceze. 


Popular Astronomy for December has for a 
frontispiece the New Allegheny Observatory, 
whose corner stone was recently laid. The 
address delivered upon this occasion by J. A. 
Brashear is given in full, as well as notes 
descriptive of the corner stone exercises and 
the building itself. Another topic of interest 
to general readers is that of the Leonid Me- 
teors watched for last year and this. Pro- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XIE. No. 310. 


fessor W. W. Payne discusses their orbit, and 
the results of the observations made at va- 
rious points this year are noted and charted. 
Kurt Laves’ practical help on the ‘ Adjust- 
ment of the Equatorial Telescope’ is continued 
in this number, and Charles P. Howard’s 
paper on the ‘Total Kclipse, of May 28, 1900,’ 
is begun. E. S. Holden writes, ‘Among the 
Stars,’ and S. W. Burnham contributes two 
short articles on double stars. Many brief re- 
ports of the Eros observation work are included 
in the general notes, which, with the usual 
Spectroscopic, Planet, Comet, Asteroid notes, 
completes the last number of the volume for 
1900. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 104th regular meeting was held at the 
Cosmos Club, November 14, 1900. 

The following papers were presented : 

“Notes on Lake Chelan and Vicinity,’ by 
Mr. Bailey Willis. 

The Cascade Mountains of Washington State 
constitute a plateau, so thoroughly dissected, 
however, that none of the original surface re- 
mains. The greater number of the resulting 
sharp peaks and ridges have summits close to 
an imaginary sloping plane ranging in altitude 
from 3,000 to 8,000 feet. The initial uplift was 
succeeded by development of moderate relief, 
followed by the last and principal elevation. 
It is not yet known whether this final uplift is 
late Pliocene or early Pleistocene. Lake Chelan 
lies in an area of metamorphic and igneous 
rocks, the oldest of which are schists of sedi- 
mentary origin. They are cut by younger 
granitic rocks. These in turn are traversed by 
dikes of andesite, diorite porphyry, and acid 
quartzose porphyries. 

“Remarks on Troost’s Geological Map of the 
Environs of Philadelphia, 1826,’ by Mr. G. P. 
Merrill. 

A copy of this rare map, which the Marcous, 
in their catalogue of geological maps of North 
America, state is unknown, was exhibited to 
the Society. 

‘Ore Deposits at Monte Cristo, Washing- 
ton,’ by Mr. J. E. Spurr. Among the rocks of 
the Monte Cristo district are arkoses and 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. } 


quartzites, and a variety of volcanic rocks, 
comprising andesites, rhyolites, dacites and 
basalts. There were two periods of andesitic 
eruption. The arkoses and the older ande- 
sites which are among the most ancient rocks, 
are cut by large dikes of tonalite, which have 
altered the intruded rocks near the contact to 
quartz, biotite, garnet and staurolite schists. 
Strong, steeply dipping, jointing or sheeting is 
one of the latest geologic structures, and ac- 
cepting the principal uplift of the range as late 
Pliocene, the jointing is probably not older. 
Along these joints most of the ore deposits have 
formed. The ores consist chiefly of arsenopy- 
rite, chalcopyrite, phyrrhotite, pyrite, blende, 
galena and some less important sulphides. 
The deposits occur mainly in the tonalite and 
to a less extent in the older andesites, occasion- 
ally in the other rocks. 

‘The Mother Lode, folio, California,’ by Mr. 
F. L. Ransome. 

This special mining folio No. 63 of the Geo- 
logic Atlas of the United States was shown and 
its scope briefly outlined. It deals with an 
area six and a half miles wide and seventy 
miles long, embracing the greater portion of 
the so-called ‘Mother Lode’ system of gold- 
quartz veins. 

‘Paleobotanical Aspects of Some Upper Pal- 
eozoic Formations of Nova Scotia,’ by Mr. 
David White. 

A brief résumé of the correlations by stratig- 
raphy on the one hand with the correlations 
by paleontology on the other hand. The Hor- 
ton and the Riversdale plant beds, which are 
referred by the Nova Scotia geologists to the 
Hamilton, are, on the evidence of the fossil 
plants, referable to two stages; the Horton be- 
ing Pocono and in the basal portion of the 
lawn Carboniferous, while the Riversdale plants 
indicate a stage for these at or near that of the 
Pottsville. F. L. RANSOME, 

DAviIp WHITE, 
Secretaries. 


NEW YORK AOADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
BECTION OF BIOLOGY. 


THE regular monthly meeting November was 
held on the evening of November 12th, Pro- 
fessor C. L. Bristol, presiding. 


SCIENCE. 


885 


The following program was offered : 

F. C. Waite, ‘The Bermuda Toad’ (to be published 
in full in SctmNcE). 

H. F. Osborn, ‘The Phylogeny of the Rhinoceroses 
of Europe.’ 

H. L. Clark, ‘ Further Notes on Bermuda Echino- 
derms.’ 

Professor Osborn reported a continuation of 
his investigations upon the ‘ Phylogeny of the 
Rhinoceroses of Europe.’ These animals ap- 
pear to fall under the law of early divergence, 
and to constitute at least six separate series or 
phyla, which, so far as known at present, are not 
genetically related to each other, but undergo 
a more or less parallel development, as fol- 
lows: Diceratheriinz, Aceratheriine, Brachypo- 
ding, Ceratorhine, Atelodinz, Rhinocerotins. 
The chief criteria in distinguishing rhinoceroses 
are the proportions of the skull, whether doli- 
chocephalic or brachycephalic, the proportions 
of the limbs in reference to cursorial or aquatic 
habits, and the position of the horns; subsidiary 
to these features are the types of tooth struc- 
ture. The origin of the Rhinoceroses is still 
obscure, although it appears to be possible to 
derive the Diceratheriine from certain Eocene 
Hydracodontide. 

This study will be published in full in the 
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural 
History, and it constitutes a part of the con- 
tinuation of the author’s memoir on the ex- 
tinct Rhinoceroses. 

Mr. H. L. Clark’s paper was read by Professor 
C. L. Bristol. In this paper Mr. Clark gave 
an account of the Echinoderms collected by the 
party of zoologists from the New York Univer- 
sity in the summer of 1899, together with a 
summary of his own observations during April 
of that year. It is to be concluded from an 
abundance of observations that the distinctions 
hitherto thought to exist between Stichopus 
diaboli and acanthomela are not to be regarded 
as valid, and the forms described under these 
names must be referred to S. Mobii. Twenty- 
nine species are listed. 

Mr. Waite called attention to the fact that 
the madreporic body in Asterias tenuispina 
branches, forming 1-4 bodies in each animal, 
thereby making orientation difficult. 

F. E. Lioyp, Secretary. 


886 


TORREY BOTANICAL CLUB. 


AT the meeting of the Club on October 31st, 
Dr. P. A. Rydberg read a paper on ‘The Me- 
lanthaceze of the Rocky Mountains.’ Numer- 
ous herbarium specimens were exhibited, in- 
cluding the types of seven new species described 
by Dr. Rydberg in the Torrey Bulletin for Oc- 
tober. To these descriptions he now added 
further particulars regarding habit, distribution 
and critical characters, presenting also a series 
of comparative drawings of their petals and 
sepals. One of these new species of especial 
interest is Veratrum speciosum, to which most of 
the specimens previously ascribed in herbaria 
to V. Californicwum prove to belong. The pres- 
ence of conspicuous petioles at the lower leaves 
of typical V. Californicum was demonstrated 
from the type-specimen and also by explicit 
accompanying statements by Dr. Asa Gray, 
whose manuscript description was produced. 

EDWARD 8. BURGESS, 
Secretary. 


ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL CLUB OF THE UNIVER- 
SITY OF MICHIGAN. 


THE first meeting of the club was held No- 
vember Ist. Dr. S. J. Holmes reported the re- 
sults of work done at Woods Holl during the 
past summer on the habits and natural history 
of Amphithoe longimana Smith. The observa- 
tions made were upon the movements of the 
animal, food, nest-building and instincts asso- 
ciated with living in nests, moulting, color 
changes, the seat of smell and the instincts of 
the young. 

Mr. L. J. Cole gave an account of work done 
at Woods Holl during the past summer on the 
habits of Pyenogonids. Most of the notes were 
based on observations of Anoplodactylus, though 
Tanystylum and Pallene were studied also. 

Crawling and Swimming Movements.—The ac- 
tion of the legs in crawling and in swimming 
was analyzed and was found to be exactly the 
same in the two cases. When the stroke of the 
legs is strong enough to lift the animal from 
the bottom, swimming results ; otherwise the 
same movement produces crawling along the 
bottom. The stroke of all the legs is the same 
except that it is stronger in the anterior legs, 
and this is what carries the animal forward in 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 310. 


crawling, rather than backward. The action of 
the posterior legs is an actual hindrance in 
crawling. 

Reactions to Light.—1. Both <Anoplodactylus 
and Pallene show strong positive phototaxis. 
In going towards the source of light Anoplo- 
dactylus may either crawl or swim, being ori- 
ented differently in the two cases : 

2. In crawling towards the light the animal 
progresses forward. If not oriented in this di- 
rection at first it becomes so oriented by making 
a short circle in every case towards the light. 

3. When an animal walks in a circle those 
legs on the outside must make a more effective 
stroke than those on the inside, which meansin 
this case that those legs away from the light beat 
stronger than those towards the light. 

4. In swimming towards the light the animal 
progresses approximately backward with the 
anterior end somewhat raised, the amount de- 
pending upon the activity of the individual 
and the slant of the rays of light. 

5. This orientation is brought about by the 
actions previously mentioned : (a) The stronger 
action of the legs on the side away from the 
light raises that side, and the animal conse- 
quently travels toward the light; (6) The 
stronger action of the anterior legs, as compared 
with that of the posterior, tends to bring the 
anterior end of the animal into the upper posi- 
tion, giving the orientation described. 

Transfer of the Eggs from the female to the 
ovigerous legs of the male.—When first ob- 
served the male was clinging to the dorsal sur- 
face of the female and headed in the same 
direction. The basal joints of the legs of the 
female were approximated below with a mass 
of eggs between. The male crawled around 
over the anterior end of the female, coming 
into such a position that their ventral surfaces 
were together and their heads in opposite direc- 
tions. The ovigerous legs of the male hooked 
into the mass of eggs, and as the animals sep- 
arated carried them away. Fertilization pre- 
sumably took place at the same time. 

At the second meeting, November 8th, Dr. 
§. J. Holmes presented an account of work 
done during the past summer at Woods Holl 
on Phototaxis in Amphipods. 

Most of the experiments were performed on 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


two species of Orchestide found at Woods 
Holl, Mass., Talorchestia longicornis and Orches- 
tia agilis. Talorchestia was found to_be posi- 
tively phototactic at all times both in strong 
and in weak light. Orchestia agilis is somewhat 
less strongly positive since, for a short time 
after it is taken from the dark, it becomes nega- 
tively phototactic, but exposure to the light 
soon makes all the individuals strongly positive 
and they remain so even in direct sunlight. 
Both these species when exposed to direct sun- 
light remain positively phototactic until over- 
come by the heat of the sun. Yet the animals 
when they come to rest are found in shaded 
spots and, during the daytime, remain unex- 
posed to the light; they are photophobic, but 
positively phototactic. Observations were made 
on twenty-two species of aquatic amphipods, all 
of which were found to be negatively photo- 
tactic. It was found that when the terrestrial 
Orchestia agilis were thrown into sea water their 
phototaxis immediately changed from positive 
to negative; when taken out of the water the 
reverse change occurs, and this change was 
shown to be independent of temperature. 

Orchestia agilis, when brought from strong 
light, in which it is strongly positive, to weak 
light, immediately becomes strongly negative, a 
result which, it is believed, has been observed 
in no other form. When left in weak light the 
negative phototaxis disappears and all the 
specimens become positive again. This result 
was shown to be independent of temperature. 
Specimens rendered negative by being brought 
into a dimly lighted room after exposure to 
strong light become positive more quickly if 
the temperature is raised. Exposure to dark- 
ness or to very strong light renders Orchestia 
agilis temporarily negative in light of medium 
intensity. 

In Talorchestia, Orchestia, and several species 
of insects that are positively phototactic it was 
found that, when one eye is blackened over, the 
animal travels in circles with the unblackened 
eye looking towards the center. In several 
negatively phototactic forms blackening one eye 
was found to produce circus movements in the 
other direction, the unblackened eye looking 
away from the center. Orchestia agilis may be 
caused to execute circus movements in the one 


SCIENCE. 


887 


or the other direction according to whether it is 
placed in air or water. H. 8. JENNINGS, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
THE ELECTRICAL THEORY OF GRAVITATION. 


PROFESSOR FESSENDEN in a recent number 
of SCIENCE discusses the nature and velocity 
of gravitation. There is, no doubt, something 
of value in Professor Fessenden’s suggestions 
and much that is new. However, the explana- 
tion of gravitation which Professor Fessenden 
offers is by no means so adequate as would ap- 
pear from Professor Fessenden’s discussion. 

In the first place, Quantitative Mathematics, 
as Professor Fessenden styles his papers on 
Dimensions, has little or nothing to do with the 
thing. The present writer makes this state- 
ment not entirely as an expression of his own 
opinion, but quite as much as an expression of 
opinion of every physicist with whom he has 
talked on the matter. Professor Fessenden 
claims to have derived numerical functional re- 
lations, with the aid of his ‘ Qualitative Mathe- 
matics,’ and this is believed on definite rational 
grounds by most physicists to be impossible. 

One of the best examples of the application 
of ‘Qualitative Mathematics’ is its application - 
by Lord Rayleigh (Philosophical Magazine, Octo- 
ber, 1899), in his ‘ Investigation on Capillarity.’ 
In this instance the weight of a drop of water 
falling from the end of a glass tube is shown to 
be a certain function of radius of tube, density 
of water, acceleration of gravity and surface 
tension of water multiplied by an unknown func- 
tion of these quantities having zero dimensions in 
length, mass and time. This unknown and un- 
knowable function—to be determined by experi- 
ment only—Fessenden seems to lose sight of 
in his ‘ Qualitative Mathematics.’ The reader 
who wishes to get the gist of Professor Fessen- 
den’s suggestions as to the nature of Gravity 
may therefore, as it seems to us, ignore what 
he says of, and is led to say by ‘ Qualitative 
Mathematics.’ i 

The following is a brief and fairly simple out- 
line of the electrical hypotheses which are now 
held by physicists in the attempt to explain the 
ultimate constitution of matter and the nature 
of inertia and of gravitation. 


888 


Electrically charged bodies are of two kinds, 
namely, positive and negative. Like charges 
repel and unlike charges attract. The energy 
associated with two charged bodies is seated in 
the ether which surrounds the two bodies and 
is due to the electrical field or ether stress. 
When wnlike charges approach, the energy of 
the ether stress diminishes and the outside work 
done by the attraction of the charges is equal 
to the diminution of the energy of the ether 
stress. Similarly, the energy of ether stress, 
which is associated with two like charges, in- 
creases when the charges are pushed towards 
each other and the increase of the energy of the 
ether stress is equal to the work done in push- 
ing the two charges nearer together. 

In general, attraction of two bodies is to be 
attributed to ether energy, which decreases as 
the’ bodies approach each other, and repulsion 
of two bodies is to be attributed to ether energy, 
which increases as the bodies are made to ap- 
proach each other. Physicists have known this 
many years and, as regards gravitation, no sat- 
isfactory clue has yet been found concerning 
the nature of the accompanying ether energy 
and concerning its mode of propagation from 
place to place. 

It is now pretty well established, that the 
ether energy having to do with electrical at- 
traction and repulsion is dependent upon a sort 
of shearing distortion of the ether unaccompanied 
by any sensible diminution of volume, that this 
ether distortion is what is known as electric field, 
that the propagation of this energy constitutes 
electrical waves, and that the movement of the 
ether which comes into play during the establish- 
ment of this shearing distortion, or which comes 
into play while distortion at one place is re- 
lieved and distortion at a contiguous place is 
built up, is what is known as magnetic field. 

It may be that the ether distortion which we 
eall electrical field is accompanied by a very 
slight diminution of volume of the ether, espe- 
cially inasmuch as Maxwell showed that the 
mechanical stresses in the dielectric tend to pro- 
duce diminution of volume as well as to produce 
shearing distortion. These mechanical stresses 
are proportional to the square of the field inten- 
sity at each point. 

_ If we admit that the diminution of yolume of 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 310. 


the ether at each point is proportional to the 
resultant intensity of the electric field, then the 
part of the energy which depends upon dimin- 
ution of volume cannot be separated in its effects 
from the part of the energy which depends 
upon the shearing distortion, inasmuch as both 
are proportional to the square of the resultant 
field intensity. Therefore a diminution of vol- 
ume of the ether could not explain gravitation, 
but would only be involved in the explanation 
of ordinary electric attraction and repulsion. 
Professor Fessenden in his article above referred 
to speaks quite in general of the compression of 
the ether near a charged body (or ion) without 
localizing this distortion. 

Before proceeding to a statement of what 
must constitute the characteristic features of an 
explanation of gravitation, as opposed to an ex- 
planation of electric attraction and repulsion, 
for the reader will certainly think of an expla- 
nation of the one as applying satisfactorily to the 
other also, so far as the above discussion goes, 
it is necessary to outline briefly the present hy- 
pothesis that the inertia of an atom, or rather 
that the inertia of a corpuscle, is due to its 
electric charge. 

It has been known for some years that a moy- 
ing electrically charged body has more kinetic 
energy for a given velocity than if it were not 
charged ; that is, the acceleration of a charged 
body by a given force is less than if the body 
were not charged; that is, the inertia of a charged 
body is greater than if it were not charged. 
This excess of energy of a moving, charged 
body—for the whole matter lies in the question 
of energy—is due to two things, as follows: 

First, The dying away of the electric field in 
regions passed through by the body and the 
building up of electric field in regions newly 
reached by the body is accompanied by an 
ether motion known as magnetic field, as 
above stated, and this magnetic field repre- 
sents energy. 

Second, The motion of a charged body tends 
to concentrate the electrical field or ether 
stress in and about a plane passing through the 
body and at fight angles to the direction in 
which the body is moving. This concentration 
of the electric field causes, on the whole, an in- 
crease in the total energy of the electric field. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


A curious fact, assuming the truth of the fol- 
lowing hypothesis, is that the energy of a mov- 
ing body is not proportional to the square of its 
velocity, but exceeds this by an amount which 
becomes infinite when the body attains the 
velocity of light, although this excess of energy 
at ordinary velocities is exceedingly small. If 
it were not for the tendency of electrical field 
to become concentrated in a certain plane as 
described above, the energy of a moving body 
would be strictly proportional to the square of 
the velocity, assuming the truth of the hypothe- 
sis which is now to be stated. 

The excess inertia due to the electric charge 
on a body, or briefly, the inertia of the charge 
is greater and greater the smaller the body. 
Atoms, however, are not small enough for us 
to attribute all their inertia to the charge which 
they carry when they are in the form of ions. 
The corpuscles, of which J. J. Thomson builds 
an atom like a bricklayer builds a house, and 
to the hypothetical existence of which Thomson 
was led by the study of cathode rays, are per- 
haps small enough. 

The electrical hypothesis of the constitution 
of matter, is that atoms of matter are built up 
of corpuscles, and that these corpuscles are mere 
bits of electric charge, some positive and some 
negative surrounded by electric fields, or rather 
that these corpuscles are mere strain centers in 
the ether surrounded by regions of ether stress. 

This hypothesis of the constitution of matter 
serves well for the interpretation of the per- 
plexing class of phenomena attending the dis- 
charge of electricity through gases and it 
explains that fundamental property of matter, 
inertia. 

Now we have two distinct measures of mass, 
namely: One body is said to be twice as mas- 
sive as another, or to contain twice as much 
matter, when it is accelerated at half as great a 
rate by the same force or when it is attracted by 
the earth or any third body by twice as great a 
force. The first measure of mass is sometimes 
called inertia and the second is often, in daily 
life, called weight, and it is remarkable that 
these two measures agree with each other to a 
great degree of precision. One might expect, 
therefore, that an hypothesis as to the constitu- 
tion of matter which clears up the nature of 


SCIENCE. 


889 


inertia, even provisionally, would throw some 
light upon the nature of gravitation, but it does 
not seem to be so, and Professor Fessenden 
must needs say more from his point of view and 
with greater precision before we shall be con- 
vinced. The difficulty to be encountered in the 
explanation of gravitation from the point of 
view of the electron hypothesis, as Johnstone 
Stoney calls it, seems to be as follows: 

Imagine all corpuscles to consist of equal 
positive or negative charges, this indeed is as- 
sumed by J. J. Thomson, the only present 
need of this assumption is to permit of simple 
statements. Then, if those approximate facts 
which we call the laws of electrostatics were 
true, Newton’s law of gravitation (?) would 
have to do only with electric attraction and re- 
pulsion, and it would run thus: every corpuscle 
of matter in the universe attracts or repels 
every other particle with a force which is in- 
versely proportional to the square of the dis- 
tance between them. 

Two opposite charges may be said to be equal 
in value when they are acted upon by equal and 
opposite forces when placed in a uniform elec- 
tric field. Now if two such charges of opposite 
sign attract each other with a slightly. greater 
force than the force of repulsion of two precisely 
equal charges of the same sign, then two aggre- 
gations of equal numbers of positive and neg- 
ative corpuscles would on the whole attract each 
other, because the oppositely charged corpus- 
cles in the two aggregations would attract each 
other a little more than the similarly charged 
corpuscles would repel. Thus gravitation would 
be due to the fact that the attraction of equal 
and opposite charges would be slightly greater 
than the repulsion of like charges of the same 
value. This inequality of attraction and re- 
pulsion of equal charges would exist if the re- 
lation between stress and strain in the ether 
were not a linear relation, that is, if ether 
strain were -not proportional to ether stress, for 
in the case of opposite charges the ether stresses 
are on the whole more intense and less widely 
distributed than are the ether stresses in case 
of two like charges of the same value at the 
same distance apart. It would be a compara- 
tively simple matter to determine the amount 
of deviation from proportionality of stress and 


890 


strain which would suffice to account for gravi- + 
tation. But the outstanding difficulty would 
be to explain the high velocity of propagation 
of gravitation which seems to be required by 
the known behavior of the solar system under 
the action of the sun’s gavitation. 

Of course it may be that the failure of the 
linear relation between ether stress (electric 
field) and ether strain is associated with ether 
compression, and it might be possible to explain 
in this way the high velocity of the propagation 
of gravitation. The point, however, which we 
wish to emphasize is that mere ether compres- 
sion alone is not sufficient to explain gravita- 
tion ; at least the compressional energy must 
not be proportional simply to the square of the 
resultant field intensity, for in this case the 
compressional energy would not be distinguish- 
able from the distortional energy which gives 
rise to the ordinary electric attraction and re- 
pulsion. If, however, the compressional energy 
were proportional to the fourth power of the 
resultant field intensity, then the ether com- 
pression would not stand in a linear relation to 
electric field intensity (ether stress), and the 
above remarks concerning excess of the electric 
attraction over repulsion would apply and gray- 
itation would be provisionally explained. 

W. §. FRANKLIN. 


THE HOMING INSTINCT OF A TURTLE. 


To THE EDITOR OF ScIENCE: The follow- 
ing account from a friend, Miss Victoria Hay- 
ward, of Bermuda, may be of interest to your 
readers, Ican vouch for the accuracy of the 
relater, and know from experience that the 
locating of an area on the reefs is as easy to a 
Bermudan as if it were on dry land. Miss 
Hayward writes : 

“My father caught a turtle in June that 
weighed seventy-five pounds. He placed it in 
a pond in the harbor of St. George. In August 
on going to the pond he found that some person 
had thrown a piece of iron weighing about fifty 
pounds into the pond and it had broken a large 
hole in the turtle’s back. It had been wounded 
apparently about a week and was weak and 
seemingly dead. My father thought he had 
better kill it, but he changed his mind, and let 
it go alive into the harbor. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Voz. XII. No. 310. 


‘¢ Tn the latter part of October he and another 
man recaptured it in the same place where they 
had caught it before—about four miles from 
land, on the flats (reefs) that lie to the north of 
the islands. The back was nicely healed and 
the turtle was altogether in excellent condition. 
You know that it requires no little knowledge 
of the art of navigation for a turtle to find the 
way from the southern side of St. George’s 
Harbor through some one of the many little 
channels to its own special home on the north 
reefs—four miles out to sea.’’ 

C. L. BRISTOL. 


BOTANICAL NOTES. 
PEACH LEAF CURL. 

ACCORDING to a bulletin (No. 20) prepared 
by N. B. Pierce and recently issued by the Di- 
vision of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology 
of the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, this disease appears to exist wherever the 
peach is grown. It is known to occur in 
North America, South America, Europe, South 
Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and 
China. Itis due to the presence of a minute 
parasitic fungus—EHzxoascus deformans—one of 
the simpler of the sac fungi—(Ascomyceteae). 
The fungus attacks the parenchyma of the 
leaves and twigs, enlarging, thickening, curl- 
ing and distorting them. Eventually the 
leaves become yellowish and fall off, involving 
as a consequence the wilting and dropping of 
the fruit. It has been estimated that the an- 
nual loss in the United States from this source 
alone amounts to between two and three mil- 
lions of dollars. 

Mr. Pierce’s paper discusses not only the 
structure of the fungus and the nature of the 
disease, but includes records of the many ex- 
periments which he made in order to deter- 
mine what are the most efficient means for 
preventing or combating the disease in the or- 
chard. He recommends spraying with Bor- 
deaux Mixture of the following proportions: 
Copper sulphate, five pounds; lime, five 
pounds ; water, forty-five gallons ; applying it 
with what is known as a ‘Cyclone Nozzle,’ 
and doing the work from one to three weeks — 
before the opening of the blossoms in the 


spring. 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


A NEW BOTANICAL JOURNAL. 


Mr. A. A. HELLER, the well-known botanical 
collector of Lancaster, Pa., has issued the first 
number of a new botanical journal bearing the 
euphonious name of Muhlenbergia. This first 
number is an eight-page octavo, well printed, 
on good paper. The prefatory editorial state- 
ment indicates that it is to be somewhat like 
Professor E, lL. Greene’s Pittonia, appearing, 
like that journal, at irregular intervals, and 
serving largely as the personal organ of its edi- 
tor. The present number is .devoted entirely 
to ‘Some Changes in Nomenclature,’ in con- 
tinuation of the first pages of the ‘Catalogue of 
North American Plants,’ recently issued by the 
same author. Other numbers are promised to 
appear ‘at early dates,’ and they are to con- 
tain ‘articles of general interest, both techni- 
cal and non-technical, treating not only of 
flowering plants and ferns, but of the lower 
cryptogams as well.’ 


ENGLER’S ‘PFLANZENREICH.’ 


THE indefatigable Berlin botanist who has 
brought one great work—‘Die Natiirlichen 
Pflanzenfamilien ’—almost to completion, now 
undertakes a still greater work under the title 
‘Das Pflanzenreich.’ The former treated of 
the families of plants, and the arrangement 
and brief characterization of their genera ; the 
latter is to give full descriptions of genera, and 
diagnoses of all their species. The ‘ Pflanzen- 
familien’ was in fact a Genera Plantarum, sup- 
plementing, and to some extent supplanting, 
Bentham and Hooker’s ‘Genera Plantarum ’; 
the ‘ Pflanzenreich,’ on the other hand, is to be 
a universal ‘Species Plantarum.’ It is by all 
odds the greatest work in systematic botany 
ever undertaken. 

It will be issued in the form of monographs, 
each family receiving separate treatment. For 
the present the work will be confined to the 
Embryophyta siphonogama (Spermatophyta), but 
it is the intention of the editor to take up later 
the Embryophyta asiphonogama, and ultimately 
the Huthallophyta and Myxothallophyta. The 
families are numbered, and the monographs will 
appear as fast as they are completed. The first 
one to appear is Family 45—Musaceae—from 
the pen of Dr. Karl Schumann. Its treatment 


SCIENCE. 


891 


is such as to assure us of the most satisfactory 
results. In particular are the excellent illus- 
trations to be commended. 
CHARLES E. BESSEY. 
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. 


PRACTICAL RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE 
STUDY OF EARTHQUAKES. 

From observations on the destructive effects 
of earthquakes, the knowledge obtained re- 
specting the actual nature of earthquake mo- 
tion, and from experiments made upon brick 
and other structures, new rules and formule 
for the use of engineers and builders have been 
established. In Japan and other countries, 
these have been extensively applied in the 
construction of piers for bridges, tall chimneys, 
walls, ordinary dwellings, embankments, reser- 
voirs, etc. Inasmuch as the new types of struc- 
tures have withstood violent earth shakings, 
whilst ordinary types in the neighborhood have 
failed, it may be inferred that much has already 
been accomplished to minimize the loss of life 
and property. 

The application of seismometry to the work- 
ing of railways, particularly in Japan, has led 
to the localization of faults on lines, and alter- 
ations in the balancing of locomotives. The 
result of the latter has been to decrease the con- 
sumption of fuel. d 

Records of the unfelt movements of earth- 
quakes indicate the time, the position, and 
what is of more importance, also the cause of 
certain cable interruptions. The practical im- 
portance of this latter information, especially 
to communities who may by cable failures, be 
suddenly isolated from the rest of the world, is 
evident. The many occasions that earthquake 
records have furnished definite information re- 
specting disasters which have taken place in 
distant countries, correcting and extending 
telegraphic reports relating to the same, is an- 
other indication of the practical utility of 
seismic observations. Seismograms have fre- 
quently appraised us of sea waves and violent 
earthquakes in districts from which it is im- 
possible to receive telegrams, whilst the absence 
of such records has frequently indicated that 
information in newspapers has been without. 
foundation, or at least exaggerated. The 


892 


localization of the origins of these world shak- 
ing earthquakes, beside indicating the sub- 
oceanic sites of geological activity, positions 
where the hydrographer may expect to find- 
unusual depths. They have also shown routes 
to be avoided by those who lay cables. 

Seismograms of unfelt movements throw light 
upon what have up torecently been regarded as 
unaccountable deflections in the photograms 
from magnetographs, barographs, and other 
instruments sensible to slight displacements. 
They have also explained unusual rates in cer- 
tain time-keepers. The most important scientific 
result obtained is dependent upon observations 
on the rate at which motion is propagated in 
various directions through the world. Until 
these observations had been made, our knowl- 
edge respecting the interior of the earth, chiefly 
related to its density and temperature, now we 
know much respecting its rigidity. 

JOHN MILNE. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

Orro H. Tirrman, assistant superintend- 
ent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
has been promoted to the superintendency, 
vacant by the resignation of Dr. Henry 8. 
Pritchett, to accept the presidency of the Mas- 
sachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Titt- 
man has been connected with the Survey since 
1867. 

PROFESSOR JOHN C. Smock, for the last ten 
years geologist of the State of New Jersey, 
has tendered his resignation. 

Mr. OuTRAM BANGS has been appointed as- 
sistant in mammology in the Museum of Com- 
parative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. 

Sir Jos—epH Hooxer, the eminent English 
botanist, has been elected a foreign associate 
of the Paris Academy of Sciences. 

Lorp ListTsr has resigned his position on the 
Senate of the University of London as repre- 
sentative of King’s College, and Dr. Thomas 
Buzzard has been appointed in his place. 

Mr. Evetyn B. BALDWIN has sailed for Eu- 
rope to examine methods of polar exploration, 
and to secure equipment for the proposed ex- 
pedition under the auspicies of Mr. Ziegler. 

PROFESSOR CARL GEGENBAUR has received 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XIE. No. 310. 


the Swammerdam medal of the Amsterdam 
Society of Medical and Natural Science. 


Mr. Leroy ANDERSON, who was this year 
called from Cornell University to the Univer- 
sity of California as instructor on dairy hus- 
bandry, has been offered the position of chief 
agriculturist in the Philippines. Mr. Law- 
rence M. Jacobs, of the Treasury Department, 
has been appointed statistician of the Taft 
Philippine Commission. 


Dr. A. DoNALDSON SMITH, after lecturing 
before the Royal Geographical Society, has re- 
turned from England to his home in Philadel- 
phia. 


Dr. RoBERT T. HILL, of the U. S. Geological 
Survey, non-resident lecturer to the University 
of Michigan, is now delivering a series of lec- 
tures at that University on ‘The Industrial 
Significance of the West Indies to the United 
States.’ 


AN executive committee has undertaken to 
erect a bust of the late Professor J. B. Carnoy 
in the cytological laboratory established by him 
in the University of Louvain. An honorary in- 
ternational committee has been formed, includ- 
ing in America Messrs. Agassiz, Higenmann, 
Macallum, McMurrich and Minot. 


Iv is proposed to found two memorials in 
honor of the late Miss Mary Kingsley, one a 
small hospital at Liverpool for the treatment of 
tropical diseases and one a Society for the study 
of the natives of West Africa. It is planned 
“that the ‘Mary Kingsley Society’ should em- 
ploy a trained ethnologist, both to collect and 
arrange in scientific form the material which is 
thus already on record, and to institute and di- 
rect research for further material] of the same 
sort ; and it is intended that the Society, after 
the manner of the Royal Asiatic Society, should 
periodically publish the results which it obtains 
and should thus provide additional knowledge 
by which European relations with West Africa 
may be most safely and effectively directed, 
with profit both to the natives and to the 
Empire.”’ 


Dr. BuRKE AARON HINSDALE, professor of 
the science and art of teaching at the University 
of Michigan since 1888 and the author of various 


DECEMBER 7, 1900. ] 


publications on education and history, died on 
November 29th aged 63 years. 


PrRoFEssOR MARSHAL OLIVER, of the De- 
partment of Marine Engineering, U. S. Naval 
Academy, died on November 26th at the age of 
57 years. 


PROFESSOR GEORGE FREDERICK ARMSTRONG, 
professor of engineering at Edinburgh Uni- 
versity, died on November 14th. He was 
born in 1842 and became professor at Edin. 
burgh in 1885. 

Dr. JoHN COCKLE, who was one of the oldest 
members of the medical profession in Great 
Britain, having qualified as a member of the 
Royal College of Physicians in 1835, died on 
November 14th. Dr. Cockle was in 1897 
president of the Medical Society of London 
and was the author of various papers on dis- 
eases of the heart and of the organs of respira- 
tion, on the poison of the cobra, etc. 

THE ninth annual meeting of the American 
Psychological Association will be held at Johns 
Hopkins University on December 27th, 28th 
and 29th, under the presidency of Professor 
Joseph Jastrow. 


THE American Physiological Society will 
hold its thirteenth annual meeting in Balti- 
more on Thursday and Friday, December 
27 and 28, 1900. The usual smoker will be 
held on Wednesday evening, December 26th. 
Those who will require apparatus or other 
necessities for the making of demonstrations 
may communicate with Professor W. H. How- 
ell, Johns Hopkins University. 


Dr, ADAM PAULSEN, director of the Meteoro- 
logical Institute of Copenhagen, has gone to 
North Finland to study the aurora. He un- 
dertook a similar expedition last winter to 
North Iceland. 

Mr. MARSHALL H. SAVILLE, of the American 
Museum of Natural History, sailed from New 
York, on November 21st, for Mexico, where 
he will spend some six months exploring the 
ruins of Mitla. 

Mr. ALFRED P. MAvuDsLAY passed through 
New York on November 27th, on his way to 
Oaxaca, Mexico. 

Mr. WALTER R. HARPER has explored some 


SCIENCE. 


893 


rock-shelters near Port Hacking, New South 
Wales, finding stone axes at a depth of five 
feet. Bone needles were also found in the 
same deposits. 


ACCORDING to Reuter’s Agency advices from 
Laurvig announce that Captain Stokken arrived 
there on November 20th, and expressed his 
readiness to take part in the expedition being 
organized by the Duke of Abruzzi, who is now 
at Laurvig, to search for the three missing men 
of the Duke’s former expedition, among them 
being a son of Captain Stokken. The expedi- 
tion will probably start from Gotenborg on 
board the whaler Cappella, which has been 
chartered by the Duke and will probably reach 
Franz Josef Land in the middle of July. The 
island will then be thoroughly searched. The 
expedition will be composed solely of Norwe- 
gians. 


WE learn from Nature that early in the sum- 
mer a memorial was submitted to the Govern- 
ments of South Australia and Victoria praying 
that facilities might be granted to Mr. Gillen, 
one of the inspectors of aborigines, and Professor 
Baldwin Spencer for the continuance of their 
investigations into the habits and folk-lore of 
the natives of Central Australia and the North- 
ern Territory. The memorial, which was 
signed by all British anthropologists and many 
prominent representatives of other sciences, 
has met with a prompt and generous response. 
The Government of South Australia has granted 
a year’s leave of absence to Mr. Gillen, and 
the Government of Victoria has provided a sub- 
stitute for Professor Spencer during his absence 
from Melbourne. Mr. Syme, the proprietor of 
the Melbourne Age, has contributed $5,000 to- 
wards the ordinary expenses of the expedition. 
The Government of South Australia has also 
allowed the expedition to make use of the de- 
pots and staff of the Transaustralian telegraph 
for the forwarding and storage of supplies. 
The explorers start in February, and it may be 
confidently anticipated that, if the winter rains 
make conditions favorable for traveling, they 
will be rewarded with the same conspicuous 
success which attended their expedition of 
three years ago; although the task before them 
requires even greater tact, since the natives of 


894 


the Northern Territory are more difficult to 
deal with than the aborigines of the center, 
who know Mr. Gillen and regard him with the 
utmost confidence. The tribes of the Mac- 
Donnell Ranges will be studied even more 
minutely than before, and afterwards the ex- 
plorers will go towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, 
along the Roper River, and, time permitting, 
proceed down the Daly and Victoria Rivers. 
ACCORDING to a despatch from Berlin dated 
December 1st, the Duc de Loubat has presented 
to the Berlin Museum of Ethnology a valuable 
collection of Central American antiquities. 


Mr. FREDERICK STEARNS, of Detroit, who 
gave the Stearns collection of musical instru- 
ments to the University of Michigan, has sent 
word from Europe, where he nowis, that he has 
purchased two hundred more instruments to be 
added to the collection. 


Mr. RICHARD JAMES WILKINSON, of the 
Straits Settlements Civil Service, has presented 
to Cambridge University his entire collection of 

~books in the Malay language amounting to 
63 MSS. and about 50 lithographed or printed 
volumes. 


EX-GOVERNOR PILLSBURY, of Minnesota, has 
given 1,000 acres to the State Forestry Board 
for the purpose of encouraging State forestry 
reserves in Minnesota and giving the State 
Board a chance to experiment with cut-over 
timber tracts, with a view to determining the 
extent to which the growth of timber can be 
renewed. Mr. Pillsbury specifies that two- 
thirds of the revenues which may be derived 
from his gift must go to the State University at 
Minneapolis. 


AT the monthly meeting of the London 
Zoological Society on November 24th, it was 
stated that during the months of August, Sep- 
tember and October there had been 488 addi- 
tions made to the Society’s collection of living 
animals, among which special attention was 
called to two tenrecs (Centetes ecaudatus), de- 
posited by the Hon. Walter Rothsehild, M.P.; 
to a Ludwig’s bustard (Eupodotis Ludwigi ) from 
Port Elizabeth, presented by Mr. J. E. Mat- 
cham, and to a bouquet’s Amazon (Chrysotis 
bouqueti) from Dominica, West Indies, acquired 
by purchase, all new to the collection. It was 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 310. 


also stated that during the same period there 
had been 270,578 visitors to the Society’s gar- 
dens, being an increase of 11,241 as compared 
with the corresponding period in 1899. The 
receipts under this head of income consequently 
showed during this period a substantial increase. 
The meeting adjourned until December 20th 
next. 


THE report of the Austrian Medical Commis- 
sion of the Vienna Imperial Academy of 
Science, sent to Bombay, in 1897, to study the 
plague, states that some animals, including 
man, may be readily infected when the viru- 
lent matter is rubbed on the skin, even though 
the latter be totally free from any lesions. 
The report also gives evidence to show that 
perfect immunity can be given to the most 
susceptible animals. It will be remembered 
that the work of the commission was cut short 
because of the accident resulting in the death 
of Dr. Miller in 1898. 


THe Pekin correspondent of the London 
Times cables: ‘‘In pursuance of their regret- 
table policy of appropriation, the French and 
German generals, with Count von Waldersee’s 
approval, have removed from the wall of Pekin 
the superb astronomical instruments, erected 
two centuries ago by the Jesuit fathers. Half 
of them will go to Berlin and the rest to Paris. 
The explanation of this act of vandalism is 
that, inasmuch as the return of the court is so 
improbable, such beautiful instruments should 
not be exposed to the possibilities of injury 
when Pekin is no longer the capital.’’ 


THE experimental and chemical departments 
of the research laboratories of the Royal Col- 
leges of Physicians and of Surgeons on Victoria 
Embankment have been completely reorgan- 
ized and are now well equipped for the carry- 
ing out of research work. During the year a 
grant of £100 has been voted by the labora- 
tories committee to Mr. W. P. Bloxam, B.Sc., 
for his work upon the chemistry of antitoxic 
bodies. A grant of £25 was voted to the direc- 
tor for expenses incurred in his work upon the 
same subject from the Goldsmiths’ Company’s 
research grant. The research grant has also 
been utilized in supplying antitoxic serum to 
various general and children’s hospitals. The 


DECEMBER 7, 1900.] 


report gives descriptions of 204 specimens 
added to the physiological series of the mu- 
seum, and also of various preparations added 
to the pathological series. The library con- 
tains more than 50,000 volumes, and is being 
increased at the rate of about 1,000 volumes a 
year. It is particularly rich in the transactions 
of societies and in periodicals, relating not only 
to medicine and surgery, but also to accessory 
sciences. The library includes a collection of 
portraits of members of the medical profession. 


WE learn from Nature that a private con- 
ference was recently held at the Board of Trade 
to consider the protection of the delicate in- 
struments in use at Kew and Greenwich Ob- 
servatories from magnetic disturbance, through 
the working of tramways and railways in the 
metropolis by electricity. Sir Courtenay Boyle 
presided, and among the officials of the Board 
of Trade present were Mr. F. J. S. Hopwood, 
Sir Thomas Blomfield and Mr. Trotter. The 
observatories and kindred public departments 
were represented by Mr. Christie (the Astrono- 
mer-Royal), Professor Rucker, Mr. Glazebrook 
(Director of the National Physical Laboratory), 
Lieutenant-Colonel Raban (Director of Works 
at the Admiralty), Admiral Sir W. J. Wharton 
(Hydrographer to the Admiralty), and Profes- 
sors Ayrton and Perry. Among those who at- 
tended as representatives of the railway and 
tramway interests concerned were Mr. George 
White (chairman) and Mr. J. C. Robinson (engi- 
neer) of the London United Tramways Com- 
pany, Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir W. Preece. 


Mr. E. C. OLIveEr of the mechanical engi- 
neering department of the University of Illinois, 
has succeeded, with the advice of Professor 
Breckenridge, in perfecting an automatic re- 
cording machine which records automatically 
different data with regard to the speed and 
power of engines. The recorder can be ap- 
plied to either gas or steam engines or to a 
dynamometer car, and is capable of taking any, 
one or all, of eight readings by means of ink 
pens on an endless roll of paper. The recorder 
gives faithfully the speed of the engine, the 
number of the horse power exerted, the rate of 
the occurrence of the explosions and the number 
of revolutions per minute of a gas engine. 


SCIENCE. 


895 


Mr. Hueues, United States Consul at Co- 
burg, reports that in Coburg and neighboring 
parts of Germany considerable attention is be- 
ing paid to electrical appliances that can be 
used on the farm. Near Ochsenfurt, in Bavaria, 
a company, composed of land owners and small 
farmers, has been organized for the establish- 
ment of an electrical system for use on their 
farms and in villages. The power is to be gen- 
erated by steam and water and the current to 
be distributed from a central station to the 
places at which it is wanted. Sub-stations are 
to be established at given points, with the 
necessary apparatus for connecting with the 
farm or other machinery and also for lighting 
purposes in the houses, offices, roads and vil- 
lage streets. 


Tue Dutch cabinet submitted to the States 
General, on November 14th, a new bill propos 
ing to drain the entire Zuyder Zee. 


THE field work of the Division of Forestry of 
the Department of Agriculture, which has been 
carried on in many parts of the country by 
parties of different sizes since last May, has 
now been largely completed for 1900. This 
summer’s work was carried on in New York, 
Tennessee, Missouri, Colorado, South Dakota, 
Arkansas, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Cali- 
fornia, a number of tree-planting States of the 
Middle West and, in a small way, in other 
States besides. Much new and yaluable infor- 
mation has been collected, and a very large 
number of surveys has been made, of the re- 
sults of which it will soon be possible to make 
practical use. The work which has thus been 
going on in the field consisted of making forest 
surveys and of gathering measurements and in- 
formation about growth, stand, reproduction, 
etc. Much of it, as that in the Black Hills 
Forest Reserve, in the Adirondacks, and on the 
tract of the Sawyer & Austin Lumber Company 
in Arkansas, is preparatory to the preparation 
of what are called ‘ working plans,’ or plans for 
the management and utilization of given tracts 
of timber. These are based not on any general 
rules, but on a thorough knowledge of the 
peculiarities of the forest on each tract, of the 
market and transportation facilities of the re- 
gions in which they are situated, and of the 


896 


financial necessities of each case. The rest of 
the work of the field parties has been more of 
the character of investigations—as, for instance, 
the examination of the influence of forest cover 


on waterflow which was made on the watershed _ 


of the Arrowhead river in southern California, 
the studies of the habits of growth and repro- 
duction of the two most important lumber 
trees of the Pacific coast—the Red Fir and the 
Redwood, and the survey of the results of tree- 
planting undertakings which have been carried 
on in the northern part of the Mississippi Val- 
ley. During the coming winter the agents of 
the Division will spend most of their time in 
working up the results of the summer’s surveys 
and in preparing reports on them, although 
there will doubtless be some field work as well. 

THE total exports from the United States 
during the month of October, as shown by the 
records of the Treasury Bureau of Statistics, 
were $163,093,597. The total for ten months 
ending with October, 1900, is $1,194,775,205, 
or practically double that of the ten months 
ending with October, 1894. Exports exceeded 
imports during the ten months ending with 
October by $499,667,936, while in the corre- 
sponding ten months of 1894 imports exceeded 
exports by $96,663,369. The exports of last 
month were far in excess of any previous 
month, exceeding those of March of the present 
year, which hitherto had the highest record, by 
nearly $30,000,000. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 


YALE UNIveRsITyY has received $68,152 from 
the estate of the late John De Kovey. 


In an address to the students of Colorado 
College, Dr. D. K. Pearsons, of Chicago, an- 
nounced that on January 1, 1901, he would 
make the college a gift of $50,000 toward the 
cost of completing the new scientific building 
now in course of construction. 

UNDER the will of the late Dr. D. J. Leech | 
professor of materia medica and therapeutics 
in the Owens College, Manchester, that college 


will eventually receive £10,000, for endowing a - 


chair of materia medica and therapeutics. 
THE University of Wisconsin has received 
$1,000 from Charles F. Pfister and a like amount 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 310. 


from Fred Vogel, both of Milwaukee, to be ex- 
pended in the purchase of books for the School 
of Commerce. 


THE Yale University treasurer has bought 
an additional piece of property on Cedar Street 
in New Heaven, by which, with earlier pur- 
chases, a continuous front of about 200 feet 
opposite the New Haven Hospital is secured 
for a new site for the Medical School, at a total 
cost of about $60,000. 


Dr. DE WILDE, minister from the Argentine 
Republic, is interested in the establishment of 
ten agricultural and mechanical colleges in that 
country after American models. To this end 
there are twenty-eight students of the Republic 
now attending colleges in this country, both in 
the East and the West. 


In a letter to the Times Mr. T. Clifford Al- 
butt states that in spite of constant efforts dur- 
ing the last two years the Chancellor of Cam- 
bridge University has received no more than 
£62,500, one half of which amount comes from 
the Chancellor himself, Lord Rothschild and 
Mr. Astor. ‘‘These funds are now being ex- 
pended on the laboratories and museums of 
geology, botany, and pathology, which are most 
needed ; but they will not meet the cost even 
of these ; the botanical and pathological depart- 
ments alone will cost more. Again, among the 
offices still vacant here for lack of funds are 
twenty-three of the readerships prescribed by 
the Commission as necessary. The normal sal- 
ary of a reader is £400 a year ; I should be sur- 
prised to hear that the average income of our 
present readers is more than £200. Our reve- 
nue on paper seems large no doubt, but the 
bulk of it is in trust for specific purposes, some 
of which are and some are not of paramount 
importance; every penny, however, that could 
be set free for development was so freed by the 
Royal Commission. * * * Unless the public by 
donation or bequest be more generous, we can 
hardly hope to keep in the van of modern 
education ; yet for Oxford and Cambridge to 
fall back would be a national misfortune.”’ 


J. SHIRELY HEATON, the statistician of the 
Lehigh Valley Railroad, has been elected to 
a chair of domestic commerce and transporta- 
tion at New York University. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL ComMMITTEE : S. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. WoopDWARD, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; TC. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology ; H. P. BownbitTcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


Witi1amM H. Wetcu, Pathology ; 


J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, DECEMBER 14, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


Annual Report of the Secretary of Agriculture for 
TOD mecebbsocecadcco Sane ESOUR EAD EO OCOD SECOOOCODEDEOSOOO STEED 897 


Standard Methods of Water Analysis........... ... 906 


Sunspots and Rainfall: St; NoRMAN LOCKYER 
and DR. W. J. 8. LOCKYER.............s..000 ceseee 915 


The Ulke Collection of Coleoptera: Dr. L. O. 
TERI) cococooso 05a cosbsanbs0ab009060000000000 00000000 918 


Scientific Books :— 
Nutting on American Hydroids: PROFESSOR T. 
D. A. COCKERELL. Hopkins’s Oil Chemists’ 
Handbook: W. A. N. WMiller’s Calculations of 
Analytical Chemistry: J. EB. G. .....ccccceecseeneeene 920 


Scientific Journals and Articles........0.00ccseecereeenee 921 


Societies and Academies :— 
New York Academy of Sciences; Section of 
Geology and Mineralogy: DR. THEODORE G. 
WHITE. Section of Anthropology and Psychol- 
ogy: PROFESSOR CHAS. H. JUDD. Philo- 
sophical Society of Washington: EK. D. PRES- 
TON. Geological Society of Washington: DR. 
F. L. RANsomE, DAVID WHITE.  Biolog- 
ical Society of Washington: F. A. Lucas. 
Zoological Journal Club of the University of Mich- 
igan: Dk. H. 8. JENNINGS. Science Club of 
the University of Wisconsin: PROFESSOR WM. 
H. Hopps. The Academy of Science of St. 
Louis: PROFESSOR WILLIAM TRELEASE......... 923 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
Von Ihering’s Archiplata-Archelemis Theory: 
Dr. A. E. ORTMANN. The Longest Aérial Voy- 
age: A. LAWRENCE RotcH. ‘ The Criminal, his 
Personnel and Environment : AUGUST DRAHMS, 
DR. HAVELOOK ELLIS...........0000.ccccceeeeeesesene 929 


Notes on Inorganic Chemistry : J. L. H.......00...05 931 
Jesse Walliany LOzean..:...c--nccescseecesencseeceseeseceees 932 
Scientific Notes and News ........e.ssceesseeseeseeensonsne 633, 
University and Educational News.........0.0-..eseeeeees 936 

MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 


for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Pro- 
fessor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF 
AGRICULTURE FOR 1900. 


SECRETARY Wiutson begins his report 
with a complimentary reference to the work 
of his predecessors which has brought the 
Department of Agriculture to its present 
state of efficiency. He declares his own 
aims to bring the Department scientists to 
the help of the producers, to ascertain what 
we import that they can produce, with a 
view to encouraging its growth ; to search 
the world for grains, fruits, grasses and 
legumes, that they may be domesticated 
here and be an improvement on what we 
have ; to secure new and improved varieties 
of plants by cross-fertilization ; to cooperate 
with the experiment stations in all the 
States and Territories in research of practi- 
cal value to the people of all sections; and 
to seek out new markets for our surplus 
products. 

Mr. Wilson emphasizes the manner in 
which this Department differs from others. 
He says its appropriations should be re- 
garded as an investment, for the reason 
that it makes direct returns therefor by 
adding to the wealth of the country, thus 
adding yearly largely to the profits of the 
farmers and others as the result of its in- 
vestigations. He instances as money-sav- 
ing or money-making agencies the Weather 
Bureau; the meat inspection; the patho- 
logical investigations of plants; the services 
of the entomologist ; the services of the 


898 


Department on behalf of sugar and tea in- 
dustries, of the orange industry, which owes 
its beginning and its preservation to this 
Department, of the tobacco industry, and 
others. 

Then taking up the work of the Depart- 
ment in more detail, he reviews the opera- 
tions of its several branches. 


WEATHER BUREAU. 


Important extensions of the Weather 
Bureau work have been made during the 
past year. Its efforts were specially di- 
rected to investigate methods of electrical 
communication without wires, with a view 
to establishing wireless electrical communi- 
cation between vessels at sea and exposed 
points on our lake and sea coast. New ap- 
pliances have been devised and receivers 
constructed more delicate than any hereto- 
fore made. Already messages have been 
successfully transmitted and received over 
60 miles of land presenting a rough and 
irregular surface, and it is believed that 
the efficiency thus indicated would operate 
successfully over several hundred miles of 
water. This matter, says the Secretary, is 
of such importance to commerce that he 
has authorized further extensive experi- 
ments, and he expresses the hope that in 
the near future the craft employed in our 
coastwise commerce and on the Great 
Lakes will be placed in instantaneous com- 
munication with the stations of the Weather 
Bureau located at the principal ports. 

Special storm forecasts for the North At- 
lantic will be undertaken shortly through 
the use of reports received from the West 
Indies, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Azores, 
and Portugal, the new cable system connect- 
ing Lisbon with New York via the Azores 
making this possible. Much stress is laid 
upon the continued improvement of the 
forecast service and the value of its warn- 
ings. He points out that, notwithstanding 
the great number of craft plying the Gulf 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


of Mexico at the time of the Galveston 
storm, the warnings were so timely that 
there was no disaster upon the open waters. 


BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 


The number of abattoirs and packing- 
houses receiving the benefit of inspection 
was 148 in 45 localities, as against 138 in 
41 localities the preceding year. The total 
ante-mortem inspections of cattle aggre- 
gated 53,087,994 ; animals rejected, subject 
to post-mortem, at abattoirs, 5,928; and in 
stock yards, 153,561. The total post-mor- 
tem inspections were 34,737,618, and the 
total carcasses condemned, 61,906. In the 
microscopic inspection of pork 999,554 
carcasses were examined. Of these but 
19,448, or 1.95 per cent., were found to 
contain living trichine. The total cost of 
inspection was but a few dollars over $700,- 
000. Of vessels inspected by officers of the 
Bureau, 862 received clearances. Of the 
cattle shipped across the Atlantic, the loss. 
amounted to but .24 per cent.; of sheep, .71 
per cent., and of horses, 2.55 per cent. It 
is interesting to note the great increase in 
the number of horses exported. Of these, 
over 29,000 were landed from American 
ports at London, Liverpool and Glasgow. 

During the quarantine season of 1899 
over a million cattle were moved under 
the supervision of the Bureau from the 
district;infected with the Southern cattle 
tick. In Texas alone, over 357,000 cattle 
were inspected for shipment to other sec- 
tions. The sheep industry has suffered 
greatly from sheep scab, and much time 
and attention have been given to securing 
its control and eradication. Results so far 
are encouraging, and the Secretary believes 
that a few more years of earnest work will 
effectually eradicate the disease. Over 
1,800,000 sheep were inspected, and nearly 
627,000 dipped under the supervision of the 
inspectors. 

The work of preparing serum for treating 


DECEMBER 14, 1900.] 


hog choleraand swine plague, and experi- 
ments in treatment therewith, are contin- 
ued, with results which, while they do not 
justify definite conclusions as yet, are suffi- 
ciently encouraging to justify continued ex- 
periments, including some on entirely new 
lines. Over one million doses of black- 
leg vaccine have been distributed during 
the year. Summarized reports of 2,000 
eattle owners testify to its efficiency. 
Whereas a loss of 10 to 25 per cent. of 
young stock is reported in the districts 
- where blackleg prevails, the loss where vac- 
cination has been tried has been less than 
one-half of one per cent. From two to 
two and a half million doses will be re- 
quired to supply the demand during the 
eurrent fiscal year. The Bureau has al- 
ready distributed 10,722 doses of mallein 
for testing horses for glanders, and 33,400 
doses of tuberculin. Considerable space 
is given to the consideration of tuberculo- 
sis, ‘the most prevalent and most destruc- 
tive disease affecting mankind and the do- 
mesticated animals.’ A great increase in 
the disease is noted in the principal countries 
of Europe, especially, unfortunately, in 
those whence American breeders desire to 
obtain animals for improving their stock. 
Arrangements have been made to station 
an inspector in Great Britain to test and 
certify to the animals before shipment. 
The suggestion is made that uniform regu- 
lations under Federal authority will save 
shippers much annoyance and loss, owing 
to the numerous restrictions imposed by 
individual States, and at the same time 
furnish adequate protection. 

With regard to rabies the Secretary de- 
clares that this disease is unfortunately on 
the increase in the United States, and that 
local authorities have in most cases not 
efficiently controlled its outbreaks. He 
refers especially to its existence and in- 
crease in the District of Columbia, and 
points out the special danger to children 


SCIENCE. 


899 


from rabid dogs. Owing to the very serious 
expense to families in moderate circum- 
stances in subjecting their children to the 
Pasteur treatment, he recommends either 
that the Secretary of Agriculture be author- 
ized to pay for such treatment for parties 
bitten in the District, or that one of the 
medical services of the government be di- 
rected to furnish such treatment free of 
charge. 

The report states that ticks received 
from Porto Rico have been found identical 
with the well-known Southern cattle tick. 
The main problem still presented by the 
Texas fever question is the finding of a dip 
that will effectually destroy the tick with- 
out injuring the cattle. Efforts in this di- 
rection are to be continued. 

Experimental shipments of dairy prod- 
ucts are still continued, and shipments of 
butter have been extended to Cuba and 
Porto Rico. The Department is seeking to 
obtain information useful to butter export- 
ers in canning butter and producing but- 
ter especially adapted to shipment to warm 
countries. Some countries sending butter 
to these markets show a disposition to 
adapt their products to the needs of those 
countries, which is an example our produc- 
ers must follow if they are to compete suc- 
cessfully with them. The Secretary earn- 
estly recommends an inspection of dairy 
products designed for export. He points 
out the example of other countries, whose 
large foreign trade in dairy products has 
been principally developed owing to the 
fact that their best products bear a Gov- 
ernment stamp, guaranteeing the article to 
be as represented. 


DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY. 
Elaborate work in the investigation of 
food adulteration has been continued. Over 
500 samples of preserved meats of all kinds, 
purchased in open market, have been ex- 
amined. The meat of the horse has been 


900 


examined for the discovery of a method 
whereby it may be detected when sold un- 
der another name. Very little of it seems 
to be sold in the United States, whether 
under its own name or any other name. 
Active cooperation has been had with other 
bodies, notably the Pure Food Congress, in 
an effort to secure legislation on the subject 
of food adulterations. National legislation 
on the subject is urged as essential to sup- 
plement and make efficient the work done 
in the several States. The sugar-beet work 
has been prosecuted with vigor and intelli- 
gence. Foreign food products introduced 
into this country have been the subject of 
careful study. The results are confidential 
and are used for the information of the 
authorities of this country controlling im- 
ported food products. Cooperation of the 
chief chemist has been invited in several 
other directions and always cheerfully ex- 
tended. So, also, there has been coop- 
eration with the other divisions of the De- 
partment where chemical work has been 
necessary. 


DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 

Most satisfactory reports are received 
from California as the result of the entomo- 
logical work in the introduction of the insect 
which fertilizes the Smyrna fig. In one 
locality more than six tons of Smyrna figs 
have been produced. The result will be to 
make America a grand competitor in the 
fig trade of the world’s markets. An im- 
portant parasite has been introduced to 
prey upon the olive scale, so injurious to 
the olive growers of California. From 
Natal a fungous disease has been intro- 
duced by which injurious swarms of locusts 
have been destroyed. Efforts have been 
made to introduce European parasites of 
the gypsy moth. 


DIVISION OF BOTANY. 


The results of seed testing are declared 
to be satisfactory and to have greatly im- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


proved the quality of the seed distribution 
by Congress. Further improvement, how- 
ever, is necessary in purity of stock or 
trueness to name. As the new seeds and 
plants introduced from foreign countries 
demonstrate their adaptability, they will 
become available for Congressional distri- 
bution. Experts of the Division had been 
studying plants poisonous to stock in Mon- 
tana, and a report on the subject will be 
soon forthcoming. Valuable experiments 
will be conducted upon the ground set aside 
for the use of the Department on the Poto- 
mac Flats at Washington. Especial atten- 
tion is called to experiments with American 
clover seed, which have shown that the 
American seeds are decidedly more valu- 
able than the European. 


SECTION OF SEED AND PLANT INTRODUCTION. 


Seed and plant introduction receives ex- 
tensive notice, special stress being laid upon 
the importations of cereals, including the 
macaroni wheats of Southern Europe, of 
grasses and forage plants and of vegetables 
which have already demonstrated their 
value. The Kiushu rice introduced from 
Japan has already added 1,000,000 bushels 
annually to the Louisiana rice crop. The 
successful introduction of date trees in 
Arizona is another valuable achievement. 
In concluding this subject Secretary Wilson 
cites the introduction of wheats from Rus- 
sia, Hungary and Austria, greatly exceed- 
ing in yield our present varieties, and 
points out that if, as the result of these in- 
troductions, the wheat yield of the United 
States should be increased by but one 


_ bushel per acre, this would mean at the 


farm price for wheat in 1899, an addition of 
$26,000,000 to the income of our farmers. 


DIVISION OF VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND 
PATHOLOGY. 

This work is now divided into five im- 

portant branches, namely, plant pathology, 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


plant physiology, Pacific coast investiga- 
tions, plant breeding and plant nutrition and 
fermentation. The Secretary believes that 
excellent results will be obtained from the 
systematization of the work of this Division. 
In plant breeding orange hybrids have been 
placed at various points in the South, and 
their value has been tested in cooperation 
with several experiment stations. In corn 
breeding the features aimed at are early 
maturity, drought and smut resistance, in- 
creased protein content, and a large yield. 
Diseases of the sugar beet have been inves- 
tigated, also diseases of forest trees. The 
transfer of Mr. B. T. Galloway as chief to 
the Directorship of Plant Industry, and the 
succession to the chiefship of Mr. A. F. 
Woods are noted. 


DIVISION OF POMOLOGY. 

The most important work of the year in 
this line was the establishing and maintain- 
ing at the Paris Exposition of an exhibit of 
horticultural implements, seeds, plants and 
fruits. This exhibit attracted wide atten- 
tion, and the Secretary believes its ultimate 
effect will be most beneficial to American 
producers. No other country, it seems, at- 
tempted to maintain a continuous fresh- 
fruit exhibit. A special effort has been 
made to give a thorough test to the cul- 
tivation of choice European grapes in the 
South Atlantic States. 


DIVISION OF AGROSTOLOGY. 

This work has also been divided into sev- 
eral sections and thoroughly systematized. 
Asa result of experiments in Texas, the 
grazing of pastures has been so much im- 
proved that, where three years ago they 
were estimated as capable of supporting one 
steer to 16 acres, they will now maintain 
in good condition one steer to 8 acres, a 
gain of 100 percent. Among the objects 
of cooperative effort are the following: 
Range improvement, formation and man- 


SCIENCE. 


901 


agement of meadows and pastures, forage 
plants for alkali soils, soiling crops, winter 
pasturage, etc. Particular attention has 
been devoted to collecting seeds, roots, and 
plants of notable native grasses. The grass 
garden on the Department grounds, con- 
taining nearly 500 varieties, has been main- 
tained, and seeds of some 200 varieties have 
been distributed. 


DIVISION OF GARDENS AND GROUNDS. 

The Secretary refers in most compli- 
mentary terms to the late Mr. Saunders, so 
many years in charge of this and other im- 
portant branches of the Department work, 
and reports the transfer of the experimental 
gardens and grounds, since Mr. Saunders’s 
death, to the control of Mr. B. T. Galloway. 
Considerable space is given to tea produc- 
tion in the United States and to the oppor- 
tunity this industry affords of utilizing the 
labor of colored children in the South, while 
at the same time affording them a good 
education. The claim is made that it has 
been demonstrated that tea can be produced 
in the United States for family use in gar- 
dens and also on a commercial scale. It 
has been shown that a good grade of tea 
can be produced for 15 cents a pound, or 
about $60 per acre, counting an average 
yield 400 pounds. Such teashould sell for 
at least 30 cents. In future special atten- 
tion will be given to the manufacture of 
green tea. 


BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 


The destruction of prairie dogs has be- 
come a practical question of great interest 
to farmers, and is being investigated by the 
Department. Warning is given of the pos- 
sible danger of the introduction and dissem- 
ination of the Belgian hare. It is reported 
by the State Board of Horticulture in Cali- 
fornia that several thousands of these 
animals are now at large throughout the 
State, and their rapid multiplication will 
make them a source of greatinjury. Lab- 


902 


oratory work and study of the food of birds 
of economic importance have received at- 
tention. Special note is made of the Lacey 
Act, by which the Secretary of Agriculture 
is charged with the supervision of the im- 
portation of birds contemplated by this Act 
of Congress. Congress has authorized the 
Secretary to adopt such measures as neces- 
sary to carry out the purposes of the Act; 
and it is urged that the present appropria- 
tion being inadequate for the purpose, an 
increase should be provided. 


SOIL SURVEY. 

This work has been greatly extended, but 
stills falls far short of meeting the demand 
for soil surveying from all sections of the 
country. For this reason a considerable 
increase has been asked for. Letters and 
resolutions endorsing the work and urging 
its extension as one of great practical value 
have been received from many individuals 
and organizations. Owing to its costliness, 
and the widespread demand for it, the Sec- 
retary recommends that Congress provide 
for the printing of the annual report of this 
Division, as is now done with the annual 
reports of the Weather Bureau and Bureau 
of Animal Industry. 

The Secretary feels highly encouraged by 
the results of the work of this Division with 
tobacco. He notes especially the successful 
results of an attempt to grow the Sumatra 
leaf in Connecticut. Sumatra tobacco im- 
ported costs our consumers, with the duty, 
$15,000,000. Of this $6,000,000 goes to 
foreign producers. He believes that in a 
short time this will be saved for our own 
tobacco growers. The tobacco exhibit at 
the Paris Exposition was one of the largest 
as well as the most complete ever made. 
It contained over 2,000 samples. The 
Florida-grown Sumatra was awarded 20 
points of merit against 18 points for Su- 
matra, and the bright yellow of North 
Carolina was awarded as many points as 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 311. 


the Turkish tobacco with which it com- 
petes. 
FORESTRY WORK. 

There has been a great growth in this 
work, which is of such a kind as to fully 
justify additional resources. Moreover, 
there has been an enormous increase in the 
demand, both public and private, for ser- 
vices of this character throughout the 
country. The relations of the Division of 
Forestry with practical lumbermen and 
tree planters have been closer and more 
useful than ever before. The total mem- 
bership of the force at the highest last sum- 
mer was 125. The public interest in forest 
matters is not only keener and wider than 
at any time before, but it is growing with 
rapidity beyond precedent. Cooperation 
in forest work has been sought of this De- 
partment by the Secretary of the Interior 
in reference to the national forest reserves, 
and from the Forest, Fish, and Game Com- 
mission of New York, for working plans 
for the New York State Forest Preserves. 
The total requests for working plans at the 
close of the year exceeded 50,000,000 acres, 
of which two and a half millions were pri- 
vate land. Personal examinations were 
made of 48 tracts in 14 States, covering 
nearly 900,000 acres, plans were actually 
prepared for 200,000 acres, and 50,000 acres 
were put under management. Tree-plant- 
ing plans were made for 59 applicants. 

The department is receiving with in- 
creased frequency applications for planting 
and working plans for watersheds from 
which cities obtain their supplies. A typical 
instance is that of the Water Company of 
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, one of the chief 
objects being to prevent a recurrence of the 
disaster there. 

Studies of commercial trees, with a view 
to ascertaining rate of growth and produc- 
tion and other facts germane to the best 
practical forestry, were considerably ex- 
tended. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


PUBLIC ROAD INQUIRIES. 


There is much inquiry in all sections of 
the United States regarding better roads and 
better methods of building them. It has 
been deemed wise to divide the country into 
four sections, and to appoint in each an ex- 
pert agent. This has been done, and one 
appointed in the Eastern States, one in the 
Southern, one in the prairie States, and 
another in the Rocky Mountain States. 
These gentlemen are to study the needs of 
these several sections, give instruction as 
to road building, and report regularly to 
the Department. They will, moreover, sup- 
ply samples of road material for analysis 
and testing, a testing machine having been 
arranged for in the laboratory of the Di- 
vision of Chemistry, to be operated by an 
expert under the joint supervision of the 
director of road inquiry and the chief 
chemist. 

Much work has been done in the past 
year in cooperating with the colleges and 
stations and the people of the several States 
in building experimental roads, and gener- 
ous acknowledgment is made of the ser- 
vices contributed to the cause of good roads 
by the various transportation companies 
throughout the country. 


OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 


The Secretary reviews at considerable 
length the work of the experiment stations 
first established in this country twenty-five 
years ago. Until 1887, the date of the 
Hatch Act, stations had been established 
in only fourteen States. Under this Act 
the enterprise was extended to cover the 
entire country, and the great success which, 
on the whole, has attended the establish- 
ment of the stations in all the States and 
Territories is very remarkable. Including 
the $720,000 received from the National 
Government, the total revenues of the sta- 
tions during the year amounted to $1,200,- 
000. The stations now employ rearly 700 


SCIENCE. 


903 


persons, and in 1899 their publications ag- 
gregated 445 reports and bulletins. 

The Secretary advocates a more complete 
separation of the business of the station 
from the general business of the college, 
and, where possible, the appointment of a 
director of the station as a separate officer. 
He believes it to be a mistake, on the whole, 
to divert the time and energy of competent 
investigators to the routine work of inspec- 
tion service. While the Department of 
Agriculture is by law organized as an ad- 
ministrative agency as well as a great 
scientific institution, the stations, on the 
other hand, are organized solely to carry on 
investigations for the benefit of agriculture. 

Cooperative enterprises between the De- 
partment and the stations have increased 
in number, and also in scope and variety. 
Both the officers of the Department and of 
the stations are greatly interested in co- 
operation, which, it is believed, may be 
systematized and greatly extended, thus 
adding much to the efficiency of both the 
Department and the stations. 

Progress is noted in the experiments con- 
ducted in Alaska, and the establishment of 
substations is recorded. It is admitted 
that Alaska can never become an agricul- 
tural country, but the problem the Depart- 
ment has undertaken to work out is to 
determine whether a sufficient agriculture 
may be developed in Alaska to form an 
important subsidiary industry to aid in the 
development of mining, fisheries and lum- 
bering. It has already been shown that 
green vegetables raised in Alaska have 
been an important factor in maintaining 
the health of mining communities. There 
are large areas on the western peninsula 
and the islands naturally adapted to live 
stock. For a considerable period the De- 
partment’s operations in this Territory will 
partake of the nature of an agricultural 
survey to determine where agricultural 
Operations may be best carried on. The 


904 


Secretary makes a comparison of Alaska 
with Finland, which supports a population 
of 2,500,000 souls, and which produced in 
1895 nearly 40,000,000 bushels of cereals, 
besides exporting nearly $7,000,000 worth 
of dairy products. 

As the result of investigations in Hawaii 
and Porto Rico, the Secretary believes that 
experiment stations should be established 
in these dependencies, and that they should 
receive for this work an annual appropria- 
tion equal to that given to the other Terri- 
tories. 


Investigations on the food and nutrition. 


of man have been continued, largely in co- 
operation with the stations and colleges. 
This subject is one touching every house- 
hold, numerous public institutions and the 
army and navy, and the results obtained 
can be made of great practical value. 
Household economics is rapidly taking its 
place among the required studies of our in- 
stitutions of learning. 

Much consideration is given in the report 
to the irrigation investigations, which in 
accordance with the terms of the appropri- 
ation act, cover especially two general lines 
of investigation, namely, the study of the 
laws and institutions relating to irrigation 
in different regions, and secondly, the de- 
termination of the actual use made of irri- 
gation waters. 

Hight typical streams in different parts 
of California have been thoroughly studied 
with reference to the conditions under which 
the water forirrigation is owned, distributed, 
and used. Similar investigations on a 
smaller scale have been made in Utah, 
Colorado, and elsewhere. Interest in the 
use of irrigation to supplement rainfall in 
the humid regions is growing, and valuable 
investigations have been made in New Jer- 
sey and have also been undertaken in Mis- 
souri and Wisconsin in cooperation with 
the experiment stations in those States. 

The Secretary calls attention to the fact 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


that on the supply of water for irrigation 
and its equitable distribution depends the 
permanent existence of civilized life in one- 
third of the area of the Union. Through- 
out this vast region questions relating to 
irrigation are vital to the ultimate solution 
of its problems, and must be found not only 
in State legislation, but in the action of the 
National Government. Most of the streams 
used for irrigation cross State lines, while 
some run partly in foreign countries. What 
is needed in this matter at the present time 
above everything else is the impartial as- 
certaining and recording of the facts re- 
lating to irrigation in this country. It is 
this task which the Department has set for 
itself. 


SECTION OF FOREIGN MARKETS. 


The study of markets abroad with special 
reference to extending the demands therein 
for the agricultural products of the United 
States has been prosecuted with zeal and 
intelligence. From the records of this sec- 
tion we derive most satisfactory informa- 
tion as to the development of our agricul- 
tural exports. While it is true that these 
bear a somewhat smaller proportion to the 
total exports than formerly, nevertheless 
the actual increase is very great. During 
the fiscal years 1897-1900 our total sales of 
domestic farm products to foreign countries 
aggregated the enormous sum of $3,186,- 
000,000, an excess of $800,000,000 over the 
preceding four-year period. The agricul- 
tural exports of the United States for the 
past fiscal year amounted to $844,000,000. 
The rapid growth of our export trade to 
the Orient in recent years is most striking. 
Five years ago our total shipments of do- 
mestic merchandise to Asia and Oceania 
were valued at $43,000,000, of which only 
$9,700,000 were agricultural. There has 
been a steady increase in each succeeding 
year, until in 1900 our export trade with 
the Orient amounted to $107,000,000, of 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


which $30,000,000 worth was farm produce. 
Of this great increase in the growth of our 
agricultural exports to that quarter of the 
globe, amounting to something over $20,- 
000,000, $11,500,000 consisted of cotton, 
and $3,400,000 of wheat flour. 

During the past fiscal year Cuba, Porto 
Rico, the Hawaiian Islands and the Philip- 
pines furnished a market for $45,000,000 
worth of our domestic products. Five years 
ago these islands took but $13,000,000 worth. 
During the fiscal year 1900 we sold to these 
islands $20,000,000 worth of farm produce, 
an increase of $13,700,000 over 1896. 


DIVISION OF STATISTICS. 

Efforts in this Division have been mainly 
directed to strengthening and improving 
the Department’s several crop-reporting 
agencies. Two statistical field agents now 
devote their entire time to systematic visi- 
tation of the principal centers of agricul- 
tural industry. Much good is derived from 
their efforts. At the same time it is grati- 
fying to state that the reports from the 
Department’s regular correspondents have 
never before been so numerous, complete 
and prompt. 


DIVISION OF PUBLICATIONS. 


The Secretary notes with gratification 
that appreciation of the Department’s work, 
as manifested in the demand for its publi- 
cations, is every year more evident ; so that 
with an annual output exceeding in the ag- 
gregate 7,000,000 copies, refusals to appli- 
cants are in many cases imperative. The 
number of new publications issued during 
the fiscal year was 320, against 297 for 
1899; of reprints there were but 148 in 
1900, against 306 in 1899; of Farmers’ Bul- 
letins 108 were issued, aggregating 2,360,- 
000 copies. Even this enormous number 
fails to meet the requirements of Congress, 
which in this year’s appropriations has 
provided for a still larger issue, and has 


SCIENCE. 


905 


reserved for the use of Senators, Represent- 
atives and Delegates four-fifths of the num- 
ber printed, in lieu of two-thirds, as here- 
tofore. The calls upon this Division from 
all parts of the country for publications, 
involved replies to 300,000' separate com- 
munications during the year, besides which 
more than 3,300,000 names and addresses 
had to be written in the distribution of doc- 
uments. 
THE LIBRARY. 

Five thousand volumes have been added 
to the Library during the year, and ecards 
have been issued to nearly 4,000 libraries, 
containing entries of all articles in the 
Yearbooks and Farmers’ Bulletins issued 
to date. 


ACCOUNTS AND DISBURSEMENTS. 

Appropriations for the Department for the 
fiscal year ended June 30, 1900, amounted 
to $3,006,022, an excess over 1899 of $176,- 
320. In addition, the usual sum of $720,- 
000 was provided for division among the 
State agricultural stations. Expenditures 
and liabilities incurred during the year 
were $2,975,000. During the year $4,440 
was paid for the rental of leased buildings 
in Washington. 


PARIS EXPOSITION AWARDS. 

The final official list of the Paris Exposi- 
tion awards has not yet reached the De- 
partment, but preliminary reports supplied 
by its representatives in Paris record about 
500 awards to United States exhibitors in 
agricultural, horticultural and food prod- 
ucts. The United States was also gener- 
ously considered in the forestry and tobacco 
classes. 


AFFILIATION OF ALLIED LINES OF WORK. 
The Secretary lays particular stress upon 
the necessity of adopting from this time 
forward a policy of aggregation rather than 
segregation in the development of the De- 
partment work, so as to bring together the 


906 


related lines of work without, however, 
interfering in any way with the integrity 
of the organization of the several Divisions. 
He reports the affiliation in this manner of 
four important Divisions closely allied by 
the nature of their work under the name of 
the Office of Plant Industry. 


LABORATORY BUILDINGS. 


An urgent recommendation is made for 
the erection of new, fireproof laboratory 
buildings, which, it is estimated, will cost 
about $200,000. 


DIFFICULTY OF RETAINING EXPERTS. 


One of the problems constantly recurring 
to the head of the Department is the diffi- 
culty of retaining in the service some of 
the most capable and efficient of its workers. 
During the past year three valuable workers 
were lost to the Department, and other 
losses are threatened, owing to the tempting 
offers made to Department experts from 
other sources. The Secretary recommends 
that Congress place it in his power to ex- 
ercise a wider discretion in the matter of 
salaries to responsible officers. 


ARLINGTON FARM. 


Under the authority of Congress work 
has been begun on the Arlington estate 
with a view to establishing an experimental 
farm on the land set apart for the use of 
the Department. 


DOMESTIC SILK CULTURE. 

In 1899 the United States paid over $32,- 
000,000 for imported raw silk, and in 1900 
over $45,000,000. The Secretary believes 
that a large amount of cheap and now un- 
employed labor among the colored youth in 
the Southern States could be made available 
for domestic silk culture ; and he desires an 
appropriation of $10,000 to set on foot re- 
search regarding the production of silk, to 
the end that the money now paid to foreign 
labor be distributed at home. 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


STANDARD METHODS OF WATER ANALYSIS.* 

As its first report of progress, the Com- 
mittee on Standard Methods of Water Anal- 
ysis presents the results of a careful inquiry 
into the present status of this general sub- 
ject. This step was deemed necessary in 
order to bring to the Committee needed 
information for its guidance in its future 
plans of action. 

About 125 copies of a circular letter, with 
an accompanying list of questions, were 
sent to leading workers. The number of 
detailed replies was fewer than should have 
been the case. Nevertheless, these replies, 
with the knowledge which the members of 
this Committee have as to the methods used 
in the more prominent laboratories, enable 
us to present a substantially correct résumé 
of existing conditions, as given in the fol- 
lowing pages. 

Collection of Samples—Upon the subject of 
collection of samples the replies to the ques- 
tion sent to various workers were practi- 
cally unanimous, and may be summarized 
as follows : 

Bottles for chemical samples should have 
a capacity of one gallon, should be made of 
clear white glass in order to facilitate in- 
spection, and should have glass stoppers. 
They should be washed each time before 
use with sulphuric acid and potassium bi- 
chromate, or with alkaline permanganate, 
followed by sulphuric acid; they should 
then be thoroughly rinsed and drained. For 
shipment the stoppers and necks of the 
bottles should be protected with cloth tied 
over them. They should be packed in cases 
with separate compartments for each bottle, 
and lined with indented fiber paper, felt or 
some similar substance, or provided with 


* Report presented at the Indianapolis meeting of 
the American Public Health Association by a commit- 
tee comprising Mr. George W. Fuller, chairman ; Mr. 
George ©. Whipple, secretary ; Mr. Harry W. Clark, 
Dr. AdoJph Gehrmann, Dr. Wyatt Johnston, Dr. E. 
O. Jordan and Dr. H. L. Russell. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


corner spring strips to prevent breaking. 
The packing boxes should be covered and 
provided with suitable fastenings. 

Bottles for microscopical samples should 
have a capacity of at least one quart, and 
should be of clear white glass, but they 
need not have glass stoppers. Bottles for 
bacterial samples should have a capacity of 
at least four ounces and should have wide 
mouths and glass stoppers. Before use 
they should be washed as described above, 
and then sterilized with dry heat for one 
hour at 160 degrees C., or in an autoclav at 
115 degrees C. for fifteen minutes. For 
transportation they should be wrapped in 
sterilized cloth, or the neck should be 
covered with tinfoil and the bottles put in 
a tin box. When bacterial samples must 
of necessity stand for more than twelve 
hours before plating, it is preferable to use 
larger bottles than four ounces. The gallon 
bottle used for the chemical sample may be 
sterilized and used for the entire analysis. 
When samples are not plated at the time of 
collection, they should be kept on ice at 
not less than 10 degrees C. Portable ice- 
boxes with separate compartments for the 
ice and bottles may be sent by express with 
satisfactory results. 

The allowable time that may elapse be- 
tween the collection of a sample and the 
beginning of its analysis cannot be stated 
definitely, as it depends upon the character 
of the sample and other conditions, but the 
following limits are generally safe: 

Chemical analysis.—For fairly pure sur- 
face waters, 24 to 48 hours ; and for normal 
ground water, 48 to 72 hours. Polluted 
water requires analysis within twelve hours. 

Microscopical examination.—For fairly 
pure waters, 24 hours. If fragile organ- 
isms, such as Uroglena, Synura, etc., are 
present, immediate examination may be 
necessary. 

Bacteriological examination.—Immediate 
plating is always best, but seldom practi- 


SCIENCE. 


907 


cable. With fairly pure waters packed in 
ice, plating within 12 hours after collection 
will not introduce errors sufficient to vitiate 
the results. 

Physical Examination.—The physical ex- 
amination includes observations of the tem- 
perature, general appearance, color, tur- 
bidity and the odor in hot and cold 
samples. 

The temperature should be taken at the 
time of collection, and expressed, prefer- 
ably Centigrade degrees, to the nearest 
0.5 degree. For obtaining temperature of 
water at various depths the thermophone 
gives the most accurate results. 

The general appearance of the water 
should be determined by inspection in 
strong light after standing several hours. 
Substances remaining in suspension are 
then classed as ‘turbidity on standing,’ 
and substances settling to the bottom, as 
‘sediment.’ The terms, none, very slight, 
slight, distinct, decided, etc., may be used 
for general work as described in the reports 
of the Massachusetts State Board of Health 
Where methods are used for expressing the 
turbidity and suspended matters numeri- 
cally, as is necessary with sewage and some 
waters in some lines of work, the descrip- 
tion of appearance may be omitted. 

At the present time there is no uniformity 
in the methods of measuring turbidity or 
suspended matter. The wire method, the 
disk method, the diaphanometer method, 
the gravimetric method, and the use of 
standards of comparison all appear to have 
their field of usefulness. It is desirable 
that some system should be adopted for 
making the results by the various methods 
comparable, at least for those lines of work 
of the same general nature. In the absence 
of the necessary experimental data, your 
Committee is unable to make a definite rec- 
ommendation at present, although studies 
now in hand will probably make this pos- 
sible another year. 


908 


For measuring the amount of dissolved 
coloring matter in waters, the platinum- 
cobalt scale appears to be very generally 
used, although the Nessler and natural 
water standards and other methods are be- 
ing used in important work. While the 
platinum standard does not appear to be 
wholly satisfactory, especially for very dark- 
colored waters, it appears to be generally 
suitable for ordinary use and serves well as 
a basis of comparison for all results. Your 
committee recommends that whenever any 
other method is used for color measure- 
ment, the relation of this method to the 
platinum standard shall be indicated. In 
the case of waters which are appreciably 
turbid, the suspended matters should be 
removed before determining the color which 
relates strictly to soluble matters. 

The odor should be observed in both hot 
and cold samples, and the results recorded 
in terms expressing quality and intensity, 
substantially as described in the paper on 
this subject presented to this Section last 
year. (Transactions A. P. H. A., 1899, p. 
587.) 

Microscopical Examination.—The modified 
Sedgwick-Rafter method appears to give 
general satisfaction. The majority of an- 
alysts express the results in ‘Number of 
Organisms per Cubic Centimeter,’ but those 
who have had the largest experience with 
the method prefer to express the results in 
‘Number of Standard Units per Cubic Cen- 
timeter.’ Inasmuch as the latter method 
takes into account the size of the various 
organisms, and may also be used for the 
amorphous matter, your Committee favors 
the general adoption of the standard unit 
method. 

Chemical Analysis.—So far as your Com- 
mittee has been able to learn, the chemical 
methods used for an ordinary sanitary anal- 
ysis of a water do not vary very materially 
in those laboratories where most of this 
work is now being done. As a rule, the 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


differences which are found appear to be 
justified by the differences in the nature of 
the waters and the objects of the work. It 
appears, however, from general observation, 
that there is room for improvement in a 
number of laboratories in which water anal- 
yses are made in small numbers and at 
irregular intervals. The determinations 
which from general opinion are considered 
necessary for a satisfactory sanitary analy- 
sis of an ordinary water are as follows: 
residue on evaporation, total and dissolved, 
with the loss on ignition in some instances ; 
nitrogen as albuminoid and free ammonia, 
nitrites and nitrates; oxygen consumed ; 
chlorine, and hardness. The general con- 
sensus of opinion regarding these determi- 
nations is quite harmonious on the whole, 
and the best current practice may be out- 
lined in brief terms as given beyond. 

Within the past few years water analysts 
have had occasion to study types of water 
about which very little was known a few 
years ago, and to assist in a variety of 
special problems relative to water pollu- 
tion and various processes for the purifica- 
tion of both water and sewage. Such in- 
vestigations have naturally resulted in an 
increase in our knowledge concerning a 
number of analytical matters, about which 
there was comparatively little known, in 
practical terms, in this country, a dozen 
years ago. Among the analytical methods 
relative to these studies, of a more or less 
special nature, may be mentioned those for 
alkalinity, iron, sulphuric acid, carbonic 
acid and dissolved oxygen. While the 
methods for these and other determinations 
have been carefully worked out with refer- 
ence to certain conditions and waters of 
certain types, it is felt by the Committee 
that there are a number of details which 
can to advantage be left in abeyance until 
another year. The general trend relative 
to these so-called special methods is out- 
lined briefly beyond. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


With regard to the limits of accuracy of 
the several methods under various condi- 
tions, the determinations which can be best 
applied to various problems, the expression 
of the results of analysis and the interpre- 
tation of their results are all matters upon 
which the Committee has nothing to say 
until a further expression of experience and 
views is received from members of the Sec- 
tion. 

Residue on Evaporation.—The amount of 
water used should be preferably such that 
the residue will weigh from three to twelve 
milligrams, although with sewages a greater 
weight is allowable. Experience alone can 
indicate the volume of water to be taken. 
Relative to dissolved residue, the suspended 
matter can be satisfactorily removed from 
surface waters of the glacial drift formation 
and from sewages by filtration through 
filter paper. The sub-microscopic clay par- 
ticles of the Southern and Western waters 
can be best removed by a small Pasteur 
filter. This is not wholly satisfactory, as 
in some instances dissolved matters are ab- 
sorbed by the filter, and in other cases they 
are removed from those stored in the filter. 
On an average it yields fair results, and no 
improvement can be suggested at this time. 

With regard to the use of sodium car- 
bonate, practice varies, but it would seem 
to be wise to add it (with a deduction from 
total weight) in those waters and sewages 
in which it is of value to obtain the loss on 
ignition. Evaporation is almost invariably 
obtained in a steam bath at a temperature 
of nearly 100 degrees C. The loss on igni- 
tion, it is believed, can be secured best with 
the use of a radiator in accordance with 
Drown’s suggestions, although this device 
is not in general use. In fact, there is 
a growing tendency among workers to omit 
this determination, except for sewages and 
those waters relatively high in organic 
matter. 

Chlorine. —This is determined always by 


SCIENCE. 


909 


titration with a standard solution of silver 
nitrate, using potassium chromate as an in- 
dicator. Colored surface waters first re- 
quire decolorization by the addition of 
aluminum hydrate. The volume of water 
to be taken depends, of course, upon the 
amount of chlorides present. With unpol- 
luted surface waters in the Kast, from 200 
to 250 cubic centimeters should be concen- 
trated by evaporation. In the case of sew- 
ages and highly polluted water containing 
much organic matter, satisfactory results 
can be obtained by evaporation to dryness, 
ignition of the residue and subsequent solu- 
tion of the chlorides with hot, distilled 
water. The titration should be regularly 
made with volumes substantially the same 
as employed in the standardization of solu- 
tions. 

Nitrogen as Free and Albuminoid Ammonia. 
—The volume of ordinary water taken for 
distillation is 500 cubie centimeters, and 
with very highly polluted waters or sewages 
smaller quantities are taken and diluted to 
the above amount with ammonia-free dis- 
tilled water. Where many sewages are an- 
alyzed the volume taken may be 10 cubic 
centimeters or less, in accordance with 
Hazen’s method. As a general rule, it 
seems advisable to add a few drops of a 
saturated solution of sodium carbonate be- 
fore distillation. It is advisable to collect 
the distillate in the Nessler tubes in which 
this color is to be read. The rate of distil- 
lation should be 50 cubic centimeters in 5 
or 6 minutes. It is an almost universal 
custom to collect three tubes of 50 cubic 
centimeters each, for the free ammonia, and 
five tubes for the albuminoid ammonia. In 
regard to the preparation of alkaline per- 
manganate and Nessler solutions, the di- 
rections in any good text-book may be 
followed, and the individuality of various 
workers in these particulars is apparently 
not a factor affecting unfavorably the accu- 
racy of results. Both the distillates and 


910 


the standard ammonia solutions should be 
of the same temperature before the addition 
of the Nessler solution. 

Nitrogen as Nitrites.—No method superior 
to the Warrington modification of the 
Gness method is now known (see page 
527, Special Report, Mass. State Board of 
Health, 1890, Part II.). 

Nitrogen as Nitrates.—The determination 
of nitrogen as nitrates is made almost ex- 
clusively by two methods, the phenol-sul- 
phonic acid method of Grandval and La- 
joux, and the aluminum reduction method. 
With waters comparatively high in nitrates, 
and if a good brand of nitrogen-free caustic 
soda can be obtained, the aluminum method 
is more easily worked, and gives better 
average results. With waters low in ni- 
trates and low in chlorine, the phenol-sul- 
phonic acid method gives as good or better 
results than the reduction method. It is 
intended to consider the comparative merits 
of the two methods in detail in the later 
report. 

Oxygen Consumed.—Practice varies widely 
both here and abroad with reference to the 
method for this determination; and many 
analysts omit it from the analyses of cer- 
tain types of water. For sewages and 
those waters which are high in organic 
matter it undoubtedly yields valuable in- 
formation. It would appear advisable to 
adopt a uniform procedure intermediate 
between the wide extremes now practiced. 
Such would be afforded by the addition of 
the reagents to the water when cold, and 
boiling for five minutes. 

Hardness.—For ordinary sanitary work 
the soap method is commonly used, and for 
the soft Eastern waters it appears to give 
reasonably satisfactory results. For the 
hard waters of the West, Hehner’s acid 
method is preferred. There are some de- 
tails connected with the determination of 
the permanent hardness by the Hehner 
method which require further study. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


Alkalinity.— This determination can be 
satisfactorily made by Hehner’s method. 
Methyl] orange is used by some workers as 
an indicator, while recent comparative 
studies give the preference to lacmoid or 
erythrosine. The latter indicators have the 
advantage, in connection with the use of 
coagulants, of affording the most reliable 
test for the presence of undecomposed alum 
in water. 

Relative to the latter point, the logwood 
test is considered satisfactory by some 
workers, while by others it seems to be 
more of a qualitative test than a quantita- 
tive one. The differences in opinion are 
very likely due to unappreciated differences 
in manipulation which require further 
study. 

Iron.—There are evidently several meth- 
ods of an allied nature which can be used 
successfully for this determination, provided 
they are carefully applied. In another re- 
port the Committee can probably give a 
graded set of procedures, applicable to 
various conditions of practice. Thompson’s 
method as described in Sutton’s ‘ Volumetric 
Analysis’ appears to be most generally used. 

Sulphuric Acid.—Wildenstein’s method as - 
described by Ohlmuller has proved very 
satisfactory for certain lines of work, and 
preferable to the gravimetric method. 
Whether or not this is true under a wide 
range of conditions remains to be seen. 

Carbonic Acid.—For Eastern waters Pet- 
tenkofer’s method as described by Sutton is 
considered to be generally satisfactory ; 
while for the Western waters Trillich’s 
modification of this method, as described 
by Ohlmuller, is preferred by some workers. 
This method gives both the free and half- 
combined carbonic acid. There is a grow- 
ing tendency among chemists to attach the 
more importance to the free carbonic acid 
alone. This can be obtained differentially 
by the method by which the free carbonic 
acid is removed, by the passage of the water 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


through a tube containing small gravel 
stones, with a current of air drawn in the 
opposite direction. Further study of this 
entire subject will place it on a more sub- 
stantial basis. 

Dissolved Oxygen.—There appear to be sev- 
eral methods which can be used success- 
fully for this determination. The method 
in most general use, however, is that of 
Winkler as described in the Special Report 
of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, 
1890, Part I. 

By way of general comment it may be 
added that recent developments in sewage 
purification have indicated the desirability 
of special attention to several matters. 
Among them is the advantage coming from 
a@ more general use of the determination of 
suspended matters in sewage, with the loss 
on ignition. Another point is the desir- 
ability of determining the organic nitro- 
gen in unpurified sewage by the Kjeldahl 
method, in view of the varying percentage 
of this constituent which is afforded by the 
albuminoid ammonia. The so-called ‘in- 
cubation test’ to show the relation to putre- 
faction of sewage after purification seems 
to have much practical value, under certain 
conditions, although the details cannot be 
considered at this time. 

Quantitative Bacterial Examinations.— W ith 
reference to this subject, there has recently 
been a marked improvement in the general 
results obtained in this country. Itis true, 
however, that methods of different workers 
are still variable to a degree which seems 
unnecessary, and which is certainly not de- 
sirable, when we consider that the value of 
this class of data relates largely to purposes 
of comparison. 

The culture medium now in general use 
is nutrient gelatine, prepared substantially 
as recommended by the Bacteriological 
Committee in their Report of 1897. Meat 
extract, however, is still used by a number 
of workers, in place of meat infusion. Data 


SCIENCE. 


Silat 


are lacking to justify this as a general pro- 
cedure. For some special lines of work 
nutrient agar is used with apparent ad- 
vantage. These conditions refer to analyses 
of decomposed or stale sewage, where the 
number of bacteria capable of rapid lique- 
faction of gelatine is very large; and also 
to certain lines of field work. Several in- 
vestigators have tried media of modified 
composition, containing new ingredients in 
some instances, but the present evidence is 
altogether too inconsistent and indefinite 
to permit of any recommendations along 
this line. 

Concerning the reaction of the nutrient 
gelatine, the optimum varies under differ- 
ent conditions. Speaking in general terms, 
the majority of waters now studied appear 
to require ordinarily about 1.0 per cent. 
acid. There are some waters for which 
this reaction is too acid, and the sewage of 
some manufacturing cities evidently re- 
quires an alkaline medium. For important 
continuous work the reaction to be used 
should be carefully worked out with refer- 
ence to the local conditions. 

The amount of agitation which the 
sample of water should receive before 
plating, in order to insure mixing and a 
separation to a reasonable degree of groups 
of bacteria, is afforded by 25 vigorous 
shakes of the partially filled sample bottle. 

Most workers arrange, so far as practi- 
cable, to have not more than about 200 col- 
onies on the ordinary plate, such as Petri 
dishes having a diameter of about 4 inches. 
For those waters in which such numbers of 
Bacteria are contained in small fractions of 
one cubic centimeter, it is the general prac- 
tice to dilute them with sterilized water, 
rather than to use pipettes delivering small 
fractions of one enbic centimeter. 

The amount of nutrient gelatine used for 
each plate ranges at different laboratories 
from 5 to 10 cubic centimeters. Most 
workers use more than 7, while in some of 


912 


the largest laboratories the quantity is 5 
cubic centimeters. For results to be ob- 
tained after four or more days of cultiva- 
tion, the larger quantity is doubtless pref- 
erable. For results to be obtained after 
two days’ growth, 5 cubic centimeters are 
found to be more satisfactory. 

Practice varies with reference to mixing 
the water and the gelatine in the tube or on 
the dish, in those cases where Petri dishes 
are used. There is no evidence to indicate 
that this is a point of much practical sig- 
nificance, affecting results beyond the or- 
dinary limits of accuracy. 

With regard to standard conditions of 
cultivation, the best available evidence 
shows that it should take place in the dark 
and in an atmosphere in which moisture 
and oxygen are always present. Petri 
dishes sometimes fit too tightly to give sat- 
isfactory results, and special attention is 
necessary to these particulars. The tem- 
perature of cultivation should be uniformly 
20 degrees C., and it is gratifying to note 
that in many laboratories this standard has 
been adopted, notwithstanding the care and 
expense which it sometimes involves. 

The period of cultivation still varies 
considerably in the different laboratories. 
There is a well-defined movement, how- 
ever, toward shorter periods in order to se- 
cure greater practical value for the data. 
These practical advantages outweigh the 
smaller numbers obtained from a shorter 
period, especially as all results have only a 
relative and not an absolute value. In 
Germany 48 hours is the standard period 
of cultivation, and daily results have been 
obtained on this basis from each of 26 water 
purification plants in operation in that 
country. There seems to be no good reason 
why the bacterial results to be obtained 
from the various water purification plants 
now in operation and about to be built in 
this country should not be comparable with 
those obtained abroad. This is especially 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


true in view of the growing appreciation of 
the fact that the residual numbers of bac- 
teria in a filtered water should receive at- 
tention as well as the percentage of bacterial 
removal. Taking everything into consider- 
ation, it would appear to your Committee 
to be advisable to adopt 48 hours as a 
standard period of cultivation under the 
conditions noted above. Before making a 
final recommendation there is requested a 
further expression of opinion on the part of 
the members of the Section of Bacteriology 
and Chemistry. 

Relative to the records of the numbers of 
bacteria per cubic centimeter, there are 
many workers whose custom is very loose 
and unscientific. Your Committee disap- 
proves of customs which indicate a fictitious 
accuracy in current methods, by the inex- 
cusable use of significant figures in the units 
place where the numbers are very high. 

Differentiation and Classification of Species of 
Bacteria.—This branch of bacteriology is of 
much importance in connection with water 
analysis, because reliable and readily avail- 
able methods for the detection of water- 
borne disease germs cannot be established 
until this general subject has been placed 
upon a more scientific and substantial 
basis. It is true, of course, that progress 
for a time along this line must be largely a 
matter of pure science, and that interest in 
these developments is shared not only 
among water analysts, but all workers in 
applied bacteriology. 

Your Committee has made every reason- 
able effort to secure a consensus of opinion 
as to how this subject now stands, with ref- 
erence to the soundness or weakness of the 
various current methods and procedures. 
While the views of a number of prominent 
workers, especially those not directly con- 
nected with water analysis, have not yet 
come to hand, it is believed that the gen- 
eral status of affairs may be correctly out- 
lined as follows : 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


It is now universally recognized that the 
first requisite toward successful work in 
this field is the use of culture media of uni- 
form standard composition. With the view 
to the accomplishment of this end, the 
mnethods of preparation of media recom- 
mended by the Bacteriological Committee 
in their Report of 1897 are in general use. 
Taken as a whole, they seem to have given, 
and to still give, general satisfaction. Itis 
true, however, that in several laboratories 
these recommendations are departed from 
with regard to the manipulations which ap- 
parently affect but little the question of 
uniformity. Practice, furthermore, varies 
somewhat in a number of laboratories, with 
reference to the use of meat infusion as com- 
pared with meat extract; in the preparation 
of milk for a culture medium ; and in the 
reaction of various media for species work. 
Hach of these points requires attention. 

Concerning those tests and procedures to 
be employed in order to secure diagnostic 
data in species work, it is plain that the 
recommendations of 1897 have caused ma- 
terial advances over previous methods. It 
is certain, however, that the 1897 Report in 
this respect has thus far met less support 
and approval than in the case of the prepa- 
ration of culture media. The report has 
evidently set at work a leavening process 
in several places, and an improved state 
of affairs will presumably result in time. 
Why it is that with test after test there is 
a disagreement as to value among experi- 
enced workers is a matter which is not now 
understood, and which suggests unappreci- 
ated differences in procedures. 

Relative to the results of those tests 
which are considered to be of differential 
value, and to the method of recording them, 
opinion is widely at variance. Some be- 
lieve that they should be confined to those 
of a positive and definite nature. Other 
workers consider that they cannot be made 
too detailed and exhaustive. 


SCIENCE. 


913 


In brief terms it may be said that, with 
regard to the general subject of species dif- 
ferentiation, a material step in advance has 
been taken in consequence of the Report of 
the Bacteriological Committee of 1897. As 
a result of the added knowledge coming to 
various workers through the general use of 
the 1897 Report asa guide, the time has ar- 
rived when that Report can and should be 
revised. Concerning the new evidence 
which has been obtained since that Report 
was prepared, it has not yet reached your 
Committee in a form adequate to allow 
changes to be recommended at this time. 
In fact, there are many indications which 
go to show that the amount of directly 
comparable evidence from the various lab- 
oratories is much less than is generally re- 
alized, owing to the wide variety in the na- 
ture of the species work now going on in 
this country. 

In the opinion of your Committee the 
real issue for discussion to-day on this 
topic is not the question of detailed points 
of improvement, but rather the best gen- 
eral procedure by which species work can 
be elevated to a higher plane of excellence. 
This matter has received considerable 
thought from the Committee, and it would 
appear that as a first requisite it will be 
necessary to secure the cooperation of the 
workers in other branches of bacteriology. 
It would also appear to be necessary to se- 
cure comparable data upon corresponding 
cultures of the same species from a consid- 
erable number of experienced workers. 
Further, it would be very desirable if data 
from the same species could be obtained at 
the same laboratory with culture media pre- 
pared by a number of other investigators. 

Fermentation Tests and the Detection of B. coli 
communis and other Specific Forms.—While 
these methods come within the scope of 
general species methods for bacteria, it is 
considered that they are entitled to separate 
consideration. This is due to the fact that 


914 


this subject is studied by many water an- 
alysts who do not attempt general species 
determinations, and to the further fact that 
upon these topics opinion is more crystal- 
lized than upon the general subject of species 
methods. 

Relative to fermentation tests, this topic 
was considered at length by the Bacterio- 
logical Committee in the Report of 1897. 
The present status with reference to those 
recommendations may be outlined as fol- 
lows : 

In the preparation of fermentation solu- 
tions, the use of meat infusion as compared 
with meat extract is still an open question. 
Both are used. Opinion seems unanimous, 
however, that in either case they should 
contain no muscle sugar. It is generally 
considered that a reaction of 1.5 per cent. 
acid is not perfectly satisfactory, and most 
workers employ solutions which are prac- 
tically neutral to phenolphthalein. The 
amount of sugar is 1 per cent. as a rule, as 
recommended, although it appears that glu- 
cose is used by many to the exclusion of 
lactose and saccharose. This latter tend- 
ency would seem to be a step in the wrong 
direction, for many lines of work. Opinion 
is at variance concerning the effect of heat 
upon these sugars in the course of the 
preparation of the solutions. Cultivations 
are made almost invariably at 37 degrees 
C. for a period of three days, with records 
daily as to the percentage of gas in the 
closed arm. In other particulars there are 
some differences in general practice, but 
they apparently are of little consequence in 
affecting results such as would be obtained 
by strict adherence to the procedures of the 
1897 Report. 

While considerable increase to our knowl- 
edge of the fermentation-produced bacteria 
has occurred within the past three years, 
there is not at present sufficient evidence at 
hand to recommend an improved set of pro- 
cedures. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.,.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


With regard to the isolation of B. coli 
communis, there are evidently quite a 
number of procedures which are used with 
success. These procedures differ somewhat 
on account of the wide range in natural 
conditions under which tests are made for 
this form in various waters. Where B. coli 
communis forms a small percentage of the 
total bacteria, the custom appears to have 
come into general use of employing a pre- 
liminary incubation to eliminate ordinary 
water bacteria. It is thought that it will 
not bea laborious task during the coming 
year to draft a graded series of acceptable 
methods to cover the wide range of condi- 
tions met with in practice. 

It is gratifying to note a general uni- 
formity in the characteristics considered 
essential to the identification of B. coli 
communis, as follows: 

1. Fermentation of dextrose with the 
production of carbonic acid equal approxi- 
mately to 33 per cent. of the total gas 
formed. 

2. Coagulation of milk. 

3. Non-liquefaction of gelatine, with 
growth at the surface and in the form of 
beads along the line of inoculation in a 
gelatine tube-culture. 

4. Formation of indol. 

5. Conformity to the main morphological 
characteristics of this type as published. 

With reference to those forms resem- 
bling B. coli communis, which ferment 
sugars with the production of carbonic 
acid varying widely from 33 per cent. of 
the total gas, it is now generally regarded 
that they should not be reported as B. colt. 
What their true relation is to this species, 
and what their sanitary significance is rela- 
tive to the character of waters in which 
they are found, are questions which cannot 
be answered satisfactorily at present. 

Very few, if any, experienced bacteriolo- 
gists engaged in public health work make 
a practice of attempting to isolate the ty- 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


phoid bacillus or any specific forms other 
than B. coli communis. For obvious reasons 
it is inadvisable at this time to give this 
phase of water analysis any detailed con- 
sideration. 


SUNSPOTS AND RAINFALL.* 

At the meeting of the Royal Society on 
November 22d, Sir Norman Lockyer and 
Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer presented a paper on 
‘Solar Changes of Temperature and Varia- 
tions in Rainfall in the Region Surround- 
ing the Indian Ocean.’ 

Sir Norman Lockyer, who made the 
communication, said the fact that the ab- 
normal behavior of the widened lines in the 
spectra of sunspots since 1894 had been ac- 
companied by irregularities in the rainfall 
of India, suggested the study and correla- 
tion of various series of facts that might be 
expected to throw light on the matter. 
Among the conclusions thus arrived at 
were: (1) A discussion of the chemical 
origin of lines most widened in sunspots at 
periods of maxima and minima indicated a 
considerable rise above the mean tempera- 
ture of the sun around the years of sunspot 
maximum and a considerable fall around 
those of sunspot minimum. (2) From the 
facts of rainfall in India (during the south- 
west monsoon) and Mauritius between the 
years 1877 and 1886, as given by Blanford 
and Meldrum, the effects of these solar 
changes were seen to be felt in India at 
sunspot maximum and in Mauritius at sun- 
spot minimum, the greater effect being in 
Mauritius. The pulse in Mauritius at sun- 
spot minimum was also felt in India, giving 
rise generally to a secondary maximum. 
India, therefore, had two pulses of rainfall, 
one near the maximum and the other near 
the minimum of the sunspot period. (3) 
The dates of the beginning of these two 
pulses in the Indian and Mauritius rainfall 
were related to the sudden remarkable 


* From the London Times. 


SCIENCE. 


915 


changes in the behavior of the widened 
lines. (4) All the famines recorded in the 
Famine Commission reports as having de- 
vastated India during the last half-century 
occurred in the intervals between these two 
pulses. (5) Investigation of the changes 
in (a) the widened lines (6) the rainfall of 
India, and (c) the rainfall of Mauritius 
during and after the last maximum in 1893 
showed in all three important variations 
from those exhibited during and after the 
last maximum of 1883. The minimum of 
1888-89 resembled the preceding minimum 
of 1878-79. (6) From 1849-1878 the low- 
est Niles recorded occurred between the 
same intervals. (7) Although the rela- 
tions of these intervals to the droughts of 
Australia and of Cape Colony, and to the 
variations of rainfall in extra-tropical re- 
gions generally, had not been investigated, 
a general agreement had been made out 
between the intervals and the rainfall of 
Scotland, and both pulses had been traced 
in the rainfalls of Cordoba and the Cape of 
Good Hope. (8) The results of the in- 
quiry having been placed before Mr. John 
Eliot, Meteorological Reporter to the In- 
dian Government, he gave it as his opinion 
that they accorded closely with all the 
known facts of the large abnormal features 
of the temperature, pressure, and rainfall 
in India during the last twenty-five years, 
and that hence the inductions already ar- 
rived at would be of great service in fore- 
casting future droughts in India. 

When the image of a sunspot was thrown 
on the slit of a spectroscope, examination 
of the spectrum indicated that the blackness 
of the spot was due not only to general but 
also to selective absorption, and that the 
lines widened by the selective absorption 
varied from time to time. From many 
years’ observations of these widened lines 
it appeared that at some periods they were 
distinctly traceable to known elements, 
while at others their origins had not been 


916 


discovered and they were classed as un- 
known lines. Comparison of these two 
periods, with the sunspot curve as con- 
structed from the measurements of the 
mean spotted area for each year, indicated 
that when that area was greatest the wid- 
ened lines belonged to the unknown class, 
but when it was least to the known class. 
Now, in the laboratory it was possible to 
differentiate between three stages of tem- 
perature—that of the flame, of the electric 
are and of the electric spark of the highest 
tension. At the lowest temperature—that 
of the flame—a certain set of lines was ob- 
tained; as the temperature of the arc was 
reached a new set was seen; and at the 
temperature of the high tension spark other 
lines, called enhanced lines, were added, 
while many of the are lines waned in in- 
tensity, At sunspot minimum, when the 
known lines were most numerous, the lines 
were almost invariably those seen most 
prominently in the are. But as the mini- 
mum passed towards the maximum the 
unknown lines gradually obtained the pre- 
dominance, and these were possibly ‘ en- 
hanced’ lines, indicating the action of a 
much higher temperature on known sub- 
stances. It was therefore justifiable to 
assume a great increase of temperature at 
the sunspot maximum where these unknown 
lines appeared. The curves of the known 
and the unknown lines had been obtained 
by determining for each quarter of a year 
the percentage numbers of the two kinds, 
and plotting them as ordinates with the 
time elements as abscissee. But for the 
purposes of the investigation, instead of 
using the mean curves of all the known ele- 
ments involved, that for iron alone was 
employed, since that metal was a good rep- 
resentative of the known elements, and had 
been most fully studied. Such curves when 
drawn crossed each other at points where 
the percentage of unknown lines was in- 
creasing and that of iron or known lines 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


decreasing, and vice versa. There seemed, 
therefore, to be three well-marked stages 
of solar temperature. At the crossing 
points, where the numbers of known and 
unknown lines were about equal, a mean 
condition might be assumed, a plus pulse or 
condition of temperature being indicated 
when the unknown lines reached their 
maximum, and a minus pulse when the 
known ones reached their maximum. The 
curves obtained during the last 20 years 
endorsed the conclusion that the unknown 
lines curve varied directly and the iron- 
lines curve inversely with the sunspot area. 
The widened-line curves were quite differ- 
ent from those furnished by the sunspots. 
The crossings were sharply marked, and 
since 1879 three of them had occurred, in- 
dicating the presence of mean solar tem- 
perature conditions in 1881, 1886-87, and 
1892; another such crossing was antici- 
pated in 1897, but has not as yet taken place. 
Sunspots were indications of excess, not of 
defect, of heat, and it was now known that 
the spots at maximum were really full of 
highly heated vapors produced by the 
prominences, which were most numerous 
when the solar atmosphere was most dis- 
turbed. The Indian meteorologists had 
abundantly proved that the increased radia- 
tion from the sun on the upper air currents 
at maximum was accompanied by a lower 
temperature in the lower strata, and that 
with this disturbance of the normal tem- 
perature pressure changes must be expected. 
Chambers was the first to show that large © 
spotted area was accompanied by low pres- 
sures over the land surface of India. To 
pass from the consideration of individual 
spots to the zones of prominences with 
which they were probably associated, it 
was of the highest interest to note the solar 
latitudes occupied when the crossings 
already referred to took place, as in this 
way were discovered the belts of promi- 
nences which were really effective in pro- 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


ducing the increased radiation. The area 
of these being much larger a considerable 
difference of radiation might be expected 
—a fact it was all the more necessary to 
point out, because the insignificance of the 
area occupied by the spots had been used 
as an argument against any easily recog- 
nized connection between solar and terres- 
trial meteorological changes. Assuming 
two belts of prominences north and south 
10° wide, with their centers over latitude 
16°, one-sixth of the sun’s visible hemi- 
sphere would be in a state of disturbance. 

The authors’ object in studying rainfall 
was to ascertain whether the plus and minus 
temperature pulses in the sun were echoed 
by plus and minus pulses of rainfall on the 
earth. The rainfall tables published by 
the Indian Government were first studied 
with special reference to the southwest 
monsoon, and it soon became evident that 
in many parts of India the plus and minus 
conditions of solar temperature were ac- 
companied by plus and minus pulses produc- 
ing pressure changes and heavy rains in the 
Indian Ocean and surrounding land. These 
occurred generally in the first year follow- 
ing the mean condition—viz., in 1877-78 
and 1882-83, dates approximating to, but 
followed by, the maximum and minimum 
periods of sunspots. It was especially in re- 
gions such as Malabar and Konkan, where 
the monsoon struck the west coast of India, 
that the sharpness and individuality of 
these pulses were the most obvious. The 
study of Hliot’s table of the rainfall of all 
India from 1875 to 1896 revealed predomi- 
nant pulses in 1889 and 1893, following 
those of 1877-78 and 1882-83, so that it 
enabled the working of the same law —of 
the mean solar temperature being followed 
by a pulse of rainfall—to be traced through 
another sunspot cycle. The ‘ whole India’ 
curve between 1875 and 1896 was also used 
to test whether the sun pulses, which were 
found to be bound up with the Indian rain- 


SCIENCE. 


917. 


fall, were in any way related to the varia- 
tions often pointed out in the snowfall on 
the Himalayas; it was found that the 
values occurring at the plus and minus 
pulses were among the highest. Hence it 
appeared that the quantity both of rain and 
Snow was increased in the years of the rise 
both of the unknown and of the iron lines. 
For the Mauritius the rainfall curve, plotted 
from 1877 to 1886, was seen to be fairly 
regular, showing alternately an excess and 
a deficiency of rainfall. The highest points 
of the curve were reached in 1877 and 1882, 
the lowest in 1880 and 1886. Thus the 
maximum rainfall of 1877 occupied about a 
year after the rise of the known lines in 
1876, while the next pulse of rainfall in 
1882 followed the succeeding crossing when 
the unknown lines were going up, also about 
a year later. The curves expressing the 
rainfall for the Cape and Cordoba for the 
same period showed two prominent maxima 
in the years 1878 and 1883, corresponding 
nearly with the plus and minus pulses of so- 
lar temperature. On comparing them also 
with the Bombay and Mauritius curves for 
the same period, it was found that the 
pulses indicated at Bombay occurred simul- 
taneously with those of 1878 and 1883, but 
in Mauritius the effect of each of the pulses 
was felt a year or s0 earlier—namely in 
1877 and 1882. The rainfall curve for Ba- 
tavia for this period had its prominent 
maximum in 1882, as in Mauritius, thus pre- 
ceding by.a year the pulse felt at the Cape, 
Cordoba and Bombay in 1883. 

Unless the pulses either overlapped or 
became continuous, there would obviously 
be intervals between the ending of one and 
the beginning of another. The plus and 
minus pulses, to which attention had chiefly 
been directed, were limited in duration, 
and when they ceased the quantity of water 
falling in the Indian area was not sufficient 
without water storage for the purposes of 
agriculture. They were followed, therefore, 


918 


by droughts, and subsequently, at times by 
famines. Thus, taking the period from 
1877 to 1889, there was rain from the minus 
pulse in 1877-78-79 (part); no rain pulse 
in 1879 (part)—80-81 (part); rain from plus 
pulse 1881 (part) 82-83-84 (part); no rain 
pulse in 1884 (part)—86-87; and rain from 
the minus pulse in 1887 (part)—88-89. All 
the Indian famines since 1836 had occurred 
in these intervals, carried back in time on 
the assumption of an 11-year cycle. Thus, 
taking 1880 as the central year on the as- 
cending curve, it was itself a year of famine 
in Madras and the North-West Provinces ; 
also 


1880 — 11 — 1869, N.W.P. famine (1868-69) 

1869 — 11 — 1858, N.W.P. famine (1860) 

1858 — 11 — 1847, 

1847 —11—1836, Great famine in Upper India 
(1837-38). Again, taking 1885-1886 as the central 
years on the descending curve :— 

1885-86, Bengal and Madras famines 

(1884-85 ) 

(1885-86 ) —11—1874-75, N. W. P. famine (1873-74) 
Bombay famine ( 1875-76) 

Bombay and Upper India 

famines (1876-77) 
(1874-75) — 11 = 1863-64, Madras and Orissa fam- 
ines (1865-66) 
(1863-64) —11— 1852-53, Madras famine (1854). 


It was clear from this table that if as 
much had been known in 1836 as was 
known now, the probability of famines at 
all the subsequent dates indicated might 
have been foreseen. The dates might also 
be carried forward from 1880; thus— 


1880 + 11 = 1891, N.W.P. famine (1890) 
Madras, Bombay and Bengal 
famines (1891-92) 
(1885-1886) +- 11 = 1896-97, General famine. 


Famine years in India were usually 
years of low flood in Egypt, and it might 
be pointed out that the highest Niles fol- 
lowed, at an interval of one or two years, 
the years of the plus and minus pulses. As 
to the great Indian famine of last year, the 
widened line curves, so far from having 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


crossed in 1897 or 1898, as they ought ac- 
cording to the few precedents available, 
had not crossed even now ; in other words, 
the condition of ordinary solar mean tem- 
perature had not even yet been reached. 
Now India in a normal cycle was supplied 
from the southern ocean during the mini- 
mum sunspot period, and the rain was due 
to some pressure effect brought about in 
high southern latitudes by the sun at minus 
temperature. But as this temperature con- 
dition was not reached in 1899, as it would 
have been in a normal year, the rain failed. 
Thus the only abnormal famine recorded 
since 1836 occurred precisely at the time 
when an abnormal effect of an unprece- 
dented maximum of solar temperature was 
revealed by the study of the widened lines. 


THE ULKE COLLECTION OF COLEOPTERA. 


Tue collection of Coleoptera brought to- 
gether during the last 50 years by Henry 
Ulke, of Washington, D. C., has been pur- 
chased by the Carnegie Museum, of Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Henry Ulke, artist, musician, entomolo- 
gist—a noticeable character from many 
points of view—having passed beyond his 
eightieth birthday, has given up his ento- 
mological collections, but by no means his 
interest in this branch of science. The 
writer met him the other day in Washing- 
ton, active, alert, clear-eyed, with a com- 
plexion like a child’s, and asked him how 
it was that he retained his youth at 10 
years beyond the allotted space of life. 
The reply was wittily characteristic and 
contained a characteristic truth: ‘‘ In the 
first place,”’ said Ulke, “I was very careful 
in my choice of parents ; and in the second 
place, my love of Nature has kept me con- 
stantly in the woods and fields throughout 
all my life.” 

The Ulke collection of Coleoptera is one 
of the largest and, historically and in other 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


ways, one of the most important collections 
in the United States. It represents the life- 
long work of one of our most experienced 
and most assiduous collectors. Its fuunda- 
tion dates back nearly half a century, and 
up to within the past few years Mr. Ulke 
spared no effort to increase it by collecting 
or by exchanging. In the early days of the 
great transcontinental surveys, the Smith- 
sonian Institution had not begun to make 
collections of insects, and as a result much 
of the material picked up by the naturalists 
connected with these surveys fell into Mr. 
Ulke’s hands. He was never a publishing 
entomologist, and the writer believes that 
only one published paper bears his name. 
That was a report on the beetles collected 
by one of the Wheeler survey expeditions. 
The collection numbers perhaps 125,000 
specimens, and its large number of species— 
more than 11,000—as well as the large se- 
ries of specimens representing each species, 
rendered this collection for many years 
preeminent among other collections. It is, 
in fact, only within the past 15 or 20 years, 
when careful collecting methods have be- 
come more generally adopted and when 
railroads have made all parts of the country 
more accessible, that other large private 
collections have been formed. Ulke early 
appreciated the importance of large series, 
and at a time when other collectors were 
gathering beetles as a boy collects postage 
stamps, one or two specimens representing 
a species, Ulke had his long rows of speci- 
mens indicating variation within specific 
limit and variation due to geographic and 
other environmental dissimilarities. 

A distinguishing feature of the collection 
is the uniformly perfect preservation of the 
specimens as well as the exquisite and 
painstaking care with which even the most 
delicate specimens are prepared and thus 
rendered available for study. In this re- 
spect the collection is still unapproached by 
any other. 


SCIENCE. 


919 


How much the progress of North Ameri- 
ean coleopterology is indebted to this col- 
lection can readily be seen from the writings 
of systematists, and in fact there is not a 
single worker in this field who has not 
drawn material from the Ulke collection. 
The liberality with which Mr. Ulke has al- 
ways placed his collection at the disposal 
of students and workers is well known and 
has been acknowledged in print over and 
over again. The collection was employed 
by Le Conte and by Horn in the preparation 
of their various monographs and revisions, 
and has been similarly used by Dietz, Hay- 
ward, Matthews and others. That the 
collection has thereby been increased in 
scientific value goes without saying and 
besides a large number of actual types the 
collection contains several thousand speci- 
mens which are cotypical in value. 

The Carnegie Museum, at Pittsburgh, 
already contains the collection of Coleoptera 
of the late Dr. John Hamilton, and it is 
sincerely to be congratulated upon this last 
important addition to its entomological 
treasures. This is the first time, I believe, 
that a private collection made in our Hast- 
ern States finds its way west of the Alle- 
gheny Mountains, and while the writer 
sincerely regrets that the collection could 
not remain in Washington as the property 
of the U. S. National Museum, he feels con- 
solation in the firm conviction that it will 
be well eared for at Pittsburgh, at least so 
long as Dr. Holland remains Director of 
the Carnegie Museum (and may that be for 
many years to come !), and will continue to 
to be a source of information and study for 
the younger generation of coleopterists. 

The Museum also contains, as is well 
known, the superb collection of Lepidop- 
tera brought together by Dr. Holland, 
and this last collection cannot fail to place 
the Carnegie Museum in a group of four 
public institutions which contain collections 
of insects of great extent and value and 


920 


which will be consulted by students for gen- 
erations to come. The other three great 
collections are to be found at the Museum of 
Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, Mass. ; 
the Academy of Natural Sciences, at Phila- 
delphia, Pa.; and the U.S. National Mu- 
seum, Washington, D. C. 
L. O. Howarp. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 


American Hydroids, Part I, The Plumularide. 
By C. C. Nurrine. Washington, 1900. 
Published by the Smithsonian Institution. 
Pp. 285; pls. 34. 

We are accustomed to think of social life and 
the division of labor as being especially char- 
acteristic of highly organized beings, such as 
ourselves among the vertebrates, and the ants 
among the arthropods; but as a matter of 
fact socialism was invented and put into prac- 
tice very early in the history of terrestrial life, 
among creatures not so very far removed from 
the most primitive types known tous. Pro- 
fessor Nutting, in the splendid monograph now 
under review, tells us (p. 46) that ‘‘ Hydroids 
are exceedingly low in their organization and 
exhibit in several respects the appearance of 
loosely aggregated assemblages of cells which 
are individually much like protozoa,’’ and yet 
he describes and figures the wonderfully differ- 
entiated individuals or ‘persons’ which make 
up the beautiful and complicated feather-like 
colonies of these animals. That there would 
be some differentiation for reproductive ends we 
might well expect, but the Plumularide keep a 
standing army of remarkably constituted indi- 
viduals, supported by the common purse, and 
fighting for the common weal. Listen here to 
Professor Nutting : 

“« As to the morphological significance of the 
sarcostyles, all of the more recent authorities, 
except Jickeli, regard them as degenerate in- 
dividuals of the colony, oras ‘ fighting persons.’ 
That they are individuals or ‘persons’ is a 
matter hardly admitting of doubt; but it may 
well be questioned whether they are degenerate 
persons or not, and an argument might be con- 
structed which would go to show that instead 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von XII. No. 311. 


of being degenerate individuals they are in fact 
very highly specialized persons. Specialization 
is indicated when the structure has departed 
from the original type in order to become 
adapted to more definite and exclusive function. 
It would seem that the sarcostyles have done 
this very thing—departed from the original 
type (Protohydra ?), and become morphologically 
differentiated into individuals having the defi- 
nite function of defense, in most cases, and of 
prehension by means of adhesive cells in 
others’’ (p. 28). 

All of which teaches us that, after all, living 
protoplasm is the wonderful thing ; granting it, 
the varied and complicated manifestations of 
life may be said to follow naturally and inevi- 
tably, their extent and variety dependent on 
warmth and moisture, time and space, but their 
essential nature what it was when life first ap- 
peared upon the earth. 

These things may sound trite; but while we 
talk glibly of differentiation and evolution, we 
do not always descend from the abstract to the 
concrete, and realize the actual facts. Professor 
Nutting’s monograph should have this value 
to the general zoologist and the teacher of sci- 
ence, that it brings them as nearly into contact 
with the things themselves and their way of 
life as may be possible without a prolonged and 
special study of the group. The study of types 
may give us a certain knowledge of structure, 
but without a real insight into life-histories, we 
miss most of the fun, and may therefore be 
thankful to be invited to partake of the proy- 
ender so laboriously gathered for our benefit. 

In 1862, the elder Agassiz recognized only 
three Plumularide from the coasts of the United 
States. To-day Professor Nutting makes us 
acquainted with 121 American species, eight of 
which, however, are not found north of the 
Isthmus of Panama. Of the 121, no less than 
52 have been first made known by Professor 
Nutting himself. Most of the species come 
from the West Indies, and it seems rather re- 
markable that only ten are reported from the 
whole Pacific coast of North America. Surely 
more careful collecting off the coasts of South- 
ern and Lower California should bring to light 
a number of new forms. 

T. D. A. COCKERELL. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900.] 


The Oil Chemist’s Handbook. By ERAstus Hor- 
Kins, A.M., B.Sc., Chemist in charge of U. 
8. Laboratories, Boston, Mass. New York, 
John Wiley & Sons; London, Chapman and 
Hall, Limited. 1900. Pp. viii + 72. 
This-book is intended asa practical laboratory 

handbook for use in the examination of com- 

mercial oils and fats. Concise and satisfactory 
directions are given for the execution of the 
ordinary quantitative determinations which are 
made with materials of this class. The special 
and most valuable feature of the book, however, 
consists in the full tables which are given, and 
in their excellent arrangement. These include 
tables of general properties, solubility, adulter- 
ants and of constants. The tables of constants 
are duplicated by giving, first, a table arranged 
with reference to the oils, giving all of the im- 
portant constants for each oil, and then tables 
for each constant, as saponification value, iodine 
value, Reichert-Meissl value, ete., with the oils 
arranged according to their numerical values 
for the given constant. The tables appear to 
have been prepared very carefully and the 
book is a very valuable one for those working 


in this field. 
W. A. N. 


The Calculations of Analytical Chemistry. By E. 
H. Mixer, Ph.D., Instructor in Analytical 
Chemistry and Assaying in Columbia Univer- 
sity. New York, The MacmillanCo. 1900. 
Pp. 1838. 


As the author states in the preface: ‘‘ This © 


text-book is intended for use in scientific schools 
and colleges, in connection witk courses in ana- 
lytical chemistry, and aims to give a logical 
treatment of the calculations required by an 
analyst.’’? ‘‘The object has been to furnish a 
text-book, which shall give the necessary in- 
formation concerning those important chemical 
calculations which every student should thor- 
oughly understand before taking up advanced 
work.’’ ‘' Formule have been avoided, except 
inthe last chapters, so that the student shall 
consider each problem individually and solve it 
from a knowledge of chemical laws instead of 
substituting in formule for different cases.’’ 
The subjects taken up in this book are as fol- 
lows: Calculations of chemical equivalents and 


SCLENCE. 


921 


atomic weights; of formule and percentage ; of 
mixtures having a common constituent ; calcu- 
lations from equations ; calculation and use of 
factors; calculations of volumetric analysis ; 
of density of solids and liquids; of gases; of 
calorific power and electric and electrolytic 
calculations for direct currents. The method 
involved in each case is clearly explained with 
example, and a number of problems for solution 
are given in each chapter. The author has 
brought together here in a compact form some 
of the most important calculations of analytical 
chemistry. Much of the material would be 
inaccessible to a student or perhaps worked 
out from formule given without any explana- 
tion of the principles involved. A number of 
tables are also given of values used in the cal- 


culations. 
J. BE. G. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The American Journal of Physiology, Decem- 
ber, has as its leading article ‘The Reactions of 
Planarians, with and without Eyes, to Light,’ 
by G. H. Parkerand F. L. Burnett. They found 
that planarians without eyes tend to turn away 
from their course when directed towards the 
source of light and to keep in it when directed 
away from the source. This reaction, however, 
is less precise than in planarians with eyes. 
Planarians with eyes move more rapidly than 
those without eyes, and those moving away 
from the light than those moving towards it. 
Anne Moore contributes a paper on ‘ Further 
Evidence of the Poisonous Effects of Pure NaCl 
Solution.’ According to her investigations pure 
solutions of the chlorides of Na, Ca, K, Mg, and 
Li are poisonous. The poisonous effects of a 
pure NaCl solution may be antagonized by Ca, 
although Ca is not necessary in itself, for it 
renders asugar solution more harmful. K does 
not antagonize Na, but may antagonize Ca used 
in small quantities. In weak solutions sugar 
is as poisonous as isosmotic solutions of NaCl, 
but in stronger solutions this is not true. 
Young trout and tadpoles live indefinitely in 
distilled water, and in salt solutions if Na and 
Ca ions are in balanced proportions. The ‘ In- 
fluences of Digestion on Animal Heat Processes’ 
are presented in a study by HE. T. Reichert. He 


922 


concludes that the rise of temperature during 
digestion (maximal about the fourth hour) is 
due to an increase of heat production. Since 
the greatest increase of heat production occurs 
during the first hour after feeding, the changes 
in heat production and temperature are not 
proportional. The most marked effects are 
produced from a proteid and fat diet, next with 
proteid alone, and least with fat. R. M. Yerkes 
continues his work on phototaxis with a study 
of the reactions of Daphnia and Cypris. A 
marked increase in rate of movement of Daphnia 
with increased intensity of light he ascribes to 
greater precision and quickness of orientation, 
and in part also to more rapid swimming. In 
Cypris this phenomenon is not so marked, a 
difference ascribable probably to the greater 
importance to Daphnia of orientation as a factor 
in rapid movement. Contact with the sides of 
a pipette appears to render a negative animal 
positive, but so far as observed the reactions do 
not change with changes in temperature. For 
the forms studied light is a sufficiently strong 
directive agent to lead them into fatal acid so- 
lutions. 

The Journal of the Boston Society of Medical 
Sciences for October 23d is devoted to the im 
portant and interesting ‘ First Annual Report 
of the Cancer Investigation Committee to the 
Surgical Department of the Harvard Medical 
School.’ This summarizes the investigations 
made during the past year through the bequest 
of Caroline Brewer Croft. In the ‘ Introduc- 
tion,’ by J. Collins Warren, the steady increase 
of cancer is noted, and the ‘Statistics of Can- 
cer,’ by W. F. Whitney, show that their increase 
is about the same in New England and Great 
Britain. Edward H. Nichols gives an account 
of the work ‘On the Etiology of Cancer,’ in 
which he states that attempts to produce cancer 
in animals by inoculation with tissue from hu- 
man cancer have so far uniformly failed and 
that no attempt to isolate an organism from 
human cancer has succeeded. R. B. Greenough 
has a ‘Report on the Presence of Plimmer’s 
Bodies in Carcinomatous Tissue,’ showing that 
three bodies were present in each of thirteen 
eases. EH. E. Tyzzer describes ‘Tumors and 
Sporozoa in Fishes,’ and Edwin A. Locke de- 
scribes ‘The Reconstruction in Wax of a 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


Nodule of Cancer.’ Oscar Richardson also has 
a ‘Report of Culture Experiments made with 
Carcinomatous Tissue, 1899 and 1900,’ which 
shows that he too was unable to obtain any 
trace of a specific infecting organism. The 
report is illustrated with a number of fine 
plates. 


The American Naturalist for November is de- 
voted to the invertebrates. W. M. Wheeler 
describes in detail ‘A Singular Arachnid (Ke- 
nenia mirabilis Grassi) occurring in Texas’ and 
also ‘A New Myrmecophile from the Mushroom 
Gardens of the Texan Leaf-cutting Ant,’ to 
which the name of Attaphila fungicola is given. 
C. B. Davenport has a paper ‘ On the Variation 
of the Shell of Peeten irradians Lamarck from 
Long Island,’ considering that those described 
are either self-adjustments to accidents or sports 
which represent typical conditions in allied 
species. A somewhat similar paper is that by 
Minnie Marie Enteman on ‘ Variations in the 
Crest of Daphnia hyalina,’ in which the author 
shows that variation is confined to summer 
forms and that to some extent there is a local 
tendency to particular variations. Finally W. 
S. Nickerson discusses ‘Double Loxosome,’ 
considering that the cases noted were due to 
fusion and not fission. 


THE Popular Science Monthly, for November, 
reprints for its opening article, under the head 
of ‘Oxygen and the Nature of Acids,’ the paper 
‘On Dephlogisticated Air,’ by Joseph Priestley 
and the ‘ Memoir on the Existence of Air in the 
Acid of Nitre; General Considerations on the 
Nature of Acids,’ by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier. 
Simon Newcomb continues his ‘ Chapters on the 
Stars,’ censidering their masses and densities, 
gaseous constitution, and evolution. H. W. 
Conn discusses ‘ Microbes in Cheese- Making,’ 
telling briefly what has been done and what 
remains to be done in the problem of cheese 
ripening. Under the title of ‘Submarine Navi- 
gation,’ W. P. Bradley gives an interesting ac- 
count of the various craft that have been de- 
vised for that purpose with somewhat detailed 
descriptions of the Argonaut and Holland. 
George C. Whipple describes ‘ Municipal Water- 
Works Laboratories’ showing the work that 
has been done by them and intimating that in 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


the future they will play an important part. 
George Stuart Fullerton discusses ‘Freedom 
and Free Will’ and William Barclay Parsons 
treats of ‘Chinese Commerce’ the gist of which 
is a plea for what every sensible man knows 
should exist, a permanent consular service. 
There are interesting articles under the head of 
‘Discussion and Correspondence,’ ‘Scientific 
Literature’ and ‘ The Progress of Science.’ 

Bird Lore for December comes in an enlarged 
form and has for its frontispiece a fine photo- 
graph from life of a rough-legged Hawk. E. 
R. Warren describes, with a number of illu- 
strations, ‘ Photographing Ptarmigans’ and this 
is followed by an article on ‘How Ptarmigans 
Moult,’ by Jonathan Dwight, Jr., the best au- 
thority on that vexed subject. Bradford Torrey 
writes of ‘Winter Pensioners.’ The depart- 
ment ‘ For Teachers and Students’ is devoted, 
under the caption ‘Birds and Seasons’ to the 
first series of papers giving an outline course of 
bird-study for the year, the present dealing with 
the months of December and January and with 
various part of the country from Boston to San 
Francisco, each article being by a well known 
authority on the subject. The other and shorter 
articles under the different departments are too 
numerous for individual notice, but the Audu- 
bon Department is of particular interest. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 


AT the meeting of the Section on October 15th, 
Dr. A. A. Julien in the chair, about thirty per- 
sons were present. 

The Secretary of the Academy nominated for 
membership Riccardo Pattelli and Charles Lane 
Poor, and the names were referred to the Coun- 
cil. 

The following notes on the results of the 
summer’s work by members were presented: 

Gilbert Van Ingen.—Paleozoic Faunas of 
Northwestern New Jersey. 

Mr. van Ingen described the work of the 
party belonging to the Geological Survey of 
New Jersey, which, during the past two sum- 
mers, has been engaged in tracing the outcrops 
of the paleozoic formations, and collecting fos- 


SCIENCE. 


923 


sils. Of this party, Mr. Kummel, the assistant 
State geologist, traces the boundaries and works 
out the tectonics, while Dr. Weller, of the 
University of Chicago, collects fossils at locali- 
ties indicated by Mr. Kummel. During July, 
Mr. van Ingen spent a week with this party in 
the fieldat Newton. Newtonissituated on the 
shales of the Trenton group, there extensively 
quarried for slates. To the east is a low ridge 
of limestone which presents the same appearance 
as the Barnegat limestone along the Hudson 
river. The upper part of this limestone has 
yielded trilobites, probably Dikellocephalus, in- 
dicating that this portion is of upper Cambrian 
age. At other localities a trilobite described by 
Weller as Liostracus jerseyensis, shows that the 
rock there is also Cambrian—probably of the 
middle or upper division. In the vicinity of 
Franklin Furnace good specimens of Olenellus cf. 
thompsoni were found at localities described by 
Foerste. Further to the east of Newton, on 
the other side of the Cambrian ridge, is a wide 
belt of Ordovician rocks—Trenton limestone 
overlaid by a thick series of shales. The lime- 
stone contains the typical Trenton fauna,—Raji- 
nesquina Plectambonites, Pterygometopus, etc.,— 
and is very much like that found at Rosetown, 
Ulster Co., and Rochdale, Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
The shale has few fossiliferous beds, but occa- 
sionally one of the more sandy layers contains 
Dalmanella testudinaria, Plectambonites and Rafi- 
nesquina—the same combination found in the 
Hudson shales at Poughkeepsie and at Roun- 
dout. At one locality was found a fauna with 
Ampyx and Harpes. In eastern New York 
these genera of trilobites are found only in the 
Chazy limestone, and the discovery is of great in- 
terest in that it indicates the presence of this for- 
mation at a distance of almost 250 miles south of 
what has hitherto been recognized as its southern 
limit. Further to the northwest, along the 
Delaware river, were found the Silurian and 
lower Devonian formations. The finest section 
is seen in the face of the cliff of the old Near- 
pass quarry, about three miles south of Tri- 
States, where all the formations from the upper 
Ordovician to the Esopus shale of the lower 
Devonian appear, with numerous fossils. At 
Otisville the Shawangunk grit is finely exposed 
ina large quarry. All the evidence at hand 


924 


points to the conclusion that this formation, of 
a thickness of at least a thousand feet, was 
formed as a flood plain deposit. Its charac- 
teristics, except color, are the same as the New 
Jersey and Connecticut valley Jurassic sand- 
stones. Ripple-marks, sun-cracks, cross-bed- 
ding, channel-fillings, etc., are abundant. In 
the railroad cut west of Otisville the grit lies 
upon Hudson shales, with non-coincident dip. 
On the contact occurs a few inches of clay, 
which next to the shale, is quite free of pebbles, 
while next the grit it is filled with quartz peb- 
bles. This was interpreted to be residual clay 
caused by the decomposition of the shale, 
through sub-aérial agencies, before it became 
covered by the grit. The old notions regarding 
rock-formation required the presence of a body 
of water in which the sediments might be de- 
posited. Several of the geological subdivisions 
showed characters which would not have been 
present had these formations been laid down 
under water, for this mode of origin results in 
a sorting of the rock-forming materials, and no 
sorting is detected in these grits. Flood plain 
deposits are very irregular, both as to stratifi- 
cation and sorting of materials, and these fea- 
tures are well exhibited in the grits. Other 
formations that are probably plain-flood deposits 
are parts of the Potsdam sandstone in eastern 
New York, the Medina sandstone, the sand- 
stones of the Catskill group, and many of the 
sandstones of the coal measures of Pennsylvania 
and the Mississippi valley—in fact the greater 
part of the ‘ Barren Measures.’ 

Dr. Theodore G. White presented notes on 
‘The Glen Falls, N. Y., section of the Lower 
Ordovician,’ described his detailed study of the 
faunas of successive strata at Glen Falls, and 
their relations to similar studies along the Lake 
Champlain valley to the north, and the Mohawk 
and the Black River valleys to the west. The 
section forms a low anticline along the shore of 
the Hudson. At the baseis seen the Calciferous 
sandrock, containing Ophileta and fucoids. Con- 
formable upon this is a layer afew inches thick, 
of barren black shale, which is very much 
crushed, and then the same beds of the ostra- 
cod, Leperditia, and their associated corals and 
peculiar forms of Strophomena, as have been 
found in the lowest Black River zones on 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


Button Island in Lake Champlain. The zones 
of Parastrophia and Triplesia, occurring near 
this portion of the series in localities to the 
north and west, were not found here. The 
succeeding coral beds of Columnaria were well 
developed. Above these are the cross bedded 
gray beds, which in some recent reports have 
been considered to represent the Birdseye lime- 
stone, which seems to be lacking in this locality, 
unless met with at this unexpectedly high posi- 
tion. The upper portion of the section, which 
is of lower Trenton age, shows no unusual 
forms. The tendency of the lowest and the 
uppermost portions of the Ordovician sections 
in the region to wear away and appear wanting, 
owing to their prevailing softness, was com- 
mented on. 

Dr. Henry S. Washington read a paper on 
‘The Rocks of Lake Winnipesaukee, N. H.,’ 
as a preliminary report on work done by Pro- 
fessor Pirsson and himself on Mount Belknap 
and Red Hill, near Lake Winnepesaukee, 
N. H. The rocks of Mount Belknap are shown 
to be prominently a quite uniform alkali 
syenite, which is cut by many dikes of camp- 
tonite and allied rocks, and of bostonites, 
aplites and syenite-porphyries. These dikes 
also cut the surrounding porphyritic gneiss. 
At one place, near the border, is a mass of 
basic hornblende-gabbro, with large, poikilitic 
phenocrysts of brown hornblende. ' A syenite 
breccia also occurs. At Red Hill similar syenite, 
formerly described by W. S. Bayley, occurs 
on the summit, while, toward the periphery, 
nephaline appears as a constituent, and a true 
foyaite is developed. The massif is also cut by 
dikes, both camptonitic and syenitic. The 
region is to form the subject of a petrographic 
study by the two geologists in the near future. 

Professor Daniel 8. Martin described a visit 
which he paid during the summer to the noted 
mineral locality at Haddam, Maine. He de- 
scribed the manner in which the choicest speci- 
mens occur there, in veins of albitic pegama- 
tite, with tourmaline, muscovite and quartz 
along the contact with the wall of gneiss. The 
mica plates along the contact are often two feet 
in diameter. 

Dr. A: A. Julien in his paper ‘The Geology 
of Central Cape Cod’ reviewed the opinions of 


DscEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


Mitchell, Davis, Shaler and others on the geol- 
ogy of Cape Ann, with especial reference to 
_the district from Chatham to Yarmouth. In 
the stratified deposits of sands and gravels 
which underlie the plains south of the morainal 
‘back-bone’ of the Cape, the more frequent 
intercallation of clays was pointed out, and 
the occasional disturbance and flexure. Stri- 
ated pebbles, although much water-worn, are 
quite largely interspersed. The discovery of 
true glacial silt at some depth in one locality 
indicates that the ice-sheet there rested, in- 
stead of floating. The kettle shaped hollows 
and pond-basins were shown by the speaker to 
be largely connected with the damming of sur- 
face streams, and some observations on the pre- 
glacial drainage valleys and topography were 
discussed. The identification of certain trans- 
ported fragments of quartz-porphyry with out- 
crops of the same near Marblehead indicate a 
pre-glacial movement from N.N. W. to 8.8. 
E. To the fifteen changes of level which have 
been recorded, a final small elevation probably 
should be added, judging from the low terrace 
along this part of the coast. Examples of the 
facited pebbles were exhibited and provoked 
considerable discussion among those present 
as to the origin of those pebbles. 

Professor Richard E. Dodge recounted his 
pleasure in visiting the region of the Colorado 
Canyon, during the past summer, in company 
with a party, and finding the physiography, as 
graphically illustrated in the drawings in Pow- 
ell’s reports, to be a most faithful and non-dia- 
grammatic portrayal of the features themselves. 
He then described the striking examples of 
gigantic geophysical results seen in the Great 
Kiabab anticline, the Grand Canyon itself, and 
the Kiabab plateau and its faults. He also de- 
scribed the appearance of the great basin of 
‘Lake Bonneville.’ 

Remarks on foreign localities visited by them 
during the summer, were made by Professor J. 
J. Stevenson and Dr. HE. O. Hovey. 

THEODORE G. WHITE, 
Secretary of Section. 


SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY. 


THE regular meeting of the Section was held 
on November 26. The first paper was a report 


SCIENCE. 


925 


of the Paris Congress of Psychology by Dr. R. 
S. Woodworth. This report was more detailed 
than the published accounts and also suggested 
certain questions in regard to the enlargement 
and control of American representation at sim- 
ilar congresses in the future. 

The second paper, by Mr. Clark Wissler, on 
‘Correlation of Anthropometric Tests,’ reported 
some results of a series of mental and physical 
tests upon students in Columbia University and 
Barnard College. The young women of Barnard 
College were found to be superior to Columbia 
freshmen in the tests for time of perception, 
naming of colors and resistance to pressure ; 
they were equal to the freshmen in rate of 
fatigue, perception of weights, sensation areas, 
perception of size and logical memory; they 
were inferior in size of head, strength of hand, 
reaction time, association time and auditory 
memory. There is some probability that the 
young women are superior in perception of 
pitch and inferior in movement time. With 
the freshmen who repeated the test in their 
senior year an improvement was found in all 
except sensation areas and perception of size, 
though the difference in some cases is slight. 
It was also found that the seniors showed a de- 
cided tendency to hold the same relative rank 
as when freshmen, thus indicating a general 
advancement of the group during college life. 
In correlations it appeared that logical memory 
and length of head are related characteristics, 
but length of head also correlates with lung 
capacity and strength of hand. The work has 
not gone far enough to say which of these has 
the most weight. Attempts to correlate reac- 
tion time and the other tests of quickness gave 
no results. 

The third paper, presented by Dr. BH. L. 
Thorndike, reported the results of certain ex- 
periments on the ‘Effects of Special Training 
on General Ability.’ These experiments were 
performed jointly by Drs. Woodward and 
Thorndike. The results of a number of experi- 
ments show that when any mental function is 
trained in connection with certain data, the 
improvement is not of the function in general. 
If different data are used there will be less or 
even no improvement shown. The general 
theory that the mind equals a number of special 


926 


abilities, independent to a degree hitherto un- 
suspected, was supported further by the great 
variability in our judgments of slightly differing 
magnitudes. 

The fourth paper, by C. H. Judd was on the 
‘Movements of Writing.’ These movements 
were analyzed by means of tracers attached to 
the hand, back of the fingers, and to the arm, 
back of the wrist. The written words give the 
sum of all the movements of arm, hand and 
fingers. The hand tracer gives only arm and 
hand movements, omitting finger movements. 
The arm tracer shows arm movements only. 
The general result of this analysis shows that 
the arm carries the hand forward and partici- 
pates only to a very small degree in the forma- 
tion of the lettersand words. The gross move- 
ments, especially those which are upward and 
forward, in the formation of the letters, are 
performed by the hand. All the finer curves 
and more delicate lines of the letters are formed 
by the fingers. The muscular coordinations of 
the different individuals tested, while differing 
greatly in detail characteristics, all show this 
general type of movement. No results were 
presented from subjects who write naturally 
with a full arm movement. 

CHARLES H. JupD, 
Secretary. 


THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON, 


THE 524th annual meeting of the Society was 
held on Saturday night, November 24th, at the 
Cosmos Club. 

Under the title of ‘An Attempted Solution 
of the Social Problem,’ Mr. B. Pickmann Mann 
described the organization and history of the 
People’s Real Estate Tontine, a philanthropic 
institution incorporated under the laws of New 
York State as a building and loan association, 
with the purpose of providing an annual income 
of increasing value with increase of age, espe- 
cially for the relief of superannuated persons 
from poverty. The officers and trustees of this 
Association serve gratuitously and it has been 
endowed by gifts from many persons. This ac- 
count of the last eight years’ growth of the 
Association supplemented an account of the 
first eight years’ growth, given before the So- 
ciety by Mr. Mann under the same title in 1892. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


_The second paper was by Mr. F. O. Radel- 
finger, whose topic was ‘Divergent Series.’ 
After some preliminary remarks on the origin 
of divergent series, in which he pointed out a 
distinction between those which rise naturally 
from investigation in mathematics and those 
which are simply hypothecated, he passed to 
the consideration of some recent investigations 
by Borel.* 

A first power series, assumed to be either 
divergent or convergent was written down, 
and a second more convergent series obtained 
from this by multiplying each term by a uni- 
formly decreasing factor a"/n! A relation be- 
tween these two series was to be deduced, which 
relation was expressed as a definite integral of 
a function of the second or derived series and 
certain simple transcendentals. Some applica- 
tions of this relation were then given and its 
use in rendering the first series convergent in 
extending its original domain of convergence 
was pointed out. The relations discovered by 
Steitjie between certain divergent series and 
continued fractions were stated and their ex- 
tension by Borel mentioned. 

EK. D. PRESTON, 
Secretary. 


GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 105th regular meeting was held Novem- 
ber 28, 1900. The following papers were pre- 
sented : 

Mr. Arnold Hague, ‘Account of the Inter- 
national Geological Congress at Paris, 1900.’ 

Mr. F. L. Ransome, ‘ The Fissure Systems of 
the Silverton Quadrangle, Colorado.’ 

The remarkably numerous and _ persistent 
fissures, in which occur most of the ore bodies 
of this portion of the San Juan Mountains, 
were described and classified. It was con- 
cluded that the forces which produced the 
fissuring were local in character and practically 
confined to the fissured area._ They were prob- 
ably genetically connected with the eruption 
and local accumulation of great thicknesses of 
voleanic rocks upon an ancient eroded base- 
ment. F. L. RANSOME, 

Davip WHITE, 
Secretaries. 
* Annales de l Ecole Normale, 1899. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 328th meeting was held on Saturday 
evening, November 17th, and was devoted to a 
popular symposium on the subject of ‘ Malaria 
from a Biological Standpoint.’ 

C. W. Stiles described ‘The Structwre and 
Life History of the Parasites of Malaria,’ illus- 
trating his remarks with numerous diagrams. 
He noted the various theories regarding malaria 
and pointed out the steps by which our pres- 
ent knowledge of its cause had been reached, 
stating that Dr. A. F. A. King was the first to 
suggest that the mosquito was the direct agent 
in transmitting the disease. The manner in 
which the parasite passed from the water to 
the mosquito and thence to man was described 
in some detail, and the fact brought forward 
that various animals are subject to malaria pro- 
duced by different parasites than those which 
cause the malaria of man. 

L. O. Howard discussed ‘ The Malarial Mos- 
quitoes, their Biology, what has been done 
and what may be done to Exterminate Them,’ 
giving a full description of the biology of Ano- 
pheles, contrasting it with the life history of 
Culex and with the recently discovered and as 
yet unpublished life history of Psorophora, il- 
lustrating his remarks with lantern slides. He 

- dwelt at some length on the subject of mos- 
quito control, describing the different remedies 
and mentioning some cases in which, during 
the past summer, not only had the mosquito 
supply been greatly diminished, but in one ma- 
larial village malaria had practically been eradi- 
cated. He also described at some length the 
results of a very interesting experiment in com- 
munity work at Winchester, Va., where the treat- 
ment of mosquito breeding-places was made, 
during the past summer, a police measure. 

F. A, Lucas, 
Secretary. 


ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL CLUB OF, THE UNIVER- 
SITY OF MICHIGAN. 


AT the meeting of November 15th, Mr. Ray- 
mond Pearl gave an account of work carried 
on at Woods Holl on the reactions of the em- 
bryos and larve of Limulus. The normal 
movements and reactions of the adult had 
been studied, and a brief prefatory account of 


SCLENCE. 


927 


these was given. With this as a basis, the 
question was investigated whether there occurs 
a development of reactions comparable with the 
structural development. The results showed a 
distinct parallelism in many respects between 
the morphological development on the one hand 
and the psycho-physiological development on 
the other. 

The Walking Movements.—Some time be- 
fore the animal leaves the egg shell (or more 
properly, the ‘ vicarious chorion’) purposeless 
kicking movements of the legs appear. After 
hatching, these movements continue, but grad- 
ually become coordinated by practice, until the 
perfected walking movement is produced from 
them. 

The Swimming Reflex.— The swimming 
movements of the larva in the tribolite stage 
and for a week following the moult which termi- 
nates that stage are different from those of the 
adult. The adult swims by a combined, coordi- 
nated movement of the thoracic and abdominal 
appendages. In the young larve swimming 
takes place by the action of the gills, the legs 
being held perfectly quiet, strongly extended 
over the anterior edge of the thorax. The 
gills of the larva beat rhythmically from the 
first in a perfectly coordinated way. This 
movement begins within an hour after the ani- 
mal leaves the ‘ vicarious chorion’; it is clearly 
a reaction due to the stimulation produced by 
direct contact of sea water with the gills. 

Normal respiratory movements begin some 
time before hatching. The complicated chew- 
ing reflex of the adult is absent in young larve. 
The burrowing habit arises as a modification 
of the thigmotactic response of the larva. 

To mechanical stimulation there is but one 
response, and this is the same, whatever part 
of the body is stimulated. 

The phototactic, geotactic, hydrotactic and 
general thigmotactic reactions were discussed. 

All the reactions were found to be of a pecu- 
liarly definite machine-like character, as if 
each were the result of the starting into 
activity of a distinct mechanism by a stimulus. 
The reactions appear as soon as their mechan- 
isms are developed. So long as the mechanism 
is intact the response always takes place in the 
same way. ‘The reactions can be analyzed into 


928 


more or less simple, but distinct and specific, 
reflexes. 

The fourth meeting was held November 22d. 
Dr. S. J. Holmes gave an account of some ex- 
periments on the development of fragments of 
the egg of Pennaria. 

Mr. Raymond Pearl presented the results of 
a study of the motor reactions of the ctenophore 
Mnemiopsis leidyi. 

Attention was directed especially to the ques- 
tion of how the organism moves with reference 
to the position of external objects acting as 
stimuli. To localized mechanical stimuli two 
distinct motor reactions were found to occur, 
depending on what part of the body was 
stimulated. (1) Stimulation in the region 
about the aboral pole caused an increase in the 
strength of the beat of the comb-rows, result- 
ing in a movement of the animal straight ahead 
(toward the oral end): therefore away from the 
source of stimulation. (2) Stimulation of any 
other region of the body causes the following 
reaction: (a) the lobes close strongly, thus ex- 
pelling the water rapidly and causing the 
animal to move backward (toward the aboral 
end). At the same time the comb-rows cease 
to beat. (6) The comb-rows on the side stimu- 
lated remaining partly or entirely quiet, the 
other comb-rows begin to beat strongly, carry- 
ing the animal forward and at the same time 
of course usually turning it toward the source 
of stimulus (never toward the opposite side). 
As the animal thus moves toward the source of 
stimulus the lobes are opened widely and the 
tentacles thrown back. This movement fre- 
quently brings the mouth of the animal against 
the stimulating agent, if the latter remains in 
place. This response is perhaps a food reaction. 
(This account is of a perfectly typical case, from 
which there are individual variations.) 

Experiments were made on the relation of 
the'central nervous system to the coordination 
exhibited in the contraction of the lobes. It 
was found that in animals from which the 
whole aboral end had been removed, including 
the whole of the central nervous system, there 
was still perfect coordination in the contraction 
of the lobes of the two sides. When a single 
lobe was removed from the body and split 
lengthwise so that the two parts remained con- 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


nected only by a small bridge of tissue, the con- 
traction of the two longitudinal halves was still 
found to be well coordinated. 

: H. §. JENNINGS, 
Secretary. 


SCIENCE CLUB OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
WISCONSIN. 


THE Science Club of the University of Wiscon- 
sin held its first meeting of the academic year 
on the evening of November 27th. Dr. HE. A. 
Birge, the new president of the Club and the 
acting president of the University, delivered 
an address upon ‘Huxley.’ Because of the 
very general interest of this address, the meet- 
ing was an open one and the large lecture hall 
of the University was crowded. Dr. Birge an- 
alyzed the qualities of mind and heart which 
characterized the great expositor of the doctrine 
of evolution. An interesting contrast was in- 
stituted between Huxley upon the one hand and 
first Matthew Arnold and then Gladstone upon 
the other. 

While warmly sympathetic and eulogistic to- 
a high degree, Dr. Birge’s estimate of Huxley 
was in essential agreement with that of Glad- 
stone, whose judgment was that however great 
Huxley’s talents, he was not a genius. : 

Wm. H. Hopes. 


THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ST. LOUIS. 


AT the meeting of the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis on the evening of November 19th, 
Mr. C. F. Baker exhibited a large amount of 
living and preserved material, including micro- 
scopic preparations, illustrative of American 
Tsopods and Amphipods, accompanying the 
demonstration by a short réswmé of the work 
thus far done on Crustacez, particularly on 
these two groups, and making some interest- 
ingly suggestive remarks on the peculiar affini- 
ties of a number of the species found in deep 
wells or hot springs. 

Dr. Amand Rayold presented an abstract of 
the results reached in some recent bacteriolog- 
ical examinations of water from the Illinois, 
Mississippi and Missouri rivers, particularly 
concerning certain features of the occurrence 
and abundance of Bacillus coli-communis. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900.] 


One person was elected to active member- 
ship. 
WILLIAM TRELEASE, 
Recording Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
VON IHERING’S ARCHIPLATA—ARCHELEMIS 
THEORY. 


In ScreNcE for December 7th, Dr. H. von 
Ihering gives a condensed statement of his 
views on the origin of the South American 
fauna. This is the more welcome, since the 
original publications of v. Ihering, although 
dating back to 1890, are not very well known, 
chiefly because these articles (of which v. Iher- 
ing gives a list) have been published in period- 
icals, in which hardly anybody would look for 
them. Part of them are of a mere popular 
character, while another part are too much out 
of the way, and they do not, by their titles, 
give any indication that we might look in them 
for a discussion of zoogeographical topics of 
general interest. 

As regards the chief idea of v. Ihering, that 
South America consists, genetically, of two 
different parts, Archiplata and Archamazonas, 
which have become united subsequently, I am 
of the opinion that this theory is well worth 
discussion. Indeed, I have accepted this theory 
in my studies of the distribution of the fresh- 
water Decapods, and have been able to collect 
further material in support of it. And further, 
in the report on the Tertiary Invertebrates of 
Patagonia, collected by the Princeton Expedi- 
tion, which is in course of preparation, I shall 
again refer to this theory as a very acceptable 
one for the explanation of certain features in 
the distribution of marine animals. There- 
fore, | was much surprised to see that v. [her- 
ing refers to my studies on the freshwater 
crabs and crayfishes as at variance with his 
theory, for only in this sense I can interpret his 
reference to my ‘biologic’ barrier. 

My theory ofa ‘ bioccenotic barrier’ formed by 
the Potamonide (tropical fresh-water crabs) for 
the Potamobiidz and Parastacidae (cray fishes, re- 
stricted to the extratropical parts of either 
hemisphere) was formulated to explain only the 
Bipolarity of the latter groups, without any 
reference to the special conditions in South 


SCIENCE. 


929 


America, but chiefly in respect to those prevail- 
ing in the old world.* I shall discuss this 
question again, and shall pay particular at- 
tention to the South American conditions with 
reference to y. Ihering’s theory: I think that 
the South American Parastacide are members 
of the old Archiplatan fauna, and are connected 
genetically with the New Zealandian and Aus- 
tralian Parastacide, and have reached these 
parts apparently by way of a land connection 
across the Antarctic regions, while the South 
American Potamocarcinine (subfamily of Pota- 
monide) are characteristic of the old Archama- 
zonian fauna, and point possibly to a former 
connection of the latter with Africa (v. Iher- 
ing’s Archhelenis). In this connection I must 
add that v. Ihering’s argument, given in the 
article referred to, as to the coexistence of 
Potamocarcinine and Parastacide in southern 
Brazil is probably a mistake: there are to my 
knowledge no Potamocarcinine in southern 
Brazil, but the fresh-water crabs of small size, 
to which he probably alludes, are Trichodacty- 
line, the genetic relations of which are doubt- 
ful. They have nothing at all to do with my 
‘ bioccenotic barrier,’ and certainly do not ‘ an- 
nul’ it. 

In favor of the theory of a former disconnec- 
tion of the northern and southern parts of South 
America I may call attention to other consider- 
ations. A communication of the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans in Tertiary times is generally 
accepted, and this connection is chiefly placed 
at Panama. Now (according to Hill), { the 
Isthmus of Panama was land since Mesozoic 
times (with only an unimportant interruption 
at the end of the Eocene); but Hill himself 
admits that there must have been a connection 
of oceans somewhere in the Tertiary. The 
theory of v. Ihering gives us a clueto this. If 
we move the interoceanic connection from 
Panama southward, and construct it where 
there must have been the sea separating Arch- 
amazonas and Archiplata, that is to say, across 


*See ‘Bipolaritaet’ in: Zool. Jahrb. Abt. f. 
Syst. v. 9. 1896, p. 593. 

+‘Decapoden’ in Bronn’s ‘Klassen und Ordnungen,’ 
vol. 5 Abteil. 2, p.1289. This part has not yet been 
issued, and I am quoting from proof sheets. 


{ Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., v. 28, No. 5, 1898. 


930 


the South American continent about where 
there is now the Amazonas valley, we should 
still have a communication between both oceans 
within the tropics. Just this kind of connection 
is demanded by the facts that have led to the 
assumption of an interruption of the isthmus of 
Panama.- 

The former connection of v. Ihering’s Archi- 
plata with a supposed Antarctic continent is no 
new theory, but goes back, in this form, as far 
as Ritimeyer (1867), and I have no doubt 
that we should accept it.* But we hardly can 
accept it in the shape of Forbes’ ‘ Antarctica’ 
(1893). This huge continental mass is simply 
impossible, and Professor Osborn (SCIENCE, 
April 18, 1900) has very properly tried to re- 
strict it to a reasonable size; but I think we 
should still more contract its boundaries. In 
this respect I should follow Hedley’s+ views, 
who practically, but without giving a map, 
accepts the limits of the present Antarctic 
continent (as defined by Enderby, Wilke’s, 
Victoria and Graham Land), with only such 
extensions as are absolutely necessary to con- 
nect it with the present southern continents. 


A. E. ORTMANN. 
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, 


Dec. 7, 1900. 


THE LONGEST AERIAL VOYAGE. 


To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: The official re- 
port just received of the long-distance balloon 
race from Paris on October 9th, changes some- 
what the figures on page 799 of SCIENCE, 
which were those furnished to the press. It 
appears now that Count de La Vaulx and a 
companion traveled 1,200 miles in 35 hours 
and 45 minutes in the basket of a balloon con- 
taining only 57,000 cubic feet of illuminating 
gas. They reached a maximum height of 
three and a half miles, crossed Germany and 
landed in Russia, as did another of the con- 
testants. This is probably the longest con- 
tinuous voyage in the air ever made, although 
it was nearly equaled forty years ago by our 

* An historical account of the different theories ad- 
vanced for the explanation of the relations of the 
southern faunas, and a classification of them, will 
shortly be published in the American Naturalist. 

} Proc. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, 1895, August 7th. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 311. 


countryman, John Wise, who, with two com- 
panions, went by balloon in 19 hours from St. 
Louis to Jefferson County, New York, a dis- 
tance of 1,150 miles. 

It is evident that, under the management of 
an aéronaut, a balloon can be kept longer in 
the air than an unmanned balloon, but, never- 
theless, a balloon of 8,700 cubie feet capacity, 
carrying only self-recording instruments, which 
was liberated from Berlin in 1894, after attain- 
ing a height of ten miles was carried 700 
miles to the borders of Bosnia, at a speed of 
62 miles an hour. Still more remarkable, in 
its way, was the flight of a pair of kites last 
summer from the Royal Aéronautical Observa- 
tory near Berlin. Five kites, which had lifted 
self-recording meteorological instruments to a 
height of two and a half miles, broke the wire 
that confined them to the ground and the two 
upper kites dragged it across the country for 
nearly a hundred miles before they were finally 
checked, the trailing wire, two miles in length, 
furnishing sufficient resistance to keep the kites 
flying throughout the night. 

A. LAWRENCE RoTcH. 

BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, 

November 30, 1900. 


‘THE CRIMINAL, HIS PERSONNEL AND ENVIRON- 
MENT.’ 

To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE : Disclaiming in 
any sense to answer the attack upon my re- 
cently published book, ‘The Criminal, his Per- 
sonnel and Environment,’ emanating from the 
pen of Mr. Havelock Ellis and published in 
your valued journal of the 19th inst., I never- 
theless deem it but justice to myself to ask 
of my critic a verification of the assertion 
therein made, that: ‘‘When he (the author) 
mentions authorities he is unable in a large 
proportion of cases even to spell their names”? (the 
italics and parentheses are my own). Now, 
as I happen to cite a very large number of 
names, and while fully conscious of my liability 
to err, the charge is an exceedingly broad, if 
not hazardous one, which, if failing to sub- 
stantiate, will lay my critic open to a grave 
counter-charge. I respectfully challenge Mr. 
Ellis to make good his proofs, which, if true, 
may readily be done. In the event of his ina- 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


bility so to do, I then ask for a modicum of such 
proofs, and failing in this, and, in view of the 
fact that Iam just completing the proof sheets 
for the second edition (since March) of my book, 
Ishould deem it in the light of a personal kind- 
ness as well if he would favor me with the 
evidence of one or more such errors, naming 
paragraph and page. 

As to any further animadversion upon my 
work, I am willing to leave its merits to the 
just judgment of the reading public and my 
colaborers in the field of practical penology 
rather than to the dictum ofthe study and the 
essay of theorists at long range. 


AvuGust DRAHMs. 
SAN QUENTIN, CAL. 


At Mr. Drahms’s request I have rapidly 
turned over the pages of his book and noted 
down a few of the liberties taken with the 
names of authors quoted or referred to :—Tay- 
lor (for Tylor), passim; Galt (for Gall) p. 22; 
Von Homel (for Van Hamel) p. 28; Ferrer, 
(for Ferrero) passim ; Tamborini (for Tamburini) 
p. 46, Tyndale (for Tyndall) p. 51; Masso (for 
Mosso) p. 69; Gradinger (for Gradenigo) p. 78 ; 
Berdier (for Bordier) p. 87; Herman Schaaf- 
hausen (for Hermann Schaaffhausen) p. 95; Le- 
lart (for Lélert) p. 105; Weissmann (for Weis- 
mann) passim; Thompson (for Thomson) p. 138 ; 
Delboef (for Delbceuf) p. 319; Frey (for Fry) p, 
334. It would be easy, butis probably unnec- 
essary, to enlarge this list very considerably. 
Some of the names are so changed that it is 
hazardous to identify them, more especially since 
Mr. Drahms seldom supplies definite references. 
When he does they are sometimes remarkable. 
Thus I find (p. 95) a reference to Ecker given 
as ‘Crania Germanice,’ Merid. Occid., Freib. 
i. p.’; it may interest Mr. Drahms to know that 
this being interpreted, means ‘ Crania Germaniz 
meridionalis occidentalis, Freiburg, i/Br.’ 

Mr. Drahms will, I hope, believe me when I 
say that the other statements in my review may 
be as fully proved as that to which he takes 
special exception. He is mistaken in thinking 
that I wish to ‘attack’ his book; I have no 
desire whatever to judge him hastily. But he 
has chosen to challenge examination of his book 
as a ‘scientific study,’ and he must not feel 


SCIENCE. 


of the Zeitschrift fiir anorganische Chemie. 


931 


aggrieved when it is submitted to very elemen- 
tary tests of scientific precision. 


HAVELOCK ELLIs. 
LELANT, CORNWALL. 


NOTES ON INORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 

THE use of acetylene in the blast lamp has 
been tested by many experimenters, and it has 
been found possible to obtain easily a heat at 
which gold can be readily fused. In the Oc- 
tober Moniteur Scientifique, G. L. Bourgerel has 
described experiments in replacing air in the 
acetylene blast lamp with oxygen. When 
pure oxygen is used the flame becomes highly 
luminous and deposits carbon in very compact 
form, much resembling gas carbon. When, 
however, a mixture of air and oxygen is used 
with acetylene, the gas is completely burned, 
and it was found possible to obtain a temper- 
ature high enough to fuse platinum. There 
would seem to be no particular practical ad- 
vantage in the use of this flame over the com- 
monly used oxygen-coal-gas blast lamp. 


HyYpRoGEN tellurid was discovered by Davy, 
in 1810, by the action of hydrochloric acid on 
sodium tellurid, but the gas has never been 
obtained pure, and beyond its odor and its 
instability comparatively little has been known 
of its properties. The problem has been taken 
up by Dr. Edmund Ernyei, of Budapest, and 
his results are described in the last number 
After 
testing several methods, the best was found to 
be the electrolysis of 50 per cent. sulfuric acid 
by a 220 volt current with a tellurium kathode. 
The apparatus was kept at a temperature of 
—15° to —20° and the evolved gas dried imme- 
diately over calcium chlorid and phosphorus 
pentoxid. It was then condensed by the use 
of liquid carbon dioxid, and formed orange- 
yellow crystals which melt at —54° to a green- 
ish yellow liquid. This hydrogen tellurid 
proved to be practically pure. Its boiling 
point is slightly above 0°, but it decomposes 
quite rapidly below this temperature into tel- 
lurium and hydrogen. It is quite soluble in 
water, but its solution decomposes on contact 
with the air. In caustic allcalies it dissolves, 
forming alkaline tellurids, which decompose 
readily, and on standing these become dark 


932 


red from the formation of polytellurids. Its 
density was obtained by the Dumas method, 
and by rapid working the decomposition was 
so slight as to have no appreciable effect upon 
the result. The value found was 65.1 which 
corresponds to the formula H,Te. From this 
the molecular weight would be 130.2. These 
properties of hydrogen tellurid correspond to 
the position of tellurium in the sulfur-selenium 
group, while the high molecular weight agrees 
well in confirming the best atomic weight de- 
termination of tellurium, which places it above 
and not below that of iodin. 

IN connection with the proposed formation 
of a new ‘ Society of Chemical Industry of Vic- 
toria,’ a correspondent of the Chemical News 
takes exception to the term ‘ English Society’ 
by the Honorable Secretary of the Victoria So- 
ciety as applied to the Society of Chemical In- 
dustry, in the following language: ‘‘ Our 
Society is not, I think, an ‘ English’ Society 
merely; it is not merely a British Society ; it 
is an Anglo-American Society. Its President 
of last session was an American, and I believe we 
are proud of both these facts. * * * It seems 
strange that Mr. Gepps in his circular should 
omit our most prosperous and rising section, 
next to that of London, viz., the New York 
Section of the Society of Chemical Industry. 
He probably would not have made the omis- 
sion, however, had he been present at our an- 
nual general meeting this summer, and wit- 
nessed the enthusiastic reception accorded to 
our American President, and have heard his 
address, and especially his speech at the annual 
dinner of the Society. If there is one thing we 
of the Society of Chemical Industry are more 
proud of than another, it is of the fact that in 
the Society and its journal the hands of British 
and American technical chemists are united— 
spite of the broad Atlantic—in a brotherly 
grip.’? To all of which we say Amen. 

J. L. H. 


JESSE WILLIAM LAZEAR. 

AT a meeting of the Johns Hopkins Hospital 
Medical Society on October 16th, Dr. W. S. 
Thayer, referring to the recent death from yel- 
low fever of Dr. Jesse William Lazear, ad- 
dressed the Society as follows: Before we pro- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


ceed with the program this evening, I should 
like to say a few words about our dear friend 
Lazear, whose sad death at Quemados, Cuba, 
on September 25th, is so fresh in our minds. 
Lazear was born just outside of Baltimore 
thirty-four years ago. He graduated at the . 
Academic Department of the Johus Hopkins 
University in 1889, and three years later ob- 
tained the degree of M.D. from Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York. After this he was an in- 
terne in the Bellevue Hospital for two years. 
After spending the greater part of the year in 
studying abroad, particularly in Paris, he re- 
turned in 1895 and became one of the medical 
staff of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In the 
summer of 1896, Dr. Lazear was married and 
began the practice of medicine in Baltimore. 
At the same time, however, he was an assistant 
in clinical microscopy in the University, and in 
the laryngological department in the Hospital 
dispensary. Last winter he obtained an ap- 
pointment as assistant surgeon in the army with 
special laboratory duties, and was stationed in 
Havana. There he soon became interested in 
the study of yellow fever, and for several 
months he had been one of the commission ap- 
pointed by the Surgeon General, for the study 
of this disease. He had been constantly ex- 
posed to infection, and finally, in the course of 
his duty, contracted his fatal illness. 

Dr. Lazear was a man of few words but keen 
perception. He was an extremely careful and 
thorough worker. He kept his own counsel, 
asked few questions and little help of his asso- 
ciates, but he was a man who, when he started 
an undertaking, had the ability and enthusiasm 
to keep quietly at work until he accomplished 
his end. It was through his excellent work 
that we were able several years ago to make 
our first positive intra vitam diagnosis of septi- 
cemja due to the diplococcus of Neisser. His 
valuable studies upon the internal structure of 
the malarial parasite, which I had the pleasure 
of bringing before this Society last winter, are 
remembered by all. 

Personally, he was an exceptionally simple, 
high-minded and lovable man. He could not 
have failed to find in a short time a public po- 
sition in which his unusual merits would have 
become more generally known. 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


I should like to suggest to the Society the 
adoption of the following resolutions : 

““ Whereas, On the 26th day of September, our be- 
loved colleague and friend, Jesse William Lazear, lost 
his life in the discharge of his duty as a member of 
the United States Yellow Fever Commission ; 

“And whereas, His exceptional ability in his pro- 
fession, his simplicity and modesty as a man, had 
greatly endeared him to all whose good fortune it was 
to know him ; 

** Be it resolved, That we, his former colleagues and 
associates, do hereby express our profound sorrow at 
the loss to the community of one whose future was 
unusually rich in promise, to ourselves, of a dear 
friend and fellow student ; 

“And be it further resolved, That we express to his 
wife and family our warmest and most heartfelt sym- 
pathy. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES-AND NEWS. 

THE mid-winter meeting of the Council of 
the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science will be held at 1 o’elock, P. M., 
Friday, December 28th, in Room 12, McCoy 
Hall, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 

AT the anniversary meeting of the Munich 
Academy of Sciences on November 14th, Pro- 
fessor W. C. Rontgen was elected an ordinary 
member; Professor S. Gunther, of Munich, 
was elected an associate member ; Professors 
W. Wundt, Leipzig, O. Butschli, Heidel- 
berg, W. His, Leipzig, and H. de Vries, Am- 
sterdam, were elected corresponding members, 
and Professor Poincaré, Paris, a foreign mem- 
ber. 

Dr. KARL KLEIN, professor of mineralogy at 
Berlin, has been elected a corresponding mem- 
ber of the Paris Academy of Sciences. 


THE Cross of Commander of the Legion of 
Honor has been conferred by the president of 
the French Republic on Sir William McCormac, 
president of the Royal College of Surgeons of 
England. 

OXFORD University will confer the degree of 
D.Se., honoris causa, upon Dr. Oliver J. Lodge, 
principal of the University of Birmingham. 

THE Berlin Academy of Sciences has made 
the following appropriations: To Herr Engler, 
toward the publication of ‘Das Pflanzenreich,’ 


SCIENCE. 


933 


2,000 Marks; to Professor Otto Lehmann, of 
Karlsruhe, for the continuation of his investiga- 
tions on fluid crystals, 1,200 Marks; to Pro- 
fessors Friedrich Paschen and Karl Runge, 
Hanover, for an electro magnet, 1,400 Marks, 
and to Dr. Karl Peter, of Breslau, for studies 
on the development of lizards, 500 Marks. 


Dr. H. M. SmiruH, of the U. 8. Commission 
of Fish and Fisheries, has recently returned 
from a three month’s trip to Europe, during 
which he visited a number of biological stations, 
including those at Plymouth and Naples. At 
the International Congress of Fisheries and 
Agriculture, held at Paris in September, Dr. 
Smith was the official delegate of this govern- 
ment. 


A Bust of Charles H. Haswell, the first en- 
gineer-in-chief of the U. S. Navy, is in process 
of completion, by Dunbar, for the Union Club 
of New York. Mr. Haswell is now in his ninety- 
second year and isstill active, going to business 
every day and looking no older, his friends say, 
than he did thirty years ago. He was the first 
officer in the navy to introduce scientific methods 
in engineering and constructed the engineer 
corps of that service. After he had organized 
the corps, he designed much of the then novel 
machinery of steam propulsion. A few of his 
steam war vessels still survive, in retirement. 
He published the first table-book for engineers, 
and that famous pioneer work is still published 
by the Harpers, and has passed through about 
fifty editions in something over a half century. 
His semi-biographical ‘ History of New York’ 
is probably better known to the majority of his 
fellow townsmen. 

CAMBRIDGE University will confer its M.A., 
honoris causa, on Mr. G. H. F. Nuttall, M.D., 
(California), Ph.D. (Gottingen), university lec- 
turer in bacteriology and preventive medicine, 
and on Mr. T. Strangeways Pigg, university 
demonstrator of pathology. 

Dr. H. R. Mixv has resigned the librarianship 
of the Royal Geographical Society, and will be 
succeeded by Mr. E. Heawood. 

We learn from Nature that at the annual 
meeting of the Royal Geological Society of 
Cornwall, Dr. Le Neve Foster was presented 
with the William Bolitho gold medal in recog- 


934 


nition of the distinction which he has attained 
as a mineralogist, and also of the great services 
rendered by him to the Society as curator dur- 
ing the period when he held the appointment 
of inspector of mines for Cornwall and Devon. 


-THE committee ona memorial of the late Dr. 
Joseph Coats, who was the first occupant of the 
chair of pathology in the University of Glas 
gow, has established a scholarship to be known 
as the ‘ Joseph Coats Memorial Scholarship in 
Pathology,’ for the encouragement of original 
research. The value of the scholarship, which 
will be awarded once in two years, is the in- 
come of the endowment of £1,200. A brass 
memorial tablet will be placed in the Patholog- 
ical Institute at the Western Infirmary, Glas- 
gow. 


PROFESSOR JOHN GARDINER, LL.D., who oc- 
cupied the chair of biology in the University 
of Colorado, at Boulder, Colorado, from 1889 
to 1898, died as a victim of consumption on 
November 26. Professor Gardiner, who was 
thirty-eight years of age, was a graduate of 
the University of London, B.Sc., 1884, and was 
awarded the table of the British Association 
at the Naples Biological Station in 1887. He 
was an enthusiastic student of biology, a man 
of rare culture in other lines and a stimulating 
teacher and lecturer. 


WE regret to record the death of Dr. Adolph 
Pichler, at Innsbriick, at the age of 81 years. 
Dr. Pichler was for many years professor of 
geology at Innsbrick and was at the same time 
one of the more eminent German poets and men 
of letters. He was the author of tragedies, 
epics and lyric poems which are much esteemed 
by the critics. Even if there were only the 
names of Pichler and Camisso, the eminent 
German poet and botanist, it would be proved 
that a man of science is far more likely to be a 
poet than is the average man. 

THE death is announced of Professor M. F. 
Kovalskij, professor of pure mathematics at 
Charkow ; of Emanuel Formdének, professor of 
pharmacology at the Bohemian University of 
Prague, and of M. A. Pellerin, director of the 
botanical garden at Nantes. 

PROFESSOR GEORGE E. HALE, director of the 
Yerkes Observatory, asks us to announce that 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


appointments will be made to two new positions 
on the staff of the Observatory, before July 1, 
1901. The holders of these positions will be 
expected to devote the principal part of their 
time, a specified number of hours per day, to 
the measuremeut and reduction of photographs 
of spectra or to other work of computing. Op- 
portunity will also be given to become familiar 
with the investigations in progress at the Ob- 
servatory, and perhaps to take part in them 
during hours not devoted to measures and re- 
ductions. The applicant should be familiar 
with the practical use of the method of least 
squares, and must possess goodeyesight. Pref- 
erence will be given to men trained in the 
measurement and reduction of photographs. 
It is probable that one of the positions will be 
given to a man experienced in astronomical 
methods, the other to one whose work has been 
mainly in a physical laboratory. In neither 
case can assurance be offered that the appoint- 
ment will be for more than one year, as funds 
are not now available fora longer period. The 
salary will be $800. As it is desired to fill one 
of the positions about January 1, 1901, appli- 
cations may be sent at once to the director of the 
Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay, Wisconsin. 


THE Postmaster-General issued, December 
5th, the following order, No. 1,851 : ‘‘ Ordered : 
That Theodore C. Search, President of the Na- 
tional Association of Manufacturers, Philadel- 
phia, Pa.; R. H. Thurston, director of Sibley 
College, Ithaca, N. Y.; Wm. F. King, president 
Merchants’ Association, New York; Alfred 
Brooks Fry, chief engineer and superintendent 
of repairs, U. S. Public Buildings, New York, 
N. Y.; Wm. T. Manning, consulting engineer, 
Baltimore, Md.; and Frederick A. Halsey, me- 
chanical engineer and editor American Ma- 
chinist, New York, N. Y., be and they hereby 
are appointed a committee of experts to give 
consideration to all matters pertaining to the 
use of pneumatic tubes for the transmission of 
mail and to advise the Postmaster-General 
thereon pursuant to the Act of Congress ap- 
proved June 2, 1900.’ The committee met 
December 10th and willreport within ten days, 
advising the Postmaster-General regarding the 
lease or the purchase, the extension, the re- 
striction, or the disuse, of that system of trans- 


DECEMBER 14, 1900. ] 


mission of mail matter. It is now in use in 
New York, Philadelphia and Boston, and is 
asked for in other large cities. 

A DESPATCH from Berkeley states that Mr. D. 
O. Mills, of New York, has promised the Uni- 
versity of California about $24,000, to defray 
the expenses of a two years’ astronomical ex- 
pedition from the Lick Observatory to South 
America or Australia, the object of which is to 
study the movement of stars in the line of sight. 


Mr. GEORGE WHARTON JAMES will lecture 
before the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 
Sciences on the 14th instant on ‘The Wallapais: 
the Bedouins of the Painted Desert of Arizona.’ 
The illustrations will be from photographs taken 
last summer. Dr. John W. Harshberger will 
make a communication at the regular meeting 
of the 18th inst. on the ‘Ecology of the New 
Jersey Strand Flora.’ 


Dr. A. DoNALDSON SmiITH, the African ex- 
plorer, is to lecture before the Philadelphia 
Geographical Society on January 2d. 

WE regret to hear that the fine collection of 
Mr. Jas. L. Bowes, of Liverpool, the basis of 
Audsley and Bowes’ ‘ Ceramic Arts of Japan’ is 
likely to be sold and dispersed. 

A COLLECTION of 1,200 Indian baskets has 
been presented to the Ferry Museum of Tacoma, 
Washington, by Captain Tozies. 

THE geological survey of Louisiana will be 
continued this winter as usual under the im- 
mediate direction of Professor Harris, of Cor- 
nell University. He leaves for New Orleans, 
December 20th, taking with him Mr. J. Pacheco, 
a student in the University from Brazil, as as- 
sistant in place of Mr. A. Veatch, who has re- 
signed to continue his work at the University. 


A TELEGRAM has been received at the Har. 
vard College Observatory, through Mr. Percival 
Lowell, stating that Mr. A. E. Douglass, while 
observing the planet Mars on December 7th, 
saw a projection on the north edge of Icarium 
Mare, which lasted seventy minutes. 

THE Paris correspondent of the London Times 
reports that M. Emile Berr has just announced 
a scheme, at the head of which are M. Baudin, 
Minister of Public Works; M. Millerand, Min- 
ister of Commerce; M. Leygues, Minister of 


SCIENCE. 


935 


Education; and M. Alfred Picard, the General 
Commissioner. The scheme consists in the 
preservation in that portion of the banks of the 
Seine on the Quai d’Orsay of 12 out of the 16 
Palaces of the Nations in the recent exhibition. 
The palaces to be taken down would be those 
of Italy, Turkey and Servia at either end, and 
the palace of Spain in the middle, the space 
left vacant to be filled up by the pretty pavilion 
of Finland, now in the second row. Hach 
palace thus preserved would become a special 
museum, the fine characteristic country house 
of England being converted into a museum of 
hygiene and bacteriology —a museum of honor 
to the memory of Pasteur and Lord Lister. 
These 12 museums, which will last ten years at 
least, would be kept up by the organizers, and 
the project honors both those who have in- 
vented the idea and the nations which designed 
these palaces. The cost of the undertaking 
would be about 1,000,000 f. 


The Philippine Commission is about to estab- 
lish an experimental farm about 200 miles from 
Manila which will be under the direction of 
Mr. Phelps Whitmarsh. 


In his annual report to the President, the 
Secretary of the Interior says, concerning the 
value of Forest preservation by the govern- 
ment: ‘‘ The forest policy, as inaugurated by my 
immediate predecessor in office, has been con- 
tinued during the year, and the results obtained 
in the conservation of the national forests and 
the protection of timber on reserved as well as 
unreserved lands have demonstrated the wis- 
dom of its adoption, and the necessity, in the 
interest of the public, for its continuance and 
increased appropriations by Congress for the 
carrying on of the work. I concur in the com- 
missioner’s recommendation that not less than 
the appropriation of $300,000 for the forest ser- 
vice, in connection with the creation and admin- 
istration of forest reserves, be continued for next 
year, with a possible increase in case additional 
lands are set aside as forest reservations.’’ 

THE Association for Promoting Scientific Re- 
search by Women offers a prize of one thousand 
dollars for the best thesis presented by a woman 
on a scientific subject, embodying the results of 
her independent laboratory research in the bio- 


936 


logical, chemical or physical sciences. The 
theses must be submitted before the end of the 
year 1902. Further information may be ob- 
tained from the secretary pro tem., Miss Florence 
M. Cushing, 8 Walnut St., Boston, Mass. 


THE Rontgen Society of the United States 
meets at the Grand Central Palace, N. Y., on 
December 13thand 14th. A full program is an- 
nounced, but it does not contain the names that 
should be represented in a society of this char- 
acter. 

AN International Engineering Congress will 
be held at Glasgow in connection with the In- 
ternational Exhibition of 1901. The arrange- 
ments are being made by the Council of the 
Scottish Institution of Engineers and Shipbuild- 
ers, and Lord Kelvin will preside. 


THE New York State paleontologist Dr. John 
M. Clarke spent several weeks of the last season 
in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec 
making collections from rocks which have for 
the most part been regarded by the Canadian 
geologists as of the same geologic age as the 
Helderbergian of New York. Careful studies 
and extensive collections were made at Arisaig, 
N.S., Dalhousie, N. B., and on the Gaspe penin- 
sula, thus putting the museum in possession of 
a series of fossils of much importance for cor- 
relation and study which are not duplicated 
in this country outside of the National Museum 
at Washington. The accessions to the paleonto- 
logic collections during the past season, includ- 
ing all that has been acquired in the work 
above specified, have been not less than 10,000 
specimens. The museum has also recently come 
into possession by purchase of the important 
collection of Cambrian fossils made by the late 
Silas W. Ford, of Troy, a very keen observer 
and careful student of the Cambrian rocks. 
This collection, though small, contains all the 
types of species described and illustrated by Mr. 
Ford, and much of the material is derived from 
localities at which it seems now impracticable 
to obtain others. 


THE following are the arrangements for the 
lectures at the Royal College of Physicians of 
London for 1901: ‘The Milroy Lectures on Pub- 
lic Health’ will be given by Dr. J. F. Sykes, 
Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, on 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 311. 


February 28th, March 5th and 7th; the ‘Goul- 
stonian Lectures,’ by Dr. Henry Head, F.R.S., 
on March 12th, 14th, and 19th ; the ‘ Lumleian 
Lectures’ by Dr. Frank Payne, on March 21st, 
26th, and 28th, and the ‘Croonian Lectures’ 
by Professor Halliburton, F.R.S., in June. 


In the Registrar-General’s quarterly report 
the population of the United Kingdom is esti- 
mated at nearly 41,000,000. The births for the 
last quarter exceed the deaths by 123,952. 
105,402 persons were during the same time 
officially recorded as having emigrated. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

By the will of the late Rudolph S. Walton, of 
Philadelphia, the bulk of his estate of $240,000 
will go to Bethany College upon the death of 
his wife. 

WE learn from the British Medical Journal 
that the Faculty of Medicine of Paris has de- 
cided that provision should be made for the 
teaching of tropical medicine. A chair of para- 
sitology and another of bacteriology will be es 
tablished. An appeal is to be made to the pub- 
lic for funds to carry the scheme into effect. 


Av a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees 
of Clark University, Worcester, Mass., the fol- 
lowing promotions were made: Dr. Edmund C. 
Sanford, to be professor of experimental and 
comparative psychology; Dr. Arthur G. Web- 
ster, to be professor of physics; Dr. William H. 
Burnham, to be assistant professor of pedagogy ; 
Dr. Alexander F. Chamberlain, to be acting as- 
sistant professor ofanthropology. The Trustees 
also voted, at the same meeting, to open all the 
privileges of the University to men and women 
upon equal terms. 

Dr. Gustav BAUER, professor of mathe- 
matics in the University at Munich, has retired 
at the age of eighty years. 

Dr. C. HE. Guy# has been appointed professor 
of physics in the University of Geneva. Pro- 
fessor Weiss has been made full professor of 
mathematics and analytical mechanics at the 
German Polytechnic Institute at Prague. 

Dr. BRILLOUIN has been nominated to suc- 
ceed the late Professor Bertrand as professor of 
general and mathematical physics at the Col- 
lége de France. 


SCIENCE 


EDITORIAL CoMMITTEE : S. NEwcomB, Mathematics; R. S. WoopwaRp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. THURSTON, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; | 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 
W. K. Brooks, C. HART MrERRIAM, Zoology ; S. H. ScuDDER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minor, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BowpircH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


Witt1AM H. WELCH, Pathology ; 


J. McKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W. PowELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, DECEMBER 21, 1900. 


CONTENTS : 


The Mammalian Fauna of the Santa Cruz Beds of 
Patagonia: PROFESSOR W. B. SCOfT............. 937 


Is there any Distinction between Sexual Reproduction 
and Asexual Reproduction? DR. WINTERTON 


(Gi CRUE Eb poogececaconosnp oo cosaqsbagucosasoddoccooctobedE 940 
Study of the Correlation of the Human Skull: ALICE 

TTY coodooag16cqqcceas aouocoodHaAcOntogaaQBudadoNNELaas560000 946 
American Ornithologists’ Union: JOHN H. Saas... 949 
The .Welsbach Tight. .....0.0.0-..-o.cec-coosseoscessaseoe 951 
University Registration Statistics: DR. GEO. B. 

(GiOTRI ISIN Ganadc csonassesanoa9aceonsasesoosoonouqHa000000 956 
Scientific Books :— 


MeIlwaine’s One Thousand American Fungi; 
Lankester’s Treatise on Zoology: J. P. MoM. 
Seurat on Parasitic Hymenoptera; Miall and 
Hammond on the Harlequin Fly: Dr. L. O. 


Howarp. The American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers: PROFESSOR R. H. THURSTON........ 958 
Societies and Academies :— 

The Biological Society of Washington: F. A. 

THRUGINS ac bosnascoadeboacaconboaqoosnbeocoonecquaccoEcbccc900 965 
SUX TRNGGAL (SEG iesrconconaecaeceseaccacdoseccnqsencs9500000 966 
The Hartman Anthropological and Archeological 

(GAYTEGH an condnodnnonabandsasseodocaaonaedbenecoosg0n9a0 967 
The Growth of Cities,.......:...:.0.ccceesesseneceeeneesees 968 
Harben Lectures on the Plaque. ........-..seseceseccreeee 969 
Scientific Notes and News .........s.eceseeereeeeneeeneeens 969 
University and Educational News.......+.+-01.-++0+01e0 976 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Pro- 
fessor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


THE MAMMALIAN FAUNA OF THE SANTA 
CRUZ BEDS OF PATAGONIA.* 

Tuer magnificent collections of vertebrate 
fossils brought back from Patagonia by 
Messrs. Hatcher and Peterson are still very 
largely in the rough state. The work of 
cleaning and preparing the specimens is 
proceeding steadily and satisfactorily, but 
is necessarily slow, and the preparation of 
a single skeleton may require the labor of 
many weeks. Enough has been already 
accomplished, however, to exhibit the char- 
acter of this very remarkable fauna in its 
main outlines and to permit a general state- 
ment of its most salient features. Long 
and patient study will still be necessary 
before the full significance of this peculiar 
assemblage of mammals can be made ap- 
parent. 

The geological age of the Santa Cruz 
beds has long been a matter of dispute, be- 
cause the lack of fossils common to that 
formation and the standard horizons of the 
northern hemisphere has prevented any 
direct comparison. Ameghino, to whose 
indomitable energy so much of our knowl- 
edge of Patagonian fossils is due, has al- 
ways maintained the lower Kocene age of the 
Santa Cruz beds. On the other hand, Eu- 
ropean and American paleontologists have 
been convinced, from the grade of evolu- 
tion attained by the Santa Cruz mammals, 


* Abstract of a paper read before the Princeton 
Biological Club, November 16, 1900. 


938 


that the horizon could not be so ancient 
and that it much more probably belonged 
to the Oligocene or Miocene. Fortunately, 
the solution of this problem does not de- 
pend upon theoretical views of mammalian 
morphology, but may be decided by more 
direct and satisfactory evidence. The 
Santa Cruz beds overlie and are, to some 
extent, interstratified with the marine Pat- 
agonian formation, which is very richly fos- 
siliferous and from which Mr. Hatcher gath- 
ered very extensive collections of marine 
invertebrates. These have been carefully 
studied by Dr. Ortmann, who concludes 
from his examination that the Patagonian 
beds are Lower Miocene, and the Santa Cruz 
beds, as a whole, are, therefore, still younger, 
that is, Middle, or possibly even Upper Mio- 
cene. 

The first impression that an examination 
of a representative series of Santa Cruz 
fossils makes upon the northern observer is 
that of strangeness, of unlikeness to every- 
thing with which his previous studies have 
made him familiar, and this impression is 
only deepened as these mammals are com- 
pared with those of North America and 
Europe. Disregarding some very doubtful 
and incompletely known groups, the Santa 
Cruz fauna is composed of the following 
elements. 

3. Ungulata, 
(a) Typotheria, 
(6) Toxodontia, 
(ce) Astrapotheria, 


(d) Litopterna. 
4. Primates. 


1. Marsupialia. 


2. Unguiculata, 
(a) Insectivora, 
(b) Edentata, 
(ec) Rodentia. 


One of the most striking features of this 
fauna may be described negatively, by what 
it lacks; it has no Carnivora or Creodonta, 
no Chieroptera (though little importance can 
be attached to this fact, which may well be 
accidental ) ; no Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, 
Proboscidea or Hyracoidea. Of the nine 
orders only four are found in the Miocene 
of the northern hemisphere (for the Old 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


World Edentates, so called, are of no sig- 
nificance in this connection), and even these 
common orders are represented by totally 
different suborders and families. That 
Patagonia had long been cut off from any 
land communication with North America 
seems abundantly clear. 

The Santa Cruz Marsupials are of two 
types: (1) Carnivorous animals, which took 
the place of the carnivores and creodonts of 
the North; these find their nearest ana- 
logues in the Dasyuiide of Australia, but 
there are such important differences of 
structure as to indicate a long geographical 
separation from that family. (2) Herbiv- 
orous animals, of small size, quite remote 
from any of the Australian forms and typi- 
fied by the existing South American Ceno- 
lestes of Thomas. 

The Insectivora are represented, so far 
as is yet known, by only a single genus, 
Necrolestes, which, as Ameghino has sug- 
gested, is very like the ‘Cape Golden 
Moles’ of Africa, a most interesting fact, 
the full significance of which is not yet ap- 
parent. 

The Edentata are found in surprising 
variety and numbers, making up one of the 
most conspicuous and characteristic ele- 
ments of the fauna. Forerunners of the 
huge Ground-sloths (Gravigrada) of the 
Pleistocene, are extremely abundant and 
are represented in the collection by a num- 
ber of such well preserved skeletons that 
a comparison with their great descendants 
cannot fail to yield results of much interest. 
One difference is obvious at the first glance, 
namely, the very much smaller size of the 
older genera. Much the same statement 
is true of the Glyptodonts, which are very 
numerously represented by species much 
smaller and more primitive than their 
Pleistocene successors. The Armadillosare 
likewise extremely varied and abundant, 
representing not only the various modern 
subdivisions of the family, but also some 


DECEMBER 21, 1900.] 


extraordinarily interesting and curious ex- 
tinct lines. Ameghino has already called 
attention to some of the peculiarities of 
these Santa Cruz Armadillos, such as the 
movable arrangement of the bony scutes of 
the carapace, which do not form a fixed 
shoulder-shield, and the imbricatin , over- 
lapping disposal of the scutes in several of 
the species. As yet no member of the Ant- 
eaters or true Sloths has been detected in 
the collection, and it is still too early to say 
whether this absence is due to the accidents 
of fossilization and of collecting, to geo- 
graphical and climatic factors, or to the 
fact that these families had not yet become 
distinctly separated from the others. 

Even more surprisingly abundant and 
varied are the Rodentia, of which a remark- 
able number of genera and species may be 
distinguished. These are, without one cer- 
tainly known exception, members of the 
Hystricomorpha and are all closely allied 
to types which continue to flourish in South 
America at the present time.. Indeed, sev- 
eral of the fossils cannot be generically 
separated from living forms. In all this 
great assemblage of rodents are to be found 
no beavers, marmots or squirrels, no rats 
or mice, no hares, rabbits or pikas, but only 
a bewildering variety of cavies, pacas, chin- 
chillas, agoutis and the like. In no mam- 
malian order are the isolation of the Santa 
Cruz fauna and its separateness from that 
of the northern hemisphere more clearly 
displayed than in the Rodentia. 

Still more peculiar are the hoofed-ani- 
mals. The four orders into which this 
great series is divided in the table do not 
represent the results of mature study, but 
merely of a preliminary survey of the ma- 
terial, and the number of ordinal groups is 
subject to increase or diminution, as may 
be the outcome of more careful examina- 
tion. Of the four orders not one is known 
in the Miocene of the northern hemisphere, 
nor, on the other hand, does the Santa Cruz 


SCIENCE. 


939 


contain representatives of any ungulate 
order common to it and the northern con- 
tinents. All the four orders, except the 
Astrapotheria, continue into the Pleisto- 
cene, when most of them had become beasts 
of great stature or bulk; but then they all 
disappeared completely and have left no 
descendants in the modern world. 

The Typotheria are individually much 
the most numerous of the Santa Cruz un- 
gulates and they are, within certain narrow 
limits, extraordinarily varied. They are 
all small animals, some of them very small, 
and except for their long tails, of an aspect 
which strongly suggests relationship with 
the Hyracoidea. Whether this resem- 
blance is anything more than an analogy, 
remains to be determined by a series of 
careful comparisons. This phylum termi- 
nates in the rodent-like Typotherium of the 
Pleistocene, an animal which, though only 
of moderate size, is yet very much larger 
than any of its Santa Cruz predecessors. 
The order has not been found outside of 
South America. 

The next most abundant of the Santa 
Cruz ungulates is the order Toxodontia, 
which is very much less varied than the 
preceding group, though its members are 
much larger ib size. These relatively 
massive, short-legged and short-footed ani- 
mals are remarkable for the great size of 
their heads and for their curved, per- 
sistently growing teeth. ‘This line also ter- 
minates in the Pleistocene in the great 
Toxodon, which ranged as far north as 
Nicaragua. The supposed representatives 
of the order which have been reported from 
Europe are simply mistakes of identifica- 
tion. 

Most remarkable and interesting of all 
the Santa Cruz ungulatesare the Litopterna, 
which in many respects closely parallel the 
Perissodactyla. Of these there are two 
series, one of long-legged, long-necked, 
camel-like animals, which led up to the 


940 


Pleistocene Macrauchenia; the other an as- 
tonishing imitation of the horses, an imita- 
tion so detailed and so close that it has 
misled Ameghino into believing that this is 
the actual phylum of equine descent. The 
resemblance is striking in all parts of the 
structure ; in the teeth, the skull, the back- 


bone, the limbs and especially the feet. The- 


less advanced forms have tridactyl feet, but 
with the lateral digits already greatly re- 
duced, while the more differentiated species 
surpass the true horses in strict monodactyl- 
ism, the splint-bones being almost sup- 
pressed and represented only by minute 
nodules of bone. Yet these wonderfully 
horse-like creatures prove, on examination, 
to be not even perissodactyls! A more re- 
markable-and instructive case of conver- 
gent evolution it would be difficult to imag- 
ine. 

The Astrapotheria were the largest of 
Santa Cruz mammals. In them the great, 
vaulted skull had such shortened nasal 
bones as to suggest the presence of a pro- 
boscis, and slender, edentulous premaxil- 
laries. The canine teeth in both jaws are 
enlarged to form powerful and formidable 
tusks, the premolars are reduced in size and 
number, while the molars are enlarged. 
The grinding teeth display a remarkable 
likeness in size and pattern to those of the 
northern rhinoceros, Metamynodon, from the 
White River beds—another example of con- 
vergent development. The Astrapotheria 
would appear to have become extinct before 
the Pleistocene, and it must be the object of 
subsequent studies to determine whether 
the group is really entitled to ordinal rank, 
or whether it should be referred to the 
Litopterna. 

I am not prepared to express an opinion 
as to the taxonomic position of Homalodon- 
totherium, one of the most curious of the 
many curious Santa Cruz hoofed-animals. 

The Primates are not very well known 
as yet, for the fossils are seldom so com- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XI. No. 312 


plete as those which so often rejoice the 
heart of the student who works with the 
other groups. So far as they are under- 
stood, the Santa Cruz monkeys would ap- 
pear to be as characteristically South Amer- 
ican, and as different from those of the 
northern hemisphere, as we have seen to be 
the case among the Rodentia. 

This exceedingly brief outline sketch 
will have served its purpose if it makes 
clear the wonderful character of the Santa 
Cruz fauna and its radical differences from 
the contemporary life of the northern hem- 
isphere. Much remains to be done before 
the full account of these splendid collections 
can be published. Ihave attempted merely 
to describe their general nature and the im- 
pression which they make upon an observer 
whose studies have hitherto dealt with 


northern types. 
W. B. Scort. 


PRINCETON UNIVERSITY. 


IS THERE ANY DISTINCTION BETWEEN 
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION AND ASEXUAL 
REPRODUCTION ? 

Tue following pages contain rather a full 
outline of the views advanced by Professor 
Richard Hertwig in a recent lecture* in 
which he discusses the relation between fer- 
tilization and reproduction. I have en- 
deavored to make this more in the nature 
of an abridged and revised translation than 
a review, for it seemed best to follow as 
closely as possible Professor Hertwig’s own 
way of presenting the subject, which is as 
follows : 

Everyone will admit that most of our 
general conceptions in biology are greatly 
influenced by our knowledge of the higher 
animals and plants. This fact is made very 
evident to all who study the reproduction 

* “Mit welchen Recht unterscheidet man geschlect- 
liche und ungeschlechtliche Fortpflanzung ?’ Vortrag, 
gehalten am 7, November, 1899. Aus den Sitzungs- 


berichten der Gesellschaft fiir Morphologie und Physi- 
ologiein Munchen. 1899. Heft. II. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


of Protozoa, and the inevitable conclusion 
from such study is that our schema of the 
kinds of reproduction needs reforming. 

In common usage we distinguish the 
sexual multiplication of animals, in which 
the formation of the new individual is pre- 
ceded by an act of fertilization, from the 
asexual multiplication which takes place 
without fertilization. The existence of 
parthenogenesis makes such a distinction 
difficult to maintain. We can no longer 
consider this phenomenon as the ‘ mono- 
gonous’ method of reproduction, since the 
typical cases, which are found in the Ar- 
thropods, have apparently been derived 
from sexual reproduction by the loss of fer- 
tilization. The same is probably true of 
what occursin the Sporocysts and Rediz of 
the Trematodes. In order to overcome this 
difficulty and place parthenogenesis where 
it naturally belongs, I would propose for 
sexual reproduction the term reproduction 
by means of germ cells. But I would not stop 
with this alone, for my study of Protozoa 
has developed in my mind a strong convic- 
tion that our whole view of reproduction 
needs a radical reformation. 

Reproduction by the asexual method 
alone was formerly considered an important 
characteristic of the Protozoa, but this 
breaks down entirely in the face of the in- 
creasing number of observed cases in which 
true fertilization occurs. From the obser- 
vations recorded for Ciliates, many Flagel- 
lates, Rhizopods of the most widely different 
orders and numerous Sporozoa, I believe 
that fertilization occurs in all Protozoa, and 
that its rarity and the difficulty of demon- 
stration are the only reasons its general 
occurrence has not hitherto been observed. 

A still further objection to the term sexual 
reproduction arises from the fact that we 
often, if not generally, fail to discover any causal 
relation between fertilization and reproduction. 
The actual reproduction of the Protozoa is 
accomplished either by their division into 


SCIENCE. 


941 


two or more individuals of equal size or by 
the pinching off of smaller daughter ani- 
mals from a larger mother. Now, before 
we have a right to speak of reproduction 
as ‘sexual,’ we must show that fertiliza- 
tion exercises a determinative influence 
upon its course. This might be proved by 
showing that fertilization hastened repro- 
duction or by showing that certain kinds 
of reproduction occurred only in connec- 
tion with fertilization. Any such determi- 
native influence is now positively excluded 
in a large majority of cases. 

In the ciliated Infusoria, where fertiliza- 
tion in the Protozoa was first recognized as 
such and has been most carefully described, 
conjugation is not the forerunner but the 
after result of active reproduction. Conju- 
gation is even a hindrance to the multipli- 
cation of Infusoria, because the necessary 
reconstruction of the nucleus often occupies 
many days, that are lost for the purpose 
of reproduction. The power of division 
of an Infusorian which has just finished 
conjugation is, if anything, less than before, 
and is never increased. In like manner, 
the power of division in an Infusorian is 
not decreased as it approaches the time 
of conjugation, for when two individuals 
are separated before the actual nuclear ex- 
change has begun, they will divide even 
more actively than animals after the conju- 
gation has been normally ended. In fine, 
one comes to the conclusion that the advent 
of conjugation in Infusorian cultures is not 
a favorable sign for their further increase. 

Beyond any doubt, fertilization causes a pause 
in the multiplication of many Flagellates and 
Rhizopods. Volvox when fertilized yields 
resting spores, which will only develop after 
a long period, during which they have been 
frozen or dried. 

The same thing is observed after the con- 
jugation of Algee, with which Volvoz is quite 
rightly placed by most investigators. 

The cyst of Actinophrys sol, which arises 


942 


during fertilization, has exactly the same 
significance. In Actinospherium eichorni the 
encystment is connected with multiplica- 
tion, but the multiplication (making of the 
primary and secondary cysts) precedes fer- 
tilization, and the fertilization itself (fusion 
of the secondary cysts) leads to a resting 
period of considerable duration (making 
of the germ spheres). 

In the Protozoa then a lessened power of 
division follows upon fertilization. In many 
Gregarines encystment is certainly accom- 
panied by fertilization, for the division into 
pseudo-navicelle,which in turn separate into 
the sickle-shaped germs, begins within the 
cyst. In the Gregarines proper, multipli- 
cation seems to be restricted entirely to this 
encysted condition. In some Sporozoa, on 
the other hand, there are two kinds of divi- 
sion. Coccidiz and Hemosporidie multi- 
ply in the tissues of their hosts by division 
and without fertilization (auto-infection ). 
At length, however, peculiar divisions begin 
which are characterized by two things, (1) 
that they are prepared for by fertilization 
and (2) that the transportation from one 
host to another is necessary for their proper 
course. The fertilization may be completed 
in the old host, but the multiplication is 
connected with the transportation into a 
new one or with some change of place. 
Since a regular cycle between division with 
and division without fertilization is here 
established and each kind of division has 
its peculiarities, we may speak of an alter- 
nation of generations as Schaudinn has 
done. Another illustration of alternation 
of generations would be the reproduction 
of Noctiluca. This form multiplies for a 
long time by ordinary fission. Cross-fer- 
tilization then takes place between two in- 
dividuals, each of which produces a gen- 
eration of zoospores, which in turn grow up 
to Noctiluee. According to Schaudinn’s de- 
scription, Trichospherium sieboldi is still an- 
other example. 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


The above résumé shows that in all the 
cases cited multiplication by division, and 
after a time the advent of fertilization, is 
constant. There is, however, the greatest 
diversity in the relation between fertiliza- 
tion and division. There are three possible 
cases, (1) the fertilization is the-cause which 
stops the division (Volvor, Actinospherium, 
Actinophrys), (2) the fertilization is the 
cause which brings about division of another 
sort which is often very rapid (Noctiluca), 
(3) the fertilization has no marked influ- 
ence upon the power of division, because 
the same kind of division prevails after fer- 
tilization as before. 

In view of these facts is it possible to 
speak of ‘sexual’ reproduction in the Pro- 
tozoa? I think we cannot use such a desig- 
nation without causing false conceptions of 
the relation between reproduction and fer- 
tilization. There exists in the Protozoa 
only one kind of reproduction, 7. e., division 
in its manifold varieties. Besides this the 
Protozoa need to reorganize the structure 
of their unicellular bodies by fertilization. 
What the nature of this reorganization is, or 
its physiological significance, I will not at- 
tempt to discuss. 

Fertilization is thus interposed from time 
to time in the life history of a Protozoan. 
The life epoch at which this interposition 
occurs is often connected with the times of 
more subordinate importance. It depends 
upon suitable conditions which always vary 
according to the conditions of life in the 
different classes and orders and perhaps 
even in the families of the same order. In 
many Protozoa division takes place within 
the cyst in a manner somewhat similar to 
what occurs without the cyst in others. 
Since we attribute no great significance to 
these differences in encystment, so it would 
be a mistake to emphasize the question 
whether the division of a Protozoan was or 
was not brought into close connection with 
fertilization. In the Protozoa fertilization 


DECEMBER 21, 1900.] 


exercises no influence upon the power of 
multiplication which in any wise differs 
from the influence exerted by any other 
vital process of the cell. Fertilization and 
reproduction are phenomena which may be 
found together, but which in their essence 
have no connection with one another. 

Leaving the Protozoa, I will now consider 
the kinds of reproduction in the Metazoa. 
We formerly supposed that the asexual re- 
production of Metazoa had been inherited 
from the Protozoa and that their sexual re- 
production was a new acquisition. This 
theory prevailed as long as we thought the 
Protozoa could only reproduce in an asexual 
manner. The wide distribution of fission 
and budding in the lower Metazoa and its 
entire absence in the Molluscs, Arthropods 
and Vertebrates, seemed to harmonize with 
such a view. Although I once held this 
same opinion, I now consider it incorrect. 
It seems to me much nearer the truth to 
make just the opposite statement, viz., that 
the sexual reproduction of Metazoa is a con- 
tinuation of the method of reproduction in 
the Protozoa, while the budding and fission 
of Metazoa are adjustments having only an 
outward resemblance to the budding and 
fission of the Protozoa. 

If we consider the multicellular animal 
as a cell community, its life history may be 
resolved into a series of innumerable cell 
divisions which were preceded by an act of 
fertilization. This is the same kind of de- 
velopmental cycle as we find in many Pro- 
tozoa. For example, in the Gregarines the 
formation of the pseudo-navicelle and later 
the sickle-shaped germs follow fertilization. 
The sickle-shaped germ is comparable with 
the egg cell, for the Gregarine arising from 
it suspends multiplication until it has been 
fertilized. A different character would re- 
sult in the Metazoa, from the fact that most 
of the products of division remain united 
and only certain ones, the sex cells, become 
self-sustaining. While every cell-division 


SCIENCE. 


943 


in the Protozoa is a similar act of repro- 
duction, we now distinguish between cell- 
divisions which bring about the growth of 
existing individuals and those which permit 
the creation of new individuals. There is 
a further difference. The cells which effect 
the growth and life functions of the multi- 
cellular organism, the somatic cells of 
Weismann, have an enormous power of 
multiplication. The sex cells which are 
differentiated sooner or later differ from 
these proliferating cells in that they lose 
their power of division relatively early. 
Their characteristic maturation processes 
are the last expression of this power. The 
need of fertilization does not necessarily re- 
sult from multiplication because the sex 
cells stop multiplying much sooner than the 
somatic cells which they closely resemble in 
all other respects. The cell community 
needs the combination of different kinds of 
idioplasm and therefore has seized the 
opportunity which is presented when the 
organism is in a unicellular state. 

Our conclusion here is similar to that 
reached in the Protozoa. The occasional 
mingling of two idioplasms is necessary for 
the integrity of the cell’s life and this is 
fertilization in the narrower sense. A sec- 
ond phenomenon may be associated with 
it, viz., the stimulus to development or re- 
production. While in the Protozoa fertil- 
ization is now connected with reproduction 
and now separated from it, in the Metazoa 
it is always combined with reproduction. 
The two occur together as a necessary con- 
sequence of the multicellular condition, for 
a mingling of two idioplasms is possible 
only when the whole organism is contained 
in a single cell. We have thus fallen into 
the error of considering fertilization and 
reproduction inseparable. The recent in- 
vestigations upon the details of fertilization 
have caused some of us to break away from 
this idea, but our opinion has not extended 
sufficiently to produce a general conviction 


944 


that reproduction and the combination of 
idioplasms are separate phenomena. 

To emphasize the difference between the 
two processes suppose we consider fertiliza- 
tion as a complicated morphological process, 
and reproduction as something which can be 
accomplished in another way. The first 
serves to unite substances which possess a 
stable organization. The second, like all 
cell-divisions, merely changes a physiolog- 
ical condition of equilibrium. Partheno- 
genesis is an example of how the power of 
development may be present in the absence 
of fertilization. My own view of this phe- 
nomenon is that the necessary reciprocal 
’ yelations of nucleus and protoplasm are in 
some way established and division ensues. 
The so-called fertilization of non-nucleated 
egg-fragments seems to me an analogous 
ease which no one who cousiders the nuclei 
the bearers of the idioplasm can call true 
fertilization. It is much more likely that 
the necessary reciprocal relation is estab- 
lished by a fusion of the egg-plasm with the 
plasma of the spermatozoan, in which event 
we should be dealing with a counterpart of 
parthenogenesis. 

It would therefore be entirely conceivable 
that the conditions necessary to division 
could be produced in ripe unfertilized eggs 
by chemico-physical influences. Loeb’s ob- 
servation that the eggs of sea-urchins (Ar- 
bacia punctulata) develop to plutei if they 
have been previously exposed to the ac- 
tion of a certain salt solution, raises no 
theoretical objections to this view. I have 
myself succeeded in making unfertilized 
eggs develop after treatment with chemical 
reagents (strychnine), although they pos- 
sessed the power of development to a lesser 
degree. 

It would be of the greatest interest to 
trace the sexual reproduction of the Meta- 
zoa from its origin in the reproduction of 
unicellular forms. Unfortunately the solu- 
tion of this problem is made the more dif- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von XII. No. 312. 


ficult by the wide gap which separates the 
Protozoa and the Metazoa. The Mesozoa 
are not suitable for our purpose. Their de- 
velopment is not sufficiently known and 
has probably been modified by the entire 
class having become adapted to a parasitic 
life. Nevertheless the investigations upon 
the best known Dicyemide give strong in- 
dications that their reproduction still fol- 
lows the method of the Protozoa. The en- 
doderm of Dicyema produces reproductive 
cells which in many cases yield young ani- 
mals directly, in others probably after pre- 
vious fertilization. The first process serves 
for auto-infection ; the last probably occurs 
when the parasite would be carried to a 
new host. The first is known in an en- 
tirely arbitrary way as parthenogenesis, 
when the criterion of parthenogenesis (loss 
of fertilization) is not proved. It evidently 
corresponds to the so-called asexual repro- 
duction of the Protozoa. When their mul- 
ticellular condition and the modifications 
which it entails are considered the develop- 
ment of the Dicyemide seems to admit of 
a very close comparison with the develop- 
ment of the likewise parasitic Coccidie and 
Heemosporidie. 

Plants offer a much more favorable field 
for the solution of this problem than ani- 
mals because they exhibit many forms mid- 
way between the uni- and multicellular 
organisms. In the multicellular Alge 
there are two kinds of reproduction: (1) 
asexual, by means of spores and (2) sexual 
by means of gametes. Both have in com- 
mon the fact that single cells separate from 
the cell community and grow up into new 
plants. In the first case it is each time a 
single cell for itself, in the second a cell 
which has previously copulated with one of 
a different stock. The difference between 
spores and gametes is often quite pro- 
nounced both in their structure and their 
method of development. In other cases the 
anatomical and developmental differences 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


are wiped out. It sometimes happens that 
cells which are in every other way like 
gametes develop without fertilization, if 
they are prevented from copulating. This 
seems to be analogous to the gradation in 
the need of fertilization which is found in 
the Protozoa. We are further reminded of 
-the Protozoa by the fact that fertilization 
often leads to the formation of resting 
spores. 

If we now attempt an accurate statement 
of the kinds of reproduction in the plant 
and animal kingdoms, the old conception 
of sexual and asexual reproduction must 
be given up entirely and replaced by the 
following statement. 

All organisms effect their reproduction in 
a common way by means of single cells 
which have arisen by cell-division. In 
single-celled organisms every cell-division 
is an act of reproduction and results in the 
formation of another physiologically self- 
sustaining individual. In multicellular ani- 
mals, most of the cell divisions lead to the 
growth of the multicellular individual and 
only certain of them serve for reproduction. 
Fertilization goes on side by side with re- 
production, because the organism cannot 
attain its highest development without the 
union of two individualities by nuclear cop- 
ulation. Fertilization in its essence has 
nothing to do with reproduction. In many 
single-celled organisms the two occur quite 
independently and are united for what we 
call sexual reproduction only under special 
conditions. Such special conditions are im- 
posed upon all multicellular animals, since 
a mixture of two idioplasms could be easily 
accomplished only during the unicellular 
stage. Hence fertilization takes place when 
the single-celled reproductive bodies are 
formed. It in no wise follows that all 
such reproductive bodies must be fertilized. 
One would naturally expect that reproduc- 
tive cells not needing fertilization (spores) 
and such as are destined for fertilization 


SCIENCE. 


945. 


(gametes, eggs, spermatozoa) should exist 
side by side. This is the case in plants, 
though in multicellular animals no genuine 
case of spore-formation has been demon- 
strated beyond question. 

The one case which can be pointed to with 
strong probability is the above mentioned 
reproduction of the Dicyemide. Every- 
where else in the Metazoa spore formation 
seems entirely supplanted by sexual repro- 
duction. All cases of development from 
single unfertilized eggs are apparently par- 
thenogenesis and to be explained as sexual 
reproduction in which fertilization has been 
lost. The significance of heterogenesis in 
the di-genetic Trematodes is doubtful. In 
accordance with the prevailing view, I make 
a sharp distinction between spore-formation 
and parthenogenesis resp., heterogenesis, 
between reproduction by single cells which 
never have been fertilized and reproduction 
by cells in which the fertilization has been 
lost. Idoubt if such a distinction could be 
practically carried out in every case. As 
long as the reproductive cells are developed 
in special germinal glands, as for example 
in the Crustacea, there can be no doubt 
that we are dealing with parthenogenesis. 
It is quite different, however, where no egg- 
glands are differentiated, as in the Rediz 
and Sporocysts ofthe Trematodes. Insuch 
cases only a more accurate study of the first 
stages of development will elucidate the 
matter. In all cases of parthenogenesis 
which have been carefully investigated the 
maturation has been preserved. This has 
hitherto been always regarded as the fore- 
runner of fertilization. Hven in the Pro- 
tozoa it is connected with the sexual process. 
Its existence in reproductive cells which de- 
velop without fertilization therefore favors 
the view that fertilization formerly did take 
place. Onthe other hand, one would suppose 
that spore-formation, like the ordinary divi- 
sion of the Protozoa, is without polar bodies. 
Unfortunately we can only speculate upon 


946 


this exceedingly interesting question, for so 
far as I know the literature, not one case of 
spore-formation has been carefully investi- 
gated and most cases of parthenogenesis in- 
sufficiently. And yet such investigations, 
particularly in the lower plants and animals, 
would be a profitable and important work. 

In my summary I have not mentioned 
the budding and the fission of the multicel- 
lular animals and the so-called ‘ vegetative 
reproduction’ of plants. We commonly 
unite these processes with the budding of 
the Protozoa and the spore-formation of the 
Algee, under the name of asexual reproduc- 
tion. I have considered them only briefly 
as new acquisitions of multicellular organ- 
isms. In ‘ vegetative reproduction ’ whole 
multicellular stocks are set free from a 
mother animal which has rapidly increased 
in size. The phenomenon presents the 
greatest diversity. The budding of the 
Tunicates is quite different from that of the 
Bryozoa or Hydroids or from the fission of 
the Annelids. The diversity in the forms of 
vegetative reproduction is still greater in 
plants. The investigations in the past 
twenty years have also proved that the 
division and budding of the Metazoa do 
not follow the laws laid down by the germ 
layer theory. In this respect they resemble 
regeneration. The whole matter will be a 
self-evident phenomenon if we accept the 
view of reproduction which I have set forth 
above and recognize in the division and 
budding of the multi-cellular animals adap- 
tive phenomena which have come about in 
the several groups independent of their de- 
velopment. These processes of asexual re- 
production are well named by the botanist 
“vegetative reproduction.’ If they are more 
common in the lower than in the higher 
forms it is because the higher organization 
sets a limit to the vicarious substitution of 
one part for another. Similar conditions 
therefore underlie vegetative reproduction 
and regeneration and there are many anal- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No 312. 


ogies between the two processes. It is 
worth noticing that in the lower plants, 
where spore-formation is very common, 
“vegetative reproduction,’ if we use the 
term as we have just defined it, is not 
present. Stocks which have been acciden- 
tally broken off from the threads of Algee 
can, it is true, develop further, but under 
natural conditions the Alg~ seldom make 
use of the process for reproduction. 


Winterton C. Curtis. 
Jouns Hopkins UNIVERSITY. 


STUDY OF THE CORRELATION OF THE HU- 
MAN SKULL.* 

TuHE substance of this paper was a thesis 
for the London D.Sc. degree ; it was shown 
to Professor Pearson, at whose suggestion 
considerable modifications were made, and 
a revision undertaken with a view to pub- 
lication. 

In order to deal exactly with the problem 
of evolution in man it is necessary to ob- 
tain in the first place a quantitative appre- 
ciation of the size, variation and correla- 
tion of the chief characters in man for a 
number of local races. Several studies of 
this kind have been already undertaken at 
University College. These fall into two 
classes, (i) those that deal with a variety 
of characters in one local race, and (ii) 
those which study the comparative value of 
the constants from a variety of races. Thus 
Dr. E. Warren has dealt with the long 
bones of the Naqada race,t Mr. Leslie 
Bramley-Moore has compared the regres- 
sion equations for the long bones from a 
considerable number of races in a memoir 
not yet published, Professor Pearson has 
dealt with the regression equations for 
stature and long bones as applied to a 


*°Data for the Problem of Evolution in Man,’ 
No. VI. By Alice Lee., D.Sc., with some assistance 
from Karl Pearson, F.R.S. Abstract read before the 
Royal Society of November 15, 1900. 

{ Phil. Trans., B, Vol. 189, p. 135. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


variety of races;* Miss A. Whitely has 
studied the correlation of certain joints of 
the hand,} and is investigating the correla- 
tion of the bones of the hand in a second 
local race ; Miss C. D. Fawcett has made a 
long series of measurements on the Naqada 
skulls, and correlated their chief characters; 
the present memoir, on the other hand, 
deals with only a few characters, in the 
skull, comparing, however, the results ob- 
tained from a variety of local races. 

It is thus related to Miss Fawcett’s work 
much as Mr. Bramley-Moore’s to Dr. War- 
ren’s, 7. €., it endeavors, by selecting a few 
characters and testing them, to ascertain 
how far results obtained for one local race 
are valid for a second. In Professor Pear- 
son’s memoir on the reconstruction of 
the stature of prehistoric races, results ob- 
tained from one local race were then ex- 
tended to a great variety of other races. 
The degree of accuracy in this procedure 
can only be fully ascertained when the data 
now being collected in both English and 
German anatomical institutes are available 
for calculation. 

The skull, however, differs very widely 
from the stature and long bones ; for while 
these have a very high degree of correlation 
in all local races, the chief characters of the 
skull are very loosely correlated, and such 
correlation as they possess varies in a re- 
markable manner with sex andrace. This 
was first indicated by Professor Pearson ; [ 
it has been amply illustrated in the measure- 
ments of Miss Fawcett, and is confirmed in 
a recently published memoir by Dr. Franz 
Boas. It may be said that this want of 
correlation in the parts of the skull is the 
origin of its great importance for the an- 
thropologist; it is the source of its personal 
and racial individuality. But this anthro- 


* Phil. Trans., A, Vol. 192, p. 169. 

} Roy. Soe. Proc., Vol. 65, p. 126. 

ft Phil. Trans., A, Vol. 187, p. 279, and Roy. Soc. 
Proc., Vol. 60, p. 495. 


SCIENCE. 


947 


pological advantage, is, from the standpoint 
of organic evolution, a great disadvantage. 
Cuvier introduced the conception of corre- 
lation with the idea of reconstructing from 
a single bone the whole skeleton and even 
the outward form of an extinct animal, but 
the great want of correlation between the 
parts of the skull, and between the skull 
and other parts of the human skeleton, 
renders quantitative reconstruction — and 
this is the really scientific reconstruction 
—of one character of the skull from a 
second, or of the skull and parts of the 
skeleton from each other extremely diffi- 
cult, if not impossible, for all but a very 
few characters. 

Among these characters one of the most 
feasible to deal with, and one of the most 
useful, is the capacity of the skull. This 
is correlated to a fairly high degree (al- 
though to nothing like the same extent as 
the long bones among themselves) with the 
maximum length and breadth, with the 
total and auricular heights, and with the 
horizontal and vertical circumferences of 
the skull. The present memoir deals in 
the main with the problem of the recon- 
struction of the capacity from these char- 
acters. 

Three fundamental problems arise in the 
theory of reconstruction, 7. e., the determi- 
nation of the probable value of an unknown 
character from a known and measurable 
one, or from several such. Namely: 

I. The reconstruction of the individual 
from data for his own race. 

II. The reconstruction of the average 
value of a character in one local race from 
data determined for a second local race. 

Ill. The determination of the probable 
value in an individual of characters not 
measurable during life from characters 
which are measurable. 

These three problems are all dealt with 
for the special character capacity of the 
skull in the present paper. Their impor- 


948 


tance may be indicated by the following 
considerations : 

(a) Many, especially of the more ancient 
and accordingly of the more interesting 
skulls, are too fragile or too fragmentary to 
allow of their capacity being directly deter- 
mined. 

(6) The methods for directly determin- 
ing capacity are still not only very diverse, 
but divergent in result, and from the phys- 
ical standpoint, crude and inexact. In the 
concordat of the German craniologists—the 
Frankfiirter Verstindigung—the point was 
left for future consideration, and so it has 
remained for many years. The capacities 
of series of skulls determined during the 
past forty years in France, England and 

_Germany are, we are convinced, not com- 
parable, at least if the argument from the 
comparison is to depend on a difference of 
30 to 40 em.* While the same observer 
using different methods may be trained to 
get résults within 4 to 6 cm.’ for the same 
skull, different observers, equally careful, 
using the same method, will easily get re- 
sults for the same series diverging by 20 to 
30 and even more cubic centimeters. 
Shortly, the personal equation—involved 
in the packing in the skull and in the 
measuring vessel—is very large. 

Accordingly a regression equation for the 
capacity as based on external measurements 
may, if deduced from a sufficiently large 
range of series measured by careful inde- 
pendent observers, give results fairly free 
from the error of personal equation and 
this sensibly as correct as, or more correct 
than, direct measurement when we require 
the mean capacity of a series. 

(c) It is impossible to obtain a large 
series of skulls belonging to known indi- 
viduals with a classified measure of intel- 
lectual ability. Actually we have only a 
few skulls of men of great intellectual 
power, sometimes preserved because they 
were large, and to compare with these the 


SCLENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


skulls of the unknown and often the ill- 
nourished, which reach the anatomical in- 
stitutes.* Accordingly it is an investiga- 
tion of considerable interest to compare the 
probable capacity of the skulls of living 
persons with their roughly appreciable in- 
tellectual grade. It is only by such a 
comparison that we can hope to discover 
whether the size and shape of the skull is 
to any extent correlated with brain power. 

In the course of the memoir it is shown 
that the auricular height of the skullisa 
better measurement for determining skull 
capacity than the total height; that the 
circumferences of the skull, while highly 
correlated with its capacity, give regression 
equations which vary widely from one to 
another closely-allied race; that linear 
regression equations involving length, 
breadth and auricular height, while giving 
fairly good results for individuals within 
the local race, have very divergent coeffi- 
cients aS we pass from local race to local 
race; that the cephalic index has very lit- 
tle correlation with capacity at all; as a 
rule what there is may be summed up in 
the words: In a brachycephalie race the 
rounder the skull the greater the capacity, 
in a dolichocephalic race the narrower the 
skull the greater the capacity—the greater 
capacity following the emphasis of the 
racial character; finally, that the correla- 
tion of capacity with the triple product of 
length, breadth and height gives a regres- 
sion equation which is fairly constant from 
local race to local race, and is accordingly 
the best available. 

From this and other equations individual 
and racial reconstructions are made, and 
the deviations between the actual and pre- 
dicted capacities in randomly chosen series 
of skulls are tabulated. The mean error 
made in the reconstruction of the individ- 
ual capacity by the best formule is 3 to 4 


* This argument applies also, in even an intensified 
degree, to the determinations of brain weight. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. | 


per cent., the maximum error, although of 
course infrequent, may even be ten per 
cent. For the reconstruction of the mean 
capacity of a race, the mean error is about 
1.2 per cent., with a maximum error of 2.5 
per cent. If these errors appear large to 
the craniologist, we would remind him that 
his search for an absolutely correct formula 
giving cranial capacity from external meas- 
urements is the pursuit of a will 0’ the wisp. 
The theory of probability shows us exactly 
the sort of errors such formule are liable 
to, and teaches us how to select the best. 
The whole basis of the theory of evolution, 
the variability of one character, even with 
fixed values for a number of others, would 
be upset if any such absolute formula were 
forthcoming. What we have to do is to se- 
lect a few organs as highly correlated as 
possible, but, having done this, it has been 
shown elsewhere that we shall not sensibly 
decrease the error of our prediction by in- 
creasing the number of organs upon which 
the estimate is based.* Accordingly we 
do not believe that sensibly better recon- 
struction formule than those found will 
ever be forthcoming, for, as we have already 
observed, we know from Miss Faweett’s 
wide series of skull correlations that we 
have practically chosen the organs of the 
highest correlation. Better data for de- 
termining the equations will undoubtedly 
be available as further craniological meas- 
urements are made, or as the great mass al- 
ready made are quantitatively reduced. 

In the last place we turn to the third 
problem : the reconstruction of the capacity 
of the living head. The memoir contains 
tables of the skull capacity of some sixty 
men, and also of some thirty women, whose 
relative intellectual ability can be more or 
less roughly appreciated. It would be im- 
possible to asserts any marked degree of 
correlation between the skull capacities of 
these individuals and the current apprecia- 

* Phil. Trans., A, Vol. 190, p. 466. 


SCIENCE. 


949 


tion of their intellectual capacities. One 
of the most distinguished of continental 
anthropologists has less skull capacity than 
50 per cent. of the women students of Bed- 
ford College; one of our leading English 
anatomists than 25 per cent. of the same 
students. There will, of course, be errors 
in our probable determinations, but different 
methods of appreciation lead to sensibly 
like results, and although we are dealing 
with skull capacity, and not brain weight, 
there is, we hold in our data, material 
enough to cause those to pause who asso- 
ciate relative brain weight either in the in- 
dividual or the sex with relative intellectual 
power. The correlation, if it exists, can 
hardly be large, and the true source of in- 
tellectual ability will, we are convinced, 
have to be sought elsewhere, in the com- 
plexity of the convolutions, in the variety 
and eticiency of (:s commissures, rather 
than in mere size or weight. 


AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION. 

Tue Highteenth Congress of the Ameri- 
ean Ornithologists’ Union convened in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., Monday evening, November 
12th. The business meeting was held in 
Mr. William Brewster’s Museum, and the 
public sessions, commencing Tuesday, No- 
vember 13th, and lasting three days, were 
held in the Nash lecture room of the Uni- 
versity Museum. 

Dr. C. Hart Merriam, of Washington, 
D. C., was elected President; Charles B. 
Cory, of Boston, and C. F. Batchelder, of 
Cambridge, Mass., Vice-Presidents ; John 
H. Sage, of Portland, Conn., Secretary, and 
William Dutcher, of New York City, Treas- 
urer. Frank M. Chapman, Ruthven Deane, 
EK. W. Nelson, Witmer Stone, Drs. A. K. 
Fisher, Jonathan Dwight, Jr. and Thos. 8. 
Roberts were elected members of the Coun- 
cil. By a provision of the by-laws, the Ex- 
Presidents of the Union, Dr. J. A. Allen 
and Messrs. William Brewster, D. G. Elliot 


950 


and Robert Ridgway are ex-officio members 
of the Council. 

One honorary, two corresponding and 
seventy associate members were elected. 

A change in the by-laws was proposed 
whereby the present class of active mem- 
bers shall be known as fellows ; the present 
class of associate members to be known as 
associates, and to establish a class of mem- 
bership intermediate between fellows and 
associates, to be known as members. The 
matter will be brought up for final action 
at the next Congress of the Union. 

Miss Juliette A. Owen, of St. Joseph, 
Mo., an associate member, who so kindly 
remembered the Union at the last Congress, 
sent an additional $100 this year. This 
will be added to a fund, the income of 
which is to be used for the advancement of 
the science of ornithology. 

An address in commemoration of Dr. 
Elliott Coues, a distinguished member, and 
a former president of the Union, who died 
since the last Congress, was delivered by 
Professor D. G. Elliot. Dr. Coues be- 
came eminent in science, and did more 
perhaps than any other person to stimu- 
late in young people an interest in birds. 
Dr. J. A. Allen presented a memorial ad- 
dress on the Hon. Geo. B. Sennett, an ac- 
tive member of the Union, who died dur- 
ing the past year. Mr. Sennett, although 
deeply engrossed in business, never lost his 
taste for ornithology. His writings relate 
mainly to the birds of Texas. 

The report of the Committee on Protec- 
tion of North American Birds, read by its 
Chairman, Mr. Witmer Stone, showed that 
satisfactory results had been obtained dur- 
ing the past year. One important feature 
was the protection of the gulls and terns 
along the coast, made possible by money 
secured through the efforts of Mr. Abbott 
H. Thayer. Mr. William Dutcher, who had 
special charge of this phase of the work, 
made a supplementary report, giving in de- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


tail the localities where the birds were 
found and eventually saved. These reports 
will be published in The Auk, and reprinted 
as a separate pamphlet, to be sold at a very 
low price for general distribution. 

Judge John N. Clark’s ‘ Dooryard Orni- 
thology’ was a popular and well presented 
paper. Mr. Clark lives in Saybrook, Conn., 
and in the restricted area about his house 
he has noted the occurrence of more than 
one hundred species of birds. 

From letters written to the late Spencer 
F. Baird, Mr. Witmer Stone was able to ob- 
tain, by courtesy of Miss Lucy H. Baird, 
interesting facts about many of the older 
ornithologists. These he embodied in an 
important historical paper called ‘The 
‘American Ornithologists’ Union’ of 1840— 
45.’ It is difficult to realize at the present 
time the discomforts and disadvantages that 
confronted workers in any science sixty 
years ago. 

Two afternoons were devoted to papers 
illustrated by lantern slides—all showing 
what an aid photography now is to the 
study of the habits of birds. 

Following is a list of the papers read at 
the sessions in addition to those already 
mentioned : 


‘The Sequence of Moults and Plumages of the 
Laride (Gullsand Terns)’: JONATHAN DWIGHT, JR. 

‘A Study of the Genus Sturnella’: FRANK M. 
CHAPMAN. 

‘The Pterylosis of Podargus ; with Further Notes 
on the Pterylography of the Caprimulgide’: HUBERT 
LYMAN CLARK. 

‘The Moult of the North American Shore Birds 
(Limicole)’: JONATHAN DWIGHT, JR. 

‘Nesting of the Yellow-headed Blackbird.’ 
trated by lantern slides: THomAsS S. ROBERTS. 

‘Among the Terns at Muskeget, and on the New 
Jersey Coast.’ Illustrated by lantern slides: WM. 
L. BAILY. 

‘The Season of 1900 at the Magdalen Islands ; with 
remarks on bird photography.’ Illustrated by lan- 
tern slides: HERBERT K. JOB. 

‘Field Notes ona few New England Birds.’ Illus- 
trated by lantern slides : WILLIAM BREWSTER. 


Illus- 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


‘Notes on the Spring Migration (1900) at Scarbor- 
ough, N. Y.’: Louis AGASSIZ FUERTES.- 

‘Tmpressions of Some Hawaiian Birds’: H. W. 
HENSHAW. 

‘A Visit to the Birthplace of Audubon’: O. W1D- 
MANN. 

‘Natural History of .the Alaska Coast.’ 
ted by lantern slides: C. HART MERRIAM. 

“Notes on a Nest of Massachusetts Brown Creepers.’ 
Illustrated by lantern slides: A. P. CHADBOURNE. 

‘Bird Studies with a Camera.’ Illustrated by lan- 
tern slides: FRANK M. CHAPMAN. 

‘Aptoschromatism.’ A reply to Drs. Dwight and 
Allen: FRANCIS J. BIRTWELL. 

‘On the Breeding Habits of Leconte’s Sparrow’: 
P. B. PEABODY. 

“On the Value of Careful Observations of Birds’ 
Habits’: EDWARD H. FoRBUSH. 

‘Breeding of the Cerulean Warbler near Baltimore’: 
FRANK C. KIRKWOOD. 

‘The Enforcement of the Lacey Act’: 
PALMER. 


Tllustra- 


Ath. sh 


The next annual meeting will be held at 
the American Museum of Natural History, 
New York City, commencing November 


11, 1901. 
Joun H. Saas, 


Secretary. 


THE WELSBACH LIGHT.* 

Tue Franklin Institute of the State of 
Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Me- 
chanic Arts, acting through its Committee 
on Science and the Arts, investigating the 
merits of the Welsbach Light, which was 
referred to the Committee by the Jury of 
Awards of the late National Export Expo- 
sition, 1899, reports as follows : 

The procuring of artificial light by some 
means other than using the flame of burn- 
ing carbonaceous material in the ordinary 
candle, lamp or gas burner has been the 
aim of many investigators. As a result of 
this endeavor, we find on the one hand 


* Being the report of the Franklin Institute, 
through its Committee on Science and the Arts, on 
the exhibit of the Welsbach Light Company, of Glou- 
cester City, N. J., referred by the Bureau of Awards 
of the National Export Exposition. Sub-Committee. 
—Arthur J. Rowland, Chairman ; C. A. Hexamer, 
Wm. McDevitt, Frank P. Brown, Moses G. Wilder. 


SCLENCE. 


951 


lamps in which carbon is heated to a point 
where it gives off light—or becomes incan- 
descent—as by the passage of an electric 
current through an incandescent filament 
or are lamp crater; or, on the other hand, 
lamps in which the incandescence of certain 
substances (oxides of certain of the elements 
for the most part) is produced by the ap- 
plication of a heating flame or the passage 
of an electric current to raise their tem- 
perature. Of these latter burners, the de- 
velopment of those using a heating flame 
applied to produce incandescence of rare 
earths is the particular thing dealt with in 
this report, but it seems impossible to avoid 
a mention of others when giving an outline 
of the chain of discoveries and inventions 
leading up to the Welsbach light of to-day. 

It is probable that Drummond is one of 
the earliest discoverers of the fact that 
heated oxides of certain elements incan- 
desce. Certainly he made the first practical 
application of the fact. Every one knows 
of the Drummond or lime-light which has 
been so commonly used in the projection 
lantern. A piece of lime, or better, a piece 
of oxide of magnesium, or, most refractory 
of all, a piece of oxide of zirconium, has an 
oxyhydrogen flame play upon it and is 
thereby heated to a temperature at which 
it incandesces and gives off an intensely- 
bright white light. Lieutenant Thomas 
Drummond, in the English government ser- 
vice, made this discovery in 1826, and used 
it in connection with his heliostat in sur- 
veying work, and afterwards proposed the 
same arrangement for lighthouse service. 

In 1868, Le Roux, Professor at the Ecole 
Polytechnique, Paris, discovered that a 
brilliant incandescent light might be pro- 
cured from a rod of lime or magnesia, by 
heating it until an electric current passes, 
this afterward maintaining the light. 

In 1879, Jablochkoff patented the use of 
a piece of kaolin as a source of light, mak- 
ing it incandesce by passing an electric cur- 


952 


rent through it. He had noticed that the 
kaolin he had placed between the carbons 
of his are lamp assisted the illumination. 

These inventions show something of the 
development of knowledge regarding ma- 
terials which might be made incandescent, 
and the means taken to make them incan- 
desce. 

Several years later, in 1881, W. M. Jack- 
son (an American) invented the device of 
a lamp made of platinum, iridium or other 
materials non-oxidizable at high tempera- 
tures, in the form of wires of small section 
which were heated to incandescence by the 
use of a heating flame. He discovered that 
the finer his wires, the more intense the 
light produced. Here is a beginning of a 
mantle light. 

In 1881, Charles M. Lungren, of New 
York, patented in the U. S. Patent Office 
an improvement in illuminating apparatus, 
which consisted in passing a non-luminous 
gas flame through a heater of clay or 
similar material highly heated by jets of 
the non-luminous gas, and forcing atmos- 
pheric air through the heater and causing 
it to mingle with the non-luminous gas 
issuing in one or more jet flames against 
lime, magnesia, zirconia or similar material, 
producing incandescence. 

In the same year (1881) Mr. Lungren 
filed an application in the Patent Office for 
a means of illumination which consisted in 
forming a filamentary body of refractory 
material, said body having the structural 
form necessary to envelope a gas flame and 
to be rendered incandescent by such flame. 

This application, after allowance by the 
Patent Office, was permitted to lapse, and 
no patent was then issued. 

Mr. Lungren, however, renewed his ap- 
plication in August, 1885, and the patent, 
which embodied improvements upon his 
unissued patent of 1881, was issued July 5, 
1887 (No. 365,832). Subsequently, a sec- 
ond patent (No. 367,534), describing spe- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 312. 


cific features of his incandescent lighting 
method, was issued to Lungren under date 
of August 2, 1887. 

In the first of these patents Lungren de- 
scribes his method of making refractory 
filaments for lighting composed of ‘lime, 
magnesia, zirconia, etc.,’ by preparing a 
plastic mass of these materials, or mixtures 
of them by kneading them with water, or 
preferably, a solution of a mucilaginous 
binding material, such as glue or gum, or 
other combustible material which will be 
consumed in the further treatment of the 
filament. When the mass is of the proper 
consistence, it is put in a press and the 
filament is obtained by expressing the ma- 
terial through a die. Immediately after 
their formation, and while still moist, the 
filaments are formed up into various shapes 
desired by bending or coiling over a man- 
drel of wood coated with plumbago, or 
other device, and then dried, when they are 
ready to apply to a support and to be used 
in connection with a gas flame, in substan- 
tially the same manner as the well-known 
Welsbach mantle. 

The Lungren ineandescent lighting sys- 
tem was the subject of investigation by the 
Committee on Science and the Arts of the 
Franklin Institute in 1891. Prolonged 
practical tests of the Lungren filaments 
showed that they possessed unusual life 
duration in service, with satisfactory light- 
ing quality ; and the award of the John 
Scott Legacy Premium and Medal was made 
to the inventor. 

For reasons unknown to your committee, 
this promising invention was never com- 
mercially exploited. 

The next year (1882) a Frenchman, 
Charles Clamond, invented a lime light 
operated without oxyhydrogen flame by in- 
tensely heating the air used and directing 
the flame of his air and gas mixture against 
the refractory oxide chosen. He knew of 
the possible use of certain other metallic 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


oxides to produce an incandescent light, 
and even invented a basket or mantle of 
magnesia threads, supported in an enclosing 
platinum mantle of small wire and large 
mesh, which was hung below the lamp and 
the heating flame directed down into it. 
The threads were made from magnesia 
which was calcined and pulverized, then 
made plastic by mixing with salts of mag- 
nesia, which may be afterwards decomposed 
by heat, then squirted through a die, woven 
into a basket form and dried and baked. 

In 1885, Otto B. Fahnehjelm, a Swedish 
inventor, secured an American patent (see 
U. 8. Patent No. 312,452, February 17, 
1885) for an incandescent light which con- 
sisted in the combination with a suitable 
gas burner and a shade holder of means for 
suspending an incandescent body in the 
flame of the burner, and for adjusting the 
incandescing body horizontally and verti- 
eally in relation to the flame. The Fahn- 
ehjelm light consisted substantially of a 
series of rods of calcined magnesia, resemb- 
ling the teeth of a comb, held in a suitable 
frame and suspended in a non-luminous 
flame of gas. 

In 1886, Galopin and Evans (in Austra- 
lia) produced a lamp burning hydrocarbon 
vapor mixed with air to produce a heating 
flame, directed downwards into a woven 
platinum mantle, which was thus made in- 
candescent. 

About this same time, or even a little 
earlier (1885), Carl Auer von Welsbach 
announced the invention of a lamp in 
which the rare oxides of lanthanum, 
yttrium, zirconium, etc., in a finely divided 
condition, were rendered incandescent by 
heating toa high temperature. The source 
of light was a light network of cotton 
thread impregnated with a solution of the 
salts of the combined nitrates, oxides or 
bromides. After being saturated with these, 
upon exposure to heat, the supporting cot- 
ton network was burned out, the salts con- 


SCIENCE. 


953 


verted into the oxides and a skeleton hood 
or cap thus prepared, which would incan- 
desce when a heating flame was applied 
to it, 

The absolute originality of this form of 
mantle and method of manufacture should 
be carefully noted. 

The nitrates of the metals, being very 
soluble, were especially adapted to the proc- 
ess, although sulphates, iodides or bromides 
could also be used. 

Welsbach found that this mantle, as it 
came to be called almost from the first, 
could resist the action of all atmospheric air 
fit to breathe for an indefinite length of time, 
was not changed by exposure and would re- 
main effective for a long time. 

For the next five years or more von Wels- 
bach was constantly at work making elab- 
orate investigation of the properties of all 
oxides of metals which would incandesce 
when used separately, and when combined 
in various mixtures. He invented proc- 
esses whereby the salts of the metals re- 
quired for impregnating mantles might be 
prepared from the natural ores, originated 
means for strengthening the frail mantle, 
arranged the mantles for transportation in 
safety, and perfected many details making 
the lamp practical. 

It is interesting to notice that the form 
of mantle and the general process of man- 
ufacture have remained up to the pres- 
ent precisely as von Welsbach originally 
planned them, without improvements or 
essential modification of any kind. 

One or two of the discoveries of von 
Welsbach are necessarily mentioned a little 
in detail, to explain the magnitude of the 
investigations he conducted and the sort of 
results he procured. 

A patent No. 409,531, August 20, 1889, 
explains that the illuminating power is 
greatly increased by adding thorium oxide ; 
that lanthanum oxide without sufficient 
thorium oxide crumbles when incandes- 


954 


cent—with it the mantle becomes flex- 
ible. Later he found (patent No. 563,524) 
that thorium oxide, by the addition of a 
small per cent. of uranium or cerium oxide, 
has a very high illuminating power, pro- 
ducing a vivid and nearly white incandes- 
cent light, in spite of the fact that thorium 
oxide alone radiates little light which is 
yellow in color, and that uranium oxide 
alone radiates little light, and it is yellow 
reddish. Still later, he discovered that the 
illuminating power of lanthanum, cerium, 
yttrium, zirconium and other metals of the 
refractory earths is greatly increased by 
the addition of thorium oxide (ThO,) ; 
that cerium not only gives a yellow light 
(very desirable color), but greatly increases 
the life of the mantle, causes it to hold its 
shape better, and makes it in every way 
stronger and more durable. 

Thus we get a slight idea of the elabo- 
rate researches conducted by Dr. von Wels- 
bach, and of the many difficulties which 
had to be overcome before the Welsbach 
mantle could become practical and com- 
mercial. 

To complete the story of lights procnred 
by the incandescence of metallic oxides, 
mention should be made of the lamp in- 
vented by Professor Walther Nernst, of the 
University of Gottingen, early in 1899, the 
substance rendered incandescent being a 
magnesia rod through which an electric 
current is passed after preliminary heating. 
Not only is this light related to the same 
group as the Welsbach, not only does it 
give a very modern illustration of a sort of 
lamp mentioned earlier in the report, but 
(most interesting of all) in his latest work 
Nernst gives up the magnesia and uses the 
same mixtures of oxides as used in the 
Welsbach mantle — zirconium, thorium, 
cerium, erbium, etc. 

A very brief description of the lamp and 
mantle made for use with illuminating gas 
by the Welsbach Light Company, of Glou- 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


cester, N. J., will give the best idea of pres- 
ent methods, and serve to bring out some 
important points with reference to the light- 
giving power, durability and economy of 
the mantle as put on the American market. 
The Welsbach ‘J’ mantles (standard until 
very recently) were made about as follows: 
A six-cord cotton thread was woven on a 
knitting machine forming a tube of knitted 
fabric of rather open mesh. This web has 
the grease and dirt thoroughly washed out 
of it, is dried, then cut into lengths double 
that required for a single mantle. It is 
then saturated in the fluid (described 
later), wrung out, stretched over spools and 
dried. Next, the double length pieces are 
cut into two, the tops of each piece doubled 
back and sewed with a platinum wire 
which draws the top in and provides a 
means of supporting the mantle when fin- 
ished from the wire holder. After stretch- 
ing the mantle over a form, smoothing it 
down and fastening the platinum wire to the 
wire mantle holder, the mautle is burned 
out by touching a Bunsen burner to the 
top. The cotton burns off slowly, leaving 
a skeleton mantle of metallic oxides, which 
are unconsumed, and which preserve the 
exact shape and detail of every cotton 
fiber. The soft oxides are then hardened 
by a Bunsen flame. During burning out 
and hardening, considerable shrinking 
takes place. This finishes the process, ex- 
cept the immersion of the mantle in erys- 
talline, to prepare it for transportation, 
after which it is trimmed and packed. The 
fluid in which the cotton webbing is im- 
mersed is procured from monazite sand, 
which yields in the finished mantle oxides 
of thorium and cerium. 

The candle-power of mantles of the sort 
mentioned is about 75 initial candle-power 
under gas pressure of Philadelphia illumi- 
nating gas. This means 20 candles per cubic 
foot per hour (an ordinary 8-foot fish tail 
burner gives not over three candle-power 


DECEMBER 21, 1900.] 


per cubic foot per hour). The life of the 
mantles is probably not much below 1,000 
hours. The candle-power drops quite rap- 
idly at first and more gradually afterwards, 
going as low as to one-half the initial can- 
dle-power before the mantle breaks. 

It is hard to tell how much the perfec- 
tion of detail in burner construction, a 
proper selection of chimney, and artistic 
features of design have contributed to pro- 
cure the very large commercial use of the 
lamps. Without proper burners the mantle 
would be of small value. The details of the 
common burner, the peculiarities of which 
make it different from the ordinary Bunsen 
burner in adjustment of gas and air; the 
gauge distributing device to spread the 
flame over the whole mantle and so fill the 
mantle are too well known to merit detailed 
description. 

The mantle first made in America, in 
1888, gave only 35-40 candle-power initial, 
under 10/10 pressure, using 3 to 3.2 feet of 
gas on 3-inch mantles, and under ordinary 
conditions not over 8 candle-power per 
cubic foot of gas used. 

The new mantle, known as Balm Hill or, 
popularly, ‘Yusea’ mantle, has a much 
more open mesh than the ‘J’ mantle, and 
is made on lace-making machinery. It is 
thus supposed to be much stronger than 
the older mantle, and gives about 100 
initial candle-power at the mantle when 
the gas and air are properly adjusted 
in the burner. Your committee has been 
unable to gather data of life or decline in 
candle-power in time to include them in 
this report. 

Certain defects in the mantle light should 
not be entirely passed over. The mantle 
is exceedingly fragile and cannot be made 
to stand where it is subject to continued 
vibration ; the quality of the light is such 
as to require the adjectives cold, ghastly, 
harsh, in describing it; and often a green- 
ish tinge in the light is evident. The 


SCIENCE. 


955 


candle-power drops badly early in the life 
of a mantle, and is especially subject to this 
trouble where there is much dust in the air; 
the oxides seem to volatilize slowly from 
the mantles, as evidenced by the shrinking 
in size of strands of mantle and the white 
deposit on chimney, for platinum melts 
easily in the part of the flame where the 
mantles hang. 

If the mantle breaks, a hole being thus 
produced in it, the hot flame strikes out 
through this, often breaking the chimney, 
and as a secondary result destroying the 
mantle itself. 

On the other hand, the advantages in the 
use of the mantle for lighting are shown 
not only by statements already made, but 
also by the fact that artificial lighting has 
been profoundly affected by the commer- 
cially-successful mantle. We have systems 
of lighting using mantles now in which the 
source of the heating flame is gas, gasoline, 
kerosene. There are systems using Wels- 
bach mantles in which pressure of large 
amount, and others in which low pressure 
is used. There are two great companies, 
the Welsbach Commercial Company and the 
Welsbach Street Lighting Company, that do 
an enormous business and deal only with 
the use of the Welsbach mantle in lamps 
using ordinary illuminating gas. 

The patents held in this country by the 
Welsbach Light Company are very broad 
and fundamental, and have to do with all 
sorts of details of the system as well. The 
numbers of the patents of most importance 
are given below.* Over fifty in all were 


* 359,524, March 15, 1887. Carl Auer von Welsbach. 


377,698, Feb. 7, 1888. “ce a 6c ce 

377,699, ‘‘ GR 208), 1S 66 GG tc 

SUR GON) <li ere ce Muicelna tcc a ccm uanatc 
? ? 

Sia Olea Gp G6 « 66 ce 
? 5) 


390,057, Sept. 25, ‘‘ Harold J. Bell. 


396,347, Jan. 15, 1889. Carl Auer yon Welsbach. 
399,174, March 5, “ bia ath Toe e 
403,803, May 21, “ Sas ciate ee 
403, 804, “e 21, cc “ “ce ce “ce 


956 


submitted to your committee. Some of 
these are not to Welsbach, and yet are for 
processes of importance in the manufacture 
of the present American-made mantle and 
lamp. 

In consideration of the enormous ad- 
vance in the art of artificial lighting made 
possible by the invention of the Welsbach 
mantle, the Franklin Institute awards the 
Elliott Cresson Medal to Dr. Carl Auer von 
Welsbach, of Vienna, Austria, for his dis- 
coveries regarding the metallic oxides which 
may become incandescent when heated, and 
for the invention of a mantle by the use of 
which these metallic oxides are commer- 
cially available as sources of artificial light. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 312. 


Also, in view of the many details wrought 
out by the Welsbach Light Company, of 
Gloucester, N. J., in putting a thoroughly 
practical mantle on the market, the Frank- 
lin Institute awards to them, the said com- 
pany, in addition, the Edward Longstreth 
Medal of Merit. 


UNIVERSITY REGISTRATION STATISTICS. 

NOTWITHSTANDING the obscurities, fre- 
quent inaccuracies, and baldness of state- 
ment inherent in a table of comparative 
statistics, it is nevertheless believed that 
our readers will find some degree of interest 
in the accompanying summary of the statis- 
ties of registration at sixteen of the leading 


California. Chicago. Columbia.? | Cornell.**| Harvard.}} | Indiana. ome 

College (Arts) Men 464 (18) | p46 (go)|1992 (90) | 563 (15)/178 (8) 
College (Arts) Women| ..|2050(295)| 975 (105) | 292 (69) (82))" 448 (57) | 268 (5) 
Scientific Schools* 540 (78) 880 (83)| 507 (12) 
TB ue RAN ONT 121 (15)| 427 (50) | 176(—1)| 647 (34) | 110 (10) 
Medicine......... 171 (10)| 751 (—6) | 336 (8)| 749 (36) 211 (0) 
Agriculture...... nea 174 (11) 
CRRA ane ral .| 208 (37) 
Dentistry........-....- 152 (3) 
Divanicyas wore eas 180 (—3) 28 (1) 
TOES SVS dodo coneccqsoabouscacoce | 22 (3) 
IETENO osacaseoonnesee pooondoSceeesS 
Pharmacy ...-......... 84 (2) 
Teachers College..... 499 (280) | 344 (?) 
Veterinary............ 2 (0)| 41 (12)| 
Graduate Schools..............| 20(—8)| 330(—56)t] 383  (3)|| | 192 (22)/393(15?)tt| 40 (5)/159(—28) 
INTOWEO WscecsconcodoaceessonosEs. | 20 (—2) 
Courses for Teachers......... t 721(—29) 
Summer Session...... ss... 433(273)| 1790 (154) | 417 (417) | 464 (40)) 987(131) | 333 (82) 
Other Special Courses........ 81 (26) 
Deduct double registration 98° | 64tt 

Grand Total ................. |3221(635)| 3774 (480) |4261 (555)°°)2458(218)|5720(382) |1280(137)|629 (1) 
Officers tee 300 | 225 471 (28) 495 (47) | 60 129 


F. L. Rawson and W. 
Stepney Rawson. 
Car] Auer von Welsbach. 


407,963, July 


409,528, Aug. 20, “ 
ce D 


409,529, iO: sé “ a3 “c cc 

? ’ 

409,530, ‘‘ 20, * AGU enor Gt “ 

409,531, ‘‘ 20, “§ CE BG) G6 « 
y ’ 

438,125, Oct. 7, 1890. GGG. GG “ 

463,470, Nov. 17, 1892. CB 1G) 6G «“ 


563,524, July 7, 1896. be ‘ 6 
26,075 (design), Sept. 22, 1896. Geo. S. Barrows. 


* Includes schools of engineering, chemistry, archi- 
tecture and mines. 


{Included in statistics of college and scientifie 
schools. 

{Includes 118 students in the ‘Ogden Graduate 
School of Science.’ 

2 Statistics of November 7th. 

|| Not including 107 professional students who are 
also candidates for the degree of A.M. or Ph.D. 

° Ineludes 74 Summer Session students who have 
returned for the fall term. 

** Statistics of November 15th. 

tt Statistics of November 19th. 

tt Includes 52 graduate students in Radcliffe, which 
number is deducted for double registration. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


universities in the United States. Unless 
otherwise indicated, these statistics repre- 
sent the registration at the respective uni- 
versities on November 1, 1900. 

Variations in the standard of admission 
and of required work, in the interpretation 
of technical designations given to different 
departments and school of divers institu- 
tions, in the practical classification of stu- 
dents, and in matters of educational admin- 
istration are so divergent that any attempt 
to squeeze the statistics of sixteen institu- 
tions into a rigid form that may meet with 
the requirements of one or of several of the 
institutions considered, is manifestly ab- 
surd, or at least unwise. It would obviate 


SCIENCE. 


957 


in mind these facts, we offer the figures 
which have been received in the approxi- 
mate form in which they were sent. Uni- 
formity in this matter must, therefore, be 
relative, notabsolute. After all, in the ab- 
sence of universally accepted stated defini- 
tions and requirements which for compara- 
tive statistical purposes it would be a happy 
circumstance to have all universities respect 
and obey, figures of this character function 
merely as probable hints, not as basic facts. 

We would call attention to a few matters 
in connection with the table. In every in- 
stance an endeavor has been made to as- 
certain the increase or decrease in the 
various departments as compared with the 


j] | 
Stanford. | Michigan. | Minnesota. Missouri.22 eras Pennsylvania. | Princeton. | Wisconsin. |||| Yale. 
638(—3)| 485 (64) 349 (70) 745 (59)| 529 1192 
1178 (70)| 591(—6)| 592 es 482° (30) | 961; —13)| 422 (21) 406 
353 (84)! 347 (61)| 246 (43) 336 (30) | 428 (61)) 390 610 
185 (24) 809 (88)} 480(--48)| 115 (9) 175 (5) 344 (32) 258 210 
591 (73)| 512(—44)/ 82 (21) | 404 (0)| 566(—116) 133 
88(—204) 18 
590 (87) 75 
278 (34) 560 (30)| 415 (—69) 
89 
7 
125 126 
69(—3)) 164 (27) 42 
59 (—12) 
57 (11) 
84 (?)| 80 (4)) 177 (0)| 35 (45) | 35 (5)| 150 (—2) | 78(—63)| 101 299 
I 15) 7 (8) 20 (2) | 
230 (—32 
56(—8)| 404(141)| 275(—27)| 439 (171) 329 
10 (—9) 60 
73 205 
1318 (62)|3813(219)| 3423 (187)/1335 (129) | 1948 (124)|2549(—124) | 1251 (57)) 1856(144) | 2536(19) 
220 (13) 8 74 (6) 299 265 156 (20) 


some of the misinterpretations which a com- 
parison of the statistics of the accompanying 
table may entail, if space permitted a suc- 
einct statement of the institutional varia- 
tions above alluded to. However, bearing 


22 Statistics of November 12th.. Registration not 
completed, particularly in agriculture, the courses of 
which open late in the term. 

|||| Statistics of November 15th. 

°° Exceptional increase due to first session of Sum- 
mer Schools in 1900. 


registration of 1899. Such increase or de- 
crease where obtainable is represented by 
the figures in parentheses. Unfortunately, 
returns are not at hand from several other 
representative institutions in which there is 
a common interest. However, the scope 
of country represented by the institutions 
herein enumerated is undoubtedly suffi- 
cient in extent to indicate the general status 
and progress of higher education in the 
United States. Gro. B. GERMANN. 


958 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

One Thousand American Fungi; How to select 
and cook the Edible; How to distinguish and 
avoid the Poisonous; giving full botanic de- 
scriptions made easy for reader and student. 
By CHARLES McILVAINE, assisted by RoBERT 
K. Macapam, Indianapolis. Bowen-Merrill 
Co., with 65 plates, 34 colored, and numerous 
cuts. Large 8vo. Pp. 704. 

The fashion of gathering and eating fungi, 
which has suddenly become almost a mania 
with many people in this country, has called 
forth a considerable number of books and tracts 
intended to aid those who have no previous 
knowledge of fungi to distinguish between the 
edible and poisonous species. As is seen from 
the title, the present work has for its object to 
make the subject easy for the reader and the 
student. The first thing which the student 
demands is good illustrations, which, in the case 
of most fungi classed as edible or poisonous, 
must be colored in order to be recognized at 
once. Unfortunately the colored plates of Dr. 
Mellvaine’s book are not satisfactory. Too 
many species are often crowded together on a 
single plate, the drawing is too sketchy and the 
colors, which have a washed-out look are not 
true to nature. The plate of Clitocybe illudens is 
almost the only one of the colored plates which 
is at all satisfactory and, were it not for the 
names attached, in many cases expert mycolo- 
gists would be ata loss to know what species 
are represented. On the other hand, the pho- 
tographic reproductions are excellent and, 
where color is not an essential feature, serve 
their purpose admirably. Plate 158, a good 
picture of Phallus Ravenelii, is marked Phallus 
impudicus, although the veil characteristic of 
that species is wanting. 

Turning to the text, we are told that the 
book is the result of ten years’ labor and that 
the author has added over six hundred species 
to the one hundred and eleven edible species 
enumerated by the Rev. M. A.Curtis. From this 
long practical experience of Dr. McIlvaine he 
must have acquired a large fund of information 
valuable to the would-be mycophagist. It is 
to be regretted that the author’s style is 
marked by an absence of simplicity and clear- 
ness, and that he is given to repetition and to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


frequent side remarks in which sentimentality 
rather than scientific accuracy predominates. 
A serious fault, due rather to the lack of clear- 
ness in writing than to any desire to misrepre- 
sent, is the mixing up of what the author has 
himself observed with what he has learned 
from the writings of other mycologists and, in 
too many cases, one who is not already familiar 
with the literature cannot tell where the quo- 
tations from other writers begin and end. One 
would like to know exactly what has been the re- 
sult of Dr. McIlvaine’s own experience, and that 
is not always easy to find out. Whatissaid about 
Boletinus porosus illustrates this point. That spe- 
cies is a common and striking fungus in the east- 
ern part of the country and when raw it has a 
most disagreeable taste which promises little to 
the mycophagist. One would like to know what 
has been Dr. MclIlvaine’s experience with this 
species. On turning to p. 403 we find only 
the following statement: ‘‘Fine specimens 
were sent to me by Mr. H. I. Miller of Terre 
Haute and Dr. J. R. Weist, Richmond, Ind. 
They were in condition to be eaten and enjoyed. 
No disagreeable odor was perceptible.’’? Does 
this mean that Dr. McIlvaine ate the specimens 
and enjoyed them? His statement is certainly 
not explicit enough to satisfy those who have 
been nearly nauseated eating this fungus raw. 
Whether a fungus is edible or not often depends 
on circumstances and in any work intended to 
instruct students the conditions should be stated. 
To take Gyromitra esculenta as an example, Plate 
VI. is a somewhat sensational representation of 
a group of dangerous fungi. A small but very 
red devil is sitting under the shadow of a large 
skull reading a book called toxicology. In the 
foreground is a very bad picture of Gyromitra 
esculenta which, from its surroundings, the 
reader would infer to be deadly. But on p. 
547, in speaking of this species, we find the 
following: ‘Since 1882 myself and friends have 
repeatedly eaten it. In no instance was the 
slightest discomfort felt from it. It was always 
enjoyed.’ Now the facts in the case of the Gy- 
romitra are these: aslong ago as1882 Bostroem* 
showed that an active poison exists in this spe- 
cies, but it is soluble in boiling water and there- 

* Ueber die Intoxication durch die essbare Lorchel. 
Eugen Bostroem, Leipzig. 1882. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


fore, if the water in which the fungi have been 
boiled is carefully removed, they can be eaten 
with impunity. If by experiment Dr. Mcll- 
vaine has found Bostroem’s observations to be 
incorrect, he should have made some statements 
to that effect. Otherwise he should have men- 
tioned Bostroem’s experiments in the paragraph 
in which he speaks of the fungus as edible. 
As it is, we are not even informed whether in 
his own cases the water in which the Gyromi- 
tra was cooked was removed or not. That part 
of the book treating of the poisonous Amanite, 
a subject of vital importance, is by no means 
clearly written. The facts are given, but they 
are so ill arranged that they must be obscure 
to the persons to whom the book is especially 
addressed. 

With regard to that part of the work treating 
of the species not preeminently edible or poi- 
sonous, and they form the greater part of the 
whole, it may be said that as a summary of 
species compiled from many scattered sources, 
it serves a useful purpose, since in the present 
state of our knowledge anything like a com- 
plete or very accurate account of our larger 
fungi is out of the question. It would have 
been well to cite the publications where the 
different species were originally described, as 
well as the name of the original describer. In 
the effort to make the list of species described 
as complete as possible the mistake has been 
made of accepting without sufficient discrimina- 
tion the names and descriptions of different 
authorities, the result being that the same spe- 
cies in several instances appears not only under 
different names but with different descriptions 
in a way puzzling to students who attempt to 
ascertain the specific distinctions. 

The chapter by Professor W. L. Carter on 
“Toadstool Poisoning and its Treatment’ stands 
out in bright relief from the rest of the book in its 
clearness and scientific treatment of the subject. 
There is also a good practical chapter on cook- 
ing and preparing fungi for the table and a 
good glossary, and the press work is all that 
need be asked. The great merit of the book 
lies in the record of the large number of species 
eaten by the author without injury, in the ex- 
cellent photographic reproductions, the useful 
although somewhat indiscriminate summary of 


SCLENCE. 


959 


our native species, and the chapters on toad- 
stool poisoning and on cooking fungi. The 
faults of the book are due mainly to the fact 
that the style of the author is discursive and 
confused rather than clear and concise and the 
temptation to write a large book where ashorter 
and more accurately scientific treatise would 
have answered the purpose better has not pro- 
duced the best result. Although valuable in 
many ways, it does not seem to us to be so well 
adapted to the general reader and the student 
to whom it purports to be addressed as the 
excellent book of Hamilton Gibson, ‘ Our Edi- 
ble Toadstools and Mushrooms.’ 


A Treatise on Zoology. Edited by BE. Ray LAn- 
KESTER. Part II. The Porifera and Celen- 
tera. London, Adam and Charles Black ; 
New York, Macmillan & Co. 1900. 

The second volume of the ‘ Treatise on Zool- 
ogy,’ edited by Professor Lankester, has quickly 
succeeded the first. It includes an introduc- 
tory chapter by the editor, followed by a chap- 
ter on the ‘Porifera,’ by Professor KE. A. Minchin, 
and chapters on the ‘Hydromeduse and Scy- 
phomeduse,’ by Mr. G. H. Fowler, and on the 
‘Anthozoa and Ctenophora,’ by Mr. G. C, 
Bourne. The amount of space occupied by the 
various chapters is, however, very unequal, 
Professor Minchin’s admirable account of the 
sponges extending through one hundred and 
sixty-eight pages, while the Hydromedusz and 
Scyphomeduse together are discussed with only 
seventy-six, the Anthozoa receiving eighty and 
the Ctenophores twenty-three. 

The introductory chapter by the editor is 
full of interest as a summing up of the results 
of the important investigations which he and 
his pupils have been conducting for many years 
on the significance of the various cavities known 
as celomic. Lankester recognizes primarily 
only one form of ccelom, the gonoceel, a space 
surrounding the reproductive cells, though sec- 
ondarily it may enlarge and become divided to 
form cavities surrounding other organs, as in 
the Vertebrates, for example, in which it forms 
the pericardial, pleural and peritoneal cavities. 
In the Arthropods, on the other hand, it be- 
comes very greatly reduced concomitantly with 
the formation of a hemoccel, produced by the 


960 


distension and fusion of spaces primarily be- 
longing to the vascular system, a method of 
celom-formation to which Lankester applies 
the somewhat cacophonic term phlebedesis. As 
a corollary of this view of the ccelom a division 
into two groups of the organs usually termed 
nephridia has resulted; those which terminate 
in a flame cell, such as those characteristic of 
the Platyhelminths, Rotifers, Chetopods and 
of certain larval Mollusca, have been placed in 
one group and retain the original name, while 
those which stand in relation with the gono- 
ecel or its derivatives, such as those of the 
adult Molluses, the Arthropods and Verte- 
brates, form the second group and are termed 
uroducts. In passing it may be remarked that 
we cannot help wondering why, in speaking of 
nephroblasts on p. 34, the credit for their dis- 
covery is assigned chiefly to Bergh, the actual 
discoverers, Whitman and Wilson, being prob- 
ably included in the term ‘other observers.’ 
Is it possible that Professor Lankester finds his 
greatest joy in one sinner who repents? 

The theory thus briefly outlined has cer- 
tainly much in its favor, though it must be 
confessed that doubts are still permissible as to 
the fundamental distinction between the two 
forms of celom. Final judgment on this point 
must at all events be postponed until further 
information as to the developmental history of 
the ccelomic and vascular spaces of such forms 
as the Nemerteans and Hirudinea is at our dis- 
posal. 

In connection with the theory Lankester in- 
troduces many new terms, a list of which with 
definitions forms the concluding section of the 
chapter. The majority of these are undoubtedly 
necessary, if the theory be correct, but the 
terms Enteroccela and Ccelomoccela, used in the 
heading of the chapter, and proposed as sub- 
stitutes for the more familiar names Ccelentera 
and Celomata, are certainly open to objection. 
Perhaps they are more symmetrical than the 
older terms, but a name, after all, is but a peg 
whereon to hang an idea, and a superabundance 
of pegs for one idea is just as confusing as a 
lack of one, and, furthermore, the term Entero- 
celia has already been employed by the Hert- 
wigs for the suspension of a very different idea. 

Professor Minchin’s chapter on the Porifera 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


is admirable in every respect and fully harmo- 
nizes with the excellent work he has previously 
published upon the group. His treatment of 
all the points of view is full and accurate, and 
his discussion of the affinities of the group and 
the phylogeny of its various subdivisions is clear 
and suggestive. He inclines to the view of an 
early separation of the sponges, as the Parazoa, 
from the remaining Metazoa and maintains the 
non-identity of the germ layers in the two 
groups. The chapter, ina word, may be taken 
as an accurate and comprehensive statement of. 
our present knowledge of this interesting group. 

Unfortunately, so much cannot be said with- 
out reservation regarding the remaining chap- 
ters of the volume. Myr. Fowler’s chapters do 
not evidence the same familiarity with the forms 
described that is seen in Professor Minchin’s 
work, and the same is true, to a certain extent 
at least, of Mr. Bourne’s contribution. The 
chapters on the Hydromeduse and Scyphome- 
dusz are sketchy, as may be appreciated from 
the fact that the latter group requires but six- 
teen pages, or really, if the space occupied by 
the fourteen figures be deducted, but little 
more than ten pages. The principal facts con- 
cerning the structure and histology of the two 
groups are given, it is true, but the brevity of 
style which the author affects leads occasion- 
ally to statements which convey erroneous im- 
pressions, as, for instance, where it is stated 
that the threads of the nematocysts ‘ are formed 
(sic) and lie inside the vesicles,’ where delami- 
nation alone is given as the method by which the 
germ layers are formed in the Hydromeduse, 
and where invagination is alone given as the 
corresponding process in Seyphomeduse. And 
one misses also some treatment of the broader 
questions suggested by the structural peculiari- 
ties of the group. Thus one finds no discussion 
of the interesting question as to the origin of 
the alternation of generations in the Hydrome- 
dus, so admirably treated by Brooks, nor of 
the corresponding phenomenon in the Scypho- 
meduse, and one searches in vain for any dis- 
cussion of the phylogeny of the various orders 
into which the two classes are divided, or for 
any adequate treatment of the principles under- 
lying the polymorphism so strikingly mani- 
fested by the Siphonophores. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


In the chapters contributed by Mr. Bourne 
one finds side by side an admirable treatment 
of some groups and faulty accounts of others. 
Thus of the groups in which Mr. Bourne has 
accomplished admirable investigations, the Al- 
eyonaria and corals, the description is very 
good, but for the most of the remaining groups 
the treatment is sadly behind the times. This 
is especially the case with the forms which he 
includes under the order Actiniidze, because so 
much has been accomplished within recent 
years in connection with this group, and with 
these recent advances the author appears to be 
entirely unfamiliar, basing his classification, as 
he states, on the work of Hertwig (1882, 1888) 
and Andres (1383). It is to be remembered 
that Hertwig’s work formed merely the starting 
point for a reconstruction of the taxonomy of 
the Actiniide, and the progress of the recon- 
struction has gone on since its publication with 
rapid strides. 

Some excuse, however, may be found for 
many of Mr. Bourne’s taxonomic enormities in 
the fact that the chapter was evidently written 
as many,as four and possibly even five years 
ago and has since remained unpublished. But 
when we read on p. 38 that ‘ pains have been 
taken to make it (i. e., the classification of the 
Zoantharia) as fully as possible representative 
of the actual state of our knowledge,’ and find 
the volume in which this statement appears 
dated 1900, we are justified in expecting some 
record of the results of comparatively recent 
investigations. Apparently, however, there 
has been practically no attempt at a revision 
of the original manuscript, and though Mr. 
Bourne may not be responsible for the delay in 
its publication, he may well be held account- 
able for the failure to bring it up to date. 

A detailed criticism of the classification 
adopted for the Actiniide would almost result 
in a comprehensive review of the entire order, 
but a few errors may be mentioned in justifi- 
cation of the criticism made above. One finds, 
for instance, no mention of the family Aliciidze 
established by Duerden in 1895, its type, Alicia 
(Cladactis), being referred to the Bunodide ; 
Hertwig’s family Liponemide is retained and 
no mention is made of the family Boloceridsza 
(MecMurrich, 1893); the Phyllactidze are de- 


SCIENCE. 


961 


scribed as belonging to a group possessing 
foliaceous tentacles, though their foliaceous or- 
gans are really highly modified marginal 
spherules, as was shown by McMurrich in 1893 ; 
and Savaglia is suggested as a member of Her- 
twig’s family, Amphianthidee, although Carlgren 
showed in 1895 that it is really a Zoanthid. 
These for samples: a long catalogue of sins both 
of omission and commission might readily be 
made, and, naturally, the unfamiliarity with 
recent work has led to errors of statement in. 
the descriptive part of the work. 

With the corals, as stated above, the case is 
different, though even here the soft parts, so 
important for the proper understanding of the 
affinities of the group, are barely mentioned, 
being dismissed with only six lines of descrip- 
tion. And little fault is to be found with the 
chapter on the Ctenophores, in which an accu- 
rate and sufficiently complete description is 
found, the author deserving especial credit for 
the stand he has taken against the current but 
erroneous idea that these forms are Ccelentera 
or even directly derived from any of the existing 
Ceelenterate groups. 

Attention has been directed in what has been 
said above, chiefly to the failings of the volume 
and possibly an erroneous impression as to its 
general excellence may have been given. It is, 
nevertheless, a valuable book to place in the 
hands of the ‘serious student’ for whom, the 
preface informs us, it was written, and even 
though it fails here and there to be an entirely 
‘trustworthy presentation * * * of the main 
facts of zoology’ it is assuredly worthy of a 
place on the reference shelf of every zoological 
laboratory. It may be stated that the illustra- 
tions are abundant and, as a rule, excellent, and 
bibliographie lists and good indices are given 
at the end of each chapter. J. P. McM. 


Contributions a l'étude des hyménoptéres ento- 


mophages. Par L. G. SEuRAT. Ann. des 
Sciences Naturelles. Zoologie, X., Nos. 1-3, 
Paris, 1899. Pp. 1-159. Pl. L-V. 


The development of the larve of those para- 
sitic Hymenoptera which live within the bodies 
of other insects has been the subject of much 
speculation and of some investigation. How 
these creatures breathe, nourish themselves, 


962 


move, molt and pass their excretions, have 
been mooted points. Cuvier thought that these 
larves breathed by placing their spiracles in rela- 
tion with those of the hostinsect. Gerstaecker, 
in 1863, came to the same conclusion. Ratze- 
burg attributed a respiratory function to the anal 
vesicle in certain Braconids and to the caudal 
appendage in the Ichneumonids. Boisduval 
concluded that they do not take nourishment 
through the mouth, that they do not breathe 
and that they void no excrement, the larva 
being analogous to the foetus in mammalia, 
which lives the life of the mother. Newport 
described the Jarvee of certain Ichneumonids as 
having no anus, the rectum and its orifice being 
rapidly developed at the final larval change. 
The older authors thought that these larve at- 
tack only the fatty tissues of the host. Bugnion 
states that Encyrtus nourishes itself exclusively 
on the lymph. Ganin has observed a curious 
hyper-metamorphosis in certain egg parasites 
of the family Proctotrypide. Marchal has 
made some extraordinary observations upon 
other Proctotrypids, showing that one form 
(Trichacis) develops in the nervous system of 
Cecidomyia, while Polygnotus develops in the 
digestive tract of the same host. 

Seurat, in the paper under consideration, re- 
ports the results of investigations which he has 
conducted upon members of three families of 
parasitic Hymenoptera. He has studied the 
Braconids, Apanteles glomeratus in the common 
European cabbage worm, Aphidius fabarum in 
the common Aphis rumicis and Doryctes gallicus, 
an external feeder on a wood-boring larva. 
The Ichneumonids studied are two internal 
feeders, Mesochorus vittator and Hemiteles ful- 
vipes, and one external feeder, Xylonomus pre- 
catorius. Among the Chalcidids he has studied 
Diplolepis microgastri, an internal-feeding hyper- 
parasite in Microgasterid cocoons, and an ex- 
ternal feeder, Torymus propinquus, which lives 
in Cecidomyiid galls, feeding externally on the 
Cecidomyiid larve. The work has been done 
with the greatest care and the conclusions at 
which he arrives are of authoritative value. 
They are summarized as follows: 

(a) Manner in which larve nourish themselves.— 
The external and internal larve are formed 
with very sharp mandibles. The internal forms 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


use them in order to pierce the tissue of the 
host ; the external ones to pierce the skin of the 
host, making a delicate orifice which permits 
them to suck up the tissues. The digestive 
tube is always remarkable by the presence of 
the very voluminous stomach closed behind (this 
proves to be the rule in the young larve of 
Hymenoptera) and which serves as a sort of 
storehouse for food which is digested later. A 
small quantity of food digested at once suffices 
for the immediate wants of the larva. The 
voiding of the excrement only takes place in 
the interior of the cocoon, the stomach not 
opening until that time. The stomach of the 
larva contracts and dilates very rapidly, these 
movements probably favoring the ingestion of 
food. The materials which the parasite borrows 
from its host are varied. In certain cases 
(Apanteles glomeratus) the fat, the blood and the 
lymph only disappear. In the majority of cases 
the parasitic larva devours everything except 
the skin and trachee. The parasite respects 
the viscera up to the last limit and only sacri- 
fices them at the end. He has seen in certain 
cases the larva devour several host insects. 

(6) Respiration.—The problem of the mode of 
respiration is a puzzling one with internal feed- 
ing larve. External larve are provided with 
spiracles permitting the entrance of air. The 
respiration of the young internal larvee not yet 
provided with trachez filled with air is effected 
by osmosis through the skin by the whole sur- 
face of the body. The lary furnished with an 
anal vesicle or caudal respiratory appendage 
breathe with the skin of these organs as well as 
with the whole surface of the body. These ap- 
pendages are lacking, however, in certain cases, 
as in the Aphidiinz, the Chalcidide, ete. The 
tracheze are not slow in appearing elsewhere. 
The tracheal system is complicated in accord- 
ance with the needs of the larva. Jt is entirely 
closed and the entrance of the air is made 
through the skin and the very fine membrane 
of the ultimate tracheal branches. The entire 
surface of the skin is carpeted with an ex- 
tremely rich net-work of fine trachez which 
facilitate the accomplishment of this function. 
The hypothesis of the osmosis of air from the 
liquid tissues of the host through the body wall 
of the parasite and the cover of the trachez is 


DSCEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


not extraordinary. Weismann, having placed 
the larva of Musca vomitoria under water, has 
seen that the tracheal system remains filled 
with air at the expiration of several hours. 
The respiration of internal larve is then very 
normal, the tracheal system having undergone 
slight modifications. Upon leaving the host 
the spiracles open and the air enters through 
them. 

(ce) Molts.—He has observed a molt in the 
young internal larva of Apanteles glomeratus. 
The mandibles and the larval cuticle are shed. 
In certain of the young larve, one sees, in fact, 
after the molt of the body, the two mandibles 
of an earlier stage. The molt is made like that 
of the pupa, the old skin slipping from before 
towards the anal end of the body. The larva 
sheds this old skin into the open space behind it. 

Such are the facts concerning the mode of 
life of internal parasites in their hosts. There 
is really nothing mysterious in this mode of 
life. The functions are accomplished normally 
by means of slight modifications which it would 
have been easy to foresee. 

M. Seurat is heartily to be congratulated on 
this excellent piece of work, setting at rest, as 
it does, somany mooted points. Itisinteresting 
to note that he has not made any observations 
at all parallel to those of Marchal, who states 
that a single egg of Encyrtus laid in the egg of 
Hyponomeuta dissociates itself into a great 
number of embryos which develop into indi- 
vidual larvee in the larva of the host. 

L. O. Howarp. 


The Structure and Life-History of the Harlequin 
Fly (Chironomus). By L. C. MIALL, F.R.S., 
and A. R. HamMonp, F.L.S. Oxford, Clar- 
endon Press. 1900. Pp. 191; figs. 129. 
Professor Miall has gained an enviable repu- 

tation as a student of the life history and struc- 

ture of a number of common insects, and in the 
course of this work he has discovered many 
novel and important facts. His little book en- 
titled ‘The Structure and Life-History of the 

Cockroach,’ done in collaboration with Alfred 

Denny, is a model treatise on Orthopteran in- 

sect anatomy and his treatise on ‘The Natural 

History of Aquatic Insects’ is one of the most 

valuable and readable entomological books 


SCIENCE. 


963 


which has been published of late years. Inthe 
present volume the authors have given a very 
careful study of the development of the Chir- 
onomide, some of the species of which have 
long been favorite objects with histologists and 
embryologists. They havea very special biolog- 
ical interest in their various stages and it is 
thought that their inclusion in ordinary teaching 
courses will be desirable and will be facilitated 
by the present volume. Chironomus larve are 
very abundant and are found in pools and 
streams and at the bottom of deep fresh water 
lakes, Professor S. I. Smith having dredged them 
from the bottom of Lake Superior at a depth of 
nearly 1,000 feet. They have also been found in 
salt water and Packard has studied a species 
abundant at low water mark in Salem Harbor. 

The larvee inhabit tubes which they make of 
silk and mud or aquatic vegetation, and certain 
of the larvee possess only a rudimentary tracheal 
system which appears late in the larval stage. 
No insect known to the writers has more com- 
pletely departed from the habits and structure 
of an air-breathing animal, yet even here is 
found proof of descent from a terrestrial insect 
with branching air tubes. This remarkable 
modification is necessary from the fact that 
certain of the larvee live at great depths where 
it is impossible for them to rise to the surface. 
This absence of a tracheal system does away 
with the possibility of breathing by tracheal 
gills which is the commonest respiratory method 
with aquatic insects and necessitates the pres- 
ence of blood gills, so that respiration is accom- 
plished practically as with fishes and larval 
Batrachea. 

The whole internal anatomy of all stages is 
carefully described, with excellent figures, and 
this is done in a masterly and comparative way 
and includes a study of the embryonic develop- 
ment. An appendix is devoted to the methods 
of anatomical and histological investigation. 

An important point which the authors bear 
in mind and which Professor Miall has fre- 
quently advanced is that they desire by such 
work to incite the members of naturalist clubs 
and other non-academic biologists to take up 
the study of life histories. Such work in the 
past has yielded facts of the greatest biologic 
importance, and yet to-day the field is largely 


964 


neglected. The great nature-study movement 
which is making such rapid strides in this coun- 
try would be encouraged and assisted by many 
more such books as this if we had the investiga- 
tors and writers able to make such careful 
studies and to put them in print in such ad- 


mirable shape. 
L. O. Howarp. 


Transactions of the American Society of Mechan- 
ical Engineers. Vol. XXI., New York Meet- 
ing, 1899, Cincinnati Meeting, 1900. New 
York; published by the Society, 1900. Pp. 
1778 ; 8vo., 372 ill.; 33 papers, reports of com- 
mittees, ete. Printed by J. J. Little & Co. 
This large and handsome volume represents 

the work of the American Society of Mechan- 

ical Engineers, so far as it can be exhibited in 
type, for a single official year. The organization 
was effected in 1880, after many unsuccessful 
attempts had been made by other less influen- 
tial or less tactful members of the profession, 
and started off with a small number of members 
selected from among the leaders of the profes- 
sion of engineering. It now has a total mem- 
bership of 2,064, including 113 foreign members. 
The officers are a president, six vice-presidents, 
nine managers, a treasurer and a secretary, 
while its governing body, the Council, includes 
the officers, and the past-presidents of the So- 
ciety are ‘honorary councillors’ holding their 
positions for life or during their continued con- 
nection with the Society. 'Two conventions are 
held each year, one in New York, at headquar- 
ters, the other at usually, some large city in 
the central or western portion of the country. 

All persons engaged in engineering are eligible 

to membership, under certain restrictions and 

in classes, as members, honorary members, 
juniors, associates; the Council making a first 
revision of the list and recommending to the 

Society those whose credentials are considered 

satisfactory. The headquarters of the Society 

are at its own house, No 12 West 31st St., 

New York City, formerly that of the Academy 

of Medicine. 

The published papers and their discussions 
cover a very wide range of topics and are sup- 
plemented by a series of ‘topical discussions’ 
in answer to queries suggested by members and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


sent out by the Council. These volumes are 
rich in valuable fact and data thus derived. 

The papers are often of considerable length 
and their value is often proportional to their 
volume. Thus the report of the Committee of 
a Standard Method of Steam-boiler Trials, 78 
pages, is followed by a discussion occupying 27 
pages; Admiral Melville gives 17 pages to 
‘Engineering in the U.S. Navy’; Thurston on 
‘The Steam-Engine at the Close of the XIXth 
Century,’ occupies 61 pages; Dr. Eddy on 
‘Entropy,’ submits 17 pages; Laird on a 
‘Remarkable Steam Pumping Engine Trial,’ 24 
pages; Goss on a similar work, 39 pages; 
Robertson on the ‘Test of a 125-horse-power 
Gas-Engine,’ covers 43 pages; Herschman on 
‘The Heavy Automobile,’ 30 pages; Kerr’s 
admirable paper on the ‘South Terminal Sta- 
tion, Boston,’ occupies 27 pages ; Professors 
Cooley and Wagner on a ‘ Nordbury Engine, ’ 
admirably full, 96 pages, while the most gener- 
ally interesting paper of the volume, appar- 
ently, that of Professor Higgins on ‘The 
Education of Machinists, Foremen and Engi- 
neers,’ 19 pages, is discussed in 86 pages and 
is supplemented at the second meeting of the 
volume by another paper, occupying 40 pages, 
in which the author closes a most extraordi- 
narily interesting and instructive discussion, 
perhaps the most important and instructive 
respecting technical education ever yet put in 
type. 

A very large proportion of the papers are 
devoted to accounts of investigations of the 
performance of heat-engines and of machinery 
of interesting, and commonly of novel, charac- 
ter and to descriptions of the processes of 
experimental research and resultant data. 
The file of the twenty years past is extraordi- 
narily rich in this, to the engineer, most super- 
latively valuable material. A large part 
naturally comes from the technical schools and 
colleges ; but it is always practically valuable 
and often, if not invariably, conveys a form of 
knowledge that the practitioner most desires. 
The fact, however, that the ‘practical man’ 
cannot be induced to present oftener, and in 
good form, the outcome of his experience and 
the results of his endeavors to secure improved 
design, to invent new devices and processes, 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


and to secure more perfect constructions and 
more permanently valuable operation of his 
machinery, is lamented in some of the discus- 
sions and with good reason ; yet it is obvious 
that this lack is entirely natural ; but it is 
equally obvious that when the technically 
educated and professionally trained men of the 
coming generation, now just issuing from the 
technical and professional schools, to take the 
lead in the work of the industries of all de- 
partments, shall have reached their period of 
maturity and of maximum usefulness, this dif- 
ficulty is likely largely to disappear. In fact, 
the technical papers of the time are coming to 
more and more illustrate the literary, as well 
as professional powers of this class. 

The illustrations are all well-made, some 
half-tone, others engraved, many diagram- 
matic, and constitute a most important feature 
of the volume. The book-making is excellent 
and the whole may be taken as among the best, 
if not itself the very best, of illustrations of 
the character of the work of the contemporary 
man of science in these departments of appli- 
cation. The mechanic and engineer of to-day 
is the maker of the modern material world 
and it gives the average citizen of every civil- 
ized country a feeling of satisfaction and of 
safety to find that he is at once ‘ practical’ and 
scientific, experienced and learned, competent 
to unite the best of scientific knowledge with 
the richest of technical experience in the de- 
sign, the construction and the operation of the 
machinery of the world and in thus building 
the foundations of our civilization broad and 
deep and solid. This volume has large signifi- 
cance from the point of view of the economist, 
the educator, the philosopher and the states- 
man, as well as from that of the technicist and 
the engineer. 

Its editor, the secretary, deserves cordial 


congratulations. 
R. H. THURSTON. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Elementary Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene. WIN- 
FIELD S. Haut. New York, Cincinnati and Chi- 
cago, American Book Company. 1900. Pp. 273. 
75 cents. 

Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Hualey. LEONARD 
HuxLEy. New York, D. Appleton & Company. 


SCIENCE. 


965 


1900. Vol. I. 
+541. 


The Limitation of Learning and other Science Papers. 
ALBERT SCHNEIDER. Chicago, Chicago Medical 
Book Company. 1900. Pp. 100: 


Text-book of the Embryology of Invertebrates. KE. Kor- 
SCHELT and K. Hr1ipeR. New York, The Macmil- 
lan Company. London, Swan Sonnenschein and 
Company. 1900. Vol. IV. Pp. xi+ 594. 18s. 


One Thousand Problems in Physics. 
SNYDER and IRvING O. PALMER. 
& Company. 1900. Pp. v + 142. 


Pp. xi+539. Vol. II. Pp. vii 


WILLIAM H. 
Boston, Ginn 


An Elementary Treatise on Qualitative Chemical Analy- 
sis. J. F.SELLERS. Boston, Ginn & Company. 
1900. Pp. ix + 160. 


The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century. 
EDWARD W. Bryn. New York, Munn & Com- 
pany. 1900. Pp. viii +476. $3.00. 


Die Erdstréme im deutschen Reichstelegraphengebiet und 
ihr Zusammenhang mit den Erdmagnetischen Er- 
scheinungen. B.WEINSTEIN. Braunschweig, Fried- 
rich Vieweg und Sohn. 1900. Pp. vi+ 78 and 
19 plates. 


Theoretische Betrachungen ber die Ergebnisse der wis- 
senschaftlichen Luftfahrten. WILHELM VON BE- 
ZOLD. Brunschweig, Friedrich Viewig und Sohn. 
1900. Pp. 31. 


Uber Museen des Ostens der Vereinigten Staaten von 
Nord Amerika. A.B. Mbyspr. Berlin, R. Fried- 
lander und Sohn. 1900. Pp. viii + 72. 


The Biography of a Baby. MILLICENT W ASHBURN 


SHINN. Boston and New York, Houghton, Mifflin 
&Co. 1900. Pp. 246. $1.50. 


A Reader in Physical Geography. RIcHARD ELWooD 
DopGE. New York, London and Bombay. Long- 
mans, Green & Company. 1900. Pp. ix+ 231. 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 329th meeting was held on Saturday 
evening, December 1st. 

L. Stejneger presented a paper ‘On Post- 
Pliocene Migrations of Siberian Animals into 
Europe,’ saying that three invasions of Siberian 
higher vertebrates into western Europe are dis- 
tinguishable since Pleistocene times. The first 
one took place before the maximum glaciation 
of the ice age, at a time when Ireland and Nor- 
way were both connected with Great Britain, 


966 


and the latter with France. The second inva- 
sion, the so-called ‘Great Siberian Migration,’ 
took place after the deposition of the conti- 
nental boulder day in Central Europe, and the 
retreat of the glaciers, reaching only England, 
as Ireland and Norway had become detached 
by that time. A branch of this invasion reached 
Scandinavia from theeast. The third invasion 
is still in progress, being most marked and most 
easily demonstrated along the shores of the 
Arctic Ocean, entering Scandinavia from the 
northeast over Finland and northern Russia, a 
comparatively recent connection between Nor- 
way and Siberia. The immigration of a number 
of birds and mammals into Scandinavia by this 
route was treated in detail, from both a his- 
torical and a distributional point of view. 

Erwin F. Smith spoke of ‘Sugar Beets in 
New York and Michigan,’ describing the 
methods of beet cultivation and the various 
steps in the process of making beet sugar. As 
many as three hundred acres of beets were 
raised on one farm, and the daily output of 
one of the smaller factories was five tons. 
In theory, the speaker stated, the beet crop 
was one of the best possible for the land, since 
by utilizing the waste products of the sugar 
factory, the potash taken from the soil could be 
returned to it, but unfortunately in practice this 
was not done and the waste products, instead 
of being used, were in Michigan dumped into 
the streams. Beet diseases, it was said, were 
already a serious problem, causing serious losses 
to the farmer, and otler diseases would doubt- 
less be introduced from Germany, whence came 
most of the seed used in this country. 

F. A. Lucas. 


THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 

THE report of the Council states according 
tot he London Times that during the past year 
its time and attention had been largely occu- 
pied by business connected with matters of 


* “The Principles of Stratigraphic Geology,’ by J. 
E. Marr, 1898, p. 98. 

+See Bull. Amer. Paleont., No. 13, November, 1900. 
Ithaca. 26 pp.,5 pl. Describes twenty new species 
of calciferous Gastropoda, Brachiopoda and Trilobites; 
also one new genus of Trilobita, all from the Mohawk 
Valley, usually considered unfossiliferous. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


national and international scientific interest, in 
which her Majesty’s Government had either 
directly sought the advice and assistance of 
the Society, or had itself given assistance 
and financial support to undertakings pro- 
moted by the Society in the interests of sci- 
ence. The operations of the National Phys- 
ical Laboratory had been carried on in the 
buildings of the Kew Observatory. The control 
of the work carried on by the Kew Committee 
of the Royal Society was taken over by the 
executive committee from January 1st, and the 
property of that committee was made over to 
the Royal Society from that date. The com- 
mittee, which was incorporated as a public 
company, has since been dissolved. The work 
at Kew Observatory had been continued in all 
its branches. After considerable discussion, 
plans for a physics building, at an estimated 
cost of £6,000, and an engineering laboratory, 
at an estimated cost of £4,000, were approved 
by the executive committee and submitted to 
the general board. Unfortunately, all these 
plans must be discarded, and very grave loss 
of time had been caused by the unexpected op- 
position to the erection of the laboratory in the 
Old Deer-park. Her Majesty’s Treasury had 
now informed the Council that her Majesty 
was willing to assign the lease of Bushey- 
house and the surrounding ground, thirty 
acres in extent, for the purpose of the Na- 
tional Physical Laboratory, and that the Goy- 
ernment would increase the grant for build- 
ing by £2,000 in order that the extensive 
alterations and repairs which would be neces- 
sary might be carried out. Though the Council 
regretted the decision of the Government not 
to erect the laboratory in the Deer-park, they 
recognized with gratitude that her Majesty had 
been graciously pleased to place at the disposal 
of the Society a site in which the work of the 
laboratory could be carried on, and they had, 
therefore, accepted the offer made to them by 
her Majesty’s Treasury. The committee had 
to thank various donors for gifts. Sir Andrew 
Noble had contributed £1,000 for the purchase 
of apparatus. Dr. Isaac Roberts had given a 
spectroscope and two very valuable induction 
coils. Dr. Common had provided apparatus for 
determining the magnifying power and testing 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


the collimation error of the telescopic sights, 
and had promised a large flat surface for optical 
work. Mrs. Sworn had given two thermome- 
ters (used by her late husband). The report 
dealt also with the disturbance of magnetic ob- 
servatories by electric railways, the steel rails 
committee, and the national Antarctic Hx- 
pedition. With respect to the latter it was 
stated that the commander of the expedition, 
Commander R. F. Scott, R.N., the head 
of the scientific staff, Professor Gregory, and 
three other officers had been appointed, and it 
was confidently hoped that the expedition 
would be ready to start by August, 1901, 
when the German Antarctic Expedition was 
also expected to sail. Funds had been raised 
exceeding £91,000, including the grant from 
her Majesty’s treasury of £45,000. This fund 
was raised in view of an expedition lasting two 
years, but appeals were being made for more 
funds to enable the expedition to remain in the 
Antarctic for three years, for which the sum of 
£120,000 was required. The report also dealt 
with malaria, into which the results of the in- 
vestigations had now been published in part. 
Other [subjects were the ‘Solar Eclipse of May 
28, 1900,’ and the ‘International Catalogue of 
Scientific Literature,’ on which considerable 
progress had been made. Her Majesty’s Gov- 
ernment had guaranteed £1,000 a year for five 
years, ‘to make good to the Royal Society a 
part of any loss which might be incurred by the 
publication of the proposed catalogue.’ At the 
International Association of Academies, the first 
meetings of which were held at Paris on July 
31 and August 1, 1900, the Royal Society was 
represented by ‘Professor Ricker. As matters 
at present stood, the Royal Society being re- 
garded asa scientific society only, the United 
Kingdom could only be represented on the 
scientific section of the Association. With re- 
spect tothe Mackinnon Bequest it had been 
decided that the award should be in the 
nature of a studentship for the encourage- 
ment of research rather than a prize for 
the reward of past achievement, and tha 
the studentship (which at present amounted to 
about £150 per annum) should be devoted to 
the maintenance of a student engaged in re- 
search. Under the will of the late Professor 


SCIENCE. 


967 


Hughes, a bequest of £4,000 had been made to 
the Royal Society with a direction to award the 
income annually as a prize either in money or 
jn the form of a medal, or partly one and partly 
the other, for the reward of original discovery 
in the physical sciences, particularly electricity 
and magnetism, or their applications, the prize 
or medal to be given under conditions to be 
fixed from time to time by the Society on lines 
similar to those followed in the bestowal of the 
Copley, Rumford and Royal medals. The re- 
port also dealt with terms of bequest, the apart- 
ments of the Society, electric lighting, the li- 
brary, publications, the publication fund, the 
catalogue of scientific papers, the Government 
grant, general business and the presidency. 


THE HARTMAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND 
ARCHEOLOGICAL COLLECTION. 

THERE has just been exhibited at Stock- 
holm a fine collection of archeologic and 
ethnographic objects from Central America, 
made by Dr. C. V. Hartman (formerly natural- 
ist of the Lumbholtz Expedition to North 
Mexico) at the instigation and expense of 
Engineer Ake Sjégren. In a short guide to the 
exhibition by Dr. Hj. Stolpe, we are told that 
Dr. Hartman began his researches in 1896 at 
Mercedes, where he discovered a large work- 
place for the manufacture of stone gods and 
other antiquities of unusual interest. Among 
those now exhibited are two standing figures 
of stone, the largest as yet brought to HKurope 
from Central America, which were érected at 
the east end of a large oval tumulus, about 300. 
feet in circumference and covered with stone 
to a height of 22 feet. East of this was a 
rectangular court, walled with stone on three 
sides, with a cairn of about 90 feet in circum- 
ference and 12 feet in height in each of its 
eastern angles; and on the flat tops of these 
lay fragments of smaller statues. Afterwards 
Dr. Hartman went up tothe high plateaux of 
the interior and investigated many cemeteries, 
especially those of Orosi, Chiricot (8,000 feet 
above sea level), Lemones and Santiago. The 
graves were examined in the most exact and 
scientific manner, such as had never before 
been attempted in these parts, and a foundation 
was thus laid for a chronological grouping of 


968 


Central American antiquities. In all, over 400 
graves were opened, and showed a typical 
stone-age culture; no weapon or cutting tool 
of bronze, still less of iron, was found. But 
though the majority of the graves were unin- 
fluenced by European culture, proof was not 
wanting that in two cases cemeteries at Orosi 
and Mercedes were in use after the Europeans 
had reached the New World. Ina grave at 
Orosi were found some mosaic glass beads, 
clearly of Venetian origin, and in a grave at 
Mercedes was a large bead of blue glass. 
Another valuable contribution to the chronology 
of the find is afforded by a clay bowl found at 
Salvador, and bearing Maya hieroglyphs, which 
probably denote the number of a year according 
to their chronology, which unfortunately has 
not yet been connected with that of the Old 
World. 

Similar explorations were carried out in the 
Guanacaste peninsula on the Pacific coast, and 
on the islands in the bay of Nicoya, also at 
Carrizal on the neighboring mainland. Dr. 
Hartman then proceeded to Salvador, where for 
nearly a year he dwelt in one of the largest 
villages inhabited by the Pipilas, an Aztec 
tribe, and devoted himself to the study of their 
manners and customs, and religious ideas and 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


made an anthropometric examination of 100 
Aztec individuals, and took a number of photo- 
graphs. 

In Guatemala Dr. Hartman visited the Indian 
tribes, Cakchiquels, Zutujils, Quichésand Xincas, 
as well as the Huavas on Cape Tehuantepec in 
southern Mexico. Hisnotes on the language of 
the last two are of the greatest interest, inas- 
much as there was previously no material for the 
classification of their tongue. Here also may 
be mentioned a test of the so-called nahuatlisms, 
remains of the ancient Aztec language which 
have been adopted in the Spanish now spoken 
in those regions. 

Dr. Hartman returned to Sweden in October, 
1899, bringing the valuable collections now ex- 
hibited, which Mr. Sjogren, with great gen- 
erosity, has handed over to the Ethnographic 
Museum of the State. 


THE GROWTH OF CITIES. 

A RECENT census bulletin contains reports on 
the population of cities having 25,000 inhabi- 
tants, or more, in 1900. There were 159 of 
these cities which are placed in four groups ac- 
cording to their size. The increase in popula- 
tion from 1880 to 1900 is shown in the following 
table : 


INCREASE FROM INCREASE FROM 


| POPULATION. 
Shaserbemn ames, | No. anon 1890 To 1900. 1880 TO 1890. 
| 1900 1890 | 1880 Number.} Per cent.| Number.| Per cent. 
LUO MME scoseesoousstiss z aocenacsoSot se 159 19,694,625 14,855,489) 9,933,927 | 4,839,136 32.5 4,921,562 49.5 
— | 
Cities of 200,000 and over ................ | 19 | 11,795,809 8,879 105) 6,311,653 | 2,916,704 32.8 2,567,452 40.6 
Cities of 100,000 and under 200,000 ....... 19 2,412,538 1,808.656| 1,009,163 603,882 33.3 799,493 79.2 
Cities of 50,000 and under 100,000......... | 40 | 2,709,338 2,067,169) 1,368,309 642,169 31.0 698,860 51.0 
Cities of 25,000 and under 50,000.... | 81 2,776,940 2,100,559) 1,244,802 676,381 32.2 855,757 68.7 


language. Here he made a rich ethnographic 
collection, also a collection of Indian antiquities 


The 19 largest cities are further classified as 
follows : 


INCREASE FROM INCREASE FROM 
Suiserace Weipa No. Fae ares 1890 To 1900. 1880 To 1890. 
1900 1890 1880 Number.} Per cent.| Number.| Per cent- 
DOVE) sogusacoo Gadel ooceohaaconoros 19 | 11,795,809 8,879,105 | 6,311,653 | 2,916,704 32.8 2,567,452 40.6 
| 

Cities of 3,000,000 and over ............... 1 3,437,202 2,492,591 | 1,901.345 944,611 37.8 591.246 31.0 
Cities of 1,000,000 and under 2,000.000.... 2 | 2,992,272 2,146,814 | 1,350,355 845,458 39.3 796,459 58.9 
Cities of 500,000 and under 1,000,000 3 | 1,645,087 1,334,686 | 1,045,670 310,401 23.2 289.016 27.6 
Cities of 300,000 and under 400,000. . 30 5 1,724,455 | 1,351,539 960,767 372,916 27.5 390,772 40.6 
Cities of 200,000 and under 300,000 ....... 8 1,996,793 1,553,475 | 1,053,516 443,318 28.5 499,959 47.4 


from the neighborhood, and compiled the first 


vocabulary of a Central American Aztec dialect 
that has any pretence to completeness. He also 


The cities of over 1,000,000 should, however, 
be separated, Chicago having had an increase of 
54.4 per cent. and Philadelphia of only 23.5. 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. | 


HARBEN LECTURES ON THE PLAGUE.* 

THE first of the three Harben Lectures for 
1900 was delivered at the Examination Hall of 
the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, 
London, on November 7th, by Dr. A. Calmette, 
Director of the Pasteur Institute of Lille. After 
a short reference to the history of plague, he 
said it was possible for him to bring forward 
some modern views of the disease from his re- 
cent researches made as the result of his mission 
to Oporto last year with Salembeni. After giv- 
ing a description of the plague bacillus, Dr. 
Calmette said plague assumed two principal 
clinical forms, bubonic plague, and plague 
without buboes. After describing the symp- 
toms of plague he showed that the localization 
of the lesions in the gland determined the spe- 
cial attitude of the patient. The forms of the 
plague without bubo occurred more rarely than 
the classical forms of bubonic plague. Primary 
pneumonic plague was evidently due to the 
penetration of the microbe into the respiratory 
channels. It could be diagnosed only by bac- 
teriological examination of the sputa, because 
the aspect of the sputum, the clinical symptoms, 
and the auscultatory signs resembled those of 
ordinary pneumonia. Another and still rarer 
form of plague without buboes was septiczeemic 
plague or pesticemia, which developed with 
extreme rapidity like acute septicemia. It 
was caused by the rapid growth of the plague 
bacillus in the blood and in all the or- 
gans. It was not exactly known where the 
virus first effected an entrance in these cases, 
but the hypothesis was that it penetrated 
by the gastro-intestinal tract. When plague 
was studied in an epidemic center all the forms 
described were met with, but sometimes it hap- 
pened that the first cases did not present such 
clear characteristics, and it was thus possible 
that they might be incorrectly diagnosed. At 
the commencement of a case of bubonic plague, 
that is to say, at the period when there was 
only glandular congestion and fever, to ascer- 
tain whether the plague microbe was present or 
not, a puncture should be made with a Pravaz’s 
syringe into the lymphatic tissues, and some 
drops of fluid extracted. This could be inocu- 
lated in the usual manner and examined im- 


* From the British Medical Journal. 


SCIENCE. 


969 


mediately after staining. To put the patient 
beyond the danger of any possible re-infection, 
it was only necessary, directly after the punc- 
ture with the syringe, to inject about 5 c.cm. of 
antiplague serum into the middle of the gland 
or at a short distance from it. If on examina- 
tion of the fluid the microbes were found free 
and very numerous, tffe prognosis was serious ; 
if the microbes were nearly all enclosed in poly- 
nuclear cells, it might be hoped that the case 
was non-malignant and that the infection would 
remain lo¢alized. It was essential, in testing 
the virulence of a plague microbe by experi- 
ments on animals, to use a recent culture, not 
older than twenty-four to forty eight hours at 
the most. 

Mice, rats and guinea-pigs were very sus- 
ceptible to plague, but it was thought that 
many other animals could take the plague. In 
this respect the pig, the ox and poultry had 
been mentioned, but these animals did not take 
the disease spontaneously. ius were not 
easily infected by plague bacillus ; the vultures 
on the Towers of Silense near Bombay suffered 
no ill after devouring plague corpses, but it was 
not proved that they did not scatter the plague 
microbe with their excreta on the surface of the 
soil. The monkey easily contracted plague by 
inoculation, and also spontaneously when placed 
in a cage side by side with another infected 
monkey. The bacilli could also be transported 
by fleas, by the other parasites of the skin and 
by flies. Healthy mice placed in the same cage 
with infected mice, but separated by wire, so 
that they could not touch each other, contracted 
the plague at the end of a few days; the con- 
tamination in these cases was due to fleas and 
flies. Professor Calmette illustrated his lecture 
with lantern slides, depicting patients affected 
with plague. 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 
PROFESSOR W. W. CAMPBELL has been ap- 
pointed director of the Lick Observatory in 
succession to the late Professor James EH. Keeler. 
On account of failing health Dr. Edward von 
Mojsisovics is retiring from the post of vice- 
director of the Geological Survey of Austria, 
into which body he entered as a volunteer on 
February 18, 1865, the director then being W. 


970 


von Haidinger. Dr. von Mojsisovics now hopes 
to bring to a more speedy conclusion his great 
works on the Cephalopoda of the Hallstatt 
limestone and on the geology of the Salzkam- 


mergut. All future communications should be 
addressed to him: Wien, III/3. Strohgasse 
Nr. 26. 


@ 

THE American Society of Naturalists and 
eight affiliated societies, devoted to the natural 
sciences, will, as we have already announced, 
meet at the Johns Hopkins University, begin- 
ning on Thursday, Dec. 27th. The proceedings 
of the Society of Naturalists are asfollows: An 
address of welcome will be made by President 
Gilman on Thursday evening, followed by a 
lecture by Dr. Frank Russell, of Harvard Uni- 
versity, on ‘Indians of the Southwest,’ and a 
reception in McCoy Hall. The annual discus- 
sion, which takes place on Friday afternoon, is 
on ‘The Attitude of the State toward Scien- 
tific Investigation,’ and the speakers are Pro- 
fessor H. F. Osborn, Columbia University ; Pro- 
fessor W. B. Clark, Johns Hopkins University ; 
Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of Division of Ento- 
mology, Washington, D. C.; Mr. B. T. Gallo- 
way, director of Plant Industry, U. 8. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture and Professor W. T. 
Sedgwick, Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology. The address of the president, Pro- 
fessor E. B. Wilson, of Columbia University, 
will be given at the annual banquet on Friday 
evening. The headquarters of the Society are 
at Hotel Rennert. 


THE fourth annual meeting of the Society for 
Plant Morphology and Physiology will be held, 
with the American Society of Naturalists and 
the Affiliated Scientific Societies, at Johns Hop- 
kins University, Baltimore, Md., on Thursday 
and Friday, December 27th and 28th, 1900. 
The usual social meeting will be held on Wednes- 
day evening, December 26th. Among the special 
features of the meeting will be the presentation 
and discussion of an important report of the 
committee appointed to consider methods of 
securing improvements in reviews of current 
botanical literature, and two special lectures 
upon subjects of contemporary interest, one by 
Dr. Erwin F. Smith on ‘Bacterial Diseases 
of Plants,’ and one by Professor G. F. Atkin- 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 312. 


son, on ‘Cytological Problems connected with 
Fertilization.’ The address of the President, 
Professor D. P. Penhallow, will discuss ‘A De- 
cade of North American Paleobotany.’ An ex- 
cursion of the Society to Washington, to visit 
the United States Department of Agriculture, is 
planned for Saturday morning, December 29th. 
Further information about the meeting, and 
copies of the provisional program may be ob- 
tained from the Secretary, Professor W. F. 
Ganong, Northampton, Mass. 


THE Society of American Bacteriologists, or- 
ganized at New Haven, in 1899, will hold its 
second annual session at Baltimore, in connec- 
tion with the American Society of Naturalists, 
December 27th and 28th. The meetings will 
be held in the Pathological Laboratory of the 
Johns Hopkins Hospital. All interested in 
bacteriology, whether members of the Society 
or not, are cordially invited to attend the meet- 
ings. A program has been prepared which will 
occupy three sessions. A ‘smoker’ will be held 
on Wednesday evening at ten o’clock, at which 
time will be given the presidential address by 
Professor W. T. Sedgwick. 


THE other societies meeting with the Natur- 
alists, to the arrangements of some of which we 
have already called attention, are: The Amer- 
ican Morphological Society, The Association of 
American Anatomists, The American Physio- _ 
logical Society, The American Psychological 
Association, The American Folk-Lore Society, 
the Section of Anthropology of the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science. 


THE thirteenth winter meeting of the Geo- 
logical Society of America will be held at Al- 
bany, N. Y., beginning on Thursday, December 
27th, in the Chapel of the Albany Academy. 
The Council will meet at 9 o’clock on Thursday 
morning ; the Society will be called to order by 
President Dawson at 10 o’clock. The presi- 
dent’s address will probably be given on Thurs- 
day morning, and the subscription dinner will 
take place in the evening. 

THE twenty-second general meeting of the 
American Chemical Society will be held in Chi- 
cago, Ill., December 27th and 28th, 1900, Elab- 
orate preparations have been made for it, and 
the meeting is sure to be successful. Plans are 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


being made for celebrating on April 6, 1901, 
the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the 
Society. s 

PROFESSOR HE. DANA DURAND, of Leland Stan- 
ford University, has been appointed secretary 
of the U. 5. Industrial Commission. 


Mr. Merrirr LYNDON FERNALD, assistant 
in the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University, 
has recently been elected a fellow of the Amer- 
ican Academy of Arts and Sciences. 


Dr. WESLEY MIiLLs, professor of physiol- 
ogy at McGill University, spent last year in 
Europe and was the guest of Professors His, 
Held and Flechsig, more especially while con- 
ducting researches on the nervous system. He 
returned in the latter part of September, and is 
devoting himself largely to the problem of the 
equipment of the new laboratory and the re- 
arrangement of the courses in his subject. 


Iv is rumored that Mr. J. H. H. Teall will 
shortly succeed Sir Archibald Geikie as direc- 
tor of the Geological Survey of Great Britain 
and Ireland, and that Mr. C. Lapworth will 
be appointed to the chair of geology in Univer- 
sity College, London, vacant by the resignation 
of Professor T. G. Bonney. 


Nature reports that the government of Ja- 
maica is obliged to retrench in the work of the 
Museum, necessitating the discharge of the cu- 
rator, Dr. J. E. Duerden. Dr. Duerden has 
carried on important investigations in marine 
zoology, and the cessation of his work will cause 
regret amongst all zoologists. 


A GENERAL committee is being formed to ar- 
range a memorial of the late Professor Henry 
Sidgwick of Cambridge University. It may be 
remembered that Professor Sidgwick several 
years ago requested that his salary as Knight- 
bridge professor of moral philosophy be reduced 
from £700 to £500 per annum, the reduction to 
continue until 1902. Mrs. Sidgwick has, in 
accordance with Professor Sidgwick’s wish, 
contributed this year £200 and will do the same 
next year to carry out Professor Sidgwick’s 
subscription for the benefit of the University. 


WE regret to record the death of Professor 
Marshall Henshaw, formerly professor of physics 
and astronomy at Rutgers College and later 


SCIENCE. 


Diiae 


lecturer on physics at Amherst College, and of 


Dr. 8. Hoepfuer, consulting engineer and chem- 
ist, of Hamilton, Ont. 


THE Samuel D. Gross prize of $1,000, of the 
Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, was not 
awarded this year, as suitable contributions 
were not received, and the time has been ex- 
tended to October 1, 1901. The prize is 
awarded every five years to the writer of the 
best original essay, not exceeding 150 printed 
pages, octavo, in length, illustrative of some 
subject in surgical pathology or surgical prac- 
tice, founded upon original investigations, the 
candidates for the prize to be American citizens. 


In connection with the Geological Survey of 
Iowa, now in progress, Professor Macbride is 
attempting to present to the people of the State 
an accurate account of their all too slender 
forest resources. Appended to the report 
of the geology of each county, appears an 
annotated list of the arboreal species of plants 
found within the same limits, with special 
reference to the economic value of the several 
species and recommendations for the aid of 
farmers and others who may attempt tree- 
planting on an extensive scale.. The latest 
issues are reports on Osceola, Dickinson and 
Dubuque Counties. 


UNDER the auspicies of the Department of 
Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ire- 
land, the following demonstrations are to be 
given during the winter at the Dublin Museum: 
On ‘Crocodiles, Snakes and Lizards,’ and on 
‘Turtles and Tortoises,’ by R. E. Scharff; on 
‘Lemurs and Monkeys,’ and on ‘ Apesand Men,’ 
by G. H. Carpenter; on ‘Crabs and Lobsters,’ 
by W. A. Cunnington ; on ‘Irish Sea-fishes,’ 
and on the ‘ Economic Products of the Sea,’ by 
A. Nichols ; on ‘ Irish Shore and Sea-birds,’ by 
C. J. Patten ; on ‘Flax-dodder and other Para- 
sitic Plants,’ and on ‘ Botanical Specimens for 
School Teaching,’ by Professor Johnson; on 
‘The First Use of Metal in Europe,’ by Mr. 
Coffey ; on ‘ Writing Materials in Olden Times,’ 
by Mr. Lyster; on ‘ Lace,’ by Mr. Brenan; on 
‘Engraving,’ by Mr. Strickland; on ‘ Clocks 
and Watches,’ by Mr. Johnston; on ‘Dutch 
XVIIIth Century Faience,’ by Mr. Alabaster ; 
on some objects from the Paris Exhibition, 


972 


and on ‘ How to Visit a Museum,’ by Colonel 
Plunkett, the director of the Museum. 

THE Ohio State Academy of Science holds 
its tenth annual meeting at the Ohio State 
University Biological Hall, Columbus, Ohio, 
on December 26th and 27th, 1900. 

THE usual December meeting of the New 
York Association of Biology Teachers was held, 
by invitation, at the Teachers College, Colum- 
bia University. The address of the evening 
was made by Professor F. E. Lloyd, the sub- 
ject being ‘ Biological Exploration in the Missis- 
sippi Delta and Adjacent Islands.’ At the close of 
the address an informal reception was held in 
the Laboratory of the Department of Biology. 

AT a meeting of the Botanical Section of the 
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 
held on December 10, 1900, the following officers 
were elected: Director, Thomas Meehan ; Vice- 
Director, Geo. M. Beringer; Treasurer and Con- 
servator, Stewardson Brown; Recorder, John 
W. Harshberger; Executive Committee, Geo. 
M. Beringer, Thomas Meehan, Stewardson 
Brown, Jos. D. Crawford, Ida A. Keller. 

THE next meeting of the Pan-American Med. 
ical Congress, over which the late Dr. William 
Pepper was to have presided, will be held at 
Havana from February 5th to 9th, 1901. 


THE British Medical Association will hold its 
69th annual meeting at Cheltenham from July 
30th to August 2d, 1901: The ‘ Presidential Ad- 
dress’ will be delivered by George Bagot Fergu- 
son, M.D. The ‘Address in Medicine’ by James 
F. Goodhart, M.D., LL.D., consulting physi- 
cian, Guy’s Hospital. The ‘Address in Surgery’ 
by Sir William Thomson, M.D., LL.D., sur- 
geon to the Richmond Surgical Hospital, Dub- 
lin, and surgeon in ordinary to the Queen in 
Ireland. The scientific business of the meeting 
will be conducted in thirteen sections. The 
names of the sections are as follows : A.—Med- 
icine. B.—Surgery. C.—Obstetrics and Gyn- 
ecology. D.—State Medicine. E.—Psycho- 
logical Medicine. F.—Anatomy and Physiol- 
ogy. G.—Pathology and Bacteriology. H.— 
Ophthalmology. I.—Diseases of Children. 
J.—Laryngology and Otology. K.—Tropical 
Diseases. L.—Navy, Army and Ambulance. 
M.—Dermatology. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


PRoFEsSOR F. E. NIPHER, of St. Louis, writes 
that after many months of failure. he has suc- 
ceeded in developing a fine reversed picture 
on the Cramer ‘ crown’ plate, with the develop- 
ing bath fully exposed to direct sunlight. The 
operation lasted a full half-hour, with no trace 
of fog. The details showed through the plate 
long before they came out sharply. The de- 
veloper was a modification of the hydrochinone, 
the formula for which is given in every box of 
the Cramer plates. The bromide was left out, 
and the sodium carbonate solution was made up 
at half the strength used for negatives. The 
mixed developer was diluted with water in the 
proportion of one part to nine. This result is 
certain greatly to reduce the camera time. 


A REPORT on the agricultural conditions of 
Porto Rico, transmitted to the House of Repre- 
sentatives by the President, on December 10th, 
recommends that an experiment station be estab- 
lished there. Secretary Wilson advises an ap” 
propriation of $15,000 to establish it, with an 
annual appropriation of $15,000 for mainte- 
nance. 

A cURIOUS epidemic of neuritis has been af- 
flicting many in the north of England, and (in 
spite of the fact that some teetotalers have suf- 
fered) has been traced to beer-drinking. The 
best founded opinion seems to be that which 
assigns it to the cheap sugar used in ‘ priming’ 
the beer, since the sulphuric acid used in its 
manufacture is made from iron pyrites aud con- 
tains traces of arsenic. Whatever may ulti- 
mately be fixed on as the deleterious agent, 
there will be an outery for a return to malt 
and hops. 


THE London Times reports that in addition 
to the British Antarctic expedition, there is also 
one in preparation in Sweden under the leader- 
ship of Dr. Otto Nordenskjold, the well-known 
savant, who was a member of the Danish ex- 
pedition to East Greenland last summer under 
Lieutenant Amdrup. Dr. Nordenskjold has 
also shared in several Swedish polar expedi- 
tions. For the purpose of his Antarctic expedi- 
tion he has acquired, for a nominal sum, the 
steam-whaler the Antarctic—an appropriate 
name—in which the Greenland voyage was 
performed. This vessel has quite an historical 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


Arctic record. It was built for whaling in the 
Greenland seas by a Norwegian firm, and has 
performed many voyages in polar waters. She 
was eventually acquired by Professor G. Nath- 
orst, the celebrated geologist and Arctic voya- 
ger, who has shared in almost every Swedish 
polar expedition. Last year, again, the Ant- 
arctic was employed in the search for Andrée on 
the east coast of Greenland, when the owner 
himself was in command of the expedition, but 
which yielded no result. The vessel has thus 
again passed into Swedish hands. She was also 
engaged in an earlier voyage to the seas whence 
she derives her name by Norwegian speculators 
with the hope of reopening the famous whale 
fisheries in these parts, but the enterprise was 
an utter failure, not a single sperm whale being 
even seen. The vessel, which is in splendid 
condition for navigation in the pack-ice, and is, 
in fact, especially built for that purpose, will 
now proceed to Gothenburg for her final equip- 
ment. As she has cost so little Dr. Norden- 
skjéld estimates the cost of the expedition at 
only some £10,000 more. Of this sum one-half 
has already been contributed by Swedish sub- 
scribers, and King Oscar, with his well-known 
interest in Swedish explorations, has also prom- 
ised a considerable amount towards the expedi- 
tion, the first of its kind ever despatched from 
Sweden. Should circumstances permit, the 
Swedish expedition will, of course, cooperate 
with the British and German. It is hoped 
that the Antarctic may be ready to sail next 
August. 


THE sculptured decoration for the pediment 
above the four main entrances of the Ethnolog- 
ical Building at the Pan-American Exposition 
at Buffalo, is being modeled by Mr. H. A. Mac- 
Neil to represent the study of American eth- 
nology. The original plan, suggested to him by 
Mr. Harlan I. Smith of the American Museum 
of Natural History, was to represent the in- 
habitants of the four quarters of North America 
and bring out the influence of the special en- 
vironment of each. The idea was to represent 
upon the northern pediment the Eskimo, with 
his snow house, spliced bone arrow shafts, skin 
clothing and kayak, in a country barren of 
vegetation; upon the eastern pediment the 
Algonkin with snow-shedding steep-roofed bark 


SCIENCE 


973 


hut, witn cauves or wood or birch bark in a 
stream bordered by wild rice and forest ; on the 
west the Kwakintl, with split plank house of im- 
mense size, with grotesquely carved totem pole, 
in a country of fog,rain and luxuriant vegetation; 
on the south the Zuni ina desert country, where 
steep roofs were unnecessary, but where pottery 
for carrying water reaches a high development. 
This plan had to be modified as the appropria- 
tion was for one model only and Mr. MeNeil, 
in his desire to show something typically Ameri- 
can, as contrasted with the usual classic decora- 
tion employed in museum architecture, and to 
represent the study of American peoples, has 
chosen two reclining emblematic figures, a 
woman on the left holding a pottery vessel and 
on the right a man in the act of measuring a 
human skull. These represent the study of 
man and his arts. Between these is a shield 
and a bird whose raised wings border it. This 
is emblematic of the food and clothing of the 
North. At the base are designs suggesting the 
highest culture of the South. In the lower 
right-hand corner is the prow of a birch bark 
canoe typifying the eastern Indian. These rep- 
resent the environmentand materials for the 
study of American ethnology. 


Tue first ordinary meeting of the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society in the session 1900-1901 was 
held on November 12th, when Dr. A. Donald- 
son Smith read an account of his expedition 
through Somaliland and between Lake Rudolf 
and the Nile. Sir Clements Markham, presi- 
dent of the Society, occupied the chair, and in 
his introductory address, said, according to the 
London Times, that the most important geo- 
graphical event since the close of the last session 
had been the return of the expedition of the 
Duke of the Abruzzi from Franz Josef Land. 
He had the great merit of having personally 
organized and fitted out the expedition in every 
detail, and an expedition had seldom sailed 
which had been so carefully and thoroughly 
equipped. Its geographical results were of 
great importance, for it had finally discovered 
the northern limits of the Franz Josef group, 
and confirmed Nansen’s discovery of a deep 
ocean to the north; while the sledging party 
under Captain Cagni reached the highest north- 
ern latitude yet attained. If it could be ar- 


974 


ranged, the Duke of the Abruzzi would be 
pleased to give the Society an account of his 
expedition in the course of the session. The 
Danish expedition to East Greenland had also 
returned, after successfully continuing the work 
of Dr. Nathorst last year, while a Norwegian 
whaler was able to follow the coast of 75° 30’ N. 
Thus the dotted line which had so long indi- 
cated the supposed position of the East Green- 
land coast on our maps would now give place 
to a definite surveyed line, thanks chiefly to 
the persevering efforts of Danish geographers 
and explorers since the days of Graah. News 
of the expeditions of Sverdrup and Peary up 
Smith Sound was still anxiously awaited. The 
Windward went out to bring them succor, but 
she had not yet returned. The two recent ex- 
peditions to the Antarctic regions had both 
supplied us with valuable information. The 
British Antarctic expedition was now, at last, 
making progress as regards equipment and 
other arrangements. The ship was in an ad- 
vanced state. Captain Scott, R.N., the com- 
mander of expedition, was only able to take 
charge last August, but he had already shown 
that he possessed many of those qualities which 
were essential for so difficult and responsible 
a post. The German expedition was far more 
advanced than the British in every department 
of its work, under the direction of its able and 
accomplished commander, von Drygalski; but 
this was because his committees had seen the 
wisdom of giving him a perfectly free hand. 
The commanders of the two expeditions had 
had an opportunity of becoming friends and of 
exchanging views during the autumn, and 
Captain Scott, if not too much trammelled 
by committees, would soon make up for lost 
time. Dr. Sven Hedin had during the past 
year been actively at work in the Lob-nor 
country and the basin of the Tarim, and his 
archeological discoveries would throw a flood 
of light on the past history of that region. 
In Africa the greatest amount of geographical 
work had been done this year. But a review 
of it must, alas! commence with a reference to 
the loss of a valued explorer. It was only last 
session that Captain Wellby’s father read the 
account of his gallant son’s splendid geograph- 
ical achievement in marching from Abyssinia to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 312. 


the Nile. All would remember how they looked 
forward to welcoming him on his return from 
the front. Now that could never be. Captain 
Wellby had fallen fighting for his country. It 
was a glorious death, fitting close of an adven- 
turous and active life. We were left to mourn 
the death of a young officer who was a great 
explorer and an ornament to the army. His 
noble example had been followed by others; 
for there had been remarkable activity in the 
exploration of Africa this year. Major Gibbons 
had followed Mr. Grogan from the Cape to 
Cairo. Mr. Moore had returned after his im- 
portant investigation of the Central African 
lakes. Mr. Harrison had brought home an ad- 
mirable map of the region between Lake Ru- 
dolf and Adis Abeba. The Society’s gold med- 
alist, M. Foreau, had safely returned after his 
wonderful journey across the Sahara, of which 
he had promised to send some account. Last, 
but certainly not least, Dr. Donaldson Smith, 
who was an old friend and known to all from 
his previous work, had made very remarkable 
journeys, involving new discoveries between 
Lake Rudolf and the Nile. He was glad to 
learn that serious steps had been taken under 
the Intelligence Department to carry out ad- 
ministrative surveys of all those territories in 
Africa which were directly dependent on the 
home Government, and that in conjunction 
with the other European powers which had 
African possessions, 


ARTIstTs and art critics often claim that mod- 
ern industrial conditions are unfavorable to the 
fine arts. In order to show that a more correct 
view is held in some quarters we quote the fol- 
lowing note from the New York Evening Post: 
M. Arséne Alexandre, the well-known critic 
of art, discovered the much-talked-of art 
moderne, at the Paris Exposition, where one 
would least expect it to be—in the exhibit of 
locomotives. What appeared in a novel and 
striking light was not merely that these great 
machines had a beauty of line and proportion all 
their own, but that they showed a distinet 
beauty of racial type. The national character 
was clearly marked, in an American locomotive 
as distinguished from a French, a German or an 
English locomotive, and so of each as regarded 
the others. The critic found in the American 


DECEMBER 21, 1900. ] 


machine a combination of elegance, practicality, 
convenience and power, which betokened a race 
that takes its ease in working. The English 
machine was more trim and smug, smaller, too, 
though with no loss of power ; the German, sim- 
ilar, but a shade more pompous ; the French, 
lighter and finer in line, but less powerful and 
effective. So as to the Russians, the Italians) 
and the Austrians, each locomotive not only had 
a beauty of its own, but was an impressive sym- 
bol of the national character. Returning after 
this voyage of exploration to the great inter- 
national exposition of painting, M. Alexandre 
found a pervading sameness—most of the pic- 
tures might have been done in Rome, in Brook- 
lyn, in Munich or in Paris, indifferently. It 
all seemed factitious—the output of a small in- 
ternational cult, not of great nations. The 
genuine art of the day was not here, but with 
the locomotives. The lover of art in its tra- 
ditional forms will subscribe most reluctantly 
to M. Alexandre’sallegory of the future of art. 
Yet no one can withhold a sentiment of admira- 
tion for this bold theory that the art of the fu- 
ture must grow unconsciously out of its most 
vital interests—not out of the fine arts in the 
traditional sense, but out of science and indus- 
try. 

THE British Consul at Stuttgart, in a report 
abstracted in the London Times, gives some in- 
teresting particulars respecting the growth of the 
acetylene gas industry, which he describes as 
one of the triumphs of German scientific in- 
dustrialism. Five years ago calcium carbide 
was known only to trained chemists as an in- 
teresting chemical compound, and was quite 
unknown to the public. Now its production is 
one of the most important chemical industries. 
Germany was foremost to recognize the new il- 
Juminant, and it has secured the principal place 
in its production. At present there are at least 
200,000 jets of acetylene gas in use in the coun- 
try, and it is, the consul says, impossible to 
predict the result of the competition between 
it and its rival illuminants. Probably petro- 
leum will suffer most; coal gas will be super- 
seded to a great extent, especially in lighting 
small towns, but electricity will not be appre- 
ciably: affected. No other branch of industry 
can point to such a large and steady increase 


SCIENCE. 


975 


in the number of patents, showing that it has 
encouraged great fertility of invention. Besides 
producing it at home, German capitalh as gone 
abroad to produce carbide, especially to Nor- 
way and Switzerland. One of the greatest suc- 
cesses of the industry has been its application to 
the lighting of railway carriages on German Goy- 
ernment lines. During the current year the con- 
sumption of carbide in the country is estimated 
at 17,000 tons, equalin illuminating power to 
about seven millions of gallons of petroleum. 
Thirty-two small towns, with populations up to 
5,000, are lighted by acetylene, and many more 
contemplate its adoption; and the progress of 
the system of lighting, says the Consul, is 
‘another striking instance of the manner in 
which the magnificent system of technical edu- 
cation has prepared the way for the introduc- 
tion of new scientific achievements.’ The eco- 
nomic importance of the industry appears from 
the fact that Germany annually pays about five 
millions sterling to the United States for petro- 
leum, while acetyleneis a purely German indus- 
try, carbide being manufactured in the country, 
which possesses in various parts all the neces- 
sary raw materials. 


PROFESSOR H. Hirzie delivered on Novem- 
ber 29th the second Hughlings Jackson lecture 
before the London Neurological Society. Ac- 
cording to the London Times he discussed the 
present position of scientific knowledge con- 
cerning the psychical functions of the different 
parts of the surface of the brain. Since the ex- 
perimental discovery in 1870 by the lecturer 
that a portion of the surface of the brain is 
divisible into separate areas or centers, each 
of which initiates and controls the movements 
of the various divisions of the body, many in- 
vestigators had endeavored to solve the impor- 
tant questions, first, whether such areas or 
centers are really distinct psychical organiza- 
tions, and, second, how such miniature psychi- 
cal mechanisms act in relation to the phenomena 
of voluntary and automatic reactions respect- 
ively. A summary of the researches which have 
been made during the last thirty years estab- 
lishes the truth of the view that such centers 
really exist, and that we now know definitely 
the precise spot in the brain which actively 
causes the movement of an arm and hand, for 


976 


instance, when a voluntary action such as 
writing or drawing is executed. To students 
of psychology the further problem to be solved 
is how such centers act in relation to each other, 
and, above all, how far they are organizations 
for the reception of sensory impressions, as well 
as stations which issue outgoing orders, as it 
were, tothe muscles. It is universally admitted 
that apperception must immediately precede all 
acts of so-called volition. This question the lect- 
urer regarded as answered by the view that, 
at least in the carnivorous animals, brain con- 
ceptions and ideas of the movement to be per- 
formed by any part of the body are represented 
in the so-called motor center, which unques- 
tionably is the starting point from which the 
final nerve impulse for the execution of that 
movement issues. After referring to the de- 
gree in which Dr. Jackson’s original deductions 
have been confirmed by subsequent physiological 
as well as clinical investigations, Professor 
Hitzig dwelt on the fact that all workers in 
science are united in one camp in the battle 
against ignorance and against the opposition 
which some offer to the progress of natural 
knowledge. He felt that the invitation to him 
as a foreign investigator to deliver this lecture 
was an honorable expression of their common 
interests in their science. 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

A CIRCULAR letter issued by the Yale Bi-cen- 
tennial Committee states that besides conditional 
pledges of $250,000, subscriptions to the amount 
of $900,000 have been received since the bi- 
centennial movement was started. 

FIRE in the main college building of the lowa 
State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts 
destroyed on December 8th a large amount of 
valuable botanical material. The Parry her- 
barium was saved, except the duplicates which 
were nearly all burned. A part of the grass 
collection was saved and a few of the other 
specimens. The general collection contained 
about 80,000 specimens ; more than 50,000 of 
these were burned, besides a large number of 
duplicate specimens numbering many thou- 
sands. Many valuable western plants collected 
by the writer, representing four years of labor, 


SCIENCE. 


(N.S. Vox. XII. No. 312. 


were destroyed. Also sets of plants from Porto 
Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado and 
Texas were burned and much of the private 
library was also ruined, as well as the depart- 
ment library. Most of the microscopes and 
other apparatus were burned. Manuscript on 
grasses of the State, besides one on thistles and 
some smaller papers ready for publication, 
were also destroyed. 


Myron L. Furr, 8.B., formerly instructor 
in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, is now an assistant geologist in 
the United States Geological Survey. He has 
been spending the summer in association with 
Mr. M. R. Campbell in the coal fields of western 
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. Charles H. 
Warren, Ph.D., has been appointed instructor 
in mineralogy and geology at the Institute in 
the place formerly occupied by Mr. Fuller. 
Dr. Warren was previously instructor in Pro- 
fessor S. L. Penfield’s Laboratory in New 
Haven. 


Mr. JOHN SEALY TownsEND, M.A., fellow of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, lecturer and dem- 
onstrator in the Cavendish Laboratory, has 
been appointed to the newly-established Wyke- 
ham professorship of physics at Oxford. Pro- 
fessor Townsend, as we learn from the London 
Times, was student and exhibitioner in the 
University of Dublin, where he was gold medal- 
ist in mathematics and physical science, and 
obtained the mathematical studentship of 1900, 
besides other prizes and distinctions. In 1896 
he was appointed demonstrator in physics at 
the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge. He 
was Clerk-Maxwell scholar in 1899, and was 
elected to a fellowship at Trinity in the same 
year. The subjects of this chair, of which the 
income is provided from the revenues of New 
College, are electricity and magnetism, which 
are thus withdrawn from the province of the 
professor of experimental philosophy, by whom 
they have hitherto been taught. Merten Col- 
lege has contributed £700 towards fitting up, 
and £500 towards the maintenance of, a new 
electrical laboratory for the use of the professor. 


Ir is announced that Sir William Muir, who 
is now 81 years of age, will shortly retire from 
the presidency of the University of Edinburgh. 


SC lE NCE 


EDITORIAL COMMITTEE: 8. NEwcoms, Mathematics; R. S. Woopwarp, Mechanics; E. C. PICKERING, 
Astronomy ; T. C. MENDENHALL, Physics ; R. H. Taurston, Engineering ; IRA REMSEN, Chemistry ; 
JosEPH LE ConTE, Geology ; W. M. Davis, Physiography ; HENRY F. OsBoRN, Paleontology ; 

W. K. Brooks, C. HART MERRIAM, Zoology; S. H. ScuppER, Entomology ; C. E. BESSEY, 

N. L. Brirron, Botany; C. S. Minot, Embryology, Histology; H. P. BownpitcH, 


Physiology; J. S. BILLINGs, 


Hygiene ; 


WILLIAM H. WEtcH, Pathology ; 


J. MCKEEN CATTELL, Psychology ; J. W, POWELL, Anthropology. 


Fripay, DECEMBER 28, 1900. 


CONTENTS: 
Progress in Forestry under State Control: PRo- 
FESSOR V. M. SPALDING...:.........2cceceseeneeees 977 
Geology and Geography at the American Associ- 
ation: PROFESSOR J. A. HOLMES...............+. 989 
The New Chemical Laboratory of the University of 
Kansas. PRoressor E. H. S. BAILEY...... 997 


Scientific Books :— 
Ball’s Treatise on the Theory of Screws: PRo- 
FESSOR CARL BARuS. Topographic Atlas of the 
United States : PROFESSOR ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. 
PBOOKSPIRCCEWVED ance enc naeoncuncececeecch eon econese reread 1001 
Scientific Journals and Articles .........c.s.coeceeeeees 1004 
Societies and Academies :— 
Geological Society of Washington: DR. F. L. 
RANSOME, DR. DAVID WHITE. Chemical So- 
ciety of Washington: DR. WILLIAM H. KRua. 
New York Academy of Sciences: Section of 
Geology and Mineralogy: DR. THEODORE G. 
WHITE. Section of Astronomy, Physics and 
Chemistry: Dk. WILLIAM S. Day. The New 
York Section of the American Chemical Society : 
Dr. DURAND WoopMAN. The Nebraska Acad- 
emy of Sciences: PROFESSOR LAWRENCE BRU- 


Discussion and Correspondence :— 
A Gasoline Launch for Field Work: DR. GIL- 
TaD ID), JEUNE RISE soo sanenoscosspsdeecnsG6000R0000009000 1009 
Current Notes on Meteorology :— 
De Saussure’s Essays on Hygrometry ; British 
Rainfall for 1899 ; Scientific Balloon Voyages: 


PROFESSOR R. DEC. WARD ........0.-002-seeeeeeee 1010 
Yellow Fever and Mosquitoes ............0.eseesenseereees 1011 
Uninsulated Conductors and Scientific Instruments..1012 
Scientific Notes and News ........-.sececseececscsenencnees 1012 


University and Educational News 


MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended 
for review should be sent to the responsible editor, Pro- 
fessor J. McKeen Cattell, Garrison-on-Hudson, N. Y. 


PROGRESS IN FORESTRY UNDER STATE 
CONTROL.* 

In the steps that are now being taken by 
the State of Michigan looking towards the 
establishment of a permanent forest policy 
the recent experience of other States cannot 
fail to be instructive. In the development 
of a great public movement in which so 
much is untried and unforeseen, mistakes 
are certain to occur, but the chance of their 
occurrence may be lessened by taking ac- 
count of the history of similar movements 
elsewhere. Accordingly, the forestry laws 
of several States have been reviewed by the 
writer, and an attempt has also been made, 
from a comparison of these and a consider- 
ation of conditions there existing, to gather 
such hints as may be available in our own 
State. It has been thought best to limit 
this study to the five States, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota, both because they approach 
Michigan more closely than others in phys- 
ical conditions and because by far the great- 
est progress in the development of a forest 
policy has been made in those States. 

The conditions in New England and the 
Southern Atlantic States are so far differ- 
ent from our own as to be valuable chiefly 
in a general way rather than in the solution 
of special problems; the great agricultural 


* A review of forestry legislation and conditions in 
the Central and Nortbern States, prepared for the 
Michigan Forestry Commission. 


978 


States, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois have 
nothing to offer in this direction, while the 
Western prairies and the Pacific slope have 
their own peculiar and difficult problems, 
with which we are not immediately con- 
cerned. It is with the group of Central and 
North Central States that our lot is cast 
by nature, and though behind all of them 
in our care of the forest, we are neverthe- 
less fortunate in being able to draw on their 
experience, albeit experience that has not 
passed the experimental stage. 


NEW YORK. EARLY LEGISLATION. 


The State of New York has been a pio- 
neer in American forestry. In 1885 a law 
was enacted by the Legislature providing 
for the appointment of a forest commission 
with power to appoint a forest warden, 
forest inspector, a clerk and other agents. 
Provision was also made by the same Leg- 
islature for a forest preserve consisting of 
all the lands then owned or thereafter to 
be acquired in certain counties lying in 
the Adirondack and Catskill regions ‘‘ to be 
forever kept as wild forest lands, not to be 
sold or leased, or taken by any person or 
corporation, public or private.” 

The forest commission was given control 
and superintendence of the forest preserve, 
and it was made its duty to maintain and 
protect the forests on the preserve, to pro- 
mote as far as practicable the further growth 
of forests thereon, and in short to have 
charge of the public interests of the State 
with regard to forests and tree planting, 
and especially with reference to forest fires. 
Supervisors were made ex-officio protectors 
of lands in their townships, the forest com- 
mission having power to require, when nec- 
essary, that the supervisor appoint one or 
more forest guards to aid in the control of 
fire and otherwise. 

The commission was also charged with 
preparing circulars of information and ad- 
vice for the care of woodlands upon private 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


lands and the starting of new plantations 
on lands denuded, exhausted, or injured by 
fire * * * or waste and unfit for other use, 
* > ** these publications to be furnished 
without cost to any citizen of the State. 
The commission was unpaid, but the sum of 
fifteen thousand dollars was appropriated 
for the purposes of the act. 

Considering the early date of this legis- 
lation, its comprehensiveness and the ex- 
tent to which its main features have ever 
since been retained are alike remarkable. 
In the first place, the creation and main- 
tenance of a forest preserve as the property 
of the State but controlled by a forest com- 
mission has from that time to this, for a 
decade and a half, been a central principle. 
Again, the forest commission, while charged 
with general responsibility, was expected 
to appoint officers who should be in im- 
mediate charge of actual forestry opera- 
tions. This feature then embodied in the 
appointment of forest protectors is still re- 
tained in the far more developed system of 
the present time, in which the commission, 
not composed of experts, is represented in 
actual forest administration by the su- 
perintendent of forests assisted by other 
officials and employees. A third feature of 
the legislation of this early period was the 
attempt to utilize the services of persons 
already filling township offices in the en- 
forcement of law, the supervisors, as al- 
ready stated, being made ex-officio protectors 
of lands in their respective townships. 

Subsequent experience, naturally enough, 
showed the necessity of certain changes 
even in legislation that embodied so much 
of permanent value. The provision for the 
control of forest fires, for example, was in- 
adequate. Making supervisors ex-officio fire 
wardens could not, in the nature of the case, 
be made operative without strong pressure 
from a higher authority, and the employ- 
ment of a commission without compensa- 
tion, and accordingly without obligation to 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


devote their entire time to the duties of 
their office, has given way to the more 
economical and productive policy of em- 
ploying and paying men of trained efficiency 
in the administration of this branch of the 
public service. In still other particulars it 
has been found desirable to amend and ex- 
tend the forestry law of 1885, as will appear 
in what follows. 


Taxation, Sale and Purchase of State Lands. 

At an early date the difficult problems 
connected with taxation, sale and purchase 
of State lands for forestry were taken up. 
The laws of 1886 provided that forest lands 
belonging to the State in the counties of the 
forest reserve should be taxed at the same 
rate as other lands, and that the tax should 
be paid by crediting the sum on the taxes 
due from each county in which they are 
located as State taxes. 

In 1887 an Act was passed providing for 
the sale of detached portions of lands be- 
longing to the State or their exchange for 
lands adjacent to land belonging to the 
State, and in 1890 the forest commission 
was authorized to purchase land within the 
counties including the forest preserve, for 
purposes of a State park, at a price not to 
exceed $1.50 per acre. During this time 
and for a period of several years thereafter 
the right.of the State to much of the land 
belonging to the forest preserve was con- 
tested by parties having real or supposed 
claims, but the final decision of the highest 
court of appeal has left the State in posses- 
sion with a title no longer open to question. 


Parks. 

In 1887 an Act was passed to establish 
parks for the propagation of deer and other 
game upon lands belonging to the State 
situated in the Catskill region, the forestry 
commission being authorized to set apart 
three tracts there for the purpose named, 
and by an Act of 1892 the Adirondack Park 
was established within the counties of the 


SCIENCE. 


979 


forest preserve lying in that part of the 
State, which it was provided ‘should be for- 
ever reserved, * * * and cared for as ground 
open for the free use of all the people for 
their health or pleasure, and as forest lands 
necessary to the preservation of the head- 
waters of the chief rivers of the State and a 
future timber supply.’ In both cases ap- 
propriations were made for the provisions 
of these acts, and the policy of State owner- 
ship and control of land for public parks, 
for sanitary purposes and water supply, and 
for raising timber as a function of the com- 
monwealth was thus emphasized and con- 
firmed. 


Constitution and Duties of the Commission. Changes. 


By an Act of 1893 the number of members 
of the Forest Commission, previously three, 
was changed to five. The commission was 
still unpaid, but was now empowered to 
employ a paid superintendent, two inspect- 
ors of forests, a secretary and clerks. 
Something further was now attempted in 
the way of fixing responsibility for the con- 
trol of forest fires. The supervisors, besides 
being made town protectors of lands and 
ex-officio fire wardens, were required to re- 
port fires. But the uncertainty of promptly 
locating and extinguishing fires by means 
of untrained helpers, with other inherent 
difficulties that have been felt until the 
present time, prevented this system from 
accomplishing all the good for which it was 
intended. 

In 1895 a change of considerable moment 
was made, the former commission being 
superseded by a Fisheries, Game and For- 
est Commission, consisting of five commis- 
sioners appointed by the Governor, their 
term of office being five years. The duties 
of the commission were now of far wider 
scope, and it was, of course, impossible for 
any member of it to be an expert in all 
of the various interests committed to its 
charge. A division of responsibility and 


980 


labor, therefore, became at once necessary, 
and provision was accordingly made for the 
appointment of an engineer, 35 fish and 
game protectors and foresters, and various 
other officers and assistants. 

Whatever advantage there may have 
been in this change as regards the general 
administration of these various interests, 
it would seem that at least in regard to 
what had formerly pertained to the forestry 
commission there was need of more spe- 
cific provision for certain duties, and the 
following year (1896) an amendment was 
made to the law so as to provide for the 
appointment of fire wardens, one in each 
town, and the step thus taken towards the 
separation of the duties of game protectors 
from those of fire wardens has recently 
been carried still farther on the ground 
that more will be accomplished by this ar- 
rangement. 

Forest Preserve Board. 

Still in the direction of fixing responsi- 
bility for the performance of special duties, 
the law of 1897 provides that the Governor 
shall appoint three persons from the Forest, 
Fish and Game Commission and the com- 
missioner of the Land Office as ‘ the forest- 
preserve board.’ The duty of this board was 
to acquire for the State lands in the Adi- 
rondack Park as they might deem advisable 
for the interests of the State. Power was 
given to this board to enter on and take 
possession of any land, structures and 
waters in the territory embraced in the 
Adirondack Park as it might deem advis- 
‘able for the interests of the State, with au- 
thority to adjust claims, and allow cutting 
of timber, with certain restrictions, by way 
of compensation ; to take means for perfect- 
ing the title to lands held by the State, and 
to vigorously follow up and punish trespass 
of whatever kind. 

For the purposes of this act the expendi- 
ture of one million dollars was authorized. 
In all, the State of New York has now ex- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


pended about three million dollars in the 
purchase of land, making the forest pre- 
serve board the responsible agency for the 
purchase, validity of title, and, in short, the 
entire business connected with the bringing 
of these lands into the possession and con- 
trol of the State. An indication of the long 
and vexatious struggle with claimants to 
State lands and the determined policy of 
the State with reference to these lands is 
seen in the law of 1898, which again gives 
the forest preserve board full authority for 
the State to determine the title to lands in 
the Adirondack Park, or the forest pre- 
serve, claimed by persons or corporations 
adversely to the State. 


Forest, Fish and Game Law of 1900. 


By this law the forest preserve is defi- 
nitely limited, as are the Adirondack Park, 
the St. Lawrence reservation, and, less ex- 
actly, the deer parks of the Catskills. The 
powers of the commission, still composed of 
five members appointed by the Governor, 
include all the powers vested in the com- 
missioner of the State land office and the 
Comptroller, on May 15, 1885, as well as 
those delegated in succeeding years to 
the forest commission and the forest pre- 
serve board, among which may be specially 
mentioned purchases in the Adirondack 
Park, actions for trespass, appointment of 
fire wardens and provision for instruction 
and popular information on the subject of 
forestry. 

The office of superintendent of forests is 
made one of special responsibility, the in- 
cumbent being charged with the care and 
custody of the forest preserve, the preven- 
tion of forest fires and the general super- 
vision of the forestry interests of the State. 
He is required to make an annual report to 
the commission showing the annual timber 
product of the Adirondack and Catskill 
forests, and also the extent of forest fires 
and losses, * * * with such other reports as 


DECEMBER 28, 1900.] 


may be necessary for the information of 
the commission. The duties of fire war- 
dens and the prevention of fires along rail- 
roads and elsewhere, are entered into in 
much detail, and an evident necessity is 
provided for in requiring the appointment 
of a chief fire warden to have supervision 
of the town fire wardens, and by every 
available means to secure the prevention 
and the putting out of forest fires. 

In reviewing the law of 1900 one is par- 
ticularly impressed with the fact that it has 
been found necessary to entrust one man 
with the direct superintendence of the forest 
interests of the State, at the same time 
holding him responsible to a board of com- 
missioners for the intelligent and faithful 
discharge of the duties of the office, also 
that for the control of fires one man is 
again held responsible, the chief fire warden 
having this as his special and single func- 
tion. This definite fixing of responsibility 
can hardly fail to produce more satisfactory 
results. It is further noticeable that ap- 
pointments to the commission are still for 
the term of five years, thus securing a per- 
manent and consistent policy, and that the 
State now pays for this service as liberally 
as for other public work. In short, in the 
State of New York forestry has now be- 
come a recognized and permanent branch 
of the public service. Subsequent experi- 
ence will doubtless suggest changes in 
methods of administration, but no interest 
of the State is more securely entrenched in 
law or more heartily sustained by public 
opinion. 


School of Forestry. Practical Forestry in the 
Adirondacks. 

New York has been the first State to es- 
tablish a school of forestry. In 1898 a law 
was enacted providing for the establishment 
of a College of Forestry at Ithaca, in con- 
nection with Cornell University. Thirty 
thousand acres of land in the Adirondacks, 


SCIENCE. 


981 


for which the State paid $165,000 (includ- 
ing buildings), were set apart to be con- 
trolled by the university for a period of 
thirty years, at the end of which time the 
land is to become again the property of the 
State as part of the forest preserve. The 
sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the 
maintenance of the school, and liberal ap- 
propriations, namely, $30,000 for each of 
the first two years, have since been made 
for it. The trust was accepted by Cornell 
University, and Dr. B. E. Fernow, at that 
time chief of the Forestry Division of the 
U. 8. Agricultural Department, was ap- 
pointed director of the school. The school 
was promptly organized, instructors were 
appointed, and a course of instruction en- 
tered upon which has since been extended. 
Practical forestry operations have been 
conducted in the college forest since May, 
1899, and students of the school are re- 
quired to spend there a certain part of at 
least two vacations in the practical study 
of forestry. 

The amount of work that has been ac- 
complished in the college forest in less than 
a year and a half is surprising and in the 
highest degree encouraging. A survey of 
the property has been made, buildings have 
been erected and remodeled, a nursery has 
been established in which upwards of a 
million seedlings have been raised, the 
planting of a tract of burnt land with 
young pine and spruce has been completed, 
important experiments, such as planting in 
avenues opened in the forest, are in prog- 
ress, and minute records are carefully kept 
as a basis for future study and practice. 
Most interesting of all, however, is the fact 
that extensive logging (by rail) operations 
have been begun under forestry principles, 
to remove the old hard-wood crop and re- 
place it by a more valuable softwood crop 
in mixture with the hard woods. The thor- 
ough utilization of all the wood cut down 
to the mere brush, for all of which a mar- 


982 


ket has been secured, is a novel feature of 
this logging, besides the care with which all 
young growth is saved. Moreover, the di- 
rector expects that no further appropria- 
tions will be required, and that the experi- 
ment will at once become self-supporting 
through the profits from the logging opera- 
tions. 

It is too early to form a judgment regard- 
ing much of the practical work now in 
progress. The methods of European for- 
estry are for the most part inapplicable 
here, and direct experiment becomes there- 
fore the only means of determining the cor- 
rect treatment of the forests. Mistakes 
must inevitably occur in a field where all 
is 50 new, and it is fortunate for other States 
that New York has organized such an ex- 
periment on so liberal a scale. None the 
less, it is certainly incumbent on the States 
with great forest interests of their own to 
provide for similar experimental study as 
soon as may be. Conditions vary ; amethod 
applicable in the Adirondacks may fail on 
the sandy tracts of Michigan or Wisconsin, 
and men must be trained on the ground in 
direct touch with the peculiar problems 
and difficulties that each section of the 
country presents. The New York College 
of Forestry is now equipped for the train- 
ing of young men in the principles of for- 
estry and in their practical application in 
that State, but their training must be sup- 
plemented by long-continued study of local 
conditions, and for this, as a least responsi- 
bility, the States interested should provide. 


NEW JERSEY. 

In New Jersey a considerable body of law 
has been enacted, especially with regard 
to forest fires, but without making special 
provision for its enforcement. As a result 
of this and of other causes the State has 
suffered greatly from fires. The coastal 
plain, where the fires have been most fre- 
quent, presents certain points of resem- 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 313. 


blance to the ‘plains’ of Michigan, and 
the extended study of that region which 
has been made in connection with the State 
Geological Survey is both instructive and 
suggestive.* 

The ‘plains’ of New Jersey include ap- 
proximately 20,000 acres of land lying in 
the northern extremity of the Atlantic 
coastal plain which extends from here to 
southern Florida. These plains are coy- 
ered with a low bushy growth, much of 
it consisting of pitch-pine coppice (Pinus 
rigida) mixed with various other species. 
These plains are reported to have always 
been treeless, but there is every reason to 
suppose that this condition is due to re- 
peated fires, since on the surrounding pine 
barrens may be observed all gradations from 
a healthy forest to scrubby plains. The 
soil of the plains, as indicated .by chemical 
analysis, is richer than that of much of the 
surrounding region where good ' timber 
grows. Fire, therefore, is the agency that 
has rendered large tracts of land, as far as 
its present state is concerned, unfit for the 
raising of timber, and is even now convert- 
ing other land into the same ruined condi- 
tion. Just what course should be pursued 
with regard to lands that have already 
reached this condition is a problem in New 
Jersey as well as in Michigan. Meantime, 
the matter of immediate concern is to pre- 
vent further extension of such areas. 

The means of suppressing these fires are 
discussed by Dr. Gifford, from whom I have 
already quoted. His most important sug- 
gestion is with regard to the multiplication 
of fire lanes, which experience has shown 
to be a successful barrier to ordinary fires. 
The good-roads movement is very strong 
in New Jersey, and every good road that is 
kept properly cleared becomes an effective 
fire lane. The same is true of railroads 

* Gifford, ‘Forestal Conditions and Sylvicultural 


Prospects of the Coastal Plain of New Jersey,’ Munich, 
1899. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


along which combustible materials are kept 
cleaned up. In addition to this a sugges- 
tion with regard to ‘forest farms’ shows 
how the southern part of the State might 


be to a large extent divided up into farms: 


in which the cultivated portion of each 
would surround a body of timber, which 
would then be isolated by a wide fire lane 
from other woodland, thus almost entirely 
obviating the danger of extensive fires. 
Suppose a person possesses one hundred 
acres of woodland out of which he wishes 
to make a combination forest and farm. 
The first step is to clear a fire lane around 
the whole of it, at least two hundred feet 
in width. This lane should constitute the 
cultivated portion of the farm. * * * If 
the hundred acres referred to is perfectly 
square, a fire lane two hundred feet wide 
around it would contain about thirty-five 
acres, aS much as one man can comfortably 
till. There would be left in the center a 
forest containing about sixty-five acres. 
* * * Tf the whole area of woodland in 
southern Jersey were treated in this way, 
sixty-five per cent. would be left in wood 
and the whole would be cut up in such a 
way that extensive fires would be impossi- 
ble.* The plan here suggested is appar- 
ently as capable of application, in a modi- 
fied form, in Michigan as in New Jersey. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

The history of the forestry movement in 
Pennsylvania is particularly instructive, 
since the conditions in that State are in vari- 
ous important particulars similar to, if not 
identical with, those prevailing in Michigan. 
Without attempting a complete review of 
earlier legislation in Pennsylvania, it is de- 
sirable to consider in some detail such im- 
portant features as those pertaining to for- 
est fires and forest reservations. 


Early Legislation. Forest Fires. 
As early as 1860 the setting on fire of 
* Gifford, 1. c., p. 45. 


SCIENCE. 


983 


woods or marshes to the loss of any other 
person was made a misdemeanor punish- 
able by fine and imprisonment, and penal- 
ties were also provided for the cutting and 
removal of timber from the land of an- 
other. Failure to fix responsibility, how- 
ever, made the law a dead letter, and it 
was followed by disastrous fires and by 
laxity of public sentiment in regard to 
them. An attempt was made in 1870 to 
remedy this by the enactment of a law re- 
quiring the commissioners of the several 
counties of the commonwealth to appoint 
persons under oath whose duty it should be 
to ferret out and bring to punishment all 
persons who either wilfully or otherwise 
cause the burning of timber lands, and to 
take means to have such fires extinguished, 
the expenses to be paid out of the county 
treasury, the unseated land tax to be first 
applied to such expenses. 


Laws of 1897. 


This law, like the former one, remained 
inoperative, or at least insufficient, until in 
1897 it was amended so as to make the 
commissioners of the several counties re- 
sponsible to the commissioner of forestry 
for compliance with its provisions, and pre- 
scribing a penalty of fine or imprisonment 
for failure. The expenses incurred in the 
employment of detectives were to be borne 
one-half by the county in which they were 
employed and one-half by the State. With 
this definite and not easily evaded respon- 
sibility, followed up by most determined 
and persistent effort on the part of the 
commissioner of forestry, real progress 
has been made. Offenders are lodged in 
jail with as great publicity as possible, and 
it is safe to say that public sentiment with 
regard to forest fires has never before in 
the history of Pennsylvania been formed so 
rapidly. 

The same year, 1897, an act was passed 
making constables of townships ex-officio fire 


984 


wardens for the purpose of extinguishing 
forest fires, and requiring them to report to 
the court of their respective counties all 
violations of “‘ any law now enacted or here- 
after to be enacted for the purpose of 
protecting forests from fire’? * * * with 
penalties for neglect of this duty. As be- 
fore, the expense of carrying out its pro- 
visions was apportioned one-half to the 
county and one-half to the State, the limit 
under each act being $500 for any one 
county. 

This legislation is of such recent date 
and the whole matter is so complicated and 
of such acknowledged difficulty, that it may 
well be questioned whether the best method 
of treatment has yet been attained ; certain 
it is, however, that the present law marks 
a great advance upon preceding legislation 
and that its tendency, if enforced for a 
period of years, will be to more and more 
restrict both the number and extent of 
forest fires. 

Forest Reservations. 

In regard to forest reservations the leg- 
islation of 1897 includes two important 
acts. One of these authorizes the purchase 
by the commonwealth of unseated lands 
for the non-payment of taxes, for the pur- 
pose of creating a State forest reservation, 
requiring the commissioner of forestry to 
examine the location and character of the 
lands in question, and authorizing him to 
purchase them for the commonwealth if in 
his judgment they are available for the 
forest reservation. The other act provides 
for a commission of five members to locate 
three forestry reservations of not less than 
forty thousand acres each upon waters 
draining mainly into the Delaware, Susque- 
hanna and Ohio rivers respectively, each of 
the reservations to be in one continuous 
area as far as practicable, and at least 50 
per cent. of each reservation to have an 
average altitude of not less than six hun- 
dred feet above the level of the sea. The 


SCIENCE. 


. 


[N.S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


commission is empowered to take by right 
of eminent domain and condemn the lands 
as State reservations, the procedure in case 
of claim for damages being the same as al- 
ready provided for the taking of land for 
the opening of roads in the respective 
counties in which the property is located. 


Growth of Timber by Farmers. 


A third series of enactments appearing 
in amended form in 1897 is designed to 
encourage the growth of timber by farmers. 
It is provided that in consideration of the 
public benefit to be derived from the re- 
tention of natural forest, the owners of land 
having on it forest or timber trees of not 
less than fifty trees to the acre, each 
measuring at least eight inches in diameter 
at a height of six feet from the ground, shall 
be entitled to receive annually during the 
period that the trees are maintained in 
sound condition a sum equal to eighty per 
cent. of all taxes annually assessed and 
paid upon said land, the eighty per cent. 
not to exceed 45 cents per acre, provided 
also that no one property owner shall 
be entitled to receive this sum on more 
than fifty acres. 

In commenting upon this legislation the 
Commissioner of Forestry, Dr. J. T. Roth- 
rock, says: ‘‘ Itshould be readily perceived 
that these measures are directly in the in- 
terest of the farmer. In the first place, it 
is a partial removal of tax from land upon 
which he receives no revenue. In the sec- 
ond place, it is leading up to a lucrative 
timber crop at a minimum of expense to 
him, and in the third place, such land, when 
on a farm, is often on the highest and 
roughest part, overlooking the cultivated 
fields, and from its decaying leaves and 
humus a renewal of fertility is constantly 
washed down to the lower fields. * * * All 
of the above laws concern the individual 
more than the commonwealth. They are 
to make it possible for him to aid the State 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


and at the same time to serve himself. 
Those which follow (with reference to for- 
est reservations) mark a new era in our 
legislation. They reverse what has hith- 
erto been the established policy of the State 
and aim at acquisition of timber land in- 
stead of sale of it. This change grows out 
of the now well-established fact that so 
long as the important watersheds of Penn- 
sylvania are wholly under individual con- 
trol there is serious danger to the interests 
of the community, and that, to safeguard 
these, the State must again possess itself as 
promptly as possible of these grounds.”’ 
With regard to the public sentiment that 
has made such legislation possible the com- 
missioner adds: ‘‘ There were grave doubts 
as to the passage of the bill (authorizing 
direct purchase of timber lands). But 
these soon disappeared, and it then for the 
first time became evident how strong and 
how general the sentiment in favor of the 
most active forestry legislation had become. 
The bill was passed by a large majority. 
It is clear that the State has at length earn- 
estly entered upon the work of preserving 
its lumbering industries. The question is 
no longer whether it shall be done, but how 
it is to be accomplished. It is noteworthy 
that all political parties joined in this leg- 
islation, and also that the lumbermen, who 
once looked upon all forestry agitation as 
an interference with their business, have 
come to be among the warmest friends of 
the movement, which is intended to per- 
petuate, not to limit, their vocation.’’ 


WISCONSIN. PRESENT STATUS. 


Still nearer to Michigan, both in point of 
physical conditions and in the extent to 
which the forestry movement has crystal- 
lized into an active call for efficient legisla- 
tion, is the neighboring State of Wisconsin. 
Climate and soil conditions are in many re- 
spects identical with our own. The north- 
ern half of the State has been lumbered ex- 


SCIENCE. 


985 


tensively, has again and again been visited 
by destructive fires, and thousands of square 
miles have been left in what is apparently 
an utterly hopeless condition as regards 
agriculture and with a discouraging outlook 
as regards forest restoration. In a recent 
paper * the secretary of the State forestry 
commission has given a concise statement 
of the situation from which the following is 
reproduced. 

Among the lessons to be learned from the 
history of the forestry bill of 1899, one of 
the most important is this, that there is no 
longer much danger of opposition to the 
principle that it is the duty of the State to 
provide for the permanency of forests by 
appropriate legislation, even to the extent 
of going into the business of conservative 
lumbering. Ten years ago such a proposi- 
tion would have met with not a little hos- 
tility and ridicule. It would have been 
called impracticable, socialistic and un- 
American. In 1899 not a member of the 
Legislature, with a single exception, but ad- 
mitted the desirability of such legislation. 
Even those who voted against the bill did so 
avowedly on the ground of expediency for 
the time being. 

Even less opposition than within the Leg- 
islature is to be met with among the people 
of the State. Of course, there is a great 
deal of indifference and not a little mis- 
understanding of the aims and objects of 
forestry reform. In a State situated like 
Wisconsin, where the question of maintain- 
ing a water supply and preventing over- 
erosion is of subordinate importance, the 
great body of the people cannot be expected 
to feel the same direct interest in forest 
preservation as for instance in southern 
California, where the existence of agricul- 
ture is dependent on the maintenance of 
the mountain forests. In Wisconsin the 

* Bruncken, ‘On the Legislative Outlook for For- 


estry in Wisconsin.’ Read before the American 
Forestry Association, July, 1900. 


986 


class most directly interested is that en-: 


gaged in forest industries and manufac- 
turing enterprises deriving raw material 
from the woods. It is very gratifying to 
the State that as a general rule men of this 
class are stanch friends of improved for- 
estry, and some of the most energetic pro- 
moters of this cause, both in and out of the 
Legislature, are among the great lumber- 
men. 

Of course, it cannot be expected that en- 
tire unanimity should exist. as to the best 
means of reaching the desired end. In 
particular, the policy of placing consider- 
able areas of forest land under State man- 
agement is apt to encounter objections from 
the residents of the counties in which these 
forests will necessarily be located. They 
fear, on the one hand, that the reservation 
of those tracts will hinder the progress of 
settlement, and on the other hand, they de- 
sire to see all land in private hands, so that 
they may be taxed for the support of local 
government and improvements. Both these 
objections are, to be sure, based on imper- 
fect knowledge, and are _ short-sighted 
enough. Yet they are made in good faith 
by men of intelligence, standing and influ- 
ence. They must be overcome by practi- 
cal reasoning and the spread of correct in- 
formation. 

Perhaps the most serious problem to be 
solved in Wisconsin, as well as its neigh- 
boring States, is what shall be done with 
the immense areas of denuded timber lands 
which are now growing up into vast wil- 
dernesses of worthless scrub, subject to the 
ravages of fire, and a constant menace to 
the standing timber adjoining. There are 
no physical obstacles to the reforestation of 
these tracts. But the financial and political 
difficulties are enormous. Most of these 
lands are the property of the lumber com- 
panies which harvested the timber. Nota 
little of it, however, has been sold for taxes 
and bid in by the counties. These do not 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Von. XII. No. 313. 


know what to do with those lands, and 
from time to time sell them to speculators 
at nominal prices, sometimes for less than 
a dollar forty cents. Now there can be no 
question that much of the land of this 
kind is fairly good agricultural land, al- 
though it cannot be compared in quality 
with the hard-wood lands where the timber 
is still standing. But the greater portion is 
barren sand just good enough to bear a fair 
crop of pine, but unfit for agricultural 
crops after the slight accumulation of hu- 
mus is exhausted. To persuade ignorant 
settlers to locate on such lands and to try 
to make them into farms is little short of 
a crime. 

The great mass of the people of northern 
Wisconsin are well-meaning, upright folk, 
and they know well enough that much of 
this land is unfit for settlement. But it is 
not possible to draw a hard and fast line 
between the fit and unfit land, and the 
temptation is great to find invariably that 
the really unfit land is just beyond the 
boundaries of the next township. So the 
settlers continue to take up these sand bar- 
rens, with disastrous results to themselves 
and no permanent benefit to the community. 
The only feasible way to put these lands to 
the use for which they are adapted, and by 
which they can ultimately yield a profit, 
would be to place them in the hands of the 
State for rational forest management. 

A number of owners of large tracts of 
land of this class have expressed their 
willingness to cede their holdings, which 
are practically valueless to them, to the 
State, if it will take proper care of them. 
It is probable that the solution of the prob- 
lem will be approached from this direction. 
But in order to make this possible, some 
legislation will be needed, and for that pur- 
pose the friends of forestry in Wisconsin 
look forward to the meeting of the Legisla- 
ture during the coming winter. There is 
the best possible reason to believe that a 


' DECEMBER 28, 1900.] 


bill for the establishment of a rational for- 
estry system will be passed by the next 
Legislature. It will be devised substan- 
tially on the lines laid out in the bill that 
failed of passage at the last session, with 
certain modifications, required by the rise 
of a new factor since the Legislature ad- 
journed. The State University of Wiscon- 
sin has now under consideration a plan for 
the establishment of a forestry school as 
nearly as possible on the model set by the 
schools at Cornell and Yale. For this pur- 
pose the express authority and aid of the 
Legislature will probably be sought, and it 
is obviously proper to bring the State forest 
department and the State forestry college 
into as close relations as the difference be- 
tween administrative and educational func- 
tions will permit. 


MINNESOTA. FIRE WARDENS. 


Minnesota has made very substantial 
progress in forestry legislation, especially in 
the direction of controlling forest fires. A 
most commendable feature of the law which 
has been in operation for five years, is the 
definite fixing of responsibility by the ap- 
pointment of a chief fire warden who has 
general charge of the fire warden force of 
the State, and who is authorized during the 
dangerous season to use such means as he 
sees fit to prevent or suppress fires, the sum 
of $5,000 being available for this purpose. 
Supervisors of towns, mayors of cities and 
presidents of village councils are constituted 
fire wardens, with authority to arrest with- 
out warrant any person setting fire to 
woods or prairies to the danger of property, 
the wardens themselves being liable to pen- 
alties for neglecting the duties of their office. 
Under the vigorous administration of the 
present chief fire warden, much has been 
done to promote the growth of a correct 
public sentiment and not a little has been 
accomplished in the actual prevention and 
suppression of fires. Warning notices in 


SCIENCE. 


987 


great number have been posted and the in- 
telligent cooperation of a large force of as- 
sistant wardens has been secured. During 
the drought in the early summer of the 
present year, over 300 fire wardens were in 
correspondence with their chief, reporting 
precautions taken, and otherwise showing 
their interest and activity. The system is 
doubtless capable of improvement, but in 
its inception and reasonably successful 
working a great step has been taken, and 
by so much Minnesota is well in advance of 
Michigan and Wisconsin. 


Forest Reserves. State Forestry Board. 


By the Legislature of 1899 an Act was 
passed designating as Forest Reserves lands 
set apart by the Legislature for forestry 
purposes, or granted to the State by the 
United States Government, or by individ- 
uals for such purposes, and creating ‘a 
State Forestry Board to have the care and 
management of the forest reserves and to 
represent the State in all matters pertain- 
ing to forestry. 

The constitution of the board has evi- 
dently been arranged with a view to mak- 
ing it non-political and as efficient as 
possible. It consists of nine members, 
including the chief fire warden, ex officio, 
the professor of horticulture in the State 
University, three persons recommended by 
the regents of the University on account of 
qualifications that are specified, and four 
to be recommended by the following bodies, 
namely: The Minnesota State Forestry 
Association, The Minnesota State Agricul- 
tural Society, The Minnesota Horticultural 
Society and the State Fish and Game 
Commission. 

In creating such a board, authorized to 
accept lands for forestry purposes and to 
conduct forestry operations in the name of 
the State, including the sale of forest prod- 
ucts, Minnesota has fully recognized for- 
estry—not only from the protective, but 


988 


also from the commercial point of view— 
as a proper function of the State. It is 
safe to say that this advanced position has 
the practically unanimous approval of the 
men in this country, few in number, to be 
sure, who are entitled to rank as. forestry 
experts, and of other thoughtful students of 
the problems connected with this subject. 


CONCLUSIONS. 


From the foregoing review a number of 
suggestions may be drawn in regard to 
forestry problems in Michigan. 

1. Necessity of legislation and State con- 
trol.—There is no way in which satisfactory 
progress can be made until the State as- 
sumes responsibility. New York, Penn- 
sylvania, and Minnesota have fully rec- 
ognized this responsibility, and in each of 
them an efficient forestry service is main- 
tained by the State. It should be noted 
that, especially in New York, where this 
service has been most developed, this ful- 
fillment of its duty by the State, even at 
considerable expense, has the practically 
unanimous approval of its citizens. The op- 
position of selfish and irresponsible parties 
has been overcome and the State is to-day 
in peaceable possession of great forest areas 
of inestimable value, not merely for their 
timber, but as conservators of a pure water 
supply. The principle, therefore, has been 
fully established in this country as well as 
in the Old World that the protection and 
development of its forest for the benefit of 
its citizens, present and future, is a proper 
function and obligation of the State. 

2. Form which legislation should take.— 
From the experience of other States, it 
would seem that one of the first steps to be 
taken would be the location, under the ad- 
vice of competent experts, of such tracts of 
land as are better suited for forestry than for 
agricultural purposes, followed by proper 
measures for the acquisition of so much of 
these lands as may be deemed advisable. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


As large areas are already abandoned and 
have practically come into the possession of 
the State, the procedure, in many cases, 
would consist mainly in securing a valid 
and permanent title. The State of New 
York, as already pointed out, has a forest 
preserve board of three members specifically 
charged with the duty of acquiring lands 
for the State, with authority to take pos- 
session of lands, to adjust claims, and to 
take measures for perfecting the title of 
lands held by the State. In Pennsylvania 
a commission of five members has sub- 
stantially the same duties, which are also 
shared by the Commissioner of Forestry. 
In this matter there is probably nothing 
better for Michigan than to follow in a gen- 
eral way the method adopted by these two 
States. 

The control of forest fires presents one of 
the most difficult subjects with which Leg- 
islatures and forestry commissions have 
had to deal. In New York and Minnesota 
the appointment of a chief fire warden, who 
is paid for his services and is held respon- 
sible, marks a distinct advance, and the 
policy of Pennsylvania, of imposing and 
inflicting severe penalties for the setting of 
forest fires, has thus far been followed by 
good results. In any case the essential 
thing is the fixing of responsibility and pro- 
vision for the execution of laws relating to 
fires. The first can only be attained by 
the appointment of responsible persons, and 
the second by paying for service rendered. 
None of the three States in which this has 
been done is likely to abandon this ad- 
vanced policy for the more expensive one 
of allowing fires to sweep unchecked over 
its territory. 

Thieves in some quarters of the State are 
worse than fires. An efficient trespass 
agent with adequate authority is the proper 
agency for holding the nuisance in check 
until it can be more radically dealt with. 
The repeal of the homestead law, earnestly 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


advocated by those who have carefully stud- 
ied the question, is apparently a necessary 
step in the suppression of this evil. 

3. The utilization of educational institu- 
tions in the development of a rational sys- 
tem of forestry.—In this, again, New York 
is well in advance, although Connecticut 
has followed in the establishment of a 
school of forestry at its leading university, 
and in calling in the services of a trained 
forester whose work will be carried on in 
connection with the State experiment sta- 
tion. There can be no doubt that institu- 
tions of learning, endowed by public funds, 
owe to the State the best that they can con- 
tribute towards the solution of such prob- 
lems of public interest, nor is there any 
doubt that these institutions, permanent in 
their nature and to a great degree free from 
political influences, are the best fitted to 
fulfill a duty in which a consistent policy 
and continuity of action are indispensable. 
Both the University and the Agricultural 
College of Michigan have recognized this 
duty and have cooperated in rendering 
such service as they have found practicable. 
There is still every reason for the continu- 
ance of this cooperation and for the enlarge- 
ment of plans for further work. Should 
we follow in this the lead of Connecti- 
cut, which is similarly situated in the separ- 
ation of the institutions directly concerned, 
there would fall to the University the 
establishment of a department of forestry 
devoted largely to investigation, while upon 
the Agricultural College would naturally 
devolve the care and further development 
of its experimental forestry stations. Should 
either or both institutions come into posses- 
sion of extensive tracts of cut-over lands, 
with which it has been proposed to entrust 
them, these new possessions would furnish 
a series of problems the solution of which is 
quite as likely to prove of financial value to 
the State as to themselves. Profits must 
necessarily be relatively remote, but it is a 


SCIENCE. 


989 


matter of encouragement that the director 
of the New York School of Forestry, with 
but 30,000 acres of land on which to oper- 
ate and the work barely under way, is con- 
fident that hereafter the forestry operations 
of which he has charge will be self-support- 
ing, and itis the judgment of experienced 
lumbermen, as well as of scientific foresters, 
that in Michigan the conditions are such as 
to insure to the State, or to institutions that 
can afford to wait, a substantial profit from 
practical forestry. 
V. M. Spapine. 
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 


GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY AT THE 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 

THE joint session of Section E of the 
American Association and the American 
Geological Society was opened on Monday, 
June 25th, in Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia 
University, to listen to the address of Vice- 
President Kemp, of Section EH, on the ‘ Pre- 
cambrian Sediments in the Adirondack 
Mountains.’ This address, which has al- 
ready been published in full in Screncez, 
July 20, 1900, was an exceedingly valuable 
and lucid contribution to the geology of 
this complicated but interesting region. 

The first paper before the regular session 
of Tuesday morning was also one by Profes- 
sor J. F. Kemp on the ‘ Local Geology about 
the City of New York,’ which during the 
past several years has been studied in con- 
siderable detail by Dr. F. J. H. Merrill and 
others. This paper was given at the re- 
quest of the ‘sectional committee’ and 
was preliminary to the three geological ex- 
cursions arranged for and participated in 
by the members of Section E and of the 
Geological Society on the three following 
afternoons. 

The second paper of the Tuesday morn- 
ing session was by Mr. EH. O. Hovey, on the 
‘Geological and Paleontological Collections 
in the American Museum of Natural His- 


990 


tory,’* this paper having been prepared and 
presented at the request of the sectional 
committee preliminary to the visit of the 
members of Section E and of the Asso- 
ciation at large to the American Museum 
on Tuesday evening. 

Mr. F. H. Newett, in his paper on 
‘Hydrographic Surveys in New York,’ de- 
scribed the objects and methods of this 
work as now carried on by the United States 
Geological Survey. One of the primary 
reasons urged for preserving the forests 
is the beneficial influence which they have 
upon the flow of thestreams. The belief is 
widespread that the forest-cover conserves 
the waters, prevents floods, to a certain ex- 
tent, and tends to increase summer flow, 
and that the cutting off of the forests has 
resulted in an increase of spring floods and 
in diminished flow during the summer 
droughts. All admit these influences, yet 
it has been extremely difficult to define the 
degree to which they are operative and to 
obtain convincing data for the support of 
conclusions. 

It is important to know within reason- 
able limits to what extent the forests 
and other conditions, influence the flow of 
streams; and the Division of Hydrogra- 
phy of the United States Geological Survey, 
cooperating with the Division of Forestry 
of the Department of Agriculture, is en- 
deavoring to bring together facts upon 
which an answer to this important ques- 
tion can be based. The first step is to 
learn of the fluctuations of various rivers 
in different parts of the United States, to 
ascertain their regimen and to compare 
this with the cultural conditions of their 
drainage areas. To obtain these facts it is 
necessary that careful examinations be car- 
ried on through several years, so as to in- 
clude periods of drought as well as those of 
excessive precipitation. For this purpose 
typical streams in various parts of the 


* Published in SCIENCE. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


United States have been selected and sta- 
tions have been established, at which the 
flow of the rivers is systematically meas- 
ured. These river stations in many States, 
both east and west, cover almost every 
range of climatic condition from humid to 
arid. In the State of New York about 20 
river stations are now being maintained, 
most of these being located on streams 
coming from the Adirondacks to form the 
upper Hudson, the Mohawk or the Black 
River. Cooperation in this work is main- 
tained with the State Engineer and Sur- 
veyor, and also with the Forest, Fish and 
Game Commission recently appointed. 

Diagrams showing the fluctuations of the 
streams from day to day throughout the 
year are prepared from the results of meas- 
urements, enabling a person to comprehend 
at a glance the great variation in volume 
of the streams under natural conditions. 
Knowing the changes which follow causes 
beyond the control of man, it should be 
possible to ascertain the relative importance 
of the fluctuations which result from arti- 
ficial or controllable causes. It may re- 
quire observations extending over a con- 
siderable length of time before we *can 
definitely discriminate between effects pro- 
duced by changes in the forest conditions ; 
but however long the time or great the ex- 
pense, it is of the first importance to ascer- 
tain these facts. 

Mr. W J McGerzr’s paper on the ‘ Occur- 
rence of the Pensauken (?) Formation’ 
within the limits of the city of Washing- 
ton, brought out the following salient fea- 
tures: The commonly recognized geologic 
series in Washington and vicinity com- 
prises, in descending order, (1) Later (low 
level, or fluvial) Columbia; (2) Earlier 
(high level, or interfluvial) Columbia ; 
(8) Lafayette; (4) Chesapeake; (5) Pa- 
munkey ; and (6) Potomac. In a few lo- 
calities, especially in the deep cutting in 
the 200-foot terrace at the head of Six- 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


teenth Street, deposits have been observed 
which fail to fit into this series. This 
cutting reveals, unconformably beneath 
the Earlier Columbia and uncomformably 
above the Potomac, a heavy deposit of loam 
and gravel of a structure, composition, 
texture and material simulating the Harlier 
Columbia formation in its normal aspect, 
save that the materials are more extensively 
disintegrated and decomposed. ‘The re- 
semblance of the deposit to the Earlier 
Columbia is such that it might readily be 
classed with that formation if found iso- 
lated ; but in the Sixteenth Street exposure 
the two deposits are juxtaposed and sepa- 
rated by a well-defined unconformity—. e., 
the stratigraphy shows that the deposit in 
question is materially older than the earlier 
Columbia. On comparing the deposit with 
the Lafayette, as displayed in the nearest 
exposures of that formation on the west, 
north and east, it is found to be so different 
in materials and structure as to demand sep- 
aration on lithologic grounds ; moreover, the 
deposit is confined to a depression, or amphi- 
theater, which did not exist at the time of 
Lafayette deposition, but was produced dur- 
ing the period of rapid degradation accom- 
panying the post-Lafayette uplift ; so that it 
must be discriminated from the Lafayette on 
the basis of homogeny as well as on that of 
lithology. The interpretation of the deposit 
is simple: it is evidently a record of an oscil- 
lation during the post-Lafayette and pre- 
Columbia time, which was not of such 
amplitude and length as to inscribe itself 
deeply in the local series of formations and 
land forms. On seeking to correlate the 
deposit with other elements in the coastal- 
plain series, difficulty is encountered; no 
corresponding deposits are known either 
southward or eastward in Virginia and 
Maryland; the nearest known deposits of 
corresponding character and position are a 
part of those found in southern New Jersey 
and first grouped by Salisbury under the 


SCIENCE. 


991 


designation Pensauken, but afterwards di- 
vided. 

In Dr. Joun M. Crarke’s paper on the 
‘Lenticular Deposits of the Oriskany For- 
mation in New York,’ this formation was 
described as attaining in eastern New York 
its greatest thickness south of Albany 
county, where it is highly calcareous and 
carries its normal fauna. In its extension 
through central and western New York its 
deposits are wholly arenaceous and siliceous 
and they alternately thin and thicken, thus 
forming a series of lenticular beds which 
are connected by thin sheets or wholly sev- 
ered by the actual disappearance of the 
formation from the rock series. Beginning 
in Albany county, the formation has a thick- 
ness of but one or two feet, thence westward 
of Schoharie’county it slightly thickens, and 
again thins and actually disappears in south- 
ern Herkimer county. Still farther west- 
ward at Oriskany Falls, the typical section, 
it attains a thickness of some 20 feet. At 
Manlius, Onondaga county, it has decreased 
to about one foot, and at Jamesville, five 
miles west, increases to three feet six in- 
ches. Four miles west of here, at Brighton, 
its thickness is one foot six inches, whence 
westward, at Elmwood, one mile and a half 
away, it thins tosix inches. Again the for- 
mation disappears from the rock series, the 
eastern thinning edge of the next lens ap- 
pearing first at Split Rock, near Syracuse, 
thickening towards Marcellus Falls, five 
miles away, and at Skaneateles Falls, six 
miles further west, attaining a cross-sec- 
tion of 18 feet; thence suddenly dropping 
to ten inches at Auburn, six miles still 
further west. This lenticular mass, desig- 
nated the Skaneateles lens, appears to be the 
largest of these lenticular deposits west of 
Albany. From this point westward but 
two inconsiderable lenses are observable, 
the deposits being a thin sheet seldom over 
more than a few inches across. 

This evidence is regarded as indicative 


992 


of an actual shore line during Oriskany 
time. No Helderbergian deposits occur in 
this western section of the State. The 
transgression of the Oriskany here is in 
conformity with similar evidence in other 
regions, of its wide extent beyond the limits 
of the preceding Helderbergian formation. 

A second paper by Dr. J. M. CrarKs, 
on ‘The Fauna of the Arenaceous Lower 
Devonian of Aroostook County, Maine,’ 
brought out the fact that a careful re-study 
of this fauna indicates that its proposed 
construction as a Silurian fauna correlating 
with the Tilestones of Murchison’s Silurian 
section is not justified by the character and 
affiliation of its species. With such New 
York Oriskany species as Anoplia nucleata, 
Cyrtina varia, ete., it contains a number of 
species identical with those of Lower De- 
vonian faunas of Western Europe. The 
faunas of the two localities of the Chapman 
Plantation, Edmund’s Hill and Presque 
Isle Creek, have very little in common, but 
both show a close alliance with the are- 
naceous Lower Devonian faunas. 

A paper on ‘ The Great Chisos Rift along 
the Canyons of the Rio Grande River,’ by 
Professor R. T. Hitt, and embodying the 
results of a trip by him through the lower 
portion of this canyon late in 1899, was one 
of unusual interest, as the region described 
was entirely new to the scientific world and 
one which proved to be varied and beautiful 
‘ in scenery, and rich in geologic and topo- 
graphic problems. The paper was illus- 
trated by a considerable number of lantern 
slides prepared from photographs taken by 
Professor Hill during his journey. 

In a short paper, ‘ Notes on the Geology 
of Central South Carolina,’ Dr. D. S. Martin 
described the work about Columbia now 
being carried on by himself and Dr. L. C. 
Glenn, and the success of the latter in dis- 
covering eocene and cretaceous beds sepa- 
rating the ‘ Potomac’ and ‘ Lafayette’ de- 
posits, which in many of the new railway 


SCIENCE. 


[N.S. Vox. XII. No. 313. 


cuts about Columbia are lithologically in- 
distinguishable. 

Dr. Atexis A. JULIEN read a paper on 
‘The Genesis of the Pegmatite in North 
Carolina,’ in which he called attention to 
the constant association of vein and of dike 
phenomena, hitherto without satisfactory 
explanation in the pegmatite occurrences 
in the schists of that State and along the 
Appalachian belt. The several genetic hy- 
potheses were reviewed, based on intrusion 
of fused magma, vein-infiltration, segrega- 
tion and pneumatolytic introduction of ig- 
neo-aqueous magma. But none of these ac- 
counted for important facts observed, e. g., 
vast pegmatite masses connected with al- 
most capillary fissures, frequent distinct re- 
lationship of the material of the pegmatite 
and adjoining schists, and the almost uni- 
versal banded structure and evidences of 
mineral concentration within the pegma- 
tite. In their place he proposed the hy- 
pothesis of metasomatic aggregation, by 
molecular rearrangement of the entire ma- 
terial of portions of the schists in vicinity of 
fissures, through the action of mineralizers ; 
lateral segregation within the igneo-aqueous 
magma or emulsion so formed, with produc- 
tion of vein-struecture, ete.; crushing and 
even shearing, byorogenic movements, trans- 
lation along the fissure-plane, partial obliter- 
ation of vein-structure and development of 
facies of a dike. On such an occurrence of 
pegmatite, therefore, one looks upon the 
birth of granite im loco, in at least one mode, 
rather than upon an intrusion of foreign 
material into cavities of discission or disso- 
lution. 

‘The Geological Features of the Meno- 
minee Iron District of Michigan’ were de- 
scribed in a short paper by W. 8. Bartery, 
as occupying an area of about 120 square 
miles on the north side of the Menominee 
river, from Waucedah westward to a short 
distance beyond Iron Mountain. The ore- 
producing rock constitutes a trough be- 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


tween rims of basic voleanic rock on the 
south and granites and gneisses on the 
north. These are regarded as Archean in 
age. Between these rims lie two series of 
Huronian sediments separated by an un- 
conformity. The lower Huronian sedi- 
ments comprise in ascending order quartz- 
ites, dolomites and jasper. The upper EHu- 
ronian beds are a jasper and ore formation, 
black slates, a second ore formation and 
gray slates. Over these unconformably 
lie horizontal beds of Lake Superior sand- 
stone. 

The ore formations consist of alternating 
beds of jasper, hematite and quartzites. 
The principal producing horizons are in the 
upper Huronian. The lower ore-bearing 
beds are mainly fragmental, and the upper 
ore-bearing beds are mainly altered crystal- 
line sediments. The ore of the latter has 
come from iron carbonates, which have been 
decomposed as in the Marquette district, 
yielding cherts and hematite. 

All of the Huronian rocks are strongly 
compressed and closely folded. The ores 
occur in pitching synclines with impervious 
bottoms. Geologically the Menominee dis- 
trict bears a striking resemblance to the 
Marquette district. The lower Huronian 
ore measures, however, which are large pro- 
ducers in the latter district, are scarcely 
known in the Menominee district, in which 
district the principal producing mines are 
in the lower ore formation of the upper 
Huronian. 

. Ina paper on ‘ The Still Rivers of Western 
Connecticut,’ Professor Wm. H. Hosss de- 
scribed the general course of the streams of 
this region as being to the south-southeast 
down the slope of the Cretaceous plain of 
erosion. In a few cases, however, large 
tributarystreams arefound flowing in nearly 
the opposite direction. Two notable in- 
stances of this sort have been studied, each 
bearing the name ‘ Still River’; and atten- 
tion is thus directed to their exceptionally 


SCLENCE. 


993 


sluggish currents, due to the barely percep- 
tible slope of their present beds. One of 
these streams rises near Tarrington, flows 
north-northeasterly past Winsted, and, after 
a course of about twelve miles, enters a 
branch of the Farmington at Robertsville. 
The other river of the same name, some 
twenty-five miles distant to the southwest, 
is a tributary of the Housatonic, having its 
source in a barrier of drift hills south of 
Bethel, flowing north northeasterly past 
Danbury and Brookfield, to enter its trunk 
stream just where the latter departs from 
the limestone valley to cut its way through 
gneiss. 

In each case the course of the Still River 
has been determined by a belt of limestone 
within harder walls of gneiss and schist. 
The Still River, tributary to the Farming- 
ton, is, furthermore, an instance of reversal 
of drainage brought about by obstructions 
of glacial material. 

In a paper on ‘ Driff Erosion, Transpor- 
tation and Deposition,’ by Mr. WarrEN 
Upuam, the work of the North American 
ice-sheet is described as threefold. Its ero- 
sion of the bed rocks, over the greater part 
of the glaciated area, is shown to have 
supplied far more drift than was desired 
from the preglacial residuary clay and 
river sand and gravel. Only near the bor- 
ders of the ice-sheet, or to a distance of 
two or three hundred miles from it in the 
interior of this continent, the successive 
stages of fluctuating glaciation added each 
its drift deposits without general erosion of 
the underlying rocks or the earlier formed 
drift. The transportation of the drift ap- 
pears to have been chiefly within the lower 
part of the ice-sheet, reaching in consider- 
able amount at least 1,000 feet above the 
land surface on the mainly plain-like region 
of Minnesota and Manitoba. Its deposi- 
tion for the greater part was directly from 
the ice, yielding the till and a large propor- 
tion of the mass of the moraines. Another 


994 


large class of the drift formations shows 
modification by the waters of the melting 
ice surface and of rains, and is, therefore, 
ealled modified drift. These several phases 
of action and resulting deposits of. the ice- 
sheet are discussed in the full paper, with 
illustrations from field observations, and 
from comparison with now existing glaciers 
and ice-sheets. 

Professor C. W. Hatt, in a paper on 
“The Chengwatona Series of the Keweena- 
wan’ formation, describes this interesting 
series of volcanic rocks, first identified by 
Chamberlin as belonging to the Lake Supe- 
rior copper-bearing formation. These rocks 
are exposed along the Snake River almost 
continuously for two miles, with edges 3 to 
20 feet above the stream. The succession 
consists of basic eruptions (lava flows of 
typical structure) with intercalated con- 
glomerates. The bottom of each flow is of 
very fine texture and in places apparently 
devitrified ; the middle portion is of coarser 
yet quite uniform texture, while the top is 
strongly amygdaloidal with frequent tuffa- 
ceous phases. The recognition of the differ- 
ent phases of each flow and the transition 
from one flow to another can be distinctly 
seen, as the division planes are sharply 
drawn. In two or three instances the over- 
lying tuff is thicker than the compact por- 
tion of the flow. The diabase is, for the 
most part, of the characteristic ophitic 
type, exposed surfaces first mottling and 
then becoming pitted through unequal de- 
composition. The amygdaloid carries the 
minerals characteristic of the Lake Supe- 
rior basic eruptives with laumonite or some 
relative the predominant one. Lying in- 
terbedded with these diabase flows is a 
series of conglomerate beds; five were 
eounted. bey vary in thickness from 5 
feet to 104 feet, and represent a total of 
more than 200 feet. Pebbles of gabbro, 
diabase, diabase porphyry, augite syenite 
and granite conglomerate are recognized, 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


thus suggesting an age even later than tha 

of the augite syenite around Duluth, in 
other words, high up in the Keweenawan 
formation. The number of successive lava 
flows in the Chengwatona series is its most 
remarkable feature ; not less than 45 were 
counted, and neither the top nor bottom 
flow was seen. The total thickness cannot 
be less than 10,000 feet actually in sight. 
The attitude of the entire series is uniform, 
and there is no sign throughout of sufficient 
displacement to duplicate a single flow. 
Besides, the conglomerate beds are so un- 
like in thickness that they cannot by error 
well be duplicated in the above estimate. 

In a paper on ‘A Simple Modeling Ma- 
chine,’ Dr. E. B. Maruews described a 
simple machine, designed by himself, of 
which many geologists and geographers 
have long felt a need. 

The expense and great amount of time 
required to make simple relief models of 
areas studied by the existing methods have 
prevented geologists from making use of 
models in the representation of tentative 
geological interpretations. Moreover, the 
models made by cross sections, pegs or 
layer methods take much time and involve 
a high degree of personal equation in the 
sculpture. The machine described is a me- 
chanical device for representing with con- 
siderable accuracy the territory included 
within a topographic atlas sheet. Two fea- 
tures are regarded of special importance: 
in such a machine, there must be rigidity 
in the horizontal plane in order to avoid 
distortion, and even greater rigidity in the 
vertical plane to eliminate vertical exag- 
geration. It was found possible to obtain 
the first by the use of a rigid pantograph in 
which the arms were about aninch and a half 
broad and three-eighths of an inch thick. 
The vertical accuracy is obtained by a stylus 
passing through the end of one arm of the 
pantograph and held at the desired height 
by two set screws, the whole resting on a 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


free-moving support, and this in turn resting 
on two wooden knife edges. The panto- 
graph is fixed to the top of a table from 
which a portion of the top has been removed. 
Below this opening is a depressed shelf on 
which is placed a tin box containing the 
plastic clay, which is of a thickness corre- 
sponding to the uniform base and the highest 
point to be represented. Beginning at the 
topmost contour the stylus traces the limits 
of that elevation. Outside of the line traced 
the clay may be removed to the first bench. 
In the same way all the contours may be 
followed by one arm of the pantograph and 
traced in clay by the other. The result is 
a rough representation of the shape of the 
county in which the surface is composed of 
a series of steps. These may be removed by 
a modeling wire and the whole given artistic 
life without changing the relative elevation 
of the different parts. It has been found 
possible to prepare this first relief model of 
a quadrangle in a day’s time. From this 
it is possible to make the usual plaster 
matrices and thence the plaster relief ac- 
cording to the usual methods. The advan- 
tage of the machine lies in the speed by 
which the models may be produced and the 
elimination of the personal equation in the 
drawing of the heights. 

In a short but interesting paper on ‘ Cer- 
tain Late Pleistocene Loams in New Jersey 
and Adjacent States,’ Professor R. D. Saxis- 
BURY presented the results of his numerous 
observations concerning the origin of cer- 
tain recent loams found widely distributed 
in that region. These had been examined 

‘in hundreds of localities and found to be 
generally more or less local in character. 
Sections were exhibited showing its mode 
of occurrence near Jamesburg, Princeton, 
Trenton, Philadelphia, ete. The conclu- 
sions arrived at from these various examina- 
tions were that these loams are of marine 
origin and represent deposits made during 
a recent short period of submergence, which 


SCIENCE. 


995 


submergence in southeastern New Jersey 
extended to a depth of not less than 200 
feet. The work of Professor Salisbury is 
the more interesting as it has an important 
bearing on the results of the study of some- 
what similar surface loams and sands fur- 
ther south by Hilgard, McGee, Smith and 
Holmes. 

In the paper on ‘ The Principles of Pale- 
ontologic Correlation’ by Professor JAMES 
PERRIN SuiTH, paleontologic correlation was 
described as being of two kinds: (1) Di- 
rect, where the faunal regions were closely 
connected and intermigration of species was 
easy. An example of this is the correlation 
of the Cretaceous of the Atlanticand Gulf 
regions with that of Europe; (2) Indirect, 
where the faunal regions were separated by 
land barriers. An example of this is the 
correlation of the Cretaceous of the west 
coast with that of the interior and Atlantic 
regions. These were separated by impass- 
able barriers, but the Atlantic Cretaceous 
was connected with the European, the Eu- 
ropean with the Indian, and the Indian 
closely related to that of the west coast. 

Oppel attempted to divide stratigraphic 
formations into faunal ‘zones,’ of which he 
made 30 in the Jura alone, most of which 
cannot be recognized in outside regions. 
Buckman divided the Jura into hemere, of 
which he found 26 in the Lias alone. 
These, too, can not be recognized away from 
the province where they were founded. 
But, occasionally, the fauna of a certain 
horizon can be identified in very remote 
regions, this extension corresponding to pe- 
riods of unrest, of oscillations of the land 
and opening up of connections between re- 
gious that before were separated. The wri- 
ter proposes to confine the term zone to 
such widely distributed faunas, which thus 
become important criteria in interregional 
correlation. Such zones are that of Manti- 
coceras intermerceras in the upper Devonian, 
of Agamides rotatorius in the Kinderhook, 


996 
of Gastrioceras listeri in the middle coal 
measures, etc. 

The principles governing the migration 
of marine invertebrates were discussed, and 
the reality of ‘colonies’ affirmed. Homo- 
taxis, as defined by Huxley, was discussed, 
and it was shown that even now similar 
faunas are living synchronously in widely 
separated regions, and that the same could 
have happened, and probably did, in past 
time. Therefore, correlation is often real, 
and not merely homotaxial. The strata 
coming between the interregional zones are, 
in a sense, only homotaxial, but the zonal 
faunas themselves often represent synchro- 
nous appearances of immigrants in two or 
more regions from a third unknown point 
of origin. The substantial agreement of 
the stratigraphic column in all the conti- 
nents is the best possible proof of the real- 
ity of correlation, for the discrepancies that 
occur in the periods of endemic develop- 
ment are all corrected in the periods of re- 
adjustment, and nature’s periodic trial bal- 
ances bring into harmony the record in the 
interregional time scale. 

The following additional papers were pre- 
sented before the Section, all except the first 
two being under the auspices of the Geo- 
logical Society : 

The Ice Age in New Zealand: C. H. Hircu- 
cock. (With lantern slides.) 


On a New or hitherto Unrecognized Horizon in 

- the Lower Portion of the Devonian System in 
Eastern Canada: Henry M. Amt. 

Native Copper from Garfield County, Okla- 
homa: Erasmus Haworrta. 

Petrographic Studies on the Andesitie Rocks 
of Silverton, Colorado, with Analyses by W. 
_G. Haldane and E. W. Gebhardt: Frank 
R. Van Horn. 

The Hudson River Beds of the Vicinity of Al- 
bany, and their Taxonomic Equivalents: Ru- 
DOLE RuEDEMANN. (Introduced by J. 
M. Clarke.) 


SCLENOE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 313. 


Giants’ Kettles Eroded by Moulin Torrents: 
Warren UpHam. 

Pleistocene Ice and. River Erosion in the St. 
Croix Valley of Minnesota and Wisconsin: 
WakrEN UPHAM. 

Evidences of Interglacial Deposits in the Con- 
necticut Valley: CHarLes H. HircHcocx. 

Volcanic Phenomena on Hawaii: CHartes H. 

HircHcock. 


A Theory of the Origin of Systems of nearly 
Vertical Faults, with Application to the New- 
ark Basin of the Pomperaug River: W. H. 
Hoses. 

EXCURSIONS. 


The following excursions were arranged 
for and participated in by the members of — 
Section E and of the Geological Society : 

Tuesday afternoon.—Under the leader- 
ship of Professor Kemp, the crystalline 
rocks in that portion of New York City 
east and north of the Columbia University 
buildings were visited and carefully exam- 
ined. The interbedded arrangement of the 
limestones.and gneisses indicated clearly 
the sedimentary origin of these materials. 

Wednesday afternoon.—Under the lead- 
ership of Professor Kemp, the grounds in 
the Botanical and Zoological Gardens were. 
visited, and careful attention on the part. 
of the members was given both to the char- 
acter of the crystalline rocks and to the. 
later surface phenomena, including pot- 
holes, the glacial deposits and the new and 
old Bronx River channels. 

Thursday afternoon.—Under the leader- 
ship of Dr. A. A. Julien, a visit was made 
to the Palisades along the west bank of 
the Hudson for the purpose of studying 
the geoiogic and topographic relations there, 
and for the further purpose of seeing the 
extent to which the Palisades were being 
injured by the extensive quarrying now in 
operation for the purpose of securing road 
metal. J. A. Hormes, 

Secretary of the Section. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


THE NEW CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 

As anew laboratory has been constructed 
during the past year at Lawrence, to accom- 
modate the departments of chemistry and 
pharmacy, some facts in regard to the build- 
ing, and the appliances furnished, may be of 
value to others who contemplate erecting 
buildings for this purpose. 

The material used, as shown in the cut, is 
native limestone, Jaid in horizontal courses 
with recessed pointing. A large portion of 
this was quarried on the site, as the upper 


SCIENCE. 


gig 


The plans were drawn by J. G. Haskell, 
architect, and the director of the labora- 
tory with the assistance of his colleagues, 
after personal inspection and study of many 
of the largest and best appointed chemical 
laboratories in the country. The building 
is plain and massive in construction, and 
while very little was expended for adorn- 
ment, no expense was spared to secure the 
best practical conditions for chemical and 
pharmaceutical work, according to modern 
methods. 

The length of the building is 187 feet and 


Chemical Laboratories. South Front. 


courses of rock were removed in order to 
obtain a solid foundation on the lowest of a 
series of ledges. Some of the courses in the 
excavation were of light stone, while others 
were colored yellowish by iron oxid; the 
light rocks are used for the outside layers, 
except ou the back side, and the yellow 
rocks for interior filling. For trimmings, 
a limestone, known as Jefferson County, 
which occurs in ledges something over a 
foot in thickness, within a few miles of the 
city, is utilized. 


the greatest breadth 70 feet, with a. central 
portion devoted to offices, private labora- 
tories, etc., and two wings for larger labora- 
tories and lecture rooms. Below the base- 
ment floor there is a plenum four feet in 
depth, and as the building is upon the side 
of the hill, three sides of the basement are 
above the ground, and well lighted. Each 
of the three other stories is twelve feet in 
height, and the attic is commodious and 
well lighted. 

As the so-called mill construction is used 


998 


throughout the building, the joists and ceil- 
ings are finished with shellac and hard oil, 
and the double floors, which are made of one 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XIL No. 313. 


the central portion of the building, as shown 
in the floor plans, is a four-foot brick wall, 
which carries the heating flues, and some 


In the Qualitative Laboratory. 


and one-fourth inch hard pine, are separated 
by a half-inch air space and tarred paper. 
The corridors are twelve feet wide, and the 
walls, instead of being built of stone, are of 
wood, with the spaces between the studs 
‘nogged ’ with brick. The building is plas- 
tered with ‘cement plaster.’ At each end of 


ventilating flues, where there is space avail- 
able for them. 

The system of heating and ventilation, 
which has been arranged with special care, 
includes a fan blower driven by a 114 K. 
W., direct current, electric motor; pri- 
mary coils having 1,900 feet radiating sur- 


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DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


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face through which the air is drawn and 
‘tempered’; and secondary coils at the base 
of the brick walls above mentioned. By 
means of dampers, which are operated from 
the several rooms, either tempered or heated 
air can be discharged into rooms, and thus 
an abundant supply of fresh air is always 
assured. This system is completed by re- 
moving the foul air from the rooms by 
means of nine-inch circular tiles connected 
with the hoods, which are placed between 
the windows,and indeed at every other point 
where there is available wall space. There 
is an eight-inch opening near the,bottom of 
the hood, and.a five-inch opening near the 
top, and the tiles terminate above the peak 
of the roof, each hood being ventilated by 
an independent flue, and those flues are 
grouped into brick chimneys. The con- 
struction of the hoods may be understood 
from the cut of the interior. There are no 
pipes for gas, water or waste in the hoods, 
as these are all carried outside and below 
the floor of the hood. 

Referring to the floor plans which are 
here shown, it will be noticed that there is 
a separate entrance in the east wing to the 
pharmacy laboratories on the first floor, the 
laboratory for pharmacognosy, the phar- 
maceutical lecture room, with preparation 
room attached, and the model drug store 
on the second floor. This same entrance 
leads to the large chemical lecture room on 
the third floor, which is arranged to ac- 
commodate 325 students. Attached to this 
lecture room, is a commodious preparation 
room, and communicating with it is also a 
chemical museum. 

In the west wing are situated the large 
laboratories of the department of chemistry; 
on the top floor, that for general chemistry, 
on the second floor, those for qualitative 
and quantitative analysis and on the first 
floor, those for organic and physical chemis- 
try. Each floor accommodates 224 students, 
one-half working ata time. The basement 


SCLENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII; No, 313. 


will be used for special research rooms, 
assay and metallurgical laboratories, and 
store rooms. 

The offices of the professors of chemistry 
and of pharmacy and their private labora- 
tories, are on the second floor, so as to be as 
convenient as possible to all parts of the 
building, and on the same floor is a library, 
a balance room, a store room for the dis- 
pensing of chemicals and apparatus, and a 
recitation room which will accommodate 
seventy-five students. An elevator con- 
nects the basement stock room with the 
store room, and extends to the attic, while 
a similar elevator at the east end accommo- 
dates the pharmacy department. 

On the first floor is a smaller laboratory 
for advanced organic chemistry, with a pri- 
vate laboratory for the instructor, a balance 
room, lavatory, dark room, a smaller Jabor- 
atory for physical chemistry, with an office 
for the instructor adjoining, and a seminary 
room. 

The students’ tables in the main labora- 
tories. are substantially built of yellow 
pine, paneled, full one and a-quarter inches 
thick. Each student is provided with a 
locker and two drawers, all fastened with a 
rod which passes through the drawers and 
is secured by a padlock. At the right or 
left of each student is a deep sink, twelve 
inches by thirteen, with a pantry cock for 
delivering water. Underneath a low bottle 
rack, which stands on the table, a sufficient 
number of four-way gas cocks are placed. 
The panel under the sink is movable, and 
in this opening the gas, water and waste 
pipes are brought up through the floor. As 
the gas pipe is led ina groove along the 
table under the movable bottle rack, every 
pipe is easily reached in case of a leak. 

The two-inch table top is stained black. 
with an anilin dye, which is not readily 
acted on by acids or alkalies. 

Since the large laboratories are placed 
one above the other, they can be supplied 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


by the same system of pipes, and the drain- 
age of the sinks is simple and not liable to 
get out of order. The drain pipes connect 
with four-inch delivery pipes on each side 
of the room, by sanitary T’s, and these dis- 
charge into soil pipes in the corners. All 
the drainage is thus taken from the build- 
ing by four pipes provided with traps, with 
an additional sewer pipe, of course, to drain 
the lavatories. 

The plan of the building also provides for 
a system of high pressure steam pipes from 
the university engineering shops, for blast 
and vacuum pipes for each room, and for 
distilled water to be prepared in the attic 
by boiling water with the high pressure 
steam. The distilled water is then con- 
veyed to the different laboratories by means 
of block tin pipes. 

There has been expended upon the build- 
ing the sum of $55,000, leaving some of the 
less important rooms unfinished, and the 
furnishings in others incomplete. It is es- 
timated that when the building is com- 
pletely furnished, as the plans provide, the 
total cost will be about $80,000. 

In the construction of this laboratory no 
great originality is claimed, but the effort 
has been made to combine the best features 
of several of our most modern buildings, as 
far as this could be done at moderate ex- 
pense. So far as tested the arrangements 
for heating and ventilation, perhaps the 
most important points in laboratory con- 
struction, which have some novel features, 
seem to be very effective. It is believed 
that greater utility can with difficulty be 
secured anywhere at the same cost. 

E. H. 8. Battery. 


SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

A Treatise on the Theory of Screws. 
RoBERT STAWELL BALL, LL.D., F.R.S., 
Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and 
Geometry in the University of Cambridge. 
Cambridge, The University Press; New 


By Sir 


SCLENCE. 


1001 


York, The Macmillan Company. 1900. 

xix + 544, quarto. 

Ball’s famous work was first given to the 
world in 1876; later (1889), in a German treatise 
edited by Gravelius with Ball’s cooperation and 
additions by the editor. Both of these having 
become inadequate, the present monumental 
publication, containing a systematic presenta- 
tion of the present state of knowledge on the 
subject, was undertaken and completed by the 
originalauthor. The theory of screws in relation 
to rigid dynamics begins, on the one hand, with 
the kinematic theorem of Chasles, that any 
displacement of a rigid body may be reached by 
a translation along a definite line called the 
central axis, and a rotation around it; and on 
the other hand with the dynamic theorem of 
Poinsot, that any number of forces or of torques 
actuating a rigid body in any way may be re- 
duced to a single force and a single couple (col- 
lectively a wrench), with the axis of the latter 
parallel to the direction of the former. The 
reasoning thence is naturally along the lines of 
modern geometry or of quaternions, for a screw 
is a linear magnitude witha definite unit called 
pitch (advance per radian) associated with it. 
A twist thus bears the same relation to a rigid 
body that a vector does to a point. Hence the 
reader wishing to derive full advantage from 
Ball’s great treatise must be familiar with the 
modern treatment of geometry. A good account 
of Ball’s theory is given in Schell’s ‘ Theorie der 
Bewegung und der Krafte’ (Vol. II., Chapter 
VIII.), as well as in Routh’s ‘ Treatise on Ana- 
lytical Statics.’ However, such is the lucidity 
of Ball’s style, that the reader who knows only 
the ordinary dynamic methods will find the 
book accessible somewhere in almost all parts 
except those specially devoted to higher geom- 
etry. 

The chapters follow an orderly development : 
After the fundamental principles are laid down 
in the first five chapters, equilibrium, inertia, 
potential, harmonic motion are successively 
discussed in the four chapters following. There- 
after the six orders of freedom are treated 
consecutively in nine chapters. The eight re- 
maining chapters deal with the higher develop- 
ment of the subject in ordinary as well as in non- 
euclidean space. The generality of the methods 


Pp. 


1002 


will be seen even when the scope of the investi- 
gations is limited to conservative forces and in- 
finitely small displacements, for the form of 
the body does not enter the discussions. 

To give an analysis of the book or of Ball’s 
method would be presumption, as Ball did this 
himself in his inimitable address before the 
British Association at the Manchester Meeting 
in 1887, reprinted in Nature of the same year, 
as many of the readers of SCIENCE will remem- 
ber. Though the address is fourteen quarto 
pages long, it preserves its exquisite flavor 
throughout. Ball begins thus: ‘‘There was 
once a rigid body which lay peacefully at rest. 
A committee of natural philosophers was ap- 
pointed to make an experimental and rational 
inquiry into the dynamics of that body. The 
committee received special instructions. They 
were to find out why the body remained at 
rest, notwithstanding that certain forces were 
in action. They were to apply impulsive 
forces and observe how the body would begin 
to move. They were also to investigate the 
small oscillations. These being settled, they 
were then to—but here the chairman inter- 
posed; he considered that for the present, at 
least, there was sufficient work in prospect. 
He pointed out how the questions already pro- 
posed just completed a natural group. ‘ Let it 
suffice for us,’ he said, ‘to experiment upon 
the dynamics of this body so long as it remains 
in or near to the position it now occupies. We 
may leave to some more ambitious committee 
the task of following the body in all conceivable 
gyrations through the universe.’ ’’ 

‘““The committee was judiciously chosen. 
Mr. Anharmonic undertook the geometry. 
He was found to be of the utmost value in 
the more delicate parts of the work, though 
his colleagues thought him rather prosy at 
times. He was much aided by his two friends, 
Mr. One-to-one, who had charge of the homo- 
graphic department, and Mr. Helix, whose 
labors will be seen to be of much importance. 
As a most respectable, if rather old fashioned 
member, Mr. Cartesian was added to the com- 
mittee, but his antiquated tactics were quite 
outmanceuvered by those of Helix and One-to- 
one. I need only mention two more names. 
Mr. Commonsense was, of course, present as an 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


ex-officio member, and valuable service was ren- 
dered even by Mr. Querulous, who objected at 
first to serve on the committee at all. He said 
that the inquiry was all nonsense, because 
everybody knew as much as they wished to 
know about the dynamics of a rigid body. 
The subject was as old as the hills, and had all 
been settled long ago. He was persuaded, 
however, to look in occasionally. It will ap- 
pear that a remarkable result of the labors of 
the committee was the conversion of Mr. 
Querulous himself. 

““The committee assembled in the presence 
of the rigid body to commence their memorable 
labors. There was the body at rest, a huge 
amorphous mass, with no regularity in its 
shape—no uniformity in its texture. But what 
chiefly alarmed the committee was the bewil- 
dering nature of the constraints by which the 
movements of the body were hampered. 
They had been accustomed to nice mechanical 
problems, in which a smooth body lay on a 
smooth table, * * * in fact the chairman 
truly appreciated the situation when he said 
the constraints were of a perfectly general type.”’ 
Later in the proceedings Mr. Querulous is 
heard from. ‘‘‘How could you,’ he said, 
‘make any geometrical theory of the mobility 
of the body without knowing all about the 
constraints? And yet you are attempting to 
do so with perfectly general constraints of 
which you know nothing.’’’ The committee 
having got to work assigned certain duties, 
whereupon that ‘most respectable if rather old 
fashioned member,’ gives an account of him- 
self: ‘‘Mr. Cartesian having a reputation for 
such work, was requested to undertake the 
inquiry and report to the committee. Cartesian 
commenced operations in accordance with the 
well known traditions of his craft. He erected 
a cumbrous apparatus which he called his three 
rectangular axes. He then attempted to push 
the body parallel to one of these axes but it 
would notstir. He tried to move the body par- 
allel to each of the other axes but was again 
unsuccessful. He then attached the body to one 
of the axes and tried to effect a rotation around 
that axis. Again he failed for the constraints 
were of too elaborate a type to accommodate 
themselves to Mr. Cartesian’s crude notions.”’ 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


After further elaborate proceedings, ‘‘‘ Is 
this all?’ asks the chairman. ‘Oh no,’ replied 
Mr. Cartesian, ‘there are other proportions in 
which the ingredients may be combined so as 
to produce a possible movement,’ and he was 
proceeding to state them when Mr. Common- 
sense interposed. ‘Stop! Stop!’ said he, ‘I 
can make nothing out of all these figures. 
This jargon about x, y and z, may suffice for 
your calculations, but it fails to convey to my 
mind any clear or concise notion of the move- 
ments which the body is free to make.’’’ 

So we might continue quoting every para- 
graph of this amusing but seriously constructed 
essay, with equal zest. The book closes with 
an elaborate bibliography containing all the 
work relating to the theory of screws from its 
inception with Poinsot, Chasles, Grassmann, 
Hamilton, Mobius and Plicker, to the modern 
advances of Clifford, Klein and their confréres 
and Ball himself. CaRL BARUS. 

BROWN UNIVERSITY. 


TOPOGRAPHIC ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES, 


The second folio of what promises to be a 
magnificent topographic atlas of the United 
- States, published by the United States Geolog- 
ical Survey, has recently been issued. This 
second number, like the first, bears Henry Gan- 
nett’s name, and like its predecessor, also pre- 
sents illustrations of typical topographic forms 
for the use primarily of students and teachers 
of physiography. From the large number of 
topographic sheets issued by the Geological 
Survey, ten have been selected which furnish 
admirable examples of well-developed physio- 
graphic features, such as a coastal swamp, a 
graded river, Appalachian ridges, alluvial cones, 
ete., and bound in a folio, together with brief 
descriptions and explanations. 

The maps have been well selected and in 
themselves, so far as one can judge who is not 
intimately acquainted with the areas repre- 
sented, are all that could be desired. Not only 
does the field-work seem to have been carefully 
executed, but the engraving and printing is 
excellent. 

The text accompanying each map is intended 
to supplement and explain the topographic and 
culture features shown on it. These descrip- 


SCIENCE. 


1005 


tions are for the most part evidently compila 
tions from the writings of geologists and geog- 
raphers, who have studied the areas represented 
or other similar regions, although no acknowl- 
edgments of the sources of information are 
made. Such references are much to be desired 
not only in justice to the original investigators, 
but for the purpose of directing the reader to 
sources of more extended information. In 
some instances the maps chosen represent topo- 
graphic forms which have been carefully studied 
elsewhere, and might profitably be accompanied 
by citations from the descriptions of the type 
examples. Such references and citations could 
easily be made, as the printed text seldom oc- 
cupies an entire page: in fact much yaluable 
space is wasted. 

Instructive and pronounced features on some 
of the maps are not referred to in the text, 
although there is space available. For example, 
in the description of the Norfolk sheet, the 
origin of the drowned stream valley, the prom- 
inent hills near the ocean’s shore presumably 
dunes, and well-marked characteristics of the 
shore topography, due to the action of waves 
and currents, are not mentioned, but in place 
of such information a questionable explanation 
of the origin of Lake Drummond is presented. 
Again, in the text accompanying the excellent 
map of alluvial cones, no reference is made to 
the conspicuous channels excavated in their 
upper portions. 

The pictures in the text are poorly printed, 
and one of them bearing the objectionable name 
of ‘hogback,’ is reversed in reference to right 
and left ; this reversion throws the picture out 
of harmony with the diagram beneath it, in- 
tended to show the structure on which the 
monoclinal ridge depends. In the title of the 
picture just referred to—and the same is true 
in'at least one other instance—no reference is 
made to the geographical position of the scene 
represented. 

The diagram described as a ‘ volcanic neck,’ 
might be accepted as representing a cross-sec- 
tion of a peculiar plutonic intrusion, but by no 
stretch of the imagination can it be considered 
as illustrating the structure of a volcanic neck. 
In attempting to indicate the ‘stratified beds 
now eroded away’ they are carried completely 


1004 


over the intruded mass labeled ‘lava,’ seem- 
ingly with the intention of indicating that the 
intrusion did not reach the surface. We know, 
however, from the writings of Major Dutton 
that the volcanic necks in the Mt. Taylor re- 
gion, the one selected, are the plugs hardened 
in the throats of normal craters. 

An exception might be taken to the use of 
the word crater in reference to the great 
depression in the summit of Mount Mazama, 
but such a distinction I believe, was not made 
by Dutton and Diller, to whom we owe nearly 
all our information concerning the region in 
question. 

In the interest of the large number of 
teachers and students who will consult the 
topographic folios of the U. 8. Geological 
Survey, I venture to suggest that the descrip- 
tions accompanying the maps should be 
written by persons who are familiar with the 
regions represented and have a critical know]l- 
edge of their geology. These texts, although 
of necessity brief, should not be stultified 
compilations, but Nature herself speaking 
through a master interpreter. 

ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. 

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 


BOOKS RECEIVED. 

Animal Life. DAvID STARR JORDAN and VERNON 
IL. Kettoce. New York. D. Appleton & Co. 
1900. Pp. ix+329. 

William Herschel and his Work. 
York. Charles Scribner’s Sons. 
265. $1.25. 


The Teaching of Mathematics in the Higher Schools of 


JAMES SIME. New 
1900. Pp. vii+ 


Prussia. J. W. A. YounG. Longmans, Green & 
Co. New York, London and Bombay. 1900. 
Pp. xiv-+-141. 


Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Anatomie der Wirbellosen 
Thiere. ARNOLD LANG. Second revised edition. 
First part, Jollusca. WARL HESCHELER, Jena. 
Gustav Fisher, 1900. Pp. viii+-509. 


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

The Journal of School Geography, edited by 
Richard HE. Dodge, of Teachers College, Co- 
lumbia University, enters upon its fifth vol- 
ume in January. The editorial staff will be 
strengthened by the addition of Mr. Mark §. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


W. Jefferson, of the High School, Brockton, 
Mass., who will devote his attention to Second- 
ary School Geography, and of Miss Ellen C. 
Semple, of Louisville, Kentucky, who will, as 
before, contribute articles and notesin reference 
to Anthropo-geography. 


The Plant World for November opens with an 
illustrated article on ‘An Ornamental Species 
of Bideus’ by G. N. Collins. It is a little ir- 
regular to learn that the now popular Cosmos 
flower was brought from Mexico twenty years 
ago and cast aside asa worthless weed. F. M. 
Burglehaus tells of ‘Drying Botanical Dryers 
in Wet Weather’ and Charles Newton Gould 
describes the ‘ Jack Oaks in Oklahoma’ which 
are practically useless for anything save fire- 
wood. Charles A. White discusses ‘The Va- 
rietal Fruit Characters of Plants’ and ‘ Eng- 
lish and American Weeds [are] Compared’ by 
Byron D. Halsted with the result that in 100 
species from each region less than one quarter 
of them are common to both lists. In the Sup- 
plement devoted to ‘ The Families of Flowering 
Plants,’ Charles Louis Pollard treats of the 
orders Fogales, Urticales and Proteales. 


No. 38, vol. 8, of the Bulletin of the New York 
State Museum is devoted to a ‘ Key to the Land 
Mammals of Northeastern North America’ by 
Gerrit 8. Miller, Jr., intended to furnish a 
ready means of identification with the least pos- 
sible technical requirements. Keys are fur- 
nished to the varicus orders, families, genera, 
species and even subspecies of the mammals 
inhabiting the region noted, while references 
are given to the first publication of each name, 
the first use of the binomial or trinomial combi- 
nation and to some recent work in which the 
animal is described in detail. Recently extir- 
pated animals, such as the bison and walrus, 
are included and there is a short introduction 
defining the areas of the life zones of the region 
under consideration, and before the ‘ Key’ 
proper is a check list of the 105 species treated. 
The work is not only useful for the amateur, 
but of great value to the working zoologist, as 
Mr. Miller is among our leading authorities on 
mammals and has devoted particular attention 
to those of New York State and the adjoining 
territory. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 


THE 106th regular meeting was held Decem- 
ber 12th at the Cosmos Club: 

The following papers were presented : 

Mr. C. W. Hayes. —‘The Geological Re- 
lations of the Tennessee Brown Phosphate.’ 
Three distinct types of phosphate rock occur in 
Tennessee, named from their prevailing colors 
white black and brown. The white rock is a 
recent cavern deposit; the black rock, includ- 
ing two varieties, nodular and bedded, is De- 
vonian and the brown rock is Silurian. At 
four or more distinct horizons in the lower 
Silurian occur beds of phosphatic limestone, 
which, on the removal of the lime by leaching, 
yield high grade phosphate rock, containing 
from 70 to 80 per cent. of lime phosphate. 

The recurrence of these phosphatic beds 
through so large a portion of the Silurian and 
Devonian formations points to a recurrence of 
similar conditions in Silurian and Devonian 
time favorable for the accumulation of lime 
phosphate. The deposits are at present lo- 
cated along the western margin of the central 
basin of Tennessee in a belt extending nearly 
across the State. This belt coincides with the 
western side of the Cincinnati anticline and a 
genetic connection between the two is sug- 
gested. This belt is characterized by numer- 
ous unconformities, in part by erosion, but 
chiefly by non-deposition. During Silurian and 
Devonian time it was doubtless a region of 
shallow seas protected from the incursion of 
foreign detrital sediments. Under these condi- 
tions the lime carbonate was perhaps removed 
by solution nearly as fast as deposited, and the 
lime phosphate which elsewhere is disseminated 
through a great mass of limestones was here 
concentrated into a relatively small volume. 

Mr. Lester F. Ward. —‘ The Autochthonous 
or Allochthonous Origin of the Coal and Coal 
Plants of Central France.’ Mr. Ward accom- 
panied the excursions of the International Geo- 
logical Congress to the coal basins of Commentry, 
Decazeville and Saint Etienne, and found this 
to be the principal geological problem pre- 
sented. M. H. Fayol led the party through 
the two first-named basins, and lost no oppor- 


SCIENCE. 


1005 


tunity to demonstrate to the excursionists the 
validity of his well-known theory of deltas, 
according to which all the materials have been 
transported from the surrounding country and 
deposited in small lakes which have been thus 
gradually filled up. The excursion to St. 
Etienne was in charge of M. C. Grand’Eury, 
whose elaborate treatment of the ‘ Coal Flora of 
Central France’ is familiar to all. He was not 
less zealous in seeking to make clear the au- 
tochthonous origin of the coal plants of that 
basin. Among the members of the party were 
Dr. I. C. White, M. H. Potonié and other com- 
petent judges of such questions. None of them 
had any ‘parti pris, and all were open to the 
evidence, which, however, all admitted was in 
certain respects more or less defective. This 
was the fault of the conditions, and not at all of 
the able and courteous expounders of the re- 
spective theories. The result at least could not 
be positively stated in favor of either theory for 
all the beds, but M. Fayol may be said to have 
given a correct explanation of the mode of 
deposition of the Commentry basin and proba- 
bly of most of that of Decazeville, although in 
the latter the underclays certainly hold the 
roots of plants. At St. Etienne M. Grand’ Kury 
showed the party many cases in which the finest 
fibrils of the roots of erect Calamites were seen to 
pass across the planes of bedding and penetrate 
to the underlying conglomerates which formed 
the original floor; a condition which is wholly 
incompatible with the theory of transportation 
or the slightest disturbance of the plants. 

Mr. E. E. Howell.—‘ A New Geological Re- 
lief Map of the United States.’ This map, ex- 
hibited to the Society, is ona horizontal scale of 
about 40 miles to the inch, representing a por-' 
tion of aglobe 163 feet in diameter. The ver- 
tical scale is eight miles to the inch. The 
geological data was obtained from the U. S. 


Geological Survey. 
F. L. RANSOME, 


DAviID WHITE, 
Secretaries. 


CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 
A REGULAR meeting was held October 11, 
1900. The evening was devoted to the address 
of the retiring president Dr. H. N. Stokes, on 


1006 


the subject, ‘ The Revival of Organic Chemistry.’ 
SCIENCE, October 12th. 

A regular meeting was held November 8, 
1900. The first paper of the evening was read 
by Mr. L. M: Tolman, and was entitled, ‘The 
Examination of Jellies, Jams and Marmalades,’ 
by L. M. Tolman, L. S. Munson and W. D. 
Bigelow. The paper gave the results of the 
examination of jellies and jams manufactured 
in the laboratory from 18 varieties of fruits. 
The solids, ash, acid, nitrogen, reducing sugar 
and cane sugar, were determined, and the 
amount of cane sugar inverted and calculated. 
The juices and pulps from which the samples 
were made were also examined. The relation 
between the acid content and the amount of 
cane sugar inverted was especially noted. 

The second paper was read by Dr. Bigelow 
and was entitled, ‘The Nitrogenous Compounds 
of Meat Extracts,’ by W. D. Bigelow and R. 
Harcourt. The authors examined about fifty 
commercial extracts making use of the follow- 
ing methods: Precipitation by bromin as di- 
rected by Allen; precipitation by zinc sulphate ; 
precipitation by ammonium sulphate ; precipita- 
tion by bromin in filtrate from the zinc sulphate 
precipitate; precipitation by tannin and phos- 
photungstic acid (filtered separately), the latter 
precipitate being filtered at about 90° C., as 
directed by Mallet. The bromin precipitate 
from the original solution was found to hold 
only a small and variable portion of the proteids 
present. The zine sulphate precipitate plus 
the bromin precipitate in the filtrate from the 
same gave results which were fairly satisfactory. 
The best results were obtained by use of the 
Mallet’s method. Mixtures of digested egg 
albumin and purified meat bases were also sub- 
jected to the above methods. 

WILLIAM H. Krue, 
Secretary. 


NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 
SECTION OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 
THE section met on November 19th, Dr. A. A. 
Julien presiding. The following communica- 
tions were presented : 

“Recent Progress in Investigation of the Geol- 
ogy of the Adirondack Region,’ by J. F. Kemp. 
Three.classes of rocks are present in the area 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 313. 


discussed : (1) those certainly igneous in their 
nature, including labradorite rocks, basic gab- 
bros and trap dikes ; (2) those certainly sedi- 
mentary, best illustrated by the crystalline lime- 
stones ; (3) extensive areas of gneiss of uncertain 
origin. The distribution of the first class and 
the results obtained have been quite accurately 
ascertained by H. P. Cushing, C. H. Smyth and 
the speaker. The augite-syenite first discov- 
ered by Cushing near Loon Lake has since been 
found to be widely distributed in regions farther 
south. The ages of the trap dikes and their 
distribution were discussed. 

Recent additions to the knowledge of the 
sedimentary rocks involve the recognition of 
quite large amounts of quartzites in a consider- 
able number of new localities. Besides these, 
small beds of limestone have been discovered in 
the southern areas, especially in Warren and 
Washington counties, which are thoroughly in- 
terstratified with the gneisses and which leave 
no escape from concluding that the gneisses are 
also sedimentary in their origin and that a regu- 
larly stratified series of rocks is present. This 
conclusion removes many of the gneisses from 
the group of uncertainties. 

The speaker enumerated the discovery of new 
outliers of Cambrian and Ordovician strata in 
the midst of the crystallines. He also noted 
the distribution of the glacial striations through- 
out the eastern mountains and their nearly 
uniform northeasterly bearing. The physiog- 
raphy is chiefly due to a series of faulted blocks 
which afford a very characteristic saw-toothed 
sky line. 

‘Notes on the Origin of the Pegmatites from 
Manhattan Island by A. A. Julien. 

Dr. Julien, after discussing the prevailing 
theories of the origin of pegmatites, and show- 
ing that they did not adequately explain peg 
matitic developments in loco in the districts 
mentioned, advanced the following conclusions : 

1. The existence of at least two series of 
pegmatite developments, marked by a succes- 
sion of intersections. Of these the oldest series 
is the most extensive, intercalated among the 
foliation-seams, and coincident with the strike. 
The later series cuts the schists in all directions , 
and inclinations. 

2. Every pegmatite occurrence on Manhat- 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


tan Island retains more or less structural evi- 
dence of having begun its existence as a vein, 
segregated from a magma or igneo-aqueous 
emulsion. Even the notable dike near 205th 
Street, crossing the dolomite, retains the vein 
structure, perfectly in places and imperfectly 
throughout. 

3. Contact phenomena are confined mainly 
to the earlier alteration along seams, to projec- 
tion of veinlets rather than intrusion pophyses, 
and, at one dolomite intersection, to a thin sel- 
vage of phlogopite and tremolite. 

4, The vein structure presents distinct lami- 
nation, correspondent deposits on the two walls, 
comb structure, passage from less to more acid 
minerals toward the center, and final concen- 
tration of minerals of the rarer elements in 
association with the significant matrix, smoky 
quartz, along lenticular bands, often near a 
central suture. 

5. Some of the most prominent features are 
the results of pressure upon the original veins 
through orogenic movements of the stratum of 
schists, viz., fissuring, faulting, crushing, shear- 
ing with development of aplite, refusion and 
development of new phenocrysts (granite-por- 
phyry), and generation of reaction borders out- 
side of each wall of a vein. Where flowage 
has taken place and some transferrence of the 
crushed vein material along the plane of the 
vein, the appearances of a dike begin. Many 
of these results may be distinguished along the 
course of the same vein at short intervals, but 
in the most characteristic dikes the vein struc- 
ture is rarely, if ever, completely obliterated. 

THEODORE G. WHITE, 
Secretary. 


SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEM— 
ISTRY. 


A MEETING of the Section was held at 12 West 
81st Street, New York, on the evening of De- 
cember 38, 1900. 

Professor E. R. von Nardroff presented a 
paper with an experimental illustration, on “The 
Determination of the Wave-Length of Sound by 
the Grating Method.’ Asasource of sound the 
author used a miniature steam whistle made of 
brass and operated by a current of air from a 
tank of compressed air. The sound produced 


SCIENCE 


1007 


in this way was inaudible on account of its high 
pitch, the wave length being only about three- 
eighths of an inch. The whistle was placed at 
one of the conjugate foci of a parabolic metallic 
mirror, a sensitive flame being placed at the 
other conjugate focus. A transmission grating 
made of wood, and resembling somewhat a 
portion of a picket fence, was then interposed 
in the path of the reflected sound waves, and it 
was found that when the sensitive flame was 
shifted to-one side, as many as four positions of 
maximum effect were obtained on each side of 
the central direct beam of sound. With this 
apparatus, the wave-length of sound, when the 
waves were short like those used, could be 
measured to within one per cent. 

Mr. W. G. Levison read a paper on ‘A 
Method of Photographing the Entire Corona on 
One Plate,’ employed at Newberry, S. C., for 
the total solar eclipse of May 28, 1900. The 
method consisted in the employment of a 
specially constructed color screen most dense 
at the center and fading off to clear glass at the 
edges, which was placed close to the photo- 
graphic plate. The size and density of the 
screen were adjusted as nearly as possible so 
that the image of the inner corona made by a 
suitable lens fell on the part of the plate cov- 
ered by the screen, while the image of the outer 
corona passed through the clear glass. The 
color screen was made from a lens of colored 
glass with sharp edges which was cemented into 
a recess in a plate of clear glass, ground to re- 
ceiveit. Twoscreens were made, one of orange- 
yellow glass and one of dark greenish-blue 
glass. In testing these screens at the time of 
the eclipse, an arrangement of telephoto-lenses 
was used, but unfortunately the exposure was 
not long enough to give any image at all of the 
outer corona through the clear glass, although 
a considerable impression of the inner corona 
was produced through the orange-yellow glass, 
but none through the bluish-green glass. This 
should give some idea of the relative actino- 
metric intensity of the light from the inner and 
from the outer corona. 

Mr. Leyvison also presented a short note on 
‘The Action of Canada Balsam on Photographic 
Plates.’ In making the experiments with the 
color screens he noticed that Canada balsam 


1008 


that had been baked hard, when placed in con- 
tact with a sensitive plate, or separated from it 
by a layer of carefully selected black paper, 
and allowed to remain a week or more, affected 
the plate in the same manner as light, the part 
affected developing black. He verified this 
effect by a number of experiments. In the 
author’s opinion this effect seemed likely to be 
caused by true Becquerel rays, as it passed 
through the black paper, which is perfectly 
opaque to ordinary light. 
WILLIAM 8. Day, 
Sec’y of Section. 


THE NEW YORK SECTION OF THE AMERICAN 
CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 


THE regular meeting of the Section was held 
on Friday evening, December 7th, at the Chem- 
ists’ Club, 108 West Fifty-fifth Street, Dr. C. 
A. Doremus presiding. 

Special invitations had been sent out to those 
interested in public water supply, as the feature 
of the meeting was an address by Professor 
William P. Mason, of the Rensselaer Polytech- 
nic Institute, Troy, entitled, ‘The Water Sup- 
plies of the Cities on the Mediterranean,’ with 
lantern illustrations. 

The address began with a description of Gi- 
braltar, and its peculiar arrangements for water 
supply. From there to Tunis and other cities 
on the south shore, including the site of ancient 
Carthage ; then to Naples and Rome. 

The system at Naples, once so primitive and 
unsanitary, is now on ascale and of a character 
to command admiration. 

The typhoid epidemic at Hamburg in 1892 
was alluded to, and a ‘spot’ map gave a 
graphic representation of the severity of the 
scourge in Hamburg, and the comparative im- 
munity of the adjoining town of Altona, which, 
while having a separate water supply, was not 
more separated from Hamburg than Harlem 
from the rest of New York City. 

A still more remarkable fact emphasized the 
value of filtration. The watersupply of Altona 
was taken from below the sewers of Hamburg, 
passing through sand filters before distribution. 

At the close of the address a vote of thanks 
was passed, and some routine business attended 
to. Four representatives in the council were 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Vou. XII. No. 313. 


elected, and a committee of three was appointed 
to confer with the Bureau of Combustibles in 
regard to the present existing restrictions as to 
storage of nitric, hydrochloric, and sulphuric 
acid. 

Messrs. T. J. Parker, A. P. Hallock and 
William McMurtrie were appointed on this 
committee. 

The situation, as it now stands, is such that a 
permit can be obtained for 1,000 pounds only 
of the acids named, whereas many establish- 
ments are using more than this amount every 
24 hours, and, aside from the difficulty of hay- 
ing the acids delivered each day, any interfer- 
ence with daily delivery would result in sus- 
pension of large and important industries. 

DuRAND WOODMAN, 
Secretary. 


THE NEBRASKA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 


THE Academy held its eleventh annual meet- 
ing in Lincoln at the University of Nebraska, 
on Friday, November 30th and on Saturday, 
December Ist. This was without doubt the 
most important as well as the most interesting 
meeting the Academy hasever held. Thenum- 
ber of papers presented (as well as their subject 
matter) was especially noticeable for its high 
character. The meeting was called to order 
and presided over by President H. Gifford, who 
took for his address ‘A Possible Explanation 
of the Shape of the Human Auricle.’ This ad- 
dress was illustrated by well selected figures 
on charts and photographs, showing the exter- 
nalear as found in a number of different types 
of animals both terrestrial and aquatic. In his 
treatment of the subject, Dr. Gifford called at- 
tention to the presence of a number of small 
muscles in the ear as found in these animals and 
indicated their influence in bringing about the 
prevailing form of this organ as found in man. 

Professor Haven Metcalf presented a very in- 
teresting paper on ‘ Problems relating to the 
Individuality of Chromosomes,’ which was dis- 
cussed by Professors Duncanson, Metcalf and 
Ward. In this paper certain characteristics of 
these bodies were cited as explanatory of the 
possible ancestry of different hybrid plants. 

Another paper that attracted an unusual 
amount of attention was that of Professor E. H. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


Barbour on ‘Sand-lime Crystals.’ This latter 
paper was certainly an important contribution 
to the subject of crystallography, and will be 
received by geologists as a permanent contribu- 
tion to the subject. Immediately following this 
paper some time was spent by Robert E. Moritz 
in presenting a discussion on the ‘ Extension of 
the Differential Processes’ ina manner approved 
of by the mathematicians in attendance. Robert 
H. Wolcott then read by title arather technical 
paper entitled ‘A Review of the Genera of 
Water Mites,’ in which the auther critically 
reviewed all the former attempts at the classi- 
fication of these animals. He also suggested in 
that paper a more natural scheme of classifica- 
tion based on the derivation of the different 
forms aside from their chance present external 
resemblances. 

Another paper of more than ordinary inter- 
est was that of Professor William Hastings, 
entitled ‘The Nebraska Type or Norm for 
each School Age, and Vitality Coefficients.’ 
‘Thunder Storms’ was the title of a paper by 
J. H. Spencer, in which the author gave a 
very concise description of what constitutes 
such a storm, its cause, method of develop- 
ment, extent, importance, and the compara- 
tive annual number of such storms for the State 
of Nebraska and surrounding regions. 

The feature of the ‘evening session was the 
presentation of papers of a more general 
nature. Some of these were ‘Notes on the 
Occurrence of Asparagus Rust in Nebraska,’ 
by J. L. Sheldon; ‘The Determination of the 
Longitude of the University of Nebraska Ob- 
servatory,’ by G. D. Swezey ; ‘A Report on 
the Morrill Geological Expedition for 1900,’ by 
E. H. Barbour; ‘ Additional Observations on 
Plant Movements,’ Wm. Cleburne ; a paper on 
the ‘ Delimitation of the Field of Pedagogy,’ 
by W. A. Clark, and one on ‘ Degeneracy,’ 
by Dr. H. B. Lowry. In his presentation of 
this latter subject the doctor dealt chiefly with 
the criminal phase. It is needless to state that 
this paper will form very interesting reading 
when published. 

The papers presented at the session on the 
morning of December Ist were ‘The Geology 
of Saunders, Lancaster and Gage Counties,’ by 
C. A. Fisher ; ‘North American Bees of the 


SCIENCE. 


1009 


Genus Agapostemon,’ by J. C. Crawford, Jr. ; 
‘The Work of the State Geological Survey 
during the Summer of 1900,’ ‘Bone Tissue, 
Recent and Fossilized,’ and one on the ‘ Ex- 
tent of the Fiberous Arikaree Beds,’ by E. H. 
Barbour; ‘Some Tests of Camera Shutters,’ 
G. D. Swezey; ‘Notes on Beet Diseases in 
Nebraska,’ Geo. G. Hedgecock; ‘ A Brief Ac- 
count of some Rare Alaskan Worms,’ H. B. 
Ward ; ‘ Observations on Species of Nebraska 
Water Mites,’ Robert H. Wolcott ; ‘ Report on 
the Botanical Survey of Nebraska,’ Roscoe 
Pound ; ‘Additions to the List of Nebraska Fos- 
sils,’ Carrie A. Barbour, and ‘Some Impressions 
of Biological Conditions in Arizona,’ A. A. 
Tyler. As nearly all these papers were more 
or less technical in their nature, or of minor 
general interest, they were presented by their 
authors in abstract. 

The officers elected for the ensuing year are: 
Ellery W. Davis, President; J. H. Powers, 
Vice-President; Robert H. Wolcott, Secretary 
and Custodian; G. A. Loveland, Treasurer; 
Board of Directors: William Cleburne, C. H. 
Gordon, H. B. Lowry and L. Bruner. 

On motion of the chairman of the commit- 
tee on publication it was decided to publish at 
once the proceedings of the present meeting, 
also the proceedings of the last two meetings, 
which have been held in abeyance awaiting the 
publication of the report of the Nebraska His- 
torical Society with which they are to appear. 

A committee of three was also appointed to 
await upon the members of the coming legis- 
lature for the purpose of securing any possible 
State aid in the future publication of the Acad- 
emy’s proceedings. 

LAWRENCE BRUNER, 
Secretary. 


DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
A GASOLINE LAUNCH FOR FIELD WORK. 


TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Three years ago 
I published in your columns a few brief state- 
ments regarding the feasibility of using gasoline 
for motive power in conducting geological work 
in the Hastern United States, and more partic- 
ularly in New York. Since then several long, 
and I may venture to say successful, excursions 
have been made. It is, however, to show the 


1010 


aid which power of this kind can give to regular 
university work in field geology that this com- 
munication is written. 

The Cornell Summer School of Field Geology 
had for headquarters this season the classic 
region of Trenton Falls, N. Y., where collect- 
ing, section-making, map-making, etc., were 
carried on in great detail. At different times 
the two divisions of the class were taken by 
boat along the Erie Canal to Troy, and, by short 
railway trips to the Helderberg Mountains, the 
Cambrian east of Troy and to Oriskany Falls. 
The farthest north reached by boat was Platts- 
burg on Lake Champlain. During the summer 
the students had an opportunity to study the 
Archean at several localities, also the Lower 
and Upper Cambrian, the Calciferous, Chazy, 
Birdseye, Black River, Trenton, Utica, Hud- 
son River, Clinton, Onondaga, Water Lime, 
Lower Pentamerus, Delthyris shaly, Upper 
Pentamerus, Oriskany, Cauda-galli, Schoharie, 
Corniferous, Marcellus and Hamilton forma- 
tions. Owing to boat accommodations, the class 
was limited to fifteen (four women and eleven 
men) though many more applications for ad- 
mission to the class were made. 

For the coming summer (1901) there will be 
room for forty-five. The Helderberg Moun- 
tains (Country man hill section) will be used as 
a rendezvous, where a camp will be formed 
similar to that of the past summer at Trenton 
Falls. This place has been selected because of 
the large number of formations (about a dozen) 
accessible within a radius of one mile. Ex- 
cursions by boat down the Hudson to Rondout, 
up the Champlain to Valcour Island, westward 
on the Erie Canal to Syracuse, will be made 
without fail. 

Many of the places visited could be reached 
by rail supplemented by hack drives, but I ven- 
ture to say not so economically for the student. 
By camping and cooperation in the work, 
no one need spend over $65 for a ten-week 
term. This includes tuition, board and every- 
thing, and is the result of experience and not a 
mere estimate. Compare these figures with 
estimates of expenses as usually given in an- 
nouncements for summer schools of field geol- 
ogy (usually for six weeks only) and observe 
the difference. Special attention is called to 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von. XII. No. 313. 


this fact, for it has often seemed to the writer 
that not enough consideration is usually given 
to the class of students who would profit most 
by opportunities for field work. 

That the most advantageous place to study 
geology is in the field is too obvious to need any 
explanation here. The drawback in such work 
isthe expense. Ina recent English publication 
weread: ‘‘ Would that some munificent person 
would found in the basin of the river Ribble a 
geological station where Cambridge students 
would haye the means of acquiring a knowl- 
edge of field geology under conditions more 
favorable than those presented by the flats 
around the sluggish Cam.’’* The points of 
special note in our method of work, with the 
Helderbergs as a center of operation, are the 
following: (1) The mountains were long ago 
recognized by the illustrious Lyell and others 
as most ideal for geological study. (2) By 
camping and cooperating in camp duties we 
can make fair progress without the ‘ munificent 
person’ so often appealed to. (8) By making 
long excursions by boat in various directions a 
far broader view of geology can be obtained 
than by remaining all the time at one station, 
however well it may be equipped, or however 
well located. (4) The more advanced student 
can keep his eyes open and ask the party to 
stop and stay at localities affording new ma- 
terials so long as seems advisable.+ There is no 
hurrying to catch trains and no fear of the on- 
coming of the night. Original work can ac- 
cordingly be done to great advantage, serving 
not only to advance our knowledge of geo- 
logical science, but also to demonstrate to the 
less advanced students the meaning of real geo- 


logical work. 
GILBERT D. HARRIS. 
CoRNELL UNIVERSITY, 


December 8, 1900. 


CURRENT NOTES ON METEOROLOGY. 
DE SAUSSURE’S ESSAYS ON HYGROMETRY. 
No. 115 of Ostwald’s ‘ Klassiker der exacten 
Wissenschaften,’ is a German translation of de 
Saussure’s ‘Essais sur l’hygrométrie,’ which 
* “The Principles of Stratigraphic Geology,’ by J. 


E. Marr, 1898, p. 98. 
+See Bull. Amer. Paleont., No. 13, November, 1900. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


were originally published at Neufchatel in 1783. 
This useful series of reprints also contains two 
other volumes of distinctly meteorological in- 
terest, viz., No. 57, ‘Fahrenheit, Réaumur, 
Celsius, Abhandlungen tiber Thermometrie. 
1724, 1730-1733, 1742,’ and No. 58, ‘Otto von 
Guericke’s neue Magdeburgische Versuche tiber 
den leeren Raum., 1672.’ The work of de 
Saussure in connection with hygrometry was 
of marked importance, and it is well to have 
interest in it revived by means of this attractive 
little volume, the price of which is but 2 m. 60 
Pf. The book contains a brief biographical 
sketch of de Saussure, and also a number of 
notes on the text. The publisher is Engel- 
mann, of Leipzig. 


BRITISH RAINFALL FOR 1899. 


Tue fortieth volume of ‘Symons’s British 
Rainfall,’ that for the year 1899, is the first one 
of the long series of these annual reports which 
has been compiled by anyone but Mr. Symons 
himself. Owing to the death of the founder 
of the British Rainfall service on March 10, 
1900, the duty of compiling the annual report 
has devolved upon Mr. H. 8. Wallis, who was 
associated with Mr. Symons for 30 years. 
‘British Rainfall’ for 1899 appropriately con- 
tains an appreciative notice of Mr. Symons’s 
life and work, together with an excellent por- 
trait of that distinguished meteorologist. The 
number of observers from whom records are 
received is now about 3,500. Besides the 
usual full presentation of the results of the 
year’s observations, the present volume :con- 
tains a discussion of the average rainfall of the 
decade 1890-99, as determined by records ata 
hundred stations well distributed over England, 
Scotland and Ireland. 


SCIENTIFIC BALLOON VOYAGES. 


Notice has been received of a new work on 
balloon meteorology, issued by Friedr. Vieweg 
und Sohn, Braunschweig. The title of the 
work is ‘ Wissenschaftliche Luftfahrten, ausge- 
fubrt vom Deutschen Verein zur Forderung der 
Luftschiffahrt in Berlin.’ The authors are Drs. 
Assmann and Berson, and associated with them 
are the following well-known meteorologists 
or aéronauts: Baschin, von Bezold, Bornstein, 
Gross, Kremser, Stade and String. There are 


SCIENCE. 


1011 


three volumes. The first deals with the history 
of balloon ascents and with the instruments 
and their use; the second contains accounts of 
individual ascents, and the meteorological re- 
sults obtained on them, and the third volume 
summarizes the whole subject, giving the most 
important results. The price of the work is 
100 Marks. 
R. DEC. WARD. 


YELLOW FEVER AND MOSQUITOES. 

MEDICAL authorities are by no means agreed 
as to the value of the experiments on the rela- © 
tions between yellow fever and mosquitoes car- 
ried out at Havana by Drs. Reed, Carroll, Agra- 
monte and Lazear. The British Medical Journal 
remarks editorially: ‘‘ At first glance these ex- 
periments appear to show almost conclusively 
that the germ of yellow fever is conveyed by a 
special species of mosquito — Culex fasciatus, 
presumably—and that the insect becomes in- 
fective only after from ten to thirteen days 
from the time of ingestion of the germ. Unfor- 
tunately the mode in which the experiments 
were conducted detracts much from their value. 
They are really by no means conclusive. The 
experimenters themselves are of this opinion. 
At most they are suggestive. It is to be re- 
gretted that, considering the great danger to 
which the subjects of these experiments were 
exposed, greater care was not exercised that 
the conditions of the experiments were abso- 
lutely free from objection. If life was to be 
risked, it was surely imperative that this risk 
should not be incurred in vain; that it should 
be unnecessary to go over the ground afresh, 
and thereby entail further risk. 

Manifest objections to the conclusion that the 
mosquito did convey the disease in the three 
cases which yielded a positive result are, 
first, that nine out of the twelve individuals 
subjected to mosquito bite did not contract yel- 
low fever ; secondly, that those individuals who 
did contract the disease had entered the local 
endemic yellow fever area about the time they 
were bitten; they might have contracted the 
disease in the ordinary way, therefore, and not 
from the experimental mosquitoes; thirdly, that 
the germ of yellow fever has been recognized 
neither in the mosquito nor in human blood. 


1012 


Dr. Lazear’s life has not been altogether 
thrown away if these experiments lead, as they 
must, to their repetition under more rigid con- 
ditions, and if it be found that yellow fever is 
conveyed by the mosquito, the important sani- 
tary measures which will result from the dis- 
covery will atone, in a measure, for the 
regrettable sacrifice. Meanwhile the bacillus 
icteroides of Sanarelli is being discredited, and, 
like so many of its predecessors, may have to 
give place to some other microorganism, in this 
case, possibly, of a protozoal nature. 


UNINSULATED CONDUCTORS AND SCIENTIFIC 
INSTRUMENTS. 

In his inaugural address as president of the 
British Institution of Electrical Engineers de- 
livered on November 8th, and published in 
Nature, Professor John Perry urged the impor- 
tance of scientific and mathematical training for 
electrical engineers. He said: ‘‘In this ad- 
dress I mean to put before you this simple 
question: Is electrical engineering to remain a 
profession or is it to become a trade? Is this 
Institution to continue to be a society for the 
advancement of knowledge in the applications 
of scientific principles to electrical industries, 
or is it to become a mere trades union ?”’ 

Professor Perry, in the course of his address 
referred to the use of insulated return conduc- 
tors in connection with electrical transportation, 
where uninsulated conductors may disturb 
scientific instruments, saying: 

““ At Potsdam this sacrilege has been forbid- 
den. At Washington, Toronto, Capetown and 
most other important places, the magnetic 
records have already been rendered useless. 
Professor Rucker and I were asked by the other 
members of the Committee of the Royal Society 
which was in charge of the Kew Observatory to 
defend Kew, and with the help of her Majesty’s 
Treasury we thought we were able to insist 
upon the use of insulated returns in all under- 
takings authorized by Parliament where harm 
was likely to be inflicted on Government obser- 
vatories. * * * We were, however, mistaken, for 
the only clause which we have been able to get 
inserted in all Parliamentary authorizations of 
undertakings leaves it to the Board of Trade 
to substitute other methods of protection than 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. XII. No. 313. 


the insulation of the return conductors in cases 
where these other methods seem to be suffi- 
ciently good for the protection of laboratories 
and observatories, and this is why the Board of 
Trade appointed the committee which met on 
October 31st, probably for the last time. * * * I 
beg to assure you that I have been acting in your 
best interests. Asan electrical engineer I ought 
surely to regret the use of uninsulated returns, 
evenif we leave Kew Observatory out of account. 
Suppose we do not now insulate our returns. 
Electricity will certainly return by gas and water 
pipes and the amount of harm done to those pipes 
is merely a question of time. Because of the 
ignorance of legislatorsand gas and water com- 
panies, nothing is said just now; but will noth- 
ing be said at the end of ten or twenty years, 
when pipes are found to be eaten away every- 
where? And if by a slight increase of ex- 
pense, or rather, as I think, actually no increase 
of expense, but merely a little increase in in- 
ventiveness and common sense on the part of 
electrical engineers, this evil may be entirely 
prevented, surely it is in the interests of all of 
us that insulated returns should be insisted 
upon. But even if we do not insist on insula- 
ting the returns in all systems, surely something 
may be said for the giving of this protection on 
lines near such a magnetic observatory as Kew. 
Even the magnetograph records now being 
made have been continuous for forty five years, 
and if Kew is interfered with no sum of money 
can compensate for the interference ; for if the 
observatory were removed the future observa- 
tions would have no link with the past.’’ 


SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

THE programs of the scientific societies in 
session during Christmas week at Baltimore, 
Chicago, New York and Albany show that an 
interesting series of meeting will be held. We 
hope to publish in early issues the official ad- 
dresses and discussions, together with accounts 
of the meetings. 


Dr. G. A. MILLER, of the mathematical de- 
partment of Cornell University, has just been 
awarded the prize of $260 offered by the Royal 
Academy of Sciences of Cracow, for researches 
in the theory of groups. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900.] 


PROFESSOR W. G. JOHNSON, state entomol- 
ogist at the Maryland Agricultural College, has 
resigned to become editor of the American Agri- 
culturist. 


Dr. PETER M. WIsE has been removed from 
his office as president of the State Commission 
in Lunacy by Governor Roosevelt on the charge 
of soliciting subscription to a mining company 
of which he was president from his official sub- 
ordinates. It will be remembered that Dr. 

_ Wise was largely instrumental in the curtail- 
ment of the work of the New York State 
Pathological Institute. 


Dr. Joun J. ABEL, professor of pharmacol- 
ogy in the Johns Hopkins University, was in- 
jured in an explosion in his laboratory on De- 
cember 19th. He was taken to the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital and it is feared that his eye- 
sight may be injured. 

Proressors J. W. TYRELL and J. W. Bell, of 
the Canadian Geological Survey, have returned 
to Vancouver, after an expedition extending 
5,000 miles through the Barren Lands of north- 
ern Canada. The party is said to have secured 
much valuable geological and other scientific 
information. 


On December 20th, Dr. George Bruce Hal- 
sted and Professor Wm. M. Wheeler started 
from Austin on an expedition into southern 
Mexico. Professor Wheeler will collect and 
study Mexican ants. Dr. Halsted is interested 
in the anthropological exploration of ‘La Mesa 
Cartujanos,’ and will also be at Mitla. 


THE Academy of Sciences of Vienna will send 
a botanical expedition to Brazil next year under 
the direction of Dr. Richard yon Wettstein, 
director of the Botanical Garden of the Univer- 
sity of Vienna, and Dr. Viktor Schiffner, pro- 
fessor in the German University at Prague. 


Owine to the retirement of Mr. Charles 
Whitehead, F.L.S., F.Z.S., from the position of 
technical adviser to the Board of Agriculture, 
it has been arranged that the scientific and ex- 
pert assistance required by the Board in con- 
ne¢tion with these subjects will be furnished 
respectively by the Royal Botanic Gardens, 
Kew, and by the Natural History Departments, 
South Kensington. 


SCIENCE. 


1013 


THE committee on the trust founded by the 
late Sir John Lawes for the purposes of scien- 
tific investigation and experiments in connec- 
tion with agriculture held its first meeting since 
the death of its founder, when the following 
resolution was unanimously agreed to: ‘‘ That 
the Lawes Agricultural Trust Committee de- 
sires to place upon record its deep sense of the 
irreparable loss it has sustained by the sad and 
unexpected death of Sir John Bennet Lawes, to 
whose munificence the trust owes its existence, 
and to whose wise counsels and hearty coopera- 
tion any success that may have attended the 
operations of the committee has been largely 
due.”’ 

THE Huxley Memorial Committee has just 
issued its final report and donation list. The 
total sum at the disposal of the committee was 
£3,405, 10s, 2d. The total cost of the statue, 
now in the Natural History Museum, London, 
was £1,813, 18s, 8d. The cost of preparing the 
Huxley gold medal, to be awarded by the Royal 
College of Science, was £263, 17s. The surplus 
of the fund being insufficient to provide a third 
object of memorial, as originally contemplated, 
the whole sum of £1,126, 6s, 4d. has been in- 
vested as an endowment for the medal. The 
committee has, however, arranged with the 
council of the Anthropological Institute to 
allow them the use of the obverse die, for the 
production of a presentation medal, of which 
that body will provide the reverse die and im- 
pression, in commemoration of Huxley’s la- 
bors as an anthropologist. The committee also 
recalls the generous action of the Hon. J.Collier 
in painting a portrait of Huxley and presenting 
it to the National Portrait Gallery. The list of 
subscribers contains about 750 names, without 
reckoning individually the many who subscribed 
through local societies and committees. 


Dr. J. BoERLAGE, assistant director of the 
Botanical Garden in Buitenzorg died recently 
while on a scientific expedition to Ternate. 


THE death is announced of Dr. G. Hartlaub, 
the eminent German ornithologist, at the age 
of eighty-seven years. 

Dr. A. W. Momeriz, formerly professor of 
logic and metaphysics in King’s College, Lon- 
don, and the author of numerous books on 


1014 


philosophical and theological subjects, died on 
December 6th at the age of 52 years. 


WE regret also to record the deaths of the 
following men of science: Dr. Theodor Aden- 
samer, assistant in the Natural History Mu- 
seum in Vienna; Dr. August Bottcher, physi- 
cist in Berlin; Dr. Adolf Stengel, professor of 
Agriculture in the University at Heidelberg, 
and Father Amand Davis, corresponding mem- 
ber of the Paris Academy of Sciences in the 
section of geography. 

Ir will be remembered that the late Professor 
Hughes left £4,000 to the Royal Society for the 
establishment of a prize. The Society has now 
decided to award annually a gold medal, to be 
called the Hughes Medal, not exceeding in 
value the sum of £20, together with the balance 
of the income, to such person as the president 
and council may consider the most worthy re- 
cipient, without restriction of sex or nation- 
ality, for original discovery in the physical sci- 
ences, particularly in electricity and mag- 
netism. 


AT the banquet of the Royal Society on 
November 30th the Swedish and Norwegian 
Minister, in replying to a toast, said that the 
prizes to be awarded by each of the five Noble 
institutes would amount to about £8,000 an- 
nually. 


TueE Committee of the National Educational 
Association charged with selecting the place 
of meeting for the year 1901 has voted in favor 
of Detroit. The meeting will be held in July. 
The Association met at Detroit in 1874. 


A SCIENCE club has been organized in Las 
Vegas, New Mexico. At the first meeting held 
early in December, Mrs. Wilmatte P. Cockerell 
referred to the tendency of the butterfly Argyn- 
nis nitocri to develop distinct races on isolated 
mountain ranges, and exhibited a new race from 
Sapello Cafion, N. M., which it was proposed to 
call var. nigrocerulea. Mr. Emerson Atkins 
exhibited some rodents which he had collected 
in the mountains near Las Vegas, including 
specimens of Sciurus fremonti, which appear to 
indicate that the subsp. neomexicanus of Allen 
could not be maintained, but must be referred 
to subsp. mogollonensis. He also showed ex- 
amples of a Tamias which served to connect T. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. 8. Von XII. No. 313. 


quadrivittatus, Say., with T. cinereicollis, Allen, 
indicating that the latter should apparently be 
regarded as a subspecies of the former. Mr. 
T. D. A. Cockerell exhibited and discussed 
some parasites found in the nest of the bee 
Anthophora occidentalis, Cresson, at Las Vegas. 
These included the metoid beetles Leonidia neo- 
mexicana (Ckll.) and Meloe sublevis, Lec., the 
former only known heretofore by a single ex- 
ample, and the chalcidid Monodontomerus monti- 
vagus, Ashm. 

PROFESSOR F. H. HERRICK has been invited 
to give a lecture on ‘The Habits and Instincts 
of Wild Birds’ at Trinity, before the Hartford 
Scientific Society on January 15th. He will 
give the same lecture at Yale University, be- 
fore the Scientific Society of Sigma Xi, on 
January 17th ; at Brown University, before the 
Rhode Island Audubon Society, on January 
17th, and at Dartmouth College on January 
18th. 


THE Hungarian Minister of Education recom- 
mends the appropriation of 332,000 crowns for 
the establishment of a. general pathological in- 
stitute together with a Pasteur institute at 
Buda-Pesth. 


Drs. SAMBON AND Low have returned to 
England, after the summer spent in the mos- 
quito-proof hut in the Roman Campagna. They 
are in excellent health, though it is said that 
the past summer was exceptionally malarious. 
For example, fifteen or sixteen police agents 
were sent to Ostia, and though they only re- 
mained a night in the place, they all developed 
fever. 

A CABLE dispatch to the New York Sun states 
that investigations of the causation of yellow 
fever now being carried on at Marinao have so 
far confirmed the report of the Surgeon-Gen- 
eral’s commission. Five soldiers who have 
kept themselves protected from mosquitoes 
have been living in infected clothes and sleep- 
ing in infected beds for twenty days and have 
not yet developed any symptoms of the disease. 

AT its annual meeting on December 14th the 
American Forestry Association recommended 
that a national park be established in Minne- 
sota and that the California big trees be pre- 
served so far as possible. 


DECEMBER 28, 1900. ] 


WE learn from the London Times that very 
striking evidence of the shrinking up of Lake 
Tanganyika was furnished in the paper read re- 
cently in Brussels by Captain Hecq, who stated 
that the post of Karema, founded 20 years ago 
on the shores of the lake, was now fourteen miles 
distant from the lake. Captain Hecq also recent- 
ly visited Lake Kivu, the waters of which are so 
salt that neither crocodiles nor hippopotami are 
to be found in it. This lake is given the ap- 
pearance of being divided into two by a large 
island, and this may explain some generally ac- 
cepted errors which are now being definitely 
solved by a German-Congolese boundary com- 
mission. 


A RESOLUTION has been adopted unanimously 
by the French Chamber of Deputies calling 
upon the government to prohibit the manufac- 
ture and sale of all alcoholic liquors pro- 
nounced ‘ dangerous’ by the Academy of Med- 
icine. The resolution is especially concerned 
with the consumption of absinthe, which con- 
tinues to increase in France. 


THE Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 
expects to cooperate with the New York State 
Museum in making an exhibit at the Pan- 
American Exposition, at Buffalo, in 1901. 
This exhibit will be held in the New York 
State building. An especially fine collection 
from the water-line rocks near Buffalo, con- 
sisting of the fossil crustaceans—Péerygotus, 
Eurypterus, and Ceratiocani will be shown. 
This collection is being mounted for exhibition 
at the State Museum. 


The London Times states that in view of the 
fact that the Royal Institution of Civil Engi- 
neers has, by a decision of the House of Lords, 
been exempted from payment of the Corpora- 
tion Tax (1894), it is submitted that the Royal 
Colleges of Physicians in London and Edin- 
burgh may reasonably claim similar treatment; 
and an attempt is being made by Sir John Tuke 
to induce the Chancellor of the Exchequer to 
concur in this view. The especial hardship in 
this case is that, notwithstanding the important 
part played by the two colleges in administer- 
ing and regulating medical education and ex- 
amination, and in maintaining laboratories for 
original research, and the obligation upon each 


SCIENCE. 


1015 


fellow to pay a stamp duty of £25 on elec- 
tion, there will be five years of arrears to make 
up if the authorities persist in their intention to 
levy the tax. 


WE learn from the Electrical World that the 
International Conference sitting in Brussels 
for the Protection of Industrial Property, at 
which United States Assistant Patent Commis- 
sioner, Walter H. Chamberlin, and Lawrence 
Townsend, United States Minister to Belgium, 
were the American representatives, adopted 
the following resolutions: First—The period of 
exclusive rights, previously fixed at six months 
for [applications for] patents and three months 
for industrial designs, models and trade 
marks, is extended to a year for the first named 
and four months for the second named. Second 
—Countries signing the convention enjoy re- 
ciprocally the protection accorded by each 
country to its own citizens against unfair com- 
petition. Third—Patents cannot lapse because 
they are not put in circulation, except after a 
minimum delay of three years, dating from the 
first application in countries where the patent 
is allowed and in cases in which the conditions 
of the patent do not justify causes of inaction. 


AT a meeting of the Zoological Society of 
London, on December 4th, Mr. J. 8. Budgett 
read a paper on ‘The Breeding-habits of 
Protopterus, Gymnarchus, and some other West- 
African Fishes,’ in which an account was given 
of a collecting-trip made during last summer to 
the swamps of the Gambia river in search of 
the eggs of Polypterus. The eggs of Polypterus 
were not discovered, though a very young 
specimen measuring only one inch and a 
quarter in length was found. In this small 
specimen the dermal bones were not developed, 
and the external gills were of very great size, 
the base of the shaft being situated immediately 
behind the spiracle. The dorsal finlets formed 
a continuous dorsal fin. The secretary read an 
extract from a letter which had been addressed 
to the Colonial Office by the West India Com- 
mittee, concerning the proposed introduction of 
the English Starling or the Indian Mynah into 
St. Kitts, West Indies, to check the increase of 
grasshoppers, which were causing great damage 
to the growing crops of that island. 


1016 


UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL NEWS. 

At the convocation exercises of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago on December 18th President 
Harper announced that Mr. John D. Rockefeller 
had made a further gift of $1,500,000 to the in- 
stitution. Of this sum $1,000,000 is to be used 
as an endowment fund. The balance of the 
gift is to be used for general needs. Mr. 
Rockefeller suggests that $100,000 be used for 
the construction of a university press building. 
Mr. Leon Mandel has given $25,000 to the 
university in addition to his previous gifts. 


It is said that Brown University has received 
gifts of $25,000 and $10,000 towards the second 
taillion dollars for the university endowment. 


AN anonymous friend of the University of 
Pennsylvania has given a fund for prizes in the 
School of Biology and in the department of in- 
terior decoration in the School of Architecture. 
The annual value of the prizes will be $400 in 
the School of Biology and $150 in the School of 
Architecture. 

WE are glad to learn that the validity of the 
will of the late Colonel Joseph M. Bennett, of 
Philadelphia, making a large bequest to the 
University of Pennsylvania has been sustained, 
the Court refusing to send the case for trial by 
jury. 

AT the annual meeting of trustees of the 
University of Illinois, at Champaign, the board 
decided to ask a total appropriation of $900,000 
from the Legislature, $90,000 of which is to be 
used to build a new workshop in place of the 
one destroyed by fire ; $150,000 for the chem- 
ical building and $100,000 for a women’s 
dormitory. The remainder will be used for 
current expenses for the next two years, in- 
eluding $15,000 a year for the library, and 
$16,000 a year for the establishment of a School 
of Social and Political Science. 


LorD STRATHCONA was installed as Lord 
Rector of Aberdeen University on December 
18th. At the close of his address he announced 
that he would give £25,000, provided £50,000 
more was raised within a year, to wipe out the 
debt of the university. Charles Mitchell, of 
Newcastle, has offered to subscribe £20,000, 


HERR H. Huper has bequeathed 50,000 fr. 


SCIENCE. 


[N. S. Von. X I. No. 313. 


to the Polytechnic Institute at Zurich to be used 
for scientific excursions. 


THE Executive Committee of the Board of 
Trustees of Cornell University has awarded 
the contract for the use of the medical depart- 
ment on the campus at Ithaca. The building 
will cost $125,000 and will be ready for use in 
the autumn of 1902. 


AT a stated meeting of the Board of Trustees 
of the University of Pennsylvania, held De- 
cember 4th, Dr. Edgar F. Smith, professor of 
chemistry, who has been acting vice-provost 
for some time, was elected vice-provost. 
Charles Hugh Shaw, Ph.D. (Penna., 1900), 
professor of biology in the Temple College, 
Philadelphia, was elected to an honorary fel- 
lowship in botany, in order that he may con- 
tinue the research work in cytology which he 
had undertaken while pursuing his graduate 
work. 

PRESIDENT BUTLER, of Colby University, has 
resigned and will accept a chair at the Univer- 
sity of Chicago. 


ATTENTION was called in the last issue of 
SCIENCE to the fact that Professor T. S. Town- 
send, of Trinity College, Dublin, and Cam- 
bridge University, had been appointed to the 
newly-established Wykeham professorship at 
Oxford. The abilities of Mr. Townsend are 
fully recognized, and it is expected that he will 
place the teaching of electricity on a satisfactory 
footing at Oxford, yet some dissatisfaction is 
expressed that an Oxford man should not have 
been elected. Oxford scientific men get pro- 
fessorships elsewhere, but to judge from the list 
of professors, they are without honor in their 
own country. This is thought to be a discour- 
agement to science at Oxford. In the present 
ease, however, the complainants can scarcely 
point to an Oxford electrician suitable for the 
post. 

AT a meeting of the Royal Institution on 
December 3d, it was announced that Dr. Allan 
Macfadyen had been elected Fullerian professor 
of physiology. 

Dr. JosEF Horr has, owing to ill health, 
retired from his professorship in the Technical 
Institute at Karlsruhe. 


Srewh 


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the work will include fully 5000 signed articles 


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it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . %t7is.as scholarly as it is practical. Professor BArLEY indicates 
the hope that it may be made the foundation of further and better studies. Our own conviction is that while the 
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importance, the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tur New York TRIBUNE, 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
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LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


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it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . %t%sas scholarly as itis practical. Professor Bariry indicates 
the hope that it may be made the foundation offurther‘and better studies. Our own conviction is that while the 
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SAVE MONEY, and enable us to arrange our summer work and hold our 
trained force together. 


Send your list now and get our quotations. 
i} WE MAKE A LARGE LINE OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRU- 
- = MENTS OF PRECISION, MAINLY ELECTRICAL INCLUDING 
= = GALVANOMETERS, STANDARDS OF RESISTANCE, PHO- 
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CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FJ{ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Species or Fruits, VEGETABLES, on Subscription for the complete set only— Tron or att Kinps or Hormi- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
PLANTS IN THE MARKET IN Vol. I. Cloth, $5.00 net. TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vol. II. Just Ready. PRACTICAL CULTIVATORS, 


The contributors are specialists of eminence, and 
the work will include fully 5000 signed articles 


‘« This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . %tis.as scholarly as itis practical. Professor BAILEY indicates 
the hope that it may be made the foundation of further and better studies. Our own conviction is that while the 
future may bring forth amplified editions of the work it is unlikely that zt will ever be superseded. Recognizing its 
importance, the publishers have given it faultless form,.’’—Tus New York TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 


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. THE CoMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 


By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 


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SuGGESTIONS FoR THE UTILIZING L, R, Tart, F. A. Wave, and Ernest WALKER, 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
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By George T. Farrcnitp, LL.D. 
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So 


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THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By ©. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
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GARDEN-MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuagEstions ror THE UTILIZING L. R, Tart, F. A. Wave, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home GrounDs. Third Edition. $1.00 
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it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . wtisas scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tur New York TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledége to a ‘‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- Book 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE CoOMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for,and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuGGESTIONS FoR THE UTILizinG L. R. Tarr, F, A. Wave, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grovunps. Third Edition. $1.00 
«<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 
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RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
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Economic Principtes [LiusTraA- THE Making oF THE Rurat Home, 
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By Grorcs T. Farrcurp, LL.D. 


Cloth, l6mo. $1.25. 


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friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
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CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Spectres oF Fruits, VEGETABLES Bales TI = 

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it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . it isas scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tur New Yorxk TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SHRIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- BOOK 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, andinowl) <0: absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING : By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuaGEsTions FoR THE UTILIZING L. R, Tarr, F, A. Waven, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
«<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.” —The Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE THE FARMSTEAD 
Economic Princrpres IttusTRa- Tur Maxine or THE RuRAL Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN Farm LIFE. AND THE LAY-OUT OF THE Farm. 


By Grorce T. Farrenitp, LL.D. “ H 
? By I. P. Roserts, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, 16mo. $1.25. > oo ater 


‘ Enis ; ture, Cornell University. 188 illustrations. $1.25 
‘<The study of a book like this will prove invaluable 


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thought.’’ —Tor CuourRcHMAN. cal character,’’—Brooxtyn Datty Eaaun. 


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pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . . a few 


friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary wift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. Itisa charming book.’’ —THE Acapemy. 


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STAR-NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS, 


by Ricuarp Hincktry Auren, has recently been issued. This is a handsome octavo volume containing 20 pages 
of Introduction, 485 of Text, with 74 of Indices and List of Authors and Authorities. 

It is the first extensive work of its kind since the publication of Ideler’s Stern-Namen in 1809. The book 
is printed in the best style of the De Vinne Press. Price in cloth, with gilt top, $5.00 net. 


G. E. STECHERT, 9 East 16th Street, New York. 


NOTICES. 


We should describe the work as an admirable Index or Cyclopedia, which introduces the student to imposing and 
mysterious treasures of the mythic and legendary lore, the astrologic speculation, the fantastic philosophies and celestial 
geographies which are stored up for us in these star-names and constellations.—The Hvangelist. 

One which all star-lovers will weleome and yalue—a book embodying the faithful, scholarly work of years.—Z'he Critic. 

This work must have involyed great labor and pains-taking care to find the inform ution wanted and then to relate it 
go well in a consecutive account.— Popular Astronomy, 

Mr. Allen has carried through a work which very few scholars have been stout of heart enough to set their hand to. 

—The Independent. 


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DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DrREcTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Species or Fruits, VEGETABLES ant TION OF ALL Kinps or Hortt- 
3 ? on Subscription for the complete set only— a 
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“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . i isas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given tt faultless form.’’—Tue New York TRIBUNE, 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- Book 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The ~ 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN- MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
Suaaestions FoR THE Urinizina L, R. Tarr, F. A. Wauau, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
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ELIZABETH AND FZER GERMAN GARDEN 


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pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . a few 


friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—THE Acapremy. 


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STAR-NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS, 


by Richarp Hinckiry Auien, has recently been issued. This is a handsome octavo volume containing 20 pages 
of Introduction, 485 of Text, with 74 of Indices and List of Authors and Authorities. 
It is the first extensive work of its kind since the publication of Ideler’s Stern-Namen in 1809. The book 


is printed in the best style of the De Vinne Press. Price in cloth, with gilt top, $5.00 net. 
G. E. STECHERT, 9 East 16th Street, New York. 
NOTICES. 


We should describe the work as an admirable Index or Cyclopedia, which introduces the student to imposing and 
mysterious treasures of the mythic and legendary lore, the astrologic speculation, the funtastie philosophies and celestial 
geographies which are stored up for us in these star-names and constellations.—The Hvangelist. 

One which all star-lovers will welcome and yalue—a book embodying the faithful, scholarly work of years.—The Critic. 

This work must have involved great labor and pains-tuking care to find the information wanted and then to relate it 
so well in a consecutive account.— Popular Astronomy, 

Mr. Allen has carried through a work which yery few scholars have been stout of he itt enough to set their hand to. 

—The Independent. 

The work should certainly be in every library.— Publications of the Astr. Soc. of the Pacific. 


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DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold Drrecrions FoR THE CULTIVA- 
Species or Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Krinps or Horti- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
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Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standard inits class . . . itt isas scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given tt faultless form,’’—Tue New York TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- BOOK 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE CoOMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 


“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly whata city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuaqeEstions rok THE UTinizinG L, R. Tarr, F. A. Wavau, and Ernest WALKER, 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
«<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 
of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE THE ARMSTEAD 
Economic Principyes ILLustTraA- Toe Maxine or THe Ruran Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN FARM Lire. AND THE LAy-oUT or THE FARM. 


By Georce T. Farrcuip, LL.D. ; F 
5 By I. P. Rogers, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, lomo. $1.25. > Le ae 


ture, Cornell University. 138 illustrations. 1.25 
“<The study of a book like this will prove invaluable i ] $ 


to those who are endeavoring to develop liberty of “The striking characteristic of this book is its practi- 
thought.’? —THe CHurcHMAN. cal character.’’—Brookiyn Dairy Bact, 


A New Epition oF tHE Cuarming Book wuose AuTHOoRSHIP Is Berna Discussep with Sucn INTEREST 
ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Edition with Additions. Cloth, Crown, 8vo. $1.75. 


‘‘We find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, witha 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry. babies a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur Acapremy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


a Oj gs 


NEW SERIES. SINGLE C 1,15 b 
VOL. XII. No. 298. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1900. asec SOHC nO $5.00 


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il SCLENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. Il. NOW READY 


CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN F{ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Sprctes OF Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Kinps or Horti- 
FLoweRs, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
Puants IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 net. pracrrcat, Cunrrvarors, 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


“ This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardin its class . . . %t%sas scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given tt faultless form.’’—Tur New York TRIBUNE, 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-BO00K 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a eity 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING : By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE UTILizine L. R. Tarr, F. A. Waven, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grounbs. Third Edition. $1.00 
‘<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE ‘THE FARMSTEAD 
Economic Principies ILLusTRA- Tur MAKING OF THE RurAL Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN Farm LiFe. AND THE LAY-OUT OF THE FARM. 


By Georce T. Farreninp, LL.D. 
Cloth, 16mo. $1.25. 


««The study of a book like this will prove invaluable oes Erne: ; At : 
to those who are endeavoring to develop liberty of “The striking characteristic of this book isits practi- 
thought.’’ —THEe CHuURCHMAN. cal character.’’—Brooxkiyn Dairy HAGLe. 


By I. P. Rogerrs, Director of the College of Agricul- 
ture, Cornell University. 188 illustrations. $1.25 


A New Epirion oF THE CHARMING Book wHosE AuTHORSHIP Is Brine Discussep wirn Sucu InreREstT 


ELIZABETH AND FJER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Edition with Additions. Cloth, Crown, 8vo, $1.75; Illustrated, $2.50. 
‘© We find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, witha 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . . a few 


friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur Acapemy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


SCIENC 


NEw SERIES. SINGLE COPIES, 15 CTs. 
VoL. XII. No, 299. Fripay, SepreMBER 21, 1900. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00. 


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il SCIENCHE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. II. NOW READY 


CYLCOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FJORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Sp Fruits, VEGETABLES alan M 

Heres 08 Y ? on Subscription for the complete set only— BOS O8 Aimy UGaDS OF leur 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL | f i s We CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
Prants IN THE Marker in 72 10Ur volumes. superroyal 8vo. TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Hach, Cloth, $5.00 net. Pracrrcat Cunrrvarors, 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standard inits class . . . %tisas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form,’’—Tur New Yorxk TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-BO00K 
CoNTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By ©. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—TZhe 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING : By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuGGESTIONS FOR THE UTILIZING L, R, Tart, F, A. Waven, and Ernest WALKER, 
or Homre GRrounpbs. Third Edition. $1.00 
‘<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—7Zhe Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE THE FARMSTEAD 
Economic Principies InLustRA- Tur Maxine or THE RuraL Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN Farm Lire. AND THE LAY-oUT OF THE FARM. 


1Eyy (Gromer Ue Wisionereani), (hit 0 By I. P. Roserrs, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, 1l6mo. $1.25. 


2 zt in’ x ture, Cornell University. 138 illustrations. $1.25 
‘«The study of a book like this will prove invaluable 


to those who are endeavoring to develop liberty of “The striking characteristic of this book isits practi- - 
thought.’’ —Tnr CHURCHMAN. cal character,’’—Brooxktyn Datty Eacuz. 


A New Epirion or tar CHarmina Book wHosr AuTHoRsHIP 18s Berne DiscusseD witH Such INTEREST 
ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Edition with Additions. Cloth, Crown, 8vo, $1.75; Illustrated, $2.50. 


‘©We find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, with a 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . . a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tue AcapreMy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


S ‘ | k N & 
NEW SERIES. SINGLE CopiEs, 15 cts. 


VOL. XII. No, 300. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1900. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00. 


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Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. 


MeNeW Cone and CHICAGO N. St. Paul Street, ROCHESTER, N. Y. ee 


il SCLEN CE.—ADVER TISEMENTS. 


VOL. Il. NOW READY 


CYLCOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Species oF Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Kinps oF Horti- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
Puants IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 xet. Ppacrrcat Cunrrvarors, 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


“« This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . wtisas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form,’’—Tum New YorK TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-BO0OoK 
CoNTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for,and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. ; 
GARDEN-MAKING : By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuaaesTions FoR THE UTiLizine L, R, Tarr, F, A. Wauau, and Ernest WALKER. 
oF Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
‘<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never Seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE THE FARMSTEAD 
Economic PrincipLes [tLusTRA- Ture MAKING oF THE Rurat Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN Farm LIFE. AND THE LaAy-ouT or THE FARM. 


By Georce T. Farrcarup, LL.D. 4 F 
z By I. P. Roserrs, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, lomo. $1.25. E aaah 


: SGT ; ture, Cornell University. 188 illustrations. $1.25 
‘<The study of a book like this will prove invaluable 


to those who are endeavoring to develop liberty of “The striking characteristic of this book is its practi- 
thought.’’ —THr CHURCHMAN. cal character.’’—Brooxkiyn Datty Eaauer. 


New Epirions oF THE CHARMING Book wHosE AUTHORSHIP Is Brine DiscusseD witH SucH INTEREST 
ELIZABETH AND FER GERMAN GARDEN 


New. Editions cheaper, 50 cents; with Additions, $1.75; Illustrated, in press, $2.50. 


‘cWe find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, witha 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . . a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur Acaprmy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


PSCIENC 


Se Se Fripay, Ocroser 5, 1900. Ferny cae auc 


WM. GAERTNER & GO. 


Astronomical and 
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MODELS ILLUSTRATING PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 


We are issuing the series of 25 plaster models in relief, prepared by Profs. N. S. Shaler, Wm. M. Davis and Dr. T. W. 
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Each model and photograph is accompanied by full explanatory label prepared by Prof. Shaler. 

The series is the most important aid to the teaching of either Geology or Physiography that has ever been offered to 
teachers. Itis adapted equally to College or High School work. Write for illustrated descriptive circular. 


WARD'S NATURAL SCIENCE ESTABLISHMENT, 30 to 40 College Ave., Rochester, N.Y. 
STAR-NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS, 


by Rrcwarp Hinckiey ALLEN, has recently been issued. This is a handsome octavo volume containing 20 pages 
of Introduction, 485 of Text, with 74 of Indices and List of Authors and Authorities. 

It is the first extensive work of its kind since the publication of Ideler’s Stern-Namen in 1809. The book 
is printed in the best style of the De Vinne Press. Price in cloth, with gilt top, $5.00 net. 


G. E. STECHERT, 9 East 16th Street, New York. 


ay ia u | S 4 A A “A% 
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i SCIENCE.—ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. II. NOW READY 


CYLCOPEDIA OF AMERICAN HORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Spectres oF Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Kryps oF Hortt- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
PLants IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
America AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Hach, Cloth, $5.00 net. Pracricat Cunrrvarors. 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


“« This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . sas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—THr New York TRIBUNE. 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- BOOK 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN- MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
Suacestions FoR THE UTILIZING L, R. Tart, F. A. Waueu, and Ernest WALKER. 
oF Home Grownps. Third Edition. $1.00 
‘<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never Seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE ‘THE JFARMSTEAD 
Economic PrincrpLes ILLuUsTRA- Tae MAKING oF THE RuRAL Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN Farm Lire. AND THE LaAy-ouT oF THE FARM. 


By Grorce T. Farronizp, LL.D. c 5 
By I. P. Rozerts, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, 16mo. $1.25. v : = 


. ea 4 ture, Cornell University. 138 illustrations. $1.25 
«<The study of a book like this will prove invaluable 


to those who are endeavoring to develop liberty of «The striking characteristic of this book is its practi- 
thought.’’ —Tur CHuRCcHMAN. cal character.’’—Brooxiyn Dairy Escie. 


New Epirions oF THE CHARMING Book wHosE AUTHORSHIP 1s Berna DiscussepD with Sucu INTEREST 
ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Editions: cheaper, 50 cents; with Additions, $1.75; Illustrated, in press, $2.50. 
«We find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and yery womanly woman, witha 


pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies. . . a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur AcapEmy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


Ay 


SCIENCE 


i) SINGLE CoPiEs, 15 cTs. 
VoL. XII. No. 302. FRIDAY, OcTOBER 12, 1900. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00. 


EA 


QUEEN INSTRUMENTS 


New 
Queen Wall Pattern 
Galvanometer 


ml 


The Moving Coil in this Galvanometer is of small diameter and light weight. It can be made 
dead beat and will then give readings with much greater rapidity than other forms on the market. When 
arranged for Ballistic work the period of swing can be made as desired. 

Circular 500 describes this and a number of other new instruments in detail. 


PHYSICAL APPARATUS INDUCTION COILS ELECTRICAL TESTING INSTRUMENTS 


QUEEN & CO., Inc. 


J. G. GRAY, President 


ELECTRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 
59 Fifth Avenue, New York 


480 Monon Bldg., Chicago 1010 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, Pa’ 


i SCIENCE.— ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. II. NOW READY 


CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN F{ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DrREcTIoNs FoR THE CULTIVA- 
SpEcrEs OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Kinps or Horti- © 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
PLANTs IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and If. Hach, Cloth, $5.00 net. Pracrican CULTIVATORS, 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinits class . . . itis as scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tun Nuw York TRIBUNE, 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma wiudow-ledge to a “little place out of town,’’ should read 
‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- Book 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly whata city 


mai with a suburban home has long been waiting for,and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuGGESTIONS FoR THE UTILIZING L. R, Tarr, F, A. Wavan, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
«<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—TZhe Dial. 
\ 


RECENT VOLUMES IN THE RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 
Send for a descriptive circular of the volumes in this and the Garden-Craft Series 


RURAL WEALTH AND WELFARE ‘THE FARMSTEAD 
Economic Principies [LLusTRA- Toe Maxine or THE Runa Home, 
TED AND APPLIED IN FARM LIFE. AND THE Lay-ourT or THE Farm. 


By Georce T. Farrcurp, LL.D. 
Cloth, 16mo. $1.25. 


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By I. P. Roserrs, Director of the College of Agricul- 
ture, Cornell University. 138 illustrations. $1.25 


New Epirions or tHE CHARMING Book wuHosEe AuTHORSHIP 18 Berna DiscussED witH SucH INTEREST 
ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Editions: cheaper, 50 cents; with Additions, $1.75; Illustrated, in press, $2.50. 
‘¢We find ourselves in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, witha 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies, . a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur AcapEmy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


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CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN {ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 

Spectres oF Fruits, VEGETABLES ee TON = 

2 ’ on Subscription for the complete set only— EOS) OS Lote MORDS QP ELTET 

FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL | f ; s i CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 

Puants In THE Marker ry 22 10Ur volumes. UpEtOya Ley: TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
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it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . iis as scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tus New YorRK TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a ‘‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-BO00K 


CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 


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man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and nowy . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
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GARDEN- MAKING: By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
Suaaestions For THE UTILIZING L, R, Tarr, F, A. Wave, and Ernest WALKER. 
or Home Grounps. Third Edition. $1.00 
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By Gronce T. Farrcuixp, LL.D. By I. P. Rozerrs, Director of the College of Agricul- 
Cloth, 16mo. $1.25. 


é rages ‘ ture, Cornell University. 188 illustrations. $1.25 
‘«The study of a book like this will prove invaluable 


to those who are endeayoring to develop liberty of “The striking characteristic of this book isits practi- 
thought.’’—Trer CouRcHMAN. cal character.’’—Brooxktyn Datty Esae. 


New Epirrons or THE CaarRMinc Book wHosr AvTHORSHIP 1s Berna DiscusseD witH Sucu INTEREST 


ELIZABETH AND FZER GERMAN GARDEN 


New Editions: cheaper, 50 cents; with Additions, $1.75; Illustrated, in press, $2.50. 
‘«We find ourselyes in the presence of a whimsical, humorous, cultured, and very womanly woman, witha 
pleasant, old-fashioned liking for homeliness, and simplicity, with a wise husband, three merry babies, . . a few 
friends, a gardener, an old German house to repose in, a garden to be happy in, an agreeable literary gift, and a 
slight touch of cynicism. Such is Elizabeth. It is a charming book.’’—Tur AcapEmy. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


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VOL. II. NOW READY 


CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN [HORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Species oF Fruits, VEGETABLES lee TION OF ALL Krinps Horti- 
; ? on Subscription for the complete set only— % Rane 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL | § ' s : CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
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AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 ret. Pracrrcan Cunrrvarors. 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


“« This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . it isas scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—THe New York TRIBUNE. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-B00K 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly what a city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN- MAKING: These are the books which By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuGGESTIONS FoR THE UTILIZING consulted in winter will LL, R. Tarr, F. A. Waveu, and ERnxst 
or Home Grounps. repay you in the spring. Watxer. Third Edition. $1.00 
«<The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


Untechnical Books for Garden Lovers 


If you wish to make a gift to any friend who loves her garden, you can hardly mistake if you send her ‘‘ Hlizabeth 
and her German Garden,”’ unless she already has it and in that case she will be certain to welcome ‘* The Solitary Sum- 
mer’ by the same author, especially in the New and Illustrated Editions. 


BLIZABETH AND HER “4 German Garden emits a THE SOLITARY 
flower-like aroma of freshness and 
GERMAN GARDEN purity.’’—Karr Sanporn. SUMMER 
“A ch ing book.”’ 
Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. Beater net Ilustrated, Cloth, $2.50. 


Something of the charm of these books may be gathered from comments made when the later of the two was 
issued ;—a charm deepened by the addition of the pictures in the new editions, which help to make real, not only 
the garden, but the old castle, the woods, the lawn and even the quaint babies. 

‘cA continuation of that delightful chronicle of days spent in and about one of the most delightful gardens 


known to modern literature. The author’s exquisite humor is ever present, and her descriptions . . . have 
a wonderful freshness and charm.’’—Evenine Post. 
‘«« Perhaps even more charming than the fascinating original, which is saying a great deal.” —Guiascow HERALD. 


OrHer Epitions or THE CHARMING OuT oF Door Book wuosr AuTHoRSHIP Is DiscussED wiTH SucH INTEREST 


ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


A Cheaper Edition, 50 cents. A Fuller Edition, $1.75. 
The cheaper edition contains all that was in the first edi- The fuller edition contains the new material, added also in 
tion issued in Sept. ’98, in three editions before the begin- the illustrated editions, increasing the size of the book by 
ning of ’99 and in no less than seven during that year. nearly a quarter more pages and an entertaining preface. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


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VOL. II. NOW READY 
CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN {ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Sprctes or Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Krnps or Horti- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
Puants IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 xet. Ppacrican Cunrrvators, 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


‘‘ This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . it isas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—TuHe New York TRIBUNE. 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


"THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- B00K 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“It is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly whata city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN- MAKING: These are the books which By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SuGGESTIONS FoR THE UTitizina consulted in winter will L, R, Tart, F, A. Wauau, and Ernest 
or Home Grounps. repay you in the spring. Water, Third Edition. $1.00 
“The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


Untechnical Books for Garden Lovers 


Tf you wish to make a gift to any friend who loves her garden, you can hardly mistake if you send her ‘‘ Blizabeth 
and her German Garden,” unless she already has it and in that case she will be certain to welcome ‘‘ The Solitary Sum- 
mer’ by the same author, especially in the New and Illustrated Editions. 


ELIZABETH AND HER “A German Garden emits a "THE SOLITARY 
flower-like aroma of freshness and 
GERMAN GARDEN purity.’’—Kare SAnporn. SUMMER 
“A charming book.”’ 
Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. —Tur Acapemy, London. Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. 


Something of the charm of these books may be gathered from comments made when the later of the two was 
issued ;—a charm deepened by the addition of the pictures in the new editions, which help to make real, not only 
the garden, but the old castle, the woods, the lawn and even the quaint babies. 

“« & continuation of that delightful chronicle of days spent in and about one of the most delightful gardens 


known to modern literature. The author’s exquisite humor is ever present, and her descriptions . . . have 
a wonderful freshness and charm.’’—Evenine Post. 
«« Perhaps even more charming than the fascinating original, which is saying a great deal.” —Guascow HERA. 


OrnER Epitions oF THE CHARMING OUT or Door Book wHosr AUTHORSHIP 1s DiscusseD with SucH INTEREST 


ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN 


A Cheaper Edition, 50 cents. A Fuller Edition, $1.75. 
The cheaper edition contains all that was in the first edi- The fuller edition contains the new material, added also in: 
tion issued in Sept. ’98, in three editions before the begin- the illustrated editions, increasing the size of the book by 
ning of ’99 and in no less than seven during that year. nearly a quarter more pages and an entertaining preface. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


CIENCE 


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i SCLENCE.— ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. /[1. NOW READY 
CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN {ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FoR THE CULTIVA- 
SPECIES OF Fruits, VEGETABLES parte it 
J ’ on Subscription for the complete set only— TON 0F 4UE Kinps or Horse 

FiLowrrs, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERYA- 


in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 
Sup yeh ei TIONS ON MARKETING, EIC., BY 


PrLanrs In THE MARKET IN 
Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 net. pracrican Chamero, 


AMERICA AND CANADA. 
Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standard inits class . . . itis as scholarly as it is practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form,.’’—Tur New Yorx TRIBUNE. x 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “‘little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN-B00kK 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 
By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. _ Cloth, $1.00 
‘“‘Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly whata city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for,and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN- MAKING : These are the books which By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
Suaaxsrions For THE Urinizrinc consulted in winter will L, R. Tart, F. A. Wavan, and Ernesr 
or Home Grounps. repay you in the spring. Watxer. Third Edition. $1.00 
“The little book is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


Untechnical Books for Garden Lovers 
If you wish to make a gift to any friend who loves her garden, you can hardly mistake if you send her ‘* Elizabeth 
and her German Garden,”’ unless she already has it and in that case she will be certain to welcome ‘‘ The Solitary Sum- 
mer’ by the same author, especially in the New and Illustrated Hditions. 


ELIZABETH AND HER “4 German Garden emits a ‘THE SOLITARY 
flower-like aroma of freshness and 
GERMAN GARDEN purity.’’—Kare Sanzorn. SUMMER 
“© A ch ing book.’’ 
Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. TEE eee Tina Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. 


Something of the charm of these books may be gathered from comments made when the later of the two was 
issued ;—a charm deepened by the addition of the pictures in the new editions, which help to make real, not only 
the garden, but the old castle, the woods, the lawn and even the quaint babies. 

‘4 continuation of that delightful chronicle of days spent in and about one of the most delightful gardens 
known to modern literature. The author’s exquisite humor is ever present, and her descriptions . . . have 
a wonderful freshness and charm.’’—Hvxrnine Post. 

“« Perhaps even more charming than the fascinating original, which is saying a great deal.’”,—Grascow Heraxp. 


OruER Epirrons or THE CHARMING Our or Door Book wHosr AvurHoRsHIP Is DiscusseD witH SucH INTEREST 


ELIZABETH AND FER GERMAN GARDEN 


A Cheaper Edition, 50 cents. A Fuller Edition, $1.75. 
The cheaper edition contains all that was in the first edi- The fuller edition contains the new material, added also m 
tion issued in Sept. ’98, in three editions before the begin- the illustrated editions, increasing the size of the book by 
ning of 99 and in no less than seven during that year. nearly a quarter more pages and an entertaining preface. 


A Prospectus will be Sent Free on Request. 


Address THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 Fifth Ave., New York 


SCIENC 


NEw SERIES. fd SINGLE COPIES, 15 cts. “ 
VoL. XII. No. 307. FRipay, NOVEMBER 16, 1900. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00 


Chemicals «« Chemical Apparatus 


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ii SCLENCE.— ADVERTISEMENTS. 


VOL. Il. NOW READY 
CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN F{ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE Over 2000 Original Illustrations. Sold DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVA- 
Spectres oF Fruits, VEGETABLES, TION OF ALL Kinps or Hormi- 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL CULTURAL CROPS AND OBSERVA- 
PLANTS IN THE MARKET IN TIONS ON MARKETING, ETC., BY 
AMERICA AND CANADA. Vols. I. and II. Bach, Cloth, $5.00 ret. pracrican CULTIVATORS. 


Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


‘« This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 
it will take rank asa standardinitsclass . . . itisas scholarly as itis practical. Recognizing its importance, 
the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—THe New York TRIBUNE. 


on Subscription for the complete set only— 
in four volumes. Super-royal 8vo. 


NEW BOOKS IN THE GARDEN-CRAFT SERIES 
Every one who has a garden, froma window-ledge to a “little place out of town,’’ should read 


‘THE AMATEUR’S PRACTICAL GARDEN- B00K 
CONTAINING THE SIMPLEST DIRECTIONS FOR THE GROWING OF 
THE COMMONEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOUSE AND GARDEN. 


By C. E. HUNN, Gardener, Horticultural Dept., Cornell University, and L. H. BAILEY. Cloth, $1.00 
“Tt is a pleasure to the eye, a comfort to the hand, an inspiration to the mind, and is exactly whata city 


man with a suburban home has long been waiting for,and now . . . absolutely must have.’’—The 
Boston Daily Advertiser. 
GARDEN-MAKING: These are the books which By L. H. BAILEY, aided by 
SUGGESTIONS FoR THE UTILiziNa consulted in winter will L, R. Tarr, F, A. Wauau, and ERNest 
oF Home Grownbs. repay you in the spring. Watxer, Third Edition. $1.00 
‘<The little beok is simply packed with information, all extremely practical . . . A more useful book 


of its sort we have never seen, or one more indispensable to the amateur gardener.’’—The Dial. 


Untechnical Books for Garden Lovers 


If you wish to make a gift to any friend who loves her garden, you can hardly mistake if you send her ‘* Hlizabeth 
and her German Garden,’’ unless she already has it and in that case she will be certain to welcome ‘‘ The Solitary Sum- 
mer’? by the same author, especially in the New and Illustrated Editions. 


ELIZABETH AND HER “A German Garden emits a THE SOLITARY 
flower-like aroma of freshness and 3 
GERMAN GARDEN purity.’’—Kare Sanzorn. SUMMER 
“Ach ing book.’’ 
Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. Jasin eneh soars cond Illustrated, Cloth, $2.50. 


Something of the charm of these books may be gathered from comments made when the later of the two was 
issued ;—a charm deepened by the addition of the pictures in the new editions, which help to make real, not only 
the garden, but the old castle, the woods, the lawn and eyen the quaint babies. 

‘« A continuation of that delightful chronicle of days spent in and about one of the most delightful gardens 


known to modern literature. The author’s exquisite humor is ever present, and her descriptions . . . haye 
a wonderful freshness and charm.’’—Evenine Post. 
«« Perhaps even more charming than the fascinating original, which is saying a great deal.’”’—Guascow HERatp. 


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VOLS, |. AND II. NOW READY 


CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN F{ORTICULTURE 


By L. H. BAILEY, Cornell University, assisted by WIL- 
LIAM MILLER, and Many Expert Cultivators and Botanists 


DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE 
Spectres or Fruits, VEGETABLES, 
FLOWERS, AND ORNAMENTAL 
Pruants IN THE MARKET IN 
AMERICA AND CANADA. 


in four volumes. 
Vols. I. and II. Each, Cloth, $5.00 net. 


Over 2000 Original Illustrations. 
on Subscription for the complete set only— 


Super-royal 8vo. 


DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTiyA- 
TION OF ALL Kinps or Horrt- 
CULTURAL Crops AND Opsr.yA- 
TIONS ON MARKETING, EIC., BY 
PRACTICAL CULTIVATORS. 


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Specialists of eminence contribute to the work fully 5000 signed articles 


“This really monumental performance is to be completed in four volumes, and judging from the first of these 


it will take rank asa standard in its class 


the publishers have given it faultless form.’’—Tusn New York TrRiBune. 


‘¢ We have here a work which every 
ambitious gardener will wish to place 
on his shelf besides his Nicholson and 
his Loudon, and for such users of it 

. In range, treatment and edit- 
ing, the Cyclopedia appears to be em- 
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worthy of ranking by the side of the 
Century Dictionary.” 

—The Nation. 


‘More comprehensive and ambitious than anything Professor Bailey has yet undertaken. 
of inestimable value.’’—Chicago Tribune. 


ican, wholly alive; .. . 


NOT ONLY ADEQUATE 
BUT INDISPENSABLE 
‘¢ The information given 

is precisely what the hor= 

ticulturist and general 
reader is desirous of 
knowing.’’ 


—Sceientific American. 


it is as scholarly as tt is practical. 


Recognizing its importance, 


«The only work with which it can 
be at all compared is Nicholson's Dic- 
tionary of Gardening, but for American 
conditions and American horticultur- 
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more reliable, useful and complete . 

. It is an honor to its author and 
his assistant, its publishers, and Amer- 
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—American Agriculiurist. 


Essentially Amer- 


IF YOU ARE TO HAVE A GARDEN NEXT YEAR READ THIS WINTER 


THe AMATEUR’S 
PRACTICAL 
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all extremely practical . 


Profusely illustrated, sim- 
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the most of one’s garden, in 
every direction. Each, $1.00 


GarDEN-MAKING: 
Both are by 
L. H. BAILEY, Cornell Uniy. 


“A pleasure to the eye, acomfort to the hand, and 
inspiration to the mind ; exactly what a city man with 
a suburban home has long been waiting for, and now 

- absolutely must have.’’ 


Boston Advertiser. 


THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, Publishers, New York 


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