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H bs pbapa eon 4 9N) Raat Un Aiee Hay eH fale : iy ; oat iy , : . ye iit ; TERN GRIN tri GRMN oanGE MR ML tL Ht e Idi eit ‘de Aaa hea las Tell ers i, d : iv yi stage gig , abs ley , i i / sho ! i A? re $ a cry . pas igisne 4 3 ey , iif Te jtdale A et ta i W , A okt i t als ee ow sy 2) MAS baa yal i a Ta “4 4th i’ (vt et fH pda } 8 4 Ais it snl { i HP Leen ‘ ry fa Y ‘ ‘AS PORALULD ert { aha) RCRT PLY Seah a4 i Buses Muse reas H ] AGE Gt a . piace gs thmoniba the Het Is ESM ESIPU CATS EGC ED en PUT AHN Dad Ps ESR sab at Ut Amend; any ae OP drt | iia seit DEN Wk of Mitte Aidt latalaus Hs eet Hit igh ou fal iat »§ ‘a t ——y eed c™% - ame leas AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY VOLUME. Vv JANUARY-JUNE 1885 we 25 CAMBRIDGE Mass. | ae Ss CLE N-C BH COM PAN Y 1885 COPYRIGHT, 1885, By THE SCIENCE COMPANY. mons TO VGLUME \V. xx Names of contributors are printed in small capitals. Abbott’s Testing-machines, 77. e Abert’s squirrel, z//. 474, 515. Abietineae, microscopic sections of, 81. Acclimatization, 481. Adrianoff on Asian tribes, 39. Aeronautic exhibition, 532. Aeronautics in 1884, 295. Aesthetic faculty in primitive races, 459. Afghan boundary, 40. Afghanistan, map of, 451; Russian em- bassy to, 366. Africa, climate of, 530; expedition into, 323; exploration of, 114; foot-journeys in, 19; hauling a steamer through, 364; inland sea in, 323; maps of, 422; political map of, 370; stone age in, 405; strange tribe in, 351. Agassiz, A., resignation of, from corpo- ration of Harvard college, 140. Agassiz, Louis, tablet to, 472. Age statistics, peculiarities in, 7z//. 461. Agricultural experiments, 143; experi- ment-stations, 471; functions of, 21, 28. Agriculture, functions of commissioner of, 393; new commissioner of, 285, 394; scientific principles of, 76. Air, analyses of, 223; scarcity of living organisms in, 235. Alabama phosphates, 376. Alaska, explorations in, 154; jade from, 209. Alaskan ethnographical collections, 19. Albatross, cruise of, in the Gulf of Mexico, 275. Algebra, symbolic, 77. Allen, Dr. Harrison, 206. Allen, J. A., 283. Allen’s palategraph, 183. Alloy, new, 412. Alloys, metallic, 179. Almanac, British nautical, 174. Almanacs, nautical, 167. Altitudes in the alps, list of, 531. Aluminum, large block of, 263. Amber insects, Helm’s collection of, 323. Ambulance classes, 160. America, denudation of, 82; natives of, 525; in pre-Columbian times, iron in, 530; prehistoric, 176; technical instruc- tion in, 276. American association for the advance- ment of science, meeting of 1885, 283; local committee of, 509; membership of, 285; climatological association, 480; commune, 34; fisheries society, 423; flash language, 380; journal of archae- ology, 81, 302; journal of mathematics, 141; metrological society, 450; milk, 130; _ pearls, 44; philosophical society, 119; races, antiquity of, 278; sculptures, pre- historic, il/. 523; society of microsco- pists, proceedings, reviewed, 178; soci- ety for psychical research, 13, 44, 55, 491. Americanisms, 454, 494, Ames, C.H. The incandescent light on steamers, 144. Amherst, physical training at, i//. 95; summer school of languages, 321. Analyses of air, 223. Anatomy, physiology, and hygiene, 137. ANDERSON, W.P. ‘The Hudson-Bay ex- pedition of 1384, z/l., chart, 213. Animals, excretion of nitrogen by, 172. Annealing iron castings, 222. Annisquam seaside laboratory, 211. Anthony and Brackett’s Physics, re- viewed, 349. Anthrax, vaccination for, 304. Anthropometric laboratory, 294. Anthropometry, 19. Anthropos and anthropopithecus, 104. Anticosti, tropical turtle on, 474. Antiquities, Egyptian, 80. Antiquity of American races, 278. Antiseptic inhalations, 480. Antivivisectionists, methods of, 245. Antwerp botanical congress, 432, Aphides, nectar secretion from, 82. Aquatic plants of San Diego, 441. Aqueduct, Croton, 497. Arabia, travels in, 134. Arabs, inheritance among, 16. Archeological tour in Mexico, iil. 58. Arctic investigations, 430. Argentine zone catalogue, 7//. 59. Armor-plate, 74. ARMSBY, H. P. The digestibility of cel- lulose, 11; digestion experiments, 375; do animals excrete free nitrogen? 172; errors in digestion experiments, 292; nutritive value of cellulose, 307. ARTHUR, J. C. MHollyhock-disease and the cotton-plant, 2. ASHBURNER, C. A. The Natural Bridge of_Virginia, 13. Asia, races of, 362; travels in, 39. Asteroids of 1884, 31; new, 248. Astronomers, doings of, 154. Astronomical day, proposed change in, 524; domes mounted on cannon-balls, 125; notes, 141; observatory, electric light in, 184; time, 308. Atlantic Ocean, earthquake in, 141. Atlas, Perthes’, 530. Atmosphere of earth, 7//. 441. Audition of school-children, 354. Aurora borealis, under the rays of, 7/7. 527. Auroras, 394; effect of, 4; at Sagastyr, 222; as seen at Willet’s Point, 411. Australia, glacial period in, 485; gold in, 181. Australian geographic conference, 183 ; plants, census of, 511. Autographic system of telegraphy, 321. BagBoock, W. H. Do telegraph-wires foretell storms? 396. Bacilli, curved, 481; hypodermic injection of cultures of curved, 482; pure cul- tures of, 472. Bacillus, cholera, 63, 75, 7//. 454; comma, ill. 109, 144. Bacteria, 392; study of, 506; transfer of, from soil to atmosphere, 181. Baku, 370. Baldamus’s collection of birds’ eggs, 304. Balloon, Jeffries’s voyage across English Channel, 38, 221; in meteorology, 91; method of ascending and descending in, 452. Ball’s Astronomical observations at Dun- sink, reviewed, 241. Baltic, level of, 102. Bandelier’s archeological tour in Mexico, ill., 58. Bark-louse secretion, 73. Barnard’s Pyramid of Gizeh, reviewed, 118. BARTLETT, J. R. The basin of the Carib- bean, chart, 89; some recent experi- ments with oil in stopping breakers, 46. Bass, hibernation of, 428. Baur, G. A complete fibula in an adult living carinate-bird, 375; a second phalanx in the third digit of a carinate- bird’s wing, 355. Bayne, H. A., on determination of amount of silk in mixed fabrics, 459. Beaches, evidences of, in Cincinnati group, zl. 231. Bean, T.H., on North-American salmon and trout, 424. BEAUCHAMP, W. M. The muskrat car- nivorous, 65; prehistoric fishing, 7/1. 415. BEECHER, C. E. Carnivorous habits of the muskrat, 144. Behrens’s Microscopical investigation of vegetable substances, reviewed, 470. Belgian government, quinquennial prize Brewu, A. G. Is there a correlation be- tween defects of the senses? 127; pre- venting collisions with icebergs in a fog, all. 460; the Wisconsin bill relating to the instruction of deaf-mutes, 375. Bell, A. G., on audition of school-chil- dren, 354; detection at sea of proxim- ity of objects by echoes, 354. Beni M’zab, 141. Bentham’s will, 122. Berlin geographical society, 19; univer- sity, 204. Berliner astronomisches jahrbuch, 141. Bernard, Claude, statue of, 20. Bibliographical needs, 104. Bibliographies, 119. BigELow, H. R. The cholera bacillus, all. 454. BILuines, J. 8. Measuring the cubic capacity of skulls, 27/. 499. Billings, J. S., on composite photo- graphs of skulls, 355; Ventilation and heating, reviewed, 159. BiINee, A.,and FERE, C. Hallucinations, Do Biological notes, 257. Bes. about Boston, 119; migration of, 322. Bisol preservation of, 64; preserve, 64, Jo. Blackford, E. S., on New-York oyster- beds, 425. Black’s Formation of poisons by micro- organisms, reviewed, 158. : Bliss’s index to map literature, 140. Blowpipe reactions, 459. Blue meteorological observatory, ill. 40. Boas, Franz. The configuration of Grin- nell Land and Ellesmere Land, map, 170; Mr. Melville’s plan of reaching the north pole, 247. Bochefontaine on hypodermic injection of cultures of curved bacilli, 482. Bogosloff Island, 7//. 32; lava from, 66. Boiler, new, 532. Boilers, steel for, 322. Book notices, minor, 389; printing, de- parture in, 452. Bordin prize, 450. Bore, 61. t Bore-hole, finding, 295. Boston, decadence of science about, 86, 144, 207; scientific associations, 125. Bosworth, F. H., on hay-fever, 481. Botanic garden at Montreal, 205, 513. Botanical congress, 432. Boeny microscope in, 470; treatise on, 532. Bottles, floating, 321, 531. Bourke’s Snake-dance of the Moquis, re- viewed, 202. Brachiopoda, British, 409; Devonian, 224. Brackett. See Anthony and Brackett. Brain, 306; anatomy and physiology of, in relation to mental disorders, 258; exhaustion, 282; extraction of bullet from, 7z//. 313. Bramwell, F., on recent progress in en- gineering, 235. Brasenia antiqua, 7¢//. 514. Brazil, draingge system, 296; German 534 explorers in, 38; physical features of, map, 273; pretertiary vertebrates of, 354. Bréant prize, 304. Bridge, Natural, 13; piers, strengthening F foundations of, 101. Brinton, D. G. Anthropos and an- thropopithecus, 104; did Cortes visit Palenque? 248; man in the stone age, 3. Brinton’s Lenapé and their legends, re- viewed, 407. British association for the advancement % of science, meeting of 1886 in Birming- ham, 530; of 1884 at Montreal, 374; offi- cers of, 432. British fossil Brachiopoda, 409; locomo- tives, 384; nautical almanac, 174. Brooks, W. kK. Life, 456. Brooks, W. K.., on life, 385. Brookville society of natural history, 184. Brown, Allan D. The naval observa- tory publications, 307. Bruignac on the status of aeronautics in 1884, 295. Bryennios manuscript, 303. Bucharest Central meteorological obser- vatory, 121. Buenos Ayres, exploring expedition from, 392. Building-stones of the U.S., 239. Bureau of scientific information, 143. Butter, 339; making by electricity, 242. Butterflies, dark, 262. C. Acquisition in infants, 249. C., E. W. Real and imaginary Ameri- canisms, 494. C., X. The decadence of science about Boston, 144. Cain’s Symbolic algebra, reviewed, 77. Calendar reform, 165. California, locusts in, 491. Campbell and Garnett’s Life of James Clerk Maxwell, reviewed, 317. Canada, philological expedition to, 119. Candolle, de, prize, 410; Candolle’s (de) History of the sciences, reviewed, 14. Cape Hatteras porpoise fishery, 424. Caribbean, basin of, chart, 89. Carnegie, A., on natural gas-fuel, 492. Carnoy’s Cellular biology, reviewed, 318. Caroline Island eclipse expedition, 7/. 271. Carpmael, C., on values of integrals, 459. Cartridge, new, 222. Cask, IT. S. Carnivorous habits of the muskrat, 144. Catarrhal affections as cause of phthisis, 480. Caucasus, exploration of, 62. Caving-in of river-banks, prevention of, 82. Cell, réle of, in living organisms, 318. Cellular biology, 305, 318. Cellulose, digestibility of, 11; nutritive value of, 306. Census of hallucinations, 65; of plants, 511; tenth United States, vols. ix. and x., 61; vol. x. reviewed, 239. Centrifugal force, effect of, at north pole, 334. Cetology, military, 2. Chadbourne’s Instinct, reviewed, 76. Challenger, exploring voyage of, vol. i., reviewed, 98. Chamberlin’s Geology of Wisconsin, re- viewed, map, 427. CHANNING, Edward. The races of cen- tral Asia, map, 362; roads from India to central Asia, map, 360. Chase’s Elements of meteorology, 20. Chemival laboratory of Johns Hopkins university, 2/7. 25; telegraph, 322. Chemistry, kindergarten system of, 279; manual of, 139; principles of, 180; of the sea, 98; text-books on, 301. Chemists, warning to, 181. Chicago storm of June 2, 476. Chico group of California, 43. Children, trade in, 283. China, explorations in, 491; factories of, 371; iron-foundries of, 278; map of, 509; population of, 263; teas of, 410; text-books oe 510, yy } Wius iyi | / ; fof # OF tern Kw”, SCIENCE. — INDEX TO VOLUME VJ. Chlorine as a disinfectant, 451. Chlorophyll, pure, 284 Cholera bacillus, 63, 75, i//. 454; commis- sion, results of, 63; conference in Berlin, 485; epidemic in Paris and Yport, 7d/. 33; inoculation, 464; at Alcira, 471; provision for, 206; recent investigations upon, 253. Chopping-stones, 144, Chotis, flooding, 262. Cicada, periodical, 518; premature ap- pearance of, 476. Cincinnati group, evidences of beaches in, 2/2. 231; society of natural history lectures, 224, 532. Civil time, 308. Clams, giant, 423. Claus’s Text-book of zodlogy, reviewed, 525. Clevenger’s Comparative physiology and psychology, reviewed, 389. Climate of Africa, 530; of Florida, 481. Climatic charts, 142. Climatology, 365. Cloudiness in Europe, 366. Coal, in Chico group of California, 43; question in England, 175; spontaneous combustion of, 183; wet and dry, as fuel, 183. Coffins of the seventh century, 7/7. 236. Cohen collection, 80. Coins, light, rectification of, 39. Coke, manufacture of, 239. Cold, effect of, on living organisms, 522. Cold-wave flags, 97. Coleman and McKendrick on effects of cold on living organisms, 522. Collisions with icebergs, prevention of, all. 460. Colonization, European, 509. Colorado rocks, footprints in, i//. 312. Columnar structure in sub-aqueous clay, 287. Comet prizes, 118. Comets of 1884, 31; new, 243. Comma bacillus, i//. 109, 144. Commercial science, 225. Commune, American, 34. Compasses, improved, 18. Composite photographs, z//. 878; of skulls, 355, 499. Composite photography, 373; precautions in, 513 Comstock, J. H. A new method of arranging entomological collections, ill. 166. Comstock, T.B. The Yellowstone Park as a bison preserve, 105. Congress, botanical, 432; geological, 472; meteorological, 450; pharmaceutical, 531. Connecticut legislature and standard time, 333; mutual life-insurance company’s mortality experience, 379; oyster- fishery, 234. Consumption, home treatment of, 481. Contagious diseases, 174. Coox, A.J. Bark-louse secretion, 73. Cope, E. D., on phylogeny of placental mammalia, 354; pretertiary vertebrates of Brazil, 354; Tertiary Vertebrata, re- viewed, 467. Copley medal, 1. Coral fishery, 511. Cordoba observatory, work at, 403. Cork bricks, 222. Corning’s Brain-exhaustion, 282. Corona, photographing the, 266, 307, 397, 436; theory of, 335, 474. Cotton-plant, 2. Coulter, J. M., 392. Cox, C. F. What is a microscopist? 209. Cozumel Island, 7//. 290. Credit to authors, 1. Cretaceous, modern type of plant in, i/J. 514. Criminals, discovery of, by use of electric light, 304. Crops, 85. Croton aqueduct, 497. Cuban iron, 322; zodlogists, 262. Curve-tracing, 389. Cypress, Monterey, 433. reviewed, D., W. M. The meteorological observa- tory on Blue Hill, zdl. 440. Dahl, F., on spiders, 264. , Dat, W.H. The earthquake of Jan. 2, 1885, 85; further notes on Bogosloff Island, 2//. 32; John Gwyn Jeffreys, 145; a monograph of British fossil Brachiopoda, reviewed, 409; Nadaillac’s Prehistoric America, 208. Danger-lines of floods, 40. Darwin, statue of, 471. Davidson’s British fossil Brachiopoda, re- viewed, 409. Davis, W. M. The reddish-brown ring around the sun, 455; the work of the Swiss earthquake commission, 196. Davis Strait, warm undercurrent in, 451. Dawson, G.M. The Saskatchewan coun- try, map, 340. See also Selwyn and Dawson. Dawson, Sir W. A modern type of plant in the cretaceous, z//. 514. i Dawson, Sir W., on mesozoic floras of Rocky-Mountain region, 458; Jurasso- cretaceous flora, 531. Deaf variety of human race, formation of, 305. \ Deaf-mute, education of, 205, 375. Death-rate among Yale-college graduates, 930. Deaths, recent, 19, 62, 122, 182, 264, 323, 472, 532. Deneholes, é//. 118. Deniker’s study of the Kalmucks, 162. Denison’s climatic charts, 142. Denmark, progress of, 452. Density of earth, method of measuring, 217. Dentistry, prehistoric, 223. DERBY, O The drainage system of Brazil, 296; the physical features of Brazil, map, 273. Devonian strata in Montana, 249. Digestion, of sponges, 257; experiments, 335, 375; errors in, 292. DILLER, J. 8S. Coal in the Chico group of California, 483; dikes of peridotite cutting the carboniferous rocks of Ken- tucky, 65; lava from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, 66. Dinocerata, t//., map, 488. Discovery, prizes for, 103. . Disease, 158; germs, 158. Diseases, contagious, 174. Disinfectant, chlorine as, 451. Dissection, text-book of, 136. Do.uey, C.8. Preservation of jelly-fishes at the Naples zodlogical station, 227. Dolphin, bottle-nose, 7/2. 338. Drainage system of Brazil, 296. Drains, testing, 283. DRAPER, D. The cold weather of Febru- ary and March, 308; the sun-thermome- ter during the recent eclipse, 266. Dunsink, astronomical observations at, 241. Dynamo-electric machines, 117. Earth, measuring density of, 217; move- ment of crust of, 514; physics of, 386. Earthquake in the Atlantic, 141; of Jan. 2, 1885, 44, 85, map, 129; commission, 196; in England, Jan. 22, 208; freak, z//. 204; predictions, 185; in Spain, 7/7. 351, all. 191; of Dec. 25, 203; submarine, 61, 351; theories, 185. Earthquakes, causes of, 198; in Japan, 200, 203, id/. 483; map of frequency of, 203; in Tasmania, 392; warning-signals of, 205. : East India marine society of Salem, 182. Ebeling collection of maps, 262. Echidna, eggs of, 3; temperature of, 451. Echoes, use of, at sea, 354. — ; Eclipse expedition to Caroline Island, él. 271; solar, of March 16, 1885, map, 210, 226; in September, 1885, 324; expedi- tion to New Zealand for, 161; in Au- gust, 1886, 160. Economy of fuel, 74, 227. Education, place of hygiene in, 101. Eggs, artificially incubated, 182; of fishes, protective contrivances for, 425. Egyptian antiquities, 80; 512. ” legal customs, Re p y 4 7 j SCIENCH.— INDEX TO VOLUME YJ. Elasticity, history of, 222. Electric light in astronomical observa- tory, 184; for discovering criminals, 304; for lighthouses, 150; for microscope, 7//. 142; lighting conductors, size of, 23; in sues 81; on shipboard, 484; in the U. Yee Electrical energy, Niagara Falls as source of, 401; exhibition in Paris, 160; science, advances in, 45; storms, 98, 802; tech- nology, 220; warning-signals of earth- quakes, 203. Electricity, butter-making by, 244; light- ing the Suez Canal by, 391. Elfert on cloudiness in Europe, 366. Elgar, F., on naval architecture in Eng- land, 384. EIk from quaternary of New Jersey, ill. 420. Elkin. See Gill and Elkin. Ellesmere Land, configuration of, map, 170. Emmerich on cholera bacillus, 75. Emmons, Ebenezer, portrait, 456. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 162. Engineering, recent progress in, 235; ge- ology, 260; materials of, 179. England, coal question in, 175; earth- quake in, Jan. 22, 203; earthquake map of, 203; river pollution in, 72; tunnel- building in, 100. English cholera commission, 63; labor, history of, 155; naval architecture, 384. Entomologica Americana, 184, 303. Entomological collections, 187; arrange- ment of, z//. 166. Eskimo,, Hudson-Bay, 233; stick, 425. Essex deneholes, z//. 113. Europe, inland navigation of, 426. Everest and the Yukon River, 224. Ewine, J. A. A recent Japanese earth- quake, 7//. 483. _ Experiments, agricultural, 143. Explorations, 371, 392; African, 114; in China, 491; of Greenland, 410; by Serpa- Pinto, 390; in Western America, 485. Explosives, 74. throwing- F., F. Mortality experience of life-insur- ance companies, 435. Farlow, Dr. W. G., 304. Farmer’s Kindergarten system of chemis- try, reviewed, 279. Fauna, fish, 425. Fay’s maps of Africa, 422. ‘Féré, C. See Binet, A., and Féré, C. FERNALD, C.H. On the care of entomo- logica] museums, 25. Ferran, J ., on cholera inoculation, 464, 471. Fibrine, 392. Fibula in carinate-bird, 375, il. 516. Filter paper, 323. Finley’s storm-charts, 20. Firedamp, 371. Fish-culture, 371, 424; association, 411. Fisheries exhibition, United States at, 336; society, 423. Fishing, prehistoric, i//. 415. Fishing-interests in Hudson Bay, 296. Flatland, 184, 265. Flood-discharge in rivers, 451. Floods of 1882, 40. Flora, cretaceous and tertiary, 348; of Iowa, 350. Floras, mesozoic, 458. Florida climate, 481; phosphatic rocks, 395. FLOWER, W.H. Thenatives of America, 525. FoL,H. The cultivation of microbes, ill. 500 Fol’s microscopical anatomy, 510; varia- tions of personality, 532. Fontaine’s Older mesozoic flora of Vir- ginia, reviewed, 280. Footprints in Colorado rocks, ill. 312. Forchheimer’s Tunnel-building in Eng- land, reviewed, 100. Forests, influence of, on temperature, 352; of the United States, 116. Formosa, 261, Fossil plants, history of knowledge of, 93. FYoster, L.8. Abert’s squirrel, 515. Fouquk, F. The causes of earthquakes, 198 FRANKLIN, Christine L. Richet on men- tal suggestion, 132. French Académie des sciences, medal, 412; prizes, 242. mcudertch on living organisms in the air, Fritts selenium cell, 244. Fruits, poisonous gases from, 244. FreLEy, A. The new Croton aqueduct, 497. Fuel, coal as, 183; economy of, 74, 227. Fujiyama, eruption of, 411. G., A. Action of pollen on seed-coats and pericarps, 67; how to reach the Grand Canon, 516; real and imaginary Americanisms, 454. Gage’s Physical technics, reviewed, 139. Galton’s anthropometric laboratory, 294. Garnett. See Campbell and Garnett, 317. Gas, natural, 521; fuel, 492; wells, 474. GATSCHET, A.S. The Yuchi tribe of In- dians, and its language, 258. Gelyi on the glow-lamp, 342. Geographical explorations, 75; instruc- tion, 393; news, 162, 216, 422; work of the Greely expedition, map, 168. Geographisches jahrbuch, 450. Geological railway guide, 510; reports, state, 529. Geology, engineering, 260; of Hudson-Bay region, 256; lectures on, in New York, 140; of M‘Nab’s Island, 458; microscope in, 190; of Minnesota, 529; of natural ' gas, 5215 revolution in, 88; of Scottish Highlands, 87; physical, text-book of, 137; of Wisconsin, map, 427. Geonomy, 142. Georgia wonder-girl, 106, 189. German, study of, 119. Germany, school statistics of, 61; smoke question in, 263; vivisection in, 262. Germination of plants in soil free from microbes, 121. Germs, disease, 158. Ghost-proof, water, 2. Ghosts, unbelievers in, 22. Gilbert on cholera at Yport, idl. 33. Gilbert’s Scientific principles of agricul- ture, reviewed, 76. Gill, T., on North-American fish fauna, 425. Gill and Elkin’s Determinations of stellar _ parallax, reviewed, 241. Ginkgo-tree, il/. 495. Giraud, Victor, 392. Gizeh, Pyramid of, 118. Glacial period in Australia, 485. ‘ Glacier, Tasman, il/. 10. Glass-factories, waste sands of, 141. Glazier, Capt., exploits of, 394. Glow-lamp, 342. Godeffroy’s museum, 303. Gorr, E. S. Theerelation of form to time of maturity in esculent roots, 124. Goldin Australia, 181; in Thibet, 412. Goodale’s Vegetable histology, reviewed, 157. Goode’s Report on the U.S. exhibit at the London fisheries exhibition, reviewed, 386. Gordon’s Scientific characteristics, 289. GoRE, J. W. The photograph of a Da- kota tornado, 208. Gould, Dr. B. A., 302; work at Cordoba observatory, 403; zone catalogue, zl/. 59. Government scientific bureaus, co-ordi- nation of, 47; re-organization of, 41; work, 51; consolidation of, 336. Grand Canon, how to reach the, 516. Graphic processes, reproductive, 389. Gray, Asa. The Monterey pine and cy- press, 433. Gray, Dr. Asa, 304; bronze medallion portrait of, id. 436. Gray, E.P. ae 90 Deneholes, the Essex (2 figs.) . ges "113, 114 Earthquake of Jan. 2, 1885, map of, 130; view in a street of Alhama after, 192; map showing region affected by Spanish, 193; map of region suffering most severely, 193; street in Alhama ruined by, 194; convent in Albu- nuelas destroyed by, 194; chalet at St. Catherine, show- ing roof shattered by, 204; the crevasse on the road from Loja to Alhama due to, 351; crevasse near Guéve- jar due to, 352; at Tokio, Oct. 15, 1884, Bn ao Of . saeaoe Eclipse, annular solar, of March NG pstSSoma els sez Emmons, Ebenezer, portrait and signature Of 9 37s). 2 eed on Entomological collections, block formounting . . . . . 167 Fish-hook, prehistoric . . Pi 2) Fog, device for preventing collisions with icebergs ina. . 460 Footprints in the rocks of Colorado (2 nae: a as se )|6[6UOle ole Ginkgo, phylogeny of the genus . . eo 6 3} hep Gray, Dr. Asa, portrait of. . eestor Greely party at Lady Franklin Bay, the station of the . . 310 Grinnell Land aud Ellesmere Land, He ase Oe cee l(t Haldemana primaeva . . : ice com ot OS Halo seen at Orleans, France. 324 Harvard college, the new physical laboratory of, 2205 plans Of G4 figs.) 2 ° ? gan 230 Hochstetter, the top of Mount . . 11 Hudson- Bay expedition, section of observers’ “hut, 213; ob- servers’ station at Stupart’s Bay . 214 Johns Hopkins chemical laboratory, north end of the, facing the street, 26; first floor, 27; second floor, 27; research room in, 28: third floor, 29; basement. . .9 <>) = sss 8 Warr, R.S. The tile-fish. Jil... . 2. 2 0s ehllfs 29. Wiley, H.W. American milk, >). 2) uses Tasman eae rere eay VIAL ne em eet Ph at ate atceln jes) SiMe h MRnO IBOUHKETE NB) Bier & PR ANA see) Technical instruction in America. . . Sidon ites oh Meme KO Williams, G. H. “The microscope in eeology oe UR ee Ten Kate’s explorations in western America (0005 Mags Winlock, *Ww.C. Comets and asteroids of 1884 . .. 81 Thomas, Cyrus. Palenque visited by Cortes . . . . 171 Woeikof, A. Recent Russian geographical explorers 75 Silver from‘a Pennsylvania mound. Jil. . - 419 Work of the Hota office under General Hazen. . . 237 Thurston, R. H. ‘The efliciency of the steam- ‘engine . 8644 Wright,G.F. The Niagara gorge | as a ‘chronometer. Recent British locomotives. B - 384 Map. A os 6 Bie a, ree yo ES The status of aeronautics in 1884 Pa teen A ei mPa) PAGE PAGE Americancommune. . . Slit Sie Nel bar ee Ps ae,» teed: Nordenski6ld’s arctic investigations . . . . . +. «+ + 430 American society of microscopists . 178 Paradise found. . ose: ie ie Soe) Reh cpa meneame Anatomy and physiology of the brain in their "relation to Parker’s Text-book of dissection «8k en eke ae mental disorders. . . phe siel i fabvesa ops! Mb Vet seu LOO Part played by the cell in living organisms. . .... . 318 Annals of the naval observatory. si) eu este adios) Ne. os SEMMCO LE Patriarchal theory. By J. W. ie ME i ie) el Se Anthony and Brackett’s Physics’ . . . . . . . =. . . 849 Phillips’s Ore-deposits . . . Meroe he eee Paimard’s Pyramidier Gaze, i. + ow nt ws. oc dgien Physics of the earth. . . os a Sep) ieee Billings’s Ventilation and heating . i ye a wave eye! Sumter LOO Physiological anatomy of plants. By G. Macloskie « . . 30 \ Brain exhaustion. . . sifhe? cel ker elt lath is” ae Ses Prehistoric America. . eeermermese ie a Le Chadbourne on instinct. . ein Ne yet chs) pie.) een JIG Prehistoric congress at Lisbon’... .. 02 a Chemistry and physics of the HORE She nee Pao ee Principles of chemistry. . . . 2 + 6 se ee 2 es 180 tigues Text-book of zadlopy ov. WSs. ot to Si been O20 Pronunciation . RP es oes SUL Cope’s Tertiary Vertebrata). . . . . .. . . . . . 467 Publications of the Nautical almanac office. . - 100 Disease-germs . Pen ey Acme, «Anal Bats) Recent discussion of the axioms of mechanics - 201 Electric lighting i in the United States . PRO Nea oe OTE) Recent governmient reports... 2, . «7. |. s) =)meaeneee Engineering geology. . si. al eh) 9s ae BOD Recent physiological text-books . . « « « «» \+ s#)mwueuelan Fontaine’s Older mesozoic flora of Virginia bo el keto ROO Recent technical books . . Ree RE UTS Forchheimer’s Tunnel-building in Bnclane os capa Hes 100 Report of the U.S. entomologist for 1884 . p40 1 25 Forests of the United States . . . - . « « « « 116 Researches in stellar parallax. ll. By oy P. Toad ia ve hee eee Geolory of Wisconsin. Dap. - . ... 0 « « ):+iimen er — Jopere’s History of English labor. . . ere Goodale’s Vegetable histology .).. 0. . 0 6» see | EO Rolleston’s lifeand work . . oie se Hack Tuke on hypnotism. . Sue Pra Mammpaincy- ho cc 8 Ala, Romanes’ Researches on primitive nervous systems ie leh Ooe Handbook of healthy and diseased meat . 178 Russian embassy to Afghanistan . .....-.- + + + 3866 Hartleben’s library of electrical technology (elektrotech- Russians at the gates of Herat . . - . 369 nische bibliothek) . . 220 Saporta’s Problematical organisms of the ancient seas. By Hereditary intellect and the "geographical distribution of J. S. Newberry . . rere So talents . . c ~ 14 Schellen’s Dynamo- electric machines... . . . + + + + UT Hovey’s Mind- reading ep dsth ejepiete celumtarinels te) | eetiap taht Lee ROOT Scientific principles of agriculture. . . . . . +. ++ + 16 Ingersoll’s Country cousins . . aeyalilk) Simon’s Manual of chemistry. . = . . - «* smleumeniennanaeeo Inheritance among the ancient Arabs. By J.W. Powell . 16 Snake-dance of the Moquis . . Membr PS NAA: Irving on the copper-bearing rocks of Lake os ide Bde eee Some state agricultural experiment- -stations ot. Seite Walsh ciiee. See Kindergarten system of chemistry. . as - . - 279 Some state geological Fep Cie eG a AS re Kingsley’s Madam How and Lady Why eS se ACS Study of bacteria . . Mees Joes ey BOW Langley’s work on Mount Whitney ........ . 819 Tenth volume of the census report rere Lenapé and their legends . . ce ss amet Text-book of microscopical petrography .... . . - 138 Lesquereux’s Cretaceous and ter tiary flora. Wace; ca’ GEN Text-book of physical geology . . MM ee Marsh on the Dinocerata. J//.,map.... . . . . . 488 Text-books in chemistry and mineralogy ee ee Martin’s Elementary human n phy esac: stumege Ab shy et AE Thurston’s Metallic Pee rr Maxwell, James Clerk . che) ae cupieeeesid, | POitis amid Sears er | Microscope PDO fe aie ele es oe Wok ae oe, de ee Tromholt’s Under the rays ‘of the aurora borealis. ‘Th, he ae Minor book notices . . 389 Trowbridge’s Physics . . 8 8 tie) Monograph of British fossil Brachiopoda. ‘By W. it. ‘Dall. 409 United States at the fisheries exhibition . . eee New geological map of Canada, with an outline sketch . . 156 World-stuff . . «ee ere fh a Ut) New text-books of physics wy dentate tay fer (ik avis) oop aero LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, 2, 23, 45, 65, 84, 104, 124, 144, 164, 188, 207, 226, 247, 266, 286, 306, 334, 855, 874, 394, 414, 434, 454, 474, 494, 514. NoTEs AND NEWS, 18, 38, 60, 80, 101, 118, 140, 159, 181, 203, 221, 242, 261, 283, 302, 321, 350, 370, 390, 410, 432, 450, 471, 491, 509, 530. | ScIENCE SUPPLEMENT, 825. SCIENCE. AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Vérité sans peur. CAMBRIDGE, MASS.: THE SCIENCE COMPANY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE AWARD by the Royal society of London of the highest honor in its gift, the Copley medal, to Professor Carl Ludwig of Leipzig, has been the cause of much rejoicing among English physiologists. Since John Hunter re- ceived the medal nearly one hundred years ago (1787), no physiologist has so merited it by fruitful, lifelong devotion to the advancement of knowledge. lLudwig’s first research was published in 1844; and still every year impor- tant investigations, inspired, directed, and of- _ ten personally executed by him, are published from his laboratory. His work extends over nearly every branch of physiology, but we ean here refer only to one or two of his more epoch-marking works. In 1850, by the dis- covery of secretory nerves, he added a new territory to the domain of experimental physi- ology. That wonderful series of researches on the circulatory mechanism, which commenced in 1847 with a paper on the influence of the respiratory movements on the blood-fiow in the aorta, has continued to this day, almost every year adding something from the master’s hand. The introduction of the graphic method into physiological experimentation we also owe to Ludwig ; and he who would, ask what the value of this has been, may be referred to almost the whole of modern experimental physiology for his answer. —__—— Nearly all of the present generation of Brit- ish physiologists have been students in the Leipzig laboratory. While there, they could not fail to acquire a warm personal affection for its director. Simple, kindly, possessed of a genial humor which never wounds, enthusias- No. 100. — 1885. tic in his work, and ever ready with aid and counsel, Ludwig must be beloved by those who work under him: hence, to their pleasure in a worthy bestowal of the Copley medal, Eng- lish physiologists have the further joy of seeing a beloved master publicly honored. In both these respects they will have many warm sym- pathizers in the United States. For years the Leipzig laboratory has been the headquarters _ abroad of young American as well as English physiologists ; and at present Ludwig is rep- resented by pupils on the physiological staff of the Harvard medical school, of the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, of the Johns Hopkins university, of the University of Michigan, and probably of other American institutions. In fact, so far as physiology is now pursued and taught in this country as a definite independ- ent science, and not as a mere body of more or less dubious dogmas which custom makes it necessary to include in the medical student’s curriculum, it is, for the most part, pursued and taught by or under the direction of those who have been Ludwig’s pupils. In their name we congratulate the master, and express the hope that he may yet be spared for many years to carry on his work. WE HAVE had occasion twice during the past year to remonstrate against the methods em- ployed by certain book-dealers in bringing out quasi-scientific books. In June, mention was made of several volumes that appeared without - date. In November it was the question of more sincere discrimination on the part of pub- lishers in regard to the quality of the material that they recommend to the purchasing public. Now, the little book on meteorology mentioned in our notes provokes protest against the prac- tice of borrowing illustrations and extracts without acknowledgment of their sources. 2 | | SCIENCE. There are four plates in the first part of this book, the only pictures it contains; and they are all taken from the work on storms by Bla- sius. In the ‘Scholia’ of the second part, there are several papers by well-known meteorolo- gists: some of them are credited to their origi- nal place of publication; but several others are appropriated, in a more or less condensed form, with their author’s name at the head of each, as if, in distinction to the first, these were written expressly for this book. It may be that the omission of acknowledgment results simply from carelessness; but, in any case, it is not to be lightly excused. Why should not professors demand as much care in these mat- ters from their publishers as from their stu- dents? LETTERS, 20. TAK DITO ts. Why is water considered ghost-proof ? As a possible partial explanation of the fact re- ferred to by Dr. Edward B. Tylor, in his address before the Anthropological society of Washington (see Science, iv. 548, col. 2), of the wide-spread belief among savages ‘ that water is impassable to spirits,’ the obstacle which it presents to dogs in pursuing their prey by scent may be suggested. This latter fact must be well known to most uncivilized races; and the mystery of tracking by scent must furnish a fertile theme for the exercise of the savage imagi- nation, while the scent itself of a human being would be readily attributed to his spirit. Can anthro- pologists show any ‘historical connection ’ between the fact and the belief? LESTER F. WARD. Hollyhock-disease and the cotton-plant. The hollyhock-disease has been a bane to European gardeners for ten years past. It is one of the most destructive of plant-diseases; being able to kill young plants within a week from the time of its attack, and making sad havoc wherever it appears. It is a para- sitic rust (Puccinia malvacearum Mont.) to be associ- ated with the rusts of wheat and oats, and is not confined to hollyhocks, but attacks many other mem- bers of the mallow family, such as the upright mal- low in particular, marsh mallow, German Lavatera, the common weed known as Indian mallow or velvet- leaf, and many others. Winter gives a list of twenty- four species. The disease was introduced into Europe from Chili in 1869, appearing firstin Spain. In four years it had spread through France and the southern portions of Germany and England, reaching northern Germany in 1874, and Ireland in 1875. It has also appeared in Australia and the Cape of Good Hope, but has not yet, in all probability, invaded North America. The plant reported under this name from California is doubtless another species, as | am informed by Dr. Farlow, who has examined Californian specimens, although not those of the original collector. The mention by Burrill of its introduction into this coun- try is an error, as I have learned from the author. A disease sometimes spoken of in American journals under this name is due to an entirely different cause. Its introduction from Europe, which is most likely to occur through the importation of hollyhock-seeds, should be cuarded against. But a still greater inter- est attaches to the disease in regard to its possible relation to the future of the cottonindustry. The cot- ton-plant is a member of the mallow family, and, so far as one may judgea priori, would fall a ready prey to the disease. It occurred to me to obtain some dis- ease-spores from Europe, and test their growth on cotton; but, fearing the disease might escape from my control, I finally interested my friend, Mr. Charles B. Plowright of King’s Lynn, Eng., in the subject, who offered to undertake the necessary experiments. Mr. Plowright reports, under date of Nov. 26, as follows :— ‘‘Six young cotton-seedlings were, on July 12, in- fected with germinating-spores of Puccinia malva- cearum. The plants were quite young, and the spores were applied to the cotyledons. No result. ‘“‘Six young cotton-plants which possessed true leaves were, on June 19, infected with P. malva- cearum. No result. June 29, infected same plants again. No result. ‘‘In July these plants were planted out in the gar- den; and beside them a healthy specimen of Malva syl- vestris was also planted. At the beginning of August, four small Malvae, affected with the Puccinia, were planted so near the cottons and healthy mallow that the diseased foliage of the one touched the healthy foliage of the other. Bs Aug. 20. The healthy mallow has become af- fected with the Puccinia: the cottons have not. The plants were left growing together tothe end of sum- mer, but the cotton-plants remained free from the Puccinia until they died from the cold of autumn some time in October.”’ It is a relief to find that our apprehensions regard- ing the dire consequences that might follow the introduction of this destructive rust are without foundation, so far as the cotton-plant is concerned. The mallow family is divided into two tribes; the first including the true mallows, and the second the rose mallows. Among the best-known members of the latter are the shrubby Althaea, okra, and cotton. I am unable to find any record of any of this tribe tak- ing the disease, and it is probable that the true mal- lows only are subject f.0 ah: J. C. ARTHUR. N.Y. agric. exper. station, Geneva, N.Y. Military cetology. In the exhaustive essay upon brush-making, by Capt. A. L. Varney, in the last report of the secretary of war (vol. iii. p. 190), I find, in connection with much information of interest to the zoologist, some remarks upon cetaceans which are unique in their way, and show how dangerous it is for one unacquainted with a subject to attempt to instruct others therein. After stating that ‘‘ whalebone, or baleen, is a horny sub- stance, consisting of fibrous laminae laid lengthwise along the upper jaw of the whale,’’ our author proceeds to give the following information about the order Cetacea in general : — ** Zoologically, whales, or mammalia of the cetacean order, are divided into two great families, — ‘blowing’ cetacea, so called from the habit of spouting water through the nasal openings or spiracles in the top of the head; and ‘ herbivorous’ cetacea (Manati). family of ‘ blowing’ cetacea is divided into two tribes, —the tribe of whales (Balaena); and the dolphin tribe, distinguished mainly by the size and shave of the head. ae AB aye!) JANUARY 2, 1885.] “The whale tribe (Balaenidae) is divided into the genus whale and the genus cachalot (sperm whale). The genus whale produces the baleen,”’ etc. This travesty of truth was evidently compiled from text-books of fifty years ago, and, although somewhat amusing from its complete erroneousness, cannot be too severely criticised. Cetology is certainly not in so advanced a condition as could be wished; but there are numerous recent works in which the outlines of the subject are correctly laid down, and from which our author might have gathered facts, and not fictions, with which to preface his chapter upon whalebone. FREDERICK W. TRUE. U.S S. national museum. Man in the stone age. In Science, iv. 469, Prof. Henry W. Haynes takes me up sharply in reference to an opinion I expressed about the epoch of the appearance of man, properly so called, in prehistoric time in Europe, and calls this opinion ‘a most amazing travesty of the views of Mortillet.’ Professor Haynes tells us that he gave a critical notice of Mortillet’s work, ‘ Le préhistorique; anti- quité de ’homme,’ in Science: it is probable, there- fore, that he read that book. But it is evident, that, if he did, he has forgotten it: otherwise he would not repeat that Mortillet takes the station St. Acheul as typical of the oldest stone age, inasmuch as he definitely rejects it as being of mixed later types, and substitutes the station of Chelles (op. cit., 183). He would also have remembered that Mortillet denies, in so many words, that the anthropoid then living was man as we understand the term. These words are, ““Nous nous retrouvons, donc, en présence de l’an- thropopitheque, dont j’ai démontré l’existence,’’ etc. (p. 248). Passing to the next age or epoch, the Mous- térien, he asserts that it, too, was characterized by this race of anthropopitheci (p. 339); while in the third epoch, that of Jolutré, he leaves the question open, denying that any traces of man or anthropoid have been discovered (p. 392). This brings us late, very late, in paleolithic time, without an osteologic trace of any being who should properly be called man; for it would indeed be a travesty to apply that name to a creature without language, without religion, and without social com- pacts. If the question is to be any thing beyond one of word-splitting, these psychological characteristics must be connoted by the word ‘ man;’ for in all ethnological study they almost alone occupy us, as Peschel has well shown in his chapter, ‘ Die stellung des menschen in der schopfung’ (Volkerkunde, ein- leitung). Yet Mortillet himself denies them to his anthropopithecus. DANIEL G. Brinton, M.D. Media, Penn., Dec. 13. Dr. Haacke’s discovery of the’eggs of Echidna. In the Zoologischer anzeiger of Dec. 1 appears an extremely interesting letter from Dr. Wilhelm Haacke, director of the South-Australian museum at Adelaide. It is dated Sept. 8, and contains an account of the writer’s independent discovery of the oviparous character of the monotremes four days before Professor Liversedge transmitted Mr. Cald- well’s famous cable from Queensland. On Aug. 3 last, Dr. Haacke received from Kan- garoo Island, a point about one day’s journey from Adelaide, a living female Echidna hystrix. With the deliberateness characteristic of his race, he did not examine the animal until Aug. 25. He then as- certained that there were two lateral folds of the SCIENCE. 5) mammary pouch, in one of which he felt a sinall ob- ject. In theexpectation of finding a young Echidna, he brought it to light; and, to his astonishment, it proved to be an egg, with a membranous shell like that of some of the reptiles, and measuring about two centimetres in diameter. Owing, probably, to the long confinement of the animal, the egg was. decom- posed, and broke apart under a slight pressure. On Sept. 2 this important discovery was quietly com- municated to a meeting of the Royal society of South Australia ; and the Adelaide Advertiser of Sept. 4, also the Register of Sept. 5, published the factin their reports of the meeting. In the same number of the Register appeared a cable-message from London, announcing Mr. Caldwell’s discovery of the eggs of Ornithorhynchus; in which message, probably through a telegraph-operator’s error, the word ‘viviparous’ had been substituted for ‘oviparous.’ Dr. Haacke immediately wrote to the Register in a letter printed on the 6th, pointing out the probable error, and the singular coincidence of the independent discoveries of Mr. Caldwell and himself. On Sept. 7 the Register published an extended ac- count of Mr. Caldwell’s researches in Australia, and added in a shorter note, — ‘“It may also be observed that the announcement which has caused such a sensation among European scientists was made from Queensland on Aug. 29, or a few days after the discovery by Dr. Haacke. 3 Dr. Haacke closes his paper in the Anzeiger with an expression of pleasure that his discovery had met with such an unexpectedly rapid confirmation at the hands of another observer. This adds another to the numerous coincidences in the history of scientific discoveries. When it is remembered that Mr. Caldwell, at the time of his dis- covery, was in the interior, and may have been some distance from any telegraphic station, it seems prob- able that his observation and Dr. Haacke’s were only a day or so apart. At all events, each investigator is entitled to the full credit of independent discovery, or perhaps, in view of Professor Gill’s recent letter to Science on this subject, we may better say confirma- tion of an old truth that has been disregarded for half a century. After so long a period of ignorance regarding this most important question concerning the monotremes, it is certainly very extraordinary that at points so distant from each other there should have been made, simultaneously, observations upon different genera, either of which practically solved the question for all time. HENRY F. OSBORN. Princeton, N.J., Dec. 19. Artificial wampum. During a discussion upon wampum, at the Mon- treal meeting of the British association, I alluded to the fact that there is a wampum manufactory at Paskack, N.J. In the same discussion Major Powell remarked, that, according to his belief, none of the cylindrical beads of which the belts then on exhi- bition were composed had been made by Indians. Since my return I have visited the manufactory mentioned above, and I will give a hasty sketch of the same. It is situated at Paskack, on the Hacken- sack River, and is conducted by four *‘ Campbell brothers,’ the youngest of whom is about seventy years of age. According to their account, the business has been in their family about four generations. During the life of their grandfather it was situated at Tenack, now Edgewater; and my informant remembers when his grandfather used to go ina boat to Rockaway, and 4 | "SCT are Fe, return with his boat ioaded with clams, the meat of which was given to the country-people in return for opening the shells, as they were ruined by boiling. The blue ‘heart’ of the clam, as it was called, was cut out, and made up into the beads used for the ground-work of belts. My informant said, further, that he had often paid out thousands of dollars per week, buying the beads of the white country-people, who manufactured them in their several homes. ‘The hole of the bead was made with an ‘arm drill,’ and the beads were polished or rounded on grindstones. He says the white beads cannot be made from clam, but from conch shells, which they have always im- ported from the West Indies. The young clams can- not be used, and the old have so decreased in number that this braneh of the industry has been greatly re- duced. [had with me an Iroquois wampum belt, bearing the marks of age, which they immediately pronounced to have been made after their manner. Although they had been familiar with Indians, they had never known of their making the beads. They had always depended upon the trappers for their market, and re- lated incidents connected with their dealings with ‘fur companies,’ ete. The conch-shell is used also in the manufacture of the pipe beads, rosettes, etc. The holes in the pieces composing the rosettes are drilled, some of them, by the country-women in the vicinity. Specimens of the latter I shall take to New Orleans to represent a minute branch of the industry. If desired, I will resume this subject at a future time, and will present other proofs which go far to- wards supporting the statement made by the director of the Bureau of ethnology. ERMINNIE A. SMITH. Was it imagination ? The note on artificial auroras, in Science for Nov. 14, reminds me of an experience which occurred to myself and party on amountain summit two or three years ago. ‘There was an unusually brilliant aurora, and it was remarked by several that the streamers seemed to be very near us; and presently, as we stood in the open air with heads uncovered, we began to feel the sensations produced by proximity to a body charged with electricity. The fact that such a sensa- tion had actually been produced by the aurura, was doubted by some scientific men to whom I mentioned it; and it was attributed to imagination, which, I fear, is guilty of much, and often accused of more. My object now is chiefly to inquire whether others have had a similar experience. If, during the exhibition of anaurora, such an artificial pillar of light can be formed, I see no reason for doubting the evidence of my own senses; which, by the way, was so definite, and so distinctly perceived, that I could not doubt it if I desired to do so. E. T. QUIMBY. THE MANAGERS TO THE READERS. Ir is not often that the managers of this journal feel disposed to address their readers with editorial directness. Our principal duty is to record with fidelity and promptness the progress of science, and to make such com- ments upon its achievements as will enable intelligent people to follow with ease the course ‘ of inquiry in departments which are remote from their daily avocations. But the opening of a fifth volume furnishes us an opportunity for a few retrospective and prospective obser- vations. We have successfully passed what is some- times called ‘ the dangerous second year.’ A more intimate acquaintance with our staff of contributors, and a more accurate knowledge of the requirements of our readers, have enabled us from time to time to modify our original plans, and to adapt them more closely to the actual scientific condition of the country. . We are constantly exposed to contrary ten- dencies. ‘The cry often reaches us for ‘ more popular’ articles. The public appetite, which has been whetted for half a century by muse- ums, lectures, magazines, books, and tracts, revealing the ‘ wonders of science,’ ‘ the curi- osities ’ of nature, the mysteries of the micro- scope, the magnitudes of the telescope, and other like marvels, calls upon us to give more entertaining and sometimes more sensational papers. When this desire is somewhat mod- erated, it still looks for novelties, surprising dis- coveries, extraordinary aunouncements, and is liable to disappointment if our weekly issue appears with ‘ nothing striking in it.” On the other hand, the teachers and leaders of science would generally be glad to have this journal become more scientific, and less popular, by printing longer papers than we commonly offer, more abstracts of important memoirs, more — elaborate discussions of controverted points. Between these two opposing tendencies, it is no easy task to keep a steady course. A brief recapitulation of our principles may enable our readers to understand our position. In the first place, Science aims to gather from original American sources early and trustworthy information in respect to the sci- entific work which is in progress in every part of this land and under all the various agencies, governmental, institutional, social, and indi- vidual. We do all in our power to elicit from the universities, the learned societies, the labo- ratories, the surveys, the observatories, and the national scientific departments, accurate — & 5 + | > , :- 2 i = ae Fast from 13° we 15° ee . Sie Samouiies/ eral " Meindchi Ws : 4h. ba < 163 | a) iG Monaows Le\mt, Wehonap & wk peas “Tacos Oh 3 Tongdn 7386 1B 0 ®|_ EQUATOR STATION 9 tonic eae’ © x dou Meifpourensi, oMosenge, tbo) | e/4y) \a7 9 / SLOUKOLELA © Lewy Hills { igh Les ES pe © Ke Nhoteoes— Fkata amballtS htoumpoukou Banda Poiht) a <]- o> Mfoumk Wes MAKOKOhS ae TAS € S > jathuen 248 F, oe 4 4 =~ e 4 4 Mii, ane favdukou A x Mex ¥ Tonibo ™A 4 “cahngdoroh pun ER e jt fg B G |o Qo wr ppd Seeton Seon Nfarho Rapids} Selenainge o loli ONS Tinta”) ene B bok ios ae VAS Fg on MER Se a h Soa he oy Masamno —Ba oe Mende ‘ , LBCnicolbloy ~-SBanga op srghe q yw lie . ANE apne 4 © lyoxlondo = eK my. B ea Pr nadncOe ‘ae 5 soeees tt Dr. Gussfeld, 1873-4. Brito Capello et Ivens, 1877-80. De Grazza, 1878-82. Rey, Comber. Major Mechow, 1880-51. Capt. Grant Elliot, Intern’! African Assoe’n, 1882-3. is ay sq ? nya Ss Mpitien, a | f % Ba Ne, ZF | BOA MboRoe eXambagani é TWAS kg a i May, TN q . > 3 7 “he gy. iolph_ A N15 Zara 4 PSirres Hilfe) BanzCoanse-Y Athisetly —ANiGOmB! oMatouniha Rea o Musingy Hillg,) 460 q many one youkslon Ma(hbjukeye RES } 5 4“ ene itangp (64) EX Miolinsima Rapids S) statembiuy cin Eyal i > = Pt.Ma Mele AZ C™ i Bay of COS Se. Ea ta SOUT, —Ronte of Dn Chailln, 1856-59, 7 a ere -————— Lt. Haron, ¥ we ——" ‘* .M, Orbanet Amelot," & w g Gi z ——“ tVandeyelde, “ i ts iD coe “Lt. Mikic, " “ 1888. || samzoute Pequena anes" Capt, Hanssens, “ “ “ i dave Pxraea de Cobre) * Stations of the International African Association. 4 : “ “© Catholic Missions. Mouene Paut i “4 Baptist Mission. Height CNLCaESORRO F __Kassonigo t « _ © Tiyingston Inland Mission. || in metres se REI EG eet 3 European Factories. at SCALE OF KILOMETRES ey 2 Stee Ce OC 17 lo | Laks Iangacoula — — | 1 12° Longitude MAP OF THE DISTRICT ABOUT THE LOWER KONGO. AFTER CHAVANNE. SCIENCE, Struthers, Serrors & Co., Eogr's, N.Y, January 2, 1885. JANUARY 2, 1885. ] and frequent communications in respect to matters which come under their cognizance. Second, Science aims to gather like reports from the best British and foreign sources in respect to the advancement of knowledge in other countries. In respect to work which is done abroad, where there are so many excel-. lent journals, we cannot be so full as we are in respect to the investigations of our own coun- trymen ; but, as science knows no geographical restrictions, our columns are open to intelli- gence from every part of the globe. Third, in presenting what we have to say, our. purpose is to be brief, as becomes a jour- nal published weekly ; alert in selecting those topics which are of the most immediate inter- est ; accurate, or we should soon lose all stand- ing in the scientific world; and readable, by which we mean that the articles written by specialists in their several domains shall be phrased in terms comprehensible, without a dictionary, to those whose studies and pursuits are in very different fields. Fourth, in the discussion of important anes tions, or in the expression of opinions on dis- puted points, Science endeavors to be free from the influence of any school or clique, to speak only in the interests of advancing truth, and to suggest such methods as will promote the economical employment and enlargement of scientific funds, the diffusion of sound ideas among the people at large, and the suppression of all needless animosities. As for the future, we are hopeful. Our ar- rangements for receiving. and printing such communications as we wish to lay before our readers were never better than now. Our con- tributors, many of whom we have never per- sonally seen, and who are scattered far and wide over this land, have never been in better accord with the editorial staff. Our subscrip- tion list is enlarging, and our pages now come before the principal workers in all departments ' of science. But we are free to add, that if Science is to be all that it should be, all that we desire to make it, there must be a more lib- eral financial support. Those who have fur- nished the capital requisite to begin and to SCIENCE. ay sustain for a period the publication of a jour- nal which they believed would be of the great- est utility cannot be expected to continue their support indefinitely, unless they are sustained by the cordial support of individuals and asso- ciations who are interested, quite as much as the directors of Science, in the perpetuation of the influences which we now represent. We therefore ask our readers and friends, and especially our contributors and subscribers, to continue during a third year their hearty and outspoken good will. THE KONGO. Tren years ago Stanley left Zanzibar for the creat lakes of eastern Africa, intending, if pos- sible, to cross the continent, and ascertain if the Luluaba of Livingstone was the Kongo. We then knew little of central or western Africa. The courses of the streams and mountains dot- ted on the map were derived from imagination or the vague reports of natives. Schweinfurth had explored Sudan and Darfur and the west- ern branches of the Nile; but neariy all of Africa south of Algeria, and west of the Nile and the great lakes, was unknown. Since then, Stanley has followed the course of the Kongo nearly two thousand miles, from the great lakes of western Africa to the ocean. The English have explored the Niger and its tributary, the Benue, nearly to Lake T’schad ; while Capt. Cameron has crossed from Zanzi- bar, south of the watershed of the Kongo, to the Atlantic at Benguela. ‘The Portuguese, under Messrs. Capello and Ivens, and De Serpa Pinto, starting from Benguela, 12° south lati- tude, about three hundred miles south of the Kongo, have traversed the continent between the 12th and 15th degrees of south latitude, and explored a vast tract of country and the valley of two great rivers running north, but were prevented by the natives from followin them to their junction with the Kongo. We have now a general knowledge of Africa from 10° north of the equator to the Cape of Good Hope, including central and south Africa : leaving only the territory south of Algeria, the western Sudan beyond Darfur, terra incognita. Into this region the French are travelling from Algeria, and the Germans from Egypt; and soon the whole of Africa will be explored, so far as its general features are concerned. The western coast of Africa has long been 6 SCIENCE. ‘\ known to the slave-trader and the English cruisers. Since the suppression of the slave- trade, Portuguese, English, Dutch, and French traders have established factories or trading- stations at many places on the coast from 17° north to the Cape. On the Niger and its tribu- tary, the Benue, are many English stations ; and small steamers run regularly up and down these rivers, carrying in the cotton of Man- chester, and bringing away the products of Africa. Within the last two years the Ger- mans have established trading-stations at three different places on the western coast. This country has been regarded as the most unhealthy portion of the world, lying under the equator ; the soil low and marshy ; the cli- Est de Paris Sokota by LI Devil as bisa : id both sides of the equator, with a free naviga- tion above Leopoldville, according to Stanley, of 4,520 miles. In its valley there is an abun- dance of flowing streams. The drinking-water ‘is magnificent ; the temperature delightful, the thermometer ranging from 87° at noon, to 60° at two a.m. ‘The land is rich, and adapted to the growth of most tropical and semi-tropical products, among which are India-rubber, gums, sugar, and cotton. ‘The country is probably as healthy as the fertile prairies of our own great west, and capable of raising immense crops of - all the tropical productions. There are two seasons, —a wet and a dry. In the rainy weather a large part of the day is pleasant, storms arise suddenly and with little __ El beld Kordofan ( L. Tsang Abyssinia tdi) i Cea 7 § Le Alexandeg 7 CENTRAL AFRICA, WITH THE COURSE OF THE KONGO. mate moist, damp, and malarious ; the abode of all kinds of tropical fevers. The Kongo was barred by great falls near its mouth, and was so unhealthy, that out of a party of' fifty-one, under English officers, who explored the river in 1816, only one returned alive. Now on the Kongo, above the falls, are between forty and fifty trading-stations, with small steamboats running from Leopoldville on Stanley Pool, three hundred miles from its mouth, to Stanley Falls, nine hundred miles from Leopoldyville. While on the coast the country is low, flat, and unhealthy, south of the equator it rises a short distance from the coast, until it reaches a level of from twelve hundred to fifteen hun- dred feet. The Kongo, king of African rivers, and second only to the Amazon in the volume of its waters, occupies an elevated plateau on warning, thunder roars, lightning flashes, wind blows with great fury, rain pours down in sheets of water for an hour or two; then as suddenly the clouds pass away. On the coast the rainy season lasts from November to March; but in the interior, rains commence earlier, and continue later. There appears to be no great variety of races among the natives ; though the tribes are very numerous, each, with a different dialect, living in constant warfare with its neighbors. Here are the dwarfs and many tribes of cannibals. The tribes inhabiting the coast have long been acquainted with the Portuguese and English traders ; furnishing ivory and slaves in ex- change for beads, fire-arms, ammunition, rum, and a little cotton cloth. ‘These tribes, though anxious to trade with the whites, are opposed JANUARY 2, 1885.] to their travelling through the country, prefer- ring to hold all the trade of the interior in their own hands. ‘The natives in the interior are generally well disposed to the white man, and ready for trade. Which of the great powers shall control this trade is a question now agitating the civilized world. The Portuguese first discovered the western coast of Africa. They claim the terri- tory from latitude 5° 12’ south to 18° 5’ south, including the mouth of the Kongo River, run- ning from the coast indefinitely into the interior. Their northern bound- ary-line crosses the Kongo at Isan- gilla, about one hundred and fifty miles from the mouth. By the right of discovery they claim jurisdiction over the mouth of the Kongo and all commerce passing out of its mouth. The English claim large portions of the coast from about 6° or 8° north to 18° north, including the mouths of the Niger, and the whole country drained by the Niger and the Benue, the Gold Coast. Sierra Leone, and Senegambia. The French claim Cape Verde, the River Senegal (14° to 17° north). Cape Lopez, and the Gaboon from about 4° or 5° north of the equa- tor to as many degrees south. The Germans, within two years past, at the suggestion of Bismarck, have taken possession of Lagos on the Bight of Benin, of Cameroon between the Eng- lish and the French claims (about 5° north), and a vast country near Angra Pequena, commencing at 23° south, and running to Cape Colony, about 29° south, inland to Transvaal, —a territory said to be as large as Ger- many, Belgium, and Holland united. They have established over forty fac- tories on the coast. Almost all the western coast of Africa is now claimed by these four great powers. Portugal claims the exclusive control of the navigation of the Kongo; England, exclusive control of the Niger. A year ago Portugal proposed to make a treaty with England by which the re- spective rights of these powers to each of these rivers should be recognized. Great op- position was made, both in England and on the continent, to this alliance, and it has been abandoned. The International association of Africa was formed in 1877 in Belgium, about the time of the return of Mr. Stanley from the ‘ dark continent.’ Its headquarters are in Brussels. SCIENCE. 1 The object of the association is to acquire, by treaties with the natives, territory for the use and benefit of free states established under the care and supervision of the association. For this purpose it is declared that no custom-house duties are to be levied upon goods or merchan- dise brought into the territory, and that no greater rights will be granted to the citizens of one nation than to those of every other ; that the Kongo, the great highway into cen- tral Africa, shall remain an _ international Se a ate ae YW, English. WSS French === German INNA Portugese Xx Infernational Ass” OUTLINE-MAP OF AFRICA, SHOWING THE PORTIONS OF THE COAST CLAIMED BY EUROPEAN NATIONS. river, open to all civilizing influences, and to the legitimate commerce of every land. It is established to promote the public good, not private gain. It has made treaties with many different tribes, and founded thirty stations on the river. At these stations factories are established, and trade carried on by mer- chants with the natives. This association is unlike any other ever organized. The United States was the first to recognize its nation- ality, in April, 1884. Since then it has been recognized by several other European na- tions. At the invitation of Bismarck, a confer- ence of the leading nations of the world is 8 SCIENCE, in session at Berlin, to establish, if possible, the political status of the association. Many hope that it will ratify the purpose of the association to establish free navigation on the Kongo. The Germans also demand free navigation with international control of the Niger, but are opposed by the English, who claim the exclusive jurisdiction and control, although expressing themselves as ready to grant the free navigation of the river to all nations. The French, under De Brazza, have opened a line of Atlantic communication with the Kongo by the River Ogowe, near the equator, with stations on the Ogowe and the Kongo; thus obtaining an outlet from the valley of the Kongo, north of the territory claimed by the Portuguese. The stations of the French are generally on the north side of the Kongo, while those of the International association are upon the south. It now seems as if the valley of the Kongo would be the most densely populated part of Africa. Its climate and soil are favorable for white labor. The great drawback is the falls near the mouth of the river: but, to the eleva- tion of land which produces these falls, it owes its favored position. A railway is proposed from Stanley Pool to Boma, a distance of two hundred miles, — the head of navigation from the ocean. The Niger and the Benue are both navigable from their sources far into the interior, and consequently the land in the immediate valley of these rivers is low and unhealthy ; while south of the valley of the Kongo the country is probably broken and mountainous, and therefore less fit for culti- vation. The maritime nations of Europe are seeking for the trade of Africa, but there seems to be nothing to warrant expectations of a large traffic with central Africa at once. The tribes, though numerous, are small and have few wants. One or two generations must pass before they can become even partially civilized, and acquire the needs of civilized life. Emigration from Europe must-be slow, as Africa is not so well adapted as America and Australia to European emigrants ; and not until America is densely populated will the overflowing emigration from Europe seek the heart of Africa. But the time will come when it will be densely populated, and its long rivers, its many and great falls, its immense lakes and high mountains, become the resort of a vast popu- lation. GARDINER G. HupBarp. Washington, Dec. 26. LAKE MISTASSINI. PARAGRAPHS are going the rounds of the news- papers, representing that a great lake has recently been discovered in Canada, larger than Ontario, and perhaps as large as Superior itself. If this were true, it would certainly be a matter of great interest, and would naturally lead to the inquiry, how it happened that far-off Lake Superior should have been mapped, with an astonishing approach to general correctness of outline, as early as 1672, while this new lake remained to be discovered more than two hundred years later, notwithstanding the fact that it is at a comparatively short distance from a region where the Jesuits and fur-traders had many posts at the time the Lake Superior map was made. The immediate cause of the paragraphs in question was undoubtedly a communication made to the geo- graphical section of the British association, at its late meeting in Montreal, by the Rev. Abbé Laflamme, and the reference to this communication by Gen. Sir J. H. Lefroy, in his opening address before the section as chairman of that body. In this address Gen. Lefroy gives the impression that the discovery of this lake is something new and startling. He says, ‘‘ That it should be left to this day to discover in no very remote part of the north-east a lake rivalling Lake Ontario, if not Lake Superior, in magnitude, is a pleasant example of the surprises geography has in store for its votaries”’ (Proc. royal geogr. soc. for October, 1884, p. 585.). Onreferring to the communi- cation made to the section by the Rev. Abbé Laflamme, it does not appear, however, that there was any suf- ficient authority for this statement on the part of the chairman of the section; and, as the matter is one of considerable interest, it may be worth while to look a little more carefully into what is known about the lake in question. The facts here to be presented will show that we in reality know no more about the size of Lake Mistas- sini than we did two hundred years ago; the reverend abbé himself, in his communication, doing little more than to say that there is in north-eastern Canada a lake whose dimensions are unknown, but which some persons believe to be of great extent; an ‘old trader,’ whose name is not given, ‘seeing no reason to doubt’ that it is ‘but little inferior in size to Lake Superior.’ There are several statements in the reverend abbé’s communication to which exception might be taken; but it is sufficient to call attention to his mistranslation and misconception of the original account of the lake by Father Albanel, who says that it is reported that twenty days would be required to — make the tour of it (pour en faire le tour). This the Rev. Abbé Laflamme has translated, ‘ twenty days to walk around it;’ thus showing a singular misconcep- tion of the nature of the only possible means of ex- ploration and communication in a region like that in question. This lake, called by the first explorer of that region, Father Albanel, ‘le lac des Mistassirinins,’ lies on the — north side of the watershed between the St. Lawrence and Hudson’s Bay, and is represented on nearly every — JANUARY 2, 1885.] map of the region as being the head and reservoir of Rupert’s River. Its existence was first made known in the Jesuit relations for the year 1671-72. The ac- count there given consists mainly of the journal of Father Charles Albanel, who was associated with Monsieur Denys de Saint Simon and ‘ another French- man’ in the exploration of the line of communica- tion (apparently well known to the Indians, but which had never before been traversed by white men) between Lake St. John and Hudson Bay. ‘The geographical details given in this account are exceed- ingly meagre; the chief items in regard to Lake Mis- tassini being that it is said to be so large that the eircuit of it could not be made in less than twenty days of fine weather; that it is full of rocks, from which circumstance its name is derived; and that there was an abundance of fish and game in the vicinity. It does not appear that Father Albanel’s party did more than traverse a small arm of this lake, as they were not on it more than one, or possibly two days. So far as known to the writer, the first delineation of Lake Mistassini is on a map published by Jaillot in 1685, of which a manuscript copy belonging to the Kohl collection is in the State department in Wash- ington, and temporarily, at the present time, in the possession of Mr. Winsor, librarian of Harvard uni- versity. Itdoes not appear, however, from Mr. Kohl’s notes attached to this map, whether the original _ Was engraved or printed; but itis said to have been almost entirely compiled from original Canadian . authorities. On itthe lake in question bears the name of ‘Ticmagaming.’ That it is really the lake now known as Mistassini will be evident from what is said farther on. This lake also appears under the name of ‘ Mistasin ’ _ on two maps published by H. Moll in 1715 and 1720. Its shape, however, as indicated on these two maps, is not at all like that given on the Jaillot map; neither is it the same on Moll’s two maps. It is clear from the way in which it is represented by the latter, and especially from the manner in which the islands are seattered over its surface, promiscuously and very differently in the two maps, that nothing more was known about it by Moll than that there was a large lake in that position in which were several islands. In Bellin’s map (1744), which is found in Charle- voix, the same lake is given with avery different form from that which had been previously indicated. Itis represented as forming three nearly parallel bodies of water with a general north-east south-west trend, and connected with each other by comparatively narrow channels. To the most north-western of these bodies of water the name of ‘ Lac des Mistassins’ is given; to the middle one, that of ‘ Pere Albanel;’ and to the more easterly one, that of ‘ Lac Dauphin.’ In the map which forms the geographical basis of the Canada survey (geological) map (1866), this lake (here called ‘ Mistiashini’) appears with a very dif- ferent shape from that given on the Bellin map, and has the appearance of being in part laid down from surveys. The north-eastern and eastern portions, how- ever, are indicated by a dotted line, from which the SCIENCE. 9 inference may be drawn that this part of the lake was unknown. It is a remarkable fact, however, that the form of the lake, as given on the Geological survey map, resembles quite closely that which it has on the Jaillot map, showing pretty clearly that the western side of the lake was laid down by the last-inentioned compiler from actual exploration. This same outline, given on the Geological survey map in 1866, is repeated without variation on the latest general map of Canada,—that published by Stanford, and said to be Arrowsmith’s, with additions and corrections bringing it down to 1880. This would indicate that no additions had been made to our knowledge of the geography of that region during the past twenty years. It is a curious fact, how- ever, that on the Arrowsmith-Stanford map, this lake, called ‘ Mistassinnie,’ is moved just one degree farther to the east than it is on the Geological sur- vey map. On most of the maps on which the lake is given, it is represented as being some sixty or seventy miles in length, or about half the size of Lake Ontario: although it is clearly evident that its eastern side is unknown, both as to form and position. All that is known about its size, beyond this, is the statement of Pere Albanel, that it was reported to be so large that it would require twenty days of pleasant weather to circumnavigate it; and the opinions of certain per- sons, reported by the Rev. Abbé Laflamme, giving it various dimensions, no clew being given to enable one to decide on the relative weight to be allowed to each person’s opinion. The Rev. Abbé Laflamme gives his own statement, that there can be no doubt that Lake Mistassini is larger than Lake Ontario; while the ‘old trader,’ as already mentioned, says that there is no reason to doubt that it is ‘ but little inferior in size to Lake Superior.’ The positive statement of ‘Mr. Burgess’ is also added, that the lake is a hun- dred and fifty miles in length: this would be about fifty miles less than Ontario. After all, we have, in reference to the dimension of Lake Mistassini, no better evidence to fall back on than that of Father Albanel. What number of miles can be allowed as the equivalent of a tour of twenty days of fine weather, the writer, with the experience of seven summers spent in boating and canoeing on Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, with crews of Indians, half-breeds, and voyageurs, is unable to say. An ordinary journey of twenty days in a canoe would, perhaps, carry a traveller around a lake half or two-thirds the size of Ontario, which would coincide with Mr. Burgess’s statement. While it is possible that Lake Mistassini may be considerably larger than Lake Ontario, the probabili- ties are decidedly in favor of its being somewhat smaller. At all events, geographical information in regard to that region, which does not seem difficult of access, is greatly needed. It is easy to see from the above that the name of the lake about which this note is written has been spelled in as many different ways as there are authors or cartographers who have had to do with it. The spelling *‘ Mistassini’ is here adopted because it is the 10 simplest, and because it is that form which has been used in the report of the proceedings of the Montreal meeting in the organ of the Royal geographical soci- ety. The present writer has, however, never seen it so spelled on any geographical map. It is spelled in three different ways in the publications of the Canada survey, and in the same number of ways in Stieler’s ‘ Hand-atlas.’ J.D. WHITNEY. THE TASMAN GLACIER. .A YEAR ago, accounts were published of the attempt in 1882, of Mr. W. S. Green, an Englishman, SCIENCE. THE NEW-ZEALAND ALPS AS SEEN FROM THE to ascend Mount Cook, the highest (12,350) of the New-Zealand Alps. He was accompanied by two prac- tised Swiss guides from Grindelwald, and reached a great altitude over snow and ice, but failed in his main object, chiefly on account of bad weather. A: somewhat similar exploration was undertaken in March, 1883, by Dr. R. v. Lendenfeld of Christchurch, New Zealand, accompanied by his wife, three shep- herds to serve as porters, and a driver for the wagon in which the supplies were carried up to within a few miles of the Tasman glacier. Bad weather on the approach tothe mountains was followed by nine days [Vou. V., No. 100. without a cloud, during which a good piece of triangu- lation was executed, the Hochstetter dome ascended (2,840 m.), and material collected for a fairly detailed map on a scale of 1:80,000. The results of the sur- vey now appear as supplement 75 to Petermann’s mittheilungen (Der Tasman-gletscher und seine um- gebung; Gotha, June, 1884, 80 p.), with ageneral and local map, a well-executed reproduction of a photo- graph taken from the medial moraine of the great Tasman glacier, which we copy in reduced form, and several cuts. The glacier was found to be twenty- eight kilometres in length, —three kilometres longer than the Aletsch, the greatest in Switzerland. Its lower part is of moderate slope and slow motion, MIDDLE MORAINE OF THE TASMAN GLACIER. greatly covered by moraines. Green described the New-Zealand Alps as equalling or exceeding those of Europe in picturesqueness, but Lendenfeld thinks them inferior. The mountain form is less pro- nounced, the snow-fields are smaller, and the glaciers are much obscured by morainic rubbish: bushes re- place pines, and the flat-bottomed valleys are without villages and fields. The summit of the Hochstetter dome, a sharp edge of hard-packed snow, was reached by Lendenfeld, his wife, and one porter, after a dar- ing climb across a delicate ice-bridge, of which the author’s rough figure is here copied. Sitting astride JANUARY 2, 1885.] of the ridge, the neighboring peaks rose around them ; and all New Zealand, from western to eastern coast, with the ocean beyond on either side, lay below. The THE TOP OF MOUNT HOCHSTETTER. story of the journey is simply and graphically told, and suggests a writer of more intelligence and better powers of observation than is usually met with among mountain climbers. THE DIGESTIBILITY OF CELLULOSE. It is a well-established fact, that a considerable por- tion of the woody fibre which is consumed in such large amounts by herbivorous animals does not re-ap- pear in their excrements, but is apparently digested. In what portion of the alimentary canal, or by means of what secretion, this digestion is accomplished, has been the subject of much speculation and of some experiments; but, until recently, neither had done much to illuminate the matter. Hofmeister 1 seemed to have gone far towards solv- ing the question when he found that a considerable solution of the cellulose of grass took place in the rumen of sheep. He first enclosed two small samples of fresh grass in cages of german-silver wire covered with muslin, and introduced them into the rumen of a living sheep. After three days the animal was killed, the cages removed, and their contents exam- ined. It was found that seventy-eight and four-tenths per cent of the woody fibre originally present had been dissolved. Subsequent experiments showed that the fluid obtained from the rumen of a freshly killed sheep had also a powerful solvent action on woody fibre, and that the mixed saliva had likewise this power. Experiments on oxen gave no decisive result : those on the horse failed to show any solvent action of the saliva upon woody fibre. Hay, and the ‘crude fibre’ prepared in the analysis of fodders, were acted upon by the fluid from sheep's rumen, though not so energetically as was the grass. These results point unmistakably to the first stom- ach of ruminants as one place where cellulose is digested. Hofmeister ascribes to the mixed saliva the power of dissolving it; but some subsequent ex- periments by Tappeiner ? indicate that this is effected by a fermentative process, and that the saliva or fluid from the rumen used by Hofmeister served simply to supply food to the organisms concerned in the 1 Biedermann’s centralblatt, Jahrg. x.p. 669. 2 Thier. chem. ber., xi. 303, xii. 266 and 272; biologie, xx. 52. Zettschr. fiir SCIENCE. 11 fermentation. 'Tappeiner took samples of the con- tents of rumen, small intestine, and large intestine, of a ruminant fed exclusively on hay. One sample from each portion of the alimentary canal was at once boiled; to a second some antiseptic (chloroform, thymol) was added, sufficient to stop the action of organized ferments; while to the third nothing was added. All were kept warm, and after a time their content of crude fibre was determined. Those por- tions from the rumen and large intestine, to which nothing was added, were found to have lost cellulose, while carbonic acid and marsh-gas were evolved. No loss was observed from the contents of the small intes- tines, nor from the samples treated with antiseptics. Further experiments showed that this fermentation could be produced outside the body. ‘To hay or pure cellulose, mixed with extract of meat, and previously heated to 110° C.,a drop of fluid from the rumen was added. After a few days, active fermentation began. Gas was freely evolved, consisting of about seventy-six per cent of carbonic acid and twenty- four per cent of marsh-gas, and the cellulose nearly all disappeared. A second kind of fermentation was also observed, which yielded carbonic acid and hydro- gen. In both kinds of fermentation, only the smaller part of the cellulose was volatilized, most of it being converted into acids of the fatty series. That cellulose is fermentable is not a new obser- vation; Van Tieghem having found that the butyric ferment has the power of decomposing it, with pro- duction of hydrogen, carbonic acid, and butyric acid. Tappeiner’s experiments are of interest, because they show that the fermentation takes place also in the alimentary canal. This is shown not only by the disappearance of the cellulose in the experiments described above, but also by the presence of the prod- ucts of the fermentation in stomach and intestines. In ruminants the marsh-gas fermentation seems to prevail. In the stomach of the horse and swine considerable quantities of hydrogen were found. In both cases acetic acid, aldehyde, and an acid hav- ing the composition of butyric acid, were found. These results are important in their bearing on our estimates of the nutritive value of fodders. It having been shown that the digestible portion of the crude fibre has the composition of starch, it has generally been assumed to have the same nutritive value. Tap- peiner’s experiments show that this is probably not the case. There appears to bea disposition on the part of some critics, however, to rush to the opposite extreme, and, instead of overestimating the nutritive value of cellulose, to underestimate its The non- nitrogenous nutrients are to be regarded as the fuel of the body, and they are of worth to it in proportion to the amount of energy set free by their oxidation to carbonic acid and water. So far as we can see, it is a matter of indifference whether that oxidation begins in the alimentary canal, or not until the sub- stance has passed into the circulation. Whatever potential energy is contained in the digested cellulose is yielded up to the body sooner or later, with the exception of that portion which escapes in the form of combustible gases. According to Tappeiner, this 12 portion is small. Since, now, the heat of combus- tion of cellulose is the same as that of starch, ac- cording to von Rechenberg’s determinations,! the difference in the nutritive value of the two must be measured by the heat of combustion of the marsh- gas and hydrogen evolved. The well-known experiments of Henneberg and Stohmann on the respiration of sheep showed no considerable excretion of either hydrogen or marsh- gas. In one of them, for example, the animal ate per day 1,216 grams of hay, and excreted 1.5 grams of marsh-gas. Not having at hand the original ac- count of the experiment, we will assume that the hay contained only twenty-five per cent of crude fibre, of which one-half was digested. This amounts to 152 grams per day. This quantity of cellulose, if oxidized to carbonic acid and water, would yield 676,- 704 cal.2 From this we have to deduct the amount of heat carried off in 1.5 grams of marsh-gas, which, according to Favre and Silbermann, amounts to 19,595 eal. There remain 657,109 cal., representing the worth of the 152 grams of cellulose to the animal. The same weight of starch, if completely oxidized, would yield 680,808 cal.: in other words, the cellu- lose set free in the body of the animal ninety-six and a half per cent of the energy which the same weight of starch would have done. Naturally these calculations are not exact; but they serve to show, that, if the heat liberated during the fermentation of the cellulose is of use to the ani- mal, the nutritive value of cellulose does not fall so much below that of other carbohydrates as some are inclined to believe. H. P. ARMSBY. IS THE RAINFALL OF KANSAS IN- CREASING ?3 THIRTY years ago the territory of Kansas was not occupied by the white man, and, if we except a few acres cultivated by the Delaware Indians, no portion of her soil had been turned up by the plough. Her entire area was included within the vast and almost unknown region of the ‘treeless plains’ and the ‘great American desert.’ During that brief inter- vening period, more than a million people, chiefly of the agricultural class, have taken possession of her domain, and have already brought her to the very front rank of the states of the Union in the extent and value of her agricultural products. History affords no other instance of the permanent occupation of so extensive an area, previously unoccupied by man, by so large an agricultural population, in so short a space of time. Here, certainly, if- human agency could anywhere affect climate, would such an effect be produced. Here, assuredly, if settlement ever in- creases rainfall, will such increase be most marked and most unmistakable. That such increase has ac- ' Journ. prakt. chem., n.f., xxii. 1 and 223. * 1cal. = the amount of heat required to raise the tempera- ture of 1 gram of water 1° C. 5 Lecture before the Kansas academy of sciences, Nov. 25, by Prof. F. H. Snow. SCIENCE. [Vou. V., tually taken place, I believe to be established beyond a doubt. It is a circumstance peculiarly favorable to the determination of the point in question, that, — although the general settlement of Kansas by cultiva- tors of the soil is of such recent date, reliable obser- vations upon the rainfall had been made at the military posts upon the eastern borders for a sufficient period to make possible a satisfactory comparison between the rainfall before settlement and after settlement. The records at Fort Leavenworth cover the longest period, and enable us to compare the nineteen years imme- diately preceding the occupation of Kansas by white settlers with the nineteen years immediately follow- | ing such occupation. During the first period the average rainfall was 30.96 inches; during the second period it was 36.21 inches; giving an average increase of 5.21 inches per annum, —an increase of nearly twenty per cent. The Fort Leavenworth records cover so long a period of time (nearly forty years), that the increased average of the second half of the period cannot be attributed to a mere ‘ accidental variation.’ In the issue of Science for April 18, 1884, it is stated that ‘‘ the supposed increase in the rainfall in the dry region beyond the Mississippi is not borne out by the returns of the signal-service.’’ But the records of the signal-service upon which this statement was based include a period of only twelve years of obser- vation (from 1871 to 1882), which is undoubtedly too short a gals for either establishing or disproving the fact of a ‘secular’ variation. But the fact of an increased Kansas rainfall does not rest entirely upon the Fort Leavenworth obser- vations. There are other stations in Kansas whose records cover a much longer period than that of the longest established regular station of the signal- service. There are the twenty years’ records of the U. S. military post at Fort Riley, the twenty-four years’ records of the State agricultural college at Manhattan, and the seventeen years’ records of the State university at Lawrence. If these several periods of observation be divided into two equal parts, in each case it is found that the average rainfall of the second half is notably greater than that of the first half. At Fort Riley the increase amounts to 3.05 inches per annum, and at Manhattan to 5.61 inches per annum, and at Lawrence to 3.06 inches per annum. Expressed in per cent, the rainfall of these three sta- tions has increased in the second half of each period of observation, at Fort Riley, thirteen per cent; at Manhattan, twenty per cent; and at Lawrence, over nine per cent. If the increased rainfall could be shown by the records of a single station only, or if the several stations with sufficiently long periods of observation exhibited discordant results (some indi- cating a decrease, while others indicate an increase), or if even a single station indicated a diminished rainfall, the fact of a general increase would lack satisfactory demonstration. But the entire agreement of the four stations whose records have been used in a discussion of this question seems to establish be- yond doubt the fact of an increased rainfall in the eastern half of Kansas. There can be no reasonable doubt that the gnu No. 100, ¥ 7 ) aw JANUARY. 2, 1885.] settlement of the western portion of Kansas will have a similar effect upon its rainfall; but it is not reasonable to expect that western Kansas will ever boast of a rainfall equal to that of eastern Kansas. So long as the eastern half of the state remains to the east of the meridian forming the western bound- ary of the Gulf of Mexico, the south winds will cause it to receive much larger supplies of vapor, for con- densation into rain, than will be received by the western half of the state, which lies beyond the im- mediate track of the vapor-laden winds. It must be remembered that climatic changes are exceedingly gradual; and a rain deficiency or excess for a single year, or for two or three years in succession, must not be considered as invalidating the law of general averages. Neither should the fact that the rainfall, upon the whole, is increasing, induce settlers to break land in the western third of Kansas with the expec- tation of successfully raising the same crops as in eastern Kansas. Such settlers will surely be disap- pointed. It is even doubtful if paying crops of any kind can ever be continuously produced in that region. With an average before settlement of about fifteen inches per annum, the same percentage of increase as has been made in eastern Kansas in thirty years would give an annual amount of less than eighteen inches, — a quantity entirely inadequate to maintain successful agriculture. AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR, PSVCHICAL RESEARCH. AT a meeting held in Boston, Sept. 23, to consider the advisability of the formation of a society for psychical research in America, the whole matter was placed in the hands of a committee of nine, consist- ing of Dr. G. Stanley Hall of Johns Hopkins univer- sity; Prof. E.C. Pickering, director of the Harvard college observatory; Dr. H. P. Bowditch and Dr. C. S. Minot, of the Harvard medical school; Mr. S. H. Seudder, president, and Professor Alpheus Hyatt, curator, of the Boston society of natural history; Pro- fessor William James of Harvard college; Profes- sor William Watson of Boston; and Mr. N. D. C. Hodges of Cambridge. This committee held a num- ber of meetings during the months of October and November, and issued an invitation to a number of scientific men throughout the country to join in a society under. a constitution upon which they had decided. To this invitation there were favorable replies from about eighty. The first meeting of the society was held in Boston on the 18th of December. Under the constitution the conduct of the society is placed in the hands of a council of twenty-one, seven to be chosen each year, to hold office three years. Of this council, there were elected at this first meeting, fifteen: Prof. G. Stanley Hall, Prof. George S. Fullerton, Dr. William James, Prof. E. C. Pickering, for three years; Professor Simon Newcomb, Dr. C. S. Minot, Dr. H. P. Bowditch, Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, for two years; Prof. George F. Barker, Mr. S. H. Seudder, Rev. C. C. Everett, Mr. SCIENCE. 13 Morefield Storey, Professor John Trowbridge, Profes- sor William Watson, Professor Alpheus Hyatt, for one year. The sub-committee on work made an informal report, and has since issued a circular to members, asking for volunteers on the investigating committees and for information regarding promising subjects for investigation, such as mediums, mind-readers, mes- meric subjects, etc. The society adjourned to meet on the ninth day of January. THE NATURAL BRIDGE OF VIRGINIA. DURING a recent trip to Virginia (Oct. 2 to 6) I visited the Natural Bridge ; and although in posses- sion of the guide-book of the locality (edition of 1884), and the admirable articles published by Major Jed. Hotchkiss in The Virginias, I failed to obtain certain information relating to the bridge, which would be of special interest to the topographer and geologist. Some of the observations which I made, although of a general character, may be of interest. The bridge is undoubtedly the remnant of the top of a cave which was probably formed long before the Luray cavern, which is excavated out of the same lower Silurian limestone formation. The bridge seems to be located in the centre of a gentle basin or synclinal in the strata, which may account for the roof of the ancient cavern being left at this special point. The height of the bridge has evidently been much augmented by a lowering of the bed of Cedar Creek through the agency of chemical and mechanical erosion after the destruction of the original cavern. The height of the original cavity, at the point where the bridge now exists, was in consequence very much less than the present height of the intrados of the bridge-arch. The elevation of the railroad-track at Natural- Bridge station, on the Shenandoah valley railroad, is seven hundred and sixty feet above ocean-level; and the elevation of Cedar Creek, under the north face of the bridge-arch, is nine hundred and fifteen feet, as determined by two independent lines of barometric levels which I ran between the railroad-station and the bridge. The height of the crown of the arch on the north side, at the ‘Lookout Point,’ is one hundred and eighty-eight feet above the creek, measured with a cotton twine, which was the only line of the required length which could be obtained. The same height measured by the barometer (Short & Mason aluminum aneroid) was determined as one hundred and eighty- six feet. Neither of these methods of measurement is sufficiently exact to permit of a final statement, but the results are of interest in the absence of more definite data. The thickness of the arch under the crown on the north side is approximately forty-six feet, and on the south side thirty-six feet. 1 Read before the American philosophical society, Oct. 17, 1884, by CHARLES A. ASHRURNER. 14 SCIENCE. Much has been written and published about this natural bridge, since the appearance, a century ago, of a description of it in the ‘Travels of the Marquis de Chastellux in North America in 1780-82;’ but there appears to be a lack of a complete description of the bridge and its surroundings, which is readily available, and which would prove of special value to the topographer and the geologist. HEREDITARY INTELLECT AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF TALENTS. THERE is hardly any subject more fascinat- ing to men of intellectual pursuits than that of biography. Within the last few years we may almost assert that the foundations have been laid for a science of comparative biog- raphy which promises to be not only interest- ing as a branch of inquiry, but of practical importance to all who are engaged in the edu- cation of youth and the advancement of science. The writings of Galton, Ribot, James, and others, have shed a great deal of light upon the influences which tend to produce intellectual distinction ; and, if investigations of this kind are far from being so comprehensive or so exact as would be desirable, they are, to say the least, suggestive and stimulating. To books of this class belongs the treatise which is named above. The volume is worthy of a much more ex- tended and critical review than we can now give; but, having received an early copy of it, we bring it at once to the attention of our readers. Kleven years ago Alphonse de Candolle, the celebrated botanist, who succeeded to the chair of his renowned father in the Academy at Geneva, and to the place of a foreign member of the French institute made vacant by the death of Agassiz, published a history of the modern sciences and of scientific men during the last two centuries. The work has long been out of print. Its venerable author, more than seventy-eight years old, has now issued a revised edition of this work, enlarged by more than a hundred pages of new material. Some portions of the original edition (par- ticularly a defence of Darwin’s theory of natu- ral selection, which seemed to the author no longer called for) have been omitted, and in place thereof some new researches in respect _to heredity in the human species have been introduced. By whathe calls his new method, Histoire des sciences et des savants depuis deux siécles. Par ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE. Deuxiéme édition, considérable- ment augmentée. Genéve-Bale, Georg, 1885. 594 p. 8° P. [VouL. V., No. 100. the author endeavors to distinguish in the facts of birth those which come from heredity, and those which are for the first time manifested in a family, and which may be considered as individual variations. These characteristics, and those developed after birth by exterior influences, determine the adaptation of the individual to the circumstances in which he is found; that is, to his environment. De Candolle has now carried his inquiry beyond the ranks of those who are commonly called scientific men, — the students of mathe- - matical and natural sciences, — and has made a study of those who are devoted to moral and social sciences. It is not generally known how well he is fit- ted for both these lines of investigation. His career has been that of a botanist, but he began life by the study of law; twice he has been a member of constitutional conventions, and repeatedly of legislative bodies. We need say no more to assure the reader that this new edition of his history is fresh, suggestive, and instructive. If all its reasonings are not ac- cepted, the student of comparative psychology must be grateful for the light which it sheds upon one of the most difficult, interesting, and important inquiries which can be made in re- spect to the intellect of man. His new method, as he terms it, is this, — to select, without any preconceived notions, a certain number of individuals whose personal characteristics can be ascertained, and those of their parents and grandparents. ‘The characteristics to be noticed are these: 1°, ex- terior physique; 2°, internal organs, so far as they can be judged without autopsy; 3°, in- stincts or native disposition ; and, 4°, intellec- tual faculties. Having collected the facts, the influence of heredity can be approximately as- certained. The author first thought of study- ing the family of some sovereign, — Louis XIV., Frederick the Great, or some one else of whose ancestry there are abundant records ; but he finally determined to study his own family. Being seventy-eight years old, he playfully says that he knows himself quite well. Of his parents and grandparents, all of whom lived to be more than sixty years old, he has a good recollection, supplemented by letters, memoirs, and portraits. He then noted in his subject ‘A’ sixty-four characteristics, of which he found sixty-three in one or both his parents. He extended his observation to thirty other individuals belonging to sixteen families ; and in the entire group of thirty-one persons he was able to enumerate 1,032 characteristics of which he was able to state their presence or JANUARY 2, 1885. |] absence among the parents of the individual studied. The results of this inquiry are tabu- lated. To illustrate what he means by char- acteristics, the author cites three famous men whose lives are well known, and mentions their ‘dominant traits, — Louis XVI. (fifteen char- acteristics) , Napoléon Bonaparte (thirty-seven characteristics) , and Charles Darwin (twenty- nine characteristics). All this part of his essay is full of interest. His conclusions are these : — 1. Heredity is a general law which admits but few exceptions. 2. The interruption of heredity through one or more generations (atavism) is rare, perhaps five or ten times in a hundred. - 3. The more remarkable a person is for good or ill, the more numerous and pronounced are his characteristics. 4. Women show fewer distinctive character- istics than men. 5. All groups of characteristics are more likely to be transmitted by fathers than by mothers. 6. It is difficult to determine whether char- acteristics which have been acquired by edu- cation and other external circumstances are transmitted by heredity. 7. The most marked characteristics in an individual are generally those received from both parents, especially those received both from parents and other progenitors. The main portion of the volume, in the sec- ond as in the first edition, is a study of what might be called the origin and distribution of scientific men during the last two centuries. The author’s views are based upon the selec- tion of foreign members by three great acad- emies, —in London, 1750-1869; Paris, 1666- 1883 ; and Berlin, 1750-1869. Asarule, these associations bestow the honor of foreign mem- bership, from time to time, upon men of all countries, and of all departments of study, who have exerted most influence upon the progress of science by their publications. Such elections may be regarded as indications of impartial judgment respecting merit; and, although there may be errors or prejudices, he believes that the aggregate lists include the names of those most worthy to be honored for their scientific investigations. From the facts thus collected he points out the proportion of mathematicians and naturalists at different epochs; the increasing devotion to a single subject; the rarity of feminine contributions to the progress of science; the social classes from which savants come; special influences which affect the number, the studies, and the SCIENCE. 15 successes of scientific men; national distribu- tion of scientific leaders. Many valuable com- ments follow on the outlook of modern science, and the favorable and unfavorable influences which are at work. - Toward the close of the volume, there is given an investigation (which was only approached in the first edition) re- specting the academic recognition of men devoted to the moral and social sciences. ‘¢ The secret workings of nature which bring it to pass that an Aeschylus, a Lionardo, a Faraday, a Kant, or a Spinoza is born upon the earth, are as obscure now as they were a thou- sand years ago.’’ ‘These are the words with which Pollok introduces his life of Spinoza, and they have occurred to us after a perusal of the book we have described. The origin. of genius or of talent is as fascinating an inquiry as the origin of species. But there is some- thing in the intellectual or spiritual nature of man which eludes analysis, and hides itself from the most penetrating researches of the psychologist and the physiologist. Never- theless, a volume so full of learning, so sparkling with bright ideas, so controlled by scientific habits, is a thought-inspiring book, for which every one must be grateful, even if it serves only as an introduction to an unex- plored continent. DR. HACK TUKE ON HYPNOTISM. Dr. Hack TuKe ean hardly be said to have written a book on sleep-walking and hypno- tism: itis a collection of papers which are full of repetition, and which are written in a style that is decidedly undress. But hypnotism is at present such an interesting subject, that any exact information about it is very welcome. The author’s main object is to point out the resemblance between natural and induced somnambulism, which latter term he uses as another name for hypnotism, and to call atten- tion especially to the former mode of aberrant mental action as an important aid to the study of mind. His own article on natural somnam- bulism, based on answers to a circular sent out six years ago, contains little that was not known before; but his examination into the mental condition of the hypnotic subject is of greater interest. He finds that consciousness may persist, or that it may pass rapidly or slowly into complete unconsciousness; the manifestations are not dependent upon its presence or absence. One subject, Mr. North. By D. Hack TUKE, N.D.. Sleen-walking and hypnotism. 64 119 p.; 8°. LL.D. London, Churchild, 1884. 16 SCIENCE. lecturer on physiology at Westminster hospital, says of himself at first, ‘‘I was not uncon- scious, but I seemed to exist in duplicate ; my inner self appeared to be thoroughly alive to all that was going on, but made up its mind not to control or interfere with the acts of the outer self;’’ and later, ‘‘ I knew perfectly well that I was playing the fool, i.e., that my outer self was doing so, the inner self looking on, too idle to interfere ;’’ and later still, ‘‘ Here I appear to have been absolutely unconscious for some moments.’’ Another subject says, ‘¢ Mr. Hansen told me that my hair was on fire. I touched my head, and saw that he was wrong. He then told me to put my head into cold water, directing me at the same time to a gas-burner. I felt it was not water: I felt the heat, but yet I could not refuse putting down my head and trying to wash it.’’ Voluntary control over thought and action is suspended ; reflex action of the cerebral cortex, in response to suggestions from without, comes into play ; and, so long as consciousness is retained, the perception of this automatic cerebral action conveys the impression of a dual existence. Dr. Tuke’s theory of the hypnotic state does not differ from that of Haidenhain: he holds that part of the cerebral cortex is exhausted by prolonged and monotonous excitation of _ certain sensory nerves, and that other parts, unexhausted, respond all the more acutely to stimulation. Whether hypnotism is injurious to the subject, or whether it has any therapeu- tic action, are questions that remain undecided. Mr. North found, after the third and last ex- periment tried upon him, that any exercise of close attention tended to bring on the same sensations as those which ushered in the hyp- notic sleep. From observations made upon patients at the Salpétriére who were subject to hysteria major, Charcot and Richer were led to distin- cuish three distinct forms of hypnotism, — the cataleptic, the lethargic, and the somnambulis- tic. The last is the form which bears the closest resemblance to the ordinary mesmeric trance. In the cataleptic state, the limbs of the patient remain for a long time, and without effort, in any position in which they may be placed ; in the lethargic the muscles are re- laxed, but they contract strongly and definitely under gentle mechanical stimulation (hyper- excitabilité neuromusculaire des hypnotiques, first observed by Mr. Charcot in 1878). The lethargic subject may be made cataleptic by simply pulling open the eyelids and exposing the eyes to a bright light: closing the eyes is sufficient to put him back into the condition of lethargy. But, what is most remarkable, if one eye is kept open and the other shut, the sin- gular phenomenon is witnessed of an individ- ual divided into two parts by the median plane. ~ One half of the body, that which corresponds to the closed eye, presents the muscular sus- _ ceptibility characteristic of the lethargic state : the other, corresponding to the open eye, is in a condition of catalepsy. Mr. Charcot very properly says, that to suppose that an ignorant person, exposed for the first time to this ex- periment, should be able to invent such an - extraordinary phenomenon as this, would be ‘truly childish.’ But, besides this presump- tien, he has an infallible method of detecting simulation. A very vigorous person, not hyp- notized, can keep his arm extended as long as the cataleptic; but it is useless for him to try to pretend that it does not fatigue him. The operator has only to attach a pneumograph to his chest. The tracing which registers his respirations soon discloses great irregularity in their rhythm and their volume, and in this way his own muscles are forced to write down the evidence of his attempted deception. The experiments of Charcot and Richer (Archives de neurologie) are conducted with a carefulness and ingenuity which should recom- mend them as models to the American society for psychical research. INHERITANCE AMONG THE ANCIENT ARABS. In the study of Roman law the institution of agnation is discovered. By it descent and inheritance are in the male line. Among most of the tribes of North America, Morgan has shown that uterine descent and inheritance are established by law. In the study of these forms of descent among various peoples of the earth, Morgan came to the conclusion that uterine descent is everywhere the characteristic of primitive society; that it is primordial in savagery ; and he attempted to account for the change from female to male descent. There is yet another institution set forth in Roman law, called cognation, which is descent and inheritance in the male and female lines, and which is found more fully developed in the institutions of modern civilization. Since Morgan’s writings were published, the universality of uterine descent, or mother-right (mutterrecht), in primitive society, has been affirmed and denied by various writers; but Das matriarchat (das mutterrecht) bei den alten Arabern. Von G. A. WILKEN. Leipzig, Schulze, 1884. 72p. 8°. [Vou. V., No. 100. _ JANUARY 2, 1835.] altogether the evidence to the correctness of his views has steadily accumulated, until it is now almost overwhelming. Mr. Wilken takes up this subject for the purpose of, showing that mother-right once existed among the Semitic nations, especially among the ancient Arabs. The evidence adduced seems to fully warrant the conclusion. In connection with the main purpose of his paper, two subsidiary questions are discussed. The first relates to communal marriage ; the second, to exogamy and endogamy. With respect to communal marriage, the author is not clear in his conception of the nature of the institution. It is the marriage of a group of men (brothers) to a group of women (sisters). Sometimes the group of men is small; and a man may have no brothers, and still be entitled to a group of women for his wife. This is sometimes denominated ‘ hetarism,’ and must be distinguished from polygamy, which is altogether a later institution. Some- times the group of women may be small: in fact, a woman may have no sisters; in which case a number of men would have but one common wife. ‘This is called ‘ polyandry.’ Our author endeavors to find evidence, among the Arabs and other Semitic peoples, of com- munal marriage; but most of the evidence which he brings forward is not pertinent to the argument. The ‘survival’ of institutions analogous to ‘atavism’ in biology is a principle of great value to the student of early society, but it must be used with great care. Wilken describes the institution of mot‘a, which is marriage for a limited and prescribed time, and other sexual practices among the nomadic tribes, and cites them as survivals of communal matriage from prehistoric times; but such practices, though they may be partially regu- lated and ameliorated by law, give no evi- ’ dence of a more ancient institution, but rather show that in all times men have disregarded institutions, and broken laws, and have thus lapsed into immorality. Robbery still exists in the highest stages of civilized society, but furnishes no evidence that stealing was origi- nally established by law, so as to constitute a prehistoric institution. Murder is still com- mitted, but this does not permit us to infer that primitive mankind practised murder as a legalized institution. The various forms of hetarism practised in historic times among all peoples, like robbery, murder, and other crimes, testify to the fact that the passions of men are but imperfectly controlled by the ree- ulations of society. The author brings forward many instances SCIENCE. 17 and divers reasons for believing that exogamy formerly existed among the Arabs, and that it was finally changed into endogamy. On this subject the author seems to think that the evi- dence is contradictory, and he tries to draw an average conclusion therefrom. The con- tradictions, however, are not in the facts them- selves, but in the author’s misconception of the facts upon which theories of exogamy and endogamy have been based. His first great error is in using the term ‘tribe’ in different senses, as does McLennan and other writers of that school. They seem to think that the tribe is a group of people held together by the authority of some one person, — by a chief. Now, in fact, no tribe has yet been discovered organized on a plan so simple. All tribes are composed of two or more groups, each of which has an organization, and constitutes an inte- eral part of the tribe. In many cases there are tribes with three, four, five, or even six units of organization of different orders. Sometimes the term ‘ tribe’ is used to desig- nate the unit of the highest order, — the whole body of the people; sometimes it is used to designate a clan or gens within the tribe; and again it is used to denote a sub-gens, or even a smailer group. The use of the term ‘ tribe,’ or its synonyme in other languages, in this manner, has led to many errors, and apparently conflicting statements, in relation to the orga- nization of early society. In all such tribes throughout the world, there is invariably some group of persons within which a man may not marry, and in respect to which he may be said to be exogamous; and yet he always has a right to marry somewhere within the larger group here denominated ‘ tribe:’ hence, in re- lation to the tribe, he is endogamous. Every man, in all stages of society, is exogamous in relation to some group; that is, it is incest to marry within such group. In like manner, he is endogamous to some other or all other groups. ‘Thus it is that every man, through- out savagery, barbarism, and civilization, is both exogamous and endogamous. The author has the unfortunate practice of using the term ‘ matriarchy’ (matriarchat) for the term ‘ uterine descent,’ and ‘ patriarchy ’ (patriarchat) as a name for agnatic descent. The term ‘ patriarchy ’ has long been used for another purpose ; that is, for the name of the organization of the social unit in which the father is the chiefor ruler of his sons and sons’ families, —a group of descendants, — and is in important particulars the owner of the common property. ‘This patriarchal society is well described in the post-Noachian history / 18 SCIENCE, of the Bible, and the institution thus found has been taken as a type of that discovered in other parts of the world. Agnatic descent is one of the characteristics of patriarchy, but it may exist under states of society where the patriarchy does not exist; and to use the term ‘patriarchy ’ as synonymous with agnation can but lead to confusion. Then, by analogy, he uses the term ‘ matriarchy’ to signify de- scent in the female line, and the confusion is still worse; for, so far as we know, the mother is never the ruler of the clan, where uterine descent is established. In some cases the ruler is the uncle. The etymology of the term ‘patriarchy,’ and customary use, alike imply chieftaincy. The terms‘ agnatic descent ’ and ‘uterine descent’ have no false implication, and properly express the facts. J. W. Powe .t. AND NEWS. Tne New-England meteorological society, of which brief mention has been made in earlier num- bers, has now advanced far enough to issue for November the first number of its monthly bulletin. This summarizes the results of thirty-six stations, mostly maintained by volunteer observers, comparing them with records of previous years in a tabular NOTES RAINFALL AND RANGE OF TEMPERATURE IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND FOR NOVEMBER, 1884. numerical statement, and presenting data concerning precipitation, and range of temperature, in a sketcli- map, the southern half of which is here reproduced. Measures of rain and melted snow are represented by black circles, while the mean daily range of temper- ature is indicated by vertical lines. Scales for the reading of both are added in the margin. The small size of the map gives it the appearance of being fairly [Vou. V., No. 100, well supplied with stations; but in reality they are as yet much too far apart to furnish satisfactory basis for studies of a detailed character. Even around Boston, where the greatest density of observation is found, there is need of additional observers before the society should consider its list of stations suffi- ciently extended; and elsewhere in New England the showing now made must be considered only the beginning of what should be accomplished a year or two hence. The bulletin states that all matters of observation should be addressed to Professor Winslow Upton, Providence, R.I. — The Bureau of navigation of the navy depart- - ment reports that a hundred and forty-five compasses with the four-needle card have been issued to ships during the past year, and that they have given general satisfaction, the behavior of the improved compasses used by the Greely relief expedition in high latitudes being especially commended. This expedition gath- ered considerable data concerning the variation of the compass in high latitudes; but, owing to its speedy return, none were obtained concerning the magnetic force and dip. The data concerning compass varia- tions, collected by the department during the past year, are in course of preparation for publication. Profes- sional paper No. 17, entitled the ‘ Magnetism of iron and steel ships,’ is in press; and No. 18, on ‘ Devia- tions of the compass in U. S. naval vessels,’ is nearly ready. Preparations have been made for a careful examination of the magnetic character of the new steel vessels, and a compass station is to be estab- lished in Narragansett Bay. The instruments for a compass testing-house are now in the possession of the bureau, and a building will be erected when the appropriation is made. In view of the probable necessity of compensating the compasses of these new vessels, a binnacle has been designed in the bureau for this purpose, and it will be placed in the Dolphin to be tested. | — Old residents of the California peninsula have noticed several varieties of birds near the seacoast that they have never before known to leave the moun- tains. This is supposed to indicate a severe winter, but the migration is more probably due to the pre- vailing scarcity of all kinds of seeds in the mountains this season. — A complete outfit, consisting of Mangin’s pro- jectors, Gramme dynamos, Brotherhood engines and accessories, has been ordered for each of the new U.S. eruisers for use as search-lights. The dynamos and motors are to be mounted on one bed-plate, the engines being connected directly. The projectors will be furnished by Sautter, Lemonnier, & Co., of | Paris, and the engines by Peter Brotherhood of Lon- don. — The University of Pennsylvania has rented one of the tables at Dohrn’s zodlogical station, so that the United States is again represented at the Naples laboratory. — Under the title ‘ Micro-palaeophytologia forma- tionis carboniferae,’ Dr. P. F. Reinsch of Erlangen JANUARY 2, 1885.] proposes to issue a work in two volumes, in which are described and figured many microscopic forms resembling the spores of higher cryptogams, but which the writer considers to be independent uni- cellular organisms. They appear to have been very abundant in the carboniferous period, when higher cryptogams were the prevailing vegetable type. Dr. Reinsch offers to furnish to purchasers of his work duplicate specimens of some of the species described. —A second edition of Dr. Lant Carpenter’s ‘ En- ergy in nature’ has just been published in England. — According to Nature, the collections made by the polar traveller, Capt. Jacobsen, by order of the Berlin museum, on his American tour, are now on view at the Royal ethnographical museum at Berlin. That part of the collections which was obtained from Alaska territory consists of some four thousand ob- jects, collected among various Eskimo tribes, and among the Ingalik Indians living on the Yukon River. Most of the objects in question closely resemble those dating from the stone age, consisting principally of stone, bone, horn, shell, or wood. —The Athenaeum states that Consul O’Niell has this year accomplished two remarkable journeys in an unknown portion of East Africa. In the first he left the river Shire at Chironzi, and walked to Blantyre, leaving the Ma-Kalolo country on his left. In the second he walked to Guillimani, on the coast, from Blantyre, by a route leading south of Milanji, which will prove to be the nearest and most direct overland communication with the coast. He took twelve hun- dred observations for longitude, which will help to fix a trustworthy meridian in the interior, which has been much wanted. The account of these journeys will appear in the Proceedings of the Royal geograph- ical society. — The International Paris exhibition of manufac- tures and processes will be opened on July 23, 1885, and closed on Noy. 23. The exhibition will be held at the Palais de l’industrie, Champs Elysées, under the patronage of the minister of commerce and the minister of public works. —From Nature we learn that the expedition of the German travellers, Dr. Clauss and Herr von den Steinen, who undertook to investigate the tributaries on the upper right bank of the Amazon and Xingu Rivers, starting from Paraguay and Cuyaba, have successfully accomplished this task, and safely ar- rived at Para at the end of October. The Brazilian government, and especially Senhor Batovi, the pre- fect of the province of Matto Grosso, have supported this scientific undertaking in a praiseworthy manner. — At a meeting of the Anthropological institute of Great Britain, held on Nov. 11, Mr. Francis Galton described the object, method, and appliances of the late anthropometric laboratory at the International health exhibition, reserving the statistical results, which were not fully worked out, for another occa- sion. 9,344 persons passed through the laboratory, each of them being measured in seventeen distinct particulars for the sum of threepence, in a compart- ment only six feet wide and thirty-six feet long, So SCIENCE. 19 many applications have been made abroad and at home for duplicates of the instrumental outfit, that it was deemed advisable that any suggested improve- ments in it should be considered before it became established in use. —Dr. Siemens of Berlin has offered the German government a piece of land in Charlottenberg worth $100,000, for the building of an Institute of mechani- cal and physical science, Preliminaries are already’ being arranged by Dr. Forster and Professor Helm- holtz. _— Bulletin No. 6 of the U.S. geological survey is ‘Elevations in the Dominion of Canada,’ by J. W. Spencer, now at the university at Columbia, Mo., lately of King’s college, Windsor, Nova Scotia. Dur- ing his studies of Lake Ontario, Professor Spencer collected the altitudes along all the Canadian rail- roads constructed up to 1882; and these are now published in convenient form. The tables occupy thirty-three octavo pages, first arranged by railroads, followed by a selected alphabetical list. The alti- tudes are referred to mean ocean-level. — Professor Paulitschke left Vienna on the 30th of November for eastern Africa. He proposes, in case access to Harar should be denied him, to explore some of the least-known districts of southern Abyssinia. — Petermann’s mittheilungen publishes the report of an excursion into the Somal country by J. Menges, one of the hunters employed by Car! Hagenbeck of Hamburg, the well-known dealer in wild animals. The explorer succeeded in reaching the plateau sixty miles to the south of Berbera, where its altitude is fifty-one hundred feet. He was disappointed in the ruins of stone houses promised him on the coast; such remains of buildings as he found being, to all appear- ance, due to the Galla, who formerly inhabited this country. A valuable map accompanies the report. — Recent deaths: Dr. L. Fitzinger, formerly keeper of the Vienna museum, Sept. 22; Dr. Thomas Wright of Cheltenham, geologist, Nov. 17; Mr. R. A. God- win-Austen, the geologist, Nov. 25, at his residence, Shalford House, Guilford, Eng.; Mr. Henninger, one of the editors of Science et nature. — Nature states that Admiral von Schleinitz has resigned the presidency of the Berlin Gesellschaft fur erdkunde, and has been replaced by Dr. W. Reiss. At the last meeting of this society it was stated that there are now four polar expeditions in preparation, of which one will start for the antarctic regions. The African traveller, Dr. Aurel Schulz, has started on a journey across Africa from east to west, by way of the Zambesi River and the Victoria Falls. Lieut. Schulz, the leader of the German-African expedition, reports from Cameroon that the joy of the German colonists there is most intense in consequence of recent political events. — The course of lectures to graduate students at the Johns Hopkins university, which was opened on the 15th of November by President Gilman on academic degrees, will consist of the same number (twelve) as last year. Dr. G. Stanley Hall followed President Gilman with a lecture on student life. The other 20 - SCIENCE, lectures are by 8S. Newcomb, Mathematics and edu- cation; J. Rendel Harris, On the study of ancient manuscripts; W. K. Brooks, The zoological signifi- cance of education; M. Warren, Application of the historical method to the study of Latin; R. T. Ely, Educational value of political economy; M. Bloom- field, Method of comparative philology as pursued to-day; E. M. Hartwell, Physical training in Ameri- can colleges; A. M. Elliott, Methods in the study of modern languages; W. E. Story, Methods of teach- . ing arithmetic; T. Craig, Mathematical teaching in France. —A statue of Claude Bernard is to be placed a’ the top of the grand staircase of the Collége de France. It will be the work of Guillaume, whose sketch plaster was erected on the site intended for the work when completed. — Professional paper xiv. of the signal-service, en- titled ‘‘Charts of relative storm frequency for a por- tion of the northern hemisphere,”’ by John P. Finley, is justissued. It gives one annual and twelve month- ly charts, which show the ‘‘ distribution of tracks of centres of barometric minima over North America, the North Atlantic, and Europe,’’ based on observa- tions of the last twenty years. The annual chart, for example, explains at a glance why the region around our great lakes has so much more variable a climate than that of central Europe. With us, every rectangle bounded by two and a half degrees of latitude and longitude, from Minnesota to Maine, is visited by — from twelve to fifteen storm-centres a year; France and central Germany have less than three on corre- sponding areas; even Great Britain and most of Nor- way have not more than six. The chief appreciation of the paper will be found, however, among navi- gators of the North Atlantic, as the principal object sought was the study of Atlantic storm-tracks, whose relative frequency is now shown graphically for the part of the ocean most commonly traversed. The execution of the maps by the signal-oftice lithogra- phers is by no means satisfactory. — The second annual convention of the Modern language association of America was held at Colum- bia college on the 29th and 30th of December. The modern pedagogic claims on instructors are fairly recognized by the titles of papers which were read, and of the subjects which came up for discussion, some of which were the following: How far may the latest scientific results be embodied in the text- book ? by Prof. H. C. G. Brandt of Hamilton college; The modern language question, by Prof. A. M. Elliott of Johns Hopkins university; What place has Old English philology in our elementary schools ? by Prof. Francis B. Gummere of New Bedford, Mass.; Would it be desirable to allow the substitution of one mod.- ern in placeof one ancient language for admission to college ? What amount of modern language study should be regarded as an equivalent for Greek? The extent to which purely scientific grammar should enter the instruction of ordinary college classes; A uniform pronunciation of Latin ought to be adopted in American colleges, and the Roman recommended. — The January Century contains an articleon the _ National museum from the pen of Mr. Ernest Inger- _ soll, admirably illustrated. Our readers will be very much interested in it. We wish that some modifica- tions might have been made in the introductory sen- tences, which seem to us to do scant justice to the past. Mr. Ingersoll develops the grandeur of the scheme of the museum with lavish hand; and it would appear as if, were the plan to be carried out in detail, the District of Columbia would not be large enough to hold the museum. —A special despatch to the Philadelphia Times from Washington, condemning the report of the National academy of sciences concerning the re- organization of the different scientific bureaus of the government, and endeavoring to set forth the cer- tainty of Mr. Cleveland’s antagonism to the govern- ment scientific surveys when he shall have become installed as president, has given occasion to an ex- _tellent reply in the Times for Dec. 21, from Mr. Charles A. Ashburner of the Geological survey of Pennsylvania, in which he says that the views ex- pressed by Gov. Cleveland in his veto of the ap- propriations for the New-York state survey last year ‘‘do not necessarily indicate his position in regard to the appropriations which shall be made by congress during his term of office for the support of the geological survey. If he shall view this matter from a practical business stand-point, he will no doubt conclude, as others have who thoroughly understand the subject, that the results of the U.S. geological survey are of immediate practical importance, and that such government surveys in the past have had much to do with the great material advancement of the states. The importance of geology as an aid to the discovery, exploration, and exploitation of min- eral deposits is acknowledged by intelligent persons ; and there is scarcely a civilized government that does not recognize the fact by giving liberal appropriations in support of official geological surveys or by govern- ment aid to special geological investigation.”’ — Prof. Pliny E. Chase of Haverford college, Penn- sylvania, who for several years past has been publish- ing in the Transactions of the American philosophical society the result of his, to say the least, recondite researches on the cosmic influences of harmonic waves, has lately prepared a small work, in two parts, on the ‘Elements of meteorology’ (Philadel- phia, Porter & Coates, without date). Although one of the objects in view in its preparation was to pro- vide a ‘simple introductory text-book,’ we cannot find that this has been realized. Even on the pages devoted to subjects that may be called orthodox, logi- cal arrangement, precise definition, and sufficient explanation are wanting; while other pages, whose topics are, again to say the least, very heterodox, do not seem to us to furnish suitable material for the use of teachers in common schools. It is an un- — pleasant task to condemn a book, but justice to our — ¥ readers requires that this one should be characterized _ as not representing the generally approved principles of meteorology of the present day. Pee NE. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. Ix ANOTHER part of this number, Professor Hilgard takes exception to our views of the proper functions of agricultural experiment- stations, as stated some weeks ago. Yet ‘‘ to render to the agricultural population the scien- tific aid which they so sorely need when brought face to face with new and untried conditions,’’ is precisely what we understand to be the object of experiment-stations. The question simply is, How shall such scientific aid be best afforded? Shall the experiment-station seek to reach an empirical solution of one problem after another as it may be presented to it, or shall it search into the elementary conditions of the most important of those problems, and thus endeavor to work out a rational solution? The view which we hold, and which seems to be indorsed by the paragraph we quoted in our comments of Dec. 5 from Director Sturtevant’s report, is that it should do both ; proportioning the amount of the two kinds of work according to the necessities of the particular case, but endeavoring to do as much work of the kind last mentioned as possible. We believe that work of the latter class should be held in the higher esteem, and that the constituency of the station should, if possible, be brought so to regard it, because its results are of vastly more permanent value. We do not hold that it should necessarily, or even usually, be placed first in the order of time, or that it should ever become the exclusive work of any public ex-- periment-station. Our suggested differentiation of agricultural experimentation would proceed upon a some- what different basis, giving to the experiment- station proper the working-out of scientific re- sults (empirical or rational, as the case may be), and to the experimental farm the verification No. 101. — 1885. of these results under the actual conditions of farm practice. We do not deny the adyan- tages of uniting these two kinds of work in one institution when possible ; but the men who combine the high scientific attainments and thorough acquaintance with practice necessary for the direction of both kinds of work are rare, aud are likely to be rare for many years to come. We therefore hold, that, when such a man cannot be secured and kept as director, the disadvantages of segregation will be less than the disadvantages of having either the scien- tific experiments, or the verification in practice of their results, undertaken by incompetent hands. The separation would be in manage- ment, not necessarily in either time or space. There appears to us to be comparatively little danger that the work of American experiment- stations will be too rigidly scientific, and too far removed from the apprehension of farmers. There is a constant pressure upon a station for immediately useful results, and any station re- fusing reasonable conformity to it will not enjoy a long life. On the other hand, there is dan- ger that this pressure for immediate and strik- ing results may lead to a neglect of the scientific functions of such an institution. THE sEcOND series of the Johns Hopkins university studies in historical and political science, being the twelve numbers for 1884, is just completed; and Dr. Adams, its editor, may congratulate himself on his continued success in grouping together the monographic essays of the younger school of historical writers, who are arrayed under his supervis- ion, and bow to one of Freeman’s character- istic utterances, that ‘ history is past. polities, and politics is present history.” These papers evince a new school of historico-political stu- dents, who carry antiquarianism beyond a dry assortment of agglutinated facts, and human- ize it by connection with social development. The study of institutional and economic history, 22 SCIENCE. in its direct connection with social progress, brings with it an urgent plea for recognition as conveying into the study of the past a good deal of that critical spirit and close observa- tion which have made the laboratory and the closet twin arenas. In its reaction from the broad generalization, and the rotund expres- sion which was so easily generated out of the now antiquated method, there is some danger, it is true, of the magnifying of minuteness be- yond its inherent deserts; but it seems quite clear that the hither following upon the thither swing of the pendulum will bring a rest within a happy mean. The experiment is going on successfully, and every one interested in the orderly arranging of historical results will watch its further progress with interest. THERE ARE sceptics among scientific men as well as among other professional men; and we have no desire’to plead extenuating circum- stances in favor of those so-called scientific men who claimed that steam-navigation would be a failure, or that ocean-telegraphy would be impossible. The believer in the truth of alleged psychical phenomena must encounter scepticism, and the newly formed psychical so- ciety must expect to receive many suggestions of doubtful expediency from both the learned and the unlearned. What no man knows, even the uneducated and untrained can pretend to know. The time may come when it will be not unusual to study ‘ veridical phantasms ’ by polarized light, and to observe their be- havior in a magnetic field. What the result will be to physical science, it is difficult at present to perceive. It is not difficult, how- ever, to conceive of a great influence upon imaginative literature. Why should not a dey- otee of psychical research add another scene to Hamlet, in which is displayed a psychical laboratory, with rows of bottles labelled ‘ re- agents for ghostly odors,’ ‘ tests for fragments of bogies,’ and ‘ supersensual platform scales’? In the midst is Hamlet testing the kingly ghost. A favorable analysis would go far to explain the strength of Hamlet’s convictions, which [Vou. V., No. 1 have so long been a deep study to psycholo- gists. Considering the renewed interest in archeo- logical investigation, is it not surprising that there should not be an archeological psychi- cal society, —a society, which, in place of exhuming relics of other civilizations, should endeavor to get closer to the primitive state | of man by trying psychological investigations — upon Eskimo, natives of central Africa, or the denizens of King Prester John’s domin- — ions? ‘The complicated civilization of to-day is fast destroying these more or less original types. If the physicians of the time of Che- dorlaomer had taken careful measures of the physical dimensions of the giants of those days, and had made experiments upon their appetites and their sense of color (which, of course, must have been enormous), we should have had accurate data in physiology and psy- chology, which could compare favorably with that we have in archeology. An accurate study of a pure African’s ner- vous organization, of his instincts, his sense of color, his hypnotic conditions, his reasoning powers in general, must be taken now, or the world will soon lose forever the oppor- tunity. will soon change the sable athletic rover of the underwoods to that higher state of civilization which, it is true, obliterates all those fine in- stincts we also had once in common with our animal ancestors, yet gives us in return nervous prostration, and the ability, it may be, to smell ghosts. Here is a great field of investigation, for the neglect of which our descendants will bitterly reproach us. If we are in search of a name, we might term the subject to which we desire to call the attention of the Psychical society, ‘Darwinian psychology.’ Is it not reasonable to suppose, that, by careful and systematic observations on young Eskimo and young Africans, we can gain a knowl- edge of still more primitive men, who, alas! are now only ‘ veridical phantasms ’ ? Se tale oe The steam-engine and the telephone | 7. JANUARY, 9, 1885. | In physics, Fourier’s theorem enables us, from certain measurements of temperature, to determine what will be the probable heat of the earth some time in the future. What we need in psychology is a psychical theorem, retrogressive in its character. The surround- ings of man daily grow more varied ; and his resemblances to his animal ancestors, it is claimed, are fast disappearing. Now is the time to sound a warning note. Our original psychical sources are disappearing. Instead of weighing a lusty African who will tip the scales at a hundred kilograms, we shall soon be reduced to weighing ‘ veridical phantasms ’ which we suppose must be below a fraction of a milligram. Back to the original sources, say we! This is the cry of all scholars, and psychists can form no exception to the general rule. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. x*x Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The functions of experiment-stations. REFERRING to the editorial comments on this sub- ject in the issue of Science of Dec. 5, I cannot omit to interpose a demurrer to what appears to me to be a somewhat narrow view of the proper functions of experiment-stations in this country, and one which, if understood to be the prevailing one, would quickly put an end to the popular demand for the establish- ment of such stations, especially in the newer states. If it is not one of the essential and primary objects of agricultural experiment-stations to render to the agricultural population the scientific aid which they so sorely need when brought face to face with new and untried conditions and factors in a new country, in order to afford them relief from the slow tentative process of blind experimenting by which the solution of practical questions is commonly approached, then, indeed, the raison d’étre of such establishments will be seriously questioned in all but the older states, where the ofium cum dignitate of purely scientific investigations can be indulged in without leaving un- _done things that ought first to be done. If the experiment-stations do not do this work for the farmer, who is to do it? It is not certainly the function of the agricultural colleges as such, al- though in very many cases their greatest present use- fulness assuredly lies in that direction; since their direct influence through the few students who hasten through a superficial course in their halls will long remain insensible, unless supplemented by such prac- tical demonstration of the usefulness of agricultural science as the experiment-station work can afford. From both the practical and the educational point of view, then, those functions to which the article in question allots a second place, should, in my view, be placed first. SCIENCE. 23 Again: it is said that to unite the two functions of an experiment-station — the scientific and the prac- tical —in one institution and under one management is of doubtful propriety. So far from admitting this, I hold that nowhere can scientific investigation be more fruitful than where, in this direct connection with practice, it is brought face to face with new con- ditions, and therefore with new phases and aspects of old problems. I think it would be a grave mistake to segregate the two branches of the work, whether in space.or time, and most especially to intrust the solution of practical problems to persons of inferior qualifications, as is too commonly done, to the detri- ment of the cause of science, and to the disgust of those engaged in pushing it in the face of the difficul- ties it naturally encounters in anewcountry. There is a limit to the usefulness of differentiation, when each of the segregated branches is thereby tiimmed down to narrowness, and want of proper co-ordination with the other. In our widely varied domain, each location affords peculiar advantages for the prosecu- tion of some branch of both pure and applied agricul- tural science; and those in charge of the several stations should know, or carefully consider, in which direction their greatest usefulness (in the widest sense of the word) lies. No one narrow definition of the proper duties and functions of agricultural experiment-stations can apply to all cases alike. Each station will have to adapt its mode and scope of operations to the sur- rounding circumstances; and the good judginent exercised in determining these points will in a great measure determine also the scientific as well as the practical usefulness of such an establishment. With any thing like an adequate endowment, the two branches are not only compatible, but will fertilize each other, as does the combination of investigation and instruction in the case of teachers. The abstract investigator will rarely shape and express his ideas as clearly as the one who is habitually compelled to put them into the proper form for the understanding of others; and the same is measurably true of the ex- periment-stations, in which scientific work, and that intended for the direct instruction of the contempo- rary population, should go hand in hand. It does so even in Europe, where the practical questions needing determination are much fewer and less intricate; and, if it be contended that a different policy should be adopted in this country, the onus of showing the reasons therefor certainly devolves upon the advocates of the new doctrine. E. W. HILGARD. University of California. The most economical size of electric-lighting conductors. In Science, No. 97, p. 524, Professor Carhart- points out an oversight of mine (No. 94, p. 477) in leaving out the cost of waste heat in the conductors as a part of the economy in the Edison three-wire system, and also a mistake in estimating its amount; in both of which I am glad to be corrected. But Professor Car- hart has not, I think, quite reached the most econom- ical result, for the reason that we have the interest on » conductors, but heat developed in only two of them; and, as it seems worth while to develop the complete solution for this interesting system, I fur- ther submit the following: — Suppose the size of conductors in the two-wire sys- tem to be such that the interest on their cost equals that of the heat-energy developed in them (C?R, using Professor Carhart’s nomenclature), which, for simplicity, we will take equal to unity. The general 24 SCIENCE. expressions for the various constants (in terms of those of the two-wire system), when the same plant of lamps is divided up (with n conductors, each of whose cross-sections is k times that of one of the first) into n — 1 equally-balanced circuits, with n— 1 dynamos in series, as in the Edison system figured on p. 477, vol. iv. (the same energy being developed in the lamps as at first), will then be: — (n — 1)?. * = the resistance of the lamps. R hae the resistance of the two outside conductors. a ae the current in the same. CR ; : i)? & + Cr = E,—1 = difference of potential A i at terminals of each of the n —1 dynamos. C2R oh a heat-energy wasted in two outside con- (n Pe ductors, C2 pay?” (n —1)?. 7 = C?r = energy developed in the lamps. n n A 5° k.C?R = 5.k= interest on cost of n con- ductors. The energy consumed in the lamps (C%r) is the same as at first, as shown by Professor Carhart, ana, being constant for the plant of lamps, need not be further considered. The total running-expense, then, due to conductors (including interest on their cost), is n i OU (m=) eet in terms of C?R. This should be a minimum. Its first differential coefficient with reference to k, placed equal to zero, gives 1 e ES n as the most economical section. This gives, for the minimum value of the total running-expense, 1, te ee ts heat ue ae “ —n—1 V2n, the interest and heating-cost being equal, as they should. The same value of k gives et ah oT ear | 9° eA Oy as the corresponding difference of potential at the terminals of each of the n — 1 dynamos. Substituting now in these different expregsions, and also in corresponding ones for the Edison sys- tem and for Professor Carhart’s plan, values of n from 2 to 6, we have the various data given in the following table. cy | [Vons Via, No. 101. a | S) s) ; =| Cross- Difference of lntorenn Heat- | Running- Z| section | potential at ter- nteres' | waste in| expense 9 of minals of du. con- | con-) ||;eheon= = each. each dynamo. uctors. | ductors. | ductors. o) 4 EDISON’S SYSTEM. 1 (m=1)2 n (2 — 1)? n n. CR+ Cr. +1 (n — 1)2 |(n—1) (n—1) (2(nm—1)2" | (nv — 1)?" 2(m—1)2 | 2 1.000 1.000 CR + Cr 1.000 1.000 2.000 3 0.250 1.000 ‘s a 0.375 1.000 | 1.375 4 0.111 1.000 ‘S i 0.222 1.000 1.222 5 0.062 1.000 ‘S s 0.156 1.000 1.156 6 0.040 O00 Mis sf 0.120 1.000 1.120 PROFESSOR CARHART’S PLAN. aS 1 et ‘| ao | gai tO Sap) a en 2/ 1.000 | 1.000 CR + Cr 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 3 0.500 | 0.500 « 0.750 | 0.500 | 1.250 A | © 002888 cl oon 835 net wake 0.667 | 0.383 | 1.000 5} 0.250 | ovos0. °F ex 0.625 | 0.250 | 0.875 | 0.200 | 0.200 « « 0.600 | 0.200 | 0.800 THE MOST ECONOMICAL PLAN. nea 1 oe hig tee nt oe V2n ln—l1 n\n—1 2 rol 2in—1 2in—1 2! 1.000 1.000 CR + Cr 1.000 1.000 2.000 3 0.408 0.6120 = 0.612 0.612 1.225 4 0.236 0.471 “ % 0.471 0.471 0.943 5 0.158 0.395 ‘S is 0.395 0.395 0.791 6 0.115 0.346 * i 0.346 0.346 | 0.693 Some very interesting comparisons of relative ad- vantages might be noted, did space permit. The most important is the rapid increase in the ratio of heat- energy to capacity of conductor in the Edison sys- tem, which might make it necessary to lay the wires so as to admit of pretty free radiation of heat. This question of temperature of electric-lighting conductors promises to protrude itself the more they are laid underground. The desideratum for an insu- lating covering would seem to be a non-conductor of electricity and good conductor of heat, — apparently inconsistent qualities. Perhaps the eventual solution will be in bare or loosely covered wires on highly insulated points of support, thus admitting of free radiation of heat, like aerial lines. H. M. PAUt. Washington, Dec. 15. Sun-spots. Mr. Todd, in a recent number of Science, speaks — of Sept. 23, 1883, as the last day of that year on which JANUARY 9, 1885. ] the sun was free from spots. I find that I observed the sun, for the purpose of mapping its spots, Dec. 5, at eight A M., Washington (Penn.) local time, and it seemed to be entirely clear. The instrument used was a four-inch refractor. Thinking I might have overlooked some small ones, I observed it again with an eight-inch refractor at half-past one, power of a hundred and fifty, and did not see any spots. The contrast between the sun’s face, Dec. 5, 1883, and Nov. 5, 1883, is very marked. I find I mapped seven groups on Nov. 5, 1883, one of them having eight well-developed spots. D. J. MCADAM. Washington, Penn., Dec. 19. On the care of entomological museums. The editorial comments on this subject in Science for Dec. 19 are certainly very pertinent. For a long time I have been at work on the micro-lepidoptera of North America, until now I have by far the lar- gest collection of the Pyralidae, Tineidae, and Ptero- phoridae of this country, and a collection of the Tortricidae of the world, fuller and more complete, probably, than any other in existence. My work has hitherto been, in a great measure, to get the in- sects authentically named by a careful comparison with the original types, in order that the collection, already so large, should prove in some sense an authoritative standard for comparison. This work has, of course, given me an opportunity of observing the condition of the types of North-American micro- lepidoptera in the collections both of this country and Europe, and the care which they have received. In some American museums the insects. are looked after by men who have to gain their livelihood in some vocation remote from the museum. The au- thorities of other museums have the impression that they have made adequate provisions for the preservation of their insect-collection when it is put under the oversight of an assistant, although he may have no knowledge whatever of such objects. It is not surprising that so many types are represented in these museums by a labelled pin only. One great trouble is, that many museum officials have very little appreciation of the vast amount of labor, care, skill, and knowledge required to bring together, properly arrange, preserve, and make ac- cessible to those who are competent, and desire to study any one or more of the insects in it, a large and varied collection. Onedirector told me that it did not seem profitable to pay a man two thousand dollars to watch a thousand dollars’ worth of insects; and yet he was not at liberty to dispose of them, so they must go to destruction. At present I believe the museum at Cambridge is the only one in this country which gives assurance that a competent curator of entomology will always be employed; yet I think it is not provided with means to purchase collections of insects. The Na- tional museum has appointed an honorary curator; but it might as well be without any as to have one whose entire time is occupied elsewhere, for who would think of donating valuable and perishable types to a museum thus officered! As matters now stand, it is better for those who are able to dispose of their collections without a con- sideration to allow them to go to the Museum of com- parative zoology; but, if they are not able to give them, they should go into the hands of private in- dividuals who are working on that particular class of insects. It is better for them to be sold to the European museums, where they will be preserved, SCIENCE. 25 than for them to go to destruction in a museum of this country. C. H. FERNALD. State college, Orono, Me. Your remarks, p. 540, in regard to the preservation of insect-collections are eminently proper and to the point, with the exception of the closing assertion, which is not justified. It is true that the curator- ship of insects in the National museum is at present honorary, and that there is no paid assistant; but it is equally true, that, since my charge of that depart- ment, all collections and every single specimen re- ceived at the museum have been properly cared for; so that where, up to three years ago, nothing of the many valuable collections brought to the museum remained, there is now the nucleus of a collection; and so long as I am curator of the department, honor- ary merely though the position may be, no material shall go uncared for. Feeling that a beginning to- ward a national collection had to be made, and that the museum was the proper place for it, I have thus far given my time to this object in the belief that proper financial provision will be forthcoming for such conduct of the department as will guarantee both the preservation and the future care of collec- tions. When such provision is made, my own private collection, and others that I know of, will be donated to the institution. Until then much valuable ento- mological material will naturally be lost to the capital. CG. V.. RIERYs [We neither expressed nor intended any slur what- ever upon the present honorary curator of the insect- collections of the National museum. As any one can see, our remarks applied to the perpetual care of valuable collections. If they are not insured per- petual care, the less of them that go there the better. And so we repeat, that ‘‘ the appointment of an hon- orary curator is worse than useless. It only deceives those who know no better, into the supposition that collections sent to the museum are insured proper care. ‘They are not.’’ We regret if the present hon- orary curator feels hurt by this ‘ closing assertion ;’ but it is the only logical outcome from our previous remarks, which he characterizes ‘eminently proper and to the point.’ — Ep. | THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. In 1876, the year in which the Johns Hop- kins university was opened to students, a small chemical laboratory was built. It was large enough to accommodate about forty working students, and was well equipped with the neces- sary conveniences for chemical work, from the most elementary to the most advanced. In the course of a few years, temporary desks were put up wherever an available corner could be found, and finally it became evident that a larger building must be erected. Accordingly, the trustees voted to enlarge the old laboratory so as to make room for a hundred students. The work has recently been completed ; and, 26 as the new laboratory is the result of a great deal of thought, it is believed that a brief description of it would be of interest and value to the readers of Science. ' The laboratory adjoins the biological labo- ratory lately described in these pages. A space of forty feet in width separates the two build- ings, securing ample light for both. The north SCIENCE. oh [Vou. V., Novae h as city, and will not be occupied by buildings- Thus from all four directions the laboratory is. well lighted, and there is practically no danger that the light will be interfered with. Entering from the street, we find ourselves in the corridor of the first floor. On the left is the gas-analysis room, so situated that the direct light of the sun cannot enter it. It is aN \ \ — A : ai oe \ | . I \ wot MY 1 i UI \ i ———— Fie. 1.— NORTH END OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS CHEMICAL LABORATORY, FACING THE STREET. end presents a frontage of fifty-five feet on the street. A view of the street end is given in fig. 1. It extends back from the street about one hundred feet, the back part being eleven feet narrower than the front. It is built of the finest pressed bricks, and ornamented with a bluish sandstone, and presents a handsome, substantial appearance. On the east is one of the university buildings, containing the general library. The south end receives light unob- structedly, the nearest building being some- what more than one hundred feet distant. The intervening space is the property of the fully equipped for all kinds of analytical work with gases. The apparatus of Bunsen, and the more rapid though less accurate apparatus of Hempel, are always ready for use. The floor, the joints of which are laid in white lead, is made of carefully selected strips, and thor- oughly oiled and waxed. Further, it slants slightly from all points towards one corner of the room, where there is a box at a lower Jevel, ~ containing a bottle arranged so as to catch any mercury that may be spilled. Next on the left there is the photometric room. The walls of this room are black, and the windows are pro- * JANUARY 9, 1885.] vided with black Venetian blinds, which, when drawn, exclude all light. The polariscope, spectroscope, goniometer, photometer, and photographic apparatus are used here. On the right, next in order, is the first of the three large working-rooms for students, known Its dimensions are thirty by as laboratory A. nN ie ein A i See ge Oe A ODO 1 9,S1¥,0,01 =e ree <=! eee Corridor rT RARE aes = = 1. — yeatwoy W00}] 21015 0,2 %,0,0€ V AtoyesoqgeT thirty-two feet. The work of those who are in the earliest stages of their course is carried on here. Forty students can be accommodated in this room at one time without inconvenience. Adjoining it is a large storeroom, in which the chemicals are kept, and the solutions for the reagent-bottles prepared. On the opposite side of the hall are the appa- ratus-office and a balance-room. ‘The office is connected by a stairway with the store-rooms for apparatus, which are in the basement. All necessary ap- paratus is loaned to students who sign receipts for whatever they may take ; and the cost price is charged for any thing which may not be returned in good condition. Passing on, we enter laboratory B, which was the main working-room of the old laboratory. It measures thir- ty by forty-two feet, and has places for thirty students. Those who work in this room have had some prelimi- nary training. They are here en- gaged in complicated qualitative min- eral analyses, preparations, and quan- titative analyses. The office and pri- vate laboratory of Associate-Professor Morse adjoin this room, and open into it. The arrangements for sulphuretted hydrogen deserve special mention. As is well known, this valuable gas is the chief source of dis- comfort in chemical laboratories ; and chemists will, perhaps, wonder and doubt when it is SCIENCE. Fie. 2.— FIRsTt FLOOR. 27 stated, that, in the laboratory under considera- tion, its familiar odor is practically unknown. This desirable result is reached by providing for it, not a separate room, as is customary, but a separate, thoroughly ventilated building, immediately adjoining laboratory B, but com- pletely isolated from it. It is provided with a high chimney, and means are taken which not only ought to, but actually do, secure a con- stant upward draught. It con- tains a large gas-generator, which furnishes sulphuretted hydrogen, and which is in charge of the janitor, who is required to see that it is keptin order. All work with noxious gases must be car- ried on in the ‘ stink-room,’ under penalty of the law. ‘The experi- ence of the past year has been such as to lead the writer strongly to advise all who have any thing to do with building chemical lab- oratories to see that they are similarly provided. Having thus taken a hasty glance at the first floor, we may pass to the second. Here we find the main lecture-hall, with a large prepa- ration-room opening into it. Over the lecture- table, extending nearly the entire width of the room, is a large hood of galvanized, corrugated iron. This is connected with a ventilating- flue, the opening of which is about fifteen feet OqeT A G (aoye. "ITRH SUijdoy 07 AemaSpiig u¥GI »,9,S1 AsPIGNT *7) A1gpeIOGLT nn = BS h ¥& ii aS it ry) SSS Fie. 3.—SECOND FLOOR. long by three feet wide, extending upward through the roof. et} Fuel Cellar. | } LTA y Fig. 6.— BASEMENT. is difficult to work in it. It may safely be as- serted that all really valuable forms of appa- ratus or arrangements for special operations have been taken into account, and embodied in the building. THE TILE-FISH. In the spring of 1879 a Gloucester fishing- schooner, accidentally fishing on the Gulf- Stream slope south of New England, found in abundance a fish which later proved to be new, and was described under the name of Lophola- tilus chamaelionticeps, but which the fishermen named tile-fish. The fish-commission later found that it possessed excellent edible quali- ties; and the prospect of thus adding a new fish to our east-coast food-fishes created a stir at the time. So bright were the prospects, that a fishing-vessel was even being fitted out 30 for the purpose of catching this new fish, when, in the early spring of 1882, reports were brought in by vessels that dead tile-fishes were seen float- ing in immense numbers over areas of many square miles. ‘These dead or nearly dead fishes were floating, belly upward, all the way from off Cape Hatteras to Nantucket, and in such num- bers that there were in one case estimated to be fifty in a square rod. As they weighed from five to fifty pounds, even allowing for ex- aggeration, the sight must have been strange. They were examined, and found to be per- fectly healthy, and some were eaten. All were not dead, but some seemed to be benumbed ; and, when placed in the sun on deck, they re- vived sufficiently to move the muscles slightly. There were some other fishes among them in SCIENCE. yi Wy ie oS y Dy Midd) ii) we find that there were 719,360,000 pounds of dead fish on the surface. abundance of these fishes was never imagined before their destruction. ‘This destruction is not without parallel; for in certain bays on the coast of Labrador, when icebergs have - grounded, cod have been killed in great num- bers by the sudden decrease of temperature, and their bodies washed ashore. during the Mexican war, after a very cold night, enough fishes were washed on the beaches in a benumbed condition to furnish food for Gen. Taylor’s whole army. Other cases are recorded where volcanic action has caused similar destruction. Of the theories sug- gested to explain the destruction, all were dis- carded but that of cold water. Vole action Oe aad yp IE 3) nae yy yh he R Yh Dy Q Wey THE TILE-FISH.! a similar condition; but, as none were saved, the species cannot be identified. This great abundance of paralyzed fishes on the surface, without any apparent reason, attracted much attention, and many causes were ascribed to explain the phenomenon. ‘The fish-commis- sion itself made inquiries; and the following startling statistics concerning the number of dead fishes are taken from Capt. Collins’s offi- cial report. ‘They covered 4,250 square miles ; and, if one-twentieth of the number recorded by the man who saw the most be taken as an average number for the area, we have a total of 1,438,720,000 fishes. Evenif we allow only one fish where the observer reported 400, we still have an astounding total of 71,936,000 fishes. Taking ten pounds to be the average weight, 1 Reproduced from a drawing loaned by the U.S, fish-com- mission, as were the cuts on pp. 337, 338, vol. iv. could not be used to explain it, because there was no disturbance; and disease would not account for the phenomenon, because all the fishes were perfectly healthy. The tile-fish is a warm-water fish, and be- longs to a family which is peculiarly a tropical croup. The part of the ocean which these fishes inhabit is a portion of the rapidly slop- ing Gulf Stream slope. A narrow belt in this region, having a depth of from seventy to a hundred and fifty fathoms, is so influenced — by the Gulf Stream as to have a nearly uniform temperature of about 50° IF. the year round. On either side of this belt is one of much colder water. ‘The inner shallow shore- water often descends in winter below 32° F., and beyond to the great ocean-depths the tem- perature gradually descends. This belt, being so much warmer and more uniform in tempera- In Texas, ‘The extreme | JANUARY 9, 1885.] ture, is, as anatural consequence, inhabited by a different fauna; in fact, by a tropical deep- sea fauna, an extension of that of the West Indies. Not only the tile-fish, but certain crus- taceans, are examples of these. Naturally they would be sensitive to cold. During the spring of 1882, violent and long-continued easterly and northerly winds prevailed, and numerous icebergs stranded on the George’s Banks just north of the belt. We have every reason for believing that these winds carried the inshore waters, which were naturally cold, but whose temperature had been lowered by the stranded bergs, across the border-line and into the warm area. If this were the case, such delicate animals as the tile-fish could not pos- sibly stand the sudden change which their more hardy neighbors could easily live through. So it was that the tile-fish and a few other species were exterminated from these grounds. Al- though the fish-commission has organized many extensive expeditions for the sole purpose of searching after the tile-fish, not a single speci- men has since been found, either of. the tile-fish . or the other species. Whether or not they still exist in waters more southern is an open question; but we understand that Professor Verrill believes they will be found there. At any rate, it is certain that: they are entirely absent from their former haunts, and that, if they do exist elsewhere, many years must elapse ere they inhabit this bank again in abundance. Such sudden changes as these, and local extinction of several species by such simple means, cannot help throwing much light upon paleontological geology. Rateg 8. Tarr. COMETS AND ASTEROIDS OF 1884. WHILE the year 1884 has brought no comets of remarkable brilliancy or popular interest, compared with the comets of 1881 or 1882, nearly all the comets of the year will claim more than ordinary attention at the hands of astronomers, on account of the interest which attaches to the investigation of their orbits. Of the five comets seen, four have been periodic. The first comet which was discovered in 1884 be- longs properly with the comets of the preceding year, as it passed perihelion on Dec. 25, 1883. It was discovered, however, on Jan. 7, 1884, by Ross, an ama- teur observer, at Elsternwick, near Melbourne, Aus- tralia, — “‘ a faint nebulous object, with an ill-defined central condensation, and a small, tail-like projec- tion.’’? It was not visible in the northern hemisphere, and was under observation for only about a month. The tail was one and a half degrees long on Jan. 18, 1884. SCIENCE. 3] The first comet of 1884, in order of perihelion pas- sage, was that discovered, or rather re-discovered, by Brooks, at Phelps, N. Y., on Sept. 1, 1883. It has been commonly known as the Pons-Brooks comet, or Pons comet of 1812, having been originally discovered by Pons at Marseilles in that year. An account of this comet has already appeared in Science (iii. 67). The second comet, in both order of perihelion pas- sage and of discovery, was that found by E. E. Bar- nard of Nashville, Tenn., on July 16, 1884. At the time of discovery it was a nebulous object, slightly condensed near the centre, and tolerably bright. It was found to move in an elliptical orbit with a period of about five and a half years, the elements bearing a very close resemblance to those of DeVico’s comet — (1844, i.). The comets do not, however, appear to be identical. The nearest approach to the Sun was on Aug. 16. The third comet of 1884 was discovered on Sept. 17, by Wolf, a student at Heidelberg, and is still under observation. In its physical appearance, the comet has changed very little since discovery. As far as I know, it has not at any time been visible to the naked eye, nor has it shown any indications of a tail. When examined on Nov. 13, with the nine- inch equatorial at the Naval observatory, under a magnifying-power of one hundred and two diame- ters, it presented the appearance of a ‘slightly oval, nebulous object.’ Near the centre of the nebula was a bright disk nearly circular, and in the centre of this disk the stellar nucleus. The line of demar- cation between the disk and the surrounding nebula was, of course, extremely uncertain; but measures made with the filar micrometer gave, roughly, a di- ameter of 1/52” for the outer nebula, and a diameter of 18” for the central disk. Using the distances given in Krueger’s ephemeris, these measures would represent distances of forty-seven thousand and seventy-five hundred miles respectively. By far the most interest- ing feature of the comet is its orbit. Krueger has assigned a period of about six and seventh-tenths years, but there is no evidence of any previous appear- ance. Heremarks that at the returns in 1871 and 1878 it was unfavorably situated. In 1891 and 1864 its situation is favorable, if we can suppose that it fol- lows the same path as at present. Krueger points out, furthermore, that in the early part of 1875 the comet must have suffered considerable perturbation by Ju- piter, and before that time it may have been following an entirely different orbit. Perihelion was passed on Sept. 26. Encke’s comet, the most interesting short-period comet, has just been reported by Professor Young. It is extremely faint, but will grow somewhat brighter. It will not reach perihelion till March, 1885. To complete the list, we should mention a ‘sus- pected’ comet to which some interest is attached. A faint, round, nebulous object was found by Spitaler with the twenty-seven inch refractor of the Vienna observatory, while searching for comet 1858, iii., on the morning of May 26, 1884. Unfavorable weather prevented a re-examination of this place till June 17 and 18, when the object could no longer be seen, nor 32 could it be found afterwards near its predicted place. It is still doubtful whether this was the expected comet.. During the year, ten new asteroids or minor planets have been discovered, making the total number now known two hundred and forty-five. The new-comers are as follows: (236) Honoria, discovered by Dr. J. Palisa, at Vienna, April 26; (237) Hypatia, by Pa- lisa, June 27; (238) by Knorre, at Berlin, July 1; (289) by Palisa, Aug. 18; (240) Vanadis, by Borelly, at Marseilles, Aug. 27; (241) Germania, by Dr. R. Luther, at Dusseldorf, Sept. 12; (242) Kriemhild, by Palisa, Sept. 22; (243) by Palisa, Sept. 29; (244) by Palisa, Oct. 14; (245) by Palisa, Oct. 27 (at first taken for Andromache). W. C. WINLOCK. FURTHER NOTES ON BOGOSLOFF ISLAND. AN examination of the official report of Capt. Healy, Lieut. Cantwell, and Dr. Yemans, of the U. S. revenue-cutter Corwin, and of the drawings and photographs by which it is accompanied, affords a few further notes of interest in regard to this re- BOGOSLOFF ISLAND AND SHIP ROCK. markable island. It may be recalled that the new peak was first seen, so far as now known, by Capt. Anderson of the Matthew Turner, Sept. 27, 1888, and that therefore the application to it of the name of Capt. Hague, on the ground that he was the discov- erer, as suggested by Lieut. Stoney, is erroneous. We prefer to retain the prior name of Grewingk, who first collected and discussed all the existing data in relation to the island and its changes. In regard to the Bogosloff peak, the new observa- tions determine that it contains a dike or central lon- gitudinal wall of laminated rock, probably volcanic, of which Ship Rock may be an outlying spur. The top and ends of Bogosloff are entirely, and the sides partly, uncovered by the disintegration of avery friable rock of different character from the core. The high sharp pinnacles observed in 1873 appear to have been destroyed by the commotions attending the upheaval of Grewingk. The highest (east) point is now about three hundred and thirty-four feet, the centre two hun- dred and ninety feet, and the west part three hundred and twenty-four feet in height. These differ slightly from Stoney’s figures, and considerably from previous measurements. Allowing forall the probable dimi- nution in height, due to various causes, we are con- vinced that a large part of the discrepancy is due to SCIENCE. [VoL. V., No. 101. ” error in earlier measurements, including our own; since the length of the peak, which cannot have changed much, is only about a thousand feet. The earlier estimates of the height of Grewingk were about double its real height. The tendency is always toward overestimating a height when there is noth- ing adjacent for comparison, and accurate measure- ments from on shipboard are extremely difficult. The south spit of Bogosloff has certainly increased greatly in length since recent disturbances, and now meas- ures about eighteen hundred feet, when previously it did not exceed one-third the length of Bogosloff. The north end of Bogosloff rises nearly vertically with _ a sort of cave at its base. The shores of both peaks are fringed with large water-worn bowlders of hard rock. The axis of the old peak and spit is in a south- east by east direction. There was not the slightest sign of recent vulcanism about it; and the crags were the haunt of myriads of birds, but too crum- bling to scale. There are no birds on the new peak, and those accidentally entering its vapors are quickly suffocated. Ship Rock rises eighty-seven feet, and has been elevated about twenty feet above its old level, judging by the barnacles still clinging to its sides. The apex has crumbled a little, and is less squarely cut than formerly. Ai LEN. woe CANIS SSSR oe ee Nr WASS SS FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY LIEUT. G. H. DOTY, 1884. Grewingk is less sharp than Bogosloff. As nearly as could be determined through the steam-jets, the highest peak of Grewingk is less than four hundred and fifty feet, and its base is somewhat over three thousand feet long. A deep ravine which apparently represents the crater, but is too full of steam to af- ford a fair view, extends in a north-easterly direction through the upper third of the mass, and cuts off a peak south-east from it, estimated to be four hundred feet high and about one-fifth the volume of the whole summit. The sides of Grewingk rise with a slope varying from ten to forty-five degrees; near the base it is gentler; and the surface of soft ashes, thickly cov- ering broken rock. The slope, after the first three hundred feet, becomes steeper, and chiefly of loosely piled rocks; at two-thirds of the total height from the base, a wall of voleanic pudding-stone checks further progress. On the north-west side many irregular rocks appear: the other sides are more thickly strewn with ashes. There is no lava. Many steam-jets are visible, but are noiseless or only purr slightly. In | one place, two-thirds of the way up, there is a group of fifteen jets on anearly horizontal plane, which were notable for the force with which the vapor was emitted, and for their intermittent regular pulsing. All the vents were surrounded with dendritic sulphur crystals. JANUARY 9, 1885. ] There were but few and slight earth-trembles experi- enced by the party while on the island. It is quite possible that the spit now connecting the two peaks is a later formation, not existing at the time of Hague’s visit. Such spits may be formed or destroyed in a single winter storm. The Corwin party, however, thought this had merely been elevated from the sea- bed with Ship Rock, but without the participation of the old peak. It is at present composed of fine black sand, and gray, black-spotted, water-worn pebbles, without vegetation, and may be covered with breakers during heavy storms. It is less than four thousand feet long, and about three hundred and twenty-six feet wide at its narrowest part. Weel DALE. THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN PARIS AND IN YPORT. WE reproduce to-day two diagrams, showing the course of the epidemic of cholera in Paris in Novem- ber. They are both taken from recent numbers of the Revue scientifique. Fig. 1. In both of them the double line is the curve of deaths; but in fig. 1 the single line is the curve of cases admitted to the hospital, whilst in fig. 2 it indicates the total number of deaths in the city and hospitals taken together. The numbers along the foot of the diagram indi- cate the days of the month. The vertical columns show the number of entries and of deaths in fig. 1, and the number of deaths in fig. 2. SCIENCE. 33 Examining the first diagram, we find that the fir-t case entered the hospital on Nov. 4; that on the 5th there were ten new cases; and that the number ran up very rapidly, until, on the 11th of November, one hundred and thirty-two new cases were reported from the hospitals alone. From this date the number of cases diminished, until, on Noy. 30, there were but two new cases, and two deaths; and immediately after this the activity of the epidemic became suspended. Taking the total number of cases recorded (1,002), and comparing it with the number of deaths (573), we have a mortality of 57%, —a rather startling re- sult, under the circumstances; for it may be taken for granted, that under the care of a hospital staff, if anywhere, the best results are to be obtained in the treatment of this disease. It may be said, and with how much truth we do not know, that only the worst cases were entered at the hospitals, and that many of these were moribund at the time of entrance. Our impression is, however, that the cases were a fair representation of the average. This diagram presents also the usual characteris- tics of a cholera epidemic, the stage of increase (Nov. oo OE A EE { 4-10), the stationary stage (Nov. 10-14), and the peri- od of decline (Nov. 14-30). This, of course, is but a representation in miniature of what occurs in out- breaks that are spread over a greater extent of time. The suddenness of the decline of the epidemic may be due, in part, to the vigorous measures taken to stamp it out; but its disappearance is to be ascribed mostly to the frosts of the last of the month, which were frequent and rather severe. 34 The second diagram presents in a graphic manner the comparative rate of mortality in and out of the hospitals. From it we find that the total number of deaths from cholera from Nov. 3 to Nov. 80 was 916, and that 343 of these took place in the city at large. We regret exceedingly that the total number of cases in the city is not at hand for purposes of comparison with those in the hospitals. The question of the ad- vantages of hospital treatment for such cases is still an open one in certain quarters, and may be settled in some measure by a study of this epidemic. The conclusions to be drawn from the charts are that the outbreak was not an extended one, although it was widely diffused throughout the poorer parts of the city; that its virulence, as a whole, was equal to that of others, the rate of mortality being fully up to the average; and that the recent advances in sani- tary science are not yet so thoroughly perfected and crystallized that their application to practical pur- poses produces a visible effect in the restraint of a pestilence, when occurring in a large city. What may be done in a small community which is thoroughly under medical control is illustrated by an account, by Mr. Gibert, of an outbreak of cholera at Yport, near Havre.!' This epidemic is as interesting and complete in its details as a laboratory experi- ment. The community is small and isolated, con- tains sixteen hundred inhabitants, and is out of the direct line of travel. The source of the disease was traced with precision to two sailors who reached the village Sept. 28. One of them had had an attack of cholera at Cette; and on the day after his arrival at Yport he soaked his soiled clothing, and hung it out to dry in front of his house, allowing the dirty water to run along the street. From this nidus the disease started, aad there oc- curred forty-two cases with eighteen deaths. Without following the account further, it will be interesting to read Gibert’s conclusions — justifiable, apparently, from the account which he gives. They are, — 1. That cholera was brought to Yport. 2. That it was brought by insufficiently disinfected clothing, soiled by cholera dejecta. 3. That, after this clothing was washed, it became the agent of severe and rapid contamination. 4. That the cholera was propagated, by means of contagion, from house to house, without its being possible to attribute a single case to the transporta- tion of the specfiie germ by the air. That the sanitary measures taken, although incomplete, inasmuch as it was not possible to sepa- rate the sick from the well, were sufficient to stamp out the epidemic. 6. That the complete destruction of the cholera dejecta, and the disinfection or destruction of all ef- fects soiled by them, seem to be sufficient to stamp out an epidemic of the disease, when it has not at- tained too great proportions. 7. That contagion by the air (the common accepta- tion of the term) appears to be an error; for at Yport three nuns and three physicians, or students in med- icine, lived for a month under the most favorable * Revue scient., Dec. 6, 1884, No. 23, p. 724. SCIENCE. conditions for taking the disease by this channel. They all escaped, with no further precautions than taking their meals at a distance from the cholera patients, and avoiding the handling of moist and soiled clothing. 8. The question of water has no bearing in this case, for the very good reason that the Yportais never drink any. ] AN AMERICAN COMMUNE. THERE is at present a wide-spread feeling, both among scholars and men of affairs, that the time has come for an abandonment of that economic method which consisted largely in verbal quibbles and scholastic controversies about definitions of conceptions, and for a sub- stitution in its place of a careful examination into the phenomena of this wonderful life of man in society which has received so little at- tention from science. ‘The question is asked, ‘¢ Why not study economic phenomena as we study the phenomena of plant or animal life? ”’ And surely it seems as interesting and as im- portant to observe the social life of man as that of ants in an ant-hill. | It was with this convic- tion that Dr. Shaw undertook the preparation of this little volume on Icaria; and he was fully conscious of the fact that he was treating communism from a new stand-point, as is shown by these words taken from the preface: — _ ‘* A great number of books and articles have been written in recent years, discussing socialism and com- munism in the abstract; . . . and there would be no reason for the present monograph if it also undertook to enter the field of general discussion. Such is not its purpose or plan. Certainly the most common de- fect in the current literature of social and political questions consists in the tendency to generalize too hastily. Too little diligence is given to searching for the facts of history, and to studying with minute at- tention the actual experiences of men. In the follow- ing pages an attempt is made to present the history of a single communistic enterprise; ... . to picture its inner life as a miniature social and political or- ganism; to show what are, in actual experience, the difficulties which a communistic society encounters ; and to show by a series of pen-portraits what manner of men the enterprise has enlisted.”’ To prepare himself for his task, Dr. Shaw read the works of the French communist Cabet, the founder of Icaria, the publications of other Icarians, and passed a week with them. This volume is, then, a careful study, conducted in the spirit of modern science. Icaria, with its romantic and interesting his- tory, is an example of pure communism, and as such has important lessons to teach. Icaria: a chapter in the history of communism. By ALBERT SHaw, Ph. D. New York and London, G. P?. Putnam’s Sons, 1884. 94-219 p. W6r JANUARY 9, 1885. ] One impression gathered from the pages of this work is the aimost religious fervor with which communists are devoted to their peculiar social creeds. Ridicule is unable to turn them aside from their purposes, and repeated fail- ure does not shake their faith. Speaking of the charms which the community at Brook Farm found in their life, and their unwillingness to change it for the ‘ luxuries of Egypt,’ Dr. Shaw remarks : — “Some such feeling as that seems to be perma- nently retained by almost all who have ever engaged in community life. It is a notable fact that many of these people who have enlisted in the work of human ~ amelioration have their wits wonderfully quickened thereby, while the one-sidedness of their develop- ment tends to deepen and confirm opinions once re- ceived. The ill-fated colonies of Robert Owen had passed into the history of ‘extinct socialisms’ a generation ago; and yet the writer himself might designate one and another and another of the now venerable associates of Owen, still fresh with enthusi- asm, and warm with sympathy, for every proposed social reform. The last of the Fourierist phalanste- ries disappeared before the war; but many of the men who were engaged in them may still be found wres- tling with the problems of co-operation, or pounding away at something more radical. Icaria once num- bered its hundreds of disciples. Most of them have disappeared, seemingly swallowed up in the mass of. American society; but, if the truth could be ascer- tained, they would, in all probability, still be found to be communists at heart’’ (pp. 176, 177). A second lesson which Icaria teaches, is that the difficulties in the way of a realization of communism have existed largely in the imper- fections of human nature. Attempts to erect a social fabric of a new design have shattered, because the building-material was not strong enough to resist the strain to which it was sub- jected. It is a sweet thing for brethren to dwell together in unity, but truly a most diffi- cult thing. While in Nanvoo, Ill., their first settlement, Cabet early leads one party of Ica- rians in violent attacks on an opposite party : and the controversy waxes warm and bitter, until a disastrous split separates the two sec- tions permanently. Cabet dies poor and broken-hearted in St. Louis, his adherents are soon scattered, while his opponents found a new settlement in Iowa. But these latter, united in poverty and trial, are unable to en- dure prosperity ; and a young and progressive party, unwilling to accede to the policy of their more conservative elders, effect a separation. Peace and prosperity have never remained long with the Icarians, but they have never ceased to persevere in hope of better things. One of the most interesting and at the same time touching passages in Dr. Shaw’s book is that which describes the beginning of a system SCIENCE. 3D of private property, and the relentlessness with which it was suppressed as soon as discovered. It appears that the privilege had been granted each family of cultivating a small plot of eround surrounding the house, in such manner as the members thereof thought good : this was the origin of the question of the ‘little gar- dens’ (‘les petits jardins’). “Everywhere else in the community the Icarian motto (all for each, each for all) was the invariable rule. If, in the one matter of these tiny plots environ- ing their humble domiciles, the Icarians allowed the idea of ‘meum et tuum’ insidiously to enter, and if they found a keener enjoyment in the flowers or the grapes because of the forbidden but delicious sense of ownership, we must not condemn them too harsh- ly, nor impeach their communism. There was some- thing noble and pathetic in the manner with which these ‘citoyens’ and ‘citoyennes’ put away the ac- cursed thing when they awoke to a realization of the fact that the gardens were introducing a dangerous element of individualism and inequality ’’ (p. 101). This unpretentious little book on Icaria may be commended as a contribution to social science well worthy of careful perusal. It may be proper to state, in conclusion, that the book was presented by its author to the au- thorities of the Johns Hopkins university as a thesis for the degree of Ph.D. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL ANATOMY OF PLANTS. Tuts is the best: sketch of plant-life that we have seen. ‘The author criticises Sachs’s view that the cell is merely passive, and shows that we must recognize both the separate indi- viduality of the cell and the corporate unity of the complex plant, though in the higher plants the independenée of the cell is largely subordinated to the general weal. He also rejects Sachs’s ‘ Fundamental system’ of tissues as being a heterogeneous assemblage, and as in no sense a_ physiological unity. The right classification of tissues is shown to depend neither on embryology (for mature tissues show no embryological unity) nor on collocation (whether outside or inside the thickening ring), but on their actual structure as related to their functions. Thus the tissues are arranged as protective and nutritive, — the protective including dermal and skeletal (or mechanical) systems ; and the nutritive includ- ing absorbing, assimilating, conducting, stor- ing, respiratory, and secreting organs. The bulk of the book is occupied with the anatomy of the plant as dependent on its functions. Physiologische pfianzenanatomie, im grundriss dargestelit. Von Dr. G. HABERLANDT. Leipzig, Engelmann, 1884. 12+398 p., illustr. 8°. 36 Under the protective system, we learn that cork and cuticle are a kind of fat, like tallow ; the cork being impermeable to changes of tem- perature, and so securing slowness of freezing and thawing. The special secretions of ethereal oils have also been found by Tyndall to be useful in preventing the escape of warmth by night, and over-heating by day. The mechanical system includes bast, wood- eclls, and sclerenchyme; some parts resisting pulling forces, others resisting pressure. The bast-fibres of many plants surpass iron, and in some cases even steel of equal cross-section, in their power of bearing weights. Before winter the walls of the bast may thicken, becoming collenchyme, and the walls of cambium-cells may also thicken, as a means in both cases of storing food which is given back in spring. As a general rule, stems are strengthened to resist pressure, and roots are fortified against injury by pulling; and hence the circular ar- rangement of mechanical elements in the one ease, and their axial situation in the other. But stems growing in water, and aerial roots, reverse the conditions, and accordingly the structure: so that we come to have root-like stems and also stem-like roots. ‘The venation of leaves is directed to protect them from injury, and sometimes to roll them up, and so mini- mize evaporation. Some leaves in arid regions have ‘water tissue,’ with large reservoirs of water for times of drought. Root-hairs are subsidiary to the surface of the young rootlets for absorbing water, and may occur .on underground stems. ‘They abound most in plants inhabiting dry places and in those which transpire freely ; and are absent from Coniferae (whose transpiration is low) and from marsh-plants (where the water- supply is abundant). The special assimilating organs are the palisade-cells of the leaves, the sponge-cells being only subsidiary. But the sponge-cells are important for transpiration ; and in beech- trees the leaves in sunshine have much palisade- tissue, whilst those in shade have most sponge-. tissue. On the conducting system (leitungssystem ) our author makes a wide, and we think a justi- fiable, departure from current doctrines. Ac- cording to Sachs, the vessels of plants contain air, and the wood-cells carry water in the sub- stance of their walls (we understand that Sachs has given up this view). Haberlandt shows that the water in the cell-walls is prob- ably fixed as if crystallized; that the spring wood conducts water rapidly, though it is thin- walled; that water has been shown by Hohnel SCIENCE. [Vor. V., No. 101. to be in the vessels ; that in palms and tree-ferns there is too little prosenchyme to satisfy Sachs’s © doctrine; and that Sachs’s experiments were defective and wrongly interpreted. The wood- cells are merely mechanical, and the water ascends through the vessels and tracheids. Though the vessels may contain air-bubbles, they do not communicate with intercellular spaces or with stomata, and the low tension of the air in them would favor a suctorial rather than a supplying function. ‘They have water both by day and night. The air appears in- them when the day is somewhat advanced ; and the alternate - bubbles of water and air, like Jamin’s tubes, favors Elfving’s view of the ascent of the water by ‘steps’ (as a writer in Nature names it). The transverse walls of some vessels (as tracheids) support starch, which is too heavy for fluids; and the thin membranes. permit the slow passage of water, but stop the passage of air. In pitted cells or pitted tracheids the diffusion surfaces are enlarged at the pits without the walls being weakened. The wide ducts of rattans afford quick passage for water by diminishing adhe- sion ; whilst water-plants have few closed ducts. The long vessels are for through passage of water, and abound in stems; but tracheids are for local supply, and predominate in leaves of phanerogams and in some eryptogams. Another part of the conducting system is the conducting parenchyme of the leaves and stem, including the parenchyme of the fibro-vascular bundles, the medullary rays, and the transparent parenchyme around the bundles of the leaves. These cells convey or store carbohydrates, as starch and sugar. ‘Their proximity to the ves- sels indicates osmotic action, by which water and substances in solution pass out and in; the conducting tissue aids in the transmission of water; and the vessels may aid in the trans- ference or storing of carbohydrates. The con- ducting parenchyme of the wood-region joins neighboring medullary rays, the contents of which can pass radially in the stem. The conducting system for the proteids is the: cambiform cells and the sieve-tubes, the per- forations of the latter permitting the transmis- sion of undissolved substances. Milk-ducts share in the functions of the sieve-tubes, reach- ing even to the base of the palisade-cells of leaves, and being abundant when the sieve- tubes are few. The passage of air is by the intercellular spaces. Carbon dioxide can penetrate the cuti- cle; and both stomata and lenticels can open and close so as to regulate the supply. The stomata of plants inhabiting arid regions are JANUARY 9, 1885.] kept permanently closed, or are protected by ante-chambers ; and those of some marsli-plants cannot close at all. In sunny places the air in the intercellular spaces is in motion, and may be observed passing out by the stomata. Dur- ing the life of the plant, two maxima of trans- piration occur: (1) in youth, the air passing through the soft cuticle ; (2) in adult life. when it passes by the stomata. The suggestion of Sachs, that the narrow- ness of the cells of autumn wood of trees re- sults from tension, is unsatisfactory, because the change from broad to narrow cells is sud- den, and the tension upon the young wood is nearly the same in autumn asin spring. How the difference is caused is not known; but it benefits the tree by affording wide channels for a plentiful supply of water for the opening leaves of spring and for the excessive trans- piration of summer, and, on the other hand, by providing thickness and strength to meet the stress of winter. G. Mactroskte. TROWBRIDGE’S PHYSICS. Ax. who are interested in the improvement of elementary science-teaching must regard with no little interest the announcement that a physicist of Professor Trowbridge’s deservedly high reputation and great experience has taken time to prepare a text-book in physics for sec- ondary schools. ‘The new physics’ is cer- tainly not of the common type of text-books, and it will be generally welcomed as, in many respects, a new departure. Exercises in measurement occur from the beginning, and the student is shown the im- portance of ‘ finding out things for himself’ at an early stage. The book is rich in sugges- tions concerning the construction and use of simple forms of apparatus, by means of which important physical constants may be deter- mined with some precision. For linear meas- urement such instruments as the vernier, the spherometer, the cathetometer, and the micro- scope with cobweb micrometer eye-piece, which are often among the more expensive appliances of a physical laboratory, are described, and their construction so planned as to tempt any enterprising high-school teacher to undertake their manufacture. Several ingenious methods of measuring small intervals of time are intro- duced, and most of them are so simple that their value can be tested at little expense. By means of these methods the laws of motion are investigated experimentally: in fact, the The new physics. By JoHn TROWBRIDGE. Appleton, 1884. New York, 19 + 367 p. 12°. SCIENCE. 37 attempt is made to discover what these laws are, and not merely to verify them. ‘The stu- dent is taught how to construct galvanometers and electrometers, and how to use them in elec- trical measurement. In short, what may be termed the laboratory method of teaching ele- mentary physics is adopted by the author with- out reserve. But it is a great disappointment to find a book containing so much that is fresh and original so marred by errors, many of which are really serious. ‘The laudable attempt has been made to put the student in possession of certain principles of prime importance which are generally to be found only in the college text-book, and not always there. In the dis- cussion of some of these, mistakes of consid- erable magnitude, and statements that are very misleading, have unfortunately found their way into the text. Of these, some of the most serious are to be found in the chapter en mo- ments of inertia. In attempting to calculate, without involving the element of time, the force with which a steel spring strikes a pen- dulum ball, some inconsistent and extraordi- nary equations are produced. A little further on the reader will be astonished to find it de- monstrated (?) that in a lever the products of each force by the square of its distance from the fulcrum are equal; and on this proposition the principle of moments of inertia is, allowed to rest. The statement is also made that the radius of gyration is the length of the equiva- lent simple pendulum ; and this error permeates the whole treatment of simple and compound pendulums. In the definition and discussion of equipotential surfaces the false assumption is made that force is constant over such a sur- face. Preliminary to the consideration of the work done by an electric current will be found a brief discussion of the dimensions of force and work, which is obscure and misleading. There will be considerable difference of opinion about the propriety of inserting in an elementary text-book such matter as the de- termination of the value of the ohm in absolute units, the measure of the horizontal compo- nent of the earth’s magnetism, and the meas- ure of electromotive force by the ‘ throw’ of a gvalvanometer-needle. The book is extremely suggestive, and will be found of great use in the hands of the enthusiastic teacher. A second edition will doubtless be free from the numerous mistakes of the present, which can hardly be regarded as a safe guide to one not already tolerably familiar with the underlying principles of the ‘new physics.’ 38 SCIENCE. NOTES AND NEWS. A NOVEL event transpired at Boston last Wednes- day, in the celebration, by Dr. B. Joy Jeffries and his friends, of the centennial of the first balloon voy- age ever made across the English Channel, which was undertaken by his grandfather, Dr. John Jef- fries, on Jan. 7,1785. In this connection, Dr. Jeffries has happily printed, in the current number of the Magazine of American history, the original diary of Dr. John Jeffries, illustrated by three excellent por- traits, one representing him as taking his voyage. The account of the trip is exceedingly interesting, and told in very simple language. But many per- sons would doubtless be more attracted by the naive account of his reception in Paris, and the honors which he received during his six weeks’ residence there. It gives a vivid picture of society, at the time, in that gay capital. — A party of German explorers, consisting of Dr. Karl von den Steinen, Wilhelm von den Steinen, and Otto Klaus, has just reached Rio de Janeiro, after a journey of five months through the least-known part of Brazil. Starting from Cuyaba, capital of the prov- ince of Matto Grosso, in May, these gentlemen went by land to one of the head waters of the Xingu, — to which they gave the name of Batovy, in honor of the president of Matto Grosso, who furnished an escort, and in other ways aided the expedition, —and, em- barking upon this stream in bark canoes made for the purpose, reached the mouth of the Xing in Octo- ber. The journey was rendered dangerous by the innumerable rapids of the river, and by numerous tribes of Indians who had never before seen a white man, but was safely accomplished without a single serious accident. The results promise to be of great geographical and ethnological interest. The Xingu, which is thus added to the small number of Brazilian rivers that have been accurately explored and mapped, has been the least known of all the great rivers of the empire; and its valley has become the centre of the unknown Indian country from the driving-in of the more intractable tribes by the advance of civil- ization along the Tocantins, Tapajos, and Upper Paraguay. Its lower course was explored in 1842 by Prince Adelbert of Prussia, to a point above the great bend; but the upper course has only been known from the somewhat vague accounts of missionaries and traders of colonial times, which have, until recently, been overlooked by Brazilian geographers. Repre- sented with tolerable accuracy on the earlier maps, it has, during the last thirty or forty years, been a sort of geographical shuttlecock, each succeeding map in- troducing some erroneous correction. An important stream, the Paranatinga, an affluent of the Sao Manoel, branch of the Tapajos, or perhaps the upper course of that river, was first transferred to the Xingi. When this mistake was discovered, through a consultation of ancient documents, another was committed by taking three or four degrees from the length of the Xingu on the supposition that there was not room for its source near the parallel of 15° south, between the Paranatinga and the Araguaya. The present ex- [Vou. V., No. 101, plorers report that the river flows through a fine country very abundant in rubber, but that it is too much obstructed by rapids to become a commercial highway. — Agricultural experiments continue at Houghton farm (Mountainville, Orange county, N.Y.), on the general plan adopted in 1879, but with some ex- tension and modifications. In the line of agricul- ture proper, the chief work is the comprehensive study of the Indian-corn plant, and experiments in rotation of crops, as inaugurated by Dr. M. Miles. Ten acres are devoted to this branch. One report has been published, and another is in preparation. The _ experiment-orchard planted by Professor Penhallow, — and covering three acres, is doing finely, and promises results of value to horticultural interests. Meteoro- logical observations are carried on, — atmospheric, surface, and subterranean temperatures receiving es- pecial attention, —and an annual report is printed. In this department, instruments have been lately in- stalled to secure continuous records. It is so difficult to thoroughly provide for animal experiments, that these have been undertaken only in a somewhat desultory way. Miscellaneous investigations, all re- lated to practical farming, are carried on as time and circumstances permit. It is understood that Mr. Valentine is in search of the right man, with scientific training, faculty for original research, and taste for farm-life, to take the immediate charge of the experi- ment department at Houghton farm. The time of Major Alvord, general manager, is so occupied, that he can only give the work of this department a gen- eral supervision. —W. Koppen, editor of the Meteorologische zeit- schrift, has published, according to Petermann’s mit- theilungen, a chart of the zones of temperature from a new point of view, having taken as a divisional mark the length of the hot seasons according to their real relations, without reducing them to an ideal average. The tropical zone embraces those regions in which all the months are hot, that is, have a temperature of © 30° C; the subtropical, those in which, during from four to eleven months, the mercury reaches that point. ' The temperate zone, with from four to twelve months in which the ruling temperature is from 10° C. to 20° C., he divided into regions which are marked by a uniformly temperate climate, those in which the sum- mers are hot, and those with a moderate summer and cold winter. The frigid zone contains only regions with but from one to four months of moderate tem- perature; the polar circles, those where in no month does the mercury reach 10° C. In addition, there is shown on the chart the boundary of the northern ice-field, the isothermal line of 10° C., and the bound- — ary of the four months’ cold (under 20°C.) In the accompanying explanation, Mr. Koppen points out the influence of temperature upon the organic world, — shows that the boundaries taken by him very often agree with those of distribution of animal and plant life. — Dr. Lacerda of Rio Janeiro, who has for some years been investigating the subject of snake-bites, now states that the poison of other snakes does not JANUARY 9, 1885.] differ in its effects from that of the rattlesnake, a view also maintained by Dr. Mitchell. The cure by means of injecting permanganate of soda into the bite has been subjected to further experiments by Dr. Lacerda. These prove that the injection must be fresh, and done immediately, and would be of no avail if the bite had penetrated an artery; also the injection must be made frequently, and all round the bite. He has already cured several cases of snake-bite thereby. — The Russian geographical society has received a report from its member, M. A. V. Adrianof, who is travelling in the Altai and Sayan ranges. After traversing the Shapshalka Pass, he followed the course of the river Kemtsik, a branch or tributary of the Ulu Kem. In these regions he met with only a few Russian traders, but found a colony of Russian dissenters, who settled near the Chinese frontier in the time of the Patriarch Nikon, and placed the whole of their joint property under the uncontrolled adminis- tration of their leader, forming themselves into a kind of commune. Their occupations are agriculture and hunting. The native population which surround them manufacture a sort of felt, and have learned to weave a tissue of wild hemp. They prepare an intoxicating drink from milk, which they consume in notable quantity. These peoples who live in the basin of the river Kemtsik are Sayanians, or Sayantsi. They display a remarkable capacity for mixing with neighboring races without being merged, —a process which, however, succeeds better with Turanian and Finnic than with Mongolian tribes. There exist some important and interesting monuments of the past among these Sayanians, who are also known under the appellation ‘ Tuiba,’ in their burying-places. These are either marked by conical cairns, or are flat areas surrounded by a circular row of stones, which are sometimes plain, but often covered with figures and inscriptions, and bear in some instances rude representations of the human figure. Remains of sacrifices, generally of a horse, are found near the tombs. —The Russian explorer, Col. Prjevalski, spent last summer in exploring the plateau lakes of Thibet. The height of those at the source of the Yellow River he estimates at 13,500 feet, and those of the plateau at a thousand feet more. The climate he describes as detestable, cold, snow or rain, the whole summer through. The quantity of rainfall brought from the Indian Ocean by the south-west monsoon is so great that all summer the north of Thibet is one great swamp. Fish and quadrupeds are numerous, birds rare, the flora poor but peculiar. Prjevalski’s party was twice attacked by robbers, whom they suc- cessfully repulsed. He means to continue his explo- rations. — About ten per cent of the plants collected in the north-western Mexican states by recent collectors prove to be new species. — Prof. David S. Jordan has been appointed presi- dent of the Indiana university. — J, Muller, a German mining engineer, has applied electrolysis to the rectification of light coins. The SCIENCE. a9 practice obtains of reducing the weight of over-heavy coins by dissolving off some of the metal with acid; but in Germany, at least, no attempt has hitherto been made to add metal to the coin by electro-deposi- tion in order to bring it up toits proper weight. The method answers well for small losses of weight, be- cause the metal added in that case does not deface the characters on the coin. — The Athenaeum states that the government of Siam is about to take steps for the opening of the interior of its fertile territory. With this object, an expedition for survey and exploration will shortly set out for Kabin, where there are said to be mines of con- siderable value. The idea is to connect this place with Bangkok by a railway, which would be ulti- mately carried on to Karat, Sohai, and Phitsalok. By this means Zimmay and the fertile region of Laos would be brought within convenient distance of the sea. — The naturalist, Groum Grzhimailo, has returned from eastern Turkestan, where, during the past spring and summer, his expedition was mainly employed in investigating the zodlogy of the country. He has col- lected seventeen thousand specimens of lepidopterous insects, of which a large number are of hitherto un- known species. The altitudes of many mountains were taken, and thermometrical readings registered throughout the journey. The general observations of Grzhimailo tend towards an affirmative solution of the contested question of a glacial period in central Asia. He reports the existence, on Thian-Shan Mountain, of forms which up to now had been found only in North America, Lapland, and the Swiss Alps. This explorer proposes to start next year from Samarkand in order to pursue his researches on the western spurs of the Thian-Shan range, which have not as yet been the object of zoological investigation. — Mr. Edwin Guthrie has published a pamphlet on the development of the art of numeration, in which he has brought together in a condensed form a very considerable amount of information on a most inter- esting subject. The pamphlet includes a table of the Assyrian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Arabic systems of notation, — The ninth volume of the Ornithologist and oélogist forms a large octavo volume of a hundred and fifty-two pages, and, as regards both quality of matter and liter- ary execution, is greatly superior to any of its prede- cessors. It consists wholly of original matter, and con- tains very little trash, and a large amount of valuable information, particularly about the nesting-habits of little-known species. It is carefully printed on heavy paper, is creditable to its new publisher and editor, and has a fair claim upon the attention of the orni- thologist as well as the non-scientific bird-lover. — Clermont Gannéau is publishing a book entitled ‘Les fraudes archéologiques en Palestine’ (Paris, Firnest Leroux). This volume, illustrated with nu- merous engravings, contains a full account of the false Moabite potteries at Berlin, of the celebrated Shapira Deuteronomy, and of different spurious monuments of Palestine and,Phoenicia. 40 — The dean of Clonfert has in the press a work on ‘The general principles of the structure of language.’ Triibner is the publisher. The work contains gram- matical sketches, drawn up with great minuteness, of about a hundred and twenty languages, African, American, Oceanic, Asiatic, and European. — The latest part (tomo vi. 2, 3) of the bulletin of the National academy of sciences in Cordoba, Ar- gentine Republic, has been received. It contains two geological papers, —the first by Florentino Am-- eghino, on a series of geologica] and paleontological excursions made in the province of Buenos Aires; and the second by Adolfo Doering, on certain arte- sian borings in the Argentine Republic. — Under the title of ‘ La rage et les expériences de M. Pasteur,’ Gaston Percheron has published an excellent little treatise on hydrophobia (Paris, Firmin- Didot). The work gives briefly a clear account of all that is known of the malady, with the latest discov- eries of Pasteur respecting the protective vacci- nation of dogs against rabies, and the confirmatory report of the commission appointed by the French government to control the test experiments. The . description of the primary symptoms of the malady in dogs is interesting, and may beuseful. The treatise is written in a popular style. — The Illustrirte zeitung gives an account of the exploring of the mysterious little riyer, Reka, which rises in the Carinthian Alps, disappears, and emerges again in Istria as the Timavo, finally flowing into the Bay of Monfalcone. An exploring party from the village of St. Canzian last March entered the grotto into which the river disappears. For sixty yards the boats went along a narrow channel bor- dered by walls a hundred metres high; then a cavern was reached, where the party was obliged to land, as the current was too strong for the boat. They fol- lowed the left bank of the stream along the rocks until it was only four metres broad, when they crossed it on a plank, then followed the right bank until they came to the sixth subterranean waterfall. The magnesium light showed calm water below this. Four explorers started again on the 9th of November, and reached a seventh waterfall. — ‘ Danger-lines and river-floods of 1882’ is the title of Signal-service note xv., by H. A. Hazen, junior professor in the office of the chief signal-officer. The height at which floods become dangerous is given for forty-seven cities, arranged alphabetically. This is supplemented by special notes descriptive of the con- ditions of danger at these stations. In accordance with these measures, warnings can be issued as the rivers rise. The excessive floods of 1882 in the Mis- sissippi basin are referred to an unusually early spring, causing a rapid melting of snow, combined with ex- cessive rainfall, which caused simultaneous high water in both the Ohio and Mississippirivers. The progress of the flood-wave crest down stream is found to oc- cupy from three to eight days (mean, five and seven- tenths) between Cincinnati and Cairo, and from eleven to twenty-four (mean, sixteen and eight-tenths) from Cincinnati to Vicksburg. In general, the higher the SCIENCE. hg | a pis “ [Vor V., No. pus water, the longer is the time of movement. The — statement has been made in the flooded district, that, ‘if the river-banks were now as heavily wooded as in the great flood of 1824, the water would have risen ten feet higher in 1882 than it did.”’ ‘To this Professor Hazen answers, that the same heavily wooded con- dition of the banks farther up stream would have held back the water, retarded the supply, and thus — reduced the height by distributing the flood over a longer period. ‘The value of property lost in the floods of 1882 in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, is roughly estimated at nine and a half millions: the loss of life was a hundred and forty-eight. —— The city of Providence, being embarrassed about the disposal of its sewage at the head of a tidal bay, sent two of its engineers to Europe last summer to investigate the various processes practically employed there to accomplish the desired end. The resulting report has been recently issued in an octavo volume of a hundred and fifty pages, with many plates and maps. It contains recommendations to the effect that ‘intercepting sewers’ should be built so as to catch the sewage just before it flows into the nat- ural channels of drainage, and that it should be thus carried to Field’s Point, on the west bank of Provi- dence River, near the southern limit of the city; that it should there be treated by chemicals in such a man- ner as to clarify it by precipitation of suspended mat- ter; and that the clarified effluent should be emptied into deep water off the point. The estimated cost of this arrangement is over three and a half million dol- lars. The report contains much material of interest; and Appendix A, on ‘sewerage systems and sewage disposal,’ which makes the greatest part of the vol- ume, is a valuable historical and practical statement of the question. — According to a telegram from Calcutta, Mr. Griesbach, the geologist with the Afghan boundary commission, describes the route between Guetta and the Helmund as presenting features very similar to those in the Pishin valley and Candahar; namely, a system of precipitous, deeply eroded ridges, ex- tending from north and south to north-east and south-west. Extensive post-tertiary deposits fill the intervening valleys. The south-west extremity of the Ghazarband range is composed of sandstone shales and grits of the Flysch facies of eocene rocks. A series of low hills and valleys stretches between Canj- pai and Nushki, which, from their composition, ap- pear to be merely continuations of the Kojah Amran range, but near Galiahah the formation is distinctly younger, the epoch being mostly trap rock, which in _ places bursts through the cretaceous limestone over- lying it, and locally converts it into white marble. — The steamship British Prince reports that on — Dec. 23, in latitude 40° 45’ north, longitude 66° west — (about four hundred miles east of New York), from two A.M. to half-past five A.m., she had steady St. Elmo lights at yard-arms and mast-heads. The weather was overcast, dark, and gloomy, with tor- rents of rain, vivid lightning, and peals of thunder. — a oe LT. NO FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE Jornr committee of the two houses of congress, appointed to consider the relations to each other of the different scientific bureaus of the government, not being ready to report when called upon last December, had its time extended to Jan. 15, and has meanwhile kept its deliberations and conclusions absolutely secret. All that is known is that it has taken a mass of testimony, and that the heads of bu- reaus concerned have had ample opportunity to render the committee all needful informa- tion, and to express their own views, most of which are well known. The committee, as our readers know, asked also the advice of the National academy of sciences (to which body one of its own members, Col. Lyman, be- longs) ; and the text of the academy’s report is published by us to-day on another page. We gave, some weeks ago, an intimation of its drift. The report gives a brief account of the method in which such bureaus are organized in other countries ; discusses at some length the character of the work done by the coast and geodetic and the geological surveys, especially in those points where their provinces are similar, pointing out that two distinct and independent trigonometric surveys of the United States are now in process of execution ; distinguishes be- tween the military and meteorological work of the signal-service, and recommends their com- plete separation; indicates the danger of duplication of work by the coast-survey and hydrographic office, but is not prepared to rec- ommend that the latter be detached in any way from the control of the navy department, nor that the hydrographic work of the coast-sur- vey, for over forty years conducted so satisfac- torily, be separated from that organization, but No. 102, — 1886. suggests the lines on which it thinks the coast- survey should work; lays down the principle that the government should not undertake any work which can be equally well done by the enterprise of individual investigators, and that such work should be confined to what will ‘promote the general welfare ’ of the country ; urges the importance of a proper extension of the trigonometrical survey of the United States; and, finally, recommends the estab- lishment either of a department of science, or of a mixed commission of nine members, — two of them scientific civilians to be appointed by the president for six years, two scientific men from the army and navy similarly’ ap- pointed, three heads of the principal scientific bureaus, together with the president of the national academy, and the secretary of the Smithsonian institution. To the department of science, or to the supervision of this com- mission, it would transfer the coast-survey, the geological survey, and the meteorological bureau, and, in establishing a physical labora- tory, add to it a bureau of weights and meas- ures, the functions of which are now performed by the coast-survey. The province of the proposed commission is amply defined. No more important measure, affecting the interests of science in this country, has been proposed since the chartering of the National academy of sciences with the functions of an advisory board to government departments. Whether the joint committee, and after them congress, adopt the suggestions of the academy, improve upon them, or utterly discard them, the principle upon which the government should conduct the scientific bureaus which it must of necessity maintain —the principle of proper co-ordination—has been struck ; and at some time, if not now, it will prevail. No one who has watched the extraordinary and yet healthy growth of the geological survey since its re-organization five years ago —a re- 49 organization based upon this same principle, resulting from a recommendation of the same academy — can for an instant doubt the impor- tance of applying that principle to all govern- ment work of like character which admits of it. It is not simply that it is the most economical and the most rational, the only scientific principle ; but, removing sources of political disturbance, it will allow the natural and healthiest development of our resources, ‘and affect the material advancement of the nation. Ultimately there will be an autono- mous and independent department, on a per- manent footing, on a level with those of war, state, and treasury, into which will be gathered all the bureaus of original research, of the sciences and industries, and of education, that are not indissolubly connected with already existing departments; as, the mint with the treasury, the hydrographic bureau with the navy, etc. Then we shall wonder why this result was not sooner reached. As it is, each step now tends, directly or indirectly, to that end; and, whatever possible rebuff the princi- ple of co-ordination may meet with at the present time, — and we look for none worse than its oversight through political jugglery, — we may feel confident that it will rise again to the surface. THE PRECISE method of accomplishing the end desired, which the committee of the acad- emy has proposed, — that of a mixed commis- sion of superintendency, —has found a critic before the joint committee of congress in Major Powell, the head of the geological bureau, whose views were given at length before the committee, and are printed in full in this week’s issue, though without the discussion to which they gave rise in the committee, this having not yet been made public. Major Powell lays before the committee two fundamental princi- ples which we believe no unprejudiced person, reading his full statement, will be inclined to deny: 1°, that the scientific institutions of the government should be placed under one gen- eral management; and, 2°, that the several bureaus engaged in research should be left free SCIENCE. i Met [Vou. V., No. 102. to prosecute such research in all its details, without dictation from superior authority in respect to the methods of research to be used. He objects, however, to a commission formed partly of civilians and partly of military men, as composed of incongruous elements, since military and civil methods of administration are entirely diverse, and proceed upon diamet- rically opposed theories. plans and commands: the civil officer hears, weighs, and decides. He makes a more for- cible objection by showing how delicate the relations of a board composed largely of sub- ordinate officials would be to the different heads of departments, since then the secre- taries would simply become channels through - The military officer which instructions to the very officials com- | posing the board would be transmitted. All must admit that at least the second of these exceptions is well taken, and it is there- fore gratifying to find Major Powell construc- tive as well as destructive. He proposes that an already existing board should be invested with these new duties; one, too, which is ex- cellently composed, and which would be in some respects more acceptable to the average congressman because chosen in large part by his suffrages, viz., the board of regents of the Smithsonian institution, —a board composed of the chief justice, the vice-president, three mem- bers of either house of congress chosen by the presiding officer, and six citizens chosen by joint resolution of congress. ‘This plan would avoid the difficulties pointed out by Major Powell, and has the additional merit that the proposed co-ordination is then carried a step farther, since the institution itself would be under the same control. It would also render the further step to be taken (the creation of a department of science) much simpler, and less’ beset with difficulties, by removing one of the present chief difficulties in the way of any re- It is, how- form, — departmental jealousies. ever, too early yet to discuss this question fairly ; for we have not yet before us the full development of Major Powell’s proposition, — JANUARY 16, 1885.] in the discussions which followed its presenta- tion to the joint committee. In A RECENT number of the Indian gazette, Dr. Klein, who, with Dr. Gibbes, is now in In- dia investigating the cholera, attempts to throw fresh discredit upon the theory of the specific nature of the comma bacillus of cholera. The grounds for. his objections are these. He ex- amined three houses in Calcutta where there had been a severe outbreak of cholera in No- vember. He found the water-supply of all of them good. Per contra, at some distance from these houses, and never (?) used by their occupants, were three tanks of water which were swarming with the comma bacilli. The natives in the immediate neighborhood of these tanks used the water freely, and yet were prac- tically free from the disease. Therefore Dr. Klein concludes against the specific nature of the comma bacillus. If this style of post hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning is what we are to expect from the English commission, confi- dence in their conclusions will not be readily given. Koch’s position is simply that the cholera bacillus is a necessary condition to the occurrence of cholera, and this latest discovery . of Dr. Klein proves nothing against it. It merely seems to show, what has already been granted, that the comma bacillus may be pres- ent without the occurrence of cholera. Cir- cumstances favoring its development are, of course, necessary; and a receptive condition of the system must be established in order to its growth,—a fact which is true of all forms of bacteria, so far as they have been observed in relation to pathogenesis. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. z*x Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writers name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. Coal in the Chico group of California. Tue California geological survey reached the con- clusion stated by Professor Whitney in the preface to the second volume on the paleontology of the state, p. xili., that the Tejon group is the only coal- producing formation in California. In the Proceed- ings of the California academy of sciences, Mr. J. G. Cooper has recently published a number of notes on the coals of the state. After remarking (vol. v. p. 385) that the Vancouver coal, and others in that region, are undoubtedly of cretaceous age, he states f SCIENCE. 45 that ‘‘ there is still some doubt as to those of Califor- nia, which may be partly or entirely above the creta- ceous strata.”’ Last summer, while engaged in the geological survey of the Cascade Range, a number of fossils were collect- ed from the coal-bearing strata in northern California, eight miles north-east of Yreka, on the road to Link- ville, Ore., and south of the cove at the Great Bend of Pit River, where considerable coal has been found, The fossils have been examined by Dr. C. A. White, who reports that they belong to the Chico group, and thus removes the doubt that some of the coal in northern California properly belongs to the creta- ceous. J. S. DILLER. U.S. geological survey, Washington, D.C. Man in the stone age. In acommunication to Science (v. 3) Dr. Brinton charges me with having forgotten what I read in de Mortillet’s ‘ Le préhistorique.’ Iam at a loss just how to characterize his quotations from that work, which, like ‘“¢ The adventure of the Bear and Fiddle, [Begin] but break off in the middle.” De Mortillet wrote (p. 248), ‘* L’accumulation de caractéres simiens dans la race de Néanderthal mon- tre clairement que homme primitif se rattache aux singes. S’il nese relie pas directement aux anthro- poides actuels, c’est qu’il manque entre eux et lui des échelons. Certainement il descend d’une forme ou d’un type intermédiaire. Nous nous retrouvons done en présence de Vanthropopitheque, dont j’ai démon- tré V existence (p. 102). Il suffit d’ouvrir les yeux et de regarder pour le voir ! Les anthropopithéques se sont montrés, se sont développés et se sont éteints pen- dant le tertiaire. L’homme a apparu au commence- ment du quaternaire. Cet homme primitif constitue la race de Néanderthal.’’ Of this Dr. Brinton has chosen to quote only what I have put in Italics. He quotes de Mortillet as saying (p. 339) that the epoch of Moustier ‘ was characterized by the race of anthro- popitheci.’ What he actually says is, ‘‘L’homme de cette Epoque devait en majeure partie appartenir a la race de Néanderthal.’’ Again: he says for the epoch of Solutré, de Mortillet ‘‘ leaves the question open, deny- ing that any traces of man or anthropoid have been dis- covered (p. 392).’? His real language is, ‘‘ I] résulte de tout ce qui précéde que nous n’avons aucun doc- ument ostéologique sur l’homme solutréen.”’ I cannot pretend to be so well informed as Dr. Brinton upon ‘ the language, religion, and social] com- pacts’ of paleolithic man, but I do claim to know something about his works; and it is not ‘word- splitting’ to insist that the magnificent lance-heads of Volgu, in the museum of Chalons-sur-Sadne, are quite as much the work of man, properly so called, as any ‘stemmed scrapers;’ nevertheless these belong to the epoch of Solutré. I am well aware, that, in 1881, de Mortillet chose to substitute the term chelléen for acheuléenne, which he had suggested nine years previously. But the phrase ‘axe of the St. Acheul type,’ for the implement pecul- iar to that epoch, has become too firmly fixed in the nomenclature of prehistoric science ever to be misun- derstood ; except, possibly, by one who could say that Robenhausen belongs to the ‘first epoch of the ap- pearance of man on the globe,’ disregarding all the marvellous artistic works of the cave-dwellers of Aquitaine, who belong to the preceding epoch of La Madelaine. HENRY W. HAYNES. Boston, Jan. 5. 44 The use of slips in scientific correspondence! An account of the ‘slip-system of notes’ was pub- lished by me in the Proceedings of the Boston society of natural history in 1867 (May 15, p. 242), after using it for more than a year. A fuller description is given in Wilder and Gage’s ‘ Anatomical technology’ (pp. 45-52). On p. 46 it is said that ‘‘slip-notes are of the following kinds: museum catalogues, library catalogues, references, extracts, statements of obser- vations (original or otherwise, with or without draw- ings).”’ pple last summer I began to use slips in another way, suggested, perhaps, by the fact that postal-cards referring to a single point were frequently filed away with the slip-notes on the same subject. In my sci- entific correspondence I enclose slips (postal-card size) relating each to aspecial point. If written closely or with the type-writer, there is usually ample space, not only for the original note, but for an answer to it, if in the shape of inquiry: if not, a second is attached. As compared with a letter in the usual form, such ‘correspondence-slips’ present the following advan- tages: 1. Hach point may be attended to by the sender or the receiver independently of others which may require more delay; 2. Without transcription, the slips may be filed with others on the same subject; 3. The same slip, with or without attachments, may be sent back and forth, or to other correspondents, for comment or inquiry; 4. The date of each writ- ing may be affixed, when desirable, either by hand, or by the use of Perkins rubber stamps, or other me- chanical device. As a matter of detail, I may add that I have found it convenient to keep by me envelopes addressed to those with whom I desire to communicate frequently upon matters of common interest, to insert the slips as they were written, and to send the letter as occa- sion arose. Among those who have more or less fully co-oper- ated with me in the use of slips in correspondence, should be named, especially, Dr. F. P. Foster, editor of the New-York Medical journal; Prof. H. F. Osborn of Princeton college; and my colleague, Prof. S. H. Gage. B. G. WILDER. Ithaca, N.Y., Dec. 26. American pearls. Remembering an inquiry in a back number of Science regarding pearls, I thought it perhaps worth recording that small black pearls are not infrequent in the common Venus fluctifraga, V. succincta, and VY. simillima of this coast. We also occasionally find white pearls in the larger Pachydesma crassatelloides. Haliotis splendens and H. Cracherodii are often pearl- bearers, pearls found in them often being of value and quite pretty. Martesia intercalata buries itself in the shell of Haliotis; and upon boring through, as it often does, the abalone covers the opening with a black, pearly layer, that frequently becomes a large protuberance on the inside of the shell. C. R. ORCUTT. San Diego, Cal. The earthquake of Jan. 2. The earthquake of Jan. 2 was felt distinctly in Washington. Making allowance for the error of my watch, the shock occurred at 9h. 12.1m. P.M., eastern standard time, and lasted ten or twelve sec- 1 Read before the Society of naturalists of the eastern United States, Dec. 29, 1884. SCIENCE. ve [Vou. V., Now 10gseee onds, accompanied by a rumbling sound, a rattling of windows, and a ‘chattering,’ jarring, unpleasant sensation communicated from the floor of the room in which I was sitting. The place of observation was about twenty-three hundred feet north-east of the naval observatory. The time may be half a minute in error, either way. WILLIAM C. WINLOCK. Washington, D.C., Jan. 4. THE PROSPECTS OF THE NEW PSY- CHICAL SOCIETY. TuE story of the persecution of Galileo is now familiar to every one. In those days the church had ordained a certain system for the universe, and was disturbed by the discoveries of scientific men. Exactly the same feeling has been shown by two or three scientific men of the present day with regard to the prose- cution of investigations of certain so-called psychical phenomena. One of our foremost scientific men has been heard to say, that, if the facts claimed to be true by the committee on thought-transference of the English society for psychical research were true, life would not be worth living. Men of this stamp say that they cannot in any way, or by any proof, be led to believe in the facts; but they would have all study of the alleged phenomena sup- pressed. It is very fortunate that men of this ‘ dark- age’ frame of mind are in the minority. Any one who saw the reception among scientific men which was given last summer to Professor Barrett, the emissary of the English society for psychical research, would see how deep- seated is the interest in such investigations, in spite of a healthy scepticism. There is no longer a feeling that such matters can be laughed out of court. As one result of Pro- fessor Barrett’s visit, at a meeting held in Boston in September, a committee was ap- pointed to consider the formation of an Amer- ican society on a similar plan to that which Professor Barrett represented. A professor- ship had already been established in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and a man appointed to the chair who should devote his time more especially to the study of the physical mani- festations known as spiritualism ; alate wealthy citizen of Philadelphia having bequeathed ag way JANUARY 16, 1885.] sum of money for the purpose of testing the truth of the so-called spiritualism. Since September, the Boston committee has held numerous meetings, and discussed the pros and cons of the formation of a psychical society, and finally brought forward a consti- tution under which some eighty gentlemen from different parts of the country have organized themselves. A notice of this meeting was given in No. 100 of Science; and in this week’s issue we give an account of the com- pletion of the details of organization. It will be seen in this account that the society pro- poses immediately to begin investigations on thought-transference. It is very necessary that this work should be in the hands of trusty investigators, and that they should have ample opportunity and means for carrying on their work. To some extent, they may find parties in private life who possess the alleged powers, but it may be necessary for them to call upon professionals ; and, at any rate, it would be well if they were able to hire the professionals, and subject them to such exper- iments as would test their capacities. If there is a large proportion of fraud, one of the best works of the society would be to detect it, and publish it to the world; but this it cannot do, unless supplied freely with the necessary funds. RECENT ADVANCES IN ELECTRICAL SCIENCE. ELECTRICAL science has not made great strides during the year 1884; but in the direction of practical applications it is feeling the powerful aid of business ability and capital. The U.S. patent office is crowded with applications for patents on various electrical appliances. The scientific investigator must soon make a strug- gle for the free use of many old and familiar electrical appliances which he has known from boyhood, unless he, too, enters the field as an ap- plicant for patents. The tendency of the times is certainly in the direction of obtaining patents in order to prove priority, even in the direction of pure science. We leave it to the moralist to decide the difference between a copyright for a literary man and a patent for a scientific man. The problem of electric lighting is gradually SCIENCE. 45 yielding to the efforts of the great army of in- ventors. The Edison company has plants in almost all countries. The incandescent system has made its way on steamboats and steam- ships. The great Fall-River line of steam- boats took the initiative in lighting the steamer Pilgrim, and has now extended the system to the other principal boats of the line. It is said, that, although the cost of lighting by incandescence is double that of gas, the better quality of light and the greater safety from fire counterbalance the increased cost. Experiments have been made by the Weston electric-light company during the year, upon long-filament incandescent lamps, which prom- ise to give lamps approaching the candle- power of many arc-lights with a far pleasanter ~ and steadier light. Among: the methods of electric lighting by incandescence, which have received renewed advocacy during the year, is the battery sys- tem. Trouvé’s modification of the bichromate- of-potash battery consists in employing a very large proportion of sulphuric acid with bichro- mate of potash. An experience of three months with this battery will lead its most en- thusiastic advocate to long for a cheaper source of electricity. The problem of electric lighting is to find a cheaper motor than the steam-engine to drive the dynamo-electric engine, or to discover a more direct process of obtaining electricity from heat. No advance has been made this year in the generation of electricity by thermo- electricity. The meetings of the British associa- tion at Montreal, and the American association in Philadelphia, did not result in the produc- tion of many important papers on electricity ; yet there is no doubt that many persons had their ideas clarified and their thoughts stimu- lated by these meetings. Perhaps the coming year will bear evidence of this. The electrical exposition in Philadelphia showed the great activity in the fields of electric lighting, and was chiefly interesting as an exhibition of various types of dynamo-machines. The members of the electrical congress, also held in Philadelphia at the time of the elec- trical exposition, were inclined to dissent from the resolutions of the late Paris congress in regard to the adoption of a hundred and six centimetres of mercury, a millimetre in section, at the temperature of 0° C., as the legal ohm; since the work of Professor Rowland, it was believed, would give a closer value. Professor Rowland has not yet published; but it is be- lieved that results have been obtained which will lead to a revision of the decision of the 46 Paris conference. ‘The members of the con- ference also dissented from the conclusions of the Paris conference upon the adoption of the platinum standard of light; and a committee of the U.S. electrical conference is now en- gaged upon the study of a suitable standard. The suggestion by Siemens to use the light emitted by a square centimetre of platinum at the point of fusion, under the action of a known current of electricity, seems a fruitful one; and the committee is testing its capa- bilities. In telegraphy and telephony, there is not much that is new to chronicle. It is perhaps a blow to our national pride to learn that we are behind England in the art of telegraphy, and that we are importing certain telegraphic instruments instead of exporting them. The London central telegraphic office is certainly not approached in this country for completeness and system. There is a certain analogy between the action of the Irish settler in New England who burns up the fences and cuts down all the wood, and, in short, skins the farm, and the action of telegraphic and rail- road corporations which run a system, but do not add to it as long as subsistence and divi- dends can be obtained. The American visitor to the London central office, however, can but be amused, that a separate room, with in- struction, is provided for those operators who are to learn the reading of messages by sound. In America it was the operators who taught the superintendents that this method of receiv- ing messages was preferable to the Morse register system. We learn that the Bell telephone company has lately completed a special line between Boston and New York, and proposes to open telephonic communication between these cities. With the new powerful transmitters that have been and undoubtedly are to be invented, a great increase in the range of telephony is to be expected. Already most of the towns and principal cities throughout New England are connected by telephone-lines, to the great detriment of livery-stables and of stage-lines. The study of this new method of village-com- munication we leave to the political-economist. The system is destined to work great changes in manners and customs. Unfortunately, the storage of electricity, so called, does not fulfil the extravagant hopes that were excited when Faure’s battery burst upon the world. It is now found that the Planté battery is more practical than the Faure, and that, under careful methods of forming, it gives better results than the Faure and its SCIENCE. j .> > ea! - ™™ Be a. | vr [Vou. V., No. 102, 8 various modifications. None of the storage- batteries now in use can be said to be commer- cial successes, for all of them deteriorate se- riously in time. To the scientific investigator, however, they are extremely useful. One having a small electrical plant can charge his secondary batteries at his leisure, and thus have on tap a steady source of electricity. To the investigator who has ruined many suits of clothes with acid-batteries, and whose hands have almost ceased to be the insignia of gentle birth, the storage-battery is already a great — boon. Much has been said and written upon the subject of the transmission of power by elec- tricity. It is proposed to try different systems upon a certain portion of the elevated railways of New York. Nothing but an experiment upon a sufficiently large scale, under intelli- gent scientific supervision, can determine whether the electrical transmission of power can compete successfully with the use of the locomotive on public exposed highways. There is a future for this system in many ways, even if it fails on railways. The year, however, has added little to our knowledge of it. The subject of underground wires has been much agitated lately, and the Western union telegraph company has lately tried the experi- ment of placing many of its lines between two distant points in Boston under ground. At present they work successfully ; but time is needed to show that a suitable degree of insu- lation can be maintained in this frost-afflicted climate. The scientific theory of electricity has not received notable accessions during the year. The U.S. signal-service has established sta- — tions for the study of atmospheric electricity at Baltimore and at Cambridge. It is believed that electrical observations will give additional data for foretelling the approach of storms. The subject of atmospheric electricity is still shrouded in mystery ; and little more is known than that there is a difference of electrical level between the earth and the air, and that this difference undergoes modifications, and that we have methods of measuring these mod- ifications. Little progress has been made in our knowledge of the connection between earth- currents and changes in the electrical potential of the air. It is maintained by Mr. Blavier, who has had several experimental telegraph- lines under his direction in France for the study of earth-currents, that changes in the potential of the air cause very small changes in the character of earth-currents, and that — the latter have a real and separate existence. JANUARY 16, 1885.] Lord Rayleigh has been engaged upon a study of the silver voltameter and its applica- tion to the measurement of electrical currents. He finds that one ampére deposits four grams of silver per hour, and a sufficient amount can therefore be obtained for accurate weigh- ing in fifteen minutes. Pure nitrate or chlo- rate of silver gives the best results. Beetz has proposed a new form of Daniell cell, of great internalresistance. Fine alabaster plaster- of-Paris is mixed with concentrated sulphate- of-copper solution, and the copper electrode is fixed in this at one end of a glass tube: the rest of the tube is filled with concentrated sulphate of zinc and plaster-of-Paris, and the zinc electrode is also embedded in this. The ends of the tube are filled with paraffine. This form of cell has been tried at the Jefferson physical laboratory of Harvard university, and has been found an excellent substitute for the water-cell of zine and copper for charging electrometers. The lull in the progress of theoretical elec- tricity is probably the precursor of important additions to our knowledge; for many investi- gators are at work, both at home and abroad, testing the new electrodynamic theory of light, and adding to our knowledge of magnetism. The equipment of physical laboratories in Amer- ica, which has been one of the features of the yéar at Cambridge as well as elsewhere in America, bids us hope for much systematic study of the science of electricity, and physi- cal science in general. JoHN TROWBRIDGE. CO-ORDINATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC BUREAUS OF THE GOVERNMENT\! THE land-maps of European countries are, asa rule, made under the direction of the war departments of those countries, and under the direction of officers of the army specially detailed for that duty, with the aid of experts in the business and in the arts necessary to the surveys and to the production of the charts, who are employed from civil life, and also of enlisted soldiers and non-commissioned officers detailed from the army. For details on this subject, the committee refers to the printed notes on European surveys compiled and published in 1876, under the direction of one of its members, Gen. C. B. Comstock, U.S. engineers, as the most complete compendium on this subject known to them; also to some manuscript notes prepared by the committee from reports and publications of later date. 1 Extracts from the report of a committee of the National academy of sciences, consisting of Gen. Mr1as, and Professors J. P. TROWBRIDGE, PICKERING, YOUNG, WALKER, and LANG- LEY. SCIENCE. 47 The hydrographic surveys of the coasts of Europe appear in every country to be the work of the naval establishment. On the coasts of the United King- dom the hydrography has been completed; and now two parties in surveying vessels of the navy are con- stantly employed in re-sounding and examining chan- nels, harbors, and shoals, in order to correct the existing admiralty charts. All this is done under direction of the admiralty. While the organization of the land and of the hy- drographic surveys in Europe are very perfect, your committee does not find that they offer any thing to improve that of the United States, except, perhaps, in showing the economy in time and money of greater use of photography and of zincography in the reduc- tion and production of maps and charts. In Great Britain now the twenty-five-inch-to-the-mile map is published even earlier than those on smaller scales, _all of which are reductions from the original manu- script maps surveyed and plotted on the twenty-five- -inch or six-inch scale. Early and cheap publications of results of opera- tions in the field, if they retain the accuracy of the original maps, are of great industrial and economic importance. The English maps of the ordnance survey are published and placed on sale as soon as printed, and at very moderate prices. Your committee would call attention, in this con- nection, to the report made by the National academy of sciences to congress in December, 1878, in which the advantages of a consolidation of the then exist- ing surveys were pointed out. In that report, it was recommended that surveys should be two in number, — the coast and interior survey, to be concerned with the triangulation and mapping of the country and its topography; and a geological survey, to undertake geological and economical investigations. It would be a part of the duty of the former survey to supply the maps for the use of the geological survey; and, in order to secure the co-ordination and harmonious co- operation of the two surveys, it was recommended that the coast and interior survey be transferred to the interior department. Congress adopted so much of this reeommendation as related to the formation of a single geological sur- vey, but did not provide for the proposed transfer of the coast-survey, nor make any other provision for the topographic work necessary for the geological survey. The result has been that these two surveys do not co-operate as they should. The chief of the geological survey has also found it necessary to em- ploy large corps of men in trigonometric measure- ments. Your committee does not feel entire confidence that the union of these two surveys under either one of the executive departments, would, without other measures, necessarily lead to that unity of work which is desirable. It therefore recommends certain further legislative measures, the occasion for which will be made clear by a review of the work done by these several organizations; but its members are entirely clear in the opinion that some one of the ex- ecutive departments should control both. It is for 48 congress to determine which department shall exer- cise this necessary authority and control. The coast-survey was originally organized for the purpose of constructing maps and charts of the coast and harbors for the benefit of commerce and navi- gation. Conflicting opinions respecting the proper management of the survey led to the formation, in 1848, of a board of officers with the duty of re-orga- nizing the survey. This board submitted a plan which was enacted by congress into law, upon and under which law the survey has hitherto been executed. This plan provided for the co-operation of military officers, naval officers, and civilians in the various parts of the work. Under it the work of the coast- survey has been continued to the present time. In recent times a great extension of the field of operations of the survey has been made, apparently looking to a triangulation covering the entire terri- tory of the United States. The maps published annually with the report of the survey enable us to know the geodetic work it has executed. It appears, from the maps accompanying the report of 1882, that on June 30 of that year a chain of triangles had been extended throughout the entire length of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and throughout about half the Pacific coast. Besides these coast-lines, exten- sive regions in the interior are seen to be triangu- lated. In the north-east, the triangulation covers the greater part of the states of New Hampshire, Ver- mont, and Massachusetts, about half of Connecticut, and it also includes a considerable part of the state of New York. The reconnoissance has extended westward from the New-Jersey coast, so as to include the greater part of the state of New Jersey, and a long strip in Pennsylvania. From Pennsylvania, the extended line of primary triangulation follows the Allegheny Mountains into northern Alabama, and is now being continued across the country to Memphis. A triangulation of the Mississippi River was ex- tended from its mouth nearly to Memphis, where it would meet the last-described chain of triangles. The chain connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts has been completed nearly across the state of Nevada, and the reconnoissance includes nearly half of Utah Territory. The line is also surveyed at various points in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. Besides all this, isolated regions in Wisconsin, Indiana, Illi- nois, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, have been reconnoitred by the coast and geodetic survey, in a way indicative of a plan designed ultimately to cover the entire territory. As its appropriations for some years past have made provision for the collection of data for a general map of the United States, we may fairly regard the coast and geodetic survey as having undertaken a trigonometric survey of the whole United States. From the statement of the director of the geolo- gical survey, we learn, that, under authority of the annual appropriation bills to prepare a geological map of the United States, that officer has parties engaged in the trigonometric survey of the entire country, which is to be sufficiently accurate for car- SCIENCE. r= [Vou. V., Nowm@2auues tographic purposes. It appears, therefore, that two - distinct and independent trigonometric surveys of the United States, under two different departments of the government, are now in process of execution. The meteorological work of the signal-service is divisible into two distinct branches. The first and by far the larger portion of the work is the collec- tion of weather reports from stations in different parts of the union, which are utilized in predicting the probable weather during the twenty-four hours | succeeding. Connected with this work is the pub- lication of weather maps, showing at a glance the state of the weather over the entire country at cer- — tain moments of absolute time. At the school at Fort Myer, observers and operators are trained for this service. A very important part of its work is the display of signals, and warnings of approaching storms, frosts, and floods. The other branch of the meteorological service appears in scientific discussions and investigations having for their object the advance of the science of meteorology. These researches are published under the title, ‘Professional papers of the signal-service,’ which papers consist of memoirs separately paged, and numbered in the order of their issue. Your committee is not informed of the separate expenses of these two divisions of the signal-service, but has no doubt that the expense of the second branch is but a small fraction of that of the first. The signal-service also performs a military duty, providing the material, and instructing soldiers and officers to communicate between separate bodies of troops by a system of day and night signals; and it also operates and repairs, and when necessary con- structs, telegraph-lines for military purposes. The appropriation for these military works and services for the current year is five thousand dollars. In the opinion of the committee, it is desirable that the meteorological work of the weather bureau should be under the general control of the commission proposed later in this paper. The hydrographic office of the navy department may be considered to date from the year 1848, when the depot for charts and instruments for the navy, authorized by an act approved in 1842, was estab- lished. Under this act an observatory was estab- lished, and was engaged in the double work of making astronomical observations, correcting chronometers, and of supplying charts to the navy; the establish- ment being officially styled ‘the U.S. naval observa- tory and hydrographic office.’ In 1866 congress authorized the establishment of a separate hydro- graphic office, to be attached to the bureau of navi- gation in the navy department, for the purpose of supplying nautical publications and information, not only to vessels of the United States, but to navigators generally. Before that time the functions of the office had been confined to the purchase and distribu- —_ + tion of foreign charts. Under the new organization, a drawing and engraving division was established, which constructs charts of foreign coasts and seas for distribution to vessels of the navy, and for sale, at the cost of printing and paper, to navigators gener- ~ JANUARY 16, 1885.] ally. The officer now in charge of the hydrographic office appeared before your committee in person, and gave it a very clear account of the work his office is actually doing. Besides the hydrographic work of the coast-survey, — which is conducted, and has always been conducted under existing laws, under the direction of the super- intendent of the coast-survey, —this hydrographic office is not only supplying corrected charts to the vessels of the navy, but is collecting information as to ice which endangers every ship or steamer of the great lines which connect our northern ports with Great Britain and France; and it also publishes con- stantly information as to changes in lights and buoys, and discoveries by all nations of shoals and dangers not laid down upon the charts in common use. It publishes at short intervals, not only printed informa- tion by bulletin sent to commercial centres in this country, but pilot charts, especially of the North Atlantic, giving the latest intelligence in regard to eurrents and winds, and the location, when last seen, of all floating wrecks and derelicts, and of the ice- bergs and other floating ice which through the whole spring, summer, and fall seasons, lie along the eastern edge of the Great Banks, directly in the track fol- lowed by hundreds of steamers and sailing-vessels, carrying many thousands of travellers, passengers, and immigrants, and the millions of dollars of our exports and imports. This work of the hydrographic office is evidently of great value and importance to our commercial and business interests, and must save many vessels from wreck, and many lives from destruction. Naval vessels under direction and instruction of the hydro- graphic office also survey foreign coasts and unsur- veyed harbors and channels, aiding powerfully in the extension and introduction of our commerce to such coasts and harbors; and they contribute to the knowl- edge of the earth and its inhabitants by deep-sea soundings, by observations of the currents and winds and storms, and of the bottom of the ocean and of its shores., While this work is scientific work, your committee is not prepared to recommend that it be detached in any way from the control of the navy department; nor can they recommend that the hydrographic work of the coast-survey, for over forty years conducted so satisfactorily under the civil control of the coast- survey, be separated from that organization before the original survey shall be completed. After that is done, perhaps the work of re-sounding and of re-examin- ing may, without injury to the service, be committed to the control of the navy department. Yet even then correction and revision of the coast-survey charts will require some co-ordination, some author- itative connection between the coast-survey office and the parties and vessels engaged in these re-ex- aminations for correction of our coast charts. From the terms of the act under which your com- mittee is considering this subject, it may be inferred that the principal question affecting the hydrographic office, on which an opinion is desired, is that of its consolidation with the hydrographic work of the SCIENCE. 49 coast-survey. The reasons for the consolidation of these two works under the navy department have been urged with force by the secretary of the navy in his last two annual reports. But there are also cogent reasons on the other side of this question. The coast-survey was specially organized to secure the harmonious co-operation of civilians, officers of the navy, and officers of the army, each in his own department, and yet in a single well co-ordinated work. No scientific department of the government has worked more successfully through the forty years in which this organization has been in operation. Each of the three branches thus harmoniously co- operating has received the benefit of the skill and professional experience of the other. An organization of this sort should not, while its work is going on, be disrupted, except for very strong reasons affecting its efficiency. We would also ad- vert, in illustration of the advantages which our military and naval officers have derived from their connection with the coast-survey, to the brilliant list of military and naval men during the civil war, who derived a very important part, of their professional training from their experience on that work. Such a list would include an array of professional leaders which it would be difficult to collect from any other associated body of men. We suggest the names of Porter, the Rodgerses, of Meade, and of Humphreys. Many others might be added, who, after service on the coast-survey, rose to high employments in the army and navy. While, therefore, your committee is not prepared at the present time to recommend the proposed con- solidation, it does not conceive that congress should adopt measures looking to the separation in per- petuity of the two branches under consideration. The policy of the coast-survey should, we conceive, be directed towards the completion at the earliest possible date of the survey of our coast-line. Its main operations will thereafter be confined princi- pally to the interior, and then the policy of consoli- dating its hydrography with the work of the naval hydrographic office will be open for consideration. We are therefore of opinion that the hydrographic office of the navy department is worked with all due efficiency as it is now organized, and that no change is at present necessary in its relations to the govern- . ment. ; Preliminary to our recommendations as to the other three works upon which your committee is called upon to report, it desires to present some gen- eral views respecting the working of the departments of the government. We conceive it desirable that there should be a clear understanding as to what sorts of scientific investigation may be undertaken by government organizations. We conceive it to be a sound principle that congress should not under- take any work which can be equally well done by the enterprise of individual investigators. Our leading universities are constantly increasing the means of scientific research by their professors and students; and, while the government may with propriety en- courage and co-operate with them, there is no reason 50 SCIENCE. why it should compete with them. The scientific work of the government ought not, therefore, to be such as can be undertaken by individuals. It should also be confined to the increase and systematization of knowledge tending ‘to promote the general wel- fare’ of the country. Within these two restrictions there is a large and increasing field, which is only partly occupied by the organizations now under con- sideration. In considering the limits of its func- tions, your committee, as one of scientists and not of constitutional lawyers, naturally confines itself to considerations affecting the general welfare. The general government having commenced a gen- eral trigonometrical survey of the United States on a large scale, under organizations much more efficient in their action than those which any single state can provide, we conceive it desirable that the work thus undertaken should be continued at least to the point at which it can be advantageously taken up by the states themselves. At what precise limit the general government should stop, we are not prepared to de- cide, nor is it necessary that this limit should be de- fined at present. The attention of congress should also be directed to the fact that the administration of a scientific bureau or department involves greater difficulties than that of a purely business depart- ment. The connections between the work done and the results ultimately to be attained for the public are not at all obvious to the people and press, and thus the great benefit of vigilant watching and con- stant criticism is wanting. Again: its administra- tion requires a combination of scientific knowledge with administrative ability, which is more difficult to command than either of these qualities separately. These difficulties are intensified by the absence of any central authority to control the work of a gov- ernment scientific organization. Each head of a scientific organization is now practically absolutely independent, and, in his individual judgment of what his organization shall do, is controlled only by con- gress itself, acting only through its annual appropria- tion bills. We conceive that this state of things calls for measures of reform. A feature of such reform will be the collection of the organizations now under consideration, together with such other scientific bureaus as congress may see fit to include in the scheme, under one central authority, to be recognized as responsible for, and controlling generally, the scientific operations of the government. Various forms of such an authority might be devised, the choice of which will some day be made by congress. The best form would be, per- haps, the establishment of a ‘department of science,’ the head of which should be an administrator famil- iar with scientific affairs, but not necessarily an inves- tigator in any special branch. Your committee states only the general sentiment and wish of men of science, when it says that its members believe the time is near when the country will demand the institution of a branch of the execu- tive government devoted especially to the direction and control of all the purely scientific work of the government. In this day the pursuit of science itself is, visibly to all men of education, directly connected with the promotion of the general welfare. The art of photography, beginning in 1802 with the scientific experiments of Wedgewood, has developed, till, in this country alone, the annual value of photographs produced is estimated at thirty millions of dollars. The study of electricity has resulted in the telegraph, the telephone, the electric light, the electric railway; some of which results count their revenue by mil- lions, and have created already, within a few years of their discovery, properties employing the capital of hundreds of millions. None who have lived with open eyes during the development of these results of purely scientific investigation doubt that the cultiva- tion of science ‘promotes the general welfare.’ Should such a department be now impracticable, should public opinion not be now ready for it, the next best measure, in the opinion of scientific men, would be to transfer all such work or bureaus to some one executive department. Keeping in mind what has been said respecting the two classes of work under the signal-service, we are of opinion that the func-: tions of the several organizations under consideration could now be most advantageously divided among perhaps four bureaus; namely, — 1°. The coast and interior survey, to be concerned principally with geodesy and hydrography, and to. consist of the present coast and geodetic survey. 2°. The geological survey, to comprise the present geological survey with its organization unchanged. 3°. The meteorological bureau, to which should be transferred so much of the present personnel and functions of the chief signal-cffice as are not neces- sary to the military duties of that office. 4°, A physical observatory, to investigate the laws of solar and terrestrial radiation, and their applica- tion to meteorology, with such other investigations in exact science as the government might assign to it. In this connection, attention is called to a resolution passed by the recent electrical conference in Phila- delphia, requesting the establishment, by the govern- ment, of a bureau of electrical standards. We are of Opinion that the functions of the bureau of weights and measures, now performed by the coast-survey, could be advantageously transferred to the proposed bureau, and extended so as to include electrical measures. The members of your committee are conscious that placing these bureaus under one department would not necessarily result in the proper co-ordination of their work, because the head of such department would probably find it impracticable to enter into the consideration of all details necessary to that purpose. It appears to us that the evils already pointed out require, in any case, the organization of a permanent commission to prescribe a general policy for each of these bureaus. The functions of this commission would be: — 1°. To examine, improve, and approve the plans of work proposed by the several bureaus, and to revise their estimates in accordance with such plan. The performance of this duty would require consultation with their chiefs generally and separately respecting JANUARY 16, 1885.] the character of their work, and they should be mem- bers of the commission. 2°. To approve in detail the methods of expendi- ture of the appropriationis. 3°. To recommend such measures as they deem necessary to the efficiency of the bureaus under their suvervision. It should, however, be understood that this commission is not charged with purely admin- istrative responsibility. It prescribes what shall be done, and recommends any measures necessary to secure that object, but does not concern itself with administrative details. We submit the following as a suggestion for the formation and personnel of such a commission : — The commission shall consist of, 1°, the president of the National academy of sciences; 2°, the secre- tary of the Smithsonian institution; 3° and 4°, two civilians of high scientific reputation, not otherwise in the government service, to be appointed by the president of the United States for the term of six years; 5°, one officer of the corps of engineers of the army; 6°, one professor of mathematics in the navy, skilled in astronomy, — these two to be desig- nated by the president of the United States for a term of six years, — who, with, 7°, the superintendent of the coast and geodetic survey; 8°, the director of the geological survey; and, 9°, the officer in charge of the meteorological service, — shall constitute the commis- sion of The secretary of the depart- ment shall be ex-officio president of the commission. The members of the commission, for their services as such, shall each be paid by the United States com- pensation in the sum of dollars per annum. Their necessary transportation and travelling ex- penses shall be provided for as are those of officers of the army and navy when travelling on public business or duty, to be paid out of the appropriations for the services under their supervision. The commission shall meet in Washington, D.C., for the transaction of business, not less than four times a year; but the president of the commission may convene it whenever in his judgment the exi- gencies of the service require a meeting. The commission shall be attached to the office of the secretary of the department of , and under his superintendence shall exercise a general control over the plans of work of the coast and geodetic sur- vey, the geological survey, and the meteorological service, and shall have the charge and custody of all the archives, books, documents, drawings, models, returns, apparatus, instruments, and all other things appertaining to the commission. The estimates of the heads of these bureaus or offices shall pass through the commission for revision and approval; and, after the annual appropriations have been made, no money shall be expended under them, except after revision and approval by the com- mission of projects submitted by these bureaus in compliance with such projects. If at any time public money is being spent by any of these bureaus, not in accordance with the views of the commission, the commission shall notify the proper auditor of the fact. SCIENCE. a1 THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCIEN- TIFIC WORK OF THE GENERAL GOV- ERNMENT. IN response to your oral request at the session of yesterday to present to the commission my “‘ opinions relating to the organization of the scientific work of the government on a comprehensive plan, by which the work can be more thoroughly co-ordinated, more systematically prosecuted, and more economically ad- ministered, than at present,’’ I beg leave to make the following statement: — The scientific works prosecuted under the general government of the United States, and in like manner prosecuted by other nations, may broadly, but with sufficient accuracy, be classed under two heads. In the first class are constructive works, such as the erection of public buildings, the improvement of rivers and harbors, and the construction of light- houses. In allof the operations of this class, in order that the work may be properly executed, scientific principles and methods must be observed; but such works chiefly involve problems of applied science. The second class of operations in which the govern- ment of the United States, like all other civilized nations, is engaged, involve in their nature original investigation. ‘They are designed, in large part, to furnish needed information to the people; and they not only involve questions of applied science, but, that the purpose for which they are prosecuted may be properly accomplished, new facts and principles must be discovered. Such institutions are the geo- logical survey, the coast and geodetic survey, the signal-service or meteorological bureau, the fish-com- mission, the national museum, the hydrographic bureau, and the national observatory. The functions of such bureaus cannot properly be performed with- out scientific research, and their value depends upon the wisdom and efficiency of the methods of investi- gation pursued. It is to this second class, of purely scientific institutions, designed for and necessarily comprehending original research for the purpose of giving information to the people, that I confine my remarks. The operations of such institutions are exceedingly complex, and, from their very nature, cannot be ante- cedently planned and executed according to such original plan. At every step of the work, plans must necessarily be modified, as necessitated or suggested by discovered facts. It is therefore impossible by law to organize such operations; and, more, it is im- possible for the directors or superintendents of such work to lay out plans of operations which shall be a full guide to their assistants. A clear conception of the object to be attained, and a comprehensive knowledge of the principles to be used in the guid- ance of research, are necessary; and beyond that, from time to time, as facts are discovered, and the avenues of investigation are opened, the work is di- rected in its details. It will thus be seen that it is 1 From the testimony of Major J. W. PowELL, director of the U.S. geological survey, before a joint committee of both houses of congress. 52 impossible to directly restrict or control these scien- tific operations by law. The general purpose of the work may be formulated in the statutes, and the operations may be limited by the appropriations . made therefor, and this is as far as the statute itself can properly go; for, if the operations themselves could be formulated in law, the facts would already be known, and the investigation would be unneces- sary. It being impossible by statute to control or restrict the lines of investigation, as above shown, there is yet a control of the official personal organiza- tion which can properly be exercised by statutory provision; and a further control, superior to the im- mediate organization prosecuting the work, may be properly exercised in relation to the financial opera- tions in the payment of employees, and in the pur- chase, use, and custody of public property, and the supervision of accounts. I beg permission to set forth certain facts, which, I think, should be used as a guide in the establishment of such official organization’ and superior control. In the first place, the investigations prosecuted by all of these scientific institutions are in their nature in- ter-related and interdependent. The success of one is dependent, to a large extent, upon the success of the others; and, if at any time in the correlated investi- gations prosecuted by the general government any one branch fails in its department, the other branches suffer therefrom to a greater or less extent. Forexample: geodetic operations carried on through- out the world, and having for their purpose the de- termination of the figure of the earth, were for a long time prosecuted by refined trigonometric methods; but, as the work progressed, the problem was found to be more complex than was at first supposed, and elaborate gravity determinations were added to trigo- nometric methods. And it has quite lately been dis- covered that trigonometric and gravity methods must yet be supplemented by the determination of the geologic structure of lands, especially of mountains and mountain systems. Thus it has been found that the geographer cannot accomplish his work without appealing to the geologist for his knowledge. On the other hand, it has been found in the study of struc- tural geology —and by that is meant the plan upon which the rocks composing the lands of a country are arranged — that it cannot be clearly understood and explained without the facts of geodesy. Sound geo- logic research, therefore, must progress hand in hand with sound geodetic research. Again: in the prosecution of geodetic research, the parties thus engaged determine the exact position in latitude, longitude, and altitude, of many points upon the surface of the earth. In the prosecution of a geo- logic survey of the same territory, these same points must also be known; but, more than that, their num- ber must be vastly multiplied, so that a map may be constructed setting forth the latitude, longitude, and altitude of all portions of the country surveyed. Where the geodetic survey establishes but hundreds of points, the geologic survey must have millions of — points established. Again: the points to be used in the geodetic survey SCIENCE. must necessarily be selected for that purpose. A gen- eral reconnoissance of the country over which such a survey is carried must be made, and the materials collected for at least a skeleton map. Thus it is that a skeleton map is necessary for a geodetic survey, and a completed map for the geologic survey. In like manner it can be shown that the relations between geodetic and geologic work are manifold, and, still further, that the geodetic work and the geologic work have a great variety of connections with the other scientific works prosecuted by the general gov- ernment. It would require a volume to set forth all these relations, and to show how completely the suc- ~ cess of one is dependent upon the success of all. It will thus be seen that the official organizations for these institutions should be co-ordinated, that they may work together and aid each other; and, further, as each is interested to a greater or less ex- tent in the operations of the other, the organization should be such that one shall not be compelled to do that which is the proper function of another, and that no one shall be permitted to encroach upon the functions of another. As long as the several scien- tific commissions and bureaus of the general govern- ment are distributed through all the departments of the government, — one in the war department, anoth- er in the navy, another in the interior, another in the treasury, etc., — each bureau must necessarily, to a large extent, be autonomous: they must be self-goy- erned, for it is a practical impossibility for any secre- tary of a general department to make such a study of the methods of scientific research as would warrant him in attempting their control. Hence these insti- tutions have in the past been to a great degree auton- omous, and must, under the same plan, continue to be. If the statements thus briefly made are correct, it follows that the first guiding principle to the proper official organization of the scientific work is as fol- lows: The scientific institutions of the government should be placed under one general management. Again: as a necessity, scientific investigation must | be controlled by the facts discovered from year to year, and from month to month, and from day to day. The operations of investigation, therefore, can only be controlled by the men who are actually per- forming the work. For example: the director of the geological survey cannot possibly lay out the work for his assistants in detail. He can only set forth in a general way the object to be reached, the general methods to be pursued; and such plans must be held open to revision from time to time as the facts discov- ered by the investigators themselves may demand. He must therefore hold himself always in commu- nication with his assistants, and ever be ready to entertain their suggestions; and there is always a probability that he will err more in the direction of rejecting wise suggestions than accepting unwise plans. It is thus that, to a large extent, the plans of the work prosecuted by an organization for scientific re- search must originate with the experts and specialists who are themselves engaged in the investigation; and JANUARY 16, 1885.] the most important function which the director of such an institution has to perform, lies in the selection of the proper men, — the specialists who have a genius for research. From the very nature of the work per- formed, the plan of operations to a large extent must come up from the individuals who are doing the work, and can only to a limited extent originate with the director. Out of the multitude of plans and ideas thus suggested by a corps of specialists engaged in original research, the superintendent or director se- lects such as he thinks wise, and is successful in his work to the degree in which he has a comprehensive knowledge of the subject. If the above considerations are correct, the second guiding principle for controlling scientific work of the government is as follows: The several bureaus engaged in research should be left free to prosecute such research in all its details, without dictation from superior authority in respect to the methods of research to be used. I beg to call the attention of the commission to certain statements of the committee of the National academy of sciences, which constitute a part of the record of the proceedings of this commission. These statements are as follows: — Your committee states only the general sentiment and wish of men of science when it says that its members believe the time is near when the country will demand the institution of a branch of the execu- tive government devoted especially to the direction and control of all the purely scientific work of the government. In this day the pursuit of science itself is, visibly to all men of education, directly connected with the promotion of the general welfare. . . . The members of your committee are conscious that pla- cing these bureaus under one department would not necessarily result in the proper co-ordination of their work, because the head of such department would probably find it impracticable to enter into the consid- eration of all details necessary to that purpose. It appears to us that the evils already pointed out re- quire, in any case, the organization of a permanent conimission to prescribe a general policy for each of these bureaus. The functions of this commission would be, — 1°. To examine, improve, and approve the plans of work proposed by the several bureaus, and to revise their estimates in accordance with such plan. The performance of this duty would require consultation with their chiefs, generally and separately, respecting the character of their work; and they should be mem- bers of the commission. 2°. To approve in detail the methods of expendi- ture of the appropriations. 3°. To recommend such measures as they deem necessary to the efficiency of the bureaus under their supervision. It should, however, be understood that this commission is not charged with purely adminis- trative responsibility. It prescribes what shall be done, and recommends any measures necessary to secure that object, but does not concern itself with administrative details. It will be seen from this extract that the learned members of the national academy constituting that committee, fully recognize the importance of a unified administration of the scientific bureaus. The same committee further expresses the opinion that a SCIENCE. By) department of science is desirable; but, fearing that such a department cannot be organized at the present time, a commission is recommended, to be composed of a secretary of one of the departments of the govern- ment, the president of the National academy of sci- ences, the directors or superintendents of the scientific bureaus, a professor of mathematics from the naval observatory, an officer of the engineer corps, and two citizens of the United States, eminent as scientific men, to be appointed by the president. Sympathizing fully with the general tenor of the recommendations of the academy, I wish to present certain reasons for objecting to the constitution of the board of commissioners as recommended by that com- mittee. The objection to such a boardistwofold. In the first place, it would be composed of incongruous elements. A board composed of civil and military offi- cers would, it is believed, be inharmonious, from the fact that military and civil methods of administration are entirely diverse, and proceed upon diametrically opposed theories. The military officer plans and com- mands: the civil officer hears, weighs, and decides. In the second place, the board, as thus recom- mended, would be impracticable in its relations to the departments under which the several scientific bureaus are placed. Officers subordinate to the secretary of war, and officers subordinate to other secretaries, together with officers having no other con- nection with the government but as members of this board, would have the practical control of the work, so far as it could properly be controlled; and the secretaries themselves would simply be channels through which instructions to the bureau officers would be transmitted. This, it is feared, would be irksome to executive officers composing the cabinet of the president. It is a matter of record in the proceedings of this com- mission, that Professor Newcomb of the navy depart- ment, and Gen. Comstock of the army, withdrew from the committee of the national academy at the request of their superior officers, the secretaries of those departments. It is presumable that this action was taken because the military secretaries did not desire to have their subordinates deliberate upon questions of policy affecting the conduct of the sec- retaries themselves; and this was entirely natural and proper, from a military stand-point, where superior officers plan and command, and inferior officers obey and execute. In a civil department of the govern- ment it would have been entirely in the course of things, and in no respect a violation of official pro- prieties, for subordinate officers to present plans, even of general policy, to their superiors. Having thus briefly commented upon the plan of the academy committee, I beg permission to suggest a plan which would not involve the same difficulties. There is, in the organization of the general govern- ment, an existing body of officers competent to co- ordinate the scientific work, with an organization peculiarly fitted to supervise the general plans, and yet leave the officers of the several scientific bureaus free to carry on the details of operations by scientific methods, as they are developed from time to time. I o4 refer to the regents of the Smithsonian institution. These regents are composed of the chief justice, the vice-president, three members of the senate, and three members of the house of representatives, and six citizens. These regents are appointed as fol- lows :— The regents to be selected shall be appointed as fol- lows: the members of the senate, by the president thereof; the members of the house, by the speaker thereof; and the six other persons, by joint resolution of the senate and house of representatives. This body of regents appoints a secretary of the Smithsonian institution, who is its executive offi- cer. If such of the scientific bureaus as should prop- erly have a civil organization were placed under the direction of the regents of the Smithsonian institu- tion, perhaps the best possible administration of the scientific work of the government would thereby be secured; and the learning and administrative ability of the present secretary of that institution would furnish abundant assurance that the organization of these departments under a common head, would, at its inception, be thorough and wise. The history of the Smithsonian institution, with its governing board constituted as above, is the best warrant that could be given for a wise administration of the scientific operations of the general govern- ment. The first secretary of that institution, Pro- fessor Henry, was one of the great scholars of his time; and, under his administration, the affairs of the institution were conducted so as to meet with the approbation alike of the congress of the United States, the learned men of the country, and the peo- ple at large. His successor, Professor Baird, one of the leading scholars of the world, has conducted the operations of the institution as assistant secretary, and subsequently as secretary, in such a manner that the government of the United States has intrusted to him much larger and wider duties in the administra- tion of the fish-commission and the national mu- seum, It will thus be seen that the board of regents would constitute an able and efficient supervisory body; and it may always be expected that the execu- tive officer of that board would be a man thoroughly competent to execute such a trust. I next come to the consideration of the subject as to what bureaus should be placed under this com- mon organization. Two of the bureaus already men- tioned are now under the Smithsonian institution; namely, the fish-commission and the national mu- seum. The geological survey could be very properly added to the number. Its relations to the national museum are very intimate. All of its collections of rocks, ores, minerals, and fossils, are deposited therein; and its laboratories for the study of these collections, chemical, physical, and paleontological, are also in the national museum, as they must neces- sarily be connected with the collections. This rela- tion between the geological survey and the national museum is not by virtue of organic law, but solely by convention between the secretary of the Smith- sonian institution, and the director of the geological SCIENCE. Pa an os [Vor. V., No. 102 ‘survey, and is a special courtesy to the geological sur- vey, extended by the secretary of the Smithsonian institution. In like manner the geological survey has intimate relations with the fish-commission. In that commission it is necessary to employ a corps of biologists. The paleontologists of the geological sur- vey also constitute a corps of biologists. ‘The biolo- gists of the fish-commission study the living forms in the existing bodies of water on and around this continent; the biologists of the geological survey study the fossil forms of the same region, some of which still exist, others of which have become ex- tinct; and the biologic work of the two departments is so intimate, that at times the biologists of the fish- commission perform work for the geologists of the survey, and at other times the biologists of the sur- vey perform work for the fish-commission and the national museum. It is very clear, therefore, that the geological survey could appropriately be placed under the same management as the fish-commission and the national museum. The coast and geodetic survey must first be con- sidered in its relations to certain other departments of scientific work. The committee of the academy recommend the establishment of ‘‘ a physical observ- atory to investigate the laws of solar and terrestrial radiation, and their application to meteorology, with such other investigations in exact science as the gov- ernment might assign to it.’””, And they also recom- mend that the functions of the bureau of weights and measures, now performed by the coast-survey, be ex- tended so as to include electrical measures, and that the whole be transferred to the new bureau recom- mended. The coast and geodetic survey already has under its charge the bureau of weights and meas- ures. It is also engaged in magnetic researches, and could appropriately undertake electrical researches, and also the researches relating to solar and terres- trial radiation. I do not think that it would be best to create a new organization for the purposes thus indicated, but that it would be the part of wisdom to enlarge the functions of the present organization _ of the coast and geodetic survey to accomplish the desired purpose. I have already mentioned that the national observa- tory is one of the institutions engaged in original re- search of such a character that it should form one of the co-ordinated bureaus, but it would not be neces- sary to transfer it as an independent bureau. It might properly be consolidated with the coast and geodetic survey. Under such a plan, this survey would have for its functions geodetic investigations, the methods of which are in part astronomical. It would also have the gravity investigations, and the investigations relating to solar and terrestrial radia- tion, which are also in part astronomical. It would also have the magnetic and electrical investigations. All of these lines of research are intimately related and profoundly interdependent. I come now to a consideration of the survey of the immediate coast of the United States. The primary purpose of this survey is the construction of charts to be used by mariners. This survey of the coast JANUARY 16, 1885.] proper is nearly completed, and should be finished by the present organization. When thus finished, the work of the coast-survey on land will be practi- cally ended, but the hydrographic operations must be permanently continued. In this hydrographic work a large corps of naval officers and seamen are em- ployed under the coast-survey; and the navy is also engaged, under the organization of the hydrographic bureau, in conducting researches of like and related character off the coast. It is evident that this hydro- graphic work prosecuted by the coast and geodetic survey is pre-eminently a naval work, from the fact that officers and seamen of the navy are employed in its prosecution. The officers of the navy are neces- sarily, and should be, the geographers of the sea. Statesmen agree, that, even in time of peace, a naval establishment must be maintained. A school is sup- ported by the general government for the education and training of officers to command its navies. This training should be continued by practical operations at sea, not by engaging in unnecessary war, but in the navigation of the seas and the management of vessels; and, while thus engaged, the navy may be appropriately and economically employed in the study of oceanic geography. I am therefore clearly of the - opinion that the hydrographic work of the coast and geodetic survey should be transferred to the hydro- graphic bureau of the navy. As thus organized, it would necessarily have a military administration, and could not properly be placed with the other scientific bureaus enumerated above under one common man- agement. ‘There would yet necessarily be relations existing between the bureau of navigation and the other scientific bureaus; but they would be of a much less fundamental character, and would be limited in scope, and the few relations thus existing could be properly adjusted by convention. If the signal-service is to have a military organiza- tion, it would be unwise to directly associate it with bureaus with civil organizations, for reasons already stated. Should it be deemed wise to include it in the group of scientific institutions, it should then be re- organized on a civil basis. The various lines of research enumerated in char- acterizing the scientific bureaus above are such as properly pertain to the functions of government in the common judgment of mankind. The warrant for this statement exists in the fact that the leading civilized governments of the world do, in fact, pro- vide for the prosecution of such operations. The subject of the endowment of such research by govern- ment has been widely discussed by statesmen and by scholars in America and in Europe alike; and the wisdom of such endowment, and the fundamental principles that should control such work, have been again and again clearly enunciated. The actual prac- tice of the several governments engaged in this work is to a large extent harmonious, but in some impor- tant particulars there is diversity of methods. In the British government a part of the scientific re- search is controlled by organizations in the executive departments: another part is controlled by scientific societies organized under royal charters, and receiv- SCIENCE. Sy) ing grants of money from the general government. In the German states various methods are adopted, one of the most important of which is that the uni- versities receive grants from the general government for scientific research. This latter method largely prevails in Russia; but in all of these countries the methods adopted in the United States are steadily gaining ground, and the practice of European govern- ments is steadily following the precedents established in the United States. The questions submitted by act of congress to the deliberation of this commission affect profoundly all of the important industries of the land. You areto decide for the people the best methods of utilizing the results of all scientific research, as they pertain to the welfare of the people of the United States; and your action, should it be confirmed by congress, will ulti- mately affect the deepest interests of all the people; and the influence of your action will be exercised in promoting or retarding scientific research itself, which is the chief agency of civilization, and the results of which constitute the chief elements of civilization. THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHI- CAL RESEARCH. AT a meeting held in Boston, Jan. 8, the organiza- tion of the society was completed. The conduct of the affairs of the society is by the constitution placed in the hands of a council of twenty-one, which con- sists of Prof. G. Stanley Hall of Baltimore; Mr. George S. Fullerton of Philadelphia; Dr. William James, Prof. E. C. Pickering, Prof. J. M. Peirce, of Cambridge; Mr. Coleman Sellars of Philadelphia; Major A. A. Woodhull of New York; Professor Simon Newcomb of Washington; Drs. C. S. Minot and H. P. Bowditch, and Messrs. W. H. Pickering and C. C. Jackson, of Boston; Col. T. W. Higginson and Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, of Cambridge ; Prof. George F. Barker of Philadelphia ; Mr. S. H. Scudder and Prof. C. C. Everett, of Cambridge; Mr. Morefield Storey of Bos- ton; Professor John Trowbridge of Cambridge; Mr. William Watson of Boston; and Professor Alpheus Hyatt of Cambridge. Professor Newcomb has been chosen by the council as president of the society, and Profs. Hal, Fullerton, E. C. Pickering and Drs. Bowditch and Minot, as vice-presidents; Mr. Watson, treasurer; and Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, secretary. After the organization was completed, Professor Pickering, who was in the chair, referred briefly to the work of the committee on organization, which has had the matter in charge since last fall, and said that the details of organization would bear a small part in the work of the society; that there was now need of co-operation among all members in order that there might be some fruitful investigations carried on. He urged all members to look about among their friends for suitable subjects; Professor Pickering’s opinion being that it would be much safer and more satisfactory to experiment on people of good stand- ing, who might exhibit powers of mind-reading, or 56 SCIENCE. might be good subjects for hypnotic experiments, rather than employ the professionals, many of whom are doubtless tricksters. He referred to the wide in- terest which is exhibited now throughout the whole world in the prosecution of psychical research. The committee on work, or suggestions as to possi- ble work, stated that they had sent out circulars to the members of the society, calling for volunteers as members of the investigating committees; that they had received a number of answers; that the most of them were from those specially interested in thought- transference; and they recommended the appoint- ment of a committee on that subject. They also suggested that a circular should be issued by the so- ciety, describing the methods of making experiments in thought-transference, and pointing out the pre- cautions to be taken. Such a committee has been appointed by the council, and will in a short time issue its circular, and commence work. It is thought best, that, in order to confine as far as possible the possibility of guessing correctly what is in a person’s mind by mere chance, the object thought of should not be too simple; that is, if it is a figure, it should not bea circle, or a square, or harp-shaped. A word was suggested as a suitable thing to think of, or any one of the digits from one to ten. There was a lengthy discussion, in which Drs. Minot and Bowditch, Professor Pickering, Col. Hig- ginson, Dr. James, and others, took part. Many of the speakers advocated the employment of profession- als, saying that it was nearly impossible, with many would-be honest mind-readers, to tell where their real power ended, and where fraud began. It was stated that some of the professionals confess that at times they eked out their powers with a mild deceit. It was felt by many that in testing professionals there would not be any feeling of restraint about using precautions against fraud; that it would be perfectly understood that all means for getting at the truth could rightfully and properly be employed. For the present the work of the society will be confined largely to experiments on thought-transfer- ence. The committee on work hesitates to recom- mend to the members at large investigations in hypnotism, on account of the danger which would arise when they were carried on by inexperienced hands. SOME RECENT EXPERIMENTS WITH OF IN STOPPING BREAKERS THE U.S. hydrographic office, in pursuance of its policy to lessen the dangers of navigation, has re- cently commenced the collection of information to determine the best manner of using oil to calm the surface of troubled waters. This matter has long been a subject of contro- versy. In 1844 a Dutch commission, after pouring a few gallons of oil on the storm-beaten bosom of the 1 Communicated by Capt. J. R. Bartlett, chief hydrographer of the navy. North Sea, and finding the waves not sensibly affected declared that the oft-repeated account of the saving of ships by this means was a fantastic creation of the imagination. Notwithstanding this, Scotch coasters have saved themselves again and again by strewing the sea with the fatty parts of fish, cut into small pieces, which were carried with them for the pur- pose; and so much reliable information on this subject has now been collected from the common experience of seafaring men, that the evidence in its favor can no longer be controverted. It must be understood, however, that the use of oil does not make the surface perfectly smooth, but merely lessens the dangerous effect of what the sea- man calls ‘combers,’ or the great broken, rolling masses of water which have first disabled and then swamped so many ships since man first began to go down to the sea. A case lately reported of the use of oil is that of the steamship Thomas Melville, while running before a gale in February, 1884, when she was constantly boarded by heavy seas. As her situation became more and more critical, it was determined to try what effect oil would have upon the water. Two canvas bags holding about a gallon were made, therefore, punctured in many places with a sail-needle, and filled with oil. These bags were hung over the bows, and allowed to drag in the water. The seas no longer came on board, and the safety of the vessel was secured. The bags were refilled every four hours. The application of oil to the quieting of water at the entrances of harbors is one that has received very considerable attention; and credit is due to Messrs. Shields and Gordon of England for their energy and enterprise, as well as for the thought, time, and money expended in endeavoring to establish its use, and in bringing the subject into prominent notice. At Folkestone, Eng., Mr. Shields’s apparatus con- sisted of three large casks placed on shore at the end of the old mole. These were connected by pipes with small hand-pumps, each of which was worked by one man. Two lead pipes about an inch and a quarter in diameter extended from the casks along the bottom, through the entrance to the harbor, about 2,950 feet toward’s Shakespeare’s Cliff. At intervals of every hundred feet, vertical pipes were soldered to the main pipes; and in the former were placed con- ical valves properly protected from mud and slime by caps. Unfortunately, on the day set apart for a public ex- hibition the weather was not entirely favorable; that is to say, the wind was not from the right direction. The sea, however, was sufficiently disturbed to show the working of the apparatus. When the oil was pumped through the tubes, it soon showed its effect upon the surface; and this became more apparent as the amount of oil was increased. A broad glassy strip was soon distinguished which was more than a half-mile long. A fullymanned life- boat, which was sent into the oil-covered strips of _ water, was tossed about in a lively manner, but took in no spray. Meanwhile the sea outside of the strip was everywhere breaking into white caps. After [Vou. V., No. 102, JANUARY 16, 1885. ] stopping the pumps, it was found that the amount of oil used was a little over a hundred and nineteen gal- lons. Three hours after the close of the trial, the Boulogne steamer passed broad strips of comparatively smooth water, on which the oil still lay. After this experiment, two of Mr. Gordon’s inven- tions were tried. One of these consists of a shell fired from a mortar, and so arranged that it bursts on striking the water, and frees its contents of oil. The shell is specially constructed, and has an ingenious _device for insuring its explosion, which is effected by a fuze and gunpowder. This recommends itself as a practical means to render less dangerous the com- munication between ships by boats during heavy weather. In case of shipwreck, also, the approach of lifeboats could be greatly facilitated. The second invention is an arrangement to make a lane of oil from the shore to a stranded ship. To effect this, an iron cylinder is fired from a mortar in the direction of the ship. Thecylinder, which serves as an anchor, draws after it a leather hose fastened to it by a line. Oil is then pumped through the hose, and, being spread towards the shore by the wind, forms a quiet surface for the rescuing boat. Various ingenious contrivances have been invented for applying the oil to the water; but the simplest and readiest, at the same time most effective, appliance is a canvas bag, either rather loosely sewed together, or pierced with small holes to allow the oil to escape. This has been the method adopted in the most suc- cessful cases reported from ships at sea, and has been found effectual in some of the lifeboats. It has the great advantage of being self-acting, insuring a regu- lar stream of oil, and being easily renewed when exhausted. ‘ In a vessel or boat running before a sea, one should be hung over each bow, which gives the oil time to spread before reaching far astern. Ina ship, when hove to, one or more bags have sometimes been hung over the weather side, and sometimes been put over- board to windward, attached to light lines. This is the best plan, because, not drifting so fast as the ship, the bag will be carried to windward, and fulfil the condition of applying the oil to the water at some distance from the ship, in the direction from which the waves are advancing. An open boat, unable to run before the sea, will always endeavor to put out some form of sea-anchor, with a rope attached to it: the bag of oil should be attached to this, and, failing every thing else, a boat’s mast or a sail loosed is very effective. When the boat is anchored, the bag could be at- tached by a light line to the anchor as a buoy. This appliance, in addition to being efficient, has the great merits of handiness and simplicity. Two such bags, holding about a gallon of oil each, with the line attached, might be kept full, and packed in a small cylinder similar to a paint-pot or a preserved-meat tin, and would form neither an expensive nor cum- bersome article of equipment in a boat. In the absence of these or similar contrivances, the oil could be poured from a bottle or can; but this SCIENCE. a7 would require a man’s attention when one could be ill spared possibly, and might not insure so constant or regular a supply, which is of importance. This would not be applicable to a boat at anchor. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE OG. S. NAVAL OBSERVATORY. THE report of Commodore S. R. Franklin, who succeeded Admiral Shufeldt as superintendent of the observatory on Feb. 21, gives, under date of Oct. 29, 1884, a summary of the work accomplished during the year. In organization a slight change has taken place by the appointment (by the superintendent) of a board consisting of the superintendent, the senior professor of mathematics, and the senior line-officer, to determine the scope and character of the work to be done. The board may be convened at the request of any member, and a weekly report is submitted to the superintendent every Monday by each officer in charge of an instrument. The twenty-six inch equatorial, in charge of Pro- fessor Hall, has been employed mainly in observa- tions of the satellites of Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, and Mars, and of double stars, with a few observa- tions for stellar parallax. In the'case of Uranus, the observations were confined mostly to the outer satel- lites; and it is proposed now to discontinue them, since the favorable time for determining the position of the orbit planes of these satellites has passed. The reductions are all well advanced. The transit circle has been under the charge of Prof. J. R. Eastman, and has been employed in ob- servations of the sun, moon, planets, comets, and a catalogue of miscellaneous stars, as in previous years. The nine-inch equatorial, in charge of Com- mander Sampson, has been used in observing comets, minor planets, and occultations. ‘The series of obser- vations with the prime vertical instrument was prac- tically finished in May, 1884. The reductions are being carried on by Ensign Taylor. The meridian transit instrument has been used primarily to de- termine clock corrections, in connection with the daily time-service. Observations for the right ascen- sions of the sun, moon, and major planets, have also been made. The time-service has been considerably extended. In addition to the lines already existing, the Balti- more and Ohio telegraph company looped two of its main circuits into the observatory, and the signal- service looped one. In March last a proposition was submitted to the heads of the several departments in Washington, to place in the more important offices of the government, including the executive mansion and the capitol, a clock that should be regulated and controlled every day from the observatory, which establishment should be responsible for the determi- nation and transmission of correct time. This plan met with general approval; and an insulated circuit was established connecting the various offices, some twenty in number, with the observatory. In each 58 | SCIENCE. of these offices is a clock which is corrected daily, at noon of standard time, by means of an automatic attachment (the invention of Mr. W. F. Gardner, the instrument-maker of the observatory), actuated by the current which makes the signal for dropping the time-ball at the observatory, and on the Western union telegraph company’s building in New York. In the publication of its annual volumes, the ob- servatory has been much embarrassed, owing to the limited amount of the printing-fund of the depart- ment. The volume for 1880, which it was expected would be ready by the 1st of January, was not re- ceived until October; and the computations, even with the small working force available, have been carried much beyond the printing. In regard to the proposed new observatory, the superintendent says, — “*T cannot too earnestly urge upon the bureau the necessity of commencing the buildings for the new observatory. The ground having been purchased, and the plans made and approved, there seems to be no good reason why the construction should not begin. The present site is notoriously unhealthy, and the buildings are dilapidated and much in want of repair; and it would not be in the interest of economy to make any extensive repairs while the erection of new buildings is in contemplation. The delay is very prejudicial to this establishment in particular, and to the cause of science in general. I respectfully request, that, if all the money cannot be appropriated for the purpose aforesaid at the coming session of congress, a portion of it, at least, may be asked for, in order that this work, now so long delayed, may be begun.” An estimate of $586,158 is submitted for erecting the necessary buildings. An appendix contains a report by Professor William Harkness, showing the progress made in the reduc- tion of the transit of Venus observations. The photographic negatives (over fifteen hundred) have all been measured, and very considerable ’ progress has been made in the computations necessary for the reduction of these measurements. An extended investigation is now being made of the focal lengths of the photographic objectives, and the radii of cur- vature of the heliostat mirrors. BANDELIER’S ARCHEOLOGICAL TOUR IN MEXICO. THE author of the report before us is well known in New-England archeological circles, having won for himself a fair name through the publication of three essays, —on the art of war and mode of warfare, the distribution and tenure of land, and the social organ- ization and mode of government, in ancient Mexico. In consequence of these scholarly discussions, the archeological institute, in 1880, commissioned Mr. Bandelier to investigate the condition of the seden- tary Indians of New Mexico, and in 1881 a second time commissioned him to carry out an archeologic exploring-tour through Mexico proper. The report under consideration, profusely illustrated, and num- Report on an archeological tour in Mexico, 1881. By ApotPH F. BANDELIER. Boston, 1884. Published in Papers of the Archaeological institute of America. Series II. BN MNO TH saps ts hy bering three hundred and twenty-six pages, gives a full account of the results of Mr. Bandelier’s studi- ous researches on his second expedition. The account, it seems to us, has assumed rather the form of a scientific narrative than that of an official report made to a committee. The author was able to draw upon an immense stock of preparatory studies; and, accustomed to look at ancient Mexico through the spectacles of the chroniclers, the objects that strike his eye at each step on the classic soil remind him of some passage read, the true meaning of which he now strives to detect, with the help of ocular — inspection and learned reasoning. Thus, also, the - grandeur of the surrounding scenery invites him to give us data of hypsometry and meteorology, of vege- tation and interesting culture-plants. He compares statistics of old with those of the present time, and cautiously avoids entering into controversy with the theories urged by other scholars or non-scholars to solve the origin of the mysterious temple and palace builders of Mexico. To be brief, by a very adroit in- terspersion into his text of nicely presented scientific causeries, Mr. Bandelier, it appears to us, may have secured for himself a larger number of readers than if he had chosen to offer a compact and matter-of- fact report. The text is divided into four chapters. In the first chapter the author, reposing on a steamer’s deck, calls us to his side, and, pointing toward the vast main, allows us to partake of the rich stock of his reminis- cences. He tells us of the legends hovering around the ancient province of Huasteca, its forest-buried cities, the colossal structures of Papantla and Mi- santla, and deplores the fact that a thorough explora- tion of these hitherto but vaguely described ruins is beyond the limits of his mission. On his road from Vera Cruz to the capital, he engages in discussions on the étapes once taken by Mexico’s first conqueror, the natural and artificial obstructions that Cortez met with, and the allies he was so fortunate as to secure in the Indians of Tlascala. After Mr. Bandelier’s ar- rival in the capital, he very judiciously sets forth to acquaint himself with the best authorities in Mexican archeology. He takes their advice and suggestions, carefully examines the objects of antiquity preserved in the museum, and collects valuable data on the former expanse and limits of the renowned lagoons, and the modern efforts made for their regulation and draining (pp. 49-78). In the third chapter, Mr. Bande- lier’s independent and main work is given. It bears testimony to the most thorough exploration ever made of the often-described pyramid of Cholula, its struc- ture, appendages, and surroundings. No hewn stone, no sculpture, no masonry or mound, remains unexam-— ined; and no hint picked up from ancient reports, if serving his purposes of reconstruction, is slighted, but dexterously employed to give fuller shape and brighter color to the picture we are wont to form of the once stately and now decaying fabric. He suc- ceeds, finally, in showing that in former times the giant pyramid did not stand isolated, but east and west of it were two companions, considerably small- — er, however, and of the well-known teocalli-shape, 7 2 ANUARY 16, 1885.] truncated, and with staircases, like the pyramid it- self. As to the material of which the latter was con- structed, Mr. Bandelier arrives at the conclusions of A. v. Humboldt and his successors; i.e., that it was built of large sun-dried adobes. Burnt lime for coat- ing or for mortar, Mr. Bandelier discovers, was never employed by the Indians; pulverized limestone being prepared for the purpose. No shaft has as yet been sunk in order to ascertain whether the interior of the pyramid is of the same material as the exterior, or whether the structure was made around a natural mound, or whether it is hollow, and possibly contains some sepulchral vault of historic importance. Ac- cording to tradition, the platform was crowned with a SCIENCE. a9 of the positive opinion, that if in plan, as well as in execution, he had met in Mexico’s architecture any traces pointing either to an intimate or only to a re- mote historic connection with the window-houses of the Indians of the north, he would have exulted over such discovery, and have expounded its adaptation to a certain theory that was advanced by the late Lewis H. Morgan, whom Mr. Bandelier looks up to as to a beloved teacher and friend. Not to have yielded to the temptations of a pre-occupied mind is a merit which deserves full and fair acknowledgment. It shows the faithfulness of Mr. Bandelier’s observation and the conscientiousness which he brought to bear on the fulfilment of his scientific task. By I] Eis aN \ r f y f a ee ZS —»—" THE GREAT MOUND AT CHOLULA.! temple, in which Quetzalcohuatl, the god of air, was worshipped. The current opinions about this mys- terious being are learnedly discussed. From Cholula the traveller directs his steps south- ward, and visits the valleys of Oaxaca, the famous ruins of Monte Alban, Xagd, Mitla, and others. Vivid description is given of all of them, copious and careful measurements secured, and sketches as well as illustrations presented, of hitherto unobserved details. Did Mr. Bandelier, as we presume, set forth on his exploring tour inspired by the hope of detecting in the architectural remains of Mexico proper such ele- ments as would tend to prove these remains to repre- sent some final stage of tectonic development, of which the initial stage must be sought in what he calls the ‘tenement houses’ of the sedentary Indians in New Mexico, he must have felt somewhat disap- pointed with the result of his investigation. We are 1 Reproduced by permission of the Archaeological institute. THE ARGENTINE ZONE CATALOGUE. THE work for which Dr. Gould went to South America fourteen years ago, as astronomer to the Ar- gentine Republic, is at last completed, and both the zone-lists and the star-catalogue compiled from them are published. It is not for us in a non-technical journal to discuss the purely astronomical value and accuracy of such a work, but rather, in announcing it, to recall to the contemporaries of this eminent astronomer, and bring to the attention of the younger men, — who have, even during the long progress of the work, attained an age at which they may appreciate it, — this monument of patient determination, executed under trials that might well be termed privation, exile, and affliction. During the disheartening delays in constructing the observatory and mounting the instruments, the ‘Uranometria argentina,’ a worthy Zone catalogue. Mean positions for 1875.0 of the stars ob- served in the zones at the Argentine National observatory. By BENJAMIN APTHORP GOULD. Cordoba, 1884. 2y. 4°. 60 complement to Argelander’s ‘ Uranometria nova’ of the northern sky, was undertaken, and carried well toward completion, and published with star-charts in 1879, giving the estimated brightness of all southern stars, visible without telescopic aid, in about seventy grades of brilliancy. . The observations for this work were made by the naked eye, or with ordinary binoc- ular field-glasses, and entirely by the assistants; Dr. Gould’s near- SCIENCE. which the second view, of Cordoba in the valley of the Rio Primero, is taken. The overshadowing of the town by the churches is characteristic of the place. NOTES AND NEWS. IN ACCORDANCE with a recommendation of the recent geodetic conference, a series of observations for latitude is to be made at the sightedness pre- U.S. naval ob- venting his shar- ing immediately in the work, al- though he di- servatory, which, taken in connec-~ tion with a simi- rected and over- looked its execu- lar series made elsewhere, and tion with the compared with most minute carefulness. observations made after an The zone obser- vations, by which astronomers un- derstand the determination of the position of stars observed in successive belts around the sky, every star being noted as it crosses the field of a meridian-circle tele- ‘scope, were begun in August, 1872, and completed in 1875. In these, every one of the original tele- scopic observations was made by Dr. Gould; and they numbered over 105,000. Since 1875 the work of computation, revision, and publication, has occu- pied eight years, until now the finished catalogue is before us; and Dr. Gould may proudly feel his am- bition satisfied in ending so well the work begun in outline by Lacaille with his little telescope at the Cape of Good Hope over one hundred years ago. Among the younger men who have shared in Dr. Gould’s labors at Cordoba, only one has remained with him through the many years since its beginning. DR. GOULD’S OBSERVATORY AT CORDOBA. interval of some years, will assist in determining ; whether there are any slow changes taking place in latitudes upon the earth. Lisbon, which is very near the same par- allel as Washington, is expected to co-operate with the naval observatory. The observations will be made with the prime vertical instrument: and at Washington a line-officer of the navy will be detailed for the work, which will probably require several years. —Prof. F. H. Snow of the University of Kansas reports that only two Decembers (in 1872 and 1876) in the past seventeen years were colder than that just passed. It was the cloudiest December upon record, and the precipitation of rain and snow was more than fifty per cent above the average. Ice formed upon the Kaw River to the thickness of thirteen inches. i= ap = SS! mf WY iS ~ T ; Ue — ath ~ —F ——— = iiss = ee == —~ ws i b— ai = Saiinie EWE ssi i ; ————_ eo ‘Or7. Ae VIEW OF CORDOBA FROM DR. GOULD’S OBSERVATORY. We feel sure from the frequent mention, in the annals of the observatory, of the faithful services of Mr. John M. Thome, that the director will gladly see the name of this assistant associated with his own in our brief notice of the work they have accomplished together. The first of the accompanying cuts, reproduced from sketches by a former assistant, shows the obser- vatorY and the director’s house on the barranca, from — The fifteenth annual meeting of the Wisconsin academy of sciences, held at Madison from Dec. 29 to Dec. 31, was unusually well attended. The academy expects to have suitable rooms assigned it’in the cap- itol, on the completion of the additions to that build- ing, in which its library and collections can be properly placed. The latter has become doubly valuable since — the destruction of the scientific collections of the JANUARY 16, 1885.] state university, as it contains the only complete set of the Wisconsin rocks and fossils collected by the State ceological survey. The sixth volume of the Transac- tions of the academy is nearly through the press, and will soon be distributed. — The ‘stately procession’ of quarto volumes issu- ing from the census office has recently been increased by the addition of vols. ix. and x. The former con- sists of the report of Prof. C. S. Sargent upon the forests of North America (exclusive of Mexico). The six hundred and twelve pages of the report are divided into three parts. Part i., relating to forest-trees, sketches the general distribution of forests and of arborescent species and genera, while the great bulk of the chapter is devoted to an exhaustive descriptive catalogue of the forest-trees of the region. Part ii. treats of the economic qualities of the principal woods, their specific gravity, fuel value, strength, etc. Part iii. is devoted to the lumber industry, treating incidentally, also, of many minor points connected more or less directly therewith, such as forest-fires, the pasturage of woodlands, etc. The maps in the report, of which there are no less than thirty-nine, illustrate the different degrees of density of the dis- tribution of woodland, the distribution of merchant- able timber, and the areas deforested, the extent of forest-fires during the census year, and the character of the fuel used in various parts of the country. The report is accompanied by an atlas of cumbrous size, containing thirteen maps of the United States and of North America, illustrating the distribution of forests in general, and of a number of genera of forest-trees; showing the position of forest, prairie, and treeless regions, and the natural divisions of the North-American forests. Vol. x. contains three monographs bound together: 1°, ‘On the production, technology, and uses of petroleum and its products,’ by Prof. S. F. Peckham; 2°, ‘The manufacture of coke,’ by J. D. Weeks; and, 3°, ‘ Building-stones of the United States, and statistics of the quarry indus- try,“ by George W. Hawes ef al. The report upon petroleum is exceedingly full, comprising three hun- dred and one pages, illustrated by numerous cuts and maps. It is divided into three parts, the first of which relates to the history of the subject, the geology, geography, and chemistry of petroleum, and contains the statistics of production. ‘The second is devoted to the technology of petroleum, and the third to its products and uses. The report upon coke (a hundred and fourteen pages) opens with the statistics of the industry, followed by descriptive matter relat- ing to its extent and importance in the United States and in foreign countries, and closes with the chem- istry and technology of the subject. The report is illustrated by numerous cuts. The report upon quarries and building-stones (four hundred and ten pages) opens with a discussion of general matters pertaining to the subject, followed by chapters upon Microscopic structure and chemical composition of building-stones, and the methods used in quarrying. The statistics of the industry follow, accompanied by detailed descriptions of quarry regions. ing chapter is devoted to the extent of stone-construc- The succeed-. SCIENCE. 61 tion in the leading cities, in the course of which is found an admirable article upon stone-construction in New-York City, by Prof. A. A. Julien. This well- known authority makes a further contribution to the report in the form of a chapter upon the durability of building-stones in New-York City. The work is illustrated with eighteen heliotype plates from micro- scopic photographs of rock-slides, and thirty-two chromo-lithographs (by Bien & Co.) of polished rock- surfaces. These are among the finest specimens of the lithographic art which have yet been produced in this country. — The bark Helen Isabel recently arrived at St. John, N.F. While in latitude 38° 51’ north, longitude 29° 55’ west, Dec. 18, a terrific earthquake was ex- perienced, lasting fifteen minutes. The submarine roaring was appalling, and the vessel was shaken in every fibre. The weather was calm and fine at the time. This is of interest in connection with the recent earthquakes in Spain. — The commander of the British steamship Bul- garian reports that on Dec. 29, in latitude 49° north, longitude 34° 30’ west, at two p.M., while the sea was smooth and the wind moderate from south and west, he ran through a regular bore. The water boiled and seethed. The surface of the bore was about two- feet above the general level of the ocean, and its ex- tent about six miles long and from three to five miles wide, moving to the north-east. This is a very un- usual phenomenon for such a place. —In a report by the committee on the metric sys- tem of weights and measures, of the Boston society of civil engineers, attention is called to a number of instances in which the metric system is now used in this country. A number of makers of surveyors’ tapes now graduate them on the metric system, as well as in feet and inches. About the only case re- ported of the introduction of the system for trade purposes is that of the Minneapolis flour-mills, which put up flour in bags containing fifty and a hundred kilos, for export to Europe. — A Journal of mycology is announced by W. A. Kellerman of Manhattan, Kan., under the charge of J. B. Ellis of Newfield, N.J., and W. A. Keller- man, as editors. It is proposed to make the journal a monthly of from twelve to fifteen pages. It is to be hoped that the undertaking may prove successful; but it is very doubtful whether there can be need for so special a journal, when we consider that it will be supported solely by American students. — We have received a copy of an interesting statis- tical pamphlet, ‘‘ Die stundenpline fiir gymnasien, realgymnasien und lateinlose realschulen in den be- deutendsten staaten Deutschlands, zusammengestellt von G. Uhlig”’ (Heidelberg, Winter, 1884). The tabu- lar views of each group of schools are first separately given ; summaries compare in tables the number of hours given to each topic in the schools of the vari- ous states of the German empire ; and seventeen closely printed pages of resultate discuss these statis- tics with great completeness, and yet with great con- densation. It will be seen that we have here an 62 excellent means for finding what topics German schools of the various classes actually teach, and how much they teach of each topic to pupils of any given age. The accuracy of the pamphlet is vouched for by competent authority; and the whole may be warmly commended to every one who is engaged in the study of problems connected with elementary education. The general reader, also, will be inter- ested in the suggestions that he can get at a glance from these tables concerning the character of Ger- man elementary education. Quotation is, on the whole, hardly possible where a book is already a model of condensation, and we shall not attempt it. But let no one pretend hereafter to pass judgment on the work of German schools without using the ele- mentary facts as they are here presented. — The Anthropological society of Washington has adopted the plan of so arranging its programme as to devote an entire evening to a single subject, or to subjects closely related. This adds much to the in- terest of meetings. The place of meeting in Colum- bian university building is convenient, and the attendance has lately been larger than ever before in the history of the society. On Jan. 20 is the annual election of officers. —Sir William Thomson’s lectures on molecular dynamics are now ready for delivery to subscribers. An edition of three hundred copies has been printed, and of these only seventy-five remain for sale. The volume contains three hundred and thirty-six pages | in all. Sir William Thomson has sent, since his return to Europe, several pages of additional matter, which is given with the lectures. An index and bibliographical note have also been added. —In aspeech before the African conference at Ber- lin last November, Mr. Stanley, according to Le mouve- ment géographique, said, “‘The Kongo is, with one exception, the greatest river in the world, with the most extensive valley. No region, either equatorial or tropical, can rival it in fertility. There are great empires of natives, and. republics, such as Uganda, Ruanda, Unyoro; a country of broad plains for the grazing of cattle, as the Masai Land. There are numerous deposits of gold and silver, and rich mines of ‘copper and of iron. There are beautiful forests which produce woods of an inestimable value, India- rubber in inexhaustible quantities, gums, and precious spices. There pepper and coffee are grown. There are tribes susceptible of appreciating the advantages of civilization, provided they are protected against the attacks of brigands and the ambuscade of the slave-trader. In my opinion, these facts are sufficient to justify my proposition to define, by means of the easily ascertained limits I have proposed, the fron- tiers of the free commercial territory of equatorial Africa, and to guarantee the freest possible access as well from the east as from the west.”’ — The advice to explore the high peaks and little- known parts of the Caucasus, given to experienced Alpine travellers in the early part of the year, by D. W. Freshfield, in the Alpine journal, has already borne some fruit. The well-known Hungarian moun- SCIENCE. taineer, Moritz v. Déchey, was the first on the ground. On the 24th of July, he, in company with two Swiss guides, made the first ascent of the 15,500-feet-high peak of Adni Choch, after overcoming great difficul- ties. On the 23d of August followed the ascent of the highest western peak of the Elbrus, which had been previously accomplished but once, — by Grove in 1874. During the journey, which led from the Arden valley, over the high passes of the Elbrus, photo- graphs and measures of elevation, which have hith- erto been entirely wanting from the central Caucasus, were taken. — Dr. Brieger of Berlin has made a special study of the ptomaines; i.e., the chemical poisons result- ing from the action of bacteria upon animal sub- stances. By digestion of albuminous bodies in gastric juice, he obtained a toxic substance, to which he has given the name peptotoxin. From putrid flesh he ob- — tained two bodies, — one a diamin of the composition C;H,4N.2, a body which he calls neuridin, which, when pure, is devoid of toxic action; and, as the sec- ond product, neurin, a substance with decided poi- sonous properties, antagonized by atropin. By the putrefaction of fish-flesh, another diamin was discov- ered, ethylendiamin, — C,H,(NH,.).H.O, —a power- ful poison; also muscarin, and a body which Brieger provisionally calls gadinin (C;H,;NOz,). It is inter- esting to note that the character of the ptomaines formed, depends somewhat upon the character of the material used: thus, neurin is found only in the putrefaction of flesh; while muscarin, ethylendiamin, gadinin, and triethylamin are specific products of fish putrefaction, and dimethylamin of gelatin putre- faction. His work also indicates that the ptomaines should be divided into the poisonous and non-poi- sonous. — The Journal of the Society for psychical research for November (for circulation among members only) contains an interesting account of Professor Barrett’s visit to America, and the steps which led to the for- mation of an American society of similar name.’ Pro- fessors Bowditch, Fullerton, Stanley Hall, James, Carvill Lewis, and Pickering have been chosen cor- responding members of the London society. — Among recent deaths we note the following: Hermann Kolbe, professor of chemistry at Leipzig, Nov. 26, at the age of sixty-six ; Dr. Heinrich Bo- dinus, director of the Berlin zoological gardens, at Berlin, Nov. 23, at the age of seventy-one; Dr. Karl von Vierordt, at Tubingen, Nov. 22, at the age of sixty-seven ; Henri Lortique; A. W. Thienemann at Zangenberg, Nov. 5, at the age of fifty-four; Alfred Brehm, at Renthendorf, Nov. 11, at the age. of fifty- five; Professor Edmund Tomésvary, at Deva, Aug. 18; Charles Tulasne, at Hyéres, Aug. 21, at the age of sixty-eight; Richard Townsend, professor of mathe- matics at Dublin university; Arthur Henninger, — ‘ chemist, at Paris, in November; Dr. Thomas Wright, at Cheltenham, Nov. 17; Dr. W. von Wittich of the University of Konigsberg, Nov. 21; Henry Lawrence Eustis, professor of engineering at Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 11, in his sixty-sixth year. mele NCE. FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. Dr. E. Ray Lankester writes to Nature of Dec. 25 a letter denouncing Koch’s claims in regard to the cholera bacillus, and denying his right to any more knowledge in regard to bacteria ‘‘ than that which an industrious worker may be expected to have gained in the course of very special observations in regard to a limited class of these organisms (the pathogenic class) , extending over a few years.”’ Fortunately, Koch’s reputation rests upon a more solid foundation than that which is con- ceded to him by some English and American writers, and his work is not likely to lose any of its value by accusations of want of knowl- edge. The writer in Nature gives a very dis- torted diagram of various organisms, — the bacillus of glanders, the bacillus subtilis, etc., —and lays especial stress upon the fact that Koch said nothing of the comma bacillus be- fore reaching India, and that in Egypt an entirely distinct and straight organism was claimed as the cause of cholera. This is a distinct accusation, which does not seem to us to be justified by Koch’s reports. Whilst in Egypt, the German commission found several organisms, one of which might be the specific cause of the disease; but no actual proof of the fact was offered or suggested. It was be- cause they were in doubt, that they asked per- mission to carry en their investigations in India ; and it was only after they had reached that country, and had had opportunities for further investigation, that special stress was laid upon the comma bacillus. The case, so far as Koch is concerned, is summed up in our columns of Dec. 19, 1884. His opponents might well choose an advocate less biassed than Dr. Lankester. The disproval of Koch’s theories must come from actual work upon the subject, and not from literary efforts. No. 103.— 1885. Later reports of the work of Drs. Klein and Gibbes (the English cholera commission) in India justify their conclusions more than what we had seen when speaking of it last week. Their results are summed up in the Gazette of India for Nov. 28, 1884 (Lancet, Jan. 3, 1885), and are as follows: 1°. They find ‘comma bacilli,’ so called, in other dis- eases than cholera, as epidemic diarrhoea, dys- entery, and intestinal catarrh, associated with phthisis. 2°. They did not find the comma bacilli in typical cases of cholera in any thing like the numbers claimed by Koch: they never approached the appearance of a ‘ pure culture’ inthe ileum. 3°. They did not find the comma bacilli in the tissues of the intestines, or else- where, as Koch did. 4°. Klein was unable to discover that the comma bacilli differed from any other putrefactive organism under cultiva- tion. 5°. They found peculiar-shaped bacilli, very small and straight, in the mucus-corpus- cles found in mucus-flakes removed from the intestine soon after death from cholera: they found these same bacilli always, even when the comma bacilli were not discovered. 6°. These bacilli do not behave in any peculiar way under cultivation, and are not to be found in the tissues of the intestines, or elsewhere. 7°. They did not find any bacteria of any kind in the blood, or in any other tissue. 8°. Many experiments gave the following results: (a) Mice, rats, cats, and monkeys were fed with rice-water stools, with vomitus, with mucus- flakes from the ileum, both fresh and after having been kept for twenty-four hours (the animals remained in good health) ; (0) Inocu- lations with recent and old cultures of the comma bacillus, and of the small straight bacillus, as well as with mucus-flakes, were made into the subcutaneous tissue, into the peritoneal cavity, into the jugular vein, and into the cavity of the small and large intestine of rabbits, cats, and monkeys; but the ani- mals remained perfectly well and normal. 64 SCIENCE. The commission hoped to conclude its labors . and to return to England in December, when a detailed report of its work would be passed through the press at once. This report will be read with very great interest, for Dr. Klein’s work has heretofore been excellent in its con- scientiousness. It will be seen, however, that all their results are purely negative, so far as can be judged from the abstract before us; and judgment upon the work should be deferred until the evidence is allin. With Koch’s posi- tive results so recently reported, and the re- sult of his further work still to come, the problem cannot yet be considered to be defi- nitely settled. SHOULD SOME serious effort not be made to preserve the American bison from total extinc- tion? Tosave some remnant of the vast herds of this noble animal which even a few years ago existed, some speedy and effective action is needed ; and posterity will surely find a just cause of complaint against the present genera- tion if such action is not taken. It is a mis- take to suppose that extensive herds still exist in the Canadian north-west or elsewhere. Last summer a few animals made their way as far north as the Red Deer River, and scattered individuals are still occasionally found in the broken region about Wood Mountain ; but it is doubtful if at the present moment there exist as many as a couple of hundred in all the plain country north of the international boundary. If any herds worthy the name are still to be found, it is in the Upper Missouri and Yellow- stone region ; and, judging from published state- ments concerning the trade in robes, these are on the verge of extinction. The preservation of an animal with the roving habits of the bison is undoubtedly a difficult problem, but should not prove an impossible one. Even if the Yellowstone Park were wholly unsuited for the permanent residence of the bison, some other naturally bounded tract might surely be found, in which a small herd of these animals might be allowed, as far as possible, to retain their natural habits and yet be protected from slaughter. A conscientious attempt in this somewhat as the Auerochs, the old-world con- 5 Ah [Von. V., No. 108. / : pasate ; aes i. direction would at least save us the disgrace of __ being found altogether supine in the matter. x Wuite the Yellowstone Park may not afford the environment most natural to the American bison, may it not be in reality the best refuge it is now practicable to offer it? In order to preserve any number of these animals from slaughter, obviously it would be necessary to restrain their wanderings. In short, any rem- nant of the once numerous herds we may de-— sire to preserve would have to be kept in an enclosed park ; and this, in order to enable the animals to retain in any considerable degree their natural habits, should be of large size. It is therefore a matter that the government may very properly be asked to take in hand, — it being beyond the ability or means of indi- vidual citizens. So widely scattered are the small remnants of herds which still exist, and so distant are they from convenient means of transportation, that even the procurement of a small band of from twenty-five to fifty —a less number would hardly suffice — would entail the expenditure of much time and money, and could even now be accomplished only with great difficulty, while, if delayed much longer, might become practically impossible. . A bison preserve, wherever located, would necessitate not only a large outlay at first, in securing the herd and providing a properly enclosed park, but also constant expendi- ture in the way of providing proper keepers. Unless some more favorable section of coun- try, both as regards proximity to the herds and environment, can be selected for the pur- pose, a portion of the Yellowstone Park should at once be set aside as a bison preserve, be properly enclosed, and stocked with as large a number of bisons as it may be practicable to procure. In this way, while we should not have the bison in exactly a state of nature, we might be able to preserve indefinitely a | respectable remnant in a semi-domestic state; _ gener of our bison, is preserved in a govern- ment park in Lithuania. (" A et JANUARY 23, 1885.] LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. The muskrat carnivorous. I HAVE seldom been more surprised than at the state- ment that the carnivorous habits of the muskrat have but just been discovered by scientific men. They are so often mentioned in treatises on American con- chology, that a little reading would have prevented the error. Thus Dr. James Lewis says of the Uni- onidae, ‘‘ They afford abundant food for the muskrat and mink ;’’ and like quotations might be given. But the fact is not left out of sight in treatises on the Rodentia. In the ‘Mammalia of New York,’ published by the state, De Kay says of the muskrat, “It is also extremely fond of the fresh-water mussel (Unio), heaps of which, in a gnawed or comminuted state, may be found near their retreats.’”? 'Tenney’s ‘Zoology,’ a mere schoolbook, says, ‘‘ Muskrats feed upon mussels, and roots of grasses, and aquatic plants.”” To my knowledge, they feed on Unios throughout the year, but mostly in winter and spring. The floor of my boat-house is covered with shells, left by muskrats, every spring; and I have often stopped at the heaps of shells by their holes to see what species occurred near. The fact that they eat fish has certainly been less known. - There seem to be four principal ways in which muskrats get at the animal in the mussel-shell. In a small lake near me there are very fine specimens of Anodonta fragilis, but in such situations that it is almost impossible to get the finest ones alive. The shells are large, but almost like paper; and the musk- rat invariably tears off one valve. In the thicker shells of Seneca River, not far off, its common way is to break the thinner end of the shell. In the much heavier shells of the west and south, I have heard that they either gnaw the hinge-ligament, or allow the animal to freeze and open. While speaking of the Unionidae, I may mention a curious circumstance. Very few of their shells are to be found on one shore of Onondaga Lake, which is flat and marly; and this is partly so because the animal burrows deeply in the tenacious mud, and is not easily dislodged. But I passed that shore one day when a number of Anodonta Benedictii were washed in. when they had rested a while on the beach, they got up on edge, protruded the muscular foot, got a firm hold on the marl, and worked their way back to the water with apparent ease. W. M. BEAUCHAMP. A census of hallucinations. In a letter which you published on Dec. 5, I men- tioned a sort of census whereby we are inquiring what proportion of the population has experienced waking visions of absent friends; the object being to discover how far chance may account for the numer- ous cases where such hallucinations have coincided with the death (or some serious crisis in the life) of the person whose presence was suggested, or how far, on the other hand, these cases drive us to some such hypothesis as ‘telepathy.’ In a letter published by you on the same day, Professor Newcomb has objected that untrue answers may be given by per- sons wishing to amuse themselves at our expense. I am far from denying that persons may exist who would be glad to thwart us, and amuse themselves, even at the cost of untruth. But when the question is put, ‘‘Do you remember having ever distinctly seen the face or form of a person known to you, when that person was not really there?’’ it is not at once obvious whether the amusing untruth would be ‘ yes’ They were helpless in the waves; but, - SCIENCE. 65 or ‘no.’ In neither case would the joke seem to be of a very exhilarating quality; but, on the whole, I should say that ‘yes’ would be the favorite, as at any rate representing the rarer and less commonplace experience. ‘ Yes’ is, moreover, the answer, which, as a matter of fact, it has been very generally thought we ourselves preferred; so that to give it might pro- duce a piquant sense of fooling us to the top of our bent. Buta moment’s reflection will show, that, so far as the census might be thus affected, it would be affected in a direction adverse to the telepathic argument; for the commoner the purely casual hal- lucinations are reckoned to be, the stronger is the argument that the visions which correspond with real events do so by chance. And if the number of these coincident visions makes the chance-argument untenable, even when the basis of estimation is af- fected in the way supposed, a fortiori would this be the case if the yeses were reduced to their true number. While on this point, I may add that in such a cen- sus as ours there are reasons why, quite apart from untruth, an unfair number of yeses are sure to be obtained. One chief reason is, that, when forms to be filled up are distributed on a large scale, it is impossible to bring it home to the minds of many of the persons whose answer would. be ‘no,’ that there is any use in recording that answer. Their in- stinct is, that results, to be of scientific value, must be positive, like natural-history specimens. ‘This difficulty has been encountered again and again; and I feel.little doubt that the proportion of yeses to noes will in the end be quite double what it ought to be: in other words, the telepathic argument, if it pre- vails, will prevail, though based on data distinctly unfavorable to it. As Professor Newcomb seemed to confine his objec- tion to the results of the census, I need not occupy your space with a description of the various precau- tions by, which we ascertain that our cases of coin- cident visions — of veridical hallucinations — are bona Jide records. Suffice it to say, that, whatever the pos- sible sources of error in our evidence may be, — and there are some which demand unceasing care and watchfulness, — deliberate hoaxing is a danger which we believe we can reduce to an amount that will not affect the validity of our general conclusions. EDMUND GURNEY, Hon. sec. of Soc. for psych. research. 14 Dean’s Yard, Westminster, 8. W., Dec. 22. Dikes of peridotite cutting the carboniferous rocks of Kentucky. Prof. A. R. Crandall, of the Kentucky geological survey, has recently discovered in Elliot county, of that state, several dikes of very interesting peridotite, which intersect the carboniferous formation. It very rarely happens that such youthful felspar-free, mas- sive rocks occur in regions of so little disturbance as eastern Kentucky, and under such circumstances that their eruptive character can be established beyond question. Professor Crandall and myself, with the approval of the U.S. geological survey, hope to be able to give these rocks the careful study they ought to receive. J. S. DILLER. U.S. geol. survey, Washington, D.C. Lake Mistassini. Your contributor, Prof. J. D. Whitney (Science, No. 100), is quite mistaken in ascribing the recent newspaper paragraphs referring to Lake Mistassini 66 SCIENCE. as having been caused by Professor Laflamme’s com- munication to the geographical section of the British association at its late meeting in Montreal. They commenced with a very sensational article in the Montreal witness dated Quebec, Nov. 17, aris- ing out of an interview of a reporter with Mr. F. H. Bignell, a gentleman who had just returned from a trip to the Hudson Bay post on Lake Mistas- sini, made for the purpose of taking in supplies for the winter consumption of the party organized and despatched last spring, by the geological survey, to explore that region, and to complete the survey of the lake, which was commenced in 1870, and continued in 1871, as described in the report of the survey for those years, and of which surveys Professor Whitney does not appear to be cognizant, or of my letters to the editors of the Ottawa free press and the Montreal gazette of Nov. 17 and Nov. 25 respectively, in which the substance of the foregoing remarks was stated. The only published map on which the result of these surveys of 1870 and 1871 by the geological corps is correctly laid down, and which Professor Whitney has probably not seen, is enitled ‘‘ Carte dela Province de Quebec, Canada. Dressé au département des Terres de la Couronne, par Eugéne Taché, assistant com- missaire, 1880.’’ The map is on a scale of fourteen miles to one inch; and on the face of it, in the Lake Mistassini region, we find the words ‘Exploré par la commission géologique.’ This map, and the report I have referred to, give the latest authentic published information about Lake Mistassini. The survey of the lake is, I hope, now in progress; and next year the size of it, and of its numerous arms, will be definitely known from actual measurement. Geologically it is a basin of flat-lying limestones, probably of lower Cambrian age, resting on Laurentian and Huronian rocks. I enclose a tracing of the lake as it appears on the Quebec crown-lands map. The latest general map of Canada is that published in 1882 by the Depart- ment of railways and canals, Ottawa. I have not seen the Arrowsmith-Stanford map of 1880; but, in the recent maps I have referred to, the position of the lake is nearly half a degree west, not east, of that y pee a . ee RPoomeh wan; F —S i) A. » “eWOO OM ae een, 5 ay ‘ ee RAE Gy *y, rs, ae assigned to it in the geological survey map of 1866, while its outline is also very different. That it con- sists of several almost separate lakes, as described by the old explorers, is, I think, certain; but the as- sumption that there is a body of water in any way comparable to Lake Superior is exceedingly improb- able, and not warranted by any recorded observa- tions. ALFRED R. C. SELWYN, Director, geological survey of Canada. Lava from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island. © Three specimens of the lava which was erupted from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, Alaska, in October, 1888, were sent by Sergeant Applegate, the signal-service observer at Unalashka, to the central office in Washington, and referred to the U. S. geo- logical survey for investigation. It is gratifying to note that an examination of these Re < F Revert Nee Bee 20 LAC MISTAS SIMz specimens has verified to the fullest extent the hy- potheses made concerning the source of the vol- canic sand which fell at Unalashka, Oct. 20, 1883, and the mineralogical composition of the lava from which it originated. The facts noted in Mr. Apple- gate’s letter of information render it altogether prob- able that the volcanic sand came from the new volcano on Bogosloff Island, and a comparison of the sand with lava from that place removes all doubt. The members of the party from the Corwin sank almost to their knees in soft ashes; and other facts, already published in Science (Nov. 7, p. 482), indi- cate that a considerable portion of the new mountain may be composed of ejectamenta. It has been stated upon the authority of Lieut. Stoney, I believe, that ‘‘the mass of the volcano was found to be a species of sand-rock, with large black rocks scattered about the crust. No traces of lava, and but small quantities of pumice, were found.’’ Whether the ‘large black rocks’ referred to are portions of lava- streams projecting through the coating of sand and lapilli, or large ejected fragments, is difficult to con- jecture. We are led to believe that the specimens received were taken from such masses. Through the courtesy of Mr. Merrill, I have been able to compare JANUARY 25, 1885.] the specimens sent by Sergeant Applegate with those collected by Lieut. Stoney, and found them to be the same, hornblende andesite. When we compare the lava from Bogosloff with the voleanic sand which fell at Unalashka, we find them identical in mineralogical composition. Both are composed of triclinic felspar, with prominent zonal structure, augite, hornblende, magnetite, and ground- mass, with microlites and a small proportion of amorphous matter. Dr. T. M. Chatard, of the geological survey, made a partial analysis of the volcanic sand from Unalashka as well as of the lava from Bogosloff. The former contains 52.48%, and the latter 51.65%, of silica. Fearing that an error had been made in the analysis of the lava, Dr. Chatard repeated the determination,- and obtained the same result. That the percentage of silica contained by each should be nearly the same, can be readily understood; but that the lava should con- tain less than the volcanic sand which is composed of the same material, apparently with a larger propor- tion of basic minerals, was unexpected. Hornblende- andesite lavas rarely occur with such a low percent- age of silica, and in this respect the one from Alaska is closely related to those in the Siebengebirge and Hungary. It is evident that the felspar contained must be very basic, probably anorthite. The optical properties of the felspar point in the same direction for the angle of extinction when symmetrical is over 30°. Hypersthene, which is such an important con- stituent of the lavas in the Cascade Range, has not been discovered in any of the lavas yet examined from Alaska. J. S. DILLER. U.S. geol. survey, Washington, D.C. Action of pollen on seed-coats and pericarps. I am confounded by a statement, given as if of a well-known fact, which I read in the ‘Science bulle- tin’ of No. 101. Ata meeting of the Academyof nat- ural sciences, Philadelphia, Dec. 16, — “‘Mr. Thomas Meehan called attention to an ear of Indian corn received from Mr. Landreth, the grains on one side of which were of a rich brownish-red color, while those on the other side were of the usual pale yellow tint. On the boundary-lines several of the grains were partly red and partly yellow, thus proving that the result was not the effect of cross- fertilization, as had been asserted in other instances of change of color. It would indeed be strange if corn were the only plant in which such change of color was produced by cross-fertilization; yet in the case of no other species had any such change been ob- served.” The sentence I have italicised is]the confounding one. It is hard to believe that such a veteran horti- cultural editor and copious writer as Mr. Meehan is not acquainted at first hand with some of the horti- cultural literature upon this curious subject (extend- ing from the year 1729 down to our own days), and _ which asserts that in various instances just such change has been observed. It is harder to believe that a writer who has shown such a critical famil- iarity with Mr. Darwin’s writings should have en- tirely overlooked a section in chapter xi. of ‘ Variation under domestication,’ vol. i., beginning on p. 397, in which the principal observations (convincing to Dar- win’s mind as to the facts) are brought together, and the sources referred to. One wonders how the fact that some of the grains of corn were party-colored in the case described, proves ‘ that the result was not the effect of cross-fertilization,’ party-coloration in the flowers being a well-known effect of cross-fertil- ization, according to good authorities, A. G. SCIENCE. 67 THE PEABODY MUSEUM AT NEW HAVEN. Tut Peabody museum in New Haven stands on the corner of Elm and High streets, just without the campus of Yale college. Like most buildings devoted to science in America, it occupies only a part of the large lot, — a fact not designed to typify the unfinished state of zoology, but merely resulting from lack of funds. In the present case there would, perhaps, have been no building at all, and the collections, had any of consequence been accumulated at Yale, would have remained stuffed into garrets and cellars, had not the philanthropic George Peabody given a sum of money, in 1866, to erect a house for them. ‘Thanks to the finan- cial prosperity of Massachusetts, the bonds for a hundred and fifty thousand dollars had greatly increased, and those set aside for the first wing of the building had become worth a hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars when the trustees began to build. With that sum they have erected one of the finest build- ings, for its purpose, in the United States, — a lofty and ornamental structure of red brick and cream-colored stone, whose broad and numerous windows express the desire of the investigators within for all the light they can get. Let us begin our survey at the bottom. Kintering the basement-door, a blind man, or at any rate a blind naturalist (if such there be), would know where he was by that smell of old alcohol with which biologists are so familiar. It is safe to wager, ten to one, that every visitor to these lower regions will re- member and quote a certain line from ‘The tempest,’ act ii. scene 2. This pungent odor rises chiefly from the pos- sessions of the U.S. fish-commission, depos- ited for sorting and examination under the eye of Prof. A. E. Verrill, who is chief of the zoological part of the museum, or by some of his associates. Duplicates of these sub- marine and littoral specimens, secured in the government’s deep-sea dredgings, go to Pro- fessor Verrill, and large quantities deposited by him in the museum have been arranged for exhibition. In another part of the basement, Prof. O. C. Marsh keeps ‘ greate store’ of fossils, clean- ing the gigantic bones from Rocky-Mountain quarries preparatory to study and display. Considerable paleontological property of the U.S. geological survey is under inspection here also. A score of expert helpers, with Oscar Harger as chief of staff, assist ; one of whom i 68 SCIENCE. has a little building to himself, where he is constantly employed in making restorations and casts of novelties, which are distributed with great liberality. Only favored visitors go to the basement, or care to go. The public entrance is above, opening underneath a magnificent rose-window into a spacious court with tiled floor, and walls of variegated bricks. ‘This region is garnished by great slabs of the celebrated footprint sandstones from the Connecticut valley, and a tion. This might be expected, considering the men — Dana, Silliman, Brush, and others— of whose labors it is the result. To mention half of the notable minerals here, would exhaust the space set apart for the © whole of this article. There were formerly sev- eral thousand dollars’ worth of diamonds in one of the cases; but on account of their theft, though they were afterwards recovered, the labels now state that the present specimens are glass facsimiles. The only thing in this Fie. 1.— THE PEABODY MUSEUM AS IT WILL APPEAR WHEN COMPLETED. ! huge stump taken entire from acoal-bed. Iron staircases, clinging to the wall in spiral flight, lead to the top story, and the court is roofed with glass. On the right and left of the entrance are doors leading to business offices, the blow-pipe laboratory, and the lecture-rooms of the Pro- fessors Dana (father and son), where large audiences frequently gather to hear the instruc- tion designed for undergraduates alone; and in the rear of the court, on the ground-floor, is the exhibition hall for minerals, of which the museum possesses an almost unrivalled collec- 1 The right-hand third is already constructed. room not locked up is a meteorite weighing sixteen hundred pounds. The metal in one spot has been sawed off, and polished until it looks like burnished steel, and has been en- eraved with an historical inscription, from which it appears that this meteorite fell in Texas, presumably the only state in the Union large enough to receive it safely. In an adjoining case are a peck or so of small meteorites, picked up within a narrow area of Iowa, and of suitable size to be rained down upon a more thickly settled region. After the brilliant and many tinted ores, the endless variety and beauty of the quartz crys-_ JANUARY 23, 1885.] tals, and the substantial interest inspired by the metals, visitors always pause with new gratification before some curious rosetted crys- tals of a form of lime; and a look of deep wisdom comes into their faces as they read the label. ‘‘ Ah!” they exclaim, ‘‘ I told youso. These are import- ed. Iknew there could be nothing so pretty as that Ow thes side. They do_ these things better in Mreance, you know.’’ And so they pass out, usually quite overlooking the ‘educational se- ries,’ which has been spread with such pains for their instruction. This educa- tional collection, which seems to be extremely apt and well selected, concentrates in a single case a practical glossary and text-book of mineralogy. To this epitome of the science all the rich and rare examples in the wall-cases are only at- tractive illustrations ; and, the further to help the inquirer understand them, several copies of Dana’s ‘ Mineralogy ’ will be found upon little tables near by. Here persons may sit and read, acquire and carry away the information, but not the book, for that is chained to an iron pillar. The third floor is that most popular with the public, since it is devoted chiefly to modern animal life. ‘The first thing to strike the eye in the south room is a fine series of compara- tive skeletons of primates, from civilized man down to the humblest of monkeys, all hanging in a beautiful row by hooks screwed into the tops of their heads. The set is usually spoken of as Professor Marsh’s sunday-school class, but an unprejudiced mind can see that really there is no truth in this irreverent comparison. Beyond them, the whole side of the room is filled with cases containing an orderly succes- sion of skeletons illustrating all the vertebrate orders ; while the centre of the room is occu- pied by the skeletons and stuffed hides of the larger mammals, like the camel, rhinoceros, a very dejected polar bear, etc. a b ad c Fie. 2. — WIRES FOR MOUNTING MU- SEUM SPECIMENS. a, wire twisted so as to form a shoul- der to prevent the specimen from slipping down; 0b, wire with the end bent around a disk of leather to which objects can be glued; c, a similar wire bent to fit inside a spi- ral shell, as in fig. 6; d, spiral label- holder used as in fig. 3. SCIENCE. 69 In the same room several cases are filled with stuffed skins of mammals, birds, and rep- tiles. Beside most of the land birds are placed their nests, with the eggs; or else the eggs are glued upon upright tablets of ground glass, in which position they show to excellent advan- tage. One large case is devoted to a collec- tion of New-England birds alone, excellently mounted upon the branches of a tree. ‘This is the work of Prof. W. D. Whitney, who, before he became prominent as a linguist, was known as a good ornithologist ; as, in fact, he still is. Passing to the west room on the same floor, one sees invertebrate preparations most attrac- tively displayed. They are confined almost wholly, however, to the crustacea, mollusks, radiates, and marine protozoa. Of insects there is a very small showing, — only enough to represent scantily the classification of that immense class. This is partly because it is unwise to display insects freely, since exposure to the light causes their colors to fade, but is due chiefly to lack of material, owing to the fact that no entomologists of note have been especially interested in the progress of this museum. No.5 120. _PMY.C a > Hlinias Forbesii, WV. Von Vee ied. LE FL. US.F.COM, Dep. AE.VERRILL Fig. 8. —STAR-FISH MOUNTED ON WIRE FASTENED IN A BLOCK OF WOOD, WITH HOLDER AND LABEL OF THE USUAL PATTERN. On the other hand, the special tastes of Professors Verrill, S. I. Smith, J. H. Emerton, and others, and the intimate relations the mu- seum (through these gentlemen) has sustained with the Smithsonian institution and the U.S. fish-commission, have brought the department ee 70 SCIENCL. of marine invertebrates to an almost unrivalled perfection. Case after case, all splendidly lighted, of rare and brilliant shells from every part of the world, vie with one another in attractiveness; while a magnificent series of crabs, sea-ur- chins, star-fishes, worms, corals, cor- allines, hydroids, and sponges, illus- trates the classifica- tion, and exhibits the vast variety, of more lowly life along- shore and on the bottom of the deep sea. In no room does the casual visitor lin- ger longer than in this one; while its contents are unusu- ally interesting to specialists, because of the large propor- tion of type-speci- mens included. In many instances these are unique; as, for example, some of those beautiful or- ange and scarlet gor- gonias or ‘ sea-fans,’ Fig. 4.— BirbD’s EGG GLUED TO A STRIP OF GROUND GLASS __ . 2 STANDING UPRIGHT IN A flat, branchless, WOODEN BLOCK. mossy growths of (To make the attachment stron- Galcareous matter, ger,a leather ring is first glued to the glass, as seen in the fig- ure on the lower part of the strip; and to this the egg is fastened.) which resemble great masses of pressed seaweed. One case is wholly filled with these corallines ; and itis doubtful whether any museum in the world can make a better show- ing of them. The corals, also, are very fine, embracing many rare and even unique forms, as might be expected, remembering Prof. J. D. Dana’s labors in that direction; so that only the Mu- seum of comparative zodlogy equals this part of the cabinet. In the way of deep-sea forms of crustaceans, and echinoderms also, a great number of novel species are publicly displayed, which were procured in recent dredgings by the fish-com- mission. Among them stand large jars hold- ing alcoholic remains of the giant cuttlefishes upon which Verrill has written so many learned pages; and overhead hang Emerton’s paper ». i [VoL. Va No. models of Architeuthis and a huge Octopus, which half the visitors take to be real devil- fishes stuffed, and gaze at with fearful curiosity. The system of mounting dry objects of small size, adopted here, is perfect. It consists in using a small standard of wire set in a block of wood sufficiently firm to stand upright with security, upon the top of which (that is, on the tip of the wire) the specimen is fixed in any attitude desired by means of a bit of leather or cork glued to it at some inconspicuous point (see figs. 4-7). In the case of shells, this produces a singu- larly handsome effect. They are poised up- right, and can be viewed from all sides without handling, while the label attached to the foot- block is neither hidden by the object, nor hides it. The wires, often requiring much ingenious twisting and looping to adapt them to the needs of the irregular specimens and positions, are of brass; but, after each piece has been bent into the proper shape, it is silver-plated. The crabs are mounted in an equally attractive and accurate manner, these brittle and otherwise difficult preparations being treated by a com- bination of the method described above, with the twisted-wire arrange- ment familiar to osteolo- gists. Upright tablets of ground or colored glass, to which specimens are glued, are also made use of for many objects. Here, too, as in the vertebrate hall, there is a synoptical col- lection of the invertebrates of New England, instruc- tively epitomizing the local fauna. The remaining rooms on this floor are occupied as laboratories or lecture- rooms by Professors Ver- rill and Smith of the Shef- field scientific school. The fourth story con- tains storerooms filled with fossils; a collection (on exhibition) of about two. thousand antiquities of ereat value from Central America; and a fair show of archeological relics, the most notable part of which is the pottery from the mounds of the Ohio valley. But the glory of the Yale museum is its pale- ontological treasures, brought together wholly _ Fig. 5.—SPIRAL SHELLS GLUED TO A STRIP OF WOOD, PAINTED BLACK, FASTENED BY A PIN IN A WOODEN STAND. JANUARY 23, 1885.] by Prof. O. C. Marsh. The few representa- tives of this collection visible in the second- floor rooms and in the hall-ways are alone sufficient to stamp the museum as pre-eminent in this line; but they are merely an advertisement of what cellar and attic contain. It is not too much to say, that in re- spect to vertebrate pale- ontology (outside of fish- es), this museum is not surpassed in the world. Where other collections own fragments or single skeletons, Professor Marsh boasts scores or hundreds of individuals, while many extinct races are known only by their fossil remains in his pos- session. This is the result of wisely directed energy, -and the ability to spend money promptly and lib- erally. Marsh’s frequent expeditions to the far west are well known to geologists. Many car- loads resulting from these were not only shipped home by himself, but his agents have been forwarding enormous quanti- ties ever since, from Wyoming and Colorado ‘quarries.’ Just before the holidays, a single instalment of two hundred and seventeen large boxes filled with bones from the western ter- tiaries arrived at the museum, and were stored in the basement lobby for lack of space in any apartment. In respect to mammals, a series of fragmen- tary remains, chiefly jaw-bones from the eocene, represent the first primates, cheiropters, and marsupials discovered in North America. No more popularly interesting deduction is likely to be drawn from a study of them, than that which traced the genealogy of the horse from the diminutive five-toed progenitor of the early eocene to the present friend and servant of mankind. There are hundreds of specimens of these little horses at Yale. In the class of birds, still rarer treasures may be catalogued. Along the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, certain strata of the middle cretaceous period have been exposed, corresponding to Meek and Hayden’s ‘ Number three,’ but termed ‘ Pteranodon beds’ by Pro- Fig. 6.— SPIRAL SHELL MOUNTED ON A WIRE LIKE FIG. 2, c, GLUED INSIDE, AND STANDING UPRIGHT IN A BLOCK OF WooD. SCIENCE. 71 fessor Marsh. These beds consist of fine yellow chalk, well adapted to preserving the re- mains of delicate structures ; and here were gath- ered the skeletons of those remarkable ‘ birds with teeth’ (Hesperornis and Ichthyornis), upon which Professor Marsh has published an elaborate memoir. ‘These were collected dur- ing his expeditions of 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the greatest perils and hardships; and they have gradually been added to, until now the museum contains a hundred or more indi- viduals, including twenty species of nine or ten genera. ‘There are fifty specimens of Hes- perornis alone. Several of the most perfect of these are on exhibition ; and, as any intelligent person can comprehend their peculiarities, they never fail to interest thoughtful visitors. Another fossil, appealing strongly to popu- lar fancy, is the fine pterodactyl, — that same ‘ first specimen brought to light’ which showed the bat-like flying membranes attached to the wings and tail. This came from Europe, where these winged lizards are so great a rari- ty in museums, that a fragment of one is highly prized ; but Marsh now possesses from Ameri- can rocks no less than six hundred individuals. Some are of great size, spreading wings that : Fie. 7.— BIVALVE SHELLS MOUNTED ON WIRES GLUED BEHIND THE HINGE. measured from fifteen to twenty-five feet from tip to tip. These huge pterodactyls form the new order Pterodontia, and their remains were / 712 : SCIENCE. gathered in the same middle cretaceous strata of ‘western Kansas’ referred to a moment ago. Prized more highly than even these, how- ever, are the hundreds of skeletons, or parts of skeletons, of gigantic walking and swimming reptiles, herbivorous and carnivorous, which inhabited the cretaceous ocean, and basked upon the shores of the islands of that age, now forming the heights of the Rockies. Among the earliest were disclosed wonder- fully preserved bones of the class of mosasau- roid reptiles, — a group, which, though rare in Europe, here attained an enormous develop- ment, both in numbers and in variety of forms. Nearly seventeen hundred individuals, of this kind of giant-reptile alone, stand on the mu- seum’s catalogue. The land-forms were even more terrible to the imagination, though their food was vege- table, and their disposition probably peaceful. One such sauropodan dinosaur shown to the public was sixty feet in length, and in general form came nearer to a crocodile than any thing else. country. ‘‘The horse certainly still existed in the Rio Grande during the pleistocene era, as I have re- ceived horse-teeth from alluvial soil which were found in digging a well, and which agree in the very slight- est details with the corresponding teeth of Equus Caballus. It is possible that among the wild horses of South America there are still to be found descend- ants of the native horses of the alluvial.”’ — Human skulls and other bones were lately dug up from the kj6kkenmoddings at Muyem, near the Tajo, Portugal, which, judging from the character of the deposits and accompanying fauna, can almost with certainty be ascribed to the quaternary epoch. The earlier race was dolichocephalic. To this belonged a number of skulls of wonderful uniformity, offering so few differences, except of a sexual character, that we have unquestionably to do here with a homoge- neous race. The prognathism of the skulls, and the length of the fore-arm, such as is only met with among negroes, recall at once the African races; while the capacity of the cranium is so small that it can be — compared only with that of the Australian. There — are also but few races of so small stature as these old — inhabitants of Fortugal. Only three brachycephalic — skulls were found; and, judging from the organic marks, these belonged to a larger race than the doli- chocephalic. ei N@e. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. Tuart a wide-spread dissatisfaction with the past management of the U. S. department of agriculture exists, is obvious; but, beyond the somewhat puerile scheme for improving the department by a change of name and an access of official dignity to its chief, public discussion has been mainly confined to a con- sideration of the merits of various candidates for the position. A noteworthy exception to this rule is to be found in an article in the Pacific rural press of Jan. 3, by Prof. EK. W. Hilgard of the University of California. This article is an abstract of a longer article by the same author in the Atlantic monthly for May, 1882, and is especially timely at the present moment. The gist of Professor Hilgard’s proposition is to make the office of commis- sioner of agriculture less, and not more, of a ‘ political’ office, than at present, or rather to remove it from politics altogether. Instead of a cabinet officer, changing with each adminis- tration, if not oftener, he would have him ‘‘.a technical expert, not only responsible to the government, but amenable to that rigorous and incorruptible tribunal constituted of his scientific and technical compeers, and under the standing menace of a loss of his profes- sional reputation, which no whitewashing com- mittees, in or out of congress, could in any manner condone or undo.’’ We pass over Professor Hilgard’s many other excellent suggestions regarding the man- agement of the department, because this one appears to us to be the one fundamental re- form which is needed, and which, if once secured, would be followed by the others as naturally as daylight follows the dawn. The coast and geodetic survey, and the geologi- cal surveys, have shown what government or- No. 105. — 1835. ganizations can accomplish when divorced from politics, and directed by competent profes- sional men holding office during ‘ good be- havior.’ The interests of agriculture are second to none in our country in magnitude, or in the novelty and difficulty of the problems presented. In no direction could a thorough knowledge of the art and science of agriculture find a wider or more attractive field for its ex- ercise. In the interest alike of agricultural science and of practical agriculture, we hope that Professor Hilgard’s suggestions may be speedily realized, and that the office may be rendered attractive to the class of experts from among whom it ought to be filled, but who, under the present condition of affairs, are neither thought of for the position, nor could afford to accept it if asked. We have a prize offered by an American, one who would be known as a Good Samaritan, no doubt; and this prize, offered as it is for the discovery of a new comet or asteroid, has two singular conditions attached. First, the discoverer may not be of the continent of Eu- rope. ‘This condition is singular. Does not the European buy the wares of the Good Samaritan, or is it that the most successful seeker for little planets is a resident of the European mainland? Jt would seem that in the community of scientific men it would be as well that a Frenchman or an Austrian should have the honor, and should be encouraged as much in the discovery of a little ball of wan- dering rock, or of a comet, as that an English- man, or an American, or a South-Sea Islander should have his ambition for scientific glory stimulated by the hope of a prize. Still there can be no serious objection to the giver limit- ing the competitors for a prize as he may see fit. A second condition carries with it some dan- gers. The discoverer must, without notice to others, send word to the director of the ob- 104 servatory which our Good Samaritan has seen fit to establish; and only then shall the dis- coverer make his observation generally known, when he shall have received acknowledgment from the director mentioned. Now, it is im- portant for the proper observation of any new wanderer that the news of it should be sent about the world without delay. The earliest observations of a comet are of especial value in fixing its orbit, and may, with bad weather or other mishap, be the only ones. A well-organ- ized system for the collecting and transmitting of such information exists, and it is surely to be regretted that any condition should be at- tached to a reward which shall interfere with the benefits to be derived from the success of the worthy investigator. Such a condition is that which requires the competitor for a War- ner prize to send word to Rochester before he can give the information to the International association of observatories. EVERY WORKER in a special field of scientific or technical study must from time to time feel depressed under the difficulty, indeed too often the impossibility, of keeping himself well in- formed on what the world is accomplishing even in his own narrow department; so rapid is the succession, and so wide the separation, of papers and books treating of his subject. At such times he can appreciate the value of well-prepared current bibliographic records. The geographer turns to the monthly lists in Petermann’s mittheilungen, or to the annual one published by the Berlin geographical so- ciety ; the geologist has the Neues jahrbuch, and would gladly refer to the Geological record if it would only continue to appear in as good form as it began a few years ago; the zoologist has his Anzeiger, Record, and Jah- resbericht ; and the chemist and the physicist are equally well cared for. But these extended lists are matters of provocation to many per- sons who cannot reach the books they name: for them a record is better suited that limits its selections by place instead of by subject, and gives a list of all kinds of publications on a certain geographic field. Two of these are SCIENCE. mentioned in our notes, and both suggest the value of a similar work for our own country. The scope of such a volume would be sufficient for the purposes of many of our readers, if it included a record of the title, and a brief men- tion of the contents, of every thing written con- cerning our physical and natural history year by year. If undertaken by a number of spe- cialists, the work would not be too laborious, and it would surely find publisher and pur- chasers. Why should not the Smithsonian institution undertake it? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. x*y Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. Anthropos and anthropopithecus. I Am glad that Professor Haynes, availing himself. of my references, has refreshed his memory on de Mortillet. He will not again confound the age of St. Acheul with the axe of St. Acheul; and he and other readers of Science will now be aware that de — Mortillet teaches that not man (the anthropos), but the man-ape (the anthropopithecus), was the repre- sentative of our species during most of the paleo- lithic period. But why does the learned reviewer confine him- self to the passages I pointed out to him? Why did he not turn to de Mortillet’s work (p. 104), where he says, ‘‘ L’homme quaternaire ancien n’était pas le méme que homme actuel’’? ? And where in the geo- logic horizon does de Mortillet place the arrival of Vhomme actuel? Let any reader turn to the table of contents of the volume, and he will find that it is divided into three parts: 1. L’homme tertiaire; 2. L’homme quaternaire; 3. L’homme actuel. The last mentioned arrived, says the author, after a long and unexplained hiatus, with the period of Robenhausen (p. 485). Only in that period does de Mortillet concede to man his distinctive psychological traits of a lan- guage and a religion. Speaking of the very last of the Magdalenian period, he says, ‘‘ L’homme quater- naire était complétement depourvu du sentiment de la réligiosité.”’ D. G. B&inton, M.D. Dr. Brinton seems to be unfortunate in under- standing de Mortillet’s opinions, as well as in quot- ing his language correctly. Owing to the exigencies of space, ‘the readers of Science’ must be referred to _ the book itself, where they will find it stated that | there is no conclusive proof that funeral practices prevailed in western Europe in quaternary times, and that such usages came into vogue there inthe neolithic period. Hinc illae lacrymae! ‘This is the sole foundation for Dr. Brinton’s monstrous assertion _ ““that de Mortillet teaches that not man, but the man-ape, was the representative of our species during most of the paleolithic period.”” De Mortillet’s real — views will be found summed up on the last page of — his work, in twelve ‘general conclusions,’.so clearly — and tersely ‘that he who runs may read.’ | HENRY W. HAYNES. © |A translation of this summary will appear in our next issue. — Ep. ] 4 } oa a be) 06 es FEBRUARY 6, 1885. ] The Yellowstone Park as a bison preserve. Permit me to thank you for your timely remarks in No. 103 upon the threatened extinction of the American bison. The question seems to be, as you state it, whether the bison (and with equal propriety, say I, a large number of other decadent types) can be successfully domiciled within the boundaries of the Yellowstone Park. Having given this subject care- ful attention, I am prepared to say that the practica- bility of the scheme admits of no reasonable doubt. The park itself is to-day one of the few regular re- treats of the existing herds of buffaloes, and nothing but the protection intended by the laws is really needed for their preservation. Of late years much has been done by the superintendent and his efficient corps of aids, vigorously seconded by the territorial authorities of Wyoming. But the laws are not yet sufficiently punitory, and there is no provision for insuring the retention of the animals within the limits of the reservation. The superintendent, in a late report, refers to the presence of a few straggling bands at various points in the park, but apparently he considered them more as ‘stragglers’ than as legitimate denizens. If the end in view, as suggested above, be the fostering of all animals which the national park may readily sustain, much more vigorous effort is de- manded. The importation and semi-domestication of such exogenous forms as are in imminent danger of extinction should be encouraged; and why may we not look with great expectations upon such local scientific societies as are already organized in Denver and San Francisco? I have never seen a specimen of the Aplocerus montanus, nor have I met any one who has known it in its native haunts; but it is not wholly extinct. This species of antelope, incorrectly called the Rocky-mountain goat, should be preserved in the park, at all hazards. The big-horn (Ovis mon- tana) is still living in Colorado and elsewhere; but it cannot long withstand the ravages of the hunter and the inroads of the mining industry. There is a very short lease of life for the grizzly bear under present conditions, and the beaver is rapidly disappearing. Fortunately for our object, most of these animals have wandered into the park, and but little care will be required to retain them within its borders. Still there is needed some more capable and responsible supervision than has yet been secured by legislation; and experience has shown the influence which men of science have been able to exercise in similar cases. A committee of.the American association for the ad- vancement of science, appointed at the Nashville meeting, was able to obtain an appropriation from congress of ten thousand dollars, to be applied to the increase of accessibility to the geysers and thermal springs; and quite recently more has been done in that direction, and in the way of stopping lawlessness and depredations. Now is the time, and scientific men are the legitimate instruments, for completing the work by united action in support of this vast zoological garden, and of the collection of represent- atives of the many dying forms of our American fauna. THEO. B. COMSTOCK. Cleveland, O., Jan. 27. The muskrat carnivorous. Some twenty years ago, and from that time on for ten years, I was in the habit, with some friends of similar tastes, of closely searching the river-banks of this vicinity, and the waters, too, when practicable, for the aquatic mollusks which then abounded. The SCIENCE. 105 muskrats, now nearly extinct among us, were then numerous; and we soon learned that they were excel- lent collectors of shells, bringing out great numbers of the deep-water mussels of several species not usu- ally very easily found by us, and leaving the shells in perfect condition. In the rocky banks were many caves where shells were thus gathered; and one, especially on the south bank of Rock Island, a large space, well sheltered, and above high water, contained many bushels, — the accumulations, apparently, of a long period, but very fresh in appearance, and well preserved. Among the species most numerous were Unio cornutus, U. metaneorus, U. securis, and U. pustulosus. Many other species were found in less numbers, — U. rec- tus very rarely (though numerous in the river), and U. monodontus never. These heaps we examined with the utmost care, and obtained hundreds of fine speci- mens. During those years the muskrats still inhab- ited these places, and, except in winter, constantly brought out quantities of fresh shells, which we con- scientiously appropriated. It was also very common to find heaps of fresh shells on or beside a stump, log, or rock, afew feet, or sometimes rods, from the water. We not infrequently found shells which had been gathered since the preceding day, as shown by shreds of the soft parts adhering to the shell being undried. An open question with us, often asked but never answered, was, ‘ How do the rats open the mussels ?’ The first attempt at an explanation, which I remem- ber to have seen, was in the remarks of Mr. W. S. Lee at a meeting of the Trenton natural-history society (Science, vol. iv. no. 94, p. v.). Of course, we cannot gainsay what Mr. Lee has seen, that the animal ‘ apparently’ held the mollusk’s foot with his claws, preventing the closure of the shell. It would perhaps require a pretty strong grip to counteract the force of the powerful adductor muscles of the mollusk, with the pressure of the rat’s paws at the same time tending to press the shell together. Again: one cannot help wondering how “the muskrat swam ashore, holding the mussel be- tween the fore-paws,”’ while the weight of the mussel would tend to pull the animal’s head down, and, without the use of the fore-paws, how he could swim. We also wonder how, without relaxing his grip, he carried his burden, as was usually the case, to some distance from the water. In Science, vol. v. p. 65, Mr. W. M. Beauchamp gives some curious explanations. He does not state where he saw ‘‘ the statement that the carnivorous habits of the muskrat have but just been discovered by scientific men.’’ Of course, everybody who knows the muskrat at all has always known that it is not worth while to bring proof of a fact so universally known. ‘“‘'The four principal ways in which the muskrats get at the animal in the mussel-shell’’ may deserve a moment’s attention. 1°. In our experience, the Ano- dons among the muskrat-heaps were very rare: they evidently preferred Unios; and in no instance were the Anodons in the shell-heaps found in a condition indicating that one valve had been torn off to open it. It was not uncommon to find, just along the water’s edge, the tracks of the raccoon; and along these tracks were often to be found the Anodons, with one shell torn off or crushed. The coon seemed to prefer the Anodon, probably having no means of opening the Unio. 2°. The Unios were never ob- served with ‘the thinner end of the shell,’ or either end or edge, broken away. 3°. While he ‘has heard’ that the rats sometimes gnaw away the hinge-liga- 106 ment, it was a matter of common observation with us that such an instance was absolutely never met with. Among thousands, and hundreds of thousands, the ligament was always preserved intact. 4°. As to the astute creature ‘allowing the animal to freeze and open,’ we will not attempt to question that. It may occur to some readers that it would be rather monotonous for the hungry rat to wait during the hot summer nights (even at ‘the west and south’) for the stupid mussel to ‘freeze and open.’ That, however, is his business, notours. W. H. PRATT. Davenport, Io., Jan. 28. THE GEORGIA WONDER-GIRL AND HER LESSONS. Tue people of the interior states are now being amused by an exhibition the success of which offers a striking example of the unrelia- bility of human testimony respecting the phe- nomena of force and motion. Some months since, the writer received a polite invitation to witness the wonderful performances of Miss Lulu Hurst, the Georgia ‘magnetic girl,’ in causing objects to move as if acted on by pow- erful forces, without any muscular action on her part. Another engagement prevented his acceptance ; but, on the morning following, he received such a description of the phenomenon as to make him regret that he had not sacri- ficed every thing to the opportunity of seeing it. It was substantially this : — A light rod was firmly held in the hands of the heaviest and most muscular of the select circle of spectators. Miss Lulu had only to touch the rod with her fingers, when it imme- diately began to go through the most extraor- dinary manoeuvres. It jerked the holder around the -room with a power which he was unable to resist, and finally threw him down into one corner completely discomfited. An- other spectator was then asked to take hold of the rod ; and Miss Lulu, extending her arms, touched each end with the tip of a finger. Immediately the rod began. to whirl around on its own central line as an axis, with such rapidity and force that the skin was nearly taken off the holder’s hands in his efforts to stop it. A heavy man being seated in a chair, man and chair were both lifted up by the fair performer pressing the palms of her hands against the sides of the back. To substanti- ate the claim that she herself exerted no force, the chair and man were lifted without her touching the chair at all. The sitter was asked to put his hands under the chair: the performer then put her two hands around and upon his in such a way that it was impos- sible for her to exert any force on the chair except through his hands; yet the chair lifted SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. 105. him up without her exerting any pressure heavier than a mere touch upon his hands. Several men were then invited to hold the chair still. The performer began to deftly touch it here and there with her fingers, when the chair again began to jump about in the most ex- traordinary manner, in spite of all the efforts of three or four strong men to keep it still or to hold it down. A hat being inverted upon a table, she held her extended hands over it. It was lifted up by what seemed an attractive force similar to that of a magnet upon an ar- mature, and was in danger of being torn to pieces in the effort to keep it down, though she could not possibly have had any hold upon the object. This was the account of the performance given, not by a gaping crowd nor by uncriti- cal spectators, but by a select circle of edu- cated men. To the reminder that no force could be exerted upon a body except by a re- action in the opposite direction upon some other body, and to the question upon what other body the reaction was exerted, the nar- rators expressed themselves unable to return an answer. All they could do was to describe things as they had seen them. Of only one thing could they be confident: the reaction was not exerted through or against the body of the performer. Among the spectators were physicians and physiologists who grasped Miss Lulu’s arms while the extraordinary motions went on without finding any symptoms of strong muscular action, and who, feeling her pulse after the most violent motions, found that it remained in its normal state. Appar- ently the objects which she touched were en- dowed with a power of exerting force which was wholly new to science. Altogether, the weight of evidence seemed as strong as in the best authenticated and most inexplicable cases of ‘ spirit’ manifestation, while none of the obstacles to investigation connected with the latter were encountered. Such was the case as it appeared on a first’ trial; but the spectators were not men to be satisfied without further investigation. Ac- — cordingly, they had made arrangements with the managers to have another private exhibi- tion at the Volta laboratory two days later. They proposed also to have decisive tests to determine whether or not she exerted any force upon the objects which she moved. ~ The party duly appeared at the appointed time. At this point I think it only just to — mention the perfect frankness with which the most thorough investigation of the case was permitted by those having the exhibition in ~ FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] charge. ‘There was no darkening of rooms, no concealing hands under tables, no fear that spirits would refuse to come at the bidding of a sceptic, no trickery of any sort. The oppor- tunities for observation were entirely unre- stricted. Miss Lulu was a rosy country girl, some- what above the average height, but did not give the impression of muscular training ; still, when she was presented to those present, the first thing which struck the writer was the weight of her arm. Shaking hands with her felt like moving the arm of a giant, and led to the impression that she had a much better muscular development than would have been supposed. Before proceeding to the tests which had been pre-arranged, it was thought best to try what she could do under ordinary circum- stances. Among the first performances to be tried was that of the hat. A spectator held a light straw hat in his hands, the opening up- wards. Miss Hurst extended her hands over it so that the balls of her thumbs just touched the inner face of the rim. At first there was no result, but after a few trials the hat was gently attracted upwards as if by electricity. Had those in charge been professionals, I can- not doubt that they would have stopped right there, and declined to repeat the performance. Not being such, they yielded to the invitation to go on, so that the holder could see how it was done. This was soon effected without difficulty. Whenever the apparent attraction was exerted, it was through the inner edge of the brim being caught in the fold of the ball of the extended hand. After a few moments the _ observer was enabled to say, ‘‘ She cannot lift it now, because her hand is not rightly ar- _ranged,’’ and he learned to adjust her hand so that the lifting could be executed. Of course, the force was not very strong. ‘The idea that the hat would have been in any danger had a weight been in it was simply a mistake. Next the jumping-staff was tried. The writer took the latter in his hands, and Miss Lulu placed the palm of her hand and her ex- tended thumb against the staff near its two ends, while the holder firmly grasped it near the middle. He was then warned to resist with all his force, with the added assurance that the resistance would be vain. Sure enough, the staff began to be affected with a jerking motion, producing the disastrous effects which had been described upon the holder’s equilib- rium. An unwise repetition of the perform- ance, however, did away with all its mystery ; for, although the performer began with a SCIENCE. 107 delicate touch of the staff, the holder soon per- ceived that she changed the position of her hands every moment, sometimes seizing the staff with a firm grip, and that it never moved in any direction unless her hands were in such a position that she could move it in that direc- tion by ordinary pressure. An estimate of the force which she exerted on the staff could be roughly made. It might have been as high as forty pounds. A very little calculation will show that this would be sufficient to upset the equilibrium of a very heavy man. It is im- possible for the latter so to place his feet that he will be supported on a rectangle of more than one foot in breadth. He may indeed change at pleasure the direction of the longer side of this rectangle by extending his feet in different directions; but, arrange them as he will, his base will under any circumstances be a rectangle whose length is equal to the dis- tance between his feet, and whose breadth is at the very maximum equal to the length of his feet. A pressure of one-fifth his weight would, under the most favorable circumstances, throw him off his balance, and make a new adjust- ment necessary. -The motion given by the performer to the rod was not a regular one, which could be anticipated and guarded against, but a series of jerks, first in one direction, and then in another; so that it was impossible for the holder to brace himself against them: con- sequently, by a force which might not have exceeded forty pounds, he was put through a series of most undignified contortions, and finally compelled to retire in total defeat. The holder of the rod then asked that it might be made to whirl in his hands in the manner which had been described to him. No attempt was made to do it, and no satisfaction on the subject could be obtained. It was evi- dently a simple mistake in memory or narration, for not even Miss Lulu seemed to have any idea of producing such an effect. The lifting of the chair with the sitter’s own hands under it, and Miss Lulu’s hands under his, was then tried. The simplicity of the blunder was most striking. It was quite true that the fingers of the performer were under those of the sitter. But the chair refused to budge until the ball of her hand came firmly in contact with it; and then it proceeded, not indeed to lift the sitter, but to incline itself in such a way that he felt compelled to get out of it. The chair was made to repeat its performance a great number of times. The writer watched most carefully, and, in every instance in which he was able to see the performer’s hands at the time of the motion, the ball was pressed firmly against the 108 chair, and the direction of motion was that of the pressure. Three men, or indeed as many as eould get hold of the chair, were then invited to hold it still if they could. This was the most amusing and exciting part of the spectacle. The men tried in vain to hold the chair still, while Miss Lulu simply moved around in the quietest imaginable way, touching it with her finger first here and then there, until finally the force became so great that the chair began to crack, and seemingly almost pull itself to pieces. The explanation was, however, per- fectly obvious. There was no concert. of action among the four muscular holders, more than that each one tried to keep the chair still by resisting any force which he felt it to exert. A few jerks in various directions by the performer led them to begin resisting her motion by pulling the chair first this way and then that. It was of course impossible for any one holder to tell whether the motion came from the performer or from his companions. The result was, that they all began to wrench desperately against each other until the chair came to pieces. The scientific tests were productive of the usual result, — that ghosts, spirits, and occult forces absolutely refuse to perform their func- tions in the presence of scientific parapherna- lia. A platform had been placed on rollers in the middle of the room,and Miss Hurst was invited to set the rod in motion while she stood on that platform. Her parents were perfectly confident that she could do it, and she did go so far as to commence one feeble attempt ; but the forces refused to operate, or rather the platform persisted in rolling about, and the attempt had to be given up. She then stood upon the platform of a pair of scales, the counterpoise of which was so adjusted, that, when she exerted a lifting-force exceeding forty pounds, the arm would be raised. A spectator sat in the chair in front of the scales. It was soon found, that, owing to the platform being some six inches above the floor, the chair was lower than she had been accustomed to have it: it was therefore set upon a little platform of the same height as that of the scales, so that the position was the same as if both stood on the floor. The performer pressed her hands against the sides of the back of the chair, according to custom. The motion was long in commencing, and, when it began to appear, click! went the lever of the scales, showing that a force of more than forty pounds was exerted. This seemed to demoralize the performer, and, notwithstanding a great deal SCIENCE. ie [Vou V., No. 105. of chiding from her parents, nothing more could be done while she stood in this position. From various allusions in the public press, it would seem that the wonderful ‘ magnetic girl’ has not yet ceased to draw full houses. The editor of the Chicago Inter-ocean made a careful investigation of the case, and showed ~ that it could not possibly be electricity which caused the motion; but he does not essay an explanation of what the force was. Although it would be unjust and pretentious to say that no one sees the absurdly simple character of the performance, it would appear that there are many who are mystified by it, and that, should we accept the existing testi- mony on the subject as complete, we should be compelled to admit that some new form of force had been discovered. It is indeed possible that the absurd simplicity of the affair may help to give it vitality; for, as already indicated, not only is there no mystery or concealment, but there is not even a resort to the tricks of legerdemain, which consist - very largely in distracting the observers’ at- tention at the critical moment. ‘The assump- tion, that, because Miss Lulu begins by touch- ing the articles deftly with her fingers, she never takes them with a firm grip, is one which the spectator takes upon himself with- out any effort on the performer’s part to cause that illusion. , This account is presented to the readers of Science, because, taken in connection with de- scriptions of the performance given by thou- sands of spectators, many of them critical observers, it affords the basis of a reply to — those who have seen chairs, tables, and pianos dance without human agency. S. NEWCOMB. Oe THE NANTUCKET MUSEUM. Tue little town of Nantucket, on the island of that name off the southern coast of Massa- chusetts, boasts a little museum sui generis. The first thing which strikes a visitor is the extremely heterogeneous character of its collec- tions. It is certainly amusing to see, side by side with specimens of rare interest and scien- _ tific value, such entirely valueless things as — pieces of melted glass from the Chicago fire, and bits of wood from the frigate Constitution ; but most of the ‘ curiosities’ have some local — value, being connected with the past whale-fish- — ery, and were collected by the whalemen of the — town in their wide wanderings. Hanging on ~ the walls, lying on the tables and even on the bis FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] floor, are savage implements and curiosities, which cannot fail to interest the visitor, espe- cially as they are all explained by the curator, Mr. Murphy, who has thrilling tales to tell of each separate piece ; nor is the curiosity-hunter the only person who is likely to be interested in this museum. In its collection of tropical shells, there are many which cannot be num- bered among the commonest; but, for the naturalist, the one thing which possesses an SCIENCE. 109 Mr. Murphy describes the animal, tells about its enemy the whale-killer, its parasites and other pests, explains the process of killing the whale and cutting up and trying out the blub- ber, illustrating his talk either with the appa- ratus itself or with ingeniously made models. On the other side of the room is a small jaw twisted in a spiral direction, and bearing plain evidences of having been injured at an earlier stage. The teeth are long and somewhat all-absorbing interest is the sperm-whale’s jaw, which extends nearly across the exhibition- room. ‘The curator, who considers this his spe- cial pet, is full of enthusiasm for it, and claims that it is the only full-grown jaw of a sperm- whale in America. It was taken in 1865 by a Nantucket whaler in the Pacific Ocean, from a sperm-whale which measured eighty-seven feet in length and thirty-six feet in circumference, and had the enormous weight of two hundred tons. ‘The whale gave forty-five hundred gal- lons of oil. The jaw itself weighs eight hun- dred pounds, measures seventeen feet in length, and has forty-six huge teeth. These are badly worn, and prove that the animal must have been very old. In connection with the jaw, slender, partly from the youth of the animal, partly from disuse. When taken, the whale was alive ; but the lower jaw was badly aborted, and the animal was in a poor state. It must have been in this condition for years, and have lived upon what chanced to come in its way. It is to be hoped that the collection may al- ways be well cared for, and may become more than now the nucleus of a good collection of the natural objects of Nantucket itself. THE ‘COMMA -BACILLUS’ OF KOCH. Dr. Kocn has himself stated in precise terms the nature of the proof required in order to es- 110 SCIENCE. tablish in a definite manner the specific patho- genic power of a micro-organism, which, by its presence in the blood, tissues, or alimentary canal, may be supposed, a priori, to bear a causal relation to the disease with which it is associated. This proof depends upon the production of characteristic morbid phenomena by inoculat- ing susceptible animals with ‘ pure cultures’ of the parasitic micro-organism previously found under circumstances to justify the supposition that it bears an etiological relation to the dis- ease under investigation. This final proof Koch has attempted to obtain with reference to the so-called ‘comma bacillus,’ which, ac- cording to his observations, is constantly associated with epidemic cholera, and, after numerous failures, claims finally to have suc- ceeded. In a late number of the Deutsche medicinische wochenschrift, he says, — ‘‘The experiments of Rietsch and Nicati have been lately repeated at the Imperial board of health; a pure cultivation being so far diluted,. that the amount injected contained scarcely a hundredth part of a drop of the cultivation liquid. The liquid was injected into the duodenum without previously bind- ing the ductus choledochus. With few exceptions, the animals so treated died within a space of time extending from a day and a half to three days. The mucous membrane of the small intestine was red- dened: its contents were watery, colorless, or slightly reddish tinged, and at the same time flaky. Comma bacilli were found in the contents of the intestine in a pure cultivation and in extraordinary numbers, so that the same phenomena were visible here as are seen in the cholera intestine in its fresh state. Owing to the small quantity of infectious matter used for injection, the idea of a simultaneous intoxi- cation from poisonous matters contained in the culti- vation liquid used for injection is excluded.’’ 1 In face of the previously reported failures to produce cholera in the lower animals, we are disposed to receive the proof now offered with some reserve, inasmuch as the injections seem to have been made through the walls of the abdomen directly into the intestine. This method has, no doubt, been adopted upon the supposition that previous failures were due to destruction of the bacilli by the acid juices of the stomach when they have been introduced by the mouth. There is nothing improbable in this supposition; but, on the other hand, the possibility that when the material is in- jected directly into the intestine the puncture made may have been a serious complication and source of error, at once suggests itself. That micro-organisms closely resembling the ‘ comma bacillus’ are to be found in the healthy Nels from the British medical journal of Nov. 22, 1884, p- : human mouth, and in the discharges of patients with other forms of intestinal flux, cannot be doubted ; but that these are identical with the ‘comma bacillus’ cannot be established upon morphological grounds alone. If one ‘ comma bacillus’ in pure cultures produces cholera, and another having identical morphological characters does not, we must admit an essen- tial difference — physiological — which, if con- stant, must be considered a specific character, equal in value to a constant difference in form or in color. If such difference is not constant, it will at least establish a pathogenic variety of the ordinarily harmless organism. But this is not the state of the question as regards Koch’s ‘comma bacillus: ’ for in his answer to Prof. T. R. Lewis of the English army medical school, who asserts that a curved bacillus, identical with the ‘ comma bacillus,’ is found in normal human saliva; and to Professors Finkler and Prior, who claim to find similar organisms in the discharges of patients with cholera nostras (sporadic cholera),— Dr. Koch shows very conclusively that the organisms referred to are not identical with the ‘comma bacillus,’ al- though bearing some resemblance to it. This conclusion is based both upon appreciable mor- phological differences, and upon the different behavior of the organisms when cultivated upon gelatine. Through the courtesy of Dr. Billings of the army, I have recently had an opportunity to study the morphology of the ‘ comma bacillus,’ having had in my possession for several days a slide sent by Koch himself to the Army medical museum. My laboratory assistant, Dr. A. C. Abbott, has made for me a camera lucida drawing, which, I think, fairly represents the organism as seen in this slide, and which is reproduced in fig. 1. Each separate cell was drawn under the camera lucida; but the field as a whole is an ideal one, as I desired to show in a single figure all of the forms found in the slide. As a matter of fact, the ‘ commas’ as seen at a are by far the most numerous, and are found clustered in groups and masses; while the characteristic spirilla, such as may be seen at the centre of the field at 7, are comparatively scarce. Still, in view of the intermediate forms, as seen at c, I cannot doubt that we have here a pure culture of a single organism, and that this organism is in truth a spirillum, and not a bacillus. If one saw only such forms as we have delineated at e, there would be no hesitation in pronouncing them bacilli; and the name ‘comma bacillus,’ from a mor- phological stand-point, applies very well to the © prevailing form, as seen at a. It is not sur- FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] prising that at the outset Koch spoke of the swarms of rods, straight or slightly curved, which he found in the intestines of cholera patients as bacilli; and, indeed, the fact that these rods were capable of developing into spiral filaments could only be determined by protracted observations and by making pure cultures. It seems to me that some of Koch’s critics, and especially Ray Lankester (see his paper in Nature, Dec. 25, 1884), are making altogether too much of this very pardonable mistake, which has no special bearing upon Fie. 1.— Comma BACILLUS (Koch) x 2,500 diameters. the real question at issue, and cannot weaken our confidence in the candor and scientific ac- curacy of a man to whom we are so deeply indebted, and whose scientific reputation is established upon a firm foundation. Ray Lankester is unquestionably right when he says that our knowledge of the bacteria is still in its infancy; but, so far as this knowl- edge goes, it is doubtful whether any man living can speak with more authority than can the discoverer of the tubercle bacillus. The amplification in the figures illustrating this paper is exactly twenty-five hundred diame- ters, and was obtained with admirable defini- tion by the use of Zeiss’s one-eighteenth inch homogeneous immersion objective upon a Pow- ell and Lealand’s large stand, with a high eye- piece, and the draw-tube extended one inch. The measurement was made by projecting the lines from a standard stage-micrometer, ruled by Professor Rogers of Cambridge, Mass., upon a sheet of paper in the exact position in which the drawing was made, by means of the same objective, eye-piece, and camera lucida. Fig. 2 was made in the same way, and represents curved bacilli, which resemble the ‘ comma bacillus,’ and which are, perhaps, identical with those described by Prof. T. R. Lewis as found in the healthy human mouth. The spe- SCIENCE. 111 cimen from which the drawing was made was one of sputum from a patient with pneumonia. I think it hardly necessary to insist that the bacilli in fig. 2 are not morphologically iden- tical with the ‘comma bacillus’ of Koch as shown in fig. 1; and I may say here, that, during my somewhat extended bacteriological studies, I have never encountered an organism which seems to me to be identical with that seen in the slide above referred to. Should such an organism be found, it would not in the least weaken the experimental evidence relating to Fie. 2.— BACILLI FOUND IN PNEUMONIC SPUTUM X 2,500 diameters. the specific pathogenic power claimed for this spirillum. But we must insist, in any case, that this experimental evidence shall meet the most rigid exactions of science. Certainly, Koch fully appreciates this, and is doing his utmost to comply with the conditions which he has im- posed upon himself. We are therefore not able to sympathize with the captious spirit of some of his critics. Nor, in the absence of a detailed report, are we prepared to admit that the Eng- lish cholera commission has definitely settled the question as to the etiological réle of the ‘comma bacillus’ during the comparatively brief time which has been devoted to the in- vestigation ; and, in view of the contradictory testimony now before us, we cannot do other- wise than consider the question still sub judice, and wait patiently for detailed reports and ad- ditional experimental evidence. GEORGE M. STERNBERG, Surgeon U.S. army. LIGHTHOUSE ILLUMINANTS. A PARLIAMENTARY document is not the place where one would naturally look for facts of scientific value: but, in areturn published by the English house of commons on the 11th of December last, there is Se es 112 much interesting information on the subject of light- house illuminants in the form of correspondence between the Board of trade, which has general super- vision of the lights of Great Britain; the Trinity house, which manages the English lights; and the Commissioners of northern lights, who have control over those of Scotland. It may be remembered that in 1883 it was proposed to make exhaustive tests of the relative value of petroleum, gas, and electricity, as illuminants for lighthouses, by comparing the several lights in actual operation together at the South Foreland station; and the lighthouse authorities of all three kingdoms had arranged to act conjointly in prosecuting the ex- periments. When, however, the conditions under which the trials were to take place were formulated, the representatives from Ireland considered that these would place the system favored by the Irish authori- ties —the Wigham gas system — at a disadvantage, and refused to take further part in the proceedings. Dr. Tyndall, who had for years acted as scientific adviser to the Trinity house, but had prior to this re- signed, then wrote certain letters to the newspapers on the subject. These letters appear, says the Board of trade, to assert the superiority of gas, as used in Mr. Wigham’s burners, as a lighthouse illuminant; and, further, to imply that the engineer of the board, Mr. (now Sir James) Douglass, has not been entirely disinterested. ‘The Board of trade therefore asked for a full report of the views of the English and Scotch lighthouse boards on the whole question; and their replies, which give a fair idea of the present state of development of illuminants adapted to this special purpose, may be taken to be the defence of the board against Dr. Tyndall’s strictures. From the learned professor’s statement, it appears that in 1869, when he was sent to Ireland to make himself acquainted with the gas system of lighthouse illumination, colza-oil was used in the Trinity-house lamps; and this was superseded, at a vast saving to the country, by mineral oil. Mr. Wigham had suc- ceeded in producing a gas-lamp spperior in power to the best oil-lamp then extant. The gas-flame showed a promptitude of action and a pliancy of adaptation unattainable with oil. By a simple automatic ap- paratus, the gas-flame could be made to send forth flashes in any desired succession, and of any required duration. Long and short flashes could be combined so as to render the identity of a lighthouse unmis- takable, or enable it to spell its own name by the Morse alphabet. Further, Mr. Wigham had sur- rounded his central ‘bunch’ with rings of burners, to increase the light in thick weather. In a few sec- onds a light-keeper could pass from 28 jets to 48, and thence with equal rapidity to 68, 88, and finally to 108 jets, all these flames being under the most perfect control. The best oil-flames then known were feeble scintillations, compared with the flame of the 108- jet burner. Dr. Tyndall adds to his own the tes- timony of many others as to the value of the Wigham system as then examined, and proceeds to describe a later visit to the lighthouse at Galley Head, which is now, he says, without a rival in the world. In SCIENCE. this light the refracting-lenses of four first-order apparatus are fitted one above another in the same lantern, with a 108-jet burner in the focus of each apparatus. It had already been visited by the Elder brethren of the Trinity house; and their engineer’s report, he claims, was the only one unfriendly to the light. In spite of the almost unanimous opinion in its favor, the Trinity house decided in favor of a six- wick burner consuming mineral oil (Sir James Doug- — lass’s patent). Finally, Sir James, says the doctor, recognized the merits of the gas system, and decided to adopt it, but for the extinction rather than with the co-operation of Mr. Wigham. x The Trinity house replies at considerable length, giving in full the result of its investigations into the worth of the Wigham light. From these obser- vations, the Elder brethren derived an opinion that one prominent objection to it is, that the higher powers of the single burner are obtained by increas- ing its size. The diameter of the 28-jet flame is four inches and a quarter; that of the 48 is five inches | and seven-eighths; and so on, until a diameter of eleven inches and an eighth is reached with the 108- jet burner. Then, as the prisms of the optical appa- ratus are adjusted to a focus within the confines of the small flame, it follows that a great portion of the enlarged flame is extra-focal, and distributed in di- rections not intended by the designer of the appara- tus. This effect is not particularly important in a fixed light showing all around the horizon. By far the greater number of fixed lights, however, require to be either strictly confined in angular width, or marked with color within particular bearings, which is accomplished by interposing fixed vertical screens, opaque or of colored glass, close to the glazing of the lantern. Directly the diameter of the flame is enlarged, the screen will no longer cut off the light with precision on its appointed bearings: the ex-focal rays of white light will stray into the sector which should be dark or colored, and destroy the means of guidance for which the light is intended. The diameter of the oil-burner being constant, and its flame more compact than the Wigham burner, — for instance, the six-wick oil-burner, four inches and three-eighths wide, being equal in power tothe 48-jet gas, five inches and seven-eighths wide, — it follows that oil is, according to the facts before us, more suitable for important niceties of direction. Occul- tation —that is, the sudden and short eclipse, at regular intervals, of an otherwise continuous light — is effectively applied with either source of illumina-— tion, but in the Wigham system is applied to flashing lights in a novel manner, as an. additional means of identification. A light showing one long flash every minute, is, by occultation at short intervals, made to show a number of short flashes instead of the long one. With a widening burner, the luminous beam — becomes broader, and the number of flashes seenin each series becomes greater; so that the expansion of a burner involves a change in that distinctive charac- ter upon which the observer most relies. At Galley Head this uncertainty as to the number of flashes — had been observed. / FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] These considerations led the Trinity house to the opinion that the Wigham gas system in single form could in a very few cases be employed at its higher powers without risk of perplexing the mariner; that the highest power at which its single burner could be used under every required condition was also obtainable by oil; that its special novelties in dis- tinctiveness, as introduced at Galley Head, would only be available at widely separated stations; and that where space and considerations of expense per- mitted the use of gas in triform or quadriform, elec- tricity wonld also be admissible, and, by its suitability for optical treatment, would be better adapted for producing the effects required in coast illumination; and, finally, its own experience with the two gas- lighted towers at Hasborough was not such as to encourage a more extended application. The Commissioners of northern lighthouses, in answer to the letter of the Board of trade, send a report from Messrs. Thomas Stevenson and J. A. Crichton, which, in the main, agrees with that of the Trinity house. From the paper read by Sir James Douglass before the British association in Montreal may be gleaned a few facts as to the relative powers of the best lights now in use, which are not mentioned in the corre- spondence just described. He states that the first electric light used in an English lighthouse in 1858 was of 700-candle power, whereas an intensity of 50,000-candle units is now found to be practically and reliably available for the focus of an optical appa- ratus; so that, with regard to intensity, this luminary outstrips all competitors. Compact flames are now being produced from oils and coal-gas, having an intensity of 1,500 to 2,000 candles; while, with the 108-jet Wigham burner, an intensity of nearly 3,000 candles has been reached. With regard to economy, mineral oil has the advantage of all its rivals up to the maximum intensity at which an oil light is prac- ticable, and has the further advantage over electricity or gas in its ready application at any station, how- ever isolated, and in many cases where the use of the other illuminants would be impracticable. He pro- ceeds to show that fixed lights are no longer to be considered trustworthy coast-signals, owing to their liability to confusion with other lights, and that the period of a light should not exceed half a minute; further, that time should not form an element in the determination of the distinctive character of a light. On the coast of England the Trinity house is con- verting all fixed lights to occulting, where local dan- gers are required to be covered with red sectors, or sectors of danger-light. For this the electric light is eminently adapted. In cases where this local map- ping-out of dangers is not required, flashing lights, in consequence of their higher intensity, are being adopted. Referring to the optical apparatus of the new Eddystone lighthouse, he describes it as consisting of two superposed tiers of lenses with a six-wick Douglass oil-burner in the focus of each. In this respect a part of Mr. Wigham’s system has assuredly been copied. With a clear atmosphere, the lower SCIENCE. 113 burner only is worked at its minimum intensity of about 400-candle units, giving an intensity of the flashes of the optical apparatus of about 37,000 can- dles; but in thick weather the full power of the two burners is put in action, with an aggregate inten- sity in the flashes of the optical apparatus of about 159,000-candle units. This intensity is about 23 times greater than that of the fixed light latterly exhibited from the old tower, and about 2,380 times the intensity of the light originally exhibited in the same tower, at about the same cost, from tallow candles. THE ESSEX DENEHOLES. THE word ‘denehole’ means ‘denhole,’ and is pronounced ‘danehole.’ Those of Kent and South Essex may be described as consisting of narrow ver- tical shafts leading to artificial chambers excavated in the chalk, their depth varying with the distance of the chalk beneath the surface. They are found singly, in groups of twos and threes, or in larger col- lections of perhaps fifty or sixty pits. Our illustrations show tavo types of the varieties of form exhibited by deneholes. The beehive shape is especially common in the shallower pits, which are wholly, or almost wholly, in chalk. A drawing of a pair of such pits discovered in a chalk cliff at Cray- ford brickfields is given (fig. 1). Their depth was thirty-seven feet, and the greatest width eighteen feet. The walls showed no signs of metal picks, and the chalk blocks must have been prized out, but they were well and symmetrically worked. In one was a layer of very hard clay, washed into a cone at the bottom, and containing flint flakes, scrapers, and a ‘core:’ above that a layer of Roman pots and pans (a Samian dish, etc.) rested, followed by some very fragmentary and coarse potsherds and confused rubbish, appar- ently intended to fill the hole up to the surface of the ground. ‘The sister-cave did not show an equal strat- ification of débris, and appeared to have fallen in at an early period. Of the deeper deneholes existing in Hangman’s Wood, one (fig. 2) is eighty feet deep. In three ex- amples at Hangman’s Wood (not figured) there were six chambers, while in two at Bexley only three chambers radiated from the shaft. A final stage in denehole evolution seems to have been the removal 114 of the greater portion of the partitions separating ‘the chambers, pillars of chalk only being left to sup- port the roof. The usual height of denehole cham- bers may be said to be from ten to twenty feet. A leading characteristic of deneholes is the separation of each pit from its neighbor, though they are often so close together that much care must have been exercised to prevent intercommunication. Another is the fact, that, while they are here and there abun- dant in bare chalk, they are often especially numer- Gravel Tos Thance Ground- plan S. Shaff J Fria. 2. ous where the top of the chalk is fifty to sixty feet below. Thus at Hangman’s Wood, for example, the top of the chalk is fifty-six or fifty-seven feet below the surface, while there is plenty of bare chalk within a mile. Though there are more than fifty separate dene- holes in Hangman’s Wood, each shaft being at an average distance of about twenty-five yards from its nearest neighbor, only five shafts are now open, the rest having fallen in at various times. In most in- stances, however, there is nothing to suggest that the chambers below have been materially, if at all, injured, the funnel-shaped hollow at the surface be- ing but little greater than those around the mouths of shafts still open. This closing of the great majority of the shafts is not by any means simply disadvantageous to denehole explorers, though it certainly increases the cost of exploration; for it is obvious that closed pits necessarily afford more satis- factory evidence than such as have been visited from time to time, either from curiosity or to recover a lost sheep or hound. Preliminary examinations of six of the deneholes in Hangman’s Wood were made during the summers of 1882 and 1883. A more thorough investigation is now in progress, SCIENCE. > [Vou. V., No. 105. RECENT AFRICAN EXPLORATION. No news has been received at Zanzibar from Giraud since he was deserted by his caravan. A number of the deserters have been arrested and im- prisoned under grave charges, but their trial will be deferred until some definite information of the tray- eller’s fate has been received. The French consul asserts, with reason, that an example must be made if it proves that Giraud has been betrayed: otherwise there can be no safety for future explorers. i The distressing news has been received of the total — destruction by fire of the fine establishment of the missionaries du Saint-Esprit at Mrogoro. They were left without food or clothing, and the result of their severe labor for two years was destroyed at one blow. The fire would seem to have been accidental; since — the natives about them are friendly, and have modi- fied, at the suggestion of the missionaries, many of their savage customs, especially that of human sacri- fices, which a year ago were common. Assistance has been sent to the sufferers. From the Zambezi, news of the death of Com- mander Foot has been received. It occurred at Blan- tyre, where he had been appointed English consul. His wife and two children, unable during the preva- lent disorders on the upper Zambezi to reach the coast, have taken refuge at the Protestant mission at the junction of the Ruo and Sheri rivers. The deceased was well known in connection with African exploration, and especially with routes of trade and travel in central Africa, Mr. Hore of the English missionary society has recently started for Ujiji, with his family, a consider- able caravan, and two young missionaries, who will assist him in his work. Some time since, we referred to the operations of Paul Soleillet in the region of Shoa, and his sue- cess in establishing friendly relations with King Menelik. The traveller, who left France about three years ago, has now returned to civilization, and, at a recent séance of the Société de géographie, gave inter- esting details of his journey, and of the character of the region explored by him in the interests of French commerce. The port of Obok, opposite the English military station of Aden, has been occupied by Frances since 1856, but has only been raised to the rank of a naval coaling-station during the past year. Behind Obok rises the irregular surface of the Ethiopian highlands, extending westward to the Nile, and southward to the little-known region which en- closes the great lakes of equatorial Africa. At dif- ferent altitudes on its ridges, which rise from five thousand to eleven thousand feet, one finds a succes- sion of all the climates of the torrid and temperate — zones. The olive, cypress, indigo, and coffee plants grow wild there; while cotton, sugar-cane, the vine, and cereals are successfully cultivated. regions where the elephant, buffalo, and rhinoceros _ flourish in a state of nature, one finds innumerable herds of cattle, sheep, and horses. Soleillet succeeded in opening a caravan route to Kaffa by way of Shoa, — which is subject to the usual objections of time and — In the same ~ FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] expense, twenty or thirty days being required to reach the highlands from Obok. However, the only route previously available took forty or fifty days for the same transit. Transportation is very expensive, reaching four or five hundred dollars per ton; so that only the most valuable goods, such as arms and am- munition, can be profitably sent in, and gold, ivory, and musk brought out. However, Shoa has a popu- lation of three millions, intelligent and semi-civilized, whose manners and customs approach those of Eu- rope, who are Christians, and are governed by a code of laws derived from the Institutes of Justinian. The construction of a railway of two or three hundred miles in length would open an immense market for the manufactured goods of Europe. Soleillet’s labors have been rewarded by the cross of the legion of honor, INGERSOLL’S COUNTRY COUSINS. Mr. IncGeErsoiy’s ‘ Short studies in natural history ’ is a revised reprint of a number of handsomely illustrated articles on a variety of subjects, which have recently appeared in vari- ous popular magazines. Of the twenty-one chapters, three are devoted to birds; one each to shrews and seals; three to oysters and their enemies ; one each to rattlesnakes, squids and their allies, elk-antlers, the pompano shells, the caverns at Luray and at Pike’s Peak, the abalone, shell-money of the American Indians, etc. On many of these subjects the author writes from personal observation ; but much of the book, as might be expected, is compiled. In detailing his own observations, he seldom wanders from the mark; but, in treating sub- jects at second hand, he is occasionally betrayed into misstatements, either through inattention or by his authorities, whom he is not in position to properly weigh. We are surprised, for in- stance, that he should soberly repeat the asser- tion that mocking-birds are able to kill large snakes by beating them with their wings. He shows a not very clear conception of his subject, when, in speaking of the shrews, he states that the smallest American species belong to the genus Blarina; nor is this the only glaring in- accuracy in the chapter on these animals. A very excellent account of the large-billed water- thrush (Siurus motacilla) is marred at its close by the statement, ‘ This is a northern bird,’ — the opposite of the truth, when con- trasted, as here, with the small-billed species. Equally careless and inexcusable is the state- ment that martens, as well as weasels and ermines, turn white in winter. The interesting : Country cousins; short studies in the natural history of the United States. By Ernest IncERSoLL. New York, Harper & brothers, 1884. 252p., illustr. 8°. SCIENCE. -examples. ‘hunting in the North Atlantic’ is far from 115 and very sensible article on ‘ Rattlesnakes in fact and fancy,’ however, while not wholly free from errors, treats the subject of ‘ mimicry’ in relation to the rattles with commendable judg- ment. In the account of star-fishes as enemies of the oyster, there are some overdrawn state- ments respecting the power of multiplication by division possessed by star-fishes. In the chapter on ‘ Periwinkles and other oyster- pests,’ the large ‘ winkles,’ or ‘ conchs,’ of the genera Sycotypus and Fulgar, are erroneously stated to be unprovided with a lingual ribbon of teeth. The quahaug is said to be usually safe from the ravages of these species; but this is by no means the case, since at some localities we have found the quahaug to be their principal prey, even the largest specimens not escaping their rapacity. It is stated, on the authority of ‘an intelligent man,’ that Fulgar carica is able to draw even the razor- shell out of its burrow, and devour it; while the fact is that this is done by even very young The chapter on ‘Seals and seal- accurate in many of its statements; but, strangest of all, under the page-heading ‘A bit of comparative anatomy,’ we are told that the tail of the whale, and of cetaceans in general, is not a ‘tail’ at all, but is structu- rally homologous — having the same compo- nent bones — with the hind-flippers of a seal and the hind-limbs of other mammals. Not to cite other frequent evidences of either careless- ness or ignorance, the foregoing will show that a very readable, and in the main commend- able, book may contain faults of a very serious character. The author tells us the book is written in the hope that it may ‘‘ contain not only some entertainment, but also helpful sug- gestions for those who take delight in outdoor studies.’’ It certainly does contain a very large amount of interesting information very entertainingly told, few writers of popular natu- ral-history books having either the literary ability or the knowledge shown by Mr. Inger- soll in the present series of papers. It is the greater pity that here and there he should be found so grievously tripping. The book is very carefully and attractively printed, and the illustrations are artistic and © fitting ; but even here the frontispiece is en- titled ‘ Tree toads,’ while only one of the two species figured is a tree-toad, though both are placed on a tree ; the other being the wood-frog, and as such is correctly referred to in the text. In the explanation of the cut of a shrew’s skull (p. 35), ‘under side of skull’ should be ‘upper side of skull. ’ 116 THE FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Many essays and some books there are to tell us what should be done with our forests, or with their remains. This ninth volume of the reports of the census taken in 1880, now before us, tells us what these forests are. First and briefly as to their general distribu- tion in accordance with the climate and con- figuration of the country. There is, in the most general terms, a forest of the Atlantic, and another of the Pacific region, widely separated through a long stretch of the continent, more approximate at their northern extremities, and essentially but loosely joined along the Mexican borders from Texas to southern California by a very peculiar arboreal vegetation. And even where the Atlantic and Pacific woods are most widely severed, as in about latitude 40°, the western own to a near relationship with the eastern along the line where the Rocky Mountains flank the plains. Together, the two compose one large whole, — a temperate North- American sylva, the harmony of which is not greatly disturbed by the intrusion of Mexi- can types into its southern borders. A more seriously discordant element, however insig- nificant geographically, but figuring rather prominently in the catalogue, comes as a con- sequence of the southward extension of the peninsula of Florida, upon which a good num- ber of tropical West-Indian trees have effected a lodgment. Like other immigrants, these denizens must be received upon the same foot- ing with those more truly to the manner born, although they sensibly impair the homogeneity of the United States sylva. Next as to the genera and species of which our forests are composed, amounting, it ap- pears, to a hundred and fifty-eight genera and four hundred and twelve species. A con- siderable number of these, however, are only arborescent at their best, never attaining the magnitude of timber-trees ; and forty-eight of the genera, and nearly sixty species, occur only in semi-tropical Florida. The systematic account of the trees fills two hundred and twenty pages of the volume. It is wonderfully full, not to say exhaustive, in the bibliography and synonymy, is comprehensive as to’ geo- graphical ranges, particular in its statement of the character of the wood (the specific gravity and the amount of ashes being specified under Report on the forests of North America (exclusive of Mexico). By CHARLES 8. SaRGENT, Arnold professor of arboriculture in Harvard college, special agent tenth census. Washington, Gov- ernment, 1884. 612p., 4°; 39 colored maps, 4° and f°; with port- folio of 16 maps, eleph. f°. SCIENCE. ‘| 4 TORY ae Weide ik A [Vou. V., No. 105. | each species), and also its economical uses. | But descriptive matters and all botanical details, beyond a mention of the height at- tained by the tree, are scrupulously omitted. Even the nature and appearance of the bark, characteristic as it generally is, and sometimes very important in its practical applications, is nowhere mentioned, except in a single line in a single case, that of the canoe birch. Even the difference between the cherry birch and the yellow birch, so striking in the bark and ~ so slight in every other respect, is not alluded - to. This is evidently done on principle. It was necessary to draw the line somewhere, and Professor Sargent has drawn it very taught. We should grieve inconsolably over the ex- clusion, except for our expectation that the author means to make amends in another work, in which the tree will stand for more than its timber. Let us note, in passing, that in any future publication ‘ Palmaceae’ should give place to ‘ Palmae.’ It was a good thought to supply a separate and full index to the ‘ Cata- logue of forest-trees,’ as this part of the vol- ume is modestly entitled. The addition of as much descriptive botanical matter as there is of bibliography would have made of it a com- pendious treatise. We will not complain that practical matters predominate in a census report. Part ii., ‘The woods of the United States,’ fills two hundred and forty pages, most of it tabular matter. ‘Woods’ are here used in the sense of timbers ; and this portion of the volume records with much completeness the result of an exhaustive determination of the specific gravity, the amount of ash, the weight per cubic foot, the tensile strength, the behavior under compression, and the fuel value of the wood of all the species. This great piece of work was done by, or under the direction of, Mr. S. P. Sharples. The wood specimens are preserved in two full series, —one in the National museum at Wash- ington, one in that of the arboretum of Har- vard university; and the surplus material, worked into 12,961 museum specimens, has been made into sixty sets, and distributed to nearly as many educational institutions. Any one wishing to know the relative specific gravity of the wood of our trees has only to consult the table beginning on p. 249. He will learn that all those which are heavier than water are of semi-tropical species, or of the arid south-western interior region; that the Floridian Condalia ferrea leads the list (spe- cific gravity, 1.3020) ; that Cercocarpus ledi- folius, the mountain mahogany of Utah, ete., comes up to 1.0731; that the lightest conifer- — FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] ous wood is of the big tree, Sequoia gigantea (0.2882) ; and that the lightest wood of all is of a fig in Florida, Ficus aurea (0.2616). Upon part iii., ‘The forests of the United States in their economic aspects,’ which con- cludes the volume, and which the fine colored maps graphically illustrate, Professor Sargent has bestowed great pains, and to much purpose. The statistics of the lumber industry for the census year, the table of forest-fires during that year, the map showing the proportion of wood- land within the settled area burned over in that year, and the map showing the character of the fuel used in different parts of the settled portion of the country, are most interesting and instructive. Not less so are the detailed and fully illustrated summaries of the present condition and character of the woodlands of every state and territory. . The principles of forest preservation, the needs of the country in this respect, and its importance in certain districts, also the special need, as well as great difficulty, of guarding against forest-fires, are touched upon as occa- sion serves. If the country suffers hereafter, it will not be from the lack of good advice. Possibly the forest report for the eleventh cen- sus may show that it has not all been wasted. If the forest agent for 1890 brings out a more valuable report than that of 1880, it will ina measure be due to the advantages furnished by the work of his predecessor. SCHELLEN’S DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINES. Tuts is a translation from the third German edition, with large additions and notes relating to American machines by Mr. Keith. In the first two editions of the original the work ap- peared in one volume; but in the third the author thought it desirable to divide it into two, and in this the translators have followed him. The first volume only is now published, and is principally devoted to methods and machines for producing electric currents. It is not easy to keep pace with the produc- tion of dynamo-electric literature at present, and one cannot avoid the conclusion that much of it might be suppressed without really serious loss. Books on dynamo-electric machinery may be prepared for the general intelligent public, for the so-called ‘ practical’ electrician, Magneto and dynamo electric machines. By Dr. H. Scuet.- LEN. Vol.i. Translated from the third German edition by N. > sage uae Percy Neymann. New York, Van Nostrand, 1884. 518 p. 8°. SCIENCE. ‘factory elucidation. 117 or for the student of electrical engineering. Dr. Schellen’s book is not likely to satisfy the demands of either of these classes. About a hundred pages bear the general title of ‘ Preliminary physics.’ Forty of these are occupied by the development of the funda- mental idea of the production of electricity by induction, which is accomplished in a manner not differing greatly from that of other similar treatises. The remainder contains the con- sideration of methods of electric measurements and measuring instruments. Including as it does dynamometric, photometric, and electric measurement proper, this comes near being the most unsatisfactory portion of the book. ‘The great importance of thoroughly understanding this part of the subject is strongly emphasized ; but the reader will seek in vain for its satis- The study of dynamome- ters is by far the best of this part; and the translators have shown wisdom in inserting full descriptions of the Kent dynamometer prepared by Dr. Henry Morton, and of the Brackett dynamometer prepared by Professor Brackett, its inventor. Under electric meas- urement little is to be found, aside from the description of a few of the coarser devices for determining electromotive force and current strength, and there is really nothing concern- ing methods of measurement. Although the book is of very recent date, the units of measure are not defined in accordance with the agreement of the international electrical con- gress; and, in the discussion of photometric standards, no mention whatever is made of that adopted by that body. ‘ Intensity’ for current, or current strength, and ‘ tension’ for electromotive force, are found, unfortunately, throughout the work. The bulk of the volume is devoted to descrip- tions of magneto and dynamo electric machines in great variety. These are generally given in considerable detail, accompanied by diagrams and plates. Many of the descriptions are very satisfactory, although most of them have ap- peared already in similar publications. The concluding chapter contains a_ brief discussion of the theory of dynamo-electric machines, and a classification of dynamos. The discussion of the theory would be greatly improved by expansion, and the classification of dynamos would be more useful to the reader if introduced before the description of machines. An appendix contains a number of tables of considerable practical value, and an attempt to défine the ‘ absolute, or c. G. s. system of units of measure.’ In a previous chapter the necessity of being thoroughly fa- 118 miliar with these units is affirmed ; but in these two pages a clear understanding of them is made well-nigh impossible. A single illus- tration will serve to show the character of many of these definitions. ‘¢ The unit of tension is that tension (poten- tial difference) between two points which re- quires the expenditure of one unit of force (1 dyne) to move 1 coulomb from one point to the other by overcoming the electrical repul- sion (Dim. C2G2S_ aN Technical wnit, | volt = 10° (c. G. as.) units.”’ BARNARD’S PYRAMID OF GIZEH. Dr. Barnarp tells us that Mr. Flinders Petrie, after having published a book in 1874 to give ‘ irrefragable proof’ of the supernatural metrology of the Great pyramid, in 1880 printed another in which he recants all that doctrine. This surprising instance teaches us that it is possible for a man to hold the views of John Taylor and Piazzi Smyth, and yet be capable of using his mind sanely upon the subject. But Mr. Petrie had shown himself by his ‘ Inductive metrology’ to be an adept in the logic of induction; and surely one would expect the study of logic, if it be of any use at all, to save a man from such follies as this metrological theory of the pyramid. The main fallacy of the advocates of it is one which has been pointed out in C. S. Peirce’s ‘Theory of probable inference’ as a violation of the inductive rule that the characters for which a lot is sampled ought to be predesig- nate; that is, settled upon before the exami- nation of the sample. Given a collection of numerical data, it is always possible, by twist- ing them about, to find some recondite and curious relationship between them; for the possibilities of such relationships are endless. Mr. Pliny Earle Chase has convinced the world of that, if of nothing else. Another thing which the pyramid-bitten seem to overlook, is that an hypothesis ante- cedently likely does not mean one which they are antecedently inclined to like, but one which belongs to a class of explanations among which the balance of positive evidence tends to show that the true theory is to be looked for. Dr. Barnard treats the subject with a great deal of pertinent wit; he has drawn from the stores of his learning for interesting informa- The imaginary metrological system of the Great pyramid of Gizeh. By F. A. P. BARNARD. New York, Wiley, 1884. 5+106 p. 8°. SCIENCE. tion on every page; and, what is best, he has estimated the strength of each argument with unerring good sense. Perhaps he is a little too indulgent to the idea that the vertical height of the pyramid was intended to bear the same ratio to the perimeter of the base that the radius of a circle bears to its diameter. Fourteen centuries after the building of the Great pyra- mid under King Apophis of the seventeenth dynasty (Joseph’s Pharaoh, as it is said), was written the mathematical treatise of Ahmes, which has been preserved to us. ‘This work virtually assumes am = ($)* = 3.16, and there is no good reason for supposing that the pyramid-builder knew better. On the contrary, Sir Henry James’s idea is probably correct, that the rule for the slope was, that at the corners the rise should be nine on a bas of ten. | The supposition that the inclination of the entrance-passage was connected with a pole- star, derives, it would appear, its chief strength from its forming a part of Mr. Procter’s ingen- ious theory of the orientation of the pyramid, which certainly has much to recommend it; yet the accuracy of orientation may be merely accidental, like that of the District of Colum- bia. NOTES AND NEWS. Mr. H. H. WARNER of Rochester, N.Y., offers two prizes for the year 1885. First, two hundred dollars for each and every discovery of a new comet made from Feb. 1, 1885, to Feb. 1, 1886, subject to the fol- lowing conditions: 1. It must be discovered in the United States, Canada, Mexico, West Indies, South America, Great Britain, or the Australian continent and islands, either by the naked eye or telescope, and it must be unexpected, except as to the comet of 1815, which is expected to re-appear this year or next 5 2. The discoverer must send a prepaid telegram imme- diately to Dr. Lewis Swift, director, Warner observa- tory, Rochester, N.Y., giving the time of the discovery, the position and direction of motion, with sufficient exactness, if possible, to enable at least one other observer to find it ; 3. This intelligence must not be communicated to any other party or parties, either by letter, telegraph, or otherwise, until such time as a telegraphic acknowledgment has been received by the discoverer from Dr. Swift (great care should be observed regarding this condition, as it is essential — to the proper transmission of the discovery, with the name of the discoverer, to the various parts of the _ world, which will be immediately made by Dr. Swift). Discoverers in Great Britain, the Australian conti- nent and islands, West Indies, and South America, are absolved from the restriction in conditions 2 and 3. Second, a prize of two hundred dollars in gold to ea 1 Pe ae FEBRUARY 6, 1885. | any person in the world who will write the best three- thousand-word paper on the cause of the atmospheric effects (‘red light,’ etc.) accompanying sunset and sunrise during the past sixteen months. It is desired that these papers be as original as possible in facts, observations, and treatment. — Under the auspices of the Academy of natural sciences of Philadelphia, Prof. D. G. Brinton began on Jan. 26 to deliver a series of ten lectures. on American ethnology and archeology. He will be fol- lowed by Professor Benjamin Sharp in a course of from twenty to twenty-five lectures on the principles of zoology; Professor Angelo Heilprin, a course of prac- tical instruction in geology and paleontology, to be supplemented by field-excursions, and a final excur- sion to the region of the upper Delaware or the valley of Virginia, extending over a period of ten days or more; and Prof. H. Carvill Lewis, a course of twenty- five lectures on mineralogy and lithology, with practi- cal demonstrations in the laboratory. —The American philosophical society has just published an index to its Proceedings and Transac- tions down to 1883, prepared by Mr. Henry Phillips, jun., one of the secretaries. It will be found very useful, but would have been much more so had it been made in a single index, instead of in three, as at present. The simple prefix of P and T would have distinguished the Proceedings and the Transac- tions as readily as the present Roman numerals do the volumes; and a 7’ could similarly have been made to indicate the old in distinction from the new series of the Transactions. — The first number of the Journal of mycology, an- nounced in a recent issue, has been received, and can hardly be said to promise much for the future of my- cology in this country. It is almost wholly devoted to descriptions of new. species; for the abstract of Wharton’s paper on Fries’s nomenclature of colors, taken from Grevillea, is of slight botanical value. If this number is an index of what is to come, it will be a matter of regret that the journal was ever started. The proper place for the description of species is in the proceedings of scientific societies, or in the re- ports issued by the different states or by the national © government. In the case of a monthly journal, the necessity of filling the requisite number of pages must quickly resultin the production of hastily or carelessly prepared descriptions, which will only be an encum- brance: the inevitable tendency will be to degenerate into a mere species-mill. Neither mycology nor any other natural-history science can hope for advancement through journals having no higher aim than this. And what shall we say to authors who describe one of their ‘species,’ and then add the following note: ‘‘It is quite probable that these are only the spores of some other fungus accidentally scattered on the leaves, and it is given here more especially to call attention to it, in order to ascertain its true character ’”’ ? — In the Atlantic monthly for February, Mr. Brad- ford Torrey has a pleasantly written paper on winter birds about Boston, in which he treats briefly the va- rious species that enliven our fields and waysides at SCIENCE. 119 this inclement season. The writer shows himself to be a keen discriminating observer, as well as an affec- tionately appreciative one, and has also a happy way of telling what he has seen. His paper will prove of inter- est to the ornithologist as well as the general reader. — Mr. W. W. Valentine of Richmond, Va., in the specimen pages of his ‘Comparative study of the new high German language, theoretical and practical,’ evidently gives a translation of the notes of some lectures on German grammar which he once heard in Germany. Like most lecture-notes, they contain some mistakes, and are, except for a reader already familiar with the subject, obscure through their con- ciseness. And if there has been in this book any winnowing, any selection at all of topics to be treated, the winnowing has certainly left much chaff among the wheat. It is difficult to conceive of any class of students in America who could, with advantage, study German in such a grammar. Wesubjoina few characteristic extracts: ‘‘Consonants accumulate in simple words and compounds. It occurs often from the syncopation ... In compounds they accumu- late very often. —In English sex determines class- distinction for the most part. — The es of the neut. nom. acc. (also voc.) is often omitted in folk-speech, and also in poetry where it stands in connection with euphony and quantity. — Relics of gender are found with the demonstrative das that. — Essen (better eszen). [!!] — Reduplication occurred originally with the preterit stem of all stem verbs.—/falten to fold (redupl.) Only the past participle is preserved in lit- erary language.” [!!]. — The fourth number of the Anuario bibliogrdfico de la Republica argentina, by A. N. Viola (Buenos Aires, 1883), contains a good account of the publica- tions issued in that country for 1882. It comprises political and social subjects, as well as scientific and technical, and aims to include every thing bearing an Argentine imprint. Scientific subjects are allowed thirty pages, which are filled chiefly with mention of the work accomplished by several government insti- tutions, such as the universities and the Cordoba observatory, and by the scientific societies of Buenos Aires and Cordoba. The entire list fills six hundred pages, small octavo. Another local list that deserves mention is Trautwein’s Bibliographie der alpinen literatur for 1883, that has appeared for the last four- teen years in the Zeitschrift des deutschen und oesterr. alpen-vereins. It contains about four hundred titles: but journals are entered only by their name, not by their contents. There are no abstracts, and the ar- rangement is only by name of author; so that con- venience of use would require more care expended in its preparation. — Mr. A.M. Elliott, in the Johns Hopkins circular for December, writes of a philological expedition to Canada: — ‘‘In point of language, the Canadian French is certainly one of the most interesting topics for a philologian. Here we find that time has stood still, especially for the more remote rural districts; and the scholar could easily imagine himself holding 1) eid 120 SCIENCE. intercourse with the subjects of Louis XIV. This means that we have the unique privilege, in this age of steam and travel, of studying in them a form of speech that has scarcely known change for the past two centuries. But this idiom is not a dialect of that remote period; and the greatest surprise to a student of language arriving in Canada is to find, that, contrary to the general impression of scholars, the vernacular does not bear any specific dialectic character, but is the middle (sixteenth century) French, with those natural changes which would be produced by the intimate fusion into a whole of all the different species of language that were originally brought from the mother-country. An influence upon the language must be noted in the original seigniorial tenure which prevailed throughout Lower Canada. The seigneurs were the second sons of noble families who chose the better class of. peasants to accompany them to their homes in the new world; and here each ruler laid out on the river his little kingdom (generally 4X 3 leagues in dimensions), which he divided among his colonists in concessions of 3 X 30 arpents. This arrangement produced a series of centres of civilization in which the lord and his educated friends were brought into more or less intimate contact with the common people: in truth, we have abundant evidence to show that the relation of the seigneur to his people was much more intimate in these early settlements of Canada than in the mother-country. After the conquest (1760), nearly all the nobles fled the country, and the different classes of society were more thoroughly mixed than they had ever been before. The influence of long and constant contact with a Teutonic race has had the effect to temper the rash impulses of the Gaul; and this is in no respect more marked than in his speech, where a quiet monotony largely prevails, and strikes the stranger immediately as one of its leading characteristics. It has not the rhythm, the inex- haustible variety, and rich cadence of the Gallic tongue as it is spoken to-day in France.”’ Mr. Elliott also records the apparent vigor of the old French stock, and their wonderful absorbing- power, as shown by the curious phenomenon of a people in certain sections having the racial charac- teristics of the English or Scotch, and bearing the names of Warren, Frazer, and McDonald, and yet unable to speak a word of the mother-tongue. The English names of roads and villages show who the occupants of such places were a few years ago. —A circular from the U.S. signal-office informs us, that, in accordance with the general assent of co- operating weather bureaus, the observations at our signal-service stations, as well as those of the widely extended iitermotional system, are now taken eight minutes and twelve seconds earlier than formerly, the change having been made on Jan. 1. The new time of the morning observation, which corresponds to the daily international observation, is therefore seven A.M. of our eastern standard, corresponding to Greenwich mean noon; and this has the great ad- vantage of being recorded with the same name for the day of the week the world over. [Vou. V., No. 1053 — It was stated last spring that quantities of float- — ing pumice, supposed to be derived from Krakatoa during the recent eruption, reached the island of Réunion, at the harbor of St. Paul, on the 22d of March, 1884, having thus made a voyage of some two hundred and six days at a rate of six-tenths of a mile an hour. It now appears that an immense quantity of pumice of similar appearance, and supposed to be from the same source, reached Tamatave, Madagas- car, in the first week of September, 1884. Specimens have been sent to the Société de géographie, and will be reported upon by the director of the School of mines. — Capt. Lundin of the bark Vega, at Philadelphia, reports that at three A.M., Dec. 22, in latitude 40° 31’ north, longitude 16° 10’ west, he felt several slight shocks of an earthquake. It was calm at the time. — The distribution of time on a commercial basis is claiming the attention of inventors and capitalists. Besides the Standard time company of New Haven (which has been idle the past year, owing to an ar- rangement with the Time telegraph company of New York, which has now been terminated by the former - company), there are the Standard time company of New York, now organizing, to distribute time on the Mayerhofer system of compressed-air impulses, syn- chronizing and winding secondary clocks; the Na- tional time-regulating company of Boston, which proposes to give audible signals over telephone-lines, which can be heard after the manner of repeating watches by placing the telephone to the ear ; a com- pany with headquarters at Pittsburg, which is to use the system devised by Mr. Gardner for long or short distance telegraph time-signalling and clock-synchro- nizing; the Time telegraph company of New York, which has shown its best development in the electric dial system’ in Providence; the Wenzel pneumatic system of clocks, actuated by compressed air acting through the medium of glass air-holders lifted out of a glycerine bath at each impulse; and we suppose that we shall soon have companies organized on the Popp-Resch-Mayerhofer system, now used in Paris, and the Mautner system of Vienna. Apropos of the subject, A. Merling has published an excellent little book on electrical clocks, entitled ‘Die electrische uhren; Electrotechnische bibliothek, band ii. (Braun- schweig, Friedrich Vieweg und sohn, 1884, 328 p., 12°); and M. A. Favarger continues his. articles through the current year of the Journal Suisse Wd’ hor- logerie (Geneva), on ‘ L’électricité et ses applications a la chronométrie.’ — Dr. Hugo Gyldén, whose call to the professor- ship of astronomy in the university of Gottingen, made vacant by the death of Dr. Klinkerfues, we noted some time ago, has, in consequence of a liberal offer from the king of Sweden, decided to remain at his present post as astronomer royal, and director of the observatory at Stockholm. Dr. Gyldén is one of the editors of the new journal entitled Act amathe- matica. — Dr. Th. Brédichin has resigned his position as director of the observatory at Moscow, Russia. FEBRUARY 6, 1885.] — The Roumanian government has voted the funds necessary for the establishment and maintenance of the Central meteorological observatory in Bucharest, and Mr. Hepites has been appointed the director. — In November, 1884, Mr. Maxwell Hall, director of the Kempshot observatory, Jamaica, attacked again the question of the variability of the light of Neptune as bearing on the planet’s rotation on its axis. He finds that fifteen rotation periods occupy 118.71 hours; so that each period is 7.914 hours, —a result which he considers identical with the period derived from his observations in 1888. — The Lena polar expedition, commanded by Lieut. N. D. Jurgens, who arrived at St. Petersburg on Jan. 4, has proved a success. No one died or was seriously ill; scurvy, which appeared the first winter, being quickly suppressed. The second winter was some- what milder than the first, although the spring and autumn were cooler. In western Siberia, in the taiga (forest) north of Jenisseisk, there was rain, and the rivers were open, as late as the Ist of December. The lowest temperature experienced by Lieut. Jur- gens was — 50° C.; but the chief inconvenience was the frequent storms, although observations were not interfered with. Those of the first year have al- ready been calculated by Mr. Eigner, who arrived in St. Petersburg in advance. The summer was almost without sun; and 12° C., the highest temperature re- corded, was reached only once. This had a decided effect on the vegetation. Mosses were almost the only plant observed, and willows grow to a height of a few inches only, though inland, where the sea wind does not penetrate, they reach two feet. Magnetic disturbances were less frequent and important the second year than the first; thus proving the wisdom of the scientific men, who insisted that the observa- tions should be made in 1882-83. The survey of the delta considerably changes our ideas about this region. Among other things, Sagastyr, where the observa- tions were made, is not the most northern point of the delta; but this honor belongs to the Island Dunas, 74° north. The changes of water-level at Sagastyr are inconsiderable; the expanse of water being too large for high river-floods, and the tides small and irregular, largely influenced by the winds. Lieut. Jurgens left Sagastyr on July 8, passed several days at Yakootsk, whence he reached Kireusk by steamer in twenty-four days, and continued by boat on the Lena for two hundred versts; he was then obliged to travel by land, as ice was fast forming on the river. The journey to Irkutsk was made difficult by the lack of snow, which was also largely the case between Irkutsk and Neuberg, where he took therailroad. A telegram has just been received from Dr. Bunge, the naturalist of the expedition, who has not returned, stating that he is on the way to Irkutsk, where he will winter, and whence he will start early in the spring for the basin of the Jana, north-eastern Siberia, which he will explore in 1885, and in the spring of 1886 he will start for the New Siberia Islands. — The publications of the second geological sur- vey of Pennsylvania make steady progress. Reports SCIENCE. 121 on Cameron, Elk, Forest, Perry, Huntington, and Delaware counties, are in press. Reports on Leba- non, Dauphin, Cumberland, and Franklin counties, are partly prepared for the press, together with the remaining sheets of the South Mountain survey, one additional atlas and the second report of the progress of the anthracite survey, the second part of the report on the Monongahela collieries, and the second part of the report on Perry and Juniata counties. The state geologist has prepared a hand-atlas of the state, reducing the county maps in common use to a uniform scale of six miles to an inch, and coloring them geologically, according to the reports of prog- ress in their respective districts, made to him by the assistant geologists of the survey. This atlas is just about to issue from the press. The board of com- missioners has just recommended an appropriation of ninety thousand dollars for the next two years; twenty-five thousand dollars to be expended annually to continue the anthracite survey; ten thousand dol- lars annually to continue the topographical survey and commence the construction of a state inap; and ten thousand dollars annually to extend the oil-region survey, to continue the chemical analyses of miner- als, to provide for economic geological examinations in the bituminous and iron-ore regions, and to con- tinue the work of the state geologist. — At the annual meeting in February, according to Nature, the Royal astronomical society will award its gold medal to Dr. W. Huggins for his researches on the motions of stars in the line of sight, and on the photographic spectra of stars and comets. This is the second time that Dr. Huggins has received the medal, he, in conjunction with the late Professor Miller, having received it in 1867, for his researches in astronomical physics. — At a meeting of the French academy of sciences on Jan. 5, Mr. Pasteur presented a paper, in the name of Mr. Duclaux, on the germination of plants in soil free from microbes. Mr. Duclaux had under- taken experiments in order to determine the effect of the presence of microbes upon germination. In his experiments he used pease and Holland beans, the cotyledons of which uniformly appear, one below the soil, the other above. ‘The soil had been previously sterilized by processes of which the author gave no details, and, in addition, had been moistened with milk also sterilized. Under these conditions, germi- nation did not take place, and at the end of two months the milk showed no indication of alteration. These two experiments tend to prove that the pres- ence of microbes in the soil is necessary to the de- velopment and to the life of plants. Pasteur added some critical reflections. He mentioned that he had before this proposed to his pupils to examine what would happen t6 an animal subjected from birth to nourishment the elements of which had previously been freed of microbes, and consequently reduced to its nutritive principles, pure and simple. To this he had been led by the idea that in such conditions the maintenance of life and development would be im- possible with animals. This conclusion leads to the 122 SCIENCE. very important knowledge that the presence of mi- crobes in foods is indispensable to digestion; that is to say, of actions necessary to the elaboration of mat- ters destined to serve for the nutrition of the animal body. The total absence of microbes renders the accomplishment of these actions impossible. We can recognize the importance of an exact determina- tion of the part played by microbes in digestion; for this knowledge would lead to interesting views, and perhaps to practical results, regarding the mechanism and treatment of different forms of dyspepsia. — The enterprising scientific publisher, Doin, of Paris, sends out with the first number of Revue sci- entifique for this year the first number of a new jour- nal, called Journal des sociétés scientifiques, which is to appear weekly, and to contain a brief report of the meetings of the principal scientific societies of the great cities of Europe. The plan of the journal is an excellent one, and one which should secure it an ample subscription list. It costs only fifteen francs, postage paid, to any part of the universal postal union. The first number contains reports of the French academy of sciences, the academy of medi- cine, and the geographical, anthropological, and biological societies of Paris, the societies of public medicine and of surgery, as well as of the academy of medicine of Belgium and Vienna, and the clinical society of London. It forms a quarto of ten pages. — Among recent deaths we note the following: Benjamin Silliman, at New Haven, Jan. 14, at the age of sixty-nine; John Birmingham, astronomer, at Millbrook, Tuam (Ireland), Sept. 7, at the age of sixty-eight; Antoine Quet, physicist, at Paris, Nov. 29, at the age of seventy-four; Dr. E. V. Ekstrand, botan- ist, at Upsala, Nov. 10; A. Keferstein, lepidopterolo- gist, at Erfurt, Nov. 28; Dr. Wilhelm Riippell, the first scientific explorer of Nubia and Abyssinia, at Frankfort-on-Main, Dec. 11, at the age of ninety; Auguste Chevrolat, one of the founders of the French entomological society, at Paris, Dec. 16, at the age of eighty-five. — With the completion of volume x. (for 1882), Dr. L. Just will resign the editorship of the Botanisches jahresbericht, which will then be privately conducted by Dr. EK. Koehne of Berlin, and Dr. T. Geyler of Frankfort-on-Main. —By the will of Mr. George Bentham, who died in September last, the Linnean society of London, and the Royal society scientific relief fund, will receive, Nature states, a thousand pounds each. The residue of his real and personal estate is to be held upon trust, to apply the same in preparing and publishing botanical works, or in the purchase of books or speci- mens for the botanical establishment at Kew, or in such other manner as his trustees, of whom Sir Joseph Hooker is one, may consider best for the promotion of botanical science. — A ‘‘ Report on the Egyptian provinces of the Sudan, Red Sea, and Equator, compiled in the intel- ligence branch quartermaster-general’s department, [Vor. V., No. 105. horse-guards,’’ has just been published by the war- office at London for three shillings and sixpence, and will be found of great service to those following the current events in upper Egypt, especially as it contains a capital map, and descriptions of all the routes of travel in the Egyptian Sudan known in July last. ; — The capuchin, Father Massaga, who has spent thirty-five years as missionary in the African desert, has been commanded by the pope to write his mem- oirs, that they may be published by the curia. The memoirs will be in ten volumes, and will be illus- trated by a Viennese artist. : — We learn from Nature that the German govern- ment has granted another sum of £7,500 for the sci- entific investigation of Central Africa, and £1,900 for the working-out of the materials collected by German polar expeditions. — James Jackson, secretary of the French geo- graphical society, has issued a new edition of his list of velocities. The first velocity given is that of the Mer de Glace, — according to Tyndall, .0000099 of a metre per second. The last, 463,500,000 metres per second, is that of the electricity in a wire connecting the inside and outside of a Leyden jar. What is meant by the latter velocity is not quite clear, when we consider that we can no more speak of the velo- city of the conduction of electricity than we can of the velocity of the conduction of heat. — Dr. Zulinski has published in a Warsaw medical journal the results of a long series of experiments made by him, both upon human beings and animals, with a view of verifying the physiological effects of tobacco-smoke. He found, in the first place, that it is a distinct poison, even in small doses. Upon men its action is very slight when not inhaled in large quan- tities; but it would soon become powerful if the smoker got into the habit of ‘swallowing the smoke: ’ and Dr. Zulinski ascertained that this toxical prop- erty is not due exclusively to the nicotine, but that tobacco-smoke, even when disengaged of the nico- tine, contains a second toxical principle called coli- dine, and also oxide of carbon and hydrocyanic acid. The effects produced by tobacco depend, he says, to a great extent upon the nature of the tobacco and the way in which it is smoked. The cigar-smoker absorbs more poison than the cigarette-smoker, and the latter, in turn, than those who smoke pipes; while the smoker who takes the precaution of using a nargile, or any other apparatus which conducts the smoke through water, reduces the deleterious effects of tobacco to a mininium. Dr. Zulinski considers the artificially lightened tobaccos to be more danger- ~ ous than the darker-colored ones. — The article on economy of fuel, on p. 74 of this _ volume, contains an error to which a correspondent calls attention. It should have stated that the Oregon — consumes 337 tons of coal per day, which gives com- | bustion at the rate of over 1,500 pounds of coal for — each mile traversed. Pee ee. Nee. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE COMMITTEE On the government surveys having at this writing not yet made its report to congress, it may be worth while to consider a recommendation which touches upon the subject, made by the secretary of the navy in his last report, repeated indeed from former reports of the same official. It is to the effect that the work of the revenue marine, the lighthouse board, and the coast survey, so far as the latter is concerned with marine in- vestigations, should be brought, with that of the hydrographic office, under the direction of the navy department, ‘‘ whereby greater unity of purpose and consistency of action would be secured.”’ It can hardly be questioned that the change thus proposed might be economical in prevent- ing the duplication of outfits, and that it might open much practical and profitable work to naval officers; but, apart from the better general scheme ef the national academy, there is, perhaps, an element of difficulty in this plan, that might be used against it. The exe- cution of certain technical parts of hydro- graphic work requires special skill; and, if the demand for this skill were supplied only by those who have made the navy their life-career, it might not be so well satisfied as if sup- plied from a larger circle. Moreover, the ex- perience needed for the best performance of certain duties can be gained only by years of perseverance ; and, when gained, the country cannot afford to lose it by its possessor being ordered off on a long cruise, as is at present the fashion in naval routine. It may be seen that these disadvantages do not appear in the present organization of either the geological survey or the coast survey, for No. 106. — 1885, their recruits are drawn from all sources. They are nct first asked, if, above every thing else, they are naval or military men, but rather if they are geologists or topographers ; and, fur- ther, whoever gains successful experience in these services, gains also a relatively perma- nent occupation in his specialty. Perhaps it is in part for these reasons that the committee of the national academy did not include in its recommendations the suggestions found in the report of the secretary of the navy. But all things considered, there seems to be sound reason in the policy of the secretary, ‘‘that the officers and seamen of the navy should be employed to perform all the work of the national government upon, or in direct connection with, the ocean.’’ An arrangement by which the geodetic and geological surveys occupy themselves with our land possessions, while a bureau in the navy department deter- mines what we need to know of the ocean and its shores, does not seem irrational. It would involve, of course, certain changes in the de- partments in the direction indicated by the possible element of difficulty above named. It is absolutely essential to the success of such a policy, that the scientific naval bureau which it requires, should not be, except in its subordi- nate offices, a training-school for naval officers. Its work must be directed, and for the greater part carried on, by men permanently employed for their special tasks, as is the case in the coast and geological surveys. Without this, there would be little gain of economy or uni- formity, and matters would far better rest as they now are. If the change were made, there would be much outcry in certain quarters, and perhaps, for a time, some injustice hardly sep- arable from so considerable a revolution; but these difficulties would be only of a personal and temporary nature, and not inherent in the case. Once accomplished, we should look back with wonder on the present strange order re ee 124 SCIENCE. of things in which our navy is intrusted with the exploration of the deeper seas and the mapping of far distant coasts, while it is held unfit to survey the shallower waters of our own shores. THere 1s probably no other subject in which practice lags so far behind knowledge as it does in the teaching of small children, and especially in country schools. The latest ap- pliances in electrical apparatus are no sooner invented and tested, than they are brought into use, and supersede what were good ap- pliances yesterday; but the antiquated way of teaching arithmetic and reading is still almost universal, in spite of its having been proved again and again that they can be taught by a scientific method in half the time. It was a witty Spaniard who said that the reason English-speaking people are so illogical, is that they have to learn to spell when they are young. The wonder daily grows that their instruction in arithmetic does not wholly destroy what residue of reason their spelling has left behind. A marked and much-needed change was brought about in England by the Association for the improvement of bread-mak- ing; and there is no doubt, that, by a vigorous associated effort, — by holding public meet- ings, by distributing pamphlets, and by all the usual means of agitation, — something might be done to awaken school-committee men and superintendents to some sense of responsi- bility. There is no better field for the mis- sionary energy of those persons whose first interest is in the maimed and tortured of their own country. Meantime the Society to encourage study at home could do no better work than to offer a course in pedagogics to primary-school teachers. The teachers of country schools are often intelligent, and eager to learn; but it would be asking too much to expect each one to discover for herself methods of teach- ing that have only been perfected by many generations of experience. To put them in the way of reading a few inspiring books on [Vou. V., No. 106. the subject would often be to work a transfor- mation in them. This suggestion is made by the circular of information in regard to rural schools, recently sent out by the Bureau of education. That circular itself, if it were widely distributed, would do a great deal of good by means of the model lessons in arith- metic which it reprints from the report of the Massachusetts board of education. They must be in the nature of a revelation to most untrained teachers. It is a pity that the com-— piler of the circular could not find an equally good and explicit description of the modern art of teaching how to read. LETTERS. TO THE EDITGr The relation of form to time of maturity in esculent roots. MAny facts seem to indicate that a direct relation exists between the form of esculent roots and their time of maturity in the different varieties of the same species. In the spring of 1883 a few typical roots of the ‘long hollow crown’ and ‘ Carter’s new Maltese’ pars- nip were set out for seed in the garden of the New- York agricultural experiment-station, with other roots selected from each of these varieties, which were short and thick, approaching to napiform. As the flower-stalks developed, those from the short, thick roots in both of the varieties were considerably earlier in blooming than the longer typical roots. This un- expected event recalled the fact that the ‘round’ or ‘ turnip-rooted’ parsnip is earlier in developing its root than the long varieties; also that in the ‘ Egyptian ’ and ‘ eclipse’ beets, the earliest two varieties, and the ‘ French forcing’ carrot, the earliest of its kind, the roots are shorter in proportion to their length than in other varieties. Printed descriptions ! from the most careful writers upon vegetables indicate that a similar relation exists in the onion and turnip. Thus in the onion the axial diameter in nineteen so-called varieties is noted as less than the transverse diameter. Of these, five are called ‘ very early,’ five are called ‘ early,’ seven ‘half early,’ one ‘ rather early,’ and one ‘rather late.’ In seven so-called varieties, in which the axial diam- eter equals or exceeds the transverse diameter, five are called ‘late,’ one ‘not early,’ and one ‘ early.’ In addition to these, in which the dimensions are given in figures, the ‘ brown Teneriffe’ is described | as being ‘ very flat,’ and, with one exception, is called ‘earliest of all.’ The ‘intermediate red Wethersfield’ is described as flattened, and the ‘two bladed’ as ‘flat.’ Both of these are called ‘early.’ The ‘ early white silver-skinned’ onion is described as ‘ about the same diameter as the Nocera, but thicker’ (through the axis), and is said to be ‘a little less early than the Nocera.’ noted as ‘‘a little less flat than the Nocera or ‘ early 1 The descriptions examined are from Burr’s Field and gar. den vegetables of America, and from I.es plantes potagéres of Vilmorin, Andrieux, et Cie. The ‘white Portugal’ is FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] white silver-skinned;’ it is also a little less early.’’ It may be noted, further, that the Messrs. Landreth of Philadelphia declare their ‘ extra early Bloomsdale pearl,’ which is remarkably flattened in form to be the earliest of all onions. In twenty so-called varieties of the turnip, the axial diameter is noted as less than, or equal to, the transverse diameter. Of these, one is called ‘ very early,’ nine are called ‘early,’ one is called ‘ rather early,’ and five are called ‘ half early.’ In fourteen varieties the axial distance is noted as greater than the transverse diameter. Of these, one is called ‘late,’ one ‘a little late,’ one ‘medium,’ five are called ‘half early,’ three ‘rather early,’ and three ‘early.’ The ‘rouge plat de mai de Munich,’ described as being ‘very much flattened,’ is said to be ‘ unques- tionably the earliest of turnips.’ The ‘rouge de Milan,’ called ‘very flat,’ is pronounced ‘one of the earliest.’ In the majority of the long-rooted turnips the season of maturity is not noted, — a fact in itself suggestive; for the more depressed forms would hardly be noted as ‘early,’ if they were not earlier than others. It may be objected to this hypothesis, that a root or bulb that grows in a round or flattened form would naturally sooner acquire the requisite size for table use than one that grows long and slender, and that this fact alone is not sufficient to indicate a physiological relation between the form of the root and its time of maturity. The time of the first bloom, and the first ripe seed in different varieties, mark definite stages of development, which, we may assume, are less depend+ nt upon the influence of selection. If, there- fore, we find that the time of bloom and of seed ma- turity bear a relation to the form of the root, we have additional evidence in favor of our hypothesis. We have gathered from records of the station such data as bear upon the point, with the results noted in the following table: — No. of | Average Average vari- |days to first/days to first eties. bloom. ripe seed. Radish (1882). Mmrwip-rooted. . . . .—% 6 514 1163 Mouemetcd . . .... oa 573 1232 Radish (1884). Round, orturnip-rooted . . 22 607'5 108 Mactegted-. . ....| 2 63 1123 Beet (1883). Wexmiprocted...... 3 57% 112 MOHPEOOLCH |. 6 sk sl 1 59 116 Carrot (1882). Ey 2 52 119 Wemeraeted ~. . . «| - « 1 69 122 In the radishes, those have been called ‘ long-root- ed’ in which the axial diameter exceeded the trans- verse diameter. In the beet and carrot the division was necessarily more arbitrary, but the shortest-rooted varieties were called respectively ‘ turnip-shaped’ and ‘short.’ It is evident that the figures givenin the table sustain the hypothesis, so far as they go. Ob- servations made in the station garden upon many varieties of beet, carrot, onion, radish, and parsnip, indicate, tlat, in general terms, the degree of earliness is proportionate to the degree of ‘flatness’ of the root, though exceptions are not very uncommon. SCIENCE. 125 Should further evidence establish this hypothesis» we have avaluable guide for selection in producing new varieties. We may not only hope to increase our earlier varieties by selecting the more flattened roots; but by rendering the roots of the earliest long vari- eties short through selection, or possibly through influence of cross-fertilization, we may reasonably hope to secure earlier varieties than have as yet been obtained. For example: the ‘early long scarlet’ radish, though it has a long slender root, is scarcely less early than the ‘early scarlet turnip-rooted.’ It would appear, therefore, that in this variety we have a parent for an earlier radish than is at present known. The roots of this variety vary considerably in thick-- ness aS compared with the length. By selecting for seed through a series of generations the roots having the greatest proportional diameter, we may hope to promote earliness. Experiments in this line are already in progress at our station. EMMETT S. GOFF. N. Y. agricultural experiment-station. Domes mounted on cannon-balls. The chief objection urged against the mounting of rotatory domes on cannon-balls is the difficulty ex- perienced in keeping the balls at equal distances apart. If the dome is much used, this objection be- comes a serious one; and no dome so large that it would require more than four balls should be mounted in this manner. Ifthe sill and the bed-plate of the dome are so well built that they retain their figure sensibly perfectly, and the track is kept thoroughly clean, the balis wil! ordinarily not be found to change their relative position very much, except during the winter season. At this time of the year, and under favorable conditions of temperature, the fine snow which is often driven into the observatory, under- neath the dome, will, if allowed to remain in the track, form an icy coating over the balls as they pass through it, no matter what the weight of the dome may be. Under such conditions, if the dome is forcibly moved, the incrusted ball will often change its relative posi- tion several feet, thereby perhaps imperilling the safety of the dome. Davip P. Topp. A NEW PLAN FOR THE SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS OF BOSTON. A sHorr time ago we referred to the difficulty of obtaining a reasonable attendance at the meetings of scientific societies in Boston, and found one obstacle to be the comparative in- frequency with which our scientific men come into general contact with one another and with the public. ‘To-day we propose one external remedy, which may serve in time to better this state of things by multiplying the opportuni- ties, and so increasing the chances of contact. By it we believe that not only science, but the whole community, will be the gainer. Our plan consists in the concentration of the principal scholarly institutions of the city in a 126 quarter most readily reached from the suburbs, where most of the members reside. Apart from Cambridge, the members are far more largely distributed, than elsewhere, along the lines of the two railways’ which have their stations in the ‘ Back-Bay’ district; and this region will be directly entered by the new bridge which is to connect Cambridge with Boston. The Massachusetts institute of tech- nology with its Society of arts, the Boston society of natural history, and the Medical school of Harvard college, are already there. Here, too, is the Museum of fine arts; and, most important of all, to it will shortly be removed the Public library. The square con- taining the Medical school and the site secured for the Public library has remaining upon it a vacant lot large enough for a building answer- ing all probable needs, and seemingly reserved for this very purpose. It is not, however, the only available place. Here, then, let us construct a fire-proof building of fair proportions and creditable aspect, having one long side, removed from the street, devoted to a well-lighted book- stack, and the rest to larger and smaller halls and offices. Each floor could be devoted to a single institution, with its portion of the book- stack to itself; or it might be shared by two or more smaller societies, which could choose whether they would economize their resources, — perhaps by placing their libraries under one administration, perhaps by occupying on suc- cessive evenings the same meeting-room, — or whether they would remain as independent as if in a separate building of their own. By relegating the larger part of its library to its share of the stack, each society, with its choicer books and its special appurtenances, could make its own apartment doubly as attractive as now. If feasible, a common periodical room could attract the readers of all the societies. Each story should be quickly accessible by an eleva- tor. The rooms should be heated by steam, and every assembling-room have, in addition, an open fireplace. Under this hospitable roof should be gath- ered, first of all, the American academy of arts SCIENCE. [Vou Vo. ies 106. | and sciences. With its more than twenty thousand volumes, it has altogether outgrown its present illy ventilated gloomy quarters, and- must, perforce, soon take its flight to roomier parts. Next, the Massachusetts his- torical society, the aged members of which have now to climb three flights of spiral stair- case to attend a meeting, or consult a book, in a building soon'likely to be taken from them by the city, and where its precious collections of some thirty thousand volumes are endan- gered by the immediate proximity of a theatre. Next, the collections of the Boston medical library association (fifteen thousand volumes), now including the library of the medical school, where nearness to this school would advantage all parties. Next, the library of the Boston society of natural history (some twenty-five thousand volumes), which has outgrown its present quarters, and which would be more useful in closer proximity to other libraries than in immediate relation to its museum: this, however, being already in that general vicinity, is less important for the plan. Finally, this building should accommodate, for meeting-room at least, if not also for their smaller libraries, other societies of kindred aim, some already quartered, others in search of an abiding-place, — the Society of arts, the Appalachian mountain club, the Boston society of architects, the American society for psy- chical research, the Boston branch of the Archaeological institute of America, the New- England meteorological society, etc. Then there is a nameless unorganized scien- tific club in the city, which has monthly dinners here and there, and whose members come together merely to meet or to honor a guest from a distance. Could this be enlarged, or- ganize, and have its headquarters in this build- ing, it would give additional reason for adding a restaurant to the attractions of the place, — where, from among the frequenters of these associated (but not amalgamated) libraries, — from those who visit the Public library for research, from among the out-of-town instruc- — tors of the medical school and the technological — institute, one would daily meet at luncheon or FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] at dinner some agreeable companion. A con- versation-room could be added, and the place become a general rendezvous for scientific and literary men; and these rooms could be so arranged as to admit, on precious occasions, of being thrown together, so as to banquet a Huxley, a Helmholtz, or a Pasteurin a suit- able place and manner. If we look for a suitable name to give to the edifice which shall be the free home of the arts and sciences in Boston, what can better represent its local history, its exalted science, its ‘divine’ art, than the name of ‘ BowpircH’ ? ‘Bowditch hall,’ then, let it be; and let those in Boston, and they are many, who honor the sciences and love the arts, make this more than a name, and help the advancement of all these varied institutions at once by. securing them a common and a fitting home. The so- cieties can doubtless bear a part of the ex- pense; but the plan is too large for them to carry out unaided, too fair to fail. What other plan could promise such solidarity of all high interests? What better fitted to restore the ancient prestige of Boston’s name? IS THERE A CORRELATION BETWEEN DEFECTS OF THE SENSES? PEOPLE sometimes assume that a defect of any important sense is balanced to the indi- vidual by the increased perception of the re- maining senses. For instance: it is often thought that deaf persons have better eye- sight than those who hear, and that blind persons have better hearing than those who see. The returns of the tenth census of the United States (1880) concerning the defective classes show clearly the fallacy of such a belief. They indicate that the deaf are much more liable to blindness than the hearing, and the blind more liable to deafness than the seeing. About one person in every thousand of the population is blind, and one in every fifteen hundred deaf and dumb. Now, if these pro- portions held good for the defective classes themselves, we should expect to find one in a thousand of the deaf-mute population blind, or one in fifteen hundred of the blind popula- tion deaf and dumb: in other words, we should expect to find no more than thirty-four blind deaf-mutes in the country ; whereas, as a mat- SCIENCE. 127 ter of fact, no less than four hundred and ninety-three blind deaf-mutes are returned in the census. In the following table, I., I present an analysis of the doubly and trebly defective classes. The information has been compiled from the published statements of Rey. Fred. H. Wines (who had charge of the depart- ment of the census relating to the defective classes’), supplemented by unpublished infor-. mation kindly furnished by the census office. TABLE I. Analysis of the defective classes as returned in the tenth census of the United States (1880). Stngly geocliee: Deafand dumb! . 30,995 Blind 46,721 Idiotic . 73,370 Insane . 91,133 Total singly defective . 242,219 Doubly Ea Blind deaf-mutes . . Miss hueaaks 246 Idiotic deaf-mutes . ERED Salt Laat DAZ Insane deaf-mutes. . ..... . 268 Blind idiots . PUN eg raedlaty ei ahs 1,186 MMS ANTS: DTG Sees tee sents) ket tae re reece 528 Total doubly defective . 4,350 Trebly defective. Blind idiotic deaf-mutes .... . : 217 Blind insane deaf-mutes .... . 30 AMOUR ElOIy CICHECWNKS 56 5 6 6 oll 5 o 6 6 247 Total defective population 246,816 1 The ‘deaf and dumb’ have no other natural defect save that of deafness. They are simply persons who are deaf from childhood, and many of them are only ‘hard of hearing.’ They have no de- fect of the vocal organs to prevent them from speaking. A child who cannot hear our language with sufficient distinctness to imitate it remains dumb until specially instructed in the use of his vocal organs. In the above table, the ‘deaf and dumb’ are therefore classified with those having a single defect. In the following tables, I1.-VII., I have re- duced these figures to percentages. TABLE II. Percentage of the population of the United States who are defective. Totals. | Percentage. Deaf and dumb . 33,878 0.0675 Blind 48,928 0.0975 Idiotic . 76,895 0.1533 Insane . 91,959 0.1833 Defective population . 5 246,816 0.4921° Population not detective . | 49,908,967 99.5079 Total population . 90,155,783 100.0000 1 See American annals of the deaf and dumb for January, 1885. bf 128 SCIENCE. TABLE III. TABLE VII. | Percentage of the deaf-mute population who are other- Percentage of the doubly defective who are also trebly — wise defective. defective. Totals. | Percentage. Deaf-mutes returned as also blind . . 493 1.45 Deaf-mutes returned as also idiotic . 2,339 6.90 Deaf-mutes returned asa]lsoinsane . 298 0.88 Deaf-mutes returned as otherwise de- fective 5 2,883 8.51 Deaf-mutes returned as simply deaf 30,995 91.49 Total deafanddumb . . 33,878 100.00 TABLE IV. Percentage of the blind population who are otherwise defective. Totals. | Percentage. Blind persons returned as also deaf and dumb. . . 4 493 1.01 Blind persons returned as also idiotic, 1,403 2.87 Blind persons returned as also insane, 558 1.14 Blind persons returned as otherwise defective . . Fiat et 2,207 4.50 Blind persons returned as simply libel ogg 6 Gr 686 a4 6 oc 46,721 95.49 Total blind . 48,928 100.00 TABLE V. Percentage of the idiotic population who are otherwise defective. Totals. | Percentage. Idiots returned asalso deaf and gor 2,339 3.04 Idiots returned asalsoblind . . : 1,403 1.82 Idiots returned as otherwise defective, 3,525 4.58 Idiots returned as simply idiotic 73,370 95.42 Totalidiots... . .... ..| 76,895 | 100.00 TABLE VI. Percentage of the insane population who are otherwise defective. Totals. | Percentage. Insane persons returned as also deaf ' anddumb. . . 298 0.32 Insane persons returned as also blind, 558 0.61 Insane persons returned as otherwise défective . . 826 0.90 Insane ae ee returned as simply in- BANGwAse is) Are. sel nae 91,1383 99.10 Total insane 91,959 100.00 Of 493 blind deaf-mutes, 217, or 44.02 %, are returned as also idiotic. Of 493 blind deaf-mutes, 30, or 6.09 %, are returned as also insane, Of 2,339 idiotic deaf-mutes, 217, or 9.28 %, are returned as also blind. Of 298 insane deaf-mutes, 30, or 10.07 %, are returned as also blind. Of 1,403 blind idiots, 217, or 15.47 %, are returned as also deaf and dumb. Of 558 insane blind persons, 30, or 5.388 %, are returned as also deaf and dumb. The tables seem to indicate that in the case of deafness, blindness, idiocy, and insanity, some correlation exists; for persons having one of those defects appear more liable to the others than persons normally constituted, and doubly defective persons appear to be more liable to be otherwise defective than persons having a single defect. For instance : — (a) Of 50,155,783 persons in the United States, 246,816, or 0.4921 %, are defective. (6) Of 246,816 defective persons, 4,597, or 1.86 %, are doubly defective. (c) Of 4,597 doubly defective persons, 247, or 5.37 %, are trebly defective. The results obtained above, I think, merit the consideration of scientific men, and are calculated to throw light upon the subject of correlated defects. Although the proportion of the insane who are deaf or blind is abnormally large, the evi- dences of a correlation between insanity and the other defects noted above are not well marked ; but in regard to deafness, blindness, and idiocy, a marked correlation appears to exist. 1. Deaf-mutes. — There are fourteen and a half times as many blind persons among the deaf and dumb in proportion to the population as there are in the community at large, and forty-six times as many idiotic. 2. Blind. —There are fourteen times as many deaf-mutes among the blind in propor- tion to the population as there are in the com- munity at large, and nineteen times as many idiots. 3. Idiotic. — There are forty-three times as many deaf-mutes among the idiotic in propor- tion to the population as there are in the com- munity at large, and eighteen times as many blind. The apparent correlation between deafness, blindness, and idiocy, may possibly indicate — that in a certain proportion of cases these : defects arise from a common cause, perhaps — arrested development of the nervous system. — It is of course possible that some of tl persons returned as ‘ blind deaf-mutes’ m FEBRUARY 18, 1885.] have lost sight and hearing from the same disease. The returns have not yet been suf- ficiently analyzed to enable us even to separate the congenital from the adventitious cases. We cannot therefore tell at the present time how far the evidences of correlation may be weakened by a closer inspection of details. The large number of deaf-mutes who have been classified as idiots, also suggests caution in accepting the returns. I recently met a young lady—one of the brightest and best pupils of the Illinois institution for the deaf and dumb — who commenced her school-life in an idiot-asylum. She was there discovered to be simply deaf, and was transferred to the Institution for the deaf and dumb at Jackson- ville, where she not only received a good education, but was successfully taught to speak. Not only are children who are simply deaf, sometimes sent to idiot-schools; but idiotic children who hear perfectly are often sent to institutions for the deaf and dumb, when it becomes the painful duty of the prin- cipal to undeceive the parents as to the real condition of their child. The. difficulty in distinguishing these two classes of defective persons arises from the absence of articulate speech. Children who are deaf from infancy, and idiots, do not naturally speak, but from very different causes. In the one case, the cause is lack of hearing; in the other, lack of intelligence. The judgment of unskilled per- sons regarding the intelligence of deaf-mutes should evidently be received with caution. It is only to be hoped that the number of idiotic deaf-mutes returned in the census has been over-estimated. Before accepting the results as thoroughly reliable, it would be well to know whether or not the persons who made the re- turns were competent to judge in the matter. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL. EARTHQUAKE OF JAN. 2, 1885. Tue daily papers of Jan. 3 contained re- ports of a slight earthquake in Maryland and Virginia the previous evening. On Jan. 4 circulars of inquiry were sent to more than twenty places in the vicinity of the reported shock. The questions asked had reference to the time of the shock, its dura- tion, number of shocks, character of accom- panying noise, and intensity according to a given scale. It will be necessary here to quote only the first three of the six numbers of this proposed scale of intensity, which are as follows : — SCIENCE. 129 No. 1. Very light. — Noticed by a few per- sons, but not generally felt. No. 2. Light. — Felt by the majority of per- sons, rattling windows and crockery. No. 3. Moderate. -—-Sufficient to set sus- pended objects (chandeliers, etc.) swinging, or to overthrow light objects. In response to this circular, seventeen writ- ten reports, and a copy of the Leesburg Mirror, were received ; and from these replies, together with reports in the New-York Tribune and in Science, a tabulated summary was prepared, and represented graphically upon the accom- panying map, on which are marked all the places from which any report, either manu- script or press, was at hand. As is there shown, the northern boundary of the region affected is well determined by manuscript reports from five places lying be- yond its limits. The inquiries, which might have determined its limits as clearly in other directions, failed to elicit any response. It appears to have extended very little, if at all, west of the mountains. The only direct report obtained from that region was from Boones- borough, Md., where it was felt near, but not in, the town. The Leesburg Mirror stated generally that it was felt in Jefferson county, W. Va., but no reply was received to circu- lars sent there. The closest approximation to the true time is probably 21h. 12.1 m. eastern time, as given by W. C. Winlock at Washington, D.C., with which agree also the reports of W. J. Grove at Lime Kiln, Md., and W. H. Routzahn at Middletown, Md. ‘These are the only reports which vary from 21h. 10m. or 21h. 15 m., ex- cept Fairfax, Va., which is 21h. 5m., and W. H. Dall at Washington, who gave 21h. 16m. At Adamstown, Md., two shocks were reported ; and at Buckeystown, Md., a second very light shock at 21h. 45 m. The estimates of duration were, as usual, very discordant, varying all the way from three seconds to two minutes. As the ten- dency of ordinary observers is always to ex- aggerate this element, the unexpected and exciting nature of the phenomena making the time seem longer than it really is, probably ten or fifteen seconds would be a liberal esti- mate of the duration. The noise accompanying the shock was compared to that made by a loaded wagon passing rapidly over frozen ground or over a bridge, to distant thunder, and to the roaring of a chimney on fire. In some cases persons went out of their houses to see if their chim- neys were not burning. 130 The shock seems to have been most severe in the southern part of Frederick county, Md., where, at Petersville and Lime Kiln, it reached No. 3 of the proposed scale. At most places it did not exceed No. 2, and it is therefore called above a ‘light’ shock. There are some SCIENCE. -: Baoxerbove™ = SN ~N O AMERICAN MILK. Some interesting facts have come to light, during the investigations, by the U.S. agri- cultural bureau of chemistry, of the composi- tion of milk. The object of the investigation > OEmm ZO Bovis MARYLAN tile rtiyta Wyte » gore ow 4 vgn SAPS RS OS oor~ eS etl @ lor LEESBURG. n,) “l2 O Not felt. Patomac » ermwell ) Very light. -6- Light. @® Moderate. @ Not reported. EARTHQUAKE, JAN. 2, 1885, 9H. 12 M., P.M. indications, also, of a focus of increased inten- sity in the southern part of the area affected, as shown by the reports from Warrenton and Fairfax, Va., but no confirmation of these was obtained. The limits of the shock and its intensity at various places, so far as reported, are indicated by appropriate symbols upon the map, to which the reader is referred. C. G. Rockwoop, Jun. is to determine by large numbers of analyses made under uniform conditions, and on sam- ples from various sources, the average constit- uents of American milk. The work which has been done up to this time has been mostly of a local nature, but sufficiently extensive to give value to the results obtained. | The specific gravity of milk is 1.030. When — the cream has been removed, this number is — larger. Twelve samples of milk from Mr. FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] * G. L. Higby gave an average specific gravity of 1.0295. Two samples ofa Jersey cow’s milk sent by the commissioner of agriculture marked 1.033. The milk from Mr. W. Blair, of a cow fed principally on ensilage, twenty- two samples, gave specific gravity 1.0318; same cow fed ‘chop food,’ fifteen analyses, 1.310. It is a very common practice to re- move the cream, and then add water until the milk is reduced to its original density. For this reason the use of the lactometer for deter- mining the purity of milk may lead to serious error. It is also true that perfectly genuine milk may vary greatly in density. The first of the miiking is always poorer in cream, and therefore denser, than the last. Unless, there- fore, the conditions under which the sample of milk is obtained are known, the number ex- pressing its density is not conclusive in respect to its genuineness. The volume of cream which a given milk will afford depends on many conditions. Trans- portation, shape of vessel, temperature, and time allowed for cream to rise, are the chief causes which affect the cream volume. A re- markable decrease in the volume of cream has also been noticed in milk samples purchased in open market. Thirteen samples bought in open market showed a percentage of cream of seven. ‘Thirty-four samples bought of the dairyman, and known to be genuine, gave fif- teen per cent of cream by volume. This curi- ous phenomenon will certainly be of interest to milk- -buy ere. The fat in a milk is not alway Ss In proportion to the volumetric percentage of cream: there- fore the determination of the fat (ether ex- tract) gives a better index of the butter-making value of the milk than is afforded by the vol- ume of the cream alone. In a hundred and seven analyses the average percentage of fat was nearly five. The sugar is the most constant constituent of milk. Over two hundred analyses show an average percentage of sugar of milk of four and six-tenths. Its determination optically is quick and accurate. It is the safest single cri- terion by which to judge of the purity of the sample. The caseine of milk is composed of several albuminoids. No attempt at separation of these bodies has been made. The average percentage of albumens in American milks is markedly less than in those of other countries. In the analyses made, the average per cent is nearly three and a half. These analyses show that the milks of the United States are better adapted for butter than for cheese mak- SCIENCE. 131 ing. They are characterized in general by a large percentage of fat and sugar, and a lower content of albumen, than the milks of Europe. It is the intention of the bureau to extend these analyses so as to determine the localities of the country where the best milks are produced, to note the influence of change of season on the composition of the milk, and to carefully study the characteristics of the milk of differ- ent breeds of cows, and the influence of vari- ous foods thereon. Much of the value of analytical work on milk which is done in this country is lost on ac- count of the many different methods of analy- sisemployed. These different methods render it impossible to compare the work of various analysts. The bureau hopes also, by a patient trial of all the most approved methods, to be able to unite the analysts of the country on that procedure which a large experience may pronounce the best. EW. Wow: NOTICE OF SOME RECENTLY DISCODV- ERED EFFIGY MOUNDS. So few earthworks resembling animals in their shape are known beyond the limits of Wisconsin, that I send you an account of several which I have discovered during the past two seasons, the majority of which are situated south of St. Paul, ame -five of them being in this state. In the diagrams accompanying this article, I have shown the outlines of a few of the most interesting of these Minnesota effigy mounds, and here give a short description of each, with its surroundings. They are all reduced to the same scale, 1: 500. No. 1 is situated near the village of La Crescent, and probably represents a frog. Its oreatest length is ninety-eight feet. The body is two feet high, and the head eighteen inches. Near it is a bird-effigy ; and within a quarter of a mile there are five other bird-effigies, with sixty-nine round mounds and embankments. The frog is on a terrace about fifty feet above the Mississippi River ; and part of the mounds are on the lower terrace, which is about thirty feet above the river. No. 2 is on the town site of Hokah. It is situated on a terrace some seventy feet above Root River. From the extremity of the snout to the tip of the tail, its length in a right line is just sixty-two feet and a half, and the body is a foot and a half in height. ‘There are two bird-effigies on a terrace some ten feet below this one. Formerly there existed sev- <", eas. ih 132 eral other effigies, and thirty or forty mounds and embankments, on the same terrace with the birds, which have been removed in grad- ing streets and lots. No. 3 is near Richmond Station, on a terrace about twenty-four feet above the river. It is seventy-six feet in an air line from tip to tip of the wings; and the body, with head and tail, is forty-four feet in length. The body, to the first joint of the wings, is fifteen inches in height. Formerly a number of ordinary mounds existed in the immediate vicinity of this effigy. No. 4 is situated near the village of Dakota, 7 Tala ip upon a terrace about thirty feet above the river, and is in the midst of nineteen ordinary mounds. Its length is a hundred and ten feet, and the centre of the head is two feet and a half in height. It undoubtedly represents a fish. This is the first case that has been dis- covered of a fish with fins. In the limited territory hitherto examined by me in south-western Wisconsin, it would seem, from the numerous ruined effigies, that there formerly existed hundreds of such works. Judge Gale of Galesville estimated that there were fully one thousand effigies in the southern part of Trempeleau county alone; and, from my own observations, J should say a like esti- mate for Vernon and Crawford counties would be rather under than over the truth. Taking Judge Gale’s estimate for Trempeleau county, and reducing it one-half, there would still re- main more effigies in the one county than can ee oe ee en SCIENCE. we Se ret be enumerated from all the published surveys __ together. } The effigies surveyed by myself, in addition to the twenty-five in Minnesota, are one in Towa, and ninety-six in Wisconsin, —a total of a hundred and twenty-two to the present time. On critically examining their delinea- — tions, very important differences in class and style from those farther east, portrayed in Lapham’s work, are discernible ; so that one is irresistibly drawn to the inference, that, before generalizations of value can be made, ten times the number of facts now recorded must be gathered together. Unfortunately, however,” es x ay N xs ‘| Ni | (Lei, Rien < that fell destroyer of antiquities, the peu annually narrows our field of research. In conclusion, something might be said on the question of the relation between any relics contained in this class of mounds and their shapes. The fact is, however, that little, if any thing, has been understandingly done with a view to ascertain their contents. The few effigies opened along the Mississippi have shown relics and forms of interment similar to those of the common burial-mounds of their — neighborhood. T. H. Lewis. RICHET ON MENTAL SUGGESTION. a In the Revue philosophique for December, Mr. — Richet gives an account of some experiments in — mental suggestion, and attempts to estimate their value by means of the theory of probabilities. Men-— ~ FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] tal suggestion is Richet’s contribution towards the task of naming the new phenomenon which is just now struggling for recognition, and which has been hitherto variously designated as ‘ thought-transfer- ence,’ ‘mind-reading,’ and ‘telepathy.’ ‘Thought- transference,’ it strikes us, is the worst of these names, and ‘telepathy’ the best ; but, as it is desir- able that a phenomenon should not be too rigidly named before it is known what the phenomenon is, we Shall make trial for the present of the new term, “mental suggestion.’ Richet says very happily that the courage of the scientific man consists not only in making experi- ments dangerous to life upon cholera, rabies, and the liquefaction of gases, but also in exposing his repu- tation to blemish by advocating a theory which is generally discredited. Richet has taken his courage in his hand, and has published an article.in which he claims to have established a strong probability in favor of mental suggestion. We venture to believe that the careful reader will come to the conclusion that to offer such unsatisfactory experiments, so in- adequately treated, was a greater strain upon his courage than the novelty of what he attempts to prove. The Society for psychical research has al- ready established a strong presumption in favor of mental action at a distance. Richet’s experiments are not to be compared with those of the society, either in the care with which th2y were performed or the accuracy with which they are described; and his unfamiliarity with the theory of probabilities renders his numerical deductions, except the most obvious ones, misleading and useless. The experiments are mainly of four kinds, — guess- ing the suit of a card drawn at hazard from a full pack, guessing a photograph drawn at hazard from a set of six, finding a watch hidden under one of several orange-trees by means of the vibrations of a stick, and spelling out names by means of table-rappings. There is a great deal that is interesting and sugges- tive in these experiments, and it is a pity that they are not more convincing. It will hardly be believed that in guessing cards the author does not state whether the two persons engaged in the experiment are in contact or not. Such remarkable things are done nowadays in any parlor by musele-reading, that no experiment in which there is contact is of the slightest weight in establishing mental suggestion. Certain precautions, the author says, are indispen- sable, —the cards should be a full pack; the one drawn should be returned after each trial; the person who looks at the card should abstain from every word, from every indication, however imperceptible it may be, — but he omits to say whether he is hand in hand with the person who guesses or not. Doubtless he is not; but an experiment in which so essential a cir- cumstance as this is left to be inferred by the reader is not the kind of experiment that carries conviction with it. The conditions under which the photo- graphs were guessed remain equally undescribed; but the remark, ‘‘It is necessary to eliminate every sign, whether in the direction of the eyes or in the ex- pression, by which an indication can be given,’’ SCIENCE. 133 makes it plain that the simple precaution of putting the performers in such a position that it should be impossible to give any indication by the expression or the direction of the eyes, was not attended to. We pass over the experiments in finding a watch hidden under orange-trees, for the reason, that, in order to attribute any weight to them, it would be necessary to know, among other things, where the person stands who has hidden the watch, and whether the one who finds it is blindfolded or not. That the experiments were performed in a garden in the en- virons of Paris, that the orange-trees were cultivated in boxes, and that they stood in two rows, are the only details that are given. . The last series of experiments was made by Richet and five of his friends, — friends from infancy, intel- ligent men, well-instructed, and not at all mystical,— two of whom are mediums. ‘Three of these men sit at one table, — the rapping-table, — and two, A and B, at another. Some one thinks of aname. A moves a pencil along an alphabet which is on the table in front of him; when he reaches a certain letter, the other table, by rapping, rings a bell, and B writes down the letter indicated. In this way something like the name thought of is written down, — Jeanr for Jfard, Foqdem for Esther, Dierooreg for Cheuv- reux, and, the only very good one, Cheval for Che- valon. The person who has the name in his mind west ni a la table ni a Valphabet; but, to such a degree does Mr. Richet’s talent for incomplete de- scription pursue him, it is not said that he is stand- ing where he cannot see the alphabet. If that is the case, the experiment is a very extraordinary one, totally different from simply divining what another person has in his mind. The medium, who sits laughing, talking, and singing with his friends, is re- quired to give his table a vigorous shaking at the instant that two persons near him, who are think- ing of the letters of the alphabet, happen to think of the same letter. Such magic as this throws even the ghosts of the English society into the shade; and the observer will need to pile Pelion upon Ossa by way of proof, before he can hope to gain credence for it. Admitting that Richet’s experiments were per- formed with a rigor with which they are not de- scribed, his estimation of the improbability of their results arising by chance falls far short of the truth. He says, after combining the results of all his ex- periments, — those made with mediums, with ‘sensi- tives,’ and with the non-hypnotizable,—that the probability in favor of mental suggestion may be represented by 3. This number is the ratio of the difference between the actual number and the probable number of successes to the whole number of trials. But a comparison of this sort affords no measure of the improbability of the observed facts being the result of chance. It is not the deviation from an average, but the probability that a given deviation should arise, that gives the value of the evidence in favor of the operation of acause. Richet does not seem to know that there is a mathematical formula by which this probability is determined. For instance: in three series of experiments in guess- 134 ing cards, he made, in all, 2,927 trials, and obtained 789 successes instead of 732, which is the number that chance alone would lead him to expect. The probability that the actual number of successes shall differ from the probable number in either direction by so much as 57 in 2,927 trials (by 4 in s trials, say) is approximately, — which gives in the present case ~;; that is to say, there is in reality one chance in seventy of so great a deviation arising by accident, while Richet would make it fifty in fifty-one. We repeat that many of Mr. Richet’s experiments are interesting, and the results very striking. Itisa pity that they are not more effective than they are in placing the question of mental suggestion upon a scientific basis. CURISTINE LADD FRANKLIN. THE DIMENSIONS OF SHIPS. I HAVE often thought, that, in practising the art of ship-building, men have too much neglected the study of the forms of the fish which make the waters their permanent habitation, and are designed for the most part to attain the highest degree of velocity in the pursuit of their prey. No doubt, the case of a ship ’ partly, and that of a fish wholly, immersed, are not strictly parallel; but they offer very many points for comparison of which we may avail ourselves. A fish makes use of its tail-fin as the chief and nearly sole instrument of propulsion; and, in the adoption of the screw-propeller in preference to the old side-wheels, the steamers of the present day have secured a great advantage over the old forms. In the proportion of length to those of breadth and depth, however, although there has of late been some im- provement, there would appear to be a lingering ten- dency to hold by the old mistaken idea that a ship was rather to be regarded as a wedge to cut the water than as occupying the space of a wave of displace- ment; and so we have ships nine, ten, or even eleven times as long as broad, and twenty times the length that they have draught. Now, knowing as we do the magnitude of the skin-resistance in ships, and its smallness in the oily coats of fishes, one would expect that the length of the latter would be greater propor- tionally than that of the former, if ships were built in the proper form to secure a high velocity. But what is the fact? On an average of sixteen fresh-water fish delineated in Daniell, I find that the extreme length, inclusive of the tail-fin, is four and twenty- two hundredths times that of the extreme depth ex- clusive of the dorsal and ventral fins. The average breadth will be perhaps one-half of the depth, mak- ing the proportion to length about 1:8. Abstract of a paper by Dr. J. P. JouLE, published in the Pro- ceedings of the Manchester literary and philosophical society. SCIENCE. i [VoL. NS; No. y 06, " On an average of three species of whale, the nar- whal, Greenland shark, dolphin, and the porpoise, I find from Scoresby and other authorities the propor- tion of either depth or breadth to length to be about 1:4.7, they having nearly circular sections. There- fore it appears, that, while in ships the proportion of length to width of midship immersion is 5:1, that of the shark, the porpoise, or dolphin, is not more than 1.5:1. Dr. Scoresby, in his ‘ Arctic regions,’ gives twelve miles per hour as the utmost speed of the whale; but Mr. Baxendell gives it a velocity approaching twenty miles. I had an opportunity of witnessing the wonderful swimming-powers of the porpoise dur- ing a voyage to the Clyde in the Owl steamer on the — 29th of June last. About eight A.M., the sea being calm near the Mull of Galloway, we were beset by a shoal of these animals, which raced with the ship, and kept alongside for three or four minutes with the greatest ease. They swam in twos and threes, at a foot or two distant: from one another, several ap- proaching within ten feet of the vessel, which was steaming at the rate of thirteen and four-tenths statute miles per hour. If such a velocity can be maintained by the porpoise, with its comparatively bluff figure-head, we may surely expect a much higher velocity in the case of fish more obviously designed for speed. My son tells me that in a voyage of the Malvina from Leith to London he had observed at night two fishes of about a yard long which kepf for a consider- able time in advance of the cutwater of the ship, be- ing visible by their phosphorescent light. The ship was at the time steaming at the rate of fifteen and two-tenths statute miles per hour. The investigation of the resistance of solids mov- ing in fluids has been taken up theoretically by Thomson, Stokes, Rankine, and practically by Froude, who has found that the surface friction in long iron ships is more than fifty-eight per cent of the whole. Froude recognized the study of the forms of animal life in guiding us to practical conclusions. From the above considerations, I am inclined to believe that a length of not more than five to one of breadth would be better than the extreme proportions of ships now in vogue, and that the greatest breadth should be considerably in advance of the midship. RECENT TRAVELS IN ARABIA. From the recently printed account of Mr. Charles Huber’s mission in Arabia we cull some notes of gen- | eral interest. On an excursion to the great mountain Jebel Aga, the party camped at the entrance of the Tuarin val- ley, near the ruins of the little fortress El Asfar. Three palms grow here; and there is a little spring whose temperature, 75° F., indicates the heat of the soil and rock in this arid region. Around the ruins were traces of cultivation and abandoned wells. At a short distance the traveller was fortunate enough FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] to make the second known discovery of Himiarite inscriptions, of which there were nine. These were on a block of granite of enormous size, under whose shade travellers have refreshed themselves for many centuries, as these inscriptions, supposed to be more than two thousand years old, sufficiently indicate. They are accompanied by rude outlines of horsemen brandishing the sword and lance, precisely similar to sketches made in Huber’s note-book by a living Arab chief at Hail. It is probable that the first Himiarites established themselves in the Tuarin valley on their southward migration. In the numerous revolutions which have devastated Arabia, it is probable that the valley has been many times depopulated. Farther on, the party passed a singular rock, which, in falling from the crag, had perched itself on a gran- ite mass by three sharp points. Being somewhat concave below, it resounds like a rather heavy bell to the strokes of a cane, —an infallible sign, according to the Arabs, of concealed treasures. Their camp, a few miles beyond, was in the midst of a remarkable ravine of a uniform width of about fifteen hundred feet, bordered by granite walls about nine hundred feet in height, presenting in the sun remarkable hues of red, violet, brown, and rose. The perfectly level sandy soil was of a peculiar rose color, and the im- pression conveyed was of a gigantic street newly swept and silent. Access to the Gou valley was ob- tained through a very narrow ravine encumbered with fallen blocks, hardly affording passage for a camel. Above this it enlarges into a circular plateau continued on the other side by a long boulevard of magnificent palms. The spot seemed a terrestrial paradise. Flocks of birds, so rare in this parched land, delighted the eye, and their songs broke the silence of the desert in a delightful manner. Vegetation was luxuriant and beautiful; and a flowing spring re- freshed the party, though its temperature was not less than 82° F. In travelling about the Jebel Aga, ascent was found practicable only in a very few places. The walls rise abruptly without foot-hills, and are of a gray, red, or reddish-brown granite of coarse grain composed of quartz, with large crystals of red and white felspar with grains of pegmatite. The dip of the beds is about 55° toward the horizon. The wind in this part of Arabia blows always from the west. The road passing through the region of Jebel Selma, at no great distance from the Jebel Aga, traverses an isolated volcanic district, where the pas- sage is often only wide enough for single file. Several craters, one twenty-five hundred feet across, still re- main, and, though now safe for travellers, were for- erly the fastnesses of Arab robbers, whose attacks made the region deserve, even more than its natural character, its Arabian name of Gehenna. Beyond, just where the grits replace the basaltic rocks, lies the little town of Feyd, containing some forty houses. Anciently this was a site of renown, for whose de- termination Ritter vainly spent many pages of dis- cussion; but its splendor has departed. Around it, at no great distance, are scattered low hills of vol- canic origin, in some of which the craters are still SCIENCE. 135 evident. Water lies under a bed of basalt, very hard, and six or seven feet thick, covered with about thirty feet of sand and gravel. The wells, singularly enough, are connected by subterranean tunnels. This water, accessible only at the cost of so much labor, must be raised to water the palm-trees, and is reported to be gradually diminishing, to which the decay of the ancient city is probably due. The des- ert around Feyd is called Aba-el-Krus. Thence toward El Kehafah the path traverses a re- gion of voleanic rock, which emerges from the sur- face on either hand in a singular manner. It looks as if the whole region had been once a boiling liquid lava which had been suddenly congealed, leaving solidified bubbles twenty-five to thirty-five feet in diameter, which appear at every step. A little sand is found here and there in crevices, with an occasional shrub growing in it; but apart from this, the desert is absolutely naked rock of indescribable desolation, —a corner of the real Arabia Petraea. The name of this waste is El Sardfah. In this region, according to the Arabs, there are some ten rainy days at the beginning of winter: the rest of the year is literally dry. Beyond Kehafah several small oases were seen of a singular geological structure, which is, however, common in the region. They consist of elliptical dish-like depressions, dipping slightly toward the north, their axes north-west and south-east, and about twenty-four kilometres in length by half as much in width. The margins of these basins are abruptly elevated, rocky walls, about thirty or forty feet in height. The wells pass through twelve or fifteen feet of gravel and rock, beneath which is water in abundance, but too bitter to be potable.~ Drinking- water is accessible in but two or three places. The road from Kehafah to ’Ayoun passes the boundary of the safe country, and enters the region of robber no- mads. A singular rock, much resembling the sphinx in form, partly covered with illegible Himiarite and Arabic inscriptions, lies isolated near the route, and beyond a much smaller one, from which a few in- scriptions could be transcribed. The inhabitants of this region are small, shriveled, and sickly-looking, in strong contrast with the fine physique of the people of El Jebel, which the traveller had left. They are violent fanatics, from whom his safe return was fortunate. The mean temperature of the soil here was 84°; and during one day, with a hot wind, the thermometer rose to 122° F. in the shade. STEAM ON STREET-RAILWAYS. THE Hon. R. C. Parsons recently read a paper before the British institution of civil engineers, in which the progress of steam-locomotion on street- railways was very fully considered. It was asserted that very little success had attended the efforts made to introduce steam as a motor on the common high- way, while the privileges accorded by special legis- lation to the street-railway companies have led to comparatively great success in that direction. The British ‘Board of trade’ regulations have ca? i 136 been amended in such manner as to protect the pub- lic, without hampering the use of steam. A special type of engine, with vertical cylinders, carried well up above the axles (to secure them from injury by mud and dust, and to make them readily accessible), and fitted with long connecting-rods, coupled directly to the leading axles, has been applied to the street- ears. All four wheels are connected by coupling- rods, as in the locomotive, and the exhaust steam is concealed by various expedients. The surface-con- denser was considered more economical than super- heating, to produce efficiency, and air-condensers were thought practicable. Engine and passenger-car were often combined,—a method used in various American systems, —in one of which (Rowan’s) the engine can be removed, and another substituted, in a few minutes. Depreciation was allowed for at 10%. Depreciation on the line alone was taken as 3%. The cost of operation was stated at 2.28 pence per mile, while the total of all expenses was given at 9.33 pence per mile, and every penny per mile above this figure should give 2.2% in dividends. The line intended for such steam-traffic should be very substantially built, and large cars‘and moderate fares were advised. Mr. Shellshear gave an account of the street-rail- ways of Sydney, New South Wales, all of which are worked by the ordinary railway system. The num- ber of passengers carried in 1882, on twenty-two miles of road, was 15,269,100, or about 200,000 per mile; and the earnings were over $40,000 per mile, or about 2% per mile. The gauge was 4 feet 84 inches, and the number of motors employed was 57, includ- ing several American (Baldwin) tank-engines, which work more smoothly than the English or home- made engines. The government is having other steam-cars, on the American system, built by the Baldwin works. The result has proved that horse- traction must yield to mechanical power. MORTILLET’S CONCLUSIONS REGARD- ING EARLY MAN IN EUROPE. 1. During the tertiary age, there existed a being in- telligent enough to produce fire and to fabricate stone implements. 2. This being was not yet man: it was his precur- sor, — an ancestral form, to which I have given the name of the man-ape. 3. Man appeared in Europe at the beginning of the quaternary period, at least 230,000 or 240,000 years ago. 4. Our first human type was that of Neanderthal. This type, essentially autochthonous, was slowly modified and developed during the quaternary peri- od, resulting in the type of Cro-Magnon. 5. His industry, very rudimentary at first, devel- oped progressively in a regular manner, without shocks. This proves that the progressive movement went on upon the spot, without the intervention of propagandism and invasion from abroad. It was therefore really an autochthonous industry. 6. The regular development of this industry has enabled me to divide the quaternary period into four SCIENCE. epochs, —first, the chellean, anterior to the glacial period; second, the mousterian, contemporaneous with it; third and fourth, the solutrian and the magdalenian, posterior to it. | ‘ 7. Quaternary man, mainly a fisherman, and espe- cially a hunter, was acquainted neither with agricul- ture nor with the domestication of animals. 8. He lived in peace, entirely destitute of religious ideas. 9. Towards the end of the quaternary period, in the solutrian and the magdalenian epochs, he became an artist. 10. With the present condition of things, there have come invasions from the east which have pro- foundly modified the population of western Europe. , These have brought thither ethnic elements entirely new, and in great part brachycephalic. To the sim- plicity and the purity of the autochthonous dolichoce- phalic race, there have succeeded numerous crosses and mixtures. 11. The industry is found to be profoundly modi- fied. Religious ideas, the domestication of animals, and agriculture have made their appearance in west- ern Europe. 12. This first invasion, which took place at the Robenhausen epoch, set out from the regions of Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Caucasus. PARKER’S TEXT-BOOK OF DISSECTION. Tuts book is well printed, and presents an attractive appearance. Of the seventy-four woodcuts, all are good, some excellent. The plan of the book is similar to that of Huxley and Martin’s ‘ Elementary biology,’ and, like it, is designed as a course of laboratory instruc- tion. Our author deals with the anatomy of the lamprey, skate, cod, lizard, pigeon, and ’ rabbit. It will be seen that the anatomy of a . representative form of each of the vertebrate classes except the Amphibia is takenup. A type of this latter group was evidently omitted with purpose, since Huxley and Martin’s ‘Biology’ takes up the anatomy of the frog. The anatomy of the types selected is consid- ered from an independent point of view, and the author makes no attempt whatever to give a detailed or complete account of their struc- ture. He dwells on the more important points, taking up the anatomy in quite as detailed a manner as desirable, and perhaps more fully than can be compassed by the student in most of our laboratories. General directions are given as to instruments, methods of dissection, and preparation, followed by more detailed instructions about dissection of the types con- A course of instruction in zodtomy (Vertebrata). By T. JEFFERY PARKER, B.Sc., London professor of biology in the University of Otago, New Zealand. With seventy-four illustra- tions. London, Macmillan & Co., 1884. 23+397 illustr. 8°. fe ae! FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] sidered ; as, for example, how and where to cut to make out the anatomy of the special parts, and their relations to one another. The di- rections are clear and concise, and the student will have no trouble either in dissecting or identifying the various parts. We think the introduction of clear woodcuts an important and legitimate aid to the student, and a great improvement thereby over Huxley and Martin’s ‘ Biology.’ The book, in short, is admirably adapted for laboratory work, and furnishes to the student who will take specimens in.hand, and dissect with care, a sufficient guide in making out the essential points in vertebrate anatomy. RECENT PHYSIOLOGICAL TEXT-BOOKS. Hourcuison’s physiology has been before the public for some time, and apparently has met with considerable success as a school text-book. The revised edition that is now offered has but few changes. The book as a whole is com- mendable as a collection of facts, physiologi- cal, anatomical, and hygienic, a knowledge of which will be useful to people of all callings in life. But it is questionable whether it is a book that a thoughtful physiologist would like to see generally introduced into schools as a text-book. No chemist at the present time would wish to have an elementary text-book of chemistry merely a collection of facts or receipts, however interesting and useful such facts might be. The demand is being made in that branch of science for text-books of a higher order, which shall make the facts pre- sented, as far as possible, illustrations of the more important general laws of chemical action. Some such reform should be attempted in elementary text-books of physiology. Physi- ology is worthy of being taught, in part at least, as a branch of human knowledge, or for the sake of mental training, and not simply for the purpose of preserving health, or en- abling a person to conduct himself properly in cease of an accident. The remarks upon personal hygiene in the book are in the main well chosen and to the point; but, in regard to the action of alcohol, the author’s prejudices, or desire to do good, have evidently biassed his statement of facts. The book contains a number of errors which should be corrected ; such as, ‘‘ sugar changes Hcteas0x, M D.LLD. New York. Clark & Maynard, 1884. The essentials of anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. By Roecer 8. Tracy, M.D. New York, Appleton, 1884. Llustr. 8°. SCIENCE. 137 to fat in the body,’’ ‘‘ the acidity of the gas- tric juice is due to lactic-acid,’’ and the rather incomprehensible statement that albumen gives ‘smoothness and swift motion’ to the plasma of the blood. Another error common to both books under review is, that the proteids of the blood are spoken of as albumen and fibrine. There is no such thing as fibrine in circulating blood; and, if it is necessary to mention at all the chemical constituents of the plasma, some- thing a little more in:accord with what is actu- ally known might be given. Tracy’s book aims to be a more scientific presentation of the facts of physiology and hygiene than is usually met with in elemen- tary text-books; but whether the result has fulfilled the author’s expectations is one of the things that might be doubted. It is scarcely scientific, for instance, to speak of alcohol as a ‘rank poison,’ without any qualification whatever. While such language is expected from a temperance orator, it is somewhat out of place in an elementary book supposed to give generally accepted facts. Quite enough can be said truthfully against the use of alco- hol without making statements which are not borne out by the facts of physiology. The book has some serious defects, such as the failure to say any thing at all of the func- tion or structure of the kidneys, except in a purely incidental way. It contains also nu- merous errors or badly emphasized statements ; such as the origin of lymph (p. 88), the action of the sympathetic nerves (p. 175). the mechan- ism of the reflex secretion of saliva (p. 178), the statement that all bones are at one time cartilaginous, etc. Some of the chapters — that on respiration, for instance — are well written, in clear and accurate language; and the remarks on hygiene form, probably, the best part of the book. But, as far as its physi- ology is concerned, the book bears evidence of having been written by one not thoroughly conversant with the subject. A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSICAL GEOLOGY. Tue author of this small volume has made a step in the right direction, for the plan of his book involves the wise omission of historic geology and paleontology, — subjects into whose full meaning the beginner makes but little real progress. The book would have been further improved by the omission of much of the sec- The students handbook of physical JUKES-BROWNE. 514 p., illustr. 8°. geology. By A.J. New York, Scribner & Welford, 1884. 12 + 138 tion on lithology, not from fault to be found with the treatment of the subject, but because lithology has now become too serious a study to be treated in so compressed a form. The student who uses this book without previous ac- quaintance with the rock-forming minerals that are here briefly described cannot obtain from the forty-six pages given to this section the knowledge that they are intended to give; un- less, indeed, there is so liberal a supplement of personal instruction as to make the text practi- cally unnecessary. We are familiar nowadays with the reaction against the mere verbal teach- ing of physics and chemistry, zodlogy and botany. The same spirit of reform should exclude brief treatment of lithology from an elementary book on physical geology. And, if the student protests that he wishes to gain at least a superficial knowledge of lithology, let the teacher confidently assure him that there is no such thing, but only a superficial igno- rance. Better admit full ignorance than pre- tend to scanty knowledge, and use the space in the book and the time that would be given to it for fuller discussion of other subjects. ‘The open admission of the author’s own lack of expertness in modern lithology, by his accept- ance of a chapter on the igneous rocks from Professor Bonney, is evidence enough that the section in question should not have been in- serted in a book of this title. The rest of the work is more satisfactory, because the elements of the subjects that it professes to teach can really be learned from it. It is characteristically British in fact and example, although some illustrations are taken from other countries. Its figures are hardly so good as they should be in this day of dry-plate photographs and easy reproduction of pen- and-ink diagrams. ‘The chapter on earthquakes needs a good revision, and a terminology might be improved that allows such expressions as ‘ mass or weight,’ ‘ ridge or mesa,’ using these words apparently as synonymes. But, as a whole, the book gives brief, correct, and well- arranged mention of the more salient geologi- cal facts and theories, under the headings of ‘change by internal causes ;’ ‘surface agencies, destructive and constructive ;’ ‘petrology and physiographic geology.’ The description of the effects of faulting is exceptionally full ; and unconformity, overlap, and overstep receive more than the usual share of attention. Under fluviatile agencies, Powell’s expression, ‘ base level of erosion,’ is accepted as the most fitting to describe this important and commonly neg- lected plane of reference ; and, after definition and illustration, the author pertinently adds, SCIENCE. i Pol _™ a LV Tee [Vou. V., No. 108) that it is mainly because the early advocates of river-erosion neglected to insist on the con- trol which elevation or depression exercised on river-action, that many observers have been unable to believe that rivers have had any sig- nificant share in the excavation of their valleys. There is to our mind an unnecessary scepti- cism as to the subglacial origin of bowlder-clay. The small and nowold glaciers, which have long ago swept their beds so clean, afford only im- perfect illustration of what went on beneath the ice-sheet just after its conquest of a land covered with the waste of secular disintegra- - tion; and there is nothing inconsistent in the belief that till was accumulated at one place, while moderate-sized lake-basins were exca- vated at another, as Geikie and Helland have fully shown. The localities selected for illus- tration are so largely English, that the book would require re-making to prepare it for Amer- ican schools. We wish that some of our geol- ogists who are broadly acquainted with the country east and west might undertake the task. A TEXT-BOOK OF MICROSCOPICAL. PETROGRAPHY. Ar this time, when the interest in micro- scopical petrography is so steadily on the in- crease, the need of a concise, accurate, and recent text-book on the subject is daily be- coming more apparent. That such a one does not exist in English is to be much regretted ; but this very fact will cause information re- garding an admirable one, which has just appeared in Germany, to prove all the more acceptable to geological students. Dr. Hus- sak’s book is short and elementary; but it contains the results, even the most recent, which have thus far been attained by the many workers in microscopical mineralogy and lith- ology, stated in a clear manner. The first part treats of methods — optical, chemical, and mechanical— which are now } applied to the study of rock-constituents, as 7 well as the general morphological properties which characterize them. Part second con- sists of a tabular arrangement of all the rock- forming minerals, with their characteristic microscopic appearance, chemical reactions, associations, decomposition products, and all other peculiarities which might serve in their accurate diagnosis, arranged in parallel col- umns. This is all given in a very small space ; but the copious and excellent references furnish Anleitung zum bestimmen der gesteinbildenden mineralien. Von Dr. EucEN Hussak. Leipzig, 1885. 196 p., 163 figs; 8°. ° FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] the student with the means of following up the literature of any subject as thoroughly as he may be inclined. ‘The figures are numerous, new, and admirably fitted to illustrate the points for which they are intended. Altogether, the book is well suited for the wants of beginners, to whom the size and abstruseness of the larger works on petrography are often discouraging ; and it will doubtless find many readers in this country as well as in Europe. It would abundantly repay translating into English. SIMON’S MANUAL OF CHEMISTRY. Tus book, as the preface informs us, is in- tended as a guide to lectures and laboratory work for beginners in chemistry, being espe- cially adapted for the use of pharmaceutical and medical students. It is hard to see, how- ever, in what respects pharmaceutical or medi- cal students need special methods of treatment in their commencement of the study of chem- istry before they enter upon a study of those particular branches of the science especially necessary to them in their profession. A peculiar feature of the book is the pres- ence of seven colored plates, showing the va- riously shaded colors of the more common chemicals, and their color-reactions; such as the red of mercuric iodide, the yellow of arse- nious sulphide, the shades of color produced by the action of reducing-agents on a solution of potassium dichromate, etc., —a feature which can possess little value to a laboratory student, who must necessarily become familiar with these colored substances and their reactions by personal experience. The book, however, bears the appearance of being intended for students who are to have but little laboratory work; and, indeed, with the exception of the portion treating of metals and their combina- tions, it cannot be considered as a really good text-book for laboratory use. There is noticeable, moreover, throughout the book, an apparent lack of connection be- tween fact and theory. The facts are given, but the theory is lacking. When supplemented by lectures, this defect might not be so notice- able. It is, however, a pvint to which the student’s attention needs to be constantly called. Chemistry is more than a collection of facts: it is a living science. [Facts serve as a basis upon which to build theories ; and the mutual connection of fact and theory needs to be constantly indicated, as well as the meth- Manual of chemistry. By W. Simon. Philadelphia, Lea’s son & Co., 1334. illustr. 8°. SCIENCE. 139 ods of reasoning by which the theoretical con- clusions are reached. The book, however, possesses some admira- ble features. As a whole, it is well written, is systematic, and contains much that is valuable. Its main defect as an elementary text-book consists in the attempt to cover too great a variety of subjects at the expense of thorough- ness. - Critical examination, moreover, reveals here and there an occasional incorrect or mis- leading statement. Thus, on p. 358 we are told that ‘‘ptyalin, the active principle of saliva, is a ferment which has the power of con- verting starch into glucose,’’ whereas it has been known for the last five years that the main product of the amylolytic action of saliva is maltose. The method for the determination of nitrogen, given on p. 241, can hardly be considered as the method generally used for this purpose, as is claimed by the author; neither can the method, given on the same page, for the determination of carbon and hy- drogen ‘‘ by passing dry oxygen gas over the substance heated in a glass tube,’’ be taken as a satisfactory statement of the method gener- ally used for making a ‘ combustion’ in oxy- gen gas. Again: we are told on p. 359 that pepsin, in the presence of free hydrochloric acid, does not prevent the continued action of saliva on starch, whereas it has been plainly demonstrated within the last three years that the ferment of saliva is completely destroyed by gastric juice, and even by dilute hydro- chloric acid alone. NEW TEXT-BOOKS OF PHYSICS. Mr. Gace states his aim to be, ‘‘to collate in this volume something of value to every teacher of physical science.’? The book is divided into five parts: laboratory exercises, manual of manipulation, general review of physics, test-questions, and key to solution of problems. ‘The experiments given in the first part are mostly well enough, and some of them even of considerable ingenuity. They are, however, numbered in a minute fashion, which is likely to mislead one who reads in the announcement that there are two hundred and thirty-eight experiments. In the forty- five pages devoted to the ‘manual of manipu- lation,’ very few directions for manipulation Physical technics, or, Teacher’s manual of physical manip- unto ee By ALFRED P. Gace, A.M. Boston, Author, 1884. 200 p. 8°. Problémes de physique de mécanique, de cosmographie, de chimie. Par EDME JACQUIER. Paris, Gauthier- Villars, 18S. 627 Lp eere yay a 140 are given, and these few are not all that could be desired. This ‘manual of manipulation ’ is mostly given up to the discussion of such topics as ‘units of mass and force,’ ‘ inertia,’ ‘corpuscular theory of heat,’ ‘ what is elec- tricity?’ etc., closing with several pages of ‘odds and ends.’ Im short, this part is any thing but a manual of manipulation: it is rather a dumping-ground for the disconnected contents of one of the author’s note-books. The test-questions and solutions to problems in the author’s ‘ Elements of physics’ fill the remainder of the little volume, and will, with- out doubt, be of value to those teachers who use his earlier book. The book will prove a disappointment to most teachers. It is really a supplement to Mr. Gage’s ‘ Physics,’ but the matter which it contains should have been reserved for use in the preparation of a second edition of that work. The ‘ Problémes de physique’ of Jacquier is too meagre for a text-book, too full fora mere collection of problems. It is probably intended to supplement a course of lectures. The reader who is familiar with the ordinary elementary text-books of physics will find little really new or inspiring here, but rather the old, more or less satisfactory demonstra- tions, without the calculus, of the laws of cen- trifugal force, the simple pendulum, the flow of liquids from an orifice, the foci of lenses, etc., presented as the solutions of problems. The ordinary student would find this very tedious. The part devoted to heat, with its uncompro- mising applications of ‘ bindmes de dilatation,’ etc., would be salutary exercise, perhaps ; but it reminds one of the ‘school of the soldier.’ We can imagine no one but an enlisted man going through it. Of course, it would be unfair to imply that the author has in no point improved upon the work of other makers of elementary books. His second proof of the law of centrif- ugal force almost avoids the familiar assump- tion that unequal things are equal; and his page devoted to showing how the one fluid theory accounts for electric attractions and re- pulsions would be new and interesting to many readers. The book concludes with a collection of a hundred and seventy-one ‘ problems for solu- tion,’ given without answers. These, with the exception of seventeen which deal with chemical equivalents, are of about the same character as the problems in the last edition of Everett’s ‘ Deschanel,’ and will possibly be welcomed by the weary makers of examina- tion-papers. . SCIENCE. NOTES AND NEWS. Mr. ALEXANDER AGASSIZz’s resignation of his po- sition as a fellow of Harvard college was naturally ac- | cepted by the corporation with great reluctance. The Bulletin of the university just published contains the formal votes taken at the meeting of Oct. 24, which state ‘‘that the wide range of his sympathies and interests, the confidence and affection which he in- spired, and the varied information which he possessed both as a man of business and as a man of science, made his services as a fellow of singular value to the university; that his great gifts within the past thirteen years to the scientific departments, and especially to the Museum of comparative zoology, which amount - to more than half a million of dollars, make him one of the chief benefactors of the university, and entitle him to its profound gratitude.’’ — The Harvard university bulletin for January con- tains a further instalment of Mr. Winsor’s collation of the Kohl collection of early American maps, and the beginning (267 numbers) of another of Mr. Bliss’s valuable indexes to map literature, in which the various publications of the London geographical society, together with the two principal London geo- graphical journals, — Ocean highways and the Geo- graphical magazine, — are treated in the same manner as he formerly indexed Petermann’s mittheilungen. It will prove exceedingly convenient. — The Ottawa field-naturalists’ club makes a rather remarkable showing for so young a society. It has a membership of about a hundred and fifty, and an annual fee of adollar. It has just published the fifth number of its Transactions, a pamphlet of a hun- dred and fifty pages, and yet has no debt. The pamphlet contains some matter of a general interest, particularly an article by Mr. W. P. Lett on the deer of the Ottawa valley, — the moose, caribou, wapiti, and Virginia deer, —and one on phosphates by Dr. G. M. Dawson. — A course of twelve lectures on geology will be given on Thursday afternoons during February, March, and April, beginning Feb. 12, by Prof. Daniel S. Martin, at No. 58 West Fifty-fifth Street, New York. These lectures are designed especially, though not exclusively, for ladies, and are held in the build- ing occupied by Rutgers female college. . — The Saturday lectures during February and March, under the auspices of the anthropological and biological societies of Washington, will consist of the following: Professor John Fiske, Results in England of the surrender of Cornwallis; Dr. George M. Sternberg, U.S.A., Germs and germicides; the Hon. Eugene Schuyler, The machinery of our foreign service; Mr. William T. Hornaday, Natural history and people of Borneo; Mr. Charles D. Wal- cott, Searching for the first forms of life; President E. M. Gallaudet, The language of signs, and the combined method of instructing deaf-mutes. — The Records of the Geological survey of India, vol. xvii. part iv., contains a paper on Mr. H. B. Foote’s work at the Bilba Surgam caves, in which the — Viol, 785 No. 106. — g ‘ FEBRUARY 13, 1885.] existence of man in a low stage of civilization was ascertained by the discovery of a ‘‘ well-made bone- gouge, and of two pieces of stag-horn, which have been cut with some sharp instrument.”’ —Heenette, in the Bulletin technologique des écoles nationales des arts et métiers, describes a new ceramic product from the waste sands of glass-facto- ries, which often accumulate in immense quantities, so as to occasion great embarrassment. ‘The sand is subjected to an immense hydraulic pressure, and then baked in furnaces at a high temperature, so as to produce blocks of various forms and dimensions, of a uniform white color, which are composed of almost pure silex. The crushing-load is from three hundred and seventy to four hundred and fifty kil- ometres per square centimetre. The bricks, when plunged in chlorhydric and sulphuric acids, show no trace of alteration. The product has remarkable solidity and tenacity; it is not affected by the heavi- est frosts or by the action of sun or rain; it resists very high temperatures, provided no flux is present; it is very light, its specific gravity being only 1.5; it is of a fine white color, which will make it sought after for many architectural effects in combination with brick or stone of other colors. — The Royal academy of sciences of Turin gives notice that the fifth Bressa prize will be given to the scientific author or inventor, whatever be his nation- ality, who during the years 1883-86, according to the judgment of the academy, shall have made the most important and useful discovery, or published the most valuable work on physical and experimental science, natural history, mathematics, chemistry, physiology, and pathology, as well as geology, history, geography, and statistics. The term will be closed at the end of December, 1886. The value of the prize amounts to twelve thousand Italian lire. The prize will in no case be given to any of the national members of the academy of Turin, resident or non-resident. —We regret to announce the death of Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys of Kensington, Eng., well known for his conchological researches. He died suddenly on the 24th ult. We hope in a future number to sive some account of his scientific work. — Dr. Ch. Amat has devoted some study to the Beni M’zab,—a Berber people whose territory was definitely annexed by France about two years ago, and who are described as active, sober, provident, economical, and intelligent. He remarks that the position of woman was higher among them before the introduction of Islamism. Their cemeteries, con- taining tombs of large worked stones, with a line of pots, plates, ostrich eggs, etc., about them, are re- ferred to as survivals from the funeral feasts of the ancient religion. These people occupy seven towns, having a population of over thirty thousand, and are engaged in commerce. —Capt. Poldrugo of the Austrian bark Filadel- fia, from Cape Town to New York, reports an earth- quake at midnight of Jan. 2, extending in an easterly and westerly direction, At the same time, he saw a SCIENCE. 14] large white spot on the water. He was in latitude 1° 10’ north, longitude 24° west, at the time. — Vol. vii. No. 2, of the American journal of mathematics, has just appeared, and contains the following articles: ‘A memoir on the Abelian and theta functions,’ by Professor Cayley (this is the continuation of Professor Cayley’s great memoir, the first three chapters of which appeared in vol. v. of the journal; the present article contains chap- ters iv.-vii., and treats principally of the case where the ‘fixed curve’ is a quartic both in the plane and in space); ‘Solution of solvable irreducible quintic equations without the aid of a resolvent sextic,’ by © George Paxton Young of University college, Toron- to (Professor Young assumes Jerrard’s trinomial form for the quintic, finds the criterion of its solva- bility, and finally solves the equation in all the possible cases); a note on Maclaurin’s theorem, by Hermite; the first part of a memoir on the algebra of logic, by. Mr. C. S. Peirce, in which the author studies the philosophy of notation. —No. 5 of the Izviestiya of the Russian geo- graphical society, contains, among other things, Us- penske’s account of the Island of Hainan, obtained from Chinese sources; Iwanow’s report of his ascent of the Elbrus; Istomin’s ethnographical journey to Archangel, and a long paper by Werestchagin on the Wotjaks. Though this Finnish people has been often discussed and described, the author gives much new and valuable information, especially in regard to mythology, feasts, and folk-lore. The closing number of vol. xii. of the Zapiski contains a long article on Korea by Otano Kigoro. — We observe this note in a late number of the Athenaeum: ‘** PARALLAX’ is dead! Dr. Samuel Rowbotham used this name as the author of ‘ Zetetic astronomy,’ and he was well known by it as a lec- turer on such subjects as ‘the earth not a globe.’ The doctor, some years before his death, directed his ‘seeking philosophy’ to chemistry; but we never heard of any discovery resulting from his search.”’ — The supplement to the Berliner astronomisches jahrbuch for 1887, containing the elements and ephemerides of the small planets for the present year, is already issued, preceding, as usual, the publica- tion of the body of the work. The best obtainable elements of the orbits of two hundred and thirty- seven of these planets are given (two hundred and forty-four was the total number known at the begin- ning of 1885), as also approximate ephemerides of the same, the positions being given at twenty-day intervals. Accurate ephemerides are now computed by the Rechnungs-bureau, and published for only nineteen small planets. — The ‘ Nautical almanac’ office, Washington, has lately issued anew publication; that prepared for the present year being the first, and entitled ‘ The Pacific coaster’s nautical almanac.’ It is the counterpart of the ‘ Atlantic coaster’s almanac,’ issued for the first time in 1884, and gives, in addition to astronomico- nautical data, the times of high water at San Fran- cisco, San Diego, Astoria, and Port Townsend, in 142 Pacific standard time, sunrise and sunset at San Francisco, and lists of lighthouses, lighted beacons, and floating lights, on the west coast of North and South America, including the North and South Pacific islands. — ‘*Geonomy: creation of the continents by the ocean-currents, by J.S. Grimes (Philadelphia, 1885),”’ is a book characterized by implications of blindness and conservatism on the part of most physical geog- raphers, by assertions of the great value and original- ity of the author’s earlier works, by a broad ignorance of what others have done, and by utterly impos- sible physical theories. ‘‘ The reason why scienti- cians have neglected to investigate the laws of the currents thoroughly, and to discover the truth con- Fig. 2. AN ELECTRIC LIGHT FOR USE WITH A MICROSCOPE. cerning them, is that they have not regarded them as of much importance. Had they suspected that the currents, by their operations, created the conti- nents, they would long since have wrung from them all their secrets ”’ (p. 49). — Professor Charles Denison of Denver has pre- pared a series of climatic charts of the United States on the basis of the U.S. signal-service records, giv- ing especial care to the illustration of elements of humidity and cloudiness. The dryer and moister re- gions of the country are thus clearly separated in a general way, as far as the scattered stations of obser- vation will allow. The need of additional data in the west is sufficiently shown by noticing that Pike’s Peak alone, of all its compeers in the mountains, is represented as having its conditions of humidity af- fected by its elevation. When the Cordilleras are SCIENCE. (ho Sy Cas eee f ty correctly known, the broad colors now admitted will e be broken up into very small patchwork. The maps are published by Rand, McNally, & Co., Chicago,and are interesting as being among the first attempts to __ bring the results of the signal-service records into popular use. — Science et nature describes an electric lamp to be used with the microscope. All microscopists know how difficult it is to obtain good, clear light when working with high-power lenses, and any invention which will tend to lessen or overcome this difficulty will beappreciated by them. For micro-photography, Stearn’s lights, illustrated in fig. 1, are decidedly the best. They measure about three centimetres in diameter, but may be made smaller. In fig. 2 there are three lights attached to a binocu- lar, — one above the stage, for illu- minating opaque objects; another below, to take the place of the re- flector; and a third, much brighter, beneath all, to be used in photogra- phy. Each one can be regulated at will. It is not necessary, however, to have a microscope thus modified, for something like fig. 3 can be sub- stituted. In this way one light can be made to serve the purposes of all. Dr. T. Stein describes in the Zeit- schrift fiir mikroskopie a similar but less perfect arrangement. There is one important addition, however. In the stage beneath the object there is a spiral of platinum, which be- comes heated when the current is allowed to pass through it, —an ex- tremely convenient way of heating an object beneath the microscope. — The geographical society of Par- is awards its prizes as follows: a gold medal to Mr. de Fourcauld, for his expedition to the south of Morocco, and his studies on the western ex- tremity of the Atlas chain; a gold medal to Dr. Neis, for his four voy- ages to Indo-China and into the un- explored parts of Laos; the Roquette prize to the Danish periodical, Meddelser om Groenland, for geo- logical and geographical researches in Greenland; the Jomard prize to Mr. Léroux, for his work entitled ‘Recueil de voyages et de documents pour servir a Vhistoire de la géographie, depuis le xili® siecle jusqw’a la fin du xvi°,’”’ published under the direc- tion of Messrs. Scheffer, member of the institute, and Henri Cordier; the Ehrard prize to Mr. Dumas Vorzet for his charts and cartographic work. — Mr. H. H. Johnston intends shortly to publish — two works, — one on his recent experiences in eastern - Africa, and the other a carefully prepared account of — the Portuguese colonies of West Africa. The latter book he has had in hand since his return from the = Kongo. Mr. Johnston’s studies and sketches Mount Kilimanjaro will appear shortly in the Graphic Pere, NCE. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. WE Ake glad to learn that the Bureau of scientific information of the Philadelphia acad- emy of natural sciences, the organization of which was briefly noticed in these columns last autumn, is already in successful operation. It is no small sacrifice upon their part when a score or more of busy specialists volunteer to receive and answer, without charge, reasona- ble inquiries in their several departments. It should be remembered, that while many per- sons are well enough informed to know to whom to write, and are courageous enough to do it, others, from the want of such infor- mation, from modesty, from fear of trespassing upon the time of those to whom they would gladly write, or from anxiety lest their request might meet with inhospitality and rebuff, are led, in fact, to refrain from questioning, and become eventually contented with ignorance, or, worse yet, half-knowledge. To mention but a single one of the many excellent features of this scheme, viz., bibliography, we need not say what a boon it will certainly be to some one, far removed from monographs, to feel free to consult Dr. Nolan, librarian of the academy, assured beforehand of his cordial co-operation. We are pleased to note that the views regarding the proper functions of agricultural experiment-stations, which have been advanced in recent numbers of Science, have found inde- pendent expression in a report to the regents of the University of Nebraska by Prof. C. E. Bessey, dean of the industrial college. His report includes a plan for experimental work in agriculture, horticulture, and entomology ; which plan, we are informed, has-been adopted by the regents. It provides for two classes of experiments, designated as ‘ popular’ and ‘ scientific ;’ the first designed to reach imme- No. 107. — 1885. diate results, and the second to establish general principles. Professor Bessey does not fail to attach due value to ‘ popular’ experi- ments, but he points out two facts which seem to be frequently forgotten by those who make such experiments. . The first is, that while such experiments may often be of great immediate value, they are usually so only within narrow limits of both space and time, while a scientific principle, if once actually established, is true at all times and under all conditions. The second fact is, that many experiments of this character are constantly being made by private enterprise in all parts of the country. ‘This is particularly the case with tests of new varieties of plants and new patterns of machines. Scientific ex- periments, on the other hand, demand special training and apparatus, such as private enter- prise does not usually command; and it is therefore especially important that experiment- stations and colleges which have the facilities for such experiments should be encouraged and supported in undertaking them to as great an extent as may appear practicable in each particular case. THE KNOWLEDGE of thunder-storms is ad- vancing at a good pace. France has made special study of them for a number of years; Bavaria and Belgium have more recently taken them up; and last summer they were made the subject of special investigation by our signal- service, with the aid of a large corps of volun- tary observers, that is to be continued during the coming season. A recent report by Lan- caster, on the storms of 1879 in Belgium, con- firms the conclusions previously announced there, and discovered to obtain so clearly in this country, that thunder-storms occur only in the south-east quadrant of the barometric depressions, or great cyclonic storms that fre- quently sweep across temperate latitudes. L44 But there still remains to be found the actual mechanism of thunder-storms, concerning which various more or less theoretical opinions have been published. The matter will prob- ably remain in doubt until settled by the same kind of investigation that demonstrated the inward spiral path of cyclonic winds. Synoptic charts for a stormy afternoon, with hourly or even half-hourly intervals, and sta- tions only a mile or two apart, would probably settle the question beyond dispute; and the first local weather service that succeeds in preparing a set of such charts will gain a prize worth working for. DELT Ein LO TAH Se pIiTor. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The incandescent light on steamers. THE instance cited in No. 104 of Science, of early electric lighting.of steamboats by the incandescent system, though earlier than that given by Professor Trowbridge, is not the earliest. I crossed the Atlantic in May, 1882, in the steamer City of Richmond, of the Inman line, which was beautifully lighted by the incandescent system. It is my impression that the lamps were of an English make, the form of the carbon filament being some- what different froin that then used by Edison and other Americans. C. H. AMEs, Chopping-stones. It is not improbable that the implement figured in a recent article by Miss Babbitt (iv. 529, fig. 3) could have been used as a fuel-breaker, when fastened in a wooden and hide handle; but a more evident use for such notched pebbles, namely, as net-weights, is seen in an industry of the present day among the gill-net fishers, both Indian and white, of the Great Lakes. Net-weights of this character are produced in large quantities at all points on the lakes where gill-netting is in vogue, forming frequently a part of the ballast in the bottoms of the ‘ Mackinaw’ fishing-boats, and lying conspicuously scattered over the sand and beach in the neighborhood of fishing-stations. A less primitive appliance for sinking the nets is coming into use; so that the notched discoidal pebbles, attached to the net with short pieces of twine, are now re- garded as old-fashioned by the more thrifty fishermen. The unnotched pebble net-weights, bound with bark, of the Red-Lakers, are interesting as a still more primitive form; but more extended observation in gill-net appliances would have shown Miss Babbitt that the notched form is of far more usual occurrence than she leads us to suppose, and that it possesses tons of examples on the shores of the Great Lakes. I have found such implements associated with the remains of recent Indians (chert chippings, broken pottery, etc.) in the sand-dunes at Evanston. The modern net-weights are distinguishable from those of the chert deposits in only one particular, that while the surfaces of the former are smooth, and their SCIENCE. notches rough and angular, those of the latter show on their surfaces the effects of disintegration from — long exposure on the sand to atmospheric agencies, their notches, too, having assumed the same crumbling character as the rest of the pebble. A large number of them (over twelve) which came to my notice at one place indicates their use as net-weights rather than as ‘ chopping-stones.’ W. A. PHILLIPS. Evanston, Ill. The use of slips in scientific correspondence. I have been interested in Mr. Mann’s and other ‘articles on filing scientific notes. Any one wishing to file such notes will find that a very convenient method of doing so is by the use of the Shannon file, which may be found at any large stationery store. The punch for punching the holes ~ through the paper is the most convenient I have seen, as the holes are always the same distance apart, and at the same distance from the edge. S. P. SHARPLES. The decadence of science about Boston. In a late issue (No. 104), Science comments upon the decadence of science about Boston. Is it not an explanation of this decadence that more and more in late years the mental atmosphere of Boston has be- come one of intellectual finish, rather than of intel- lectual earnestness? Of course, each of these traits has its excellences, as each may be exaggerated; but the latter of the two certainly is far more favorable to the active growth of science in a community. Moreover, the effect of an intellectual atmosphere becomes most evident when it has begun to influence the lives of young men grown up in its midst, and who take their cue in life from it. Is not this effect to be noticed in the present case ? XX 'CoGe Koch’s ‘comma bacillus.’ In the reproduction of the drawing of the ‘comma bacillus,’ made to illustrate my paper in Science for Feb. 6, some defects are noticeable, to which it seems necessary to call attention, inasmuch as the design was to represent as accurately as possible the mor- phology of this much-talked-of micro-organism. The ends of some of the commas in the figure seem to be cut off square, whereas in the slide and in the drawing they are all rounded. Since writing the pa- per referred to, I have been favored by Dr. Koch with a slide of the ‘comma bacillus,’ in which the long spiral forms are far more numerous than in the slide sent to the Army medical museum, from which the drawing was made. Several of these spiral] filaments are often seen in a single field, and many of them are longer than that seen in the centre of fig, 1. Gro. M. STERNBERG, suryeon U.S.A. Johns Hopkins university, Baltimore, Feb. 11 Carnivorous habits of the muskrat. My observations of these animals were conducted principally along the banks of the Alleghany River in the vicinity of Warren, Penn., where these enemies of fresh-water bivalves are very numerous. 1°. The muskrat opens the shell by first severing the posterior adductor muscle. This can readily be accomplished, as the animal seldom immediately empties the branchial chamber after capture, but re-— r mains with the valves slightly gaping, with the siphons open, until it receives quite severe handling, upon which the water in the branchial chamber is violently — ejected. The valves will also partially open if the FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] shell is allowed to remain untouched for some time, as if the animal was trying to acquaint itself with its new surroundings. After one adductor is severed, the valves open, so that the other may be easily reached. 2°. I have often seen the posterior margins of the valves slightly notched, and the epidermis scratched, from the efforts of the muskrat to open the shell. 3°. The shells are never opened by tearing away the hinge-ligament, although this portion is some- times injured. 4°, During the winter season the shells were de- posited, often many bushels, upon the edge of the ice which fringed the shores. This offered an ex- planation to me for the large quantities of dead shells which I had frequently noticed in certain localities at the bottom of the river. 5°. With the mussels in the muskrat shell-heaps were many flat stones, gathered for the purpose of eating the algae growing upon them. 6°. Among the species eaten by the muskrats of the Alleghany River may be mentioned the follow- ing as of the most frequent occurrence: Unio liga- mentinus, U. phaseolus, U. gracilis, U. patulus, U. clavus, U. crassidens, U. occidens, U. ovatus, U. luteolus, U. gibbosus, Margaritana rugosa, M. mar- ginata, and Anodonta edentula. CuAs. E. BEECHER. Albany, N.Y., Feb. 9. I have been familiar, ever since my boyhood, with the fact that these animals live largely upon the mus- sels and other shell-fish of our rivers and creeks. It is also well known to duck-hunters, at least in this region of country, that they pick up no inconsiderable portion of their subsistence from dead and wounded birds found by them after the sportsman has aban- doned the search. Only last spring I killed a duck in this vicinity which fell out of reach and floated off. Upon recovering it within less than an hour after- wards, on the farther shore of the ‘slough,’ its breast had already been eaten away by amuskrat; and it is no uncommon occurrence to surprise them at such repasts. THEO. S. CASE. Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 9. If those interested in the carnivorous habits of the muskrat will refer to Science, No. 62, they will find there a notice of adiscussion upon this subject, which took place before the Biological society of Washing- ton in the spring of 1884. In regard to the fact that piles of unbroken Unio shells are found near musk- rat burrows, it seems to me that there can be but one explanation, and that is the suggestion made at the Biological society, that the shells are gathered by the muskrats, piled up, and left out of water until too weak to keep their shells closed, when the rodent finds it an easy matter to pick out the meat. RALPH S. TARR. Cambridge, Mass., Feb. 6. JOHN GWYN JEFFREYS. Tue ranks of English naturalists have met with a serious loss in the death of John Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., F.R.S., etc., which took SCIENCE. 145 place suddenly at his residence, Kensington, on the 24th of January. Dr. Jeffreys was born at Swansea, Jan. 18, 1809, and at the time of his death, with the exception of Sir Richard Owen, was probably the oldest British naturalist. Up to the last he was busily engaged on the investigation of the deep-sea dredgings of the Lightning and Porcupine expeditions; and, only three days before the reception of the news of his death, a copy of a recent paper on the relations of the American and European mollusk faunae was received from him. Dr. Jeffreys was the descendant of one of the oldest families of Wales, and was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn. For many years, however, he had retired from practice, and had been devoted to the investigation of the natu- ral history of mollusks, especially those of the British islands, northern Europe, and the ad- jacent seas. His work on the British mollusca is the standard book of reference on that topic, and his investigations into the fauna of the deep sea were known and appreciated among men of science everywhere. Dr. Jeffreys, from a lad, had been a student of conchology, devoting his holidays to col- lecting, and was among the earliest, most energetic, and persistent dredgers of the Brit- ish seas. In his earlier days he was intimately acquainted with that classical band of British naturalists to whom science owes so much, and who toiled for the most part unappreci- ated. In later years he was equally active, and participated in the important expeditions of the Lightning, Porcupine, Valorous, etc., and was only prevented by an accident from participation in the voyage of the Challen- ger. His first important paper was pub- lished by the Linnean society in 1828; and since then hardly a year has passed by with- out contributions from his pen, many of which were printed by the Royal society, of which he was for forty-five years a fellow. The extent and importance of his researches can only be fully appreciated by specialists engaged in similar studies. He was president of the bio- logical section of the British association in 146 1877, and held the office of high sheriff of Hertfordshire and other important public trusts at various times. He was treasurer of the Geological society for many years, and honor- ary or corresponding member of many foreign societies. In scientific matters, Dr. Jeffreys had some- thing of the conservatism natural to a person of his years; but his opinions, however firmly held, were never expressed with bitterness, and his geniality and hospitality bound to him in friendly ties not only scientific men, young and old, but the intelligent and cultured throughout his wide circle of acquaintance. He leaves a son, Mr. Howel Jeffreys, and five daughters, one the wife of Prof. H. N. Moseley of the Challenger expedition. His collection, which for British seas is absolutely unrivalled, pos- sessing many of the actual types of Turton, Alder, and other early British naturalists, and an extremely rich and largely unique North Atlantic and North European series will form one of the treasures of the National museum at Washington, where a portion of it has al- ready been received. W. Hs Dark THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONU- MENT. . Tue history of the undertaking which has resulted in the completion of the Washington monument presents a number of interesting and curious facts ; and the construction of the monument itself, by reason of the magnitude of the structure, has involved some problems of considerable engineering importance. The early history of the monument may be said to date from 1783, when congress resolved to erect, wherever the residence of congress should be established, an equestrian statue of Washington; and in 1795, when it was pro- posed to build a monument commemorating the American revolution, Major L’ Enfant, the designer of the plan by which the city of Wash- ington is laid out, selected, and Gen. Washing- ton himself approved, the site where the finished monument of which we write now stands. After the failure of these and other similar plans, the next step was taken in 1833, when, under the auspices of the Washington national monument society, the aid of the people of the United States was invoked to raise the sum SCIENCE. Bint - 7 required to erect a great national monument, no one to contribute more than one dollar, —a — restriction which was removed in 1845. Money came in slowly; but by 1847, $87,000 had been raised, and it was determined to make a be- ginning; and, by authority from congress, President Polk deeded the present site to the society. Building was at once commenced, but proceeded slowly ; and in 1854 the society had spent $230,000, and raised the monument to a height of 152 feet above the base. The original design by Robert Mills included an obelisk faced with white marble, 600 feet high, 55 feet square at the base, and 30 feet square at the top, surrounded at its base by a circular rotunda or colonnade 250 feet in diameter and 100 feet high, in which were to be placed statues of the nation’s illustrious dead, with vaults beneath for the reception of their remains. The base or foundation masonry was about 80 feet square at the bottom, laid at a depth of but eight feet below the surface of the ground, and carried up, in steps of about three feet rise, to a height of 25 feet, where it is 58 feet square. The slight depth to which the foundation was carried was due to the anxiety of tne building committee to have something to show for the money expended. It was built of rubble masonry of blue gneiss, the blocks large and of somewhat irregular shapes (nearly as they came from the quarry), laid in a mortar of hydraulic cement and stone lime, the joints and crevices filled and grouted. The shaft of the obelisk was built hollow, with walls 15 feet thick at the base; the well, or hollow interior, being 25 feet square for the | whole height then built. The exterior face, to an average depth of sixteen or seventeen inches, was of Maryland marble, usually called alum-stone. The remaining thickness of the walls was of blue-stone rubble backing, not the best construction for a building of such enormous weight. To ascertain the kind of earth that would be under the monument, a well was dug, some 25 feet deep, in the immediate vicinity of the site, and the earth particularly examined. The material was found very compact, requir- ing a pick to break it up, and was pronounced suitable for a structure of the kind. At a depth of twenty feet a solid bed of gravel was reached, and, six feet lower, water was struck. Before the first course of marble was laid, bench-marks were located from which to test — the settlement of the monument. After build-_ ing to 126 feet in height above the ground, the chairman of the building committee writes, SCIENCE. 147 FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] m \ ! aD r i] 10 3 VAV\ VY * Bae ees CS ER VAANAAS aoecee NUTURNETER AA | | ~~ a = AKAN ! | sy & a EVAN IAAT LN SECTION THROUGH APEX, X \y \ , y 4 Y 3 X x Co DS ATATUNTTS Fer as Sg 4! ; > Kb af 3-3 SS a Sempesainis SG ég Tt ni l tithe ay os arate B ee gee ee Ga jt tt Ly Aah ALA // in \ 2 = { n < ae A 206" FW, ye i 61E43 FOUNDATION. 126’ PLAN OF RIBS. PhhenD ea” 3 J 2 x " , (we \iearet 148 SCIENCE. in 1853, ‘ There is no perceptible settlement’ of the base, — a statement which seems hardly accurate, judging from what is usual, and from what appeared later. Here may be mentioned, as of interest later, that the architect, Mr. Mills, in 1848, levelled from the top of the third course or step of the foundation to a point on top of the meridian-stone monument near tide-water, planted by President Jefferson, and thus established a reference by which he might detect any settlement occurring in the progress of the work. On Feb. 22, 1855, congress having been petitioned for aid, a committee of the house approved of the work done, and recommended an appropriation of $200,000. But this was the period of the Know-nothing excitement ; and, on the very day that the appropriation was recommended, the books and papers of the monument society were forcibly seized by adherents of the American party, and a new board was illegally formed from their members. This action again delayed progress, and, dur- ing their rule of four years, only four feet were added, bringing the obelisk to the height of 156 feet above the base, at which elevation it long rested. On Feb. 22, 1859, this board was ousted by the incorporation by congress of a new Washington monument society for the purpose of finishing the work. ‘These changes probably account for the more or less complete disappearance of the original plans, measurements, bench-marks, etc., which is afterwards noted. The civil war soon followed, and no actual work was done for many years. The society remained as custodian during this time, and made some attempts to re-awaken public interest. Numerous examinations were made by government officials of the condition of the stone work, which in some places was slightly chipped at the edges by flush jointing, and of the foundation. In April, 1874, Lieut. ._ Marshall found that the axis of the shaft was inclined 1.4 inches to the north-west. At one time it was hoped that the bare shaft might be finished in some form by July 4, 1876; but the unsatisfactory condition of the foundation prevented. All hope of completing the monument by the centennial anniversary having gone, the matter apparently rested until August, 1876, when an act of congress was approved, pro- viding that there should be appropriated $200,- 600 in four annual instalments, to continue construction ; the officers of the society being required to transfer the property to the United States, and the construction of the monument to be under the direction of the president of ‘as 4 x Ot. ivi. My the United States, the supervising architects of the treasury and of the capitol, the chief of _ engineers, and the first vice-president of the monument society. In the examination called for in this act, it was very curiously discovered, by levels taken to what was then supposed to be the meridian-stone previously referred to, that the monument had, in twenty-eight years, settled nearly nine inches into the ground. A lively investigation by those most interested presently developed the fact that Gen. Bab- cock, when in charge of buildings and grounds in Washington, had, in the course of improve- ments, graded off and carted away the merid- ian-stone monument; so that, added to the loss of all plans and details, we must now relinquish all hope of knowing whether the monument had settled or not. Congress then authorized the re-enforcing of the foundation; and the work was placed in charge of Lieut.-Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, U.S. engineers, who had devised, and has suc- cessfully carried out, the plan shown in the © sketch. The earth about the base, some 10,- 000 cubic yards, was first removed. Then a trench 4 feet wide, 15.5 feet deep, extending 23 feet outside of the old foundation, and tun- nelling 18 feet under it, was excavated. The trench was then filled with concrete of four parts broken stone, three parts pebbles, two parts sand, and one part Portland cement, mixed by machinery in a cubical box rotating on a diagonal axis, and then thoroughly rammed in place. When the space under the old foun- dation was as nearly filled as convenient, more concrete was put into small gunny-sacks, and rammed home horizontally, while yet soft, — with a heavy timber. The order in which | these trenches were made and filled is num- bered on the plan. At first it was intended to make and fill two opposite trenches at the same time; but it was found that removing 144 square feet of the foundation (only 2.5 %) caused a too rapid motion of the column, and, after the first four trenches, but one trench was made and filled at a time. This sensi- tiveness of the obelisk to disturbance appears to confirm the opinion that the old foundation — was already carrying nearly the maximum ~ allowable load. | The effect of cutting these trenches was floor. The greatest movement at the begin- ning of the work was 4+ of an inch. FEBRUARY 20, 1885. ] corrected. The area of the foundation was increased 150 %, or from 6,400 square feet to 16,000 square feet, and was carried down to 21.5 feet below the original surface of the ground. Careful levels showed, that, during the process of underpinning, the base of the monument settled two inches. The foundation was further strengthened, and the pressure distributed over the whole of the new base, by placing a continuous buttress of concrete around the base, from the top of the old foundation halfway out on the concrete base ; a portion of the foundation masonry be- ing cut away, as shown in the sketch, to give a good bearing. A terrace of earth was after- wards added, to cover the rough masonry, and to still further increase the depth to which the foundation was carried, and thus to increase the resisting-power of the ground against lat- eral displacement. The new foundation was completed in May, 1880; and on Aug. 7 President Hayes as- sisted in laying the first new stone on the shaft. On the new portion the space inside was en- larged from 25 feet square to 31.5 feet square, to diminish the weight by lessening the thick- ness of the walls; and solid granite backing, in two-feet courses to correspond with the out- side marble courses, was substituted for the irregular rubble-work. When the wall grew considerably thinner, marble was used through- out. The thickness at 500 feet is 18 inches. The monument rose 26 feet in 1880, 74 feet in 1881, 90 feet in 1882, 70 feet in 1883, and 90 feet, to which was added the apex of 55 feet, in 1884. Eight iron columns rise in the interior, shown by small circles on the plan of the top. Four of them are far enough from the wall to sup- port the iron platforms and stairways by which the monument may be ascended: the other four act as guides for an elevator. These columns have been connected with the water- bearing stratum below the monument, and with the metallic point on the apex. Several ways of capping the monument, or of constructing the apex to suit its exposed posi- tion, and secure permanence, were discussed. The adopted design was by Bernard R. Green, civil engineer. Three stone corbels, one foot thick at the edge, begin to grow out from each side of the well within the monument, at 4 point thirty feet below the top of the wall. They increase in width as they ascend, until at the top of the wall the middle one projects six feet, and the side ones four feet and one- half each. From them spring stone arched ribs, which in turn support the roof-covering SCIENCE. 149 of stone slabs seven inches thick. ‘The middle ribs rise thirty feet, and intersect on a cross- shaped keystone; the side ribs abut against one another, and a square stone frame some seven feet lower down. ‘The apex is termi- nated by an aluminium point. After the main walls had reached their ulti- mate height, a frame carrying a derrick mast, which reached to a height of 75 feet, was erected on the tops of the iron columns. An opening was left in the lower roof-course at one side; the stone for the roof run out ona small balcony supported by projecting beams, and then raised to place. When all but three roof-courses were set (in all, some 14 feet in height), a platform was built around the top, supported on brackets resting on the slanting sides of the roof, and carried, in turn, on beams projecting through the apertures for observation left in the lower part of the roof, two on each side; and the nine remaining stones were distributed on this platform. ‘The central derrick was then removed, and a small quadruped derrick erected on the platform and over the point of the roof. ‘Thus these stones, including a cap-stone weighing 3,300 pounds, were readily set, and the apex completed Dec. 6, 1884. A small opening near the top, after- wards closed by a stone slab, permitted the retreat of the workmen who removed the scaf- folding. Since the completion of the foundation, and the resumption of building the shaft, some slight settlement has taken place, increasing regularly and uniformly with each addition of a few courses of stone. After a few weeks from any suspension of building, settlement has always ceased; and hardly a perceptible movement again occurred until after some 200 tons’ weight had been added, when the same process of settling was repeated. Altogether, in the addition of 400 feet in height, and about 34,000 gross tons, 12,000 tons of which are in the earth terrace over the foundation, the settlement was two inches. The entire settle- ment, due to underpinning the foundation and completing the superstructure, is about four inches. The movements of the plumb-lines, of which there were two, — one from the height of 148 feet, and the other from 259 feet, — were but trifling. Changes in them were infrequent, and probably not always, if often, due to actual leaning of the shaft. The workmen were protected against injury from falling by a strong net suspended around the outside of the shaft ; and, since the resump- tion of construction by the United States, the only accident has been the breaking of the Lats tari etl - feet; te a Saas 150 The cost thus far is The completed structure weighs arm of one of the men. $1,188,000. 81,000 tons. In this connection, some of the heights of notable structures may be of interest: Tower of Pisa, 179 feet; Bunker Hill monument, 221 feet; Great mosque, Cairo, 282 feet; Trinity spire, New York, 284 feet; Campanile, Flor- ence, 290 feet; top of capitol, Washington, 307 feet ; Milan cathedral, 355 feet ; St. Paul’s, London, 365 feet; Antwerp cathedral, 402 Lutheran Mariankirche, Lubeck, 4380 feet; St. Stephen’s, Vienna, 441 feet; St. Rollox chimney, Glasgow, 450 feet; Great pyramid, 450 feet (originally 485 feet) ; St. Peter’s, Rome, 455 feet; Strasbourg cathe- dral, 468 feet; Cologne cathedral, 511 feet; Philadelphia city hall, to be 535 feet; Wash- ington monument, 555 feet. Many memorial stones were contributed by the states, and by different organizations in this country, and by foreign countries. Some forty of these stones were set in the interior faces. One hundred still remain’ in the store- house, and will probably be affixed as slabs to the interior walls in convenient places. CHARLES EK. GREENE. THE ELECTRIC LIGHT FOR LIGHT- HOUSES AND SEARCH-LIGHTS. THE recent experiments in England (Nature, vol. xxx. p. 362), upon the relative merits of electric, gas, and oil lights for lighthouse illumination, have called attention to the very marked failure of the are-light to penetrate through a misty or foggy atmosphere ; this fail- ure being due to the vigorous absorption of the blue rays of the spectrum by such an atmos- phere, —rays in which the arc-light is espe- cially rich. A very striking case of similar failure was presented to the writer’s notice a few evenings ago. One of the streets of Wash- ington has recently been lighted by arc-lights on each side, upon posts several feet higher than the gas-lamps; so that, in looking along the street, the rows of electric lights above the gas offer a good opportunity for comparison. For several nights both were lighted; and one of these nights chanced to be extremely foggy for a few hours in the evening, the ground being covered with slush from melting snow. For this reason I went out of my way to see the effect upon these lights, and was rewarded by the sight of the arc-lights — overpoweringly bright close at hand —becoming almost as SCIENCE. faint and yellow as the gas-lamps at a distance of less than half a mile. arc-lights was only five blocks, and the treasury building at one end, and patent office at the other, prevented a view from a greater dis- tance ; but there can be no doubt, that, if the relative rates of absorption had continued in the same ratio for a greater distance, the are- hghts would have appeared fainter than the gas-lamps at a distance of not much over half a mile, and would have entirely disappeared long before the latter. The arc-lights are said by the company to be of about two thousand candle power, and the gas-lights probably equal between fifteen and twenty candles; so that the enormous difference of absorption under these circumstances is evident at a glance. To be sure, this was a very thick fog; but this is the very condition of things where pene- trating power is most necessary for lighthouse lamps, and where the arc-light seems to fail utterly. ) For search-lights, in naval warfare, as pro- tection against torpedo attack in thick weather, and for other similar purposes, the case is just as bad, or even worse; for the light must trav- erse the necessary distance twice, —to the dangerous object, and then reflected back to the ship. For determining the best quality of light for submarine search, experiments upon the selective absorption of sea-water for vari- ous kinds of luminous radiant energy would seem to be desirable. , Professor Langley has shown, within the last year or two, that our atmosphere absorbs much more of solar radiant energy than has been heretofore supposed, and that this is very largely in the blue end of the spectrum; so that sunlight, if we were rid of our atmos- phere, would be much bluer than we see it. He has shown, too, that this takes place by diffusion of the light by reflection in all direc- tions from particles in the atmosphere, so that we get about half our daylight from the sky, even in a perfectly clear day ; and that this is the cause of the blue sky. The same explanation is sufficient to account for all the phenomena of the wonderful red afterglows following the sunsets of a year ago, if we can explain the presence of reflecting particles in a more or less stratified arrange- ment (Krakatoa dust, very likely) at an un- usual height in the atmosphere. These would reflect sunlight to us in much greater amount and for much longer (semi-intermittent) inter- vals than the ordinary dust and clouds at a. lower level of the atmosphere ; and this selec- tive absorption would account for the wonder-, [Vor. V., No. 107. The extent of the fF a FEBRUARY 20, 1885. | ful color, the light growing redder the farther it traversed the atmosphere. Ina recent article’ Professor Langley states his belief that much of this diffusion of the blue rays, as also the general absorption of the whole spectrum, is due to fine dust-parti- cles in the atmosphere. The very strong ab- sorption of the blue rays of the arc-light by fog would seem to suggest the inquiry whether the average size of the minute water-drops forming this fog has any thing to do with the remarkably selective effect upon the blue wave- lengths, or whether this is simply the absorp- tion effect of water en masse. With the failure of the arc-light to penetrate fog comes the natural inquiry, whether the incandescent lamp will be any better for light- house and search-light purposes. Now, the part of the solar spectrum most free from at- mospheric absorption-lines is in the orange, with part of the neighboring yellow and red; and some experiments have shown that this re- gion — or the yellow part of it, at any rate —is that in which the incandescent carbon filament is especially rich, relatively more so than the solar spectrum, and it is the brightest part of that. So that there would seem to be every probability that the incandescent lamp would prove very effective in fog penetration, perhaps most efficiently so at a slightly lower tempera- ture and brilliancy than the present average. The difficulty for lighthouse and search-light purposes would be in concentrating a sufficient amount of luminous radiating filaments in a very small space near the focus of a lens or mirror, which is a strong point in the effective use of the arc-light. With single-filament lamps this would be impossible ; but the writer can see no insuperable difficulty in arranging a whole bunch or cluster of interlacing loops, joined in multiple arc within the same ex- hausted globe, so as to present almost a com- plete network of filaments over a vertical projection of an inch or two square, and yet not have them touch each other; unless, in- deed, the great heat might soften the globe enough to let it collapse ; and this could prob- ably only be determined by experiment. The suggestion that a slightly lower temperature might be about as effective in fog penetration would help a little, but not very much, on ac- count of the rapid decrease of luminosity, with slight fall in temperature. Special care would need to be taken to make each of the filaments of the cluster of equal resistance with the others; but no more so than in any set of lamps on the same circuit, and no doubt all 1 Philosophical magazine, October, 1884. SCIENCE. 151 the difficulties could be speedily surmounted. Some experiments upon the fog-penetrating power of the incandescent lamp would cer- tainly seem to be worthy the attention of those engaged in these matters ; for there can be no question about the far greater convenience, cleanliness, safety, and reliability, of the in- candescent lamp over all others, even if it is not so economical. But in government light- houses and war-ships the economy is not so im- portant, reliability and fog-penetrating power being the prime requisites. EL; Mh Paver RECENT DETERMINATIONS OF LON- GITUDE ON THE WEST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA. THe recent completion of the longitude measurements on the western coast of South America by the U.S. naval officers, under the command of Lieut.-Commander Charles H. Davis, U.S.N., affords a remarkable proof of the accuracy of the methods and instruments now in use for such operations. Lieut.-Com- mander Davis commenced his measurement in November, 1883, at Valparaiso, and ter- minated it in March, 1884, at Panama; con- necting there with the chain of measurements made in 1875 by Lieut.-Commander F. M. Green, U.S.N., and measuring from Valparaiso to Arica, Arica to Payta, Payta to Panama,* and in December, 1883, with the aid of Dr. B. A. Gould, director of the Cordoba obser- vatory, from Valparaiso to Cordoba. ‘This work completes the telegraphic measurement of the polygon Washington—Key West, Key West-Havana, Havana-Santiago de Cuba, Santiago-Kingston, Kingston—Aspinwall, As- pinwall-Panama,? Panama—Payta, Payta— Arica, Arica—Valparaiso, Valparaiso—Cordoba, Cordoba—Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires—Monte- video, Montevideo—Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro—Bahia, Bahia—Pernambuco, Pernam- buco-St. Vincent, St. Vincent—Madeira, Ma- deira—Lisbon, Lisbon—Greenwich,* Greenwich— Washington.* This great chain of longitude measure- ments, consisting of twenty links, closes with but an insignificant discrepancy; the longi- tude of the Cordoba observatory by way of Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires, being 4h. 16m. 48.06 s., and by way of Wash- 1 Report of the U.S. coast-survey for 1875, appendix No. 11. 2 Telegraphic longitudes in the West Indies and Central America, Washington, 1877. 3 Telegraphic longitudes on the east coast of South America, Washington, 1880. 4 U.S. coast-survey report for 1870. 152 — ington, Panama, and Valparaiso, 4h. 16m. 48.24s., showing a discrepancy of only 0.18 s. These measurements have, with the exception of those joining Greenwich and Washington (made by the U.S. coast-survey) and those joining Valparaiso and Buenos Aires (made by Dr. B. A. Gould), been made by officers of the U.S. navy, and are homogeneous, each determination being the result of repeated comparisons through a telegraphic line of time- pieces whose errors on local time were ascer- tained on the same night by careful transit observations. It will, of course, be understood that the remarkably small discrepancy (0.18s.) by which this great polygon fails to close is the algebraic sum of all the errors affecting the various longitudes; but its very small amount is an indication of the care and painstaking of the officers whose labors have given this result, as well as of the accuracy of the instruments and methods employed. In addition to his valuable work between Panama and Valparaiso, Lieut.-Commander Davis has recently determined telegraphically the longitude of Vera Cruz by measuring from Galveston, and has, on the west coast of Central America, furnished the Guatemalan boundary commission with a starting-point by fixing from Panama the longitude of Guate- mala City (in co-operation with Mr. Miles Rock). A detailed report of the work of Lieut.-Commander Davis will shortly be pub- lished by the U.S. navy department. THE KILIMANJARO EXPEDITION. AT a meeting of the Royal geographical society, Jan. 26, Mr. H. H. Johnston gave a description of his visit to Kilimanjaro, on the slopes of which he spent more than five months in the summer and autumn of last year. Giving a lively and picturesque narrative of his adventures during his stay with Mandara, chief of Moshi, a person of remarkable character, who rules a small tract on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro at an altitude of about 6,000 feet, and is at war with all the surrounding potentates, Mr. Johnston told how, after some difficulties, he began the ascent of the moun- tain with forty carriers and some guides, provided by another chief, Maranga. As a good place for settlement close to water, and not too high up, so that his shivering followers might not suffer unrea- sonably from cold, he selected a grassy knoll, rising above the river of Kilema, which takes its source near the base of Kimawenzi. The altitude of this spot was nearly 10,000 feet. Having seen every one Abridged from Nature, Jan. 29. SCIENCE. [Von. V., No. 107. carefully installed and protected from the —to them —severe cold (for the thermometer descended every night to one or two degrees below freezing-point), | he transferred his own quarters to a higher eleva- tion, and began industriously to collect. His first excursion was to the base of Kimawenzi. The terrible hurricane of wind, however, that raged round this jagged series of lava-peaks, prevented him from continuing the ascent, although he doubted if it were possible for any one to reach the summit, owing to the want of foothold. The snow varied very much in quantity on Kimawenzi. Sometimes the whole peak would be covered down to the parent ridge, with only the precipitous rocks peeping blackly through the mantle of white. At other periods the snow would be reduced to an insignificant patch, and the reddish sand which filled the crevices and glissades between the lava-rocks would be left ex- posed to view. This change from an almost com- plete snow-cap to nearly no snow at all might be effected in twelve hours. His great object, however, was to reach the snows, and, if possible, the summit of Kib6. ‘To do this it would be necessary to sleep on the way. He had, therefore, to induce a few followers to accompany him to carry impedimenta. Starting at 9, he walked upwards, with few stoppages, until 1.30. At first they crossed grassy undulating hillocks, the road be- ing fairly easy. Then they entered a heathy tract, scorched and burnt with recent bush-fires; but higher up, where the blaze had not reached, the vegetation was fairly abundant and green. Small pink gladioli studded the ground in numbers. At an altitude of nearly 13,000 feet, bees and wasps were still to be seen, and bright little sun-birds darted from bush to bush, gleaning their repast of honey. A little higher they found warm springs, the thermometer showing the temperature of the trickling mud to be 91°F. Mounting high above the rivulet, the scenery became much harsher. Vegetation only grew in dwarfed patches as they passed the altitude of 13,000 feet, and the ground was covered with bowlders more or less big, apparently lying in utter confusion, and without any definite direction. They were not very difficult to climb over, and even seemed to act as irregular stone steps upwards. In their interstices, heaths of the size of large shrubs grew with a certain luxuri- ance. About 138,700 feet, he saw the last resident bird, apparently a kind of stonechat. It went in little cheery flocks, and showed such absence of fear, that he had to walk away from it before shooting, to avoid shattering his specimen. After this, with the exception of an occasional great high-soaring kite or great-billed raven, he saw no other bird. On reach- ing a height a little above 14,000 feet, he stopped again to boil the thermometer and refresh himself with a little lunch. Throughout this ascent, which was easy to climb, he suffered absolutely nothing from want of breath, or mountain sickness; although his three Zanzibari followers lagged behind, panting and exhausted, and complained much of their lungs and head. ‘‘Mounting up a few hundred feet higher than the , ie Ce ea ee oe. ¥ FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] last stopping-place,’’ Mr. Johnston said, ‘‘ and round- ing an unsuspected and deep ravine, I arrived close to the base of a small peak, which had been a con- tinual and useful point to aim at during the whole journey from my station. I was now on the central connecting ridge of Kilimanjaro, and could see a little on both sides, though the misty state of the atmosphere prevented my getting any good view of the country. This ridge, which from below looks so simple and straight, is in reality dotted with several small monticules, and cut up into many minor ridges, the general direction of which is, on the southern side, from north-east to south-west. To the eastward I could see the greater part of Kimawenzi rising grandly with its jagged peaks and smooth glissades of golden sand. Westward I still looked vainly in the piled-up clouds; for the monarch of the chain still remained obstinately hidden, and I was at a loss as to how best to approach his awful crown of snow. At length, and it was so sudden and so fleeting that I had no time to fully take in the majesty of the snowy dome of Kibd, the clouds parted, and I looked on a blaze of snow so blind- ing white under the brief flicker of sunlight, that I could see little detail. Since sunrise that morning I had caught no glimpse of Kibé, and now it was sud- denly presented to me with unusual and startling nearness. But before I could get out my sketch- book, and sharpen my chalk pencil, the clouds had once more hidden every thing; indeed, had enclosed me in a kind of London fog, very depressing in character, for the decrease in light was rather alarm- ing to one who felt himself alone and cut off at a point nearly as high as the summit of Mont Blanc. However, knowing now the direction of my goal, I rose from the clammy stones, and, clutching up my sketch-book with benumbed hands, began once more to ascend westwards. Seeing but a few yards in front of me, choked with mist, I made but slow prog- ress; nevertheless, I continually mounted along a gently sloping hummocky ridge, where the spaces in between the masses of rock were filled with fine yellowish sand. There were also fragments of stone strewn about, and some of these I put into my knap- sack. The slabs of rock were so slippery with the drizzling mist, that I very often nearly lost my foot- ing, and I thought with a shudder what a sprained ankle would mean here. However, though reflection told me it would be better to return to my followers, and recommence the climb to-morrow, I still strug- gled on with stupid persistency; and at length, after a rather steeper ascent than usual up the now smoother and sharper ridge, I suddenly encountered snow lying at my very feet, and nearly plunged head- long into a great rift filled with snow that here seemed to cut across the ridge and interrupt it. The dense mist cleared a little in a partial manner, and I then saw to my left the black rock sloping gently to an awful gulf of snow so vast and deep that its limits were concealed by fog. Above me a line of snow was just discernible, and altogether the prospect was such a gloomy one, with its all-surrounding cur- tain of sombre cloud, and its uninhabited wastes of SCIENCE. 1538 snow and rock, that my heart sank within me at my loneliness. Nevertheless, I thought, ‘only a little farther, and perhaps I may ascend above the clouds, and stand gazing down into the crater of Kiliman- jaro from its snowy rim.’ So, turning momentarily northwards, I rounded the rift of snow, and once more dragged myself, now breathless and panting, and with aching limbs, along the slippery ridge of bare rock which went ever mounting upwards. [ continued this for nearly an hour, and then dropped exhausted on the ground, overcome with what I sup- pose was an ordinary attack of mountain sickness. I was miserably cold, the driving mist having wetted me to the skin. Yet the temperature recorded here was above freezing-point, being 35° F. I boiled my thermometer, and the agreeable warmth of the spirit-lamp put life into my benumbed hands. The mercury rose to 183.8°. This observation, when properly computed, and with the correction added for the temperature of the intermediate air, gives a height of 16,315 feet as the highest point I attained on Kilimanjaro. I thus came within a little more than 2,000 feet of the summit, which is usually esti- mated to reach an altitude of 18,890 feet.’’ He made other ascents during the month he was in high altitudes. The footprints and other traces of buffaloes were seen up to 14,000 feet; but he never caught sight of one of the creatures, nor did he see any of the big antelope, which also wander up to the snow-line. At a height of 13,000 feet he saw three elephants, and at night the shrill trumpeting of these animals could be heard round the station. On Oct. 18 he found himself, most unwillingly, obliged to leave the elevated settlement and return to Taveita. The relatively great cold they had expe- rienced had reacted very unfavorably on his men’s health, and he feared that a longer delay might render them quite unfitted to carry burdens. He intended, however, to make his return journey entirely through a new and hitherto untraversed country, and this project somewhat consoled him for leaving the summit of Kilimanjaro still unconquered. Their downward journey, part of the way through trackless bush and dense dank forest, was not with- out adventure and some reward in scenery of great beauty. The average elevation of this country was between 8,000 and 7,000 feet, and the temperature consequently almost cool, ranging from 43° at night to 70° in the mid-day warmth. After some four hours’ walking from their camp, they crossed the long ridge that marked the southern flank of Kima- wenzi, and began to descend the eastern slope of the mountain. Soon they emerged on a kind of heath- like country, and then looked forth on a splendid view stretching from Mwika to the mountains of Bura and Ukambani (the Kiulu range), with Jipe on one hand and the river Tzavo on the other. After some enjoyable excursions from his settlement at Taveita, finding that his funds would not support the expedition beyond the end of November, he made a rapid journey to the coast by way of Pare, Usambara, and the Rufu River to Pangani. At Zan- zibar, finding there were no fresh funds to enable 154 him to return to Kilimanjaro, he paid off the last of his faithful followers, many of whom had accom- panied Thomson on his great journey, and took his passage on the British India steamer to Suez in quite a sulky frame of mind, as sorry to leave his beautiful mountain as many people are to quit England. Travelling overland from Suez, he arrived in London not much more than six weeks after he had caught his last glimpse of the snows of Kilimanjaro. PROPOSED EXPLORATIONS IN ALASKA. SEVERAL expeditions to Alaska are projected dur- ing the coming season. Gen, Miles, commanding the military district of which the territory forms a part, desires to acquire a knowledge of the unexplored region between the head of Cook’s Inlet and the Tananah watershed. The course of the Tananah is likewise unmapped, except from hearsay, though often traversed by traders in the last fifteen years; so that the opportunity exists here for a fruitful ex- pedition. It is hoped that arrangements may be practicable by which Lieut. Ray, well known for his successful direction of the Point-Barrow party, may be able to command such an exploration. The plan contemplates work either from the Yukon as a base, with a steam-launch and a small party, ascending in June and July, and returning before navigation closes, or an expedition by way of Cook’s Inlet, making the portage to the Tananah, and then descending; but a final decision is not yet reached. The party under Lieut. Abercrombie did not succeed in obtaining native assistance, as expected, and were unable to pass beyond the glacier alleged to obstruct the Copper or Atna River about sixty miles from the sea, Meanwhile, a party has actually started, under Gen. Miles’s orders, Jan. 30, for the Copper River, consisting of Sergeant Robinson and F. W. Ficket, signal-observer U.S.A., and commanded by Lieut. Allen. They intend to go to the mouth of the Atna or Copper River by steamer, and ascend as far as possible on the ice, pushing on by water as soon as the ice breaks up and the freshets are over. They hope to cross the divide from the upper Atna, and descend by one of the Yukon tributaries to the mouth of the latter river, and rejoin civilization at St. Michael’s. They may be fortunate enough to make the journey in one season, but are prepared to Stay two years. They will add a number of Indians to the party at Sitka, and carry various peace-offer- ings for the Atna Indians. Lieut. Stoney of the navy is reported to have a new expedition nearly organized to continue his in- vestigations of the Kowak River. The plan adopted, so far as yet decided upon, is to take a steam-launch, ascend the river as far as possible, and pursue the explorations to its source, and winter in the region if necessary. It is stated that the party is to be com- posed of sixteen men, which is dangerously large, considering the limited food-resources of the region, SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. 1 and might be advantageously diminished by one-half for explorations in the interior. If the party were to pass over the divide, and investigate the course of the Colville, returning via Point Barrow next summer, it would accomplish a praiseworthy and much-needed investigation. THE DOINGS OF ASTRONOMERS. DrIrREcTOR HovueH has continued the work of the Dearborn observatory during 1884 in the same lines as in previous years. Mr. S. W. Burnham has had the use of the great telescope, a refractor of eighteen inches aperture, for observations on double stars; and, in addition to assistance rendered to Professor Hough, he has measured several difficult and interesting binary systems. The observatory has been open on Thursday evenings to members of the Chicago as- tronomical society, and to astronomical classes from the city high schools; and instruction in theoretical and practical astronomy has been given to the senior class of the Chicago university. The observatory delivers the signals for standard time to the city of Chicago daily. Professor Hough has employed the great telescope ‘throughout the year, in scientific research, with good results. Thirty-two new double stars were discovered, most of which are difficult objects, and can be ob- served only when the atmospheric conditions of vision are good. The planet Jupiter has mainly taken his attention, and specially the spots and markings on the disk. The remarkable red spot, first observed in 1878, has maintained its size, shape, and outline, with very slight change, ever since that time. Of late, however, it has experienced a marked change in visibility ; which doubtless accounts, in good part, for the statements by other observers with smaller telescopes, that the spot had lost its outline. While from 1879 to 1883 this spot had a retrograde drift in longitude on the surface of the planet, during the past opposition this appears to have nearly ceased. For the rotation period of the planet on its axis, Professor Hough derives 9h. 55 m. 38.5s., determined from the mean of six hundred and sixty rotations, and varying only slightly from that for the previous year. The great equatorial belt on the disk of Jupi- ter is found to be subject to gradual drift in latitude from year to year. Its width has also greatly in- creased, principally toward the south. A large num- ber of white spots were also observed, of variable visibility, and not absolutely relatively fixed in posi- tion. The rate of motion of the envelope in which they are situate, Professor Hough finds to be two hundred and sixty miles per hour, making thus a complete revolution around the planet in about forty- four days andahalf. Colored prints of several of the drawings of the planet accompany the report, and are very faithful representations of the salient features of the disk. Delineation with the pencil, however, has been only secondary to the micrometric measure- ments, of which there are between one and two thousand, fixing with entire precision the positions of the belts, spots, and more important markings. ~ ar FEBRUARY 20, 1885. ] Professor Hough and Mr. Burnham made frequent examination of the planet Saturn whenever the best conditions of observation were present. They made a special search for markings on the rings, with nega- tive results. The belts on the ball were very con- spicuous, but no marking was seen which could be used in determining the period of the planet’s rota- tion. The conditions of weather in the spring of the year, so unfavorable elsewhere, prevailed at Chicago; and, in their attempts to observe the satellites of Uranus, the astronomers were rewarded with success in observing these difficult objects on only a few occasions. From the Observatory for February we learn that forty-five chronometers are now on trial at the Royal observatory, Greenwich, for purchase by the admiralty; that the small planets (206) Hersilia and (210) Isabella, which had not been observed since 1879, the year of their discovery, have recently been re-observed; that Herr Palisa of ‘Vienna, the dis- coverer of small planets, being desirous of raising funds for the intended expedition to observe the total eclipse of August, 1886, desires to sell for two hundred and fifty dollars the right of naming the latest discovered small planet (244); and that Dr. Gill, her Majesty’s astronomer at the Cape, has obtained a sum of money from the government grant for scientific purposes, in order to enable him to set on foot a photographic survey of the southern heavens. Mr. C. Ray Woods is proceeding to the Cape for the purpose of taking the requisite photo- graphs, and he also intends to continue the work of photographing the solar corona which he lately undertook in Switzerland, under the direction of Dr. Huggins. The Rev. S. J. Perry, director of the observatory of Stonyhurst college, communicates to the Observa- tory asummary of his observations of the chromo- sphere in 1884, with an automatic spectroscope by Browning, having a dispersion of six prisms of 60°. He has found the greater part of the past year favor- able for this work. The mean height of the chromo- sphere, which varied little in 1882 and 1883, attaining its maximum in May of the latter year, fell away rapidly in 1884. A great diminution is also reported in the number of the prominences, and some falling off in their average height. The number of observed displacements of the C line differed but little in the last two years; but the amount of displacement was slight in 1884, compared with 1883. No distortions have been recorded during the past two years so great as those of April and May, 1882. ROGERS’S HISTORY OF ENGLISH LABOR. THose of our readers who are devoted to po- litical and social science need no introduction Six centuries of work and wages. The history of English labour. By James E. THorotp Rogers, M.P. New York, G. P. Putnam’s sons. 591p. 8°. SCIENCE. 155 to the recent volumes of Mr. Thorold Rogers. It is eighteen years since he published the first two volumes of his history of agriculture and prices, —a work of incalculable value to the critical inquirer. He has since then made an elaborate study of the wages of English labor during the last six centuries, and of their corresponding purchasing-power. The data, which he has collected with marvellous industry, have been printed in part, and in part they still remain in the author’s notes. His work is therefore unique. No one, he tells us, has entered on this field of research except himself, and no one has attempted to make use of the data he has published for the purposes which the author has in view ; yet, for all his statements, he assures the reader that he can give ample verification. The narrative which he bases upon these inquiries is by no means so statistical as to be dry. ‘The writer is never dull, and is generally entertaining as well as instructive. He brings before the pub- lic, information, hitherto hidden, respecting the daily life, needs, burdens, comforts, and helps of the inhabitant of England since the middle of the thirteenth century. His volume begins with a sketch of English society at that period when the vast majority of persons were engaged in agriculture; and, after devoting six chapters to this introduction, the author proceeds to the subsequent history of wages and labor, and to a consideration of the influence of legislation upon the distribu- tion of wealth. He shows that the evils of pauperism and the degradation of labor were largely due to governmental acts designed to compel the laborer to work at the lowest wages possible. Although this bad legislation has long since been abandoned or modified, the effects remain in England to-day. It will thus be seen that the volumes are a contribu- tion to the historical method of political econ- omy. If the author’s figures are correct, and his mode of presenting them trustworthy, it is obvious that he has enabled the statesman and the economist to study the actual results of economic legislation during a period quite long enough to be very instructive. His conclusions have an important bearing upon the spread of communism as well as upon the existence of poverty. We can perhaps exhibit the tendency of the entire work most readily by giving an analysis of the closing chapter, in which the remedies for present evils are succinctly pointed out. During the last sixty years parliament has done much toward abrogating severe laws which interfered with the freedom of labor. 156 Much more is to be done, especially in sweep- ing away the distinction of real and personal estate, in forbidding the settlement of land, and by establishing a cheap and compulsory registration of land-titles. There must also be a revision of local taxation. Such changes must be gradual. ‘The remedies for present evils are not to be sought so expectantly in philanthropy as in the modification of laws and privileges. Other countries, as well as Eng- land, suffer from bad government, and even the United States is not free from disastrous laws. When government goes beyond its proper func- tion, it makes itself responsible for failures, and engenders the belief, that, if man is unhappy, government has made him so. The condition of London is then briefly con- sidered, —‘ the greatest manufacturing town in the world,’ which levies an octroit duty on coal to an amount ‘‘ which seems insignificant, but is sufficient to’ kill such manufactures as depend on its prodigal consumption.’’ Bad as the condition of London labor is, the author is persuaded that it is not so bad as was that of all urban labor sixty years ago, and that the metropolis is not so ignorant or unclean as it was twenty years ago. The unrestricted recep- tion of foreigners is condemned. While ap- proving of charities in extraordinary cases, the author opposes compulsory and govern- mental charity on a general plan. ‘‘ To adopt such an expedient would be to despair of the recuperative power of modern industry,” and the relief of poverty would soon absorb all the products of labor. Henry George’s plan for the nationalization of land is condemned; so is entail. Migration is commended. Small land-holdings are most desirable. The advan- tages of trade-unions are pointed out with frankness and emphasis. Finally, the author, seeking for measures which will tend toward the just distribution of material comforts, takes courage for the future in the recollection, confirmed by careful historical studies, that England has taught mankind the machinery of government, and that its free institutions, now spreading through the civilized world, depend upon enlightened public opinion. ‘* The re- forms which have been effected are the work of the people, and they are to be traced in the stubborn perseverance with which Englishmen have criticised their own condition, and have discovered that from themselves only can the remedy be found.’’ Before concluding this inadequate notice of a very important book, we may mention that the last eight chapters, comprising the modern facts, have been reprinted by themselves for SCIENCE. general circulation. We may also call atten- tion to an elaborate treatise, well adapted to collateral study, on the subject of taxes and taxation in England, —four octavo volumes just given to the public by Stephen Powell, assistant solicitor of inland revenue. A NEW GEOLOGICAL MAP OF CANADA, WITH AN OUTLINE SKETCH. Tuts sketch of the physical geography and geology of Canada has been prepared to ac- company anew geological map, prepared by the geological survey, in two large sheets on a scale of forty milesto aninch. Both the map and the sketch derive their materials from a review of all the topographical and geological work that has been accomplished in Canada, and give, in graphic and condensed form, a general view of the present state of the physical explo- ration of the northern part of our continent. The physical geography is not treated with so much attention as it deserves: indeed, the pages of the sketch that are devoted to this subject are more occupied with descriptive than with truly physical geography, and leave much to be said. The geology is given more space, as is natural in the present stage of development of the two studies. Many of its topics will probably continue to excite a con- troversial interest in the future, as they have in the past: as, for example, the great St. Lawrence and Champlain fault, and its contin- uation in a series of dislocations ‘‘ traversing eastern North America from Alabama to Can- ada,’’ as well as the relation of the formations on either side of it; the Lake-Superior cop- per-bearing series, which Dr. Selwyn regards as lower Cambrian ; the subdivisions of the Ar- chaean, of which only two—the Laurentian and Huronian—are recognized, and even these are not always clearly defined, while the so-called Norian is denied existence in Canada. Intrusive and eruptive masses of Archaean date are properly mentioned with emphasis, al- though they have ‘‘ been singularly overlooked or ignored by most writers on American geol- ogy.’’ Dr. Dawson’s ‘ western section,’ being aregion of more recent exploration, has hardly yet reached the controversial stage. His de- scriptions of the several levels on the plains east of the mountains, and of the little that is known about the northward extension of our Cordilleras, are here presented in good form Descriptive sketch of the physical geography and geology of the Dominion of Canada. By A. R.C. SELwyN and G. M. Daw- SON. Montreal, Dawson bros., 1884. 55 p.,mapin2 sheets. 8. FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] for study by the younger generation of com- ing geologists, who have yet to begin their acquaintance with the structure of that vast region. The geological map is a very welcome contri- bution to our records of the physical history of British North America. It measures the great progress made in western explorations since Sir William Logan and Professor James Hall pre- pared the well-known map of Canada and the north-eastern United States in 1866, and pre- sents an authorized graphic digest of the many sketch-maps and reports that have been pub- lished since that time. Much of the work is, of course, broadly generalized, and is doubt- less open to serious changes; but the great features of the country are well represented, and in the west show a very clear continuation northward of those found within our territory, with the addition of certain peculiarities prob- ably dependent on a more extensive glaciation and a greater recent depression in the north- ern area. The vast breadth of the horizontal mesozoic and tertiary strata of the plains, between the undetermined confusion of the Ar- chaean on the east, and the paleozoic moun- tain ranges on the west, gives a character to this region that finds no close parallel in other parts of the world. The ‘ general map of part of the north-west territories,’ prepared at the Dominion lands- office at Ottawa, may be recalled while men- tioning the geological sheets. It represents the region northward from our boundary, be- tween Hudson Bay and the front range of the Rocky Mountains, on the same scale of forty miles to an inch, and, in the latest edition we have seen, is corrected to March, 1883. Its topographic detail, especially as regards the ragged outlines of the numerous lakes drained by the Nelson River, is decidedly greater than that of the later geological map. Both are, we presume, in great part only approximations to the exact truth ; but, unless the former is imagi- nary in its details, the uninitiated can hardly _understand why it was not used as the base- map for the geological coloring. Perhaps there is need of better co-ordination of gov- ernment work in Canada as well as with us. GOODALE’S VEGETABLE HISTOLOGY. UP to the time of the translation of Sachs’s text-book of botany into English, something Grays botanical text-book, sixth edition. Vol. ii., Physio- logical botany; i., Outlines of the histology of phaenogamous plants. By GeorGE LINCOLN GOODALE, A.M., M.D., professor of botany in Harvard university. New York and Chicago, Jvi- son, Blakeman, Taylor, & Co., 1885. SCIENCE. 157 over ten years ago, comparatively little interest was felt in vegetable histology and physiology in this country ; and no modern English trea- tise on the subject, of any importance, existed. The direction given to the work of students by Sachs’s book was soon manifested by a demand for less comprehensive text-books, adapted to the use of more elementary classes; and Thomé, Prantl, Bessey, and Kellerman have successively appeared as the result of this demand. While the space given to physiological sub- jects in the earlier editions of Gray was doubt- less adequate when these were prepared, the revision of the book required that these subjects should be treated far more comprehensively than was possible within the limits of the original work: hence the appearance of a separate volume allotted to them. For convenience the author has divided this volume into two parts, devoted respectively to histology and physiology. ‘The first of these has recently come from the press, and sustains the high character of the work of which it forms a part. An important feature of this volume is the concise introduction, in which the histological appliances and methods most frequently used are brought together for discussion, the writ- er’s long experience as a laboratory teacher making this condensed account of much prac- tical value to the student. Following this are chapters on the cell and its parts; modified cells, and the tissues they compose ; the struc- ture and development of the root, stem, and leaf of phaenogams; and the structure and development of the flower, fruit, and seed. These subjects are treated in much the same manner as in several of the later text-books, though an unusual degree of facility in group- ing the topics in a logical manner is shown; and no opportunity is lost of indicating the practical aspects of the subject under consid- eration. While this part maintains the conservatism with regard to insufficiently substantiated theo- ries that characterizes the earlier volume of the text-book, it is well abreast of the times in a branch of botany which is admittedly in a far from settled condition. A marked im- provement on the usual classification of tissues is observable in the adoption of a smaller number of types, the limits of which are capa- ble of more precise definition, while the treat- ment of their derivatives is probably the best possible on a morphological basis. A physio- logical classification of tissues, based largely on the admirable work of Haberlandt, forms 158 SCIENCE. the last chapter, and will be found of much assistance as an introduction to the physio- logical part of the volume. In point of illustration, this stands in marked contrast with the more recent American text- books on related subjects. If the figures do not all possess the highest artistic merits, they are for the most part well executed. Their chief value, however, lies in the fact that very few of them have before appeared in American books. Sachs, which has supplied most of our later text-books with their only meritori- ous histological illustrations, has been practi- cally discarded. While most of the cuts are copies, many of them are taken from special memoirs not readily accessible to the majority of teachers, and hence are as useful as if ori- ginal; and those that have been reproduced from other sources have the merit of excel- lence of execution and ready comprehensi- bility. If the closing part of the volume, dealing with vegetable physiology, which, as we under- stand, is soon to appear, shall maintain the character of that already published, the book cannot fail to meet the requirements of the class of botanists for whom the ‘ Botanical text-book’ was planned. DISEASE-GERMS. Dr. KLEtn’s book is by far the best we have seen on the subject of the pathogenic and sep- tic bacteria. The author has had a thorough practical education in the matter, as he has worked at it experimentally during the last ten years for the medical department of the local government board of England. In this little volume are embodied his own researches, sup- plemented by those of others, arranged to form an admirable guide, either for those who may wish to work in this field practically or for those who may wish to get merely a critical knowledge. The first five chapters are devoted to the apparatus and methods employed in the culti- vation of bacteria outside of the body, and the precautions which are necessary in order to avoid error. Also the inoculation of animals, and the care to be taken in this, are spoken of here. An exhaustive account of the morphological Micro-organisms and disease. An introduction into the study of specific micro-organisms. By E. KLEIN, M.D., F.R.S. London, Macmillan, 1884. 8°. The formation of poisons by micro-organisms. A biological study of the germ theory of disease. By G. V. Buack, M.D., D.D.8. Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1884. 12°. characters of all the micro-organisms is not attempted, but only of such as are related to disease in some way or other. The classification of Cohn is followed; and the micrococci are first taken up, then the bac- teria proper, after this the bacilli, then the vibrios and spirilli, and finally the fungi, in- cluding actinomycetes. | The descriptions of the appearance and characteristics of the various species are greatly aided by woodcuts giving the shape and par- ticular way of grouping together. The differ- ence in outline between many of the bacteria is so slight that it cannot be attained in the most highly executed plates: therefore it is much better to try to represent their method of association, and the abundance in which they occur in the tissues, than to strive for great ac- curacy in the delineation of individuals. The last chapters of the book are well werth read- ing, as they deal with some of the general ques- tions. That on the relations of septic to pathogenic organisms considers the possibility of certain of the former assuming the proper- ties of the latter under extraordinary condi- tions. ‘Three examples have been brought forward as proof of this: first, the transfor- mation of the hay bacillus into the bacillus anthracis ; second, the properties of exciting inflammation in the eye, which the bacillus sub- tilis of the air is said to assume when grown in a solution of jequirity-bean (Abrus precatorius) ; and, third, that the common aspergillus, when cultivated under peculiar conditions, is reported to be fatal when inoculated into rabbits. The facts bearing on these cases are carefully re- viewed and tested by his own experiments, and he comes to the conclusion that in each case there is an error. In the first it arises from the accidental contamination of the nutri- tive fluid; in the second it is not the mi- crobe which is the active agent, but a peculiar chemical ferment (abrin) which is contained in the beans, and has also been obtained from other parts of the plant; and in the third the fungus acts simply mechanically, and not as a toxic agent, in causing death. The sep- tic alkaloids (ptomaines) and the zymogenic ferments are noticed in the chapter on the vital phenomena of non-pathogenic organisms. He takes up the subject of vaccination and immunity, and concludes that the weight of evidence tends to show that the milder form of disease furnishes some substance, not as yet demonstrated, in addition to those already in the system, which acts in preventing the de- velopment of the severer forms. In the last chapter, attention is directed to antiseptics ; — FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] and it is shown that the greater number simply hinder the development of bacteria, and in no ~ way destroy their powers when they are again placed under suitable conditions. The little volume may be summed up as clear and concise, well illustrated, and inex- pensive. Dr. Black has adopted a rather high sound- ing title for a course of lectures delivered to the students in the Chicago college of dental surgery. There is no evidence that he has worked practically at the subject, and the gen- eralizations to which he is inclined have to be made entirely upon the work of others which he has not controlled. He thinks that all the processes causing cell destruction or absorp- tion are a sort of digestion, and that micro- organisms act by digesting the celis, or else they are digested by them. Perhaps, if the subject-matter had been a little more digested by the author, he would not have felt himself called upon to publish these lectures. BILLINGS’S VENTILATION AND HEAT- ING. Tuis book is a reprint, in revised form, of a series of articles which appeared in The san- itary engineer in answer to a typical questioner who asked for a rule-of-thumb method for solv- ing problems in ventilation, and who failed to recognize the legitimate relation between ‘ long- winded discussions on the physics of gases,’ and ventilation. The author urges a thorough knowledge of the mechanics of gases, and of the laws involved in their free and constrained movement, as essential to any competent judg- ment upon the solution of the various pneumatic and thermal problems ‘peculiar to heating and ventilation. Pecuniary rather than constructive or func- tional difficulties are stated to be the most serious encountered in providing good ventila- tion. A partial antidote for scepticism as to the efficiency of any method, because of the fre- quent entire or partial failure of elaborate and costly systems put to the test of actual use, appears in the description given of systems in successful operation in various types of build- ings. If the causes of failure in less success- ful undertakings had been clearly pointed out, the faith of many would have been still further strengthened. A discussion of the compara- tive cost of heating, with and without conjoined ventilation, would also have served the good Ventilation and heating. y J. S. Bintineg. New York, The sanitary engineer, 1884, 8°. SCIENCE. 159 purpose of furnishing needed information, and of allaying any undue apprehension growing out of the author’s statements which make venti- lation dependent on liberality of expenditure. The ordinary cost of ventilation does not neces- sarily represent the minimum cost under con- ditions of maximum economy and efficiency ; and it is along these lines that the progress is to be made which shall inspire confidence, and create demand. The book is a valuable contribution to the literature, rather than to the science, to which it pertains. It furnishes a clear statement of the fundamental principles involved in the art of heating and ventilation, and describes its methods and results in their application to the numerous and varied illustrations cited. In style, the book is fresh, vigorous, and perspic- uous; the occasional flashes of the author’s individuality lending a charm the more com- plete because unmarred by dogmatism. Though occasional statements may provoke marginal interrogation-points, the book is an eminently safe guide, and easily takes a leading place among the works of its kind which have ap- peared in American literature. s NOTES AND NEWS. Ir is suggested by G. P. Putnam’s sons of New York to secure for the publications of societies the same advantages that are possessed by the issues of publishers, by having them fully described in a priced and classified catalogue, to be made up, say, twice a year, and to be distributed as widely as are the book- lists of publishing-houses. There are at present in the United States some seventy scientific and histor- ical associations which issue in the course of the year transactions, proceedings, or monographs. Many of these publications possess an interest and importance for the general public, and find sale outside of the special circles of the members of the societies for whom they are more particularly prepared. The gen- eral sale of such society publications could be ma- terially increased, to the advantage as well of the special interests they are planned to further, as of the various publication-funds, if provision were made for some trustworthy means by which the general public might secure prompt information concerning the works issued, and for some regular channel through which could be supplied the increased demand that such information would unquestionably induce. Each society whose publications are included in the catalogue, will, under the plan proposed, contribute a small annual payment towards the cost of its prepa- ration, while the publishers will assume the payment of such deficiency as may remain. — D. G. Brinton of Philadelphia announces as in press ‘‘ The Lenapé, and their legends; with the com- 160 plete text and symbols of the Walam olum, a new translation, and an inquiry into its authenticity,” by himself. —At its annual meeting, Jan. 21, the Russian geographical society awarded the Constantine medal to A. Woeikof, for his researches on climatology, espe- cially for his work entitled ‘Climates of the globe;’ Count Lutke’s medal to Col. N. J. Zinger, in con- sideration of his method of determining time by the observation of two stars, —a method combining ac- curacy with simplicity without the aid of heavy in- struments, and especially suitable for geodetic work (it has already been used in Caucasus, Bulgaria, and other places); the medal of the ethnological section to P. W. Schein, for his study of the folk-lore of White Russia; the medal of the statistical section to Prof. T. Janskeel, for his report on factory statistics of the Moscow region. Inferior gold medals SCIENCE. a eh [FeBRUARY. 20, 1 2 —Capt. Mitchell of the English steamer Went-— more reports that on Jan. 28, at half-past two A.M., a ball of St. Elmo’s fire fell between the bridge and foremast, and afterwards played upon the ftoremast and gaff. This ball of fire was so bright that for a time it blinded the officer on watch. — Ambulance classes for railway employees have been instituted in Berlin, and it is intended that in future every German railway official shall be an ac- complished student of the Esmarch ambulance sys- tem. — Mr. Cochery, the French minister of posts and telegraphy, was present at Rouen, Jan. 2, at some experiments in long-distance telephoning. The ob- ject was to test the application between Rouen and Havre, a distance of about ninety kilometres, of the simultaneous transmis- sion system of Van Rys- selberghe. The result were given to Putkata, Iwanow, and Bender- sky (Ramir travellers) ; to Professor Klossow- sky, for his studies of thunder-storms in Rus- sia; and to Professor Zomakion, for magnetic observations at Kasan in 1882-83 on the inter- national plan. The most important recent publications of the so- ciety are the map of the Baikal by Chersky, and the atlas showing Gen. Kaulbars’s work on the Amu Sarja. — Among the promi- nent members of the Russian geographical society who died dur- ing the past year was Count A. S. Uwarow, one of the first arche- ologists of Russia, and founder of the Archeo- logical society of Moscow. His first work was an in- vestigation of the archeology of southern Russia. Later he made a very thorough examination of the tumuli on the Oka (Wladimir), and published an im- portant work on the Finnish people of the Meria, who inhabited the country before its colonization by the Russians. For this work he was awarded the Con- stantine medal of the society. The last fifteen years of his life were devoted to the study of prehistoric archeology. — The electrical exposition, organized by the Inter- national society of electricians at the Observatory of Paris, will open March 15. The exposition will be the first in a series of special expositions preparatory to the great universal and international festival in 1889. A KANSAS TORNADO IN APRIL, 1884. was excellent, and Co- chery announced that the communication would be open to the public in a fortnight. It is probable that be- fore long there will also be a connection be- tween Rouen and Paris, using either the Van Rysselberghe system or a special wire, accord- ing to the cost. Since Jan. 1 the first public telephone - offices have been in operation in Paris. — The January num- ber of the American meteorological journal, edited by Professor Har- rington of Ann Arbor, Mich., and published at Detroit, is of more than usual interest. Among the meteorological pa- pers, one by Mr. H. H. Clayton, jun., on the ‘ Thun- der-squalls of July 5, 1884,’ is of much value. A new feature that appears in this number of the journal is twelve pages of methodical review by various contributors. If extended and continued, this will form a current bibliography of great value to many readers who are unable to consult a large variety of publications. The number contains a woodcut (here produced) prepared from a photograph of a tornado that occurred in Kansas last April. The view was taken by Mr. A. A. Adams, Garnett, Kan., from whom copies may be bought. Another tornado photograph was taken in Dakota last August by F. N. Robinson of Howard, Miner county, from whom copies may be obtained. The storm passed twenty-two miles west of that town, moving in a =r eS) FEBRUARY 20, 1885.] south-easterly direction. It was first noticed at four o’clock, and remained in sight over two hours. Sev- eral persons were killed, and all property was de- stroyed along its track. This view has already been published in Nature and in the Comptes rendus, while its appearance here has been delayed on account of its having been copyrighted. Although the destruc- tive effects of tornadoes have often been photo- graphed, we believe these are the first views ever taken of the tornado itself. No others of the kind are found in the great collection of tornado illustra- tions in the U.S. signal-office at Washington. It is due to our readers to say that our knowledge of the SCIENCE. 161 sary physical and other investigations for which the eclipse of the sun in that month will present a favor- able opportunity. ‘‘ The occurrence,’’ he says fur- ther, ‘‘of long-continued earthquake disturbances in Tasmania during the past year, and the tendency they have lately exhibited to extend to the southern part of Australia, coupled with the probability that they are indicative of a new centre of seismic action not very far removed from the eastern portion of Bass’s Straits, suggest the propriety of establishing some seismometer apparatus at our observatory; and I have now under consideration the question of the form of apparatus best suited for this locality.’’ FROM AN INSTANTANEOUS PHOTOGRAPH OF A TORNADO IN DAKOTA, authenticity of these two views depends simply on the tacit guaranty given by their owners, and that the second one especially bears evidence of having been somewhat ‘ touched up;’ but, in any case, they are certainly unique. It is to be hoped that there may be additional examples reported of this new use of the camera before the coming season is over. — The veteran Chevreul, who is approaching the close of the hundredth year of his age, presided the first week in January, in Paris, at a meeting of the new Student’s association. It is needless to say that he was enthusiastically received. He spoke of himself as being still merely a student. —The government astronomer of the colony of Victoria has recommended that a party be sent to New Zealand next September to carry out the neces- ‘ — Mr. Lauth, the superintendent of the porcelain factory at Sevres, is said to have discovered a new porcelain which is far superior to the celebrated old Sevres. _After ten years’ experiment and investiga- tion, he thinks he has produced a porcelain identical with that of China. Not only does it lend itself to artistic decoration, but it takes all kinds of glazes, and surpasses in beauty the colors obtained in China. — Our imperfect knowledge of the more obscure forms of marine life is shown by the fact that a new parasitic copepod has just been discovered in the gill- tubes of the ordinary clam (Mya arenaria), and de- scribed in the American naturalist for February. It is rather large, and belongs to the group Poecilos- tomat%. The male is found in a free state in the mantle cavity. 162 — The first part of the new ‘ Journal of the New- York microscopical society’ has appeared as a well- printed octavo of thirty-two pages. It is to contain the transactions and proceedings of the society, and to be published in nine monthly numbers, from Novem- ber to July inclusive, at one dollar per annum. The present number contains an abstract of Stein’s article on electrical illumination for the microscope, which appeared in the Zeitschrift fiir wissenschaftliche mi- kroskopie ; a short critical essay on pollen-tubes, by Dr. Britton; the report of the proceedings of the society; and, finally, an ‘ Index to articles of interest to microscopists.’ From the examination of the journal, we conclude that the society opens its career with good prospects; and we find among the members a number of familiar and esteemed names, which makes us hope that it will prove something more than an association of dilettanti. Cornelius van Brunt is president of the society, and B. Braman editor of the journal. — The Deutsche geographische blaitter of Bremen publishes a ‘ sociological essay’ on the Kongo tribes, written by Mr. R. C. Phillips, an old resident at Ponta da Lenha. The writer deals more especially with the social condition of the tribes with whom he was brought into contact, and only incidentally enters into questions of commerce and international policy. What he says about the recent ‘annexations’ and purchases of land by the International association, the French, and the Portuguese, is of some interest just now. It is quite clear that the native chiefs, when they signed the documents so ostentatiously made public, never meant either to ‘sell’ the land of their tribes, or to place themselves under the sover- eignty or protection of foreign powers. — The following three monographs, part of the larger work on the fauna and flora of the Bay of Naples and the neighboring coasts, will shortly be published by Engelmann of Leipzig: ‘ Doliolum,’ by Dr. Basilius Uljanin, with twelve colored lithographs, ten zincographs, and a woodcut; ‘Polycladae,’ by Dr. A. Lang, with fifteen lithographs; ‘ Cryptomen- iaceae,’ by Dr. G. Berthold, with eight colored litho- graphs. — The eighteenth volume of the new edition of the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’ is to be published this month. It opens with the article ‘ Ornithology,’ of Prof. A. Newton: and among the other scientific articles are ‘Oysters,’ by Mr. J. I. Cunningham; ‘Pacific Ocean,’ by Mr. J. Murray; ‘ Parasitism,’ treated under the three heads, ‘animal,’ ‘ vegetable,’ and ‘medical,’ by Mr. P. Geddes, Mr. Milne Murray, and Dr. C. Creighton; ‘Pathology,’ by Dr. Creigh- ton; ‘ Photography,’ by Capt. Abney;:and ‘ Phrenol- ogy,’ by Professor Macalister. ‘Philology’ is dealt with by Professor Whitney of Yale, and Prof. E. Sievers of Tubingen. — The fourth edition of ‘ Tables, meteorological and physical,’ by Professor Arnold Guyot, has just been published by the Smithsonian institution. The pre- ceding or third edition was published in 185@; and though stereotyped, it was thought advisable to have SCIENCE. this new edition entirely reconstructed. It now forms an octavo volume of seven hundred and sixty- three pages, and is offered for sale at the price of three dollars. The first series of tables (fifteen in number) embraces thermometrical comparisons and conversions; the second (of thirty-three tables), — hygrometrical computations; the third (of twenty- seven), barometrical tables; the fourth (of twenty- six), hypsometrical tables; the fifth, geographical tables of conversions, including forty-nine tables of measures of length (for heights, etc.), ten tables of itinerary measures, and ten tables of square meas- ures, or measures of geographical surface; the sixth (of ninety-nine), tables for corrections of variations of temperature, etc., at different parts of the earth; the seventh and last series (of nine tables) em- braces miscellaneous tables. — The brothers Donhardt have reached Zanzibar, and will continue the explorations in the interior of eastern Africa, which they began in 1878 and 1879. — The International association has sent out an officer to open a station between Karema, on Lake Tanganyika, and the station at Stanley Falls, on the Upper Kongo. A transcontinental route will then be opened by steamer up the Zambezi and Lake Nyassa, across the Stevenson road to Lake Tanganyika, thence by the new station to Stanley Falls, and so down the Kongo. — The two Austrian explorers, Dr. von Hardegger and Professor Paulitschke, have sailed from Trieste for Aden, whence they mean to go to Harar, and make scientific studies, and collect specimens between - there and Sela. — The general geographical conference of the Australian colonies, to be held at Melbourne, is to discuss the necessity of defining the exact meaning of the geographical term ‘ Australasia,’ the compilation of areliable work on the geography of Australia for Australian schools, the New-Guinea exploration, and the discovering and defining of the exact boundaries of what may now be termed ‘ British New Guinea.’ — Itis stated in the anthropological notes of the Athenartum, that Deniker’s study of the Kalmucks, which has appeared in the last five numbers of the Revue danthropologie, is now complete. He re- marks that in Russia, as in China, the Kalmucks are little by little losing their originality, though not so quickly as some other peoples; and that the time is not far distant when there will only remain of this ancient and warlike people, which has its own lit- erature, religion, and laws, some thousands of peace- able subjects whose physical type will perhaps be all that will be left to prove their Mongolian origin. In sooner or later absorbing themselves into the rest of humanity, however, they will certainly add to the mass some traits of character distinctively their own. The same author has also published an investigation into the foetus of the gorilla; a specimen of which, the only one which has ever reached Europe, is in — ier his hands, and has been described by him to the So- ciety of anthropology of Paris. / Pore. NG. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE MAP and geographical article by Lieut. Greely, which appear in this issue, may fairly be said to contain the most important addi- tions to the geography of the polar regions which have been made in some years. The importance of the discoveries of the Greely party lies not merely in their extending the area of mapped coast, but also in the distinc- tive, and to some extent unexpected, character of the physical features of the region now first pointed out. The continuation of North Green- land in the direction and manner determined by Lockwood and Brainard was not unforeseen, or at least is what might have been reasonably predicted. The information as to the narrow- ness of Grinnell Land and the trend of its western shores is hardly what any one would have anticipated; and the discovery adds piquancy to the ordinary interest of new ex- ploration. In this connection, the information reported by Dr. Boas is of peculiar interest. It will be singular, indeed, if it finally appears that the channel of Smith Sound, and its con- tinuations, are projected like a ‘ covered way’ into the realm of ice, as if for the especial benefit of explorers. ‘The absence of any con- siderable body of land north-west from Grinnell Land must have an important bearing one the question of the ocean-currents of the arctic re- gion. We commend the map to the considera- tion of a well-known geographical amateur, who, if telegraphic despatches are to be trusted, immediately after the receipt of the first ‘ cable- gram’ of Greely’s explorations, made haste to assure the British public that there was no reason to suppose that Greely’s party had been farther north-east than Beaumont Island, and that their own supposition that they had made progress was doubtless an entire misconcep- tion! The adverse critics of arctic work should bear in mind that the entire geo- No. 108. — 1885. graphical and scientific work was accom- plished without disease, disaster, or even serious frost-bite. A RECENT extension of the work undertaken by the secondary meteorological services of our country is the establishment of local signals, indicating the coming changes of weather as telegraphed from the signal-office in Washing- ton. This has been attempted by four of the local services. Ohio led the way a year or more ago by arranging with several railroad- lines for the display of colored signals on the sides of the baggage-cars, and this system has been extended into Canada and Pennsylva- nia. Louisiana had at last accounts sixty- seven stations at which flags were hoisted to forewarn the planters of probable frosts. Ala- bama has a system of three flags in nine com- binations, in operation at about thirty stations. The system is approved, and is extending month by month. Several towns in New England are adopting the Ohio system, intro- duced here through the New-England meteor- ological society. Besides all these, there is a considerable number of volunteer-stations at which the ‘cold-wave ’ flag is displayed. The latest suggestion for local signals comes from Vermont, where it is proposed to spread the indications by factory-whistles. The point is made that the out-of-town farmers, who have especial need of the weather warnings, have the smallest opportunity of learning them soon enough, either from newspapers, post- office bulletins, or local flags. Blasts from powerful steam-whistles could, on the other hand, be heard five or more miles around ; and they would carry the news to nearly every part of a manufacturing state. All the Vermont boards of town selectmen are to be petitioned to consider the matter, and we shall be glad later in the season to announce good progress in the work. _ ivy Mal 164 Wuar Is a microscopist ? First and last, an amateur who rejoices in the beautiful variety of microscopical specimens ; one who treasures slides in the exact centre of which is a ring of cement neatly put on, and holding a cover-glass under which lies some fine test-object,— a delicate diatom, a podura scale, a bit of tissue the vessels of which are injected with gor- geous red, a polarizing crystal: in short, almost any tiny scrap of the universe, if so it be pretty in the pattern of its shape and color. These same treasured slides must have neatly bordered labels, and be catalogued and stored by a special system. The microscopist is one who has a formidable and extensive deal of brass stand, which can hold together a cabinet of appliances; and he will display the most admirable patience in getting them in posi- tion, until at last he sees the specimen, and is ready to clean and pack away his apparatus. His series of objectives is his glory; and he possesses a fifteenth of Smith and Brown, which will resolve a band of Nobert’s not to be re- solved by the objectives of any of his friends. His instrument is his pet: about it his interest centres, while the direction of his studies is determined, not by any natural bond between the objects, but by the common quality of minuteness. Is it not curious ? Imagine any one deliberately setting out to study whatever he could cut with a knife. Weshould pity the man who chopped up the sciences according to the instrument he used. We cannot be brought to regard anatomy as a department of cutlery, nor can we seriously admit histology as a de- partment of microscopy. Scientific men have been very lenient towards the microscopists ; and yet the latter, who have long been allowed to march as hangers-on to the regular scientific army, have gradually lagged behind. ‘The army has grown, and divided into many separate corps, traversing the country of the unknown in all directions, and the micros- copist knows not whither to follow. If he turns in any direction, he must join with the special work there, and can glean only in one field : he is no longer the universal gatherer. One SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. must be of the army to be with it, andthe — forces are too scattered for any hanger-on to , flit from one division to another. The would- be microscopist has no place among scientific investigators. He must enlist in one company and there remain, or else be content to rank as an amateur, and not as a scientific man. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The north magnetic pole. WITH my article in Science, No.98 (Dec. 19, 1884), en- titled ‘ The Netschilluk Innuit,’ there appeared a map of the distribution of those Eskimo, in which I placed the north magnetic pole in about longitude 99° 35’ west from Greenwich, or about sixty-five miles due west of the position given by Ross, its discoverer, in his sledge-journey of 1831. Since this map was issued I have received two letters from well-known scientific gentlemen, and a personal inquiry from another, ask- ing why I so mapped this change in the magnetic pole, and on what observations or conclusions it was based, even though I had put an interrogation-point after the words indicating the position. It is well known that many calculations have been made re- specting the western movement of this pole since its discovery; and, varying as they do, they all, so far as I have seen, would place it much farther to the west, for the year 1879, than my location gives it. The above inquiries and facts make me think it would be interesting to give in your publication the rude and approximate manner in which I located it as above, leaving each one to judge of its value. Its latitude I assumed to be the same as that determined by Ross, as all writers speaking of its revolution, whatever be its rate, give the geographical pole as its centre. Its latitude, therefore, would not vary. I consider this co-ordinate, determined in this manner, by far the most unreliable of the two; I believe, how- ever, that those interested in the subject will consider it also the least important, as being the least likely to vary considerably. My only instrument for deter- mining the position of the pole was an ordinary com- pass, but an extremely delicate and reliable one in its proper sphere, and returning to the same point, in the temperate zones, to within less than a degree of arc started from any position that could be given. When at Cape Felix, the most northern point of King William’s Land, the needle remained sluggishly in almost any position that was given it; when pointed in a north-east or south-west direction, I thought I detected a slight tendency to move to the westward. At Franklin Point I made some seventy-five to one hundred observations (the exact number I have in my journals, packed in Portland, Ore.; but I think my memory will be close enough for descriptive pur- poses, and probably more exact than the rough approximations), and the horizontal needle now commenced to show a little activity; a mean of the observations showing about longitude 99°, where its direction cut the Ross latitude of the magnetic pole. — Near Point Little, I took the longest and most careful __ series of observations, and the needle always returned to within 18° (this I distinctly remember) of the pole _ as I have located it in the Netschilluk map, and this — FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] return was made from every quarter-point of the compass several times (my records show this more accurately). My other observations of similar charac- ter were at camp on Terror Bay, and at Reindeer Camp on Simpson’s Straits. All of these points are some- where between 99° and 100° west longitude; and I firmly believe the observations sufficiently accurate to say, in no rough way, that in 1879 the north magnetic pole was between these two meridians, with its lati- tude quite undetermined. In the fall of 1880 I published a small note about this interesting point, in which the above appeared, and also a few calculations regarding the westward rate of progress, which I cannot give from memory. I think that the thermometric observations close to this district, straggling and interrupted though they were, go far to prove that the magnetic pole, and pole of minimum depression, are identical, or nearly so. FRED’K SCHWATKA. New-York City, Feb. 9. Total eclipse of the sun in August, 1886. In the year 1886, Aug. 28-29, will occur an eclipse of the sun, whose maximum duration of totality is over six minutes of time. Opportunities like these for the study of solar physics are sufficiently rare for astronomers to be always eager to improve them whenever it is deemed practicable. Although the circumstances of this eclipse are found upon exam- ination to be beset with peculiar difficulties, still it may not be amiss to make a statement of them, that the possibilities of its observation may be clearly understood. In this eclipse the axis of the moon’s shadow, soon after touching the earth, passes very near or through the following islands, — Los Roques, Orchilla, Blan- guilla, Grenada, and Cariagoa, — which are some of the Windward Islands which skirt the northern coast of South America. From this point the shadow sweeps across the broad Atlantic, and touches no land until it reaches the African coast at Benguela, which place lies almost exactly on the central line. By examination of the chart of this eclipse, pub- lished by the ‘ American ephemeris,’ it will be seen that the totality will occur only about half an hour after sunrise at the most favorable station in the West Indies, with a duration of totality of about three and a half minutes. On the African coast the duration of totality is about four and a half minutes, and the altitude of the sun is amply sufficient for favorable observation. Benguela is about four hundred miles south of the mouth of the Kongo, and about two hundred miles south of the mouth of the Koanza. The climate of the lowlands bordering the coast near Benguela is fatally unhealthy for strangers, making it compul- sory, on the score of prudence, for an observing party to penetrate the interior sufficiently to attain the mountainous highlands which lie not far inland. The American board of commissioners for foreign missions has for some three years occupied two mission-stations in this region; viz., Bailundu, about a hundred and thirty miles eastward from Benguela, and Bihe, about seventy miles south-east from Bai- lundu. Through the courtesy of Rev. Judson Smith, D.D., secretary of the American board, and Mr. Frederick A. Walter, secretary of this west-central African mission, I have received definite statements of some of the precautions necessary, and some of the difficulties to be encountered by an observing party locating in this region. I will give in brief the points with which Mr. Walter favors us. SCIENCE. 165 Dangers to the person from savages are not to be apprehended. The climate of Bailundu and vicinity is exceedingly salubrious. During a residence of nearly three years, Mr. Walter and his family have experienced no illness to be ascribed directly to the climate, but in every case to overwork, over-ex- posure to the sun, or want of proper food. The difficulties in reference to transportation are considerable. Transportation is done entirely by men: wagons and animals cannot be used. The cross weight for a carrier is from sixty-five to seventy pounds: commonly it does not exceed fifty-eight pounds. Packages, either bales or boxes, should be of about the following dimensions: fourteen inches by nine inches by thirty inches, or, if more conven- ient, sixteen inches by ten inches by twenty-four inches. No single package should exceed eighteen inches in width by ten inches in depth. Pieces not exceeding sixty pounds in weight, though eight or ten feet long, can be carried by a single carrier. As to means of subsistence, an observing party must bring all their supplies with them, as it is essen- tial to the health of new-comers that they should live on food to which they are accustomed. The time required for a round trip of a caravan from Bailundu to Benguela may be stated as one month to six weeks. Mr. Walter states that the chances for clear sky at the time of the eclipse are very favorable. It may be stated that the land rises very abruptly as one leaves the coast from Benguela, and in a few miles attains a very considerable altitude, and throughout these highlands the climate is very health- ful. A. N. SKINNER. A simple calendar reform. Reform in the standard of daily time having now been happily accomplished, to the great convenience of the public, another simple reform in the monthly calendar remains desirable, which would greatly simplify commercial calculations, and computations depending on the calendar. In our present calendar the disturbing elements which cause inconvenience are connected with the month of February, which at once is shorter than the average month, and also dis- turbs the revolution of the Dominical letters by the addition of the intercalary day in the leap-years. From this method of inserting the intercalary day in the midst of the year, arises the necessity of having two Dominical letters in the leap-years, and of dis- tinguishing the two unequal parts of such years in all calendar computations. Now, it is evident, that, if the intercalary day were inserted at the end of the year, the revolution of the Dominical letters would go on undisturbed, and we should never have more than one in any year. But as December already has thirty-one days, to obviate the inequality of months, one day should be taken from it, and one from some other month of thirty- one days, say July, and both be added to February. Thus an equality would be established, as nearly as possible, by an alternation of months of thirty and thirty-one days each, with the least possible alteration of the existing calendar. In each half-year, any two successive months (with the exception of November and December in ordinary years) would have sixty- one days, and each quarter not less than ninety-one, nor more than ninety-two days. As it is now, the first two months have usually only fifty-nine days, while July and August have sixty-two; the first quarter has ordinarily only ninety days, while the third and fourth quarters have each ninety-two days. The new arrangement would estab- lish a simplicity and symmetry in the calendar, which 166 would prove a great convenience to the business and scientific public, and equalize the time value of the calendar months and quarters. A very suitable opportunity to introduce the im- proved calendar would be on the first recurrence of the leap-year, in 1888. Inthe mean time the proposed change could be fully discussed and ventilated. The following table will show the relations of the old and the new calendar to each other: — DAY OF YEAR. Old calendar. New calendar. Jan. 31 31 31 Jan. 31 Feb. 28-9 59-60 61 Feb. 30* March 31 90- i 92 March 31 90-1 April 30 120- 1 92 122; April 30 May 31 151- 2 153 May 31 June 30 181- 2 183 June 30 91 July 31 D1Q=aS 91 213 July 30% Aug. 31 243- 4 244 Aug. 31 Sept. 30 273- 4 274 Sept 30 92 Oct. 31 304- 5 91 805 Oct. 31 Noy. 30 304— 5 835 Nov 30 Dec. 31 365- 6 365-6 Dec 30-1 92 91-2 * In transferring from old calendar to new, from March to July inclusive, deduct two days; from August to December, deduct one day. ‘Thus March 1 (old calendar) will be Feb. 29 (new calendar) ; but Aug. 1 (old calendar) will be July 30 (new calendar). The following adaptation of the old lines may serve to assist the memory :— 30 days, July, September, April, June, and November, February and December ; The last, in leap-year, 31, And always the remaining five. EDWARD P. GRAY. Ingersoll’s ‘Country cousins.’ Absence from home has delayed until to-day my seeing the extended (and therefore highly complimen- tary) notice of my ‘‘ Country cousins: short studies in the natural history of the United States,’’ to which you were good enough to give space in your issue of Feb. 6. Acknowledging its kindly tone throughout, I wish to retort with equal courtesy (if possible) upon your writer at the point where he seems to find most fault; namely, my assertion that the flukes of the whale and other cetaceans represent the hinder flip- pers of the seal and the hinder legs of terrestrial quadrupeds. That anybody should deny this, sur- prised me. The language in which I expressed the statement was less precise than that demanded by a technical treatise, as ‘Country cousins’ makes no claim to be; but only a captious construction could make out that I meant more by what I said than that in a general way the flukes of the Cetacea were rep- resentative (in a greatly altered condition, of course) of the hinder flippers of a seal, and structurally were quite as distinct as they, from the forked tail of a fish. SCIENCE. Leaving my assertion and possible evidence out of the question, I should like to know what the com- parative anatomists of the country have to say as to this point between my critic and myself. Do not Dr. Elliott Coues and Dr. Theodore Gill teach that a whale’s fluke is directly homologous with the integu- mentary portion of the hinder limbs of the rest of the Mammalia? Of course, every one knows there are no bones there. Has not Professor John Ryder discov- ered, since my pages were in type, that the nerves which supply the flukes are not those which pass along the spine into the tail (where it exists), but, on the contrary, are homologues of those in the higher mammals, which, branching from the spinal cord in the lumbo-sacral region, supply the hinder limbs? What has embryology to show as to the genesis of the flukes? Do they arise structurally as the forks of a tail, or as limb-appendages? It is just possible that the inaccuracy and carelessness with which I have been rather freely accused have been over-estimated. ERNEST INGERSOLL. New Haven. [In respect to the criticism of ‘Country cousins,’ to which the author of the work so warmly but courte- ously objects, it may be sufficient reply to quote the statement criticised by the reviewer, which is as fol- lows: ‘‘If I had the time, I could prove to you that the difference between the fin of a fish and the bone- leg of an otter or of a dog, or of our own arm, is not so very great ; and it would be easy to show how nearly alike the flipper of the seal and fore-leg of a land mammal really are. .. . The same comparison will hold good for the hind-feet of the otter and the hind- flippers or ‘ tail’ (which is noé a tail) of the seal; and it is equally true of the walrus, and of the whale, por- poise, grampus, black-fish, and other cetaceans.’’ Not a word is said about the ‘ flukes’ of a whale, nor is any reference made to the ‘forked tail of a fish,’ in the passage criticised. We again submit that this is ‘ evi- dence of either ignorance or carelessness’ on the part of the author. It is at least a grossly slipshod use of language. — REVIEWER. | A new method of arranging entomological collections. A very large proportion of the time of a faithful curator of a growing entomological cabinet is de- voted to the re-arrangement of his collections, — to simply pulling pins from one place in a cork-lined box, and putting them into another. In large and well-endowed museums this labor can be lessened somewhat by leaving spaces in the boxes for addi- tions; but in an ordinary entomological cabinet this is obviously impracticable, and, even where this plan is adopted, it affords only partial relief. The ad- vance of knowledge is constantly changing our ideas as to the sequence of species; and from time to time the appearance of a monograph necessitates the re- arrangement of our collections, if we would have them represent the present state of science. But so great is this labor of re-arrangement, that only few it any of the larger collections are kept in any thing like perfect order. And the faithful cura- tor is forced to give to mere manual labor, time which otherwise would be devoted to original re- search. About two years ago I devised and put into use a mode of arranging collections which reduces to a minimum the labor of re-arrangement. This system is an application to entomological cabinets of the principle which underlies the slip system of keeping notes. Its fundamental idea is to fasten in each a ‘ FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] case all the specimens illustrating a single species upon a separate block. A standard size of block is adopted for what may be termed the ‘unit block.’ The size of this block will depend on the size of the drawers in the cabinet. Other blocks which are multiples of this size are also used. The blocks are made of soft non-resinous wood, basswood, or cucum- ber-tree. They are cut from well-seasoned boards three-eighths of an inch in thickness. I do not find it necessary to fasten the larger blocks in place in any way, beyond keeping the full number of blocks in each box. In each end of each block there is a groove (see figure). Small hard-wood strips are made to fit into these grooves. In case of the larger blocks, these strips tend to prevent warping. The narrower blocks, such as would be used to mount a single row of small beetles, are fastened together by means of these strips into groups of three or four. Each of these groups are as stable as a single large block. When the blocks are in place in a drawer, the strips are entirely concealed. As the blocks can be cut with a circular saw, and the grooves and strips made in the same way, they are not necessarily ex- pensive. J. HENRY COMSTOCK. TOO MANY NAUTICAL ALMANACS. Asout the most distinguishing feature which characterizes the exertions of men at the pres- ent time is that of co-operation. Not only do men act in conjunction with others at home in attaining desirable and similar ends, but there is growing to be more and more a union of purpose for the attainment of such ends throughout the entire-civilized world ; and this has already assumed proportions never before known in human history. It is amply illus- trated in the numerous international conven- tions, associations, and congresses, only a few years ago quite unknown, or in embryonic ex- istence only in a few scientific heads too wise to propound such things before the eligible moment. Now, all this is the best sort of evidence of the world’s general scientific growth; for the principle of conjoined and united endeavor is based on the broadest science. If, then, the work in any science, or of any body of scien- tific men, should be more entitled than another to receive, and more willing to accept, the SCIENCE. 167 advantages accruing from co-ordination of effort, it would seem that the exact sciences should have the preference. ‘The resolutions of the International prime meridian confer- ence, held at Washington last autumn, are now familiar to all. The action of the astronomer royal of England, the first of January, 1885, in regulating the time-keepers of the observa- tory in accordance with these resolutions, may be expected to necessitate further changes in the details of observatory work, and the pub- lication of observations, as also modifications in the printing of nautical almanacs and astro- nomical ephemerides, or a different understand- ing of them as now printed. All these matters ought to be definitely settled at no late day; and, as a large number of governments are interested therein, their representatives should convene in a congress for mutual agreement on the details of the modifications to be made. Such a congress might also deliberate upon the advisability of adopting certain suggested improvements of the Gregorian calendar at the end of the pres- ent century. Such power should be granted, that the deliberations of the congress might determine, as well as recommend. Whatever may be said of the national obser- vatories, we are not sure that the delibera- tions of such a congress, if conducted on the broadest ground, would not lead to a resolu- tion recommending the discontinuance of two or three of the nautical almanacs now pub- lished. Inso far as the uses of the navigator are concerned, all nations will now experience the need of a nautical almanac for their several meridians, much the same as all patent-medi- cine firms and pill-venders feel the need of an almanac and calendar for the conservation of individual interests: it saves themselves and their patrons the indignity of referring to somebody’s else almanac, and advertises the fact that they are enterprising enough to have one. Howbeit, whether or not heroic measures of this sort are advisable, — resulting in a saving to astronomical science of from seventy-five thousand to a hundred thousand dollars a year, 168 an amount which might be jointly contributed by the several governments to the maintenance of mountain observatories, directed by an in- ternational commission, or of an international computing bureau for the complete utilization of the masses of observations accumulating the world over, and for the encouragement of research in theoretic astronomy, — it is certain that the deliberations of such a congress could not fail to advise governmental co-operation in the preparation of the nautical almanacs now existing. National pride aside, and this might be done in a multitude of ways, most prominently in the case of the preparation of the data relating to the moon. ‘Take, for ex- ample, the hourly lunar ephemeris and the lunar distances as printed each year in the’ British nautical almanac and the American ephemeris. ‘These data occupy about one-third of the entire number of pages of each of these publications ; they are now prepared independ- ently by the two offices, but are, when printed, substantially identical in both; and, further, the work being done at about the same time in the two countries, the results of the one do not serve any sufficient purpose as a check upon the accuracy ,of the other. ‘The cost of this pat. of the almanac alone to each nation amounts to several thousand dollars annually, an amount which might be reduced one- half by the preparation of these data con- jointly, to say nothing of other immediate and favorable results which might be secured by such co-operation. We should not like, however, to give the impression that this had never been thought of before; nor indeed that steps had never been taken toward securing such co-operation. It is frequently the best policy to let well enough alone; and we do not fail to recognize the fact that it is very often wise to leave a thing as it is, just because it has always been so: in fact, we are conservatives ourselves, though not that precise type of conservative, which, as we speak of the moon, recalls Douglas Jerrold’s characterization as one who would ‘¢ refuse to go out when there’s a new moon; and all out of love and respect for that ‘ ancient SCIENCE. institution ’— the old one.’” The wisest con- ) servatism would appear to suggest the annual publication by the nations conjointly of a single volume of astronomical predictions, which, in addition to other improvements, should combine all those desirable features not dependent upon individual meridians, and which in some degree characterize all the astronomical ephemerides of the several gov- ernments. The contents and arrangement of the articles of such an ephemeris could only _ be determined by an international conference. While this may be little better than mere speculation, any one who has the four principal ephemerides in constant use will readily recog- nize how small a portion of each is employed, and, with extended interpolation-tables, how little the inconvenience of using the ideal ephemeris solely would be. THE GEOGRAPHICAL WORK. OF THE GREELY EXPEDITION. Tue general features of the geographical work of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition may be of interest to the readers of Science, in connection with the map furnished through the courtesy of Capt. J. R. Bartlett, chief hydrographer U.S. navy. The details are re- produced from photographs of charts made at Fort Conger by the late First Lieutenant James B. Lockwood, U. S. army, of his and my work. | The expedition fitted out by the war depart- ment under the supervision of Gen. W. B. Hazen, chief signal-officer, and commanded by me, left St. Johns, Newfoundland, July 7, 1881. After a remarkably successful voyage, the party landed on the shores of Discovery Harbor, just south of Robeson’s Channel. The station called Fort Conger was in latitude 81° 44’ north, longitude 64° 45’ west. The site was the same as that occupied by the stores landed from the English ship Discovery, of the Nares expedition, 1875-76. During the autumn, as much work as possible was done towards establishing depots for use of explor- ing-parties the following spring. thirty-five days, found the party well and in good spirits. Parties were immediately put into the field to establish advance depots ; and The sun, 7) returning after an absence of one hundred and ~ RENT: asa = TRS OR Ee eee es ae ill a TLS ho J Gini A * b . a a = Pho ee emt ap Mite iter alias a a ee mp i “ 5 5 - = By oes 0: 8°. ey 55° 50 45 40° 35° 100° 95° eS 2 ere arene PEEP PP a CE et as a 7 a rr LE PEE 7 q a 1 i N i Rs / / q u : ° I 83 <1 4 83 x RY Sy Sa N RN : Wiuyct | ‘To ve oe 2 Hy i BY | RY SU Su | ' Comdr.Marhham and Lyew. Parr | a9 : fe May 12,1876, Lint.83 20 20'S Ny i q y H Ny y 4 Sy Sa | 82 B gi ACK CLIFFS BAY Ost BY Ny BN i q Hy y q | Br 81 | , ane 4 per FIO ee C.Baird j > eS ee = 5 : : _ Sy N\ ras a eS b eA NN H OH AS, HWY TNS HN Wyse: i Ts A ii te ae, mn GRITS EWS aye aw ’ A \ S; ry Se te i aN 808) é q 3 = i , : &) SOM pea “Constitution 4 aos CrozierI £_ 3 \ | S . j , LAFAYETTE B g& ee aso MORRIS B C.Calhoun. Ty Aen, wt { Hy */ SCORESBY BR ADVANCE BAY LS PD) m oD =) f C.Scoi DALLAS BAY outrd 4 €) 1853-4-5 NORTH AMERICA = Hat Littleton Tz, Sia nootnn meee St eee eee a POLAR RE GIONS , BAFFIN BAY toLINCOLN|SEA | | we ne PVCS Showing the most recent discoveries Including those of U.S.S.Polaris Expedition in 1871-2 under Captain CF.Hall. The British Arctic Expedition in 1875-6 under Captain G.S.Nares, R.N. The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition in 1881-4 under Lieutenant AW Greely,U.S.A. aS Se SO ‘Acland SOUNDINGS IN FATHOMS Y na HEIGHTS IN FEET Note = The coast of Greenland east of Beaumont Island and the interior of Grinnell Land, are from the explorations of the Ludy Franklin Bay Expedttion, Reproduced for SCIENCE by permission of the Navy Department. f Ree 76| . This coast is UNee ‘ ns Peaxed Hilly 4 Wea Las 7 oe | Nyy 2s io) | : Petowik Glacier ; Ses. co) ; CMelville » Leven, e Zs Pt AY a 2 &. ag ! J, s Sarwallick Pt: GENT B. ‘ Coni Parker 2 Mountnins pao a ‘\ | nical Rock «& Snow Pt. Cy ffs Tron Mountatr : Os, . Lg. TaN ; —|—__ Ns ae Ly Ce 1 Wi giKer LH seat os acheace I i = © 2 58 ; B A Ye 37 ve ee jie ID) Ss i eS Ss Mate 420 | . 65 150 Thom é A YY He . ed 380 = sabine l. Bo 340. | | sess -—homt hom 1 = ° 75 | 60° i 55 Drawn by Fred D.O | pee nee | SCIENCE, February 27, 1886. eC Te Published February 1885 at the Hydrographic Oftiee,Navy Department, Washington,D.C. : see Ni 962 ‘ J.RBartlett, Commander, U.S.N.,Hydrographer to the Bureaw of Navigatior. Seve I c " fu. = oo “a Ae. ch BH tea” eae A a ey a FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] shortly after, two main exploring-parties left the station. The party under Acting assistant surgeon “O. Pavy, U.S. army, which attempted a north- ing direct from Cape Joseph Henry, failed even _ to reach the 83d parallel, owing to disruption of the polar pack north of Grinnell Land. Lieut. James B. Lockwood was ordered to explore the north coast of Greenland. Leav- ing Fort Conger, April 3, 1882, he crossed Robeson’s Channel from Cape Beechy to Cape Sumner, where the main depot of provisions had been established. From that point across Brevoort Peninsula to Repulse Harbor, and thence along the shores of the polar ocean to Cape Bryant, he was supported by three par- ties of men hauling Hudson-Bay sledges. From Cape Bryant, Lieut. Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard, with Eskimo Christiansen and dog- team, travelled direct across Sherard Osborn Fiord to Cape Britannia. Midway between these capes a sounding was made, but no bot- tom reached at eight hundred feet. Rounding Cape Britannia Island, which was the farthest point seen even by their English predecessors, they pushed on to the eastward, and later to the north-east, until, on May 15, 1882, Lock- wood Island was reached. Its assigned lati- tude, 83° 24’ north, was the mean of sets of circum-meridian and sub-polar observations. Its longitude was 40° 45’ west. To the north- eastward, land was yet seen, the farthest point being about 83° 35’ north, 38° west. To the south and east, only a confused mass of rounded, snow-covered mountains was visible. The entire coast was rugged and precipitous in the extreme. Strangely enough, but one gla- cier was observed, although the interior of the country was wholly snow-clad or ice-capped. Along the coast, stretching from headland to headland, was found a tidal crack, which ap- peared to mark the line of separation between the embayed ice and the paleocrystic pack. In the deep fiords along the coast were seen only level expanses of deep snow, devoid of heavy hummocks or marked ice-foot. In re- turning, the same route was followed; and on _ June 3 the party reached Fort Conger in good condition, with the exception of snow-blind- ness contracted in the last two days’ travel. In April, 1882, with three men, dragging a Hudson-Bay sledge, I succeeded in penetrating into the interior of Grinnell Land. Starting from Fort Conger, we travelled south-westward to Sun Bay, and, passing Miller Island, dis- covered that we were in a fiord (Chandler Fiord) which terminated to the south-west- ward inabay. Passing up the north arm of SCIENCE. 169 the fiord, a river was reached, having its source in a glacial lake of great extent. Crossing the lake (Lake Hazen), the farthest point reached was Henrietta Nesmith glacier. ‘The party re- turned by the same route. In June, with a party of four men, I suc- ceeded in reaching the east end of Lake Hazen by an overland route. Following that lake to the west, Very River was reached; and fol- lowing up that valley with one man, I alone attained the summit of Mount Arthur on July 4. From the top of that mountain North Grinnell Land stretched out before me. An enormous ice-cap covered the smooth-topped mountains to the northward of the Garfield and Conger ranges, through the gorges of which numerous and magnificent glaciers pushed southward. To the north-westward the trend of the mountain range indicated its connection with Challenger Mountains of Aldrich, and that the western polar ocean was not far distant. In 1883 Lieut. Lockwood’s attempt to reach the northern point of Greenland was unsuc- cessful, owing to open water at Black-Horn Cliffs. In consequence, I sent him, on his return, to attempt the crossing of Grinnell Land to the western sea. Accompanied by Sergeant Brainard and a dog-team, he travelled down Archer Fiord, and thence westward via Beatrix Bay. They succeeded in reaching Greely Fiord, and followed it some distance westward. From a high mountain, the north- ern shore appeared to terminate in Cape Brai- nard, while to the south-west very high land was seen at Cape Lockwood. ‘This land, ap- parently separated from Grinnell Land, was named Arthur Land.’ The remarkable feature of this trip was the appearance of the southern ice-cap of Grinnell Land. It presented an average perpendicular front of one hundred and fifty feet.’ As regards Grinnell Land, the southerly trend of coast at Aldrich’s farthest, the position of Cape Brainard, and the general trend of the land seen by me from Mount Arthur, indicate that the western coast runs quite directly from Cape Alfred Ernest to Cape Brainard. It is to be noted that Cape Lockwood of Arthur Land is nearer to Lindsay Island and North Cornwall of Belcher than to Fort Conger, our own station. The considerable extension of Hayes Sound to the westward, by Sergeant Long’s journey from Sabine, leaves but a scant hundred miles between its north-westerly point and Cape - Lockwood, and but a little farther to the south- 1 The height of this ice-cap was given at fifteen feet in Science of July 25, 1884. Youd we fas eee SS 170 west reaches the waters of Jones Sound in their northern extensions. The importance of the northern work is not confined, as many think, to the mere planting of the American flag a few miles nearer the northern axis of the globe than has floated the standard of any other nation. Lockwood’s journey has gone very far towards settling the much-vexed geographical question, the config- uration and northern extension of Greenland. The farthest point seen is scarcely three hun- dred miles from the land of Lambert, sighted on the east coast in 1670, and less than four hundred and twenty-five from the most north- ern point of Koldeway and Payer. Of the forty- seven degrees of longitude between Fort Con- ger and Cape Bismarck, but twenty remain unknown. I venture the opinion that future voyages will confirm the indications growing out of our discoveries, that Arthur Land is separated from Grinnell Land by a fiord or channel connecting the western polar ocean with Hayes Sound. I also think that the northern coast-lines of the Parry Archipelago will be found trending gradually in a north- easterly direction, and terminating in Arthur Land. On these points, as well as on the remarkably fertile belt of iceless country found by me in the interior of Grinnell Land, such as Nordenskidld hoped to find in Greenland, I trust soon to dwell at length in a forthcom- ing narrative. A. W. Gree ty, Lieut. U. S. army. THE CONFIGURATION OF GRINNELL LAND AND ELLESMERE LAND. THE discoveries of the Greely expedition on the west shore of Grinnell Land are most valu- able and important, as there was a vast field for conjecture concerning the configuration of the coast-line of this large island. The ex- ploration of the north shore by Lieut. Aldrich of Nares’ expedition proved the improbability of any great extension to the west. ‘The dis- covery of the west shore at so short a distance as Lieut. Lockwood found it, was, however, quite unexpected. From the description of Hayes Sound, obtained by Dr. Bessels from the Smith-Sound natives, and from information and drawings I received last summer during my stay on Davis Strait from natives who had -erossed Lancaster and Jones Sound, and lived on Eilesmere Land, it is possible to learn some- -thing more about this long and unexplored coast. The most exact description I received was SCIENCE. [VOL. Vs No. 108 Ts," from an Eskimo woman whom I met at Cape Kater. She was born at Igluling in Fury and Hecla Strait, had lived some time in Repulse Bay, returned to Igluling, and afterwards crossed the land to Admiralty Inlet, which the natives call ‘'Tudnunirossirn.’ There she lived for a number of years; and about fifteen years ago she started with a party to North Devon, which the Eskimo eall ‘ Tudjan.’ There is lit- tle intercourse between Baffin Land and North Devon, Lancaster Sound being seldom covered by a solid ice-floe. The north shore of Baffin Land ( ‘ Weevang’ of the natives) is generally washed by water during the whole winter. Crossing the sound on sledges, these Eskimo passed a very small island, most probably the rock seen by Capt. Adams in 1871, and in two or three days reached the opposite shore. They did not follow the shores of North Devon, but crossed the ice-covered island on sledges. In four days they reached the north shore, whence a long and narrow peninsula, Nedlung, stretches to Ellesmere Land (their ‘Oomingmam nuna,’ i.e., musk-ox land). ‘Through the narrow pas- sage dividing Tudjan from Nedlung runs a very strong tidal current, which keeps open a water- hole throughout the winter. All around this . place the ice wastes quickly in the spring, and ~ forms a large basin of water abounding with seals. Only that part of the peninsula which lies nearest to North Devon is high and steep, and forms a bold face: farther north it is very low. The length of Nedlung may be about forty miles; its width, three or four miles. West of it there are numerous small islands, called ‘ Kikkertakdjuin:’ to the east there are no islands. Having reached Oomingmam nuna, the Es- kimo fell in with a small tribe residing on this shore. Here they lived for some time, as an abundance of seals was found during the whole year. Farther north-west there is a large fiord, called ‘ Kangirtuksiak,’ off which an island is found, Kikkertakadlinang. The Eskimo did not go to the land on the other side of the fiord, as polar bears are said to be very numer- ous and large there. I obtained this information by most careful and minute investigation on every point. I also heard some less detailed descriptions of the journey to Oomingmam nuna by natives of Ponds Bay, who had not been there themselves, but had heard about it from their ancestors ; and I may here state that all their traditions and descriptions which I had a chance to vere proved accurate and reliable. There can be no doubt about the identily of Tudjan and North Devon, as they say that FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] the land can be seen from Weevang (the north shore of Baffin Land) ; and many natives have lived there, and have been seen by whalers, and by the expeditions sent in search of Sir John Franklin. The report on the state of the ice in Jones ‘Sound is very important for the identification of this place. As there is a narrow neck of land connecting Cornwallis and Bathurst Is- lands, I was rather inclined to judge this to be the place where my Eskimo had been. How- ever, her memory would barely have failed her in recollecting the passage over the ice of Wel- lington Channel ; and besides, the description of the land, Oomingmam nuna, does not agree with Bathurst Island. In Jones Sound, Belcher found open water in May, 1853, at a time of the year when the ice in narrow channels can only be wasted by strong currents. We know nothing about the part of the sound north-east of North-Kent Island, north of which Belcher dis- SCIENCE. 171 covered many small islands. The open water, the narrow passage between North Kent and North Devon, and the many small islands to the north, closely resemble the description given me by the Eskimo woman. It would be very interesting to find that Jones Sound is closed there by a narrow neck of land. ‘The heavy ice Inglefield met with in Jones Sound, in 1852, may have drifted into the sound as easily from Smith Sound as from a sea west of Ellesmere Land. The last reason leading me to think that Ellesmere Land and Oomingmam nuna are the same, is that the same name is applied to Ellesmere Land by the Smith- Sound natives. In Etah, Bessels met a man who came from Cape Searle, on Davis Strait. He had lived for some time among the Ellesmere-Land natives, and re- ferred to that country as Ooming- mam nuna. In the whole of Baffin Land the natives know Oomingmam nuna, and always point it out as beyond Tudnu- nirn (Ponds Bay) and Tudjan. For these reasons there can scarcely be any doubt that the description I obtained really re- fers to Jones Sound and the west shore of Ellesmere Land. The Eskimo of Etah assert that Hayes Sound is a passage leading into the western ocean, and dividing the land west of the Smith-Sound seas into two is- lands, — Ellesmere Land and Grinnell Land; and there is no reason to doubt their statements. The English expedition under Nares supposed the sound not to be open to tidal currents ; Gree- ly’s explorations, however, ex- tend it much farther to the west, and are rather in favor of the theory that the sound really forms a passage. The accompanying map presents my views of the probable configuration of the land in this region. Dr. Franz Boas. PALENQUE VISITED BY CORTEZ. A memoir by Mr. Teobert Maler upon the state of Chiapas (Mexico), published in the July and August numbers, 1884, of the Revue d’ethnographie, contains some items of more Ulin, Jit bali ir WAC ye® Oe PN eke hy if ‘Ale At) eee 172 than ordinary interest. To one of these—his conclusion that Cortez, in his expedition to Honduras, visited Palenque, and found it then inhabited — I call the special attention of the readers of Science. | This conclusion is based chiefly upon his study of Cortez’ route in his journey south- ward. He identifies as Palenque the town which Herrera names Titacat, and which, ac- cording to Bernal Diaz, was the first reached after the execution of Cuauhtemoctsin, and where Cortez, unable to rest at night, ‘‘ went into a large apartment where some of the idols were worshipped,’’ missed his way, and fell some ‘twelve feet,’ receiving a severe wound in the head, and in reference to which Cortez writes as follows : — “It is a very beautiful village: it is called Teotic- cac, and has fine temples, especially two, in which we are lodged, and from which we have cast out the idols, for which they do not show much regret; for I bad already spoken to them of it, and had shown them the error in which they rested, and that there was but one God, creator of all things. . . . I learned of them that one of these two houses, or temples, which was the most important, was sacred to a god- dess in whom they placed much confidence and hope, and that they sacrificed to her only young and beau- tiful maidens. If they were not such, then she would be very angry with them; and for this reason they always took great care to seek them, that she might be satisfied; and they brought up from infancy those who were of good appearance to serve this purpose.”’ Our author comments on this letter as fol- lows : — ““This description by Cortez applies perfectly to Palenque. There are, indeed, at this place, besides numerous temples and buildings, two principal edi- fices. One contains the great hall of mural inscrip- tions: the other is the convent of the virgin priest- -esses, which has been wrongly taken until now for the palace of the king.”’ Is this conclusion justifiable? It has gener- ally been admitted that the route followed must have brought the Spanish conqueror within a few miles of this place: hence the opinion advanced cannot be considered as doing vio- lence to the history of the expedition in this respect. If inhabited at that time, it is not probable that he would have approached within twenty-five or thirty miles without visiting it, as it must have been, during occupancy, a place of considerable notoriety and impor- tance. Stephens was led by his examinations to believe the ruins of Yucatan were inhabited villages and cities down to a comparatively modern date, some of them being occupied until the conquest by the Spaniards. Char- ney’s explorations led’ him to the same belief. SCIENCE. He remarks in one of his letters published in __ the North-American review, — “Tt is certain, that, at the time of the conquest, the coast of Yucatan and Tabasco was covered with towns, pyrainids, and monuments, all of which were inhabited. And if such were the case with the coast, what is the inference that must be drawn as to the interior? . .. If the palaces of Comalcalco were en- tire and inhabited at the time of the conquest, we may feel bound to conclude those of Palanque were in the same condition. . Altogether, it seems to be sufficiently established that these monuments were inhabited at the date of the conquest, and that they are the BCH a of a comparatively modern era.’ And now Maler, who has gone carefully over the ground in person, and studied the country and the ruins for himself and in his own way, comes to precisely the same conclusion. We are therefore convinced that there is nothing in the age of the ruins to forbid the idea that Cortez visited the place, and found it inhabited. It is also worthy of notice that Charney agrees with Maler in considering Palenque a ‘holy place,’ a ‘ religious centre,’ and that the so-called ‘ palace’ must have been ‘the home of priests, and not of kings.’ Our author’s theory will afford at least a partial explanation of some of the figures found on these ruins; as, for example, the fre- quent representations of children in the arms of males and females, the repeated occurrence of female figures, and the fact, as shown in Stephens’s plates, that the heads of most of these are obliterated, which I have long sus- pected was due to the fanatical zeal of Catho-. lic priests, who visited the place at an early day. Cortez’ visit will furnish a complete ex- planation of this fact, which does not appear to have attracted the attention its importance de- mands. Cyrus THOMAS. DO ANIMALS EXCRETE FREE NITRO- GEN? MAwny of the older experiments upon the nutrition of animals included determinations of the nitrogen of the food and of the visible (solid and liquid) excreta. Almost invariably the latter quantity was notably less than the former, and as a consequence it was commonly held that the difference was ex- creted in gaseous form through the lungs. In pro- cess of time, however, as the methods of experiment were refined, this deficit began to diminish in amount, until now it is indisputably shown that the great dif- ference found by the earlier experimenters was very largely due to mechanical losses of the excreta, A certain insoluble residue, however, still remains, which has been the occasion of not a little contro- ==. ae FEBRUARY 27, 1885. ] versy among physiologists; one school maintaining, and another denying, that it is to be interpreted as showing an excretion of gaseous nitrogen. There is one fact which renders the results ob- tained by the experimental method just mentioned inconclusive either for or against an excretion of free nitrogen: it is that the animal experimented ~ upon may either gain or lose nitrogenous matter from the tissues of its body during the experiment. If the former take place, the excretion of nitrogen is diminished by that amount: if the latter happen, it is increased. But, while such gain or loss of nitro- genous matter by the body may undoubtedly take place, we have no means of proving that a small gain or loss has or has not occurred in any given experiment. If in some trial the nitrogen of the excreta exactly equal that of the food, the advocate of the excretion of gaseous nitrogen can say that a certain (unknown) amount of nitrogen may have been lost from the body of the animal, and, by chance, the same amount may have been excreted as gas. If an experiment show a deficiency of nitrogen in the excreta, the denier of the excretion of free nitrogen can say that exactly that amount of nitrogen may have been gained by the animal. Plainly, neither of these possibilities can be either proved or disproved by this method of experiment. A resort to an investigation of the respiratory products naturally suggests itself. The experiment, though a difficult one, has been made; but the re- sults have not, as might have been hoped, sufficed to decide the question definitely. It should be remembered that the amount of nitrogen excreted as gas must, in any case, be small. The large deficit found by the earlier experimenters is universally acknowledged to have been erroneous. Bearing this in mind, it is evident, that, as already pointed out, a single experiment by the first method has comparatively little weight. But very many such experiments have been made, and, when properly made (i.e., on mature animals, with food just suffi- cient to maintain them without gain or loss of weight), they all agree in showing a very small differ- ence between the nitrogen of the food and that of the excreta; and, moreover, the difference is sometimes in one direction, and sometimes in the other. For example: out of forty-three experiments by various observers, whose results chance to lie before me, nineteen show an excess of nitrogen in the excreta, and twenty-four a deficiency, as compared with the nitrogen of the food. The excess varies from 0.07% to 6% of the total nitrogen fed; and the deficiency from 0.02% to 6.7%. Many more observations might be quoted to the same effect. Such results as these have a cumulative force, and go far to establish the hypothesis that there is no excretion of gaseous nitro- gen. Some of the believers in an excretion of gaseous nitrogen, particularly Seegen and Norwak in Vienna, have attacked these results upon the side of the ana- lytical methods employed, claiming that the process (soda-lime process) used for estimating nitrogen gives too low results. It has been shown, however, SCIENCE. 173 by several chemists, that this is not the case when the process is properly performed; while some recent trials by Gruber! show, that, when the so-called ‘absolute method’ for nitrogen is employed, substan- tially the same results are reached. The main reliance of those who believe that ani- mals excrete free nitrogen, however, is upon respira- tion experiments, nearly all of which appear to favor their view. These experiments are made substan- tially in the following manner. The animal breathes in a confined volume of air of known amount, whose exact composition is determined by analysis before the experiment begins. As the oxygen of the con- fined air becomes exhausted, measured quantities of pure oxygen are admitted from a gas-holder, while the carbonic acid which is exhaled is absorbed by caustic potash. At the close of the experiment the air in the apparatus is again analyzed; and the ob- server then proceeds to compute, from the data he has secured, the amount of nitrogen originally pres- ent in the air within the apparatus, and the amount remaining at the close of the experiment. If the latter quantity is found to be the larger, it shows (barring experimental errors) that the animal has exhaled gaseous nitrogen. , Almost, if not quite, every experiment made on this plan has shown an apparent small excretion of free nitrogen. Thus the well-known experiments of Regnault and Reiset appear to show an excretion of free nitrogen by various animals. In their experi- ments with small animals the amount was relatively small; and sometimes an absorption of nitrogen was observed, especially during hunger. In experiments with larger animals (sheep and calves), in a larger apparatus, the apparent excretion was quite consider- able. Seegen and Norwak in Vienna have reported nu- merous trials with a simplified form of Regnault and Reiset’s apparatus, all of which show an apparent excretion of nitrogen; and a lively debate has been carried on between them and Voit, each party endeav- oring to explain away the results of the other. Some recent experiments by Leo? are of much in- terest in this connection. He worked with rabbits, which were tracheotomized and supplied with pure oxygen. After sufficient time had elapsed to remove all free nitrogen from the lungs, the expired gas was collected, and found to contain nitrogen correspond- ing to an excretion of over 8 mgr. per hour and kilogram of body-weight. This result was obtained when the animals were located in free air. In a sec- ond series the head of the animal was cemented into the apparatus. The excretion sank to 2-3 mgr. per hour and kilogram. Finally, in a third series, the whole body of the animal was immersed in a warm bath in order to hinder possible diffusion of atmos- pheric nitrogen into its cavities, and the excretion was reduced to 0.3-0.5 mgr. per hour and kilogram, or to about one-twelfth the amount found by Seegen and Norwak. It thus appears that the greater the care taken to 1 Zeitschr. fiir biologie, xvi. 367. 2 Jahresber. thier. chem., xi. 382. 174 exclude atmospheric nitrogen from the apparatus employed, the less becomes the apparent excretion of nitrogen by the animal. This, taken in connection with the similar fact already mentioned, regarding the results of experiments by the other method, is significant. If, as we increase the delicacy of our experimental methods, the apparent excretion of free nitrogen becomes less and less, it is not a very bold assumption which regards it as entirely due to the unavoidable errors of experiment. That such is the case is perhaps not proven, but the weight of evi- dence is decidedly in favor of that belief. H. P. ARMSBY. THE BRITISH NAUTICAL ALMANAC. WE have received promptly, as usual, the ‘‘ Nauti- cal almanac and astronomical ephemeris for the year 1888, for the meridian of the Royal observatory at Greenwich,’’ the contents and arrangement of which are announced to be the same generally as those of the preceding year. We find no changes in the adopted astronomical constants, nor have any new prediction-tables been spbstituted for those which have now been employed for many years. The early Struve constant of aberration is not replaced by the recent Pulkowa determination, and Newcomb’s mean equatorial horizontal parallax of the sun, 8.848”, is wisely retained. The fundamental elements of the moon’s position in space are derived from Hansen’s tables unaltered, and the apparent positions only are modified by Newcomb’s corrections, —a method of procedure which seems to be best adapted to the needs of the future investigator. For the first time in the history of nautical al- manacs, the positions of all the great planets were derived from a uniform system of tables, and so pub- lished in the British ‘ Nautical almanac’ for 1882; and the use of these same tables is still adhered to.. These are the planetary tables constructed by the late Le- verrier, and printed in the fifth, sixth, twelfth, and fourteenth volumes of the ‘ Annales del’ Observatoire impérial de Paris.’ The derivation of the times of the phenomena of Jupiter’s satellites is based on the ‘ Tables écliptiques des satellites de Jupiter, par le Baron de Damoiseau,’ Paris, 1836. Professor Adams’s extension of these tables, now employed in the British ‘ Nautical almanac,’ will expire in two years more. This ephemeris is now most deficient in its list of standard stars, the number and relative positions of those in the list being entirely inadequate to the needs of field and observatory work. Catalogues of stellar co-ordinates of high precision are now so nu- merous that there would seem to be no good reason why the British ‘ Nautical almanac’ should hesitate in following the ‘ Berliner astronomisches jahrbuch,’ the ‘ Connaissance des temps,’ and the ‘ American ephem- eris,’ all of which have within a few years adopted very full lists of standard stars. Also great improve- ments might be suggested for other parts of the work. Ever since the year 1834, when the English ‘ Nauti- SCIENCE. cal almanac’ became an astronomical ephemeris as well, the management of this publication has been characterized by a conservatism, which, in these times of change just for change, is delightful to be- hold. But even conservatism may be unwise; and, if the British ‘ Nautical almanac,’ as an astronomical ephemeris, is to hold in the future the place it has held in the past, a committee of reconstruction, some- what like that ‘relative to the improvement of the Nautical almanac’ in 1830, would seem to be re- quired to effect the needed modifications. Davip P. Topp. CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS. THE agricultural department at Washington has just issued a volume of some three hundred and fifty pages devoted to the above subject, as the result of the investigations of its veterinary division, — an office distinct from the more newly established ‘bureau of animal industries.’ The subject-matter, being made up of the reports of the veterinarian-in- chief and his assistants, is of a sort that will, in a way, be interesting and instructive reading for vet- erinarians, and to a certain extent for comparative pathologists. The volume opens with a description of a ‘ veteri- nary experimental station’ recently located, in con- | nection with the department, near Washington, which seems to afford abundant facility for the proposed work, and from which, in the future, much that will tend greatly to aid in protecting our animal interests from the ravages of disease will undoubtedly result. Then follows a detailed report of outbreaks of con- tagious pleuro-pneumonia among cattle in Connecti- cut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. These have an historical interest, but nothing more, because these states have repeatedly been shown to contain this exotic disease; and it has just as repeat- edly been shown that a more or less constant inter- change of it goes on with the natural traffic of cattle within their borders. An exceedingly interesting and carefully written report is made by Dr. Salmon upon an enzootic out- break of ergotism among cattle in Coffey county, Kan. Itis very much to be regretted, for the sake of the department, the cattle interests of Kansas, and the veterinary profession, that, under the cir- cumstances, Dr. Salmon did not himself attend to the matter when first it was reported to be an outbreak of ‘foot and mouth disease,’ instead of trusting so important a decision to such an unsafe manas‘V.S.’ | Trumbower proved to be, who, by his own report of the matter given in this same volume, seems to have arrived upon the ground on the afternoon of March 8, to have examined the cattle and their surroundings carefully, and to have then entertained the opinion that the trouble was due to ‘foot and mouth disease,’ until the 20th of the same month, when he was joined by Dr. Salmon. He then suddenly became as firmly convinced that the trouble was due to ergotism. Is FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] the department employing unqualified men in this ’ work? An examination was made to ascertain whether the hay used in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois, con- tained ergot, and it was found that several grasses were badly infected with it; and a plate is given show- ing infected spikes of wild rye, timothy, red-top, and blue grass. It is stated that the proportion of ergot in some spikes of wild rye was ten or twelve per cent of the weight. A chapter is devoted to the nature, chemical composition, and action of ergot. In this chapter is an account of the ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea), taken from botanical sources, and a plate is given showing the microscopical characters of the fungus. By some oversight, this plate, which is cop- ied from Tulasne, is said to have been drawn from nature by Marx. The ten pages devoted to ‘investigations of swine- plague’ are largely made up of areview of the work of Klein and Pasteur upon the same subject, with an insistence upon Dr. Salmon’s claim to priority in the discovery of the organism said to be the cause of the disease. A few additional experiments are given tending to show that the specific cause lies in the action of a micrococcus arranged in pairs; and the statement is made that ‘a large number of similar observations have been made,’ but they are not de- tailed. The main objection to be made to the experiments is to the use of fluid-culture media, which may be depended upon to give results, to be sure, but not always such as are satisfactory. Solid nutritive materials are by far the easiest in which to detect impurities; and by their use the study of the life-his- tory of any particular bacterium may be carried out with much greater precision. We are aware that Dr. Salmon objects to the use of solid media, but, so far as we have seen, he has not stated the grounds of his objections. It is impossible to criticise fairly a summary of results without complete knowledge of the experi- ments by which they were reached. It is stated that ‘‘ the first annual report of the Bureau of ani- mal industry, which will contain a detailed state- ment of the investigations made,. . . will be sub- mitted. . . at the close of the year.’’ We await its publication with interest, in the hope of obtaining that detailed statement free from criticism upon others. A direct and simple statement of work done and observations actually made is the method of real progress in the study of the bacteria. One’s critics may be trusted to discover the merits or faults that may exist in comparison with the works of others. A good translation by Mr. Theobald Smith, of Megnin’s recent article on the gape-disease in fowls, and its accompanying parasite, which follows, will be of very general interest, and can be read with great profit by those interested in the general subject in all portions of the country. A long report of the doings of an international veterinary congress, held at Brussels during Sep- tember, 1883, by Prof. J. Law, seems rather out of place in the volume, because, of all the subjects con- SCIENCE. 175 sidered, only one, ‘ The organization of a veterinary service,’ could properly be brought to the notice of the commissioner of agriculture. It is interesting and instructive as showing how far ahead of us the nations of Europe are, in giving attention to the pro- tection of their animals from disease, and what great resources they have in their state veterinary schools, from which to draw proper material for their state veterinary service. Mr. J. H. Saunders’s report of his trip to Europe is chiefly valuable and interesting in connection with information which he was able to gather in France regarding the Percheron horse; and his remarks should be read by those who contemplate making importations of these animals, or of any other breed of French horses. Mr. Saunders went to London, and travelled over the same ground in the veterinary privy-council office that had been gone over by agents of the agricultural department before, and with the same results; viz., our beef animals would be admit- ted free from the ‘slaughtering restrictions’ when we could show a clean bill of health, and not before. Also ‘ foot and mouth disease,’ as landed in our cat- tle there, was contracted on board ship during the voyage, the ship having received the infection from British cattle. Dr. H. J. Detmers gives a very unsatisfactory re- port of investigations made by him in Texas, of southern cattle-fever. One of his assertions, not in the least proven, however, is, well —new, to say the least; viz., that the virus of this disease is in the saliva of the southern animal. Such assertions, un- less made for good and well-shown reasons, are to be deplored as tending rather to hide, than make clear, the very points for the elucidation of which the whole work was ordered done. A very able paper upon trichiniasis, by Dr. Sal- mon, is reprinted from the report of a special com- mission upon the swine industry of the United States, and added to the volume, which closes with the usual reports from the unprofessional correspondents of the department concerning the general health of all kinds of farm animals throughout the country. THE COAL QUESTION IN ENGLAND. THE very serious problem of coal-supply has re- ceived a thorough review in a recent number of Nature. In 1861 the question was considered by Mr. Hull, who estimated that the available coal in Great Britain represented a total amount of 79,843,000,000 tons, which, consumed at the annual rate of 100,000,- 000 tons, would last about eight centuries. This es- timate was later proved to be too high; and in 1871 a commission, appointed to investigate the question, reported that in England there were about 90,207,000,- 000 tons of coal developed, and about 56,273,000,000 yet unopened, making a total of 146,480,000,000 tons of available coal. Subsequent investigation proved this to be somewhat exaggerated. In these estimates thin seams less than a foot thick are not included, 176 and the strata are estimated to end at 4,000 feet in depth. Even if they do extend deeper, mining would be impracticable because of the expense; and, be- sides, the temperature would be 116° F. The deep- est coal-pit in England is 2,448 feet, but one in Bel- gium extends 3,490 feet. In 1881, 154,000,000 tons were extracted, — enough to build fifty-five great pyramids, or rebuild the great wall of China and add one-quarter to its length. The total amount of coal mined since 1854, would build a column 9 feet 4 inches in diameter, a distance of 240,000 miles, i.e., to the moon. The output shows considerable fiuctuation from year to year, — as might be expected from the variety of accidental circumstances, such as new inventions, the mean annual temperature, and the state of trade, — but, on the whole, a very rapid increase; the output for 1875 being double of that for 1854, and that for- 1883 double of that for 1862; and, if the amount ex- tracted increases at this rate (3,000,000 tons annu- ally), the supply will be exhausted in the year 2145 A.D. The exhaustion will be theoretical only; for in a comparatively short time the price of coal will increase, and the demand necessarily lessen, so that coal will never be exhausted. One of four things must then happen, — either some new source of en- ergy must be supplied, or a larger per cent of the coal must be utilized, or coal must be imported, or England must give up her manufactories. It is doubtful if any new source of energy on a large scale will be discovered, unless some explosive be used for the purpose. According to Sir William Thomson, energy in the form of electricity can be transferred three hundred miles through a copper rod, with a loss of only twenty per cent: so in this way water- falls may be utilized in the future. While it is hardly possible to use less coal, we may get more energy out of it; for at present, out of a theoretical 10,000,000 foot-pounds of work which one pound of coal can supply, we only get 1,000,000 foot- pounds. but instead of a decrease in the waste, there is likely, on the contrary, to be an increase; for each year faster speed is demanded by rail, and steainships are rapidly replacing sailing-vessels. It might be possible to prevent the annual exporta- tion of 22,880,000 tons by export duties; but that does not seem expedient. The idea of importation is hardly practicable, for the nearest coal-mines of any extent are in Canada and the United States. The former are not easy of access, but are almost unlimited; and those in the United States contain at least thirty-eight times as much coal as those in England. To supply England with the necessary coal, 2,100 ships as large as the Faraday, each carry- ing 6,000 tons and making thirteen trips a year, would be required. The cost would be necessarily greatly increased. In former times, England produced its own breadstuffs: now the greater part is imported. If coal becomes scarce, there will be no way of pay- ing for food, emigration will begin, the death-rate will increase, the birth-rate decrease, and England will change once more to an open, cultivated country, devoid of all other industries. SCIENCE. iw [VoL. V. No. 108. ' PREHISTORIC AMERICA. Tuts translation of Nadaillac’s ‘ Prehistoric America,’ we are told, is made with the au- thor’s sanction; and it is also by his permis- sion that certain portions of the work have been so ‘ modified and revised’ as to bring them ‘‘ into harmony with the results of recent investigation, and the conclusions of the best authorities on the archaeology of the United States.’’ Speaking in a general way, these changes and additions may be said to be con- fined almost entirely to the chapters that re- _ late to North America, and to consist, not in the discovery of new truths, although some additional facts are offered, but in the adop- tion of certain theories, as positive conclusions, which, in the original publication, are given as explanations, more or less probable, of the points at issue. Thus, for instance, in that portion of the work which refers to the origin and antiquity of man in America, we are given to understand that he is probably of Asiatic descent, all other theories being practically ignored. To this explanation, considered sim- ply as such, we do not object. Appearances certainly favor it; and as it is the most satis- factory way of accounting for his presence here, © and for certain peculiar features in his civiliza- tion, we do not see any reason why it should not be accepted, at least until something bet- ter is offered. That his ancestors arrived here at a period so remote that it can only be meas- ured by geological epochs and phases of civili- zation, is conclusively proved; and though it is not equally susceptible of demonstration, yet we think it highly probable that these im- migrants may have started from different cen- tres, and gradually pushing their way westward across Bering Strait, and by way of the Poly- nesian Islands, may have landed at different times, and at different places, on the shores of both North and South America. That they belonged to different races, and were in differ- ent stages of development, is possible; and whilst we are willing to admit that ‘‘ the cul- ture which can be traced from the shell-heap to the mound, from the mound to the pueblo, and from the pueblo to the structures of Mexico, Central America, and Peru, is distinctively American,’’ we may be pardoned for suggest- ing that it is possible, in view of what is said of the facilities of intercourse, not only between our tribes but between the continents, that this culture may have been colored by Asiatic influ- ences of a comparatively recent date. By the MAaRQuis DE NADAILLAC. Edited by W. H. Dall. New oct Prehistoric America. Translated by N. D’Anvers. York, G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1884. 566p., Tie FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] In the chapters that relate to the archeology of the Mississippi valley we are fortunately on safer ground. The arts and industries of the recent Indians, .as seen in their ornaments and implements, and as described by the early chroniclers, furnish a convenient standard by which to fix the place of the so-called mound- builders in the scale of civilization; and a comparison of these remains with the mounds and their contents enables us to say with cer- tainty that these two peoples, admitting them ‘to have been distinct, had attained to about the same stage of material development. In- deed, the two classes of remains are believed to agree in every essential particular. Nota single specimen has yet been taken from the mounds, that indicates a different phase of civ- ilization from that which the Indian is known to have reached, — nothing which he could not have made, or might not have bought from his neighbors in Mexico or on the Atlantic sea- board. This is certainly an important link in the chain of evidence that points to the identity of the Indians with the mound-builders; and if we add to it the fact that the Indians are admitted to have built both mounds and em- bankments, and that ‘‘ they are the only peo- ple except the whites, who, so far as we know, have ever held the region in which these re- mains are found,’’ it will be seen that there is ample ground for the conclusion that the mounds and enclosures of the Mississippi val- ley, of every sort and size, ‘‘ were the work of these same Indians, or of their immediate an- eestors.’’ All other inferences are denied to us until it can be shown, that, at some time in the past, there lived in this valley a people other than the Indian, who had reached the same or a higher stage of development. To Say, as is sometimes done, that such a people may have lived here, — and, for that matter, it is as easy to suppose a dozen or two of them as one, — may be very true, but it does not meet the point. Suppositions are neither facts nor arguments; and, unfortunately for the advo- cates of this theory, the modern school of eth- nologists has a decided preference for the last two. Until, then, it can be shown that there lived here, in prehistoric times, some other people, who chipped fiints, wove cloth, ham- mered metals, worked in stone, manufactured pottery, built mounds and earthworks, and did all the other things that the ‘red Indians of historic times’ can be proved to have done, it will not be necessary to go any farther, or to waste any more time in search of a mound- builder. In dealing with the architectural and other SCIENCE. 177 prehistoric remains of Arizona, Central Amer- ica, and Peru, the same method of investi- gation is followed with equally satisfactory results. The cliff-dwellers, considered as a separate and distinct people, with a civilization different from that of the Pueblo Indians, are made to take a place by the side of the mound- builders, in the limbo of exploded theories ; the deserted cities of Mexico and Central Amer- ica are found to be nothing but the abandoned dwellings of a people whose mode of life, as Bandelier well says, ‘‘ differed from the com- munal life of the Indians in other regions only by the exigencies of another climate and of varying natural resources ;’’ and the ruined temples, palaces, and fortresses of Peru, stripped of all exaggeration, and measured by the same unfailing standard, are recognized as a striking but legitimate product of the civiliza- tion which was in existence there at the time of the conquest, and which, in many of its fea- tures, was but a counterpart of that which prevailed in Mexico, and, we may add, in the regions to the east of the Mississippi. This is a brief summary of some of the con- clusions reached in the present volume, or which may be deduced from the premises here laid down ; and, to those of us who have watched the progress of anthropological studies in this country for the past few years, it is needless to say that they represent the current scientific opinion of the day. Indeed, it could not well be otherwise, since they are the logical results of the application to American archeology of the method of investigation which has been in use everywhere else, and which is the only one that promises to lead to any thing satisfactory. The old plan of inventing a new civilization, or resurrecting an extinct people by way of ac- counting for every differently shaped pot that happened to turn up, has been tried, and found wanting ; and we have at last adopted a system of classification and comparison that enables us to connote the relations between people and things, to fix their several values, and assign them their relative places in the scale of prog- ress. Squier began the good work many years ago, but failed to carry it to a logical conclu- sion. When the mantle fell from his shoulders, Morgan picked it up ; and, though he sometimes swung the pendulum too far in his direction, yet there can be no doubt as to the tremendous impetus he gave to the study. Following him came the Bureau of ethnology at Washington, the Peabody museum at Cambridge, the Ar- chaeological institute of America, and the Société des Américanistes in Europe; and it is to their systematic exertions in the collec- 118 SCIENCE. tion of data, joined to the individual researches of a band of enthusiastic students abroad, as well as in our own country, that we owe this the best work on prehistoric America that has yet been published. But whilst we thus gladly bear witness to the merits of this work, we must not forget the marks of carelessness which frequently disfig- ure its pages. Quotations and references are incorrectly given. Writers whose statements are more than doubtful, are given a promi- nence which they do not deserve; and there are assertions like the one (p. 82) as to the relative antiquity of the mounds in the South- ern States, which needs proof, or that on p. 381, in regard to ‘tempering’ copper, which may or may not be true, depending on what is meant by the term. Finally, we must protest against the reference (p. 64) to the dogma of transub- stantiation. Since that article of belief is held by rather more than half the Christian world, an offensive reference to it by the editor is not only uncalled for, but in excessively bad taste. [The editor gladly inserts this review, writ- ten at his solicitation ; but he does so without committing himself to the advocacy of the views therein expressed, which seem to maintain the identity of all peoples that ever inhabited the American continent up to the advent of Euro- peans. It seems to him that the progress of science demands that this should be looked upon as a question to which investigation may still be directed. While historical evidence, on which the reviewer lays such stress, un- doubtedly gives the clew to recent peoples, we must certainly depend on archeological re- search for the data by which to decide all ques- tions which concern the origin and relationship of those which preceded them. | A HANDBOOK OF HEALTHY AND DIS- EASED MEAT. In Germany there is no need that an official should be ignorant of the duties he has to per- form ; for, no matter in how restricted a sphere he has to work, there are extended treatises covering the exact points, with which he should be acquainted. In the volume which lies be- fore us, the inspector of meat, or the veterina- rian who may be called upon to decide upon the fitness of animal flesh for human food, would find a good practical guide to the work. Handbuch der fleischkunde. Kine beurtheilungslehre des fleisches unserer schlachtthiere, mit besonderer riicksicht auf die esundheits pflegedes menschen und die sanitdtspolizet. Von r. ADOLF SCHMIDT-MULHEIM. Leipzig, Vogel, 1884. 8°. The first part of the volume is devoted to a by } consideration of the morphology and chemistry — of meat, with remarks on its general physiology and pathology. Then follow a practical de- scription of the different kinds of food animals, and the various methods of killing, and of cutting up and preserving the flesh. After this is a chapter chiefly devoted to healthy meats and the changes which the different sorts undergo in digestion. The last half of the book treats of diseased meat and the dangers of its use. In this lies the value of the work; as the special appear- _ ances, and the methods for their detection, are given in connection with each disease, as well as the disorders which may arise in man follow- ing their use as food, together with the means of prevention. Finally there is appended a digest of the laws of Germany and Austria regulating inspection. The book is one which can scarcely be said to be of general scientific interest ; and, on ac- count of the language in which it is written, it will probably not be widely read by the class of men in this country to whom it would be of the greatest value. From a pecuniary point of view, a translation of such a work would not pay here at present; but from the economic . interests which are connected with the subject, and the great protective influence which a well- maintained inspection of meat through our country would exert upon the public health, an edition in English, translated and published under the auspices of the proper department of the national government, would be of great and peculiar interest in the hands of the proper officers of our local boards of health. THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MICROS-— COPIS Tis Tue American society of microscopists has published the account of the meeting held last August at Rochester. The volume is a neat octavo of nearly three hundred pages, with a few plates, and appears in part as a memorial of the late R. B. Tolles, whose lithographic por- trait is prefixed to the titlepage. ‘The portrait is such that its total absence will appear desir- able to many. The address of the president, J. D. Cox, is substantially a review of the arrogant and ignorant attacks which Wenham repeated during so many years against Tolles’s wide-angle lenses; and the contrast between Proceedings of the American society of microscopists. Sev- enth annual meeting. Buftalo, Bigelow bros., pr., 1884. 4+ 300 p., [6] pl., illustr. 8°. ' FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] the bitter injustice of the English writer and the calm impersonality of the American opti- cian, who was in the right, is skilfully woven into a tribute to Tolles’s character. There follows a short appreciative memoir of Mr. Tolles by Dr. George E. Blackham. The remainder of the volume is occupied by the papers and proceedings, and contains ex- ceedingly little original matter. There are articles which repeat in detail perfectly familiar modes of work, and others which deal with those vague and worthless generalities of com- monplace which characterize half knowledge. Of the latter, the essay by Dr. J. Redding is a too perfect example. It is on the extra-vas- cular circulation, and is largely formed of com- monplaces, the rest being half truths and total errors. For example: Dr. Redding says (pp. 85, 86), ** Bile, gastric juice, in fact all of the so-called secretions, together with the worn-out and effete tissue-detritus, are the result of physical disintegration of the outermost sub- stance of the cells.’’ What can one do to help the author? Perhaps print the whole sen- tence in italics, to point out the parts of it which are erroneous. We find, however, several articles of real interest. Some new appliances for convenient work are described. Gundlach’s suggestion of a new method of construction for objectives of low power, with increased angular aperture, by changing the crown glass of an achromatic lens, and adapt- ing the flint glass to it, is noteworthy, and may lead to a valuable improvement. Attention should also be called to the very deserved criticism, by Edward Bausch, of the English ‘society screw,’ which is every thing save a good standard. It is much to be regretted that the volume contains so very little of results of original research. THURSTON’S METALLIC ALLOYS. In this volume are brought together the re- sults of the author’s work? on metallic alloys, with an introductory chapter on the history and characteristics of metals and their alloys, which is in the main the same as that to part ii., and two chapters, one containing an enu- meration of the uses of the non-ferrous metals, and a statement of the location and reduction of their various ores; and the other, interest- The materials of engineering. Part iii. Non-ferrous metals - andalloys. By Prof. R.H.THurston. New York, Wiley, 1884. 14+575 p., illustr. 8°. 1 Reports of U.S. board to test iron and steel, etc., vol. i. 1878, and vol. ii. 1881. SCIENCE. 179 ing descriptions of the newer methods of work- ing hot and cold metals. The scientific value of the experiments, whose record and discussion constitute the principal features of the book, and which were confined to the mechanical properties of com- mercial copper, tin, zinc, and their alloys, — attention being chiefly given to the strength and elasticity of these alloys when subjected to ten- sile, compressive, bending, and twisting forces, — is diminished by the failure to exercise due care in the preparation of the alloys. The need of great care in this matter is recognized and emphasized by investigators, for most alloys exhibit phenomena of liquation ; that is, they tend, when melted and about to solidify, to separate into their constituent metals, or into several masses composed of different al- loys. Special precautions with respect to purity of the metals, rate of cooling, oxida- tion, temperature during melting, frequency of agitation, etc., must therefore be taken, if the resultant solidified mass is to be homoge- neous. Professor Thurston is fully aware of this liability to liquation; but on ‘‘ assuming charge of a series of experiments on the char- acteristics of alloys, and an investigation of the laws of combination,’’ the duty assigned him by the U.S. board, we find him holding the following view of the work : — ‘¢ The intention in the work here to be de- scribed was, not to determine the character of chemically pure metals, melted, cast, and cooled with special precaution, but to ascer- tain the practical value of commercial metals, as found in the markets of the United States, melted in the way that such alloys are pre- pared in every foundry for business purposes, and cast and otherwise treated in every respect as the brass-founder usually handles his work ; and to determine what is the practical value to the brass-founder and to the constructor of commercial metals, treated in the ordinary manner, and without any special precaution or any peculiar treatment.”’ The book will be acceptable to the engineer- ing public; for, besides the author’s own work, it contains the views and results of other investigators, extensive tables on the physical and mechanical properties of bronzes and brasses, and Bolley’s compilation of the tech- nically useful alloys, the author increasing this rich collection still further by recipes from French and American sources. The deter- mination and topographical representation of ‘the strongest of the bronzes’ will also be found of decided interest. 180 THE PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY. To most persons, and indeed to most chem- ists, chemistry is the science which has to deal only with the composition of bodies. No one can doubt the prime importance of the science regarded from this stand-point; but it may fairly be asked whether the determination of the composition of bodies is the final object of chemistry, even if by composition we mean not only the kinds of matter of which the bodies are made up, but the arrangement of their smallest particles. The determination of composition in this broad sense forms the principal work of the chemists of the present generation, and of many generations past. Ina rough way, to be sure, attempts have been made to discover the laws which govern the changes in composition which bodies undergo, but our knowledge of these laws is as yet extremely limited. It is the dis- covery of these laws which forms the highest object of chemistry. It is one thing to know, that, when hydrogen and oxygen are brought together under certain circumstances, water is formed, and that under certain other circum- stances water can be decomposed into hydro- gen and oxygen. It is another thing to know something about what takes place in the inter- val between the disappearance of the hydrogen and oxygen and the formation of the water, or vice versa. We have here to deal with a natu- ral phenomenon, which should be studied as other natural phenomena are studied; as, for example, the falling of bodies, etc. Suppose that in studying the falling of a body we should confine our attention to the body at rest before it falls, and after it has fallen, how extremely imperfect our knowledge of the phe- nomenon would be! It is plain that we could never discover the laws of falling bodies by such observations; and yet our observations in the case of chemical phenomena are almost exclusively of this kind. The reason is, that chemical action usually takes place so rapidly that it is practically impossible to make accu- rate observations during its progress. Of late, however, there has been a marked tendency to the study of the course of chemical reactions ; and the indications are clear that chemists are beginning to give the subject of chemical ac- tion as such more serious attention than has heretofore been the case. : The book before us has largely to deal with the recent developments in the scientific study A treatise on the princinles of chemistry. By M. M. Patrtt- son Muir, M.A., F.R.S.E., fellow and praelector in chemistry of Gonville and Caius college, Cambridge. Cambridge, Univer- sity press, 1884. 24+488p. 8°. SCIENCE. of chemical phenomena, and with well-known facts and hypotheses which have a bearing upon the deeper problems of chemistry. In his zeal for the new work, the author is per- haps now and then unfair towards the old; but in general he gives evidence of a spirit of fair- ness, and a desire to weigh conscientiously the facts and the inferences which they seem to permit. As regards the subjects ‘treated in the book, we quote from the preface : — ‘“The book is divided into two parts. The first part is occupied with the statement and discussion of the atomic and molecular theory, and the applica- tions thereof to such subjects as allotropy, isomerism, and the classification of elements and compounds. Somewhat full accounts are also given, in this part, of thermal, optical, and other departments of physi- cal chemistry, in so far as the results and methods of these branches of the science are applicable to the questions regarding the composition of chemical sys- tems which are connoted by the term ‘ chemical statics. “The second part of the book is devoted to the subjects of dissociation, chemical change and equi- librium, chemical affinity, and the relations between chemical action and the distribution of the energy of the changing system. These and cognate questions I have ventured to summarize in the expression ‘ chemical kinetics.’ ”’ The first part gives us a clear treatment of the subjects of atoms and molecules, and the structure of molecules. The chief character- istic of the author’s method of treatment is an absence of dogmatism, and a clear deter- mination to be governed by facts, and not by | hypotheses. We commend this part of the book to advanced students of chemistry who have become contaminated with the dogmatic methods which are so much in vogue. We earnestly beg our teachers to study ‘it, and, if possible, to profit by it. In the second part of the book are found chapters on subjects which are not commonly treated in text-books of chemistry. The re- searches of Guldberg and Waage, and of Ost- wald, of Pfaundler, Horstman, and Willard Gibbs, are fully and clearly treated for the first time in a chemical text-book in the English language, and treated in such a way as to con- vey a correct idea in regard to the relations of the various investigations to the general prob- lems of chemistry. The chapter on affinity is worthy of special mention and of special study. It may be questioned whether, in his views regarding valence and structure, the author does not allow himself to be carried too far. Thus, p. 463, we read, — ‘““When...we do not know the molecular weights of compounds in the state of gas, conclu- sions regarding the structure of the molecules of these compounds are very apt to degenerate into FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] mere exercises of the fancy. Indeed, the use of the expression ‘ structure of molecules’ is in such cases quite unwarranted.”’ There is undoubtedly a sense in which the last statement is true, but there is another sense in which it is not true. We may know a great deal about the chemical conduct of a compound, — enough, indeed, to warrant us in partially expressing its structure in a formula, without positively knowing its molecular weight. The reason why ‘‘ conclusions regarding the structure of. the molecules . . . are very apt to degenerate into mere exercises of the fancy,’’ is not so much that the molecular weights are unknown, but rather that the true signification of structural formulas is not under- stood, and formulas are frequently constructed on an entirely inadequate basis of facts. Taken all in all, the book is deserving of the highest praise, and its influence can only be beneficial. It will arouse opposition, but it will at least cause those who oppose it to think ; and, if it should do this, it would be of value, though every word were false. NOTES AND NEWS. Mr. H. L. Brxsy of Chelsea, Vt., is taking steps to introduce a system of weather warnings through- out his state by means of blasts from factory-whistles. The signals are as follows: after the first long, un- broken blast, usually given at about seven A.M., a single five-second blast indicates fair or probably fair weather for the day; two blasts, foul weather; three, fair changing to foul; four, foul changing to fair; five, doubtful or irregularly variable. After any of these, five short blasts signify a cold wave or unseasonable frosts. The managers of the Free press at Burlington undertake to send the necessary telegrams on pay- ment of a small fee. Randolph is the first town to adopt the system: the signals are regularly given there now from a ten-inch steam-whistle. — Herr J. Brautlecht has been experimenting on the transfer of bacteria from the soil to the atmos- phere. Ignited sand, gravelly soil, and a moderately clayey garden-soil, were moistened with liquid con- taining bacteria, and covered with glass bells. Ina few hours microbia of the same kind as those con- tained in the liquid were found in great numbers in the moisture condensed on the sides of the bell. It will be remembered that Angus Smith was one of the first to point out that aqueous vapor condensed on the walls of rooms contains micro-organisms. — The Nitrate owners’ committee of Tarapaca have determined to offer a prize of a thousand pounds for the best essay on the employment of nitrate in agri- culture, so as to supplant other fertilizers. The essay is to be published by the committee in all modern languages. Moreover, five hundred tons of nitrate, SCIENCE. 181 subscribed{by the manufacturers, are to be shipped to Europe and the United States, to be employed in experiments at the expense of the committee. A fund of four thousand pounds has been formed to carry out these various schemes, the object of which is to promote a demand for the nitrate. — Dr. Edward Divers, principal of the Imperial en- gineering college of Tokio, Japan, writes to the Chemi- cal news, informing the editor of a serious accident which threatens to deprive him of the sight of one eye. He is anxious to put chemists and others on their guard. A bottle containing phosphorus tri- chloride had done duty for many years as a specimen for the lecture-table. Dr. Divers was carefully warming the neck of the bottle to liberate the stop- per, when the bottle burst in pieces with great vio- lence, the cornea and iris of the right eye being extensively wounded, and the aqueous humor dis- charged. — A sensation has been caused in Australia by the discovery of the gold-field at Mount Morgan, near Rockhampton, in Queensland. The mine, it is esti- mated, contains gold enough to yield, after working, a profit of nine million pounds. The curious fact is that the locality is not one which a geologist would have pointed out as likely to contain gold. The theory put forward to account for the presence of gold there is that itis a secondary formation. The gold is not in the original matrix. Nature has already mined it, chemically treated it, sublimated it, and redeposited it. The discovery is likely to give a stimulus to ‘prospecting’ in Queensland, and also in the other colonies. — Professor Woldrich, at a recent meeting of the Vienna anthropological society, read a paper on the latest prehistoric remains found at Prerau. Several cartloads of bones had been found there while work- men were levelling for an orchard, and taken to the Olmutz museum. They were principally bones of mammoths, cave-bears, foxes, hares, etc.; but min- gled with them were flint weapons, and some of the bones bore traces of being worked and cut. Char- coal was also found in the surrounding earth. — The board of commissioners in charge of the lights on the coast of Scotland suggest that in cases of fog, when a light cannot reach its usual distance, the beam from a powerful source, such as electricity, © might be depressed so as to concentrate the intensity on the near-hand sea by slightly moving the flame out of the focus of the apparatus, and supplementing it by the use of suitable reflectors. They also look upon the question of the relative absorption of elec- tric light by fogs, compared with that of light from other sources, as yet- undetermined, and requiring strict investigation. — The brewers’ journal, published in Nuremberg, the Allgemeine brauer- und hopfenzeitung, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary by offering prizes for two essays on, 1°, The culture of hops; 2°, Barley as brew- ing-material: the best essay to receive a prize of fifty pounds; the essay, in German, to be sent in to the editor before May 1, 1886. ai a . Academy dei lincei. 182 — The effect of magnets upon artificially incubated hen’s eggs formed the subject of some very interesting experiments, of which an account was given by Pro- fessor Carlo Naggiorani in a recent paper before the During the hatching-process he kept one set of eggs under the influence of power- ful magnets, while another set was incubated away from all such influence. Cases of arrested develop- ment were very numerous among the first set, and after birth the rate of death among these was four times as great as in the naturally incubated chickens. Only six chickens out of a hundred and fourteen eggs arrived at maturity. Of these, two were cocks of a splendid stature, and endowed with an insatiable reproductive appetite. With the four pullets the case was quite the reverse. One of these never laid at all, and the three others generally produced very minute eggs without yolks, without germinal spot, and, in a word, sterile. —An experiment is being tried in the Jefferson physical laboratory, which promises to be successful. An ordinary seconds clock, with a wooden pendulum, is controlled by the signals from the Harvard college observatory, with no other mechanism than a fine spring connecting the pendulum to the armature of a telegraph instrument in the circuit. If the signals are interrupted during the day or night, the error of the clock, which seldom exceeds half a second in that time, will generally be rectified within an hour of their recurrence. The rate is in no way affected by the irregular signals caused in storms by the inter- ference of the wires, and the regular impulses con- veyed at intervals of two seconds increase but slightly the swing of the pendulum. The attachment can easily be made to any seconds clock at the cost of a few dollars, and may be of interest to those intolerant of the rates charged by companies for the use of electric dials. — Aside from the munificent charities of the Salem East India marine society, extending over an unbroken period of eighty-six years, there is a scientific history covering a less extended period, which at this late day is by many persons forgotten, and to the younger generation is unknown. One visible result of this scientific work, although incidental to the more im- portant objects for which the society was formed, is the rare ethnological collections now in the custody of the Peabody academy of science. When the mu- seuin was transferred to the trustees of the academy in 1867, such old catalogues and manuscripts accom- panied the specimens as were supposed to relate to the collections. These were laid aside for a time, and forgotten. An examination of the various papers re- ferred to, clearly shows that an earnest spirit of scien- tific research pervaded the early work of this society. The act of incorporation places charitable objects of the society first, and ‘the promotion of a knowledge of navigation’ second: the museum followed as inci- dental to the latter. Upon the foundation of the society, blank journals were immediately distributed, under the by-laws, to ‘‘every member bound to sea, . in which he shall enter the occurrences of his voyage, and particularly his observations of the varia SCIENCE. Li [Vor. V., No. 10! tions of the compass, bearings and distances of capes _ and headlands, of the latitude and longitude of ports, islands, rocks and shoals, and of soundings, tide and currents, and on his return shall return the same for the use of the society.’”’ This latter clause was in reality meant for the benefit of the commercial inter- ests of the country, which at that time largely centred in Salem. Many of the journals are beautiful exam- — ples of neatness and fine penmanship, and are embel- lished here and there with diagrams, maps, drawings of coasts, and even with sketches of native craft. — The ‘age of horn’ is a term applied by Mr. G. Kaiser to the period of certain relics which he has found in his investigations of the Forel and Cortail- lod stations on Lake Neuenburg in Switzerland, where he has been excavating under the auspices of the historical society of Neuenburg. The Neue Ziircher zeitung of Jan. 15 states that he found a stratum at a depth of from 1.20m. to 1.30m., which contained various horn objects, —such as amulets, cups, knives, daggers, mattocks, rings, buttons, bracelets, shield-studs, etc., — all of which were en- graved either with dots or with straight lines; and he concludes that they are older than the bronze or stone implements found in similar localities. But some implement, presumably of stone or metal, must have been employed in cutting the horn; and cer- tainly a single find hardly gives ground for such a wide generalization. — Two important expeditions are now in progress by Russian travellers, —that of Prjevalskiin northern Thibet, in part to discover the sources of the Yellow River; and that of Potanin to north-western China and south-eastern Mongolia. A large number of barometrical observations have been taken, which are to be worked up by Col. Scharnhorst. — A full account by Lieut. Gordon, of the proceed- ings of the Hudson-Bay exploring expedition of 1884, with a track-chart of the steamer Neptune, and a report on the geology, etc., of the district visited, by Dr. Robert Bell, who accompanied the expedition in the interests of the Geological survey of Canada, have just been published in an appendix to the an- nual report of the Canadian department of marine. — Among recent deaths we note the following: Pro- fessor Lauritz Esmark, director of the zoological mu- seum of the university of Christiania, at Christiania, in December, 1884; Searles V. Wood, geologist and paleontologist, at London, Dec. 19; Dr. Philipp von Jolly, physicist, at Munich, Dec. 24, in his seventy- fifth year; Rev. James Buller of New Zealand; Alex- ander Murray, director of the geological survey of Newfoundland; Alfred Tylor, anthropologist and ge- ologist, at London, Dec. 31; Dr. Friedrich von Stein, professor of zoology in the university of Prague, at. Prague, Jan. 9, in his sixty-seventh year; Major-Gen. — K. Sonklar von Instadten, at Innsbruck, Jan. 10; _ Dupuy de Léme, engineer at Paris, Feb. 1, at the age — of sixty-eight; E. H. von Baumhauer, secretary of the — Société hollandaise des sciences; E. C. Rye, librarian of the London geographical society, Feb. 7, aged fifty- two; and S. G. Thomas, metallurgist at Paris, Feb. 1, aged thirty-four. FEBRUARY 27, 1885.] — At a united meeting of the Victoria and New South Wales geographical societies it was resolved that they should in future call themselves ‘The Aus- tralian geographic conference,’ for the purpose of discussing (periodically) important matters affecting the interest of geographic science of Australia. The governments of Victoria and New South Wales have each placed a thousand pounds at the disposal of the general society, and it is intended in the first place to undertake a thorough exploration of New Guinea. — The emperor of Germany has conferred the ‘Ordre pour le mérite’ for science and arts on Sir Joseph Lister. Commenting on this recognition of an English surgeon whose name has furnished a new verb to the German language since the beneficent results obtained by his antiseptic method during the Franco-German war, the Lancet observes, ‘‘ Not only is Sir Joseph Lister to be congratulated on this act of the venerable and most illustrious emperor, but the profession of the United Kingdom will recog- nize in the act a generous recognition of the claims of British medical science, which, it is only fair to Say, is not new on the part of Germany. The dis- coverer of vaccination has been more honored in Germany than in his own country, in accordance with the scripture that ‘cannot be broken.’ The quiet evolution in surgery, involving the practical abolition of pyaemia, hospital erysipelas, and gan- grene, and an infinite diminution in the calamities of surgery, which we owe to Sir Joseph Lister more than to any other single man, is a service to mankind not quite on the same scale as the discovery of vaccination, but of very far-reaching consequence. Through the slightly discordant notes of diplomacy it is refreshing to notice the harmony of internation- al grace in the higher regions of science and of hu- manity.” —Some interesting experiments, according to the Journal of the Iron and steel institute, have recently been made for the purpose of determining the respec- tive values of wet and dry coal for the evaporation of water. The results showed that small coal, con- taining eighteen per cent of water, and nine and nine-tenths per cent of coal-dust, evaporated five and seven-tenths pounds of water per pound of fuel; while the same amount of coal, containing three per cent of water, evaporated from eight to eight anda half pounds of water per pound of fuel. The figures showed that the employment of wet coal gave rise to a loss of from fifteen to twenty-five per cent. — The programme for the Sheffield scientific school lectures to mechanics for 1885 is as follows: Feb. 12, Norway and the midnight sun, Rev. Dr. C. C. Tiffany; Feb. 17, Science and the supernatural, Professor Du- Bois; Feb. 19, The present commercial crisis, Mr. A. T. Hadley; Feb. 24, The Asiatic cholera, Professor Brewer; Feb. 26, The sensation of color, Professor Hastings; March 3, Cobwebs, Mr. J. H. Emerton; March 5, Lafayette, Prof. A. M. Wheeler; March 10, The patent law of the United States, Professor Rob- inson; March 12, Commemoration of the birthday of Bishop Berkeley, President Porter; March 17, The SCIENCE. 183 surface life of the Gulf Stream, Professor Verrill; March 19, Map projection, Professor Phillips; March 24, An hour at the Louvre, Prof. D. Cady Eaton. This course has now been in existence twenty years. A fee of one dollar is charged, that the audiences may be the better controlled. —Sir John Lawes suggests (/Tealth) that it will be more profitable to throw sewage into the sea than to apply it to the land. His grounds for saying this are that it will supply the enormous quantities of phos- phate of lime, potash, and nitrogen which are neces- sary to the existence of fishes, but which exist in the sea only in small quantities. Tons of these com- pounds are taken from the ocean each year in our fisheries without due return. If, then, enough or more than enough to make up for that annually taken out could be returned to the sea in the form of sew- age, there is little doubt that increased prosperity may accrue to the fisheries, Even after defecation, much of the nitrogen and mineral constituents would remain; and, indeed, this defecation, or else greater dilution, is absolutely necessary, in order to prevent the destructive work which sewage naturally does in absorbing the oxygen which is necessary to the ex- istence of fishes. — From the Journal of the Iron and steel institute we learn that Mr. Fayol concludes, from his experi- ments reported in the Comptes rendus of the Société de l’industrie minérale, that the rise of temperature accompanying the absorption of atmospheric oxygen by finely powdered coal is the chief cause of its spon- taneous combustion. He finds that only a low tem- perature is needed to ignite powdered coal; lignite igniting at 150° C., and anthracite at 300° C., and the ordinary varieties of coal at intermediate tempera- tures. The avidity with which the oxygen is ab- sorbed increases with the rise of temperature, which finally becomes sufficiently high for ignition. An important part in spontaneous combustion has been ascribed by many authorities to finely divided pyrites. The author, however, on subjecting this mineral to the same experimental conditions as the coal speci- mens, found a less energetic action of the atmosphere. When gradually heated up to 200° C., pyrites and coal behaved exactly alike till a temperature of 135° C. was reached: from this point the temperature of the pyrites remained the same, while the coal-powder rapidly became hotter till the igniting-point was reached. —Dr. Harrison Allen has republished in a neat pamphlet (Philadelphia, Blukiston) his essay on the palategraph, a new and ingenious instrument of his own design, by which the motions of the soft palate may be recorded. The instrument is a straight rod eight inches long, which is passed into the nose so that one end rests upon the upper surface of the palate; just in front of the nose a wire loop encloses the rod, the wire being suspended from a band passed around the head; the loop acts as a fulcrum, so that, when the palate is raised, the free end of the rod moves down, and these movements are recorded upon a paper moved by clockwork (kymographion). The ae 184 fact that the soft palate is raised during articulation, swallowing, and coughing, can thus be readily demon- strated, and the length of its periods of ascent and descent measured. The palate is seen to be raised once only for some words, twice for others, three times for others. The numbers of these motions are invariable within a narrow range of individual vari- ation. The instrument offers a ready means of de- tecting paralysis of the soft palate; and it has been suggested that it may be made available for the com- parative study of phonetics, for the instruction of the deaf, and for the formation of a system of logog- raphy. One curious result we select to mention from the many details of the paper: less motion of the palate occurs in saying ‘mamma’ than ‘ papa.’ Dr. Allen suggests that the smaller effort required may be one cause of children usually learning the former word first. Like all Dr. Allen’s work, this also is excellent. — In the series of manuals of technology edited by Professor Ayrton and Dr. Wormell, and published by Messrs. Cassell & Co., will soon be published a work on watch and clock making, prepared by Mr. David Glasgow, the vice-president of the British horological institute. —We understand that Papilio, which was _ re- moved a year ago from New York to Philadelphia with a change of editor, is now practically to return to New York, as it is to be merged into the Bulle- tin of the Brooklyn entomological club. Both these names will be dropped at the close of the seventh volume of the Bulletin, in April next, and a new series commenced under the title of ‘ Entomologica sic Americana,’ a monthly journal of twenty pages. — The Journal of the Iron and steel institute sums up the known distribution of iron ore in north-west Africa as follows: ‘‘In Morocco there are beds of hematite of considerable size, and their continuity and re-appearance westwards is now an ascertained fact. Commencing from the Tunisian frontier, the Mediterranean seaboard offers an abundance of pay- able ore at various points, and these deposits were very extensively worked by the Romans, forming inu- deed their main supply. The most productive Alge- rian mines furnish a spathic carbonate containing sixty per cent of ferrous oxide, and a hematite con- taining ninety-two per cent of ferric oxide. The com- position of the Algerian ore is exceedingly uniform, and. it is almost entirely free from sulphur and phos- phorus. These beds re-appear as far west as the con- fines of the provinces of Rihamina and Dukkala in South Morocco. The deposits consist of red hema- tite, and show an outcrop of very extensive area. Specimens brought from the Sahara caravan route either to Tafilelt or Timbuctoo prove the re-appear- ance of these iron-ore beds south of the Atlas ranges.”’ — The Brookville (Ind.) society of natural history proposes soon to issue a bulletin containing articles, by members of the society, on the natural history of south-eastern Indiana. Mr. W. H. Fogel of West Columbia, W. Va., has presented the society a large collection of archeological specimens, including one SCIENCE. « r ped ae | ve edt Te [ VoL. V. 9 No. 1 08 of the finest series of hematite implements in the — “: United States. The society is continuing this win- ter the courses of free lectures, devoted to scientific — subjects of popular interest, which it has formerly supported. The second of these lectures, on the an- cient vegetation of the globe, was given by Joseph F. James of Cincinnati, on Jan. 13; and the third, on poisons, by Mr. J. U. Lloyd of Cincinnati, on Feb. 3. — Mr. J. J. Thomson is to succeed Lord Rayleigh ‘ as professor of physics at the university of Cambridge. — Mr. D’Arcy W. Thompson, formerly of Trinity college, Cambridge, has been elected professor of bi- ology in University college of Dundee. — With the number for 1885, the management of the Neues jahrbuch fur mineralogie, geologie, und palaeontologie passes into the hands of M. Bauer of Marburg, W. Dames of Berlin, and Th. Liebisch of Konigsberg. — The modern mathematician finds the space of three dimensions, in which our visible universe is contained, entirely too contracted for his conceptions, and is obliged to imagine a space of n dimensions in order that his fancy may find room to disport itself. But it is a new idea, on the part of the novelist, to make the conceptions of transcendental geometry the basis for anamusing story. ‘Flatland, a romance of many dimensions, by A. Square’ (Boston, Roberts brothers, 1885), is in substance a description of life as a geometer might imagine it to be in space of one, two, or n dimensions. Readers of ‘ Alice behind the looking-glass’ will not fail to notice the resemblance of the present work to that singular play of fancy. Curiously enough, a ‘ scientific romance’ on the fourth dimension is just now announced in England by C. H. Hinton. — A new application of the electric light, devised and used by W. E. Waters of Orange, N.J., is an improvement on the old style of illumination in the astronomical observatory. It consists of a small in- candescent lamp-bulb, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, placed in the end of a cylindrical hard-rubber handle, four inches long, with a push- button on the side. A flexible wire cord connects the apparatus with the battery-wires, and enables the operator to carry this ‘ electric lantern’ about in the hand, ready for use at any moment. This lamp has been used by Mr. Waters about two years, and has proved entirely satisfactory. — It is announced that Mr. William Cameron, who has given much time to the exploration of Malayan countries, has just prepared at Singapore, on a scale of half an inch to the mile, a large and elaborate map of districts recently explored by him in Selan- gor, Ulu Selangor, Sungei Ujong, and other parts of the Malay peninsula. — Dr. R. Neuhauss, a young German physician, has returned to Berlin after extensive explorations among _ the South-Sea Islands, and has read a report of his researches before the Berlin anthropological society. Part of his ethnological collection he has presented to the Berlin museum. SCIENCE, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE INCREASED favor with which the oro- genic theory of earthquakes — the theory that regards earthquakes as the effect of disturb- ances due to mountain growth—has been looked upon in recent years must be accounted a distinct gain for physical geology. The vol- canic theory, now rationally limited, has long been more popular. It is not long since Mallet, who has been widely quoted as an authority on the question, committed himself to the narrow statement that ‘‘an earthquake in a non-voleanic region may, in fact, be viewed as an uncompleted effort to establish a voleano,’’ although he afterwards held a broader opinion. Lyell wrote in the last edition of his ‘Principles’ (1876), very much as in his first (1830), that ‘‘ the principal causes of the vol- cano and the earthquake are to a great extent the same, and connected with the development of heat and chemical action at various depths in the interior of the globe.’’ More lately, Dau- brée maintains a similar view, even after refer- ring to the suggestions of Dana, Suess, and Heim, and concludes that ‘‘ earthquakes seem to be like stifled eruptions which do not find an outlet, about as Dolomieu thought.’’ One of the chief reasons for exaggerating the value of the volcanic to the neglect of the orogenic theory has been the improper reading of earthquake maps. The map constructed by Mallet in 1858, still the best of its kind, is very commonly quoted as showing a general agreement in the distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes ; but it is quite unwarrantable to include the well-shaken regions of Spain or the Alps, for example, in the volcanic district of the Mediterranean. The shocks of demon- strably volcanic origin seldom extend far from their centres: the eruptions of Italy do not disturb the adjacent countries. In the Alps No. 109.— 1885. themselves there is now no volcanic action whatever, nor has there been any of significant extent at any time in their geological history, so far as it is known. It is altogether gratuitous to suppose that the frequent tremors felt there result from concealed volcanic explosions ; for they find sufficient explanation in the forces that have made the mountains, which are un- doubtedly still growing. Another cause for the former neglect of the orogenic theory was the almost universal belief that mountain ranges had been lifted up or burst out by expansive force from beneath, instead of squeezed and crushed together by lateral compression, as is now widely accepted. The difference has been concisely expressed by Stur of Vienna: formerly it was ‘ gebirgshub ;’ now it is ‘ gebirgsschub.’ Of course, as long as geologists were generally of the mind that mountains were produced by uplift from be- neath, it was natural to associate surface shocks with smothered volcanic action, whether eruptions followed or not; but, with the disap- pearance of the idea of uplift as applied to mountain ranges, it is as natural to refer earth- tremors in non-volcanic mountain regions to the crushing forces that produce the disor- dered mountain structure. ‘There is, indeed, now sometimes seen a disposition to go, per- haps, too far in this reaction, and exclude vol- canic action from nearly all share in causing earthquakes. Some of the English observers in Japan, a volcanic region par eacellence, are of this mind, and attribute the numerous small shocks, even there, to structural and not to volcanic disturbance. It is a difficult matter to decide. Indeed, the study of earthquakes must, in great part, long remain in a two- thirds condition. Observations are plentiful, hypotheses have never been lacking ; but veri- fication can hardly ever be attained. THE LACK OF final and convincing verification 186 of hypothetical views has, however, not pre- vented attempts at the prediction of earth- quakes, and the earthquake prophet must have his mention. Falb, an Austrian, figured in this rdle some years ago with such apparent success as to inspire an Italian admirer to com- pose a sonnet beginning ‘O uom, che non puoi tu?’ More recently, Capt. Delaunay of the French marine artillery, and evidently a very different man from the eminent mathematician of the same name, made something of a stir by his predictions. In spite of severe criticisms from Faye and Daubrée, he persisted in main- taining that the Krakatoa outburst resulted from the conjunction of Jupiter and the swarm of August meteors, as he had foreseen it would. Worse than this, he announces a more violent ‘seismic tempest’ in 1886.5, when the malevolent Saturn lends a hand; and colo- nists in Java are reported to be troubled thereby! Another method of forecasting is discovered by Mr. Charles Zenger, who finds that electric and magnetic storms, aurorae, tempests, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, —all, simply enough, result from a single cause, whose cycle agrees with a semi-rotation of the sun. Nothing of this would be worthy of mention, had it not soberly appeared in the Comptes rendus of the French academy of sciences, where it is airily entered under the heading of ‘meteorology.’ A BILL IS TO BE introduced into the legis- lature of Massachusetts to regulate the practice of medicine. It is framed closely upon those already in force in several states in the union, such as Illinois, West Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina (Ohio, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Texas have bills under consideration) , and provides for a board of medical examiners who shall not be connected with any medical school. They are to be appointed by the governor, and their function will be to issue licenses to prac- tise medicine or dentistry, on the basis of a diploma from some legally organized medical college, or of ten years’ practice, or of an SCIENCE. examination of an elementary and practical — character in anatomy, surgery, chemistry, pathology, obstetrics, and dentistry. After July, 1886, all candidates are to be examined. This board is to be endowed with legal powers sufficient to carry out the purposes of this act. It will be noticed that this bill is not framed in the interests of any so-called ‘ school’ or ‘pathy,’ and contains no allusion, direct or indirect, to points in dispute between such schools. the interests, not of medical science, but of ordinary decency and humanity, is probably hardly appreciated by more than a small frac- tion of the community, even of the more intel- ligent portions. One often hears expressions used implying that the user supposes that a diploma confers the right to practise medicine, while the fact is that nothing of the sort is necessary. The privilege of giving (or sell- ing) medical advice to one’s neighbor is re- garded by the state of Massachusetts as one of the most fundamental and inalienable of rights, and on a par with ‘‘ the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’’ The only medical function for which this state legally demands even the pretence of a medical education is the signing of certificates of in- sanity. The practice of medicine, surgery, and obstetrics, with the right to sign certificates of death, may be legally assumed by any horse- car driver who some cold day feels that his profession demands too much personal ex- posure, steps from his platform, puts up his sign with an ‘M.D.,’ and waits for patients. If he publicly calls himselfa doctor, he is legally one; and, if he escapes a suit for malpractice, the law cannot touch him. This bill can hardly be objected to as too strict by any physicians, except of the class just described, or those immediately above it, or, on the other hand, by that portion of the community drawn from all social ranks who consider education as a positive drawback, and _ medical knowledge as a heaven-born inspira- tion. Most persons, however, who patronize [Von. V., No. 109. The necessity of some such bill in — ‘a Fe —" ——S— —_—=_ I w= nel ei ee De ae aa MARCH 6, 1885.] this class of practitioners do so out of pure ig- norance, and they have a right to ask that the. law shall give them some protection against too gross imposition. Those who object that this bill imposes the very minimum of qualification (and any who know how brief a study and how limited knowledge a diploma from a ‘ legally qualified medical college’ may testify to, will be very apt to make this criticism) may be reminded that beginnings must be small; that the public is not yet educated in this intel- ligent state of Massachusetts to believe that the ignorant patients are entitled to any protec- tion, or that the ignorant doctors are not en- titled to the same recognition as any other business-man pursuing his calling under the disadvantages of the lack of early education. It will be noticed that after 1886 the board will examine all applicants; and, although it cannot purify as much as might be desirable the present body medical, yet it can then guard the _ gates against future intrusions of ignoramuses. The strength of different ‘ schools’ of medicine will undoubtedly compel some distasteful asso- ciations upon the board of examiners; but the importance of the interests to be served ought to stifle jealousies, and override etiquette. Purification of the profession can but tend to its unification and to the development of the truth. If we can be assured of a competent knowledge of the fundamental medical sciences in all who undertake to practise it, mere ‘ pathies’ and fads must inevitably die out within the profession, and outside of it can have little practical weight. JUDGING FROM what the honorary curator of the insect-collections of the national museum writes in to-day’s issue, there is no important difference between his views and those to whose words he has objected. All agree that collections of insects need vigilant and unre- mitting care, and that any museum which does not guarantee that care is no fit depository of valuable collections. The question whether the national museum practically offers such SCIENCE. 187 guaranty is a nice one. Judging from the past history of the national collections in general, one would unhesitatingly say it did not. Judging, further, from Mr. Riley’s own statements of the present condition of things, the same answer may fairly be given; for a large and growing collection, already one of the most important in the country, with no person in charge, or working under direction, whose services the museum can command, is plainly not a place which has any right to invite the deposit of unique objects. Not- withstanding this, the recent growth of the museum gives large, one is tempted to say abundant, hope that what has been accom- plished means not only permanence, but prog- ress ; that, dependent as it is absolutely upon annual congressional appropriations, these will not entirely fail, since its hold upon both popular and congressional favor is such as to command respect and a certain amount of support. Though it may suffer temporary curtailment at times, it is already too strong to suffer long neglect or to be overthrown. Nor must we forget that it shows hereby its very right to exist. In no country, more than in a republic, have institutions been more severely subjected to the law of ‘ the survival of the fittest.’ With rare exceptions, all the scientific bureaus of the government are dependent for very life, from year to year, on the will of the people. The coast-survey even, with its extensive corps of picked men and all its refinement of work, unsurpassed by that of any similar body elsewhere, exists by virtue of an annual appropriation. How- ever foreign this may be to the administrative ideas of European nations, it is thoroughly ingrained in our policy, a piece of the unwrit- ten law of the land, a substantial part of democratic life. If through its agency the scientific bureaus of our government have reached their present status, and their work has received such generous praise abroad, even to self-reproach, to what may we not look forward when we consider that they have gained their present standing through the 188 action of an undying universal law which places before them two alternatives, — progress or death! But to return to the practical question, whether the national museum is a fit place for the present deposit of unique collections of perishable objects, we may say, that, while the future of the museum seems to be assured, we have no sufficient historical ground for belief, that it will reach stability without serious lapses ; and that until it supports a competent salaried chief of its entomological department, with at least one paid assistant, it stands in no position to invite the donation, or to war- rant the purchase, of a single valuable col- lection of such perishable objects as insects. That the time will come when it is properly equipped, we cannot doubt; that it should reach it through the sacrifice of Mr. Riley’s, or of any other choice collection, would be a burning shame: this is the immediate risk. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The voice of serpents. Pror. C. H. Hircycock’s note in No. 104 brings to mind a fact noted in my laboratory, which may be of interest to herpetologists. In the autumn of 1883 a friend brought to me two magnificent living speci- mens of the common prairie bull snake, Pituophis Sayi. I gave them the freedom of my lecture-room, and they soon made themselves perfectly at home. One day, while working with a large induction-coil, I bethought me of my snakes, and caught the larger (his length was about five feet), and passed a power- ful charge of electricity through his spinal column. As the circuit was broken and made, I was much sur- prised to hear a faint though perfectly distinct cry trom his snakéship. My notes made at the time speak of this sound as similar to the voice of a young puppy: : : } During a period of a month or more, this experi- ment was repeated with one or the other of these ser- pents, and always with this cry of pain or anger. H. H. NICHOLSON. University of Nebraska, Feb. 18. The collection of insects in the national museum. In reference to my remarks on the above-named subject, your explanation, that you meant ‘the per- petual care of valuable collections’ (p. 25), meets my criticism; and there would be no need to recur to the subject, were it not for Professor Fernald’s com- munication on the same page. He there says, ‘*‘ The national museum has appointed an honorary curator, SCIENCE. but it might as well be without one as to have one whose entire time is occupied elsewhere.”’ Professor Fernald speaks here without knowledge, and under misapprehension of the facts. torship of insects is not ‘worse than useless,’ and the curator’s time is not wholly ‘ occupied elsewhere,’ The organic law (Revised statutes, § 5586; Statutes forty-fifth congress, third session, chap. 182, p. 394) authorizes the director of the national museum to claim any collections made by other departments of the government. The national museum has a sub- stantial fire-proof building, and a stable administra- tion. The department of agriculture has a tinder-box, and the administration shares the uncertain influence of politics. Yet connected with the practical ento- mological work of the department of agriculture, there is much museum work proper; and since 1881, - with the approval of the commissioner of agricul- ture, I have, as U.S. entomologist, looked upon mate- rial accumulated for the latter institution as belonging to the former, and have freely given my own time, and that of my assistants when necessary, to the entomological work devolving on the curator of said national museum. The two positions are naturally linked. I am familiar with most of the insect-collections of the country, and believe, that, during the past three years, more original material has been collected ex- pressly for the national museum, and more has been mounted for it, than for any other institution, not excepting the Agassiz museum at Cambridge, with its excellent insect department under Dr. Hagen; while, including the collection of the department of agriculture, and my own (which is deposited in the museum, and will be donated whenever such donation is justified), there has been by far more - biographic work done for it than for any other mu- seum. Even in the Micro-lepidoptera, it is probably next in extent to that of Professor Fernald. The care of museum material is of a twofold nature. The preservation of valuable type-collections requires vigilance, but little labor. The less labor, in some instances, bestowed upon them, the better; at least, so I thought last summer in witnessing the overhaul- ing and re-labelling of Grote’s collection in the Brit- ish museum. The preservation and classification of original material, on the contrary, requires brains, time, and means. The future and perpetual care of an entomologi- cal museum cannot be absolutely guaranteed without endowment; but appropriation to a government in- stitution, though depending on the annual action of congress, is probably the next best security. Hence I agree with all Science has said as to the need of proper and substantial provision for such future care of the insect department of the museum. Washing- ton is fast becoming the chief natural-history centre of the country; and the national museum is making rapid strides toward justifying its name, and offers, on the whole, as secure a repository for collections as any other institution. Ispeak of the museum as it is to-day, and not as it has been. The misapprehen- sion indicated, whether an outgrowth of the amount of natural-history material that has gone to rack and ruin here in the past in other departments as well as in entomology, or a result of present rivalry, is certainly not justified to-day. Professor Fernald truly remarks that “‘many mu- | seum officials have very little appreciation of the vast amount of labor, care, skill, and knowledge re- quired ’’ to properly manage a large and varied insect- — collection. Things are too often valued by their size, and the pygmy bugs have not outgrown popular The honorary cura-— Marcu 6, 1885.] contempt. The tail of a whale is no wise more com- plicated structurally, nor a whit more interesting mor- phologically, than the sting of a bee; but it occupies an infinitely greater space, and is more obvious both to the gaze of the curious and the study of the com- petent, — a fact which the management of a popular museum cannot afford to ignore. The national museum has very properly developed most in those departments, like ichthyology, geology, and ethnology, which receive, independently, govern- ment aid, and thus furnish both workers and mate- rial. If some of the other departments have so far been left without material support, those persons feel least like complaining who are familiar with the ultimate intentions of the director and his efficient assistant, and with the vast amount of work accom- plished in organization and installation since the building was completed. C. V. RILEY, Hon. curator of insects, U.S.N.M. Washington, D.C., Feb. 12. Plastic snow. A phenomenon new to me was observed at the close of the north-east storm this noon, which showed the cohesive force in wet snow. The railing to my porch has a top sloping about ten degrees each way. My attention was directed to a festoon of snow six- teen inches and a half between ends, and seven inches deep, formed from a snow-ribbon. As it left the railing, it was gradually twisted, so that the bot- tom of the loop was in a position the exact reverse of what it had held when upon the rail. The twist- ing-force had extended for a number of inches in each direction in the part that remained upon the rail. This loop hung free, and moved over an arc of five or six degrees when the wind struck it. It was of short duration, as the water from the rail melted the centre; and the ends, as they swung back, were broken off about four inches from the rail, and showed a spiral twist like that in atwist-drill. On the next panel was the end of a former loop; and this hung free, and measured nearly ten inches in length. EDWARD H. WILLIAMs, Jun. Bethlehem, Penn., Feb. 16. Hereditary malformation. Mr. E. Brabrook writes to the society of anthro- pology in Paris an account of hereditary hypospadias, first reported to the Lancet by Dr. Lingard. The order of inheritance is as follows: first generation, one affected; second, one; third, one, whose widow afterwards married a man unaffected. This woman had seven sons — three by her first husband, and four by her second husband —all affected. I will divide these seven sons into the first and second set. Of the first three, one died childless: the other two had six sons, all affected. Of the second set were born eleven sons, —four affected, and seven unaffected. SCIENCE. 189 Three sons are reported of the first set in the next or sixth generation, two of whom are affected; while, of three sons belonging to the second set in the same generation, none are affected. Aside from the great value of such a compact series of well-authenticated facts, a very interesting question, often mooted among stock-breeders, of the permanence in the effects of first impregnations, receives here a partial answer. The running-out of this influence in a few generations should also be carefully studied. I do not speak of the transmission of hereditary traits of the male through the mother, because Dr. Lingard does not seem to have looked among the female descendants for co-ordinated malformations. Oris T. MASon. The Georgia wonder-girl and her lessons. I read with no little interest the article with this title which appeared in this journal on Feb. 6. I was privileged to make a private examination of Miss Lulu Hurst, the person referred to in the article, on several occasions, in the presence of her parents, and usually of her business-manager. On one occa- sion I was permitted to make a careful examination of the subject’s physical development, and take notes upon her normal temperature, heart-beat, and respi- ration. I found her to be a healthy, intelligent country-girl, plump rather than muscular, presenting nothing very unusual in her constitution; and I cer- tainly did not note the fact that I might be shaking hands with a ‘giant.’ The muscles of her arm and fore-arm were not unusually developed; nor did they stand out prominently, as they do in muscular sub- jects of either sex. She is above the average stature for women, but does not strike one as being either exceedingly active in movement or overpowerful in frame; as to the former, rather the reverse, I think. Of the experiment with the staff, I shall simply state that in my case, on two occasions, the staff gyrated rapidly about its long axis, obliging me to quit my hold. This was observed by other persons present during the experiment. In the test with the hat, Miss Lulu stands before you with her hands ex- tended horizontally, palms up, with the little fingers and sides touching each other. On the surface thus presented we place our hat, with the outer aspect of the crown resting on the two palms. The experi- menter is then invited to lift the hat off. When I tried this experiment, the hat was only removed after considerable force was exerted, and then came away with a crackling noise, as if charged with electricity. That Professor Newcomb’s explanation would not account for the result here, I would say that I knelt in such a position that my eyes were but a short dis- tance away; and my line of vision was in the same plane with the opposed palmar surfaces and the crown of the hat. This latter was of very light Manila straw, with the outer periphery of the crown rounded. Now, as the form of this surface was a broad ellipse, with a major axis of perhaps seven inches, and a minor axis of six, quite smooth, it would be simply an impossible feat for Miss Lulu to seize it when the distance between the inner mar- gins of the opposite thenar eminences in a right line is less than six inches. Permit me now to present a test which Professor Newcomb did not witness. It consisted in standing upright, with one foot in advance of the other to act as a brace, and holding in the hands with a firm grasp an ordinary chair. ‘This is to be done by seizing it at the rear uprights, about where the back joins the bottom; the former being towards you, and parallel with your anterior chest-wall, against which you 190 place your elbows at a convenient distance apart. This position evidently leaves a space between your chest and the back of the chair equal in length to your fore-arms, which are extended horizontally. Miss Lulu now takes a position beside you, and, hold- ing her body back, simply places the palmar surface of her hand on the back of the chair on the side to- wards your body. After a few moments she seems to make the effort to detach her hand from the chair, which latter you are privileged to push forwards. The force at work, however, is too strong for you, and both yourself and the chair are carried back- wards, without her hand having changed its position. The chair being a cane-backed one, it is evident that she could in no way gain a hold upon it, and the back of her hand never could come in contact with your chest, as the spanning of such a distance would at once be detected. Professor Newcomb’s conclusions, after having witnessed the test of lifting a chair with some one sitting in it, are to me far from satisfactory. I saw the girl lean over an ordinary chair, with a man weighing over two hundred pounds sitting in it, and placing the palmar surfaces of her hands on the outer sides of the rear uprights near their middles, and without any contraction of the muscles of the arm or fore-arm, or increase of pulse (remained at 80) or respiratory effort, or change of countenance due to exertion, so far lift that chair and its heavy contents from the floor as to compel the latter to get out of it; and this without fractur- ing any of the bones of her upper extremities, or the sides of the chair. The simplest computation will prove that the lateral pressure required must be enor- mous in order to get a hold, and prevent such a weight absolutely slipping between her hands when the up- ward force comes to be exerted. R. W. SHUFELDT, U.S.A. Fort Wingate, New Mexico, Feb. 19. THE MICROSCOPE IN GEOLOGY. Many persons have heard that the micro- scope, everywhere recognized as indispensable in the investigation of organic nature, has also recently been made use of in geology; but very few have any distinct notion of the sort of problems to which it can there be applied, or of the way in which it can contribute toward their solution. The determination of the dif- ferent minerals which compose very fine grained rocks may doubtless appear, even to many geologists who have been accustomed to deal with only great areas and mountain masses, a matter of small importance; and they often fail to see that the methods which render such a determination possible, are capable, if prop- erly employed, of throwing much light on some of the most difficult questions with which they have to deal. The microscopic study of rock-sections is one of difficulty, and indeed quite discour- aging to a beginner who attempts it without proper guidance, no matter how familiar he may be with mineralogy, or with the use of the SCIENCE. oa [Vor. V., No. 109. microscope in other fields of research. This fact, coupled with the newness of the branch, sufficiently accounts for the number of workers — in it still being so small in this country, which presents unrivalled opportunities for its cul- tivation. Although the idea of preparing rocks in transparent sections for the microscope ori- ginated with an Englishman, the fruitful line of research to which it gave rise has since been almost exclusively cultivated in Germany. Here the seed fell into soil made already fer- tile by the labors of older geologists, and sprang at once into a strong and rapid growth. | The keen perception and great energy of Zirkel first made known the microscopic appearance of the common rock-forming minerals, as well as discovered the wide distribution of others before considered rarities. Vogelsang, not contented merely to observe, was able to draw from his studies the most suggestive conclusions, which he substantiated by ingenious and delicate experiments. It is, however, to Rosenbusch that the development of petrography as a. sci- ence is most largely due. In his work, pub- lished in 18738, he showed in a masterly manner how what had been learned of the optical prop- erties of different crystals, especially their — action on polarized light, could be applied to their identification in thin sections, thus ren- dering a rigid microscopic diagnosis for the first time possible. From this time on, the inter- est in this branch of investigation became in Germany very general, and its growth propor- tionately rapid. The attainment of the long- desired separation of rock constituents, even when of the smallest size, by means of solu- tions of high specific gravity, and the perfec- tion of many micro-chemical reactions of great precision, followed each other in quick succes- sion, until to-day the accuracy and beauty of petrographical methods are hardly second to those found in any other branch of natural science. The geologists of other countries on the con- tinent, especially in France and Scandinavia, soon perceived the value of the German work, and early availed themselves of its results to start similar investigations in their own coun- tries. It is a surprising fact that the apprecia- tion of it among English-speaking people has been so slow, that not one reliable text-book on the subject of petrography exists in the language of the man who gave the first im- pulse to its modern development. Any knowl- edge of the subject in America is recent, dating from the publication of Zirkel’s ‘ Microscopical — petrography’ in 1876. How steadily the inter- Marcu 6, 1885.] est in it is increasing, however, may be judged from the number of American students who have been and still are pursuing it at varions German universities. What is needed in this country are well-equipped petrographical labo- ratories, so that those who are unable to avail themselves of the facilities which Europe affords may not be compelled to remain in ignorance of what is daily becoming a more and more necessary part of a geologist’s train- ing. An attempt to organize such a laboratory has recently been made at the Johns Hopkins university and the encouragement which it has already received seems to abundantly jus- tify the experiment. Heretofore microscopical petrography has been essentially a branch of mineralogy, but its future certainly lies in the far wider sphere of geology. The mere laboratory study of isolated rock-specimens, which has served so good a purpose in the perfecting of delicate and accurate methods, no longer possesses any significance, now that these are so thoroughly developed. What in Germany has been secured by years of patient labor may now be learned in.a comparatively short time. Geologists have only to know and realize its application to their field of work, in order to eagerly avail them- selves of such an important aid. The use of the microscope alone will in future produce but little that is new; but its possibilities in geol- ogy, when intelligently employed in connection with the most detailed and careful fieid-work, — the necessity of which has been increased, not diminished, by its introduction, — cannot be easily overrated. _ What paleontology has done for the fossilifer- ous deposits, this, and even more, the micro- scope must do for the crystalline rocks. The less altered forms of igneous masses have thus far been almost exclusively studied; and, although they still have much to teach us, it is not by their investigation that the microscope is destined to yield its greatest assistance to geology. The changes, structural and chemi- cal, which go on in rocks after they are first formed, leave behind them more or less distinct traces which it is the special province of the microscope to follow out and interpret. Of how much has already been learned regarding the alteration of sedimentary rocks near their contact with eruptive masses, the work of Rosenbusch in the Vosges Mountains, of Lossen in the Hartz, and of Hawes in New Hamp- shire, is abundant proof. The wide-spread changes which rocks subjected to regional metamorphism have undergone, are far more complicated and difficult, but they can un- SCIENCE. 191 doubtedly be studied with as great success. It is by dealing with such problems as Lossen, Renard, and Lehmann, in Europe, and Wads- worth in this country, have especially pointed out, that the microscope in geology can in future render its best service. The manner in which this can be accomplished is by the patient following, step by step, of unchanged rocks into their most completely altered equiv- alents, and carefully comparing the condition of each constituent at every point. In this manner the succession of changes which they undergo may be as completely worked out as though we could see the process actually going on before our eyes. ‘The alterations of olivine and enstatite to serpentine, of pyroxene to hornblende, and even the reaction of two minerals upon each other in forming a third of intermediate composition, as shown in the rim of amphibole which surrounds olivine where it is in contact with plagioclase, have all been traced by the microscope through every stage. More recently the effects of pressure exhibited by the bending and break- ing of crystals, the disturbing of their opti- cal characters, and the local crushing of the rock constituents, have been carefully studied. This is found almost always to be attended by the formation of new minerals, like albite, zoi- site, mica, garnet, etc., whose younger origin is only to be proved by a microscopic investiga- tion. It is impossible to mention here a tithe of what has already been done in this direc- tion, although a beginning has hardly yet been made. What are especially to be desired are detailed studies of many small areas, where the same rock, whether eruptive or sedimentary, can be traced from its original form to its most altered state, and a comparison of the results obtained in each. This Lossen' has recently attempted for the southern Hartz, and has thereby indicated what is perhaps the most promising field for microscopic work in geol- ogy. GEORGE H. WIr iams. THE SPANISH EARTHQUAKES.?* Tuer Spanish peninsula has been the scene of a series of earthquakes, which, for extended duration and disastrous effects, surpasses any thing that has been felt in that region in recent 1 Studien an metamorphischen eruptiv- und sedimentgestein- en, erliutert an mikroskopischen bildern. Jahrbuch der preuss. landesanstalt fiir 1883, p. 619. 2 In preparing this notice, the following journals have been consulted; viz., Cronica cientifica (Barcelona), Science et nature, La Nature, L’Astronomie, Comptes rendus, Cosmos, Hansa, Na- ture, and various English and American newspapers. 192 years. Beginning toward the close of Decem- ber last, the shocks continued at intervals for more than a month, and, indeed, the ground has hardly yet resumed its wonted stability ; while the loss of life and destruction of prop- erty, exceeding that of 1829 in Valencia, has perhaps not been equalled since the great Lis- bon earthquake of a century ago. The first light shocks were reported in the early morning of Wee, 22, 1834,, at Pontevedra and Vi- go on the north-west coast, and were also felt at Lisbon and other places in Por- tugal, on the island of Madeira and the Azores. _This was followed on the evening of Dec. 25 by disas- trous shocks in the southern part of the peninsula. They be- gan at 8.53 P.M., being felt as _ far north as Madrid, where’ bells were rung and_ clocks stopped, but doing no damage there; while in the south- ern provinces of An- dalusia, Granada, and Malaga, where the principal force was expended, hun- dreds of houses were overthrown, hun- dreds of lives lost, and some towns and villages entirely de- stroyed. In Cadiz, Seville, Cordova, Jaen, and AI- meria the shocks were strongly felt, injuring some buildings, but without serious damage. At Granada, shocks to the number of eight oc- curred during that night; and, besides other casualties, the front of the cathedral was in- jured, the Alhambra fortunately escaping harm. The villages of Albunuelas, Arenas del Rey, Jatar, Zafarraya, and Santa Cruz, were left a mass of ruins. Alhama was destroyed with the loss of over a thousand houses and three hundred and fifty lives. This town consisted of two parts, -— an upper and a lower. The upper portion, situated upon the higher ground, SCIENCE. VIEW IN A STREET OF ALHAMA, JAN. 3. fo [Von. V., No. 109. was cast down upon the lower, overwhelming it in its fall. The hot springs also ceased to flow for two days, after which, the flow was resumed more abundantly than before. The waters have since then acquired a marked sul- phurous character, and their temperature has increased from 47° C. to 50° C. The province of Malaga also suffered severe- ly. Inthe city of Malaga all the public buildings were injured, and some were destroyed with many other houses. At Estepo- - na, on the coast west of Malaga, a church and a block of build- ings were destroyed. At Torrox, Nerja, Almunecar, and Mo- tril, places on the Mediterranean Sea east of Malaga, many buildings were overthrown, and many lives lost. In the first - mentioned place, as stated by the alcalde, twenty-. six shocks occurred between 8.50 p.m. of the 25th and 11 a.m. of the 26th, com- pletely destroying the village. At Al- munecar twelve shocks occurred in fifteen minutes. At many places where the destruction was less complete, espe- cially at Granada and Malaga, the in- habitants camped for days in the fields and open places, sleeping in tents and sheds, or in carriages, not daring to return to their houses. At Periana, north of Malaga, an ex- tensive land-slip was caused by the earthquake, overwhelming a large part of the town, and destroying a church and seven hundred and fifty houses. Above the village of Guevejar, built upon a hillside, a great parabolic crevasse three kilometres long has opened to a width of from three to fifteen metres; and the village, which rests on a stratum of clay, is slowly sliding © downward to the valley, while the houses still remain standing. Some of the houses have moved twenty-seven metres since Dec. 256. (From La Nature.) — — ser * root to branches, MARCH 6, 1885.] At one extremity of the crevasse a small lake has been formed, having a depth of nine metres, and a_super- ficial area of about two thousand square metres. At another point an olive- tree has been split from the two parts remaining up- right upon opposite sides of the opening. At still another point, it has divided lengthwise the foundation - wall of a powder-manufactory. As many of the vil- lages in that part of Spain do not have tele- graphie communication with the capital, details have been reported slowly and with considerable uncertainty ; and it is difficult to gather from the various accounts any estimate of the whole number of lives lost. MAP OF SPAIN. Andujar, oun Le MN nf SCIENCE. NS are gd SEP PES ——— ds Ly bE oe “La ae THE REGION AFFECTED IS SHADED. (From La Nature.) 193 numbered by thousands, and the villages of Alhama, Santa Cruz, Arenas del Rey, Periana, and Albunuelas are now but piles of ruins. More than thirty-five vil- lages are named where some dead and wound- ed were taken from the ruins. Of the 10,000 houses in Malaga, 7,000 will require repairs. The shock of Dec. 25 -was succeeded by light- er shocks on the remain- ing days of the month, and at longer intervals through the month of January, and, indeed, up to the present time. A. list of the shocks is as follows :— Dec. 22. Pontevedra, Vigo, Lisbon (3.29 a.m.) , Madeira, Azores (2.30 a.m.). 24. Seville (light). : wae < a wN G i , TTA Sy SG ayiid | Mancha Reb,’ 8g a RCORDOUE Os TN eS By, pe : : oo Cx; Rat oD S yyy ar > BS ; Wii oe 1 i > bi b 4 o a > f eZ Ne: ANN » VY SSiin ae. at PIO CI SI oad, POSS OBEY Wn Ease = Ss @o $a ca AW . 4 ri ! Bits oe pu ee' SS rs die 6 ree, “é a As ‘oMatete Z ee Ait (Wv! re WS races Gade os fil abrg. a € ~ mm STE ARN or Nt ‘yy ye ‘ 2 WAL fh Les > A ;; ¥ re “ot! INE Coir “OF 7 wa ‘pbell laa x cin 7 76 GS0c! Sh a a re oe MAP OF THE REGION SUFFERING MOST SEVERELY. On Jan. 14 the official records stated for Gra- nada 695 killed and 1,480 injured. Other es- timates have placed the entire loss of life at upwards of 2,000. The houses destroyed are ——| + Towns and villages ruined. ==} o Towns and villages partly ruined. = — Kilometres. SSS ey Pikes BDD Ba 5 ial E.MorruSe | (From L’ Astronomie.) Dec. 25. Madrid (to the Mediterranean, etc., as above). 26. Madrid, Gibraltar, and the southern provinces. en ae 194 SCIENCE. [Vo. V., No. 109. Dec. 27. Antequera (five shocks), Archidona been reported as felt at 10.20 p.m. in Wilts,’ (nine shocks), Malaga. and also having been recorded by small dis- 28, 29. Torrox, Malaga. turbaneces of the magnets in the Greenwich 30. Velez Malaga, Torrox (7 and 10 _ observatory at 9.15 p.m.; the suspended mag- A.M.), provinces of Granada and nets acting as pendulum seismographs. ; > Malaga. While they may probably have no connec- 31. Torrox, Granada, Jaen (6.35 p.m.), tion with the Spanish earthquake, the follow- Malaga. ing shocks, felt in other parts of Europe during the same period, are worth not- — ing; viz.,— : Dec. 25. At Zernetz, Engadine | | (at 8.17 and 11 P.m., the former hour cor- - responding to 7.32. p.M., Madrid time). 27, 28. At Tarvis in Carin- thia. sai : 28. 7 a.m. at Sundal and- Oxendal, Norway. 29. In Wales. A RUINED STREET IN ALHAMA. (From Cosmos.) Jan. 4. In Styria. 5. 3 A.M. af Chamber: Jan. 1.--Torrox,: Granada-*' (11-45 ine), Savoy; 5.50 a.m. at Embrun. Malaga, Nerja (2, 6.45, 9 p.m.), Jan. 6. In Italy at Susa, near Mont Cenis,: Algarrobo, Alhama, Antequera, and at Velletri. Valencia. 21. Between 0 and 1 a.m. at Ennenda,, 2. Valencia, Granada, Malaga, Velez Glarus. Malaga. As bearing upon the possible connection 3. Loja, Alhama, Jaen, Velez Malaga. between seismic and atmospheric phenomena, 5. Granada (6 p.m., severe), Loja, Mo- _ it is remarked that an unusually high barometer tril (fifty houses destroyed), prevailed over the Spanish peninsula during Malaga. the first half of December; while from Dec. 20 7. Nerja, Velez Malaga. 8. Loja, Torrox. 9. “‘Torrox. 10. Malaga. 11. Malaga (buildings fell). 12. ‘Gibraltar, Alhama, Al- garrobo. 13. Torrox, Canillas, .Al- munecar, Algarrobo. 16. Granada (10 p.m.), Ca- nillas, Motril. 21. Malaga, Loja, Velez Malaga, Almunecar. 22. Periana. 27.,Alhama (one ‘person killed). Feb. 12. Alhama. 13. Torre del Campo, forty miles north of Grana- da (serious damage to RUINS OF A CONVENT, ALBUNUELAS. (From Za Nature.) / hospital). 14. Granada, Velez Malaga. to 22 a heavy storm area, attended by an un- 23. Granada (renewed shocks reported). usual atmospheric depression, was passing from’ — March2. Granada, Loja, Alhama (houses fell). _ north to south over the same region, reaching — The severe shock on Christmas night seems the Mediterranean on the 22d; also that at to have been perceived in England, having Nerja a hurricane followed the first shocks, MARcH 6, 18835.] blowing down the houses, whose walls were already weakened by the earthquake. The geological characteristics of the coun- try are described in the next article: it will therefore suffice here to say that the seismic phenomena seem to be intimately related to the geological growth of the mountain system, especially the Sierra Nevada, the elevation of which is apparently not yet completed. A commission, consisting of three mining engi- neers, under the presidency of Sr. D. Manuel Fernandez de Castro, has been appointed by the Spanish government to study this series of earthquakes, and has already distributed a list of thirty-three interrogatories relating not only to the time, direction, and other particulars of the earthquake shocks, but also to various atmospheric phenomena, such as the pressure, temperature, clouds, ete. 7 C. G. Rockwoop, Jun. THE SIERRA NEVADA OF SPAIN: THE SCENE OF THE RECENT LZARTH- QUAKES. Tue Sierra Nevada of Spain, though full of interest for the tourist, the man of science, or the student of history, has been little visited, and almost nothing has been written about it. . This sierra forms a compact body, twenty- five miles wide and fifty miles long, completely isolated, and without directly connected lateral spurs or terminal ridges. Surrounded by an alluvial plain as it is, it has, nevertheless, certain smaller neighbors which seem, like itself, to have been ejected from below. Its crest has been denuded by the elements, and its sides scored by brooks or torrents which diverge in all directions from the central axis, fed by the rains of spring and the melting snows of summer. Four principal streams, descending to the north-west, meet at the very foot of the Alhambra, and unite their waters before traversing the renowned plain of La Vega. Their cascades and ripples, descending from the mountain crest above, give to the adjoining valley a delicious freshness during the torrid months of summer. To these waters is due the immense isle of verdure presented by the Vega at a time when nearly all southern Europe is scorched dry by the sun. At many points the rivers run in narrow, deep channels easily dammed. From their sources to the moment when they reach the plain, their aver- age descent is one to ten, almost the maxi- mum for running waters. At that point they are captured: not a drop escapes. All the SCIENCE. 195 irrigating works and canals, the customs gov- erning the distribution of water, even the rules recalled by the strokes of the bell nightly from the minarets of the Alhambra, are the legacy of the Arabian civilization which blossomed on the plain before it was driven to a last refuge on the mountain. On the north, three rivers descend to the plain of Guadiz; but, their sources not being fed by perpetual snows, when the rainy season has passed they dry away. In consequence this plain is as sterile, bare, and forbidding as that of the Vega is green and inviting. Wherever the eye wanders, apart from the sierras, lies a reddish-gray plateau of dusty alluvium, seamed and rent by precipitous cahons. Nothing recalls the idea of life: the desolation is as that of an unknown country, grand and terrible. All the valleys and plains of this part of Andalusia present the same impressive and melancholy features. Gustave Doré, who passed through this region many years ago, has profited by his experience to introduce memories of it in some of the most strange and fantastic productions of his pencil. This sterile region is poor, unpeopled, almost unknown, and practically cut off from com- munication with the rest of Spain. Farther to the west is the country of the Alpujarras, so celebrated in Moorish history for the terrible conflicts of which it was the theatre. More than one poet has celebrated the combats of the Christian and the Moor in the narrow defiles and rocky gorges of the sierra; but all these imaginary descriptions fall far short of depicting the scene as it ap- pears in reality. The Alpujarras are composed of two cistern- like basins, absolutely closed to the outer world, except by two narrow gorges cut in the rock by the rivers which traverse them. ‘The first of these rivers, the Rio Grande de Ujijar, descends directly from the heights of the Sierra Nevada, passes by the site of that town, and, with its affluents, waters the basin of Ujijar, the ancient capital of the little Moorish kingdom. It issues by a deep canon, and falls into the Mediterranean by the little port of Adra at no great distance. The second, the Guadalfeo, runs between the Sierra Nevada and Contraviesa, close by the former, whose slopes it drains. Emerging from the basin, it turns abruptly to the south, reaching the sea near Motril. Just before entering the gorges of the Sierra Contraviesa, the Guadalfeo re- ceives the brook of Beznar from a_ point elevated above the plain of La Vega, whence Boabdil, the last of the Moors, is said to have 196 taken his parting glimpse of his palace of the Alhambra, the rich Vega, and ‘ Grenada the marvellous.’ It is appropriately named ‘ Sus- piro del Moro’ (‘ the Moor’s sigh’). A very few men can safely hold the entrances to the Alpujarras ; and they long remained the last stronghold of the Arab power in Spain, which has passed, leaving as its memorial lit- tle more than the names of a few villages, and the wonderful system of irrigating-works. There can hardly be a doubt that the series of calamities, hardly closed, which has laid so many villages in ruins since last Christmas, is a continuation of the processes by which por- tions of the earth’s crust are raised in moun- tain ranges above the rest. A few words on the geological structure of the sierra may in- dicate the possibilities of the locality. The structure of the sierra and its neighbors is quite simple. ‘They rise like islands or domes of ancient mica schists out of a sea of later formations, which break like waves upon their flanks. These schists are of a silvery white, appearing like snow when distant and illumi- nated by the sun. They are absolutely sterile, but dip, in a general way, outward from the central axis of elevation in all directions. A belt of radiately dipping Silurian schists encir- cles the central part of the sierra, which, like the exposed part of the core, assumes rounded outlines, but is succeeded by another belt, rug- ged, precipitous, and craggy, of Permian lime- stones, which extends to the base on the eastward, but is nearly as irregular in height as in extent. The Alpujarra basins are ex- cavated in these limestones, and protected by escarped cliffs. Against the base of the sierra, raised slightly near the mountains, but else- where horizontal, lie tertiary grits, clayey sands and clays, deposits of fine gypsum, etc., cov- ered with two alluvial series of beds, — the lower composed of decomposition products of the Silurian schists, brought down by water and mingled with material derived from the subjacent tertiary ; the upper and later, from the denudation of the fundamental mica schists now forming the crests of the sierras. Moule observes that the elevation of the sierras has, in part at least, taken place since the tertiary epoch, and even since the alluvial period, and that it may not yet have ceased. ‘This obser- vation, written before the recent disturbances, has found in them renewed support. The people of the country, finding in the elevated blocks of argillaceous alluvium left isolated by the torrential rains of part of the year a soft but compact and resisting mate- rial, have carved in them whole villages of SCIENCE. >) [Vou. V., No. 109. cave-houses, with doors and windows, and often with one story above another. ‘These - abrupt elevations, though of moderate height, are extremely numerous, entirely without vege- tation, and of an ashy hue. The cave vil- lages are numerous, and, as in the case of Purullana, contain sometimes several hundred inhabitants. One may imagine the devasta- tion among these gnomes which an _ earth- quake shock must produce, and which would go far to explain the great loss of life in these small places. The shocks felt have been chiefly to the westward of the Sierra Nevada, and have been most severe along the junction of the tertiary rocks with the schists. Here towns have been almost or quite destroyed, and the ruin wrought has been largely proportional to the proximity of the town or village to the uncon- formability of the rocks, though the motion has been propagated over a much wider area. THE WORK OF THE SWISS EARTH- QUAKE COMMISSION. THE Swiss earthquake commission was appointed by the Swiss society of natural sciences, in 1879, to secure more uniform and accurate observation and study of the seismic disturbances in and around the Alps. It included such men as Forel, Forster, Ha- genbach-Bischof, Heim, Soret, and others of mark as physical-geographers and geologists ; and they at once began an active campaign. Professor Heim of Zurich wrote several general articles+ to call atten- tion to the undertaking, and to outline the method by which intelligent persons could give effective assistance; and since then, he and Forel, both admi- rably qualified, have prepared a number of mono- graphic reports on the results thus far reached. The official journal of publication is the Jahrbuch des tel- lurisches observatorium of Bern; but, so far as I can learn, none of our libraries possess a copy of it. Fortunately, the reports have mostly been reprinted in periodicals of more general circulation, and from these the notes here presented are derived. Forel’s entertaining papers 2 give the results of the 1 Ueber die untersuchungen der erdbeben und die bisherige resultate. Zurich vierteljahresschr., 1879. Die erdbeben und deren beobachtung. Zurich, 1880. This appeared also in French, translated by Forel, in the Arch. des sciences, iii. 1880, 261. : Die schweizerischen erdbeben von November 1879 bis ende 1880. Jahrb. tellur. observ., 1881; with an appendix giving im- portant corrections. 2 Les tremblements de terre étudiés par la commission sismo- logique suisse de novembre 1879 & fin de 1880. Arch. des sci- ences, vi. 1881, 461. Id... . pendant l’année 1881. Arch. des sc., xi. 1884, 147. Les tremblements de terre orogéniques étudiés en Suisse. L’ Astronomie, ii. 1883, 449; iii. 1884, 13. 1 Marcu 6, 1885.] commission’s work in attractive form. It is some- times even a little amusing to notice the purely sci- entific treatment that these distressing calamities receive; for, just as an old surgeon will describe a terrible operation as a ‘ beautiful case,’ so Forel writes of a violent shock as ‘ce beau tremblement de terre.’ Spain must advance far beyond its pres- ent superstitions before it can have so calm and judicial a commissioner. The classification that was early adopted is an important matter, and, in the present stage of the study in this country, deserves quotation in full; for, in any statistical comparisons, it is important that the facts on which they rest should be recorded on similar scales. The first prin- ciple is the grouping of the fainter antecedent and subsequent tremors with the more violent shocks, as making parts of a single disturbance; and, although this is generally well advised, it sometimes leads to including shocks (secousses, stossen) that occurred during ten or more days as parts of a single earth- quake (tremblement, beben). Thus, in 1880, there were sixty-two tremors or shocks in twenty-one earthquakes; and in 1881 the numbers were one hundred and sixty-three, and thirty-seven for Switz- erland alone. The intensity of shocks is measured on the Rossi-Forel scale, as follows: — 1. Very faint; recorded by a single seismometer; noticed only by practised observers. 2. Registered on several seismometers of different construction; noticed by a few persons at rest. 3. Duration or direction noted; felt by a number of persons at rest. 4. Felt by persons while moving; shaking of mov- able objects, doors, windows; cracking of ceilings. 5. Felt by every one; furniture shaken, and some bells rung. 6. Sleepers awakened; general bell-ringing, clocks stopped, visible swaying of trees; some persons run out of buildings. 7. Overturning of loose objects; plaster falling, general fright; buildings not seriously injured. 8. Chimneys falling; walls cracked. 9. Partial or total destruction of buildings. 10. Great disasters; overturning rocks, forming fissures and mountain-slides. In order to obtain a measure of the ‘ value’ of the earthquake in which all its elements are included, the area affected and the number of accessory shocks must also be considered. For Switzerland, the areas are grouped by diameters of five, fifty, one hundred and fifty, and five hundred kilometres; and the weak, medium, and strong accessory tremors are counted separately (n, n’/, n’’). Then the total value of a dis- turbance is V = (Intensity scale X area scale) + n + 2n'+3n"”. This is evidently a useful method of combining and giving weight to the various pecul- iarities of an earthquake, but it has a manifest inac- curacy coming from the inequality of the divisions in the scale of intensity. Great earthquakes would not be given their deserved superiority over small ones in such a measurement. It would be improved by squaring the intensity number of the principal shock, SCIENCE. 197 The numerical results thus far announced may be briefly summarized: they give a moderate winter maximum, thus agreeing with Volger’s studies of some years ago; a strongly marked preference for the night hours, with a maximum between two and four in the morning, while the minimum is from noon to two o’clock in the day; no sufficient connec- tion is made out between the attitude of the moon and the occurrence of shocks; and the south-western corner of the country has had twice as many earth- quakes as any other, but no general map showing distribution has yet been published. There seems to be no dissent from the opinion that these shocks are in no way of volcanic origin: they are by all regarded as evidence of continued struc- tural disturbance and growth of the Alps. There is no appearance of volcanic action, but evidence of lateral crowding is afforded by every valley that exposes sections of distorted rocks on its sides. ‘The distortion may be slow and uniform, and evenly dis- tributed through the rocks, especially when far below the surface, under the heavy weight of overlying strata; and then it is probable that no disturbance would be felt above. But it may also be irregular by fits and starts, as the crushing stress accumulates to the limit of the rocks’ strength, which snap asunder as the limit is passed; and the tremor thus produced is known on the surface as an earthquake. The migration of shocks gives valuable confirmation of this view. Some earthquakes, composed of a num- ber of accessory shocks having a common centre, are properly referred to a single origin: examples of such are found in 1879, vii., and 1880, i., ix., xiii., and xx., of Forel’s lists. But in a few other cases the succes- sive shocks must be referred to different centres, which travel or ‘migrate’ along a line that is natu- rally supposed to mark a yielding fissure. 1879, v., and 1880, viii., belong to this interesting class. Still more peculiar is the interpretation given by Heim to number xlvii. of his list (June 28, 1880). The obser- vations of this earthquake showed only a moderate velocity of propagation (112 to 204 metres a second) in the direction of the longer diameter of the region affected, and this is regarded as too small for the advance of an elastic earth-wave. Moreover, the local directions of the shock, agreeing fairly well among themselves on either side of the longer diam- eter, did not agree with the direction of the extension of the disturbed areain time. It was therefore sup- posed that the disturbance resulted from the succes- sive breaking or slipping of a long fissure, from which earth-waves spread out laterally with normal veloci- ty; thus showing the migration of the focus quickly accomplished in a simple earthquake, much as it had been implied by the more deliberate shifting of the successive shocks in complex disturbances. The explanation is a tempting one, and, if confirmed by similar results in the future, will be an important contribution to seismology. The statistical results that will, after a few decades, be gathered from these uniformly recorded observa- tions, will be of especial value; and the further de- velopment of the connection that has been surmised 198 between the disturbed areas and the structural fea- tures of the Alps will be looked for with interest. W. M. DAvIs. iad THE CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES.} -L HAVE followed with much interest the details upon the recent earthquakes, which the newspapers have published ; but this question is so intricate, so difficult, that I assure you I should not have undertaken its investigation had I thought any other person would have been willing to do so. Meanwhile, at the acad- emy, the question is growing in importance, geolo- gists, geodesists, and others having taken it up with considerable enthusiasm. Under these conditions, I have thought that I ought not to draw back. Never- theless, I am not without a certain apprehension. Indeed, the question of earthquakes. is one of the vaguest. Data are hitherto wanting, but there is no lack of theories; for as in medicine, when there are many remedies for one disease, it is frequently the case that neither is really good, so in geology, in ter- restrial physics, when many theories are put forward to explain a phenomenon, it is necessary to cast aside each, and say that none is absolutely sufficient. I start, then, with a certain hesitation; and yet, when one accepts an appointment to study facts of this sort, it seems to me necessary to have in mind some theory, true or false, and to adopt it more or less boldly, free to abandon it after contradiction. ‘I start, then, with a certain idea which I expect to verify or invalidate. Ido not propose to tell you what it is: I will simply ask your permission, before giving my plan of studies, to point out in a few words the current theories to account for earthquakes. . There are four principal ones. They are very old. We find them in the Greek authors, and perhaps, if one were to search carefully, they would be found among EKast-Indian traditions. The first is based upon the supposition, that, under the solid crust of the earth, the sudden generation of gases and vapors causes subterranean explosions; and it is the effect of these shocks that we feel on the surface. This would be in a way comparable to an explosion of dynamite taking place at a great depth. I need not discuss these theories, yet I may say that perhaps this one is true when applied to earthquakes in the neighborhood of volcanoes. It is certain, indeed, that as soon as the earth opens, great quantities of gas are liberated from beneath the surface, where in some way they have been generated and furnished with extraordi- nary power. But even if this theory is probable with regard to voleanic earthquakes, I think that it would be dif- ficult to apply it to those in Spain. "A second theory has been proposed by a learned physicist, Alexis Perrey. It is based upon the sup- position that the combined influence of the sun ' 7 A communication to the French geographical society, on Jan. 23, by Mr. Fouqué, professor of geology in the Collége de France, and chief of the commission appointed by the Academy of sciences to study the Spanish earthquakes. SCIENCE. oe Sy re 7 ga ” [Vou. V., No. 109. and moon, acting upon the liquid parts beneath the surface, produces tides analogous to those on the sur- face of the earth. These vast tides of liquid fire at certain favorable movements, striking upon the solid external crust, cause the earthquake shocks. I also abandon this theory, for I do not think it can apply to Spain. There remain two others, one that of Scheuchzer, a distinguished savant, at once paleontologist, geolo- gist, and physicist. Having studied the earthquakes in Switzerland, he has attributed them, not without reason, in certain particular cases, to the falling-in of subterranean caverns caused by the dissolving-out of such substances as salt or gypsum by water which has penetrated beneath the surface. Such a collapse would, without doubt, cause a very appreciable shock at the surface of the earth. This theory may apply to certain special cases; but it remains to be seen if. it applies to the Spanish earthquakes, There is a fourth which is at present in favor in Germany among nearly all geologists of that country, and it has also been accepted by some in other coun- tries. In France it has not been so well received: nevertheless, there are eminent men who entertain it, It is based upon geological observations. ‘There are no geologists, indeed, who, observing the walls of the cracks in the metamorphic rocks, for instance, have | not been struck by the fact that these beds, originally deposited in a horizontal position, have been raised and broken. There have evidently been movements. of extreme importance, since rocks that were origi- nally connected and regular are now in the greatest disorder. Now, it is certain that these movements could not have been produced without superficial shocks at the moment when the fissures were made. Therefore there must have been earthquakes in all geological epochs, even the most ancient, which are exactly comparable with those of to-day. But recip- rocally, if these ancient foldings have produced earth- quakes, why are not the present earthquakes the result of analogous phenomena ? You see that the theory is perfectly regular up to this point. It is only necessary to know (the diffi- culty is merely thrown back in time) what is the origin of these foldings, of these fractures. Why these out-throws, these subsidences, these convolu- tions? We then arrive at a very old explanation, given by geologists, and still admitted by many savants. It is that the earth is continually cooling, and so contracting. The superficial crust has reached a nearly constant temperature; but this is not true of the liquid portions adjacent to it, where the tem- perature must be very high, though constantly cool- ing. In cooling, its volume becomes less, and its contractions cause foldings and fractures in the solid crust. This theory is rather old, it is true, but there is no better theory at present. As to the Spanish earthquakes, it seems to me,. that, of these four theories, only two should receive any attention. The question is, therefore, whether there are fis- sures, bendings, and faults beneath the surface, or In a. whether the water is dissolving out caverns. Marcu 6, 1885. ] word, the subject for research is whether one of the last two theories will apply to the case in question. You will notice, moreover, that each of these theories presumes a geological cause. It is in part, I think, this idea of the connection between earthquakes and the movements far below the surface, that has influ- enced the Academy of sciences in choosing a geolo- gist to examine the phenomenon. In my turn, — and for the same reason as the Academy of sciences, —I have taken geologists as collaborators. Those who accompany me are Messrs. Michel Lévy and Marcel Bertrand, members of the geological survey of France, and. mining en- gineers of great competence. The third who accom- panies me is Professor Barrois, of the Faculty of science at Lille, an eminent geologist, who is well acquainted with the Spanish soil. 1 have, then, as my associates, three geologists, perfectly competent to study all the facts that are usually investigated in earthquakes, —the propaga- tion of the motion, the direction of the shock, and the place of greatest intensity. They are also capa- ble of determining the relations which exist between the superficial action of an earthquake and _ that which may be going on at great depths. Geologists, when they travel over the surface of a piece of ground, see not only the superficial beds, but, by a sort of instinct, they divine the character of the deeper extensions. they are not infallible, — but still, in the most cases, they are able to determine the constitution of the deep strata. This, then, is one special point which we shall endeavor to determine. We wish, from the study of the superficial deposits, to deduce its geological structure at a certain depth. On the other hand, with the means which we possess to-day, it is possible to determine approximately the depth from which an earthquake shock originates. We have two methods for this. One, which is founded upon very precise and delicate observations, has been proposed by Mr. Seebach: it is based upon the determi- nation of a series of points, in which the oscillations are felt at the same moment. These observations are extremely difficult to obtain. There is another, older method, due to the English physicist, Mallet. The system of observations pro- posed by him is based upon the examination of the cracks in the land after an earthquake. These frac- tures are, in nearly every case, normal to the di- rection of the shock; and, when one studies them carefully, the direction of these normals is sufficient to fix their points of convergence, and hence the ori- gin of the shock. The methods of which I have spoken are not purely theoretical: they have been applied five or six times by Germans, Italians, and English; but, unfortunately, the French have not yet used them. They have given very interesting results; as, for instance, in the last earthquake at Ischia, it has been shown that the cause of the concussions came from a depth of from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred metres at the most. Between twelve hundred and eighteen hun- dred metres there is certainly a considerable range; SCIENCE. Sometimes they are mistaken, — 199 but one would have expected to find that the shock came from a much greater depth. Consequently much is already accomplished, when we can limit the origin of the phenomenon to a space so restricted. I said that we were able to apply these two meth- ods, the one certainly, the other probably. We may thus ascertain the depth of the earthquake’s centre. If, on the other hand, we are able to determine by geological observations the constitution of the earth at this point, we shall have obtained a datum ex- tremely important, and we may be able to accept one of the two theories, or so to limit one or the other as to make it agree better with the facts. These are the objects of our mission, these the things we count on accomplishing. You will see that it is very simple. I hope that we shall obtain satisfactory results. I do not dare to promise that we shall; but I do promise you that we shall study Andalusia, or a portion of this province, with care, and that we shall bring back data of geological interest and importance from this very curious country. SEISMOLOGICAL NOTES. THE earthquakes of the last year in England have, like those in this country, aroused an interest in seis- mometry; and the committee of the Scottish meteor- ological society, who have charge of the Ben Nevis observatory, have asked Professor Ewing (whose work in Japan we recently noticed [vol. iv. p. 516], and who is now professor of engineering in University college, Dundee) to institute earthquake observa- tions on the top of Ben Nevis. Professor Ewing has received a grant of a hundred pounds from the com- mittee controlling the government grant for scientific investigation, and will proceed to set up apparatus to detect, and probably to record, minute earth-tremors, and also slow changes of level of the ground. In connection with the recent Spanish earthquakes, it is interesting to note that we have accidentally brought into prominence a new kind of seismoscope. In Nature, vol. xxxi. p. 262, Mr. Ellis of the Royal observatory at Greenwich states that the continuous photographic records of the declination and horizon- tal force magnetometers both show a simultaneous disturbance, different from the ordinary magnetic disturbances, occurring on the evening of Dec. 25, a few minutes after the reported time of the severe earthquake in Spain on that date. No ordinary mag- netic disturbances were recorded on this and neigh- boring dates, and the earth-current registers showed no change; so that there would seem to be little if any reason to doubt that the unusual disturbances recorded were caused by the swinging of the magnets on their suspending fibres, due to the shaking of the points of suspension by the Spanish earthquake. If some method were devised of photographing the lat- eral swing of the magnets in two azimuths at right angles, in addition to the present torsional swing as magnetometers, these instruments could, perhaps, be made very sensitive seismoscopes as well, and the accuracy of the time-record would only depend upon 200 the velocity given to the strip of photographic paper. Of course, as seismometers, they would be as worthless as allstable pendulums must be; but as seismoscopes, they might be quite sensitive, and the expense and requisite attention need not add greatly to that al- ready necessary with the magnetometer. In Japan, Professor Milne keeps up his active work in seismology. During the last summer, he spent five days on the top of Fujiyama, attempting to detect diurnal changes in the level of the ground. The re- sults have not yet been published. This mountain — a wonderfully symmetrical volcaniccone, about twelve thousand feet high, and the most striking object in all Japan —is the one on whose summit Professor Mendenhall made a determination of the force of gravity and of the values of the magnetic elements; and it will always be an interesting point for scien- tific observations of all kinds, rising as it does in complete isolation out of a plain. In vol. viis part 2, of the Transactions of the seis- mological society of Japan, Professor Milne con- tributes a paper upon three hundred and eighty-seven earthquakes observed in northern Japan between October, 1881, and October, 1883. A map is given for every quake, showing by its colored portion the approximate area covered by the shock, as determined by Professor Milne’s system of tracking down earth- quakes by a system of postcards distributed to all important places in the hands of observers who send in weekly reports of the occurrence or non-occur- rence of any disturbances. In this way Professor Milne has had the northern part of Nippon and the southern part of Yezo covered for several years with a network of forty-five observers, besides those in Tokio and Yokohama. At five of these stations quite accurate time-observations of the disturbances were frequently obtained by the help of good clocks compared several times per week with the daily tele- graphic noon signal from Tokio. A catalogue of the individual observations of each of the three hundred and eighty-seven shocks is also given. Some of the results are worth noting. As regards geographical distribution, it is remarkable that only two out of the three hundred and eighty-seven shocks appear to have extended to the west of the range of mountains running up the western side of the island of Nippon, being apparently stopped by that barrier, while about eighty-four per cent seem to have originated either out under the ocean or very near it on the eastern side of the islands. Commenting on this, Professor Milne says, — ‘‘The district which is most shaken is the flat al- luvial plain of Musashi following the line of the river Tonegawa.... This area forms one of the flattest parts of Japan. The large number of earthquakes which have been felt on the low ground, and the com- paratively small number which have been felt in the mountains, is certainly remarkable. “Tt must also be observed, that, in the immediate vicinity of active or extremely recent volcanoes, the seismic activity has been small. . . . It may also be remarked that the side of Japan on which earth- quakes are the most frequent is the side which slopes down steeply beneath an ocean which at a hundred SCIENCE. [Von V., No. 109: and twenty miles from the coast has adepth of about two thousand fathoms, whilst on the opposite side of the country, at the same distance from the shore, the depth is only about a hundred and forty fathoms, Another point not to be overlooked is the fact that the district where earthquakes are the most numerous is one where there is abundant evidence of a recent and rapid elevation. ‘* Tn all these respects the seismic regions of Japan hold a close relationship to similar regions in South America, where we have earthquakes originating beneath a deep ocean at the foot of a steep slope on the upper parts of which there are numerous volcanic vents, whilst, on the side of this ridge opposite the ocean, earthquakes are rare. With regard to the Musashi area, it may also be remarked that sediments brought down by numerous rivers from the higher parts of the country are accumulating on it at a very rapid rate.’’ The distribution of the three hundred and eighty- seven earthquakes for the four quarters of the years was as follows, — January —- March, 195; April — June, 70; July-September, 39; October - December, 838, — thus confirming the greatest activity in the coldest, and least in the hottest, months of the year, which had been shown before for the Tokio district alone for a long period of years. With respect to the measurement of the motion of the ground, most of the facts deduced by Professor Milne are substantially the same as those summa- rized by Professor Ewing in his memoir referred to above. The following, however, which is partly, at least, new, deserves quotation here: — ‘Inasmuch as it will be observed that different instruments give different results for the same earth- quake, in order that the reader may not regard such diagrams as conflicting, the following results, which have been obtained from the earthquakes here re- ferred to, and which have been confirmed by many observations made subsequently, may be enumer- ated: ‘1, An ordinary earthquake, although having a general direction of propagation, has at a given point many directions of vibration. If there is a decided shock in a disturbance, this particular movement may be indicated in the same manner at adjacent stations. ‘2. The amplitude of motion as observed at two adjacent stations, even if only a few hundred feet apart, may be extremely different. ‘¢3. The period of motion may vary like the am- plitude, the instruments being in all cases as similar as it is possible to construct them. “** At present I am carrying on observations by means of three similar instruments placed at the corners of a triangle the sides of which are about eight hundred feet in length. When these instruments are side by side, they practically give similar diagrams. At their present positions, they always give different diagrams. If these instruments were in the hands of distinct observers, each of these observers would give a totally different account of the same earthquake. Judging from the quick period and large amplitude of mo- tion always observed at one particular corner of my triangle, I can say with confidence that at this corner there might be sufficient motion to shatter a build- ing, whilst at the other corners similar buildings would not be damaged.”’ ti eal MARCH 6, 1885.] He does not state whether there is any difference in elevation or in character of soil at the corners of this triangle; but, if there is none, then this observed difference of motion is highly interesting and impor- tant, and should be tested and verified in every possi- ble way by interchange of instruments, resetting of supports, etc., in order to be sure in every way that there is no local peculiarity of instrument or method of attachment to the soil. Doubtless this will have been fully attended to in Professor Milne’s continu- ation of these interesting experiments. H. M. PAUL. A RECENT DISCUSSION OF THE AXIOMS OF MECHANICS. Tue logic of the physical sciences will al- ways remain a fascinating field for the philo- sophic inquirer, and doubtless also for the special student of those sciences. The recent efforts towards a ‘ reform in logic’ in Germany have not left this field untouched; and one of the first in importance, among the books that bear on the general topic, is the work whose title is given below. ‘The author has quali- fied himself for the task by a lengthy study of the history of the development of his science, and he has the power to suggest much more than he directly says. In short, we have here a man who combines definiteness with depth of thought; and his book, whether useful or not to the specialists in mechanics, is surely very suggestive to the student of logic. The author represents in his way the new empiricism of Germany, — a doctrine that has grown up out of a study of Kant and the Eng- lish philosophy combined, and that as certainly points back again into the realm of specially philosophic discussion as it appears anxious to be forever beyond that realm. ‘This new em- piricism is much more suggestive than the older empiricism of J. S. Mill. He had founded all inductive interpretation of nature on the causal principle, and the causal princi- ple itself again on an inductive interpretation of nature. ‘The new empiricism escapes from this circle by assuming a relatively a priori principle in all induction, but seeks to remain empiricism still by making this principle no abstract axiom, but a sort of ultimate form or tendency of intelligence, viz., the tendency to conceive of the fucts of experience in the most economical way. ‘This interest in economy of thought shall, in the new empiricism, take the place of the old axiom of causality, and, in fact, of all the mysterious axioms of past logicians. ‘This tendency to economy is to be Die mechanik in ihrer entwickelung historisch-kritisch dargestellt. Von E. MAcu, professor an der Universitat zu Prag. Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1883. 19+483 p., illustr. 8°. SCIENCE. 201 the true a priori that Kant sought. It is to give us no knowledge transcending experience, but only a necessary presupposition concerning experience. What for bare experience would seem a confused mass, becomes for the scien- tific thinker, by virtue of this tendency to economy, a world of law. All the laws are indeed statements of empirical fact; but the statements never could assume this form save by virtue of the effort to economize thought. Such is the general statement of the new empiricism. Our author, for the most part, confines his use of it to his special task, and lets general philosophy as much as_ possible alone. Yet he cannot but constantly suggest to the reader the philosophic problems peculiar to his method. For the rest, he lays claim in the preface to considerable relative originality in the development of his own doctrine. Be- fore Kirchhoff and Helmholtz applied to me- chanical science the general theories of the new empiricism, Mach had outlined his views in a published essay. He is thus entitled to individual credit, and open to separate criticism. Applied to mechanical science, the new em- piricism, as our author and Kirchhoff have expressed it, takes the form of declaring the purpose of mechanics to be, ‘‘ the simplest possible description of the motions that are in the world.’’ ‘Thus at a stroke the science is to be freed from all mysterious elements. Those old ideas of force, of inertia, and the rest, are to be defined afresh in such a way as to conform to this logical theory. The science is to have its two perfectly plain bases; viz., experience of motion, of velocity, of direction, etc., and the effort to think this experience with the least effort and the greatest unity. The historical form that Mach gives to his doctrine makes it especially attractive and en- lightening ; and we hope for much good effect from this element in the book. Mechanical science, as Mach frequently repeats, had its origin very plainly in the need of men whose handiwork, owing to its technical complexity, was difficult to describe to those new in the craft. The learner must be enabled to see the permanent elements of the experience of his craft beneath, and in all their endlessly various applications ; he must be brought to an ‘ wber- sichtliche erfassung der thatsachen:’ hence the need of quite general and simple descrip- tions, applying to fundamentally important facts. Economy of description thus from the first becomes the artistic principle, as it were, of this technical instruction. If this is the origin and general method of the science in its embryonic stage, the origin 202 of the use of axioms appears, according to our author, in the fact that the learner, from long habit (not, as Mach thinks, from any a priori insight), has come to expect instinctively, and so to conceive very economically, certain simple sequences of facts. Purely for economic rea- sons, and not on philosophic grounds, nor for that matter with any philosophic justification, the teacher is disposed to seize upon these ele- mentary facts as the constituents into which more complex facts can be analyzed, and by which these cases can be easily described. These simpler sequences are chosen simply because the learner already knows of them, and can more readily grasp them.. When one calls them a priori, one forgets how easily a puzzling question can confuse us about their meaning, and even about their truth. self-evidence is the self-evidence of instinct, and they are in no philosophical sense a priori. After the foregoing summary, we may fairly assert that in one respect, at any rate, Mach’s method is praiseworthy; and that is, in its tendency to get rid of the mysterious element of his science. Whatever one may hold about the a priori in general, there is no doubt that we have had enough and too much of the purely mystical a priori. If there is any fundamental rational truth at the bottom of science, if science is more than a mere aggre- gation of facts, this rational basis, when we come to state it, must be as frank and honest and manly a principle as the most common- place adherent of the empirical philosophy could desire. The old-fashioned a priori, in science, in morals, in religion, used to be represented as an arrogant and intolerant thing, mysterious in its manner of speech, violent and dogmatic in its defence of its own claims. ‘The English empiricists used to hate this aristocratic a priori, and they shrewdly suspected it to be a humbug. What they gave us in its place, however, was a vague and unphilosophic doctrine of science, that you could only seem to understand, so long as you did not examine into its meaning. Mach’s view avoids the mystery of the old a priori. He leaves us still the mystery of the correspondence of external nature to our fun- damental interests in the simplicity of its phe- nomena. Yet this mystery has the look of the genuine philosophic problem. The new empir- icism is not and can not be final; but it prom- ises to prove an excellent beginning, and one can at least commend it to those instructors in elementary mechanics who still puzzle their pupils with their use of the old-fashioned, mystical a priori. Mach’s fundamental prin- SCIENCE. Their’ ciple of the economy of thought is one that any intelligent pupil, with a few empirical facts before him, could be got to understand. But, as many not extraordinarily stupid pupils have so often felt, the mysterious way in which ~ such axioms as the ‘principle of sufficient reason’ used to appear, aimlessly wandering to and fro in the text-books, could not but per- plex, without in any wise helping, the young mind. ‘That even to-day, when the empirical methods in elementary mechanics are so well developed and so generally used, the ‘ princi- ple of sufficient reason’ is occasionally called . in to help teachers and text-books out of dif- _ ficult places, —this fact is surely a ‘ sufficient reason’ in itself for a careful study of such books as Mach’s. There are many teachers of elementary mechanics to-day, who, while abhorring metaphysics, and constantly glorify- ing experience, never know or can tell just what ought to be done with that ‘ principle of sufficient reason,’ which, however, as it used to be applied when it held sway in elementary mechanics, was the most miserably ‘ metaphys- ical’ of all confused statements. The most ardent believer in the rational a priort must therefore delight to find, in such a book as Mach’s, the foundation laid for future philo- sophic inquiry in the clear and sensible empiri- cism of the author, tentative and transient though this doctrine itself may prove. Only when the vague and mystical have been ban- ished from the mere terms and axioms of the science, can a philosophic student hope suc- cessfully to grapple with the question, ‘‘ How is empirical science, with certain and fixed results, possible at all?’’ Every one is there- fore interested in such undertakings as our author’s, whether one is student of mechanics or of logic, or teacher of either; for every one is interested in plain and frank thinking, free from appeals to merely mystical principles. In concluding, we must call special attention to our author’s discussion of the question of absolute and relative motion, which he seems to us to have treated with marvellous skill; and thus we are obliged unwillingly to leave a book that is so full of learning and suggestion. THE SNAKE-DANCE OF THE MOQUIS. Capt. Bourke has given us here a most in- teresting account of his experience among the The snake-dance of the Moquis of Arizona ; being a narrative — of a journey from Sante Fé, New Mexico, to the villages of the Moqui Indians of Arizona, with a description of the manners — and customs of this peculiar people, and especially of the revolt , ing religious rite, the snake-dance. By JoHN G. BOURKE, cap- — tain third U.S. cavalry. New York, Charles Scribner's sons, 1884. 371 p., 21 pl 8 a MArcH 6, 1885.] Mogui Indians. It isa fascinating book, both to the scientific and general reader. Witha graphic pen he carries you with him on a long trip replete with thrilling incidents, over re- gions seldom visited. The book savors rather of a conglomeration of detached notes, than a compilation. Perhaps too much was attempted in trying to give a popular account of his trip, and yet preserve the flavor of the note-book written on the spot, which is so valuable for scientific purposes. He seems also to have fallen into the mistake of supposing his read- ers to be cut off from books, as he unfortu- nately was, and has filled the larger part of three chapters (pp. 196-225) with quotations which it would have been sufficient to give by refer- ence. The minuteness of detail with which he describes every circumstance seems unne- _ cessary while his travels were in not unknown regions ; but they become invaluable when he describes the snake-dance, and his visits to the various Mogui villages. ‘The book consists of an account of a dance in one of the pueblos. on the Rio Grande, which is curious from its mixture of old heathen ceremonies with the Roman forms introduced by the Spanish priests; then of his trip through a corner of the Navajo reservation to the Moqui village of Hualpi (pronounced Wolpi), where the snake- dance was witnessed ; and then of visits to the other pueblos of the Moquis. These Moquis occupy several isolated mesas in north-eastern Arizona, and are by far the most primitive of all the Pueblo tribes. They were not affected even by the Spanish civilization, as were all the other tribes, including the closely related Zunis, and are to-day almost what they were four hundred or more years ago. ‘Their life, habits, costumes, and industries are described with an accuracy and minuteness which renders the book invaluable to the ethnologist, and yet so entertainingly that no one can fail to be inter- ested. The snake-dance seems to be the last remnant of what was once an almost universal worship among the tribes of North America. Owing to fortunate circumstances and his own coolness and untiring perseverance, Capt. Bourke was able to see even the secret ceremo- nies of this dance, which no white man has seen before, or will be likely to see so thoroughly again. The plates accompanying the work are ad- mirable reproductions of the artist’s paintings. It is sufficient to say that the paintings are by Moran, and are accurate in color and drawing, as well as spirited and realistic. —a quality generally absent in illustrations of Indians. They alone are worth the cost of the book. SCIENCE. 205 NOTES AND NEWS. THE meteorological observatory at Tokio has recorded 546 Japanese earthquakes in the ten years ending Dec. 10, 1884. Of these, 334 (or fifty-six per cent) have occurred during the six colder months, and 212 (or thirty-five per cent) during the six warmer months, of the year. Professor Milne’s compilation of 387 earthquakes observed in northern Japan in the two years ending October, 1883, however, shows a still greater proportion for the winter months; the percentages being seventy-two for the months from October to March inclusive, and twenty-eight from April to September. . — Prof. J. P. O’Reilly has recently published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish academy a map of Great Britain and Ireland in which he has at- tempted to graphically represent the earthquakes of the United Kingdom relative to their frequency. It would appear that Ireland has been less subject to shocks than Great Britain; that the points of more frequent action in Ireland lie near or on the coast; and that the south coast of England presents a num- ber of points of activity situated approximately on the same line, in all probability connected with a system of jointing corresponding to the general direc- tion of the coast. — Dr. M. Eschenhagen writes to Nature that the earthquake shock of Dec. 25 last was registered by the magnetograph at the imperial marine observatory at Wilhelmshaven; the Lloyd’s magnetic balance, the instrument for vertical intensity, being set in oscil- lation first at 9.52 p.m., local time. — The earthquake wave of Jan. 22 last in England appeared to the vicar of Bampton to pass directly under his house. A letter from Mr. Edward Parfitt in Nature states that it occurred at 8.42 p.m. In the drawing-room at the vicarage it appeared as if a heavy traction-engine was passing close to the window: the window faces eastward. In the kitchen the servants were greatly alarmed by a rumbling noise and a shak- ing under the floor. Some of the vicar’s neighbors say they heard a report; and houses with cellars under them, and higher, felt the shaking more. Some per- sons who were up Stairs, thinking that it was some ex- plosion, rushed down stairs and out of doors. The effects were also felt at Shillingford, two miles dis- tant; and also at Combehead, one and a half miles distant. The porters at the station describe it as like a heavily-laden mineral-train passing. The only damage done at Bampton was that a piece of wall was thrown down. — It is suggested by the Seismological society of Japan that the system of telegraph-stations around Tokio and Yokohama may be utilized in warning the inhabitants of either city of the approach of an earth- quake. This might be accomplished by causing suchi a shock, felt at any of these stations, to complete an electric circuit which could be made to fire a gun almost instantaneously. The inhabitants would re- ceive from two to six minutes’ warning, which would give them sufficient time to extinguish their fires, 204 remove their most valuable goods, and reach open ground before the arrival of the shock. —A recent issue of La Nature (Jan. 3, 1885), de- scribing an earthquake which occurred in the valley of the Durance in south-eastern France at eleven p.M..on Nov. 27, 1884, notices and illustrates this curious phenomenon. ‘‘The roof of a chalet at Sainte Catherine was sud- denly transformed into a vibrating plate, and was broken in several equi-distant places. ‘These injuries could not be attributed to the fall of bricks from the chimneys. The slates were dislodged, and not broken; and the exposed portions of the wood-work, far from being in the vertical line from the chimneys, were found at precisely equal distances from each other. Moreover, the outside chimneys have not lost a single brick, and yet the roof is as much injured in these two places as in the others.”’ CHALET AT ST. CATHERINE, SHOWING ROOF BROKEN BY EARTHQUAKE. The chalet referred to is represented in the accom- panying illustration as a brick building with sloping roof, divided by a central projecting gable, and sur- mounted by a row of six chimneys, each capped with a large flat stone. The end chimneys are uninjured ; but the capstones of the four middle chimneys have been more or less moved from their places, and one has disappeared entirely, making a hole in the roof by its fall. Besides this hole, which is at the upper side, and close to the chimney from which the stone fell, there are upon the lower part of the roof five spots where the slates are removed, as if these had been the ventral segments of a stationary vibration set up in the roof; its normal period of vibration, when thus divided, happening to agree with the period of some of the vibrations caused by the earth- quake. — Nature states that fresh shocks of earthquake occurred on Jan. 27 and 28 in the hot-spring district of southern Styria. A severe and prolonged shock was felt at Valparaiso at four o’clock on the morning of the 27th; and on the 31st a shock destroyed eight Arab houses in Algiers: this last was also felt at Setif. — The Rev. Mr. Doane writes from Ponape, Caro- line Islands, in October, 1884, of the arrival, in large quantities, of pumice-drift ejected by Krakatoa a year before. It is a boon to the natives, who crush the pumice, and fertilize the arid coral sand of the low atolls with it. — The telephone is to be introduced into the Kongo region by the International African association. SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. ; — Capt. Scopinich, of the Austrian brig Mater, reports having experienced terrific earthquake shocks on the 22d of December, 1884, in the vicinity of the Azores. The weather was very fine at the time, with’ a light easterly breeze. — The committee on thought-transference, of the American society for psychical research, has issued a circular requesting the co-operation of all persons interested in investigating the subject ; that is, in ascertaining whether ‘‘a vivid impression or a dis- tinct idea in one mind can be communicated to another mind without the intervening help of the recognized organs ‘of sensation.’’ It is the intention | of the committee to make experiments upon persons supposed to have the faculty of ‘ mind-reading.’ - The committee also desires to collect statistics as to experiments of uniform character, but made by a large number of observers, similar to those made by Charles Richet, and described in Science (vol. v. p. 132). Precise directions for making each series of experiments are appended to this circular. In en- tering on this inquiry, the committee wish to be understood as expressing no opinion, on one side or the other, in regard to the reality of the supposed thought-transference. ‘They simply seek to institute a thorough and entirely unbiassed investigation of the class of phenomena known under the name of ‘mind-reading,’ in the hope of taking at least a dis- tinct step towards the true explanation of those phe- nomena, whatever that explanation may be. All inquiries and communications should be addressed to the secretary, Mr. N. D. C. Hodges, 19 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Mass. — In their report on underground circuits, the com- mittee of examiners of the Philadelphia electrical exhibition call attention to the desirability, in the present tentative condition of our knowledge of un- derground wires, of all conduits built for such pur- pose being so constructed as to be easily adaptable to a number of systems. In regard to conducting elec- tric currents underground, the committee records its opinion that there can be no doubt of the ultimate feasibility of the scheme. — The first number of Petermann’s mittheilungen for this year appears under the editorship of Dr. A. Supan, well known for his writings on matters of physical geography. The articles are chiefly con- cerned with explorations and general descriptions; but continued attention is promised to physical geog- raphy as well, and the current bibliography that closes the number includes mention and abstract of several papers of this character. Most of these ab- — stracts are by Dr. Supan himself, while the monthly review of exploration is by Dr. Wichmann. — The foundation of a chair of hygiene at the University of Berlin is an accomplished fact. Be- sides the professorship, a laboratory for hygienic re- search is to be instituted. — The Italian explorer, Signor Franzoi, intends to undertake another six or seven years’ expedition into central Africa. Specimen of Engraying and Printing, by SrRUTHERS, SERVOsS & Co., 32 « 34 Frankfort St.. New York. Printed from Relief-plates—six impressions. 35 PALESTINE Seale of Miles 6@—5 — 70 20 30 ic é ‘Longitude Bast of Greenwich The Red line from Jerusalem North marks the route followed in the present journey. The line from Gaza shows the approach from the South in coming: up from the Desert. {From “Among the Holy Hills,’ py the Rey. H. M. Fields, D.D. By permission Messrs, Chas. Scribner’s Sons, New York, Pubiishers. } . Science, No. 109 SCIENCE. FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. A pLan is on foot for establishing in Mount Royal park, Montreal, a botanic garden, to be under the joint care and patronage of Mc- Gill university and the Horticultural society. Tkose who are familiar with the superb park and its deservedly famous drives will at once understand what an unrivalled opportunity Montreal possesses for giving to its citizens another source of enjoyment. With a water- supply practically limitless, and with every needful exposure to the sun upon its slopes, the mountain furnishes as fine a location for a botanic garden at the north as can be imagined. It is wisely suggested that much prominence be given, in the new enterprise, to the special horticultural and arboricultural features which offer so wide a field for profitable study in our northern climates. Of the educational advantages to university students, of a botanic garden and an arbore- tum, it is superfluous to speak, since they are self-evident ; but it may be well to refer briefly to the great value to a community of a botanic garden as a means of culture to the children in the public schools, as well as to the thousands who can find little time, and who have but little inclination, to acquaint themselves with the world of beauty around them. In a properly arranged botanic garden, the groups of plants having different and interesting habits — for instance, the climbers, the insec- tivorous plants, the weather-plants, and those which furnish the principal vegetable products — are visited and carefully examined by many who would otherwise seldom look into the book of nature. We presume that no scientific man can object in any reasonable way to such a method of popularizing science. The enter- prise is fortunately to receive the judicious care No. 110. — 1885. of Professor Penhallow of McGill university. We wish the plan all success. WE HAVE given space to Mr. Cox’s long letter attacking our comments upon microsco- pists, because he has brought against us an accusation of unfairness. We can assure Mr. Cox that our expressions were induced by no animus or personal feeling, but were called forth by the tendency, specially marked in this country, to give a separate dignity to microscopy, and to glorify the tool at the ex- pense of the work. The microscope is a tool, like the tweezers or the hammer; and the sci- ences cannot be divided according to the tool used. That microscopes are so fine and elabo- rate may explain, but does not lessen, the error of regarding microscopy as a separate science. To make microscopy as generally understood, a little petrography is patched together with a little anatomy, some parts of botany, a little crystallography and chemistry, and some optics. Mr. Cox invites a compari- son with astronomy as the science of what is beyond vision in distance ; but the astrono- mer is not a telescopist, and does not claim that every thing which can be done with a telescope should be grouped together under one science. He recognizes his instrument as his tool. The microscope is a noble apparatus; and one who thoroughly studies all the principles involved in its construction, and invents im- provements in it or its use, is deservedly to be called both a microscopist and a scientific man. Usually the microscopist is, however, confes- sedly an amateur, and gives his attention to very various objects; while those who use the microscope constantly — the pathologists, embryologists, botanists, petrographers, etc. — unquestionably prefer to be called after the department of science they follow, not micros- copists after their instruments. We think 206 there has been a tendency to exalt the ama- teur’s microscopy to the rank of a separate’ department of science, and therefore we plead not guilty to Mr. Cox’s accusation of injus- tice. It is proper for Science to point out a confusion as to the natural demarcations of the sciences, or to call attention to the fact that there is a body of men who are much interested in certain parts of science, but yet chose their interests in so many fields, that they lack that rigorous thoroughness which is indispensable for pure science, and which, in its turn, makes specialization indispensable. WE REGRET to announce the resignation, by Professor Harrison Allen, of the chair of physi- ology at the University of Pennsylvania. Our regret is increased by the fact that the step is the consequence of the pressure of over- work, and the growing demands of a large medical practice. We hope that his profes- sional activity will not prevent the continuance of the important researches upon which Pro- fessor Allen has been engaged. The loss to the university will not be readily made good ; for Dr. Allen is not only an investigator of thoroughly scientific, spirit, but also one who is singularly appreciative of the good work of others, and encouraging to his co-laborers, as has been shown most happily in the recent establishment of the Biological institute at Philadelphia, in which Dr. Allen had efficient participation. The university will certainly miss his experienced co-operation. Ir 1s premature to comment on the plan of examination for admission now under consider- ation in the faculty of Harvard college. It is known that such a plan has been found, in its general features, to furnish a satisfactory ground of truce between the combatants, and that both the classicists and the modernists in the faculty are well contented to unite in it as affording a wise and fair adjustment of their differences. But the discussion has not yet reached its final stage, and some important questions still remain to be considered. At the proper time we shall lay before our readers SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. 110. a full account of whatever system of require- ments is ultimately adopted. THE provistons for the scientific bureaus of the government, made in the sundry civil bill passed at the close of the last congress, are, on the whole, less generous than in the pre- ceding year. The appropriations for the weather bureau, including the military branch ($883,433), and for the coast-survey ($551,- 498), are slightly greater; those for the geo-- logical survey ($467,700) and the ethnological bureau ($40,000) are the same; that for the national museum ($147,500), scarcely less than a year ago; but the fish-commission re- ceives only $256,000, which is $65,000 less than last year; and to the census bureau nothing is given (it received $10,000 last year). Thus the natural necessary growth of some of these institutions is not provided for. On THE other hand, the Smithsonian insti- tution is given $10,000 for maintaining its excellent work in foreign exchanges; $10,000 is appropriated for operating the Watertown testing-machine, and $12,000 for printing the continuation of the catalogue of the medical library attached to the surgeon-general’s office ; while the joint commission of three senators and three representatives, to consider the pres- ent organizations of the signal-service, geologi- cal survey, coast and geodetic survey, and the hydrographic office, is continued, and instructed to report at the next meeting of congress. By THE sundry civil bill, the president is authorized, in case. of threatened or actual epidemic of cholera or yellow-fever, to use at his discretion the unexpended balance of the sum re-appropriated for this object in July, 1884, together with the further sum of $300,- 000, in aid of state and local boards or other- wise, ‘‘in preventing and suppressing the spread of the same, and for maintaining quar- antine and maritime inspections at points of danger; and, by the meagre appropriation of $15,000, the national board of health is resus- citated. BM ae ae ee ee ee eh MARCH 13, 1885.] This is emphatically a step in the right direc- tion. Under the provisions of the act, much valuable information in regard to either of the diseases mentioned may be obtained; and, if either of them visits the country, it is to be hoped that something of scientific value will be added to our knowledge of the means cf fighting it. We should have been glad to see an additional special clause providing for the appointment of experts to investigate at least the first cases which occur, for it is by the rigid inspection of these often doubtful cases, by accurate diagnosis and successful isolation, that an epidemic is to be arrested. Without a special recommendation of this kind, there seems to be too much danger of the omission of rigorous measures at the most important time. THE RECTIFICATION of public practice in ac- cordance with scientific theory is always grati- fying. Attention was recently called to certain results of the mode of educating deaf-mutes by means of silent signs and in seclusive institu- tions, — threatening no less a calamity than the creation of a deaf-mute variety of mankind, — and to the desirability of training deaf children in the use of common speech, in association with hearing children, and without removal from family influences. The memoir on this subject by Prof. A. Graham Bell, embodied in the Report of the National academy of sciences presented to congress last year, has led to much discussion of the subject. The first fruits are seen in a bill now before the legisla- ture of the state of Wisconsin, which provides for the establishment of small day-schools for the deaf in any incorporated city or village in the state. These schools will be under the control of the state superintendent of public instruction. This is a movement in the right direction. Existing institutions for the education of the deaf are under the management of the boards of state charities. But this pioneer legislation of Wisconsin recognizes the obligation of the state to provide education for all her children, SCIENCE. 207 not as a charity, but as a right. The estab- lishment of these day-schools was recommend- ed by Gov. Rusk in his message to the legisla- ture last January, in which he says, ‘‘ There were in Wisconsin, according to the census in 1880, 1,079 deaf-mutes, of whom 600 were of school-age, between six and twenty, and less than one-third of these were receiving instruc- tion.’’ An equally large proportion of deaf children are growing up in ignorance in all our states; and the question is forced on public consideration, whether to enlarge and increase the number of state institutions, or to supple- ment those already existing by the provision of day-classes for the deaf, in connection with our common schools. The Wisconsin experi- ment will be watched with interest: its results can only be for good; and the example of that state in taking a new departure of this kind is worthy of being generally followed, that the tests may be conclusive for the whole country. Prof. A. G. Bell was invited by the commit- tees on education, of the senate and assembly of the legislature of Wisconsin, to present his views for their information ; and, after complet- ing his viva voce explanations, he addressed an open letter to the committees, in which his arguments are recapitulated clearly and com- pactly. This document we commend to all who are interested in the subject. We have room for only one quotation: ‘* Out of a total of 33,878 deaf-mutes in the United States in 1880, 15,059 were of school-age; and the total number of deaf-mutes returned as then in the institutions and schools of the United States was only 5,393.’’ This fact alone shows the necessity, not only of doing some- thing, but of doing it without delay. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. Decadence of science about Boston. I OBSERVE that this subject is still discussed ina recent number, but that no one ventures to raise a doubt as to the original assertion. Yet to a layman in science it does not seem that any proof of such 208 decadence has been offered except the diminished at- tendance at certain meetings. But is this a proof of decadence, or merely of increasing specialization? No one complains of the decadence of science in and about London, I take it; and yet nothing sur- prises an American in London more than the small numbers he meets at scientific societies, whose names are famous throughout the world. If I remember rightly, I heard one of the most eminent philologists in England, Mr. Alexander J. Ellis, read his inaugu- ral address as president of the Philological society, in 1872, before about twenty persons, and I attended a meeting of the Anthropological society, with Sir John Lubbock in the chair, and not more than twenty-five present. When we consider that the most eminent popular lecturers on science, such as Tyndall and Tylor, lecture, or lectured in 1872, to popular audiences of only two hundred or three hun- dred, it is evident that at the British capital the test of numbers can hardly apply. Across the channel it is still worse. At the Collége de France, in 1878, I heard eminent men lecture to audiences of a dozen, although Charles Blanc told me triumphantly that he always had auditors standing up when he lectured on the history of art in a hall holding perhaps fifty. My experience of German lectures is limited, but I was struck with the same thing there. Were I a man of science, it seems to me that I should advance the thesis that it is in the cruder period of scientific knowledge that it attracts large numbers, and that the tendency of specialization is to give ‘ fit audience, though few.’ Then there is another view which is in the nature of an argumentum ad hominem. Does not the very existence of Science refute the lamentations of Sci- ence? If scientific activity is greater elsewhere than in Boston and Cambridge, how came your valuable periodical to be established here ? T. W. HIGGINSON. Cambridge, Feb. 22. [Specialization of work is an increasing necessity of science, but wherever it begets absorption of in- terest, and this specialization of interest infects the whole body scientific, there science in any true sense will begin to show signs of decadence. It was not the small, but the decreasing attendance at Boston scien- tific meetings; not the attendance only, but the char- acter of the communications made,—to which we drew attention. As to the argumentum ad hominem, Cambridge was taken as the place of publication of this journal, merely from the accident that it was the residence of the editor chosen to conduct it. — Ep1ror.] WNadaillac’s ‘Prehistoric America.’ In the review of the American edition of Nadaillac’s ‘Prehistoric America’ (Science, No. 108), there are two allusions calculated to produce a false impression, which it seems advisable to notice, as many of your readers may learn all they are ever likely to know of the book from your notice of it. It is stated that ‘quotations and references are in- correctly given.’ In any book containing several thousand references, errors are almost certain to oc- cur. Having, in the capacity of editor, to examine many of these references (for none of which I was responsible, as is explained in the preface), I have a much better knowledge of their average accuracy than the casual reader can possibly obtain, and can assure those interested that the person to whom the verification was intrusted performed that task in a way to which no reasonable exception can be taken; SCIENCE. ua [Vou. V., No. 110. and the result is a considerable advance upon the original work, which, like most French books, was defective in this respect. Certain blunders appear in the index, of which no proofs were submitted to me; but they are, so far as I know, of a character to cause no difficulty to an investigator. The second is amore delicate matter. There are many good persons to whom any comparison of reli- gions which includes their own is painful. For these, anthropologists do not write. It is, I acknowledge, a painful surprise that my endeavor to indicate the kernel of spirituality in a husk of barbarous rites by a reference to a strictly parallel case within our own cognizance, should give offence to any scientific mind. Had I known, however, that this would occur, I should not, even then, have omitted an obser- | vation which is undeniably true, and which is neces- sary to a right understanding of a fundamental feature in the religions of Central America. My language was as follows: ‘‘It must be borne in mind, however, that the practice of cannibalism, in many cases was not a mere devotion to a diet of human flesh, but a rite or observance of a superstitious or religious character, not so far removed from the an- thropomorphism which, in the middle ages, claimed for the chief Christian rite the ‘real presence of body and blood’ of the victim sacrificed for the welfare of the race.’’ The inference of the reviewer, that one individual civilized Christian of our day (not to speak of half Christendom) partakes of the eucharist with a belief of mediaeval literalness, is, in my opin- ion, a libel upon humanity, and carries its own refuta- tion. Such an individual, did he exist, would be no better than an Aztec, and entitled to no more consid- eration. Wo. H. DALL. [In answer to the above, it may be said, 1°, that the statement in the editor’s preface that ‘many quotations have been verified,’ is an admission that all were not, and that, if proof of this fact be needed, it can be found in mistakes like those on pp. 49, 51, 71, and 90, in which the accounts of the figures there given are incorrectly quoted; 2°, that tran- substantiation is an essential article of faith in a church which numbers rather more than half the Christian world; and to assert that the sacrament of the eucharist as received by them is ‘not so far re- moved’ from the cannibalistic rites of the Aztecs, is an offence which is only equalled by the intimation that those who profess this belief in the actual pres- ence, do not really mean it. In conclusion, the re- viewer wishes once again to say, that, in spite of certain defects, ‘‘ this is the best book on prehistoric America that has yet been published,’’ and he takes pleasure in adding that much of this excellence is — unquestionably due to the improvements made by the editor. — REVIEWER. ] The photograph of a Dakota tornado. A photograph of the Dakota tornado, a woodcut of which appeared in No. 107, Science, was submitted to me last November, when the question of admitting it in the New-Orleans exposition free of charge for space, was under discussion. ‘The sharpness of out- line, and the fact that it was claimed that the photo- graph was taken at a distance of twenty-six miles, made me doubt its genuineness so much, that I sub- | mitted it to two of the best out-door photographers — connected with the government surveys. Both pro- nounced it a manufactured photograph, most prob- ably taken from acrayon-drawing. J. W. GORE. Chapel Hill, N.C., Feb. 26. PusiisHeD BY _ Department o OTTAWA-c 1885. aS NO a Kim 1568 Sh at oar ee st OD OS a Ss NS cr we oS Sire 2 A SS SS A Se SL Se a Voce Ss ey Sees See es weeae ee rom oon Ty DAM ~ ‘ 1 ra as; WA y Tom as es 0 a ee do ee et BEN IY MAL DOO TO 1 ——— SUL Se ae et Lm 3) LOU mmo Soc 4 eli etn ter a ah fousn ; alate wi | SCIENCE, March 18, 1885. | ; = SL (71017101120 Tn | a 1 SS SEEN 11 == ' H oo 651 oe 7 a Se Le SPustug. Mane BAY Farb Sere GHART shuving the track of the. ‘S.S.Neptune” Ta. Saat Hupgav's BAY EXé TR og 4, TUITION Pustisheo By THE _ Dipartment of Marine OTTAWA-CANADA 1885, & March Stersars iy 3 4 AtTLAN TIG “SCIENCE, Murh 13, 1885. MARcH 13, 1885.] A Supposed crude jade from Alaska. In Science for Dec. 19, 1884, there was given an abstract of the explorations on the Kowak River of Alaska by a party from the U.S. steamer Corwin, Lieut. Cantwell commanding. In this abstract it was stated that beds of a beautifully mottled serpentine were found in the mountains near the river, ‘‘ as well as the so-called ‘jade,’ used far and wide for the most costly and elegant stone implements, which is perhaps the variety pectolite recently described by Clarke from specimens got at Point Barrow.’’ It was also stated that ‘ Jade Mountain’ seemed to be entirely composed of the green stone, about one hundred pounds of which were collected. The collections on the return of the party were for- warded, as usual, to the national museum, as were also those made a little later from nearly the same locali- ties by Lieut. Stoney’s party. Both lots were referred to the writer for examination and report, and were found to consist largely of serpentine and a greenish gray quartzite, together with other miscellaneous material not necessary tomention here. The serpen- tine is mostly the ordinary green massive variety, though a few pieces of the columnar and fibrous forms picrolite and chrysotile are present. The quartz rock, which is doubtless the material mistaken by both parties for ‘ jade,’ is light greenish in color, very fine grained, compact, and hard. Under the microscope, it is seen to be distinctly granular, but not perfectly homogeneous, containing innumerable exceedingly minute micaceous particles of a greenish color, and to the presence of which is doubtless due the color of the stone. Thereare also present many minute color- less needlelike crystals too small for accurate deter- mination. Its specific gravity, as determined by a Jolly’s balance, is 2.66, and a chemical test by Profes- sor Clarke yielded 94.49% of silica. The rock is therefore radically different, not only from the Alas- kan pectolite, but from any of the so-called ‘jades’ from any source that have yet been examined. An examination of the collections brought from Alaska has failed also to bring to light a single implement or ornament manufactured of this material : hence we must conclude that all the parties concerned were misled by the color and hardness of the stone, and that the true source of the so-called ‘ jade’ is yet to be discovered. Gro. P. MERRILL. National museum, Feb. 28. ‘What is a microscopist ?’ You seem to have run short of subjects for ‘Com- ment and criticism’ in your issue of Feb. 27, for otherwise I cannot believe that you would have writ- ten your ill-natured remarks upon ‘ microscopists.’ If you had confined yourself to the definition of a microscopist as ‘fan amateur who rejoices in the beautiful variety of microscopical specimens,”’ I should have offered no protest; for I recognize in that definition a truthful, though only partial, description of a class to which it has long been my pleasure to belong. If you had been content to express your belief that the term ‘microscopy’ is a misnomer, and that the large and growing body of so-called ‘microscopists’ is not to be regarded as a division of the ‘regular army’ of science, I should still have held a humble and respectful silence, be- cause I can see how such an opinion may be very honestly and very plausibly maintained. But your remarks call for a protest on the ground, that, instead of helping to a true estimate of the scientific spirit, they set up narrow and exclusive standards, and are essentially and offensively personal. SCIENCE. 209 Microscopists, as far as they are mere amateurs and ‘universal gatherers,’ may perhaps not be enti- tled to more consideration than is due to ‘camp- followers’ and ‘hangers-on;’ although I think there is possibly a question as to your right to give them notice to leave. I am not sure but that I might argue, with some success, that many microscopists are more than amateurs, or that many recognized scientific specialists are, after all, only skilled micros- copists; but why dispute over mere names? I am one of those who believe that in the most effective use of the modern microscope there are required a degree of technical skill and an amount of special knowledge which raise it to the rank of a distinct scientific pursuit. You, on the contrary, appear to look upon the microscope as you do upon the tweezers, the scissors, or the hammer, — as an instru- ment so simple that any student in any department may take it up without previous special training in its use, and obtain from it at once trustworthy results. But I beg to inform you, if you do not already know it, that, in the more delicate kinds of microscopical work, it is absolutely essential to em- ploy expert methods in manipulation, and to apply very particular principles of interpretation, or else the conclusions are likely to have no value whatever. The exhibition of pretty things because they are pretty, and for the mere amusement of lookers-on, is no more microscopy than the making and administer- ing of laughing-gas is chemistry. But you seem to infer that microscopists are not properly scientific men, since they are not generally specialists; and the ground of your inference ap- pears to be that such microscopists as you have happened to know have directed their attention to very various objects obtained from the different realms of nature. But might not the same criticism be made upon chemists, who analyze and weigh every sort of substance, — animal, vegetable, and mineral ? Why is it more legitimate for them to rest their science upon a basis of molecular and atomic weights than for others to build a microscopical science upon a system of micrometric measurements? I should not quarrel with you if you urged the expediency of restricting the term ‘microscopy’ to a branch of physics, or even of optics, because we may all fairly differ about questions of classification; but, as things now are, I cannot discover the force of your objec- tion to the recognition of microscopy as a division of general science based upon the fact that the subjects of its investigation are beyond the range of unaided vision in one direction, since astronomy, whose right to the name of a science you probably do not ques- tion, is founded upon the fact that the objects of its study are beyond unaided vision in another direction. In both cases, it seems to me, the science is condi- tioned by its instrumental requirements. In one instance it is the science of the microscope, in the other it is the science of the telescope. Why not object to astronomy because of its foundation in ‘a common quality’ of remoteness in space, or to pale- ontology as based upon ‘a common quality’ of re- moteness in time ? But I have no intention of endeavoring to justify a claim on behalf of microscopists to be admitted to the sect of orthodox scientific men. I merely wish to speak a good word for the class as it now stands. I am fortunate in being acquainted with a number of cultivated and educated men, both amateur and professional, who make constant use of the micro- scope, either in the pursuit of their regular business occupations or in their private intellectual life, and who take pains to keep informed as to the improve- 210 SCIENCE. ments being made in the instrument and its accesso- ries, aS well as in the methods of its manipulation and application. Some of them join with others of like predilections in organizations which are com- monly called ‘ microscopical societies,’ the purposes of which are mutual stimulation and the enjoyment and propagation of scientific — shall I say dilettanteism? —yes, if youlike. At any rate, these gentlemen are engaged in very nearly the same kind of work that Science is engaged in; and many of them take your paper, and not only read it, but, when it presents sub- jects which they can illustrate or test by means of their microscopes, they undertake to see for them- selves, and form their own conclusions. A smaller number of them even presume to make original in- vestigations of one kind or another; and some of them actually add a new fact now and then to the great treasury of scientific truth, though it may often be such a little fact as not to attract much at- tention. Ido not think they are usually men of great conceit; and I have never happened to come in con- tact with one who was over-anxious to be considered a ‘regular’ scientific man, or to receive any particular recognition by learned bodies. Generally speaking, I have found them to be gentlemen of simple and unpretentious devotion to nature, who had found themselves, somehow, endowed with a preference for those things which are invisible to the average sight, and who had imbibed the teachings of those who, like yourself, have advocated the popularizing of science. But in this class are some who have earned and compelled recognition as men of science; and in Lon- don and in Brussels (to say nothing of home organ- izations) are microscopical societies of world-wide fame and importance, which have long been looked upon by some of us as bodies of scientific men. In their lists of fellows are such names as Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Dr. Lionel 8. Beale, Prof. F. Jeffrey Bell, Rev. W. H. Dallinger, Prof. P. Martin Duncan, Dr. Henry VanHeurck, and many others whose scientific attainments speak for themselves, and no one of whom would disdain the name of ‘microscopist.’ In our own country, I may with propriety mention one who has but recently passed away, and who, although pos- sessing other claims to scientific eminence, achieved his greatest reputation and his most lasting fame in the field of pure microscopical manipulation. I refer to the late Dr. J. J. Woodward of the U.S. army, who was pre-eminently a microscopist, and who did every thing he could to promote and encourage the finest kind of technical and test work. His labors in that direction, with those of others of like proclivi- ties and skill, have done more than all other causes to bring about the present wonderful perfection of the microscope objective. By the work and the demands of such manipulators, the great manufacturing opti- cians, like the late Mr. Spencer and Mr. Tolles, have been encouraged and stimulated to produce the latest marvels in optics, —the ‘homogeneous immersion’ lenses. In view of the valuable services of such men as I have mentioned, I am at a loss to understand your arrogant assertion that ‘scientific men have been very lenient towards the microscopists.’ Is it to be understood that you are about to advocate some new standard of orthodoxy, or to put into operation some new formula of excommunication? Permit me, fur- ther, to inquire whether you really consider it un- scientific to choose skilfully and neatly prepared specimens, carefully classified, neatly labelled, and systematically catalogued and stored? Is it amateur- ish to prefer a good and complete instrument to a cheap and imperfect one? Is there any particular virtue in working with poor tools when good ones can be ob- tained? Is there any thing unworthy in patience and painstaking? Is any thing in nature too small to be worth examination, or any fragment of knowledge too insignificant to pay for its acquisition? If you disclaim any such sentiments as these, why speak disparagingly of well-made ‘slides,’ of fine ‘test objects,’ of ‘delicate diatoms’ and ‘ podura scales,’ of ‘bits of tissue,’ of ‘polarizing crystals,’ or, ‘in short, almost any tiny scrap of the universe’? For when you talk so flippantly of these things, you cer- tainly leave the impression on some minds that there may be matters so trifling and so tiny that they be- little the man who admires or studies them; and in- stead of promoting the general cause of science, as you profess to be desirous of doing, you cast in the way a stumbling-block of petty prejudice. C. F. Cox. New York, March 1. THE SOLAR ECLIPSE OF MARCH I6. ATTENTION has already been drawn to the chief circumstances of this eclipse in the Science almanac, or at p. 578 of the last vol- ume of Science, where the times of beginning and ending are given for a large number of places in the United States. The annular phase will be visible only within the limits of a belt between thirty and forty miles wide, which lies over a very sparsely settled tract of the North-American continent, and which is difficult of access at this season of the year. In the United States generally, the eclipse will be visible as a partial one on the afternoon of the 16th in the eastern states, and in the fore- noon in the western. Regarding the es of eclipses called the Saros, this eclipse i is a‘ return’ of the annular eclipse of the 22d of February, 1849, visible almost wholly upon the North Pacific Ocean, the track of the annular phase skirting the eastern shores of Japan; also of the annular eclipse of March 5-6, 1867, which was visible as a partial eclipse over almost the entire Eu- ropean continent, and the greater part of Africa and Asia; the central line of annular phase running through northern Africa, crossing the Mediterranean and southern Italy, Russia and Siberia, and which was observed at a large number of European observatories. The next © return of the eclipse following the present one — will occur in the latter part of March, 1908. Annular eclipses are usually regarded as a useless and insignificant sort of celestial phe- nomenon, and astronomers in the past have given very little attention to the observation of them. Jn comparison with the imposing spec- tacle of a total eclipse of the sun, an annular Marcu 13, 1885.] eclipse is doubtless entitled to interest the average observer but little ; however, it is quite possible that the rapid development of the means of eclipse research may in time lead to the utilization of annular eclipses with quite the same regularity that total eclipses are at the present day observed. In so far as we have learned, astronomers have made no prepara- tions for observing this eclipse within the belt where the annular phase is visible. The notion that an annular eclipse is an in- different species of occurrence has certainly = ape _/ vii é SCIENCE. 110° Longitude West from 90’ Greenwich. 211 with the annular eclipse which occurs on Mon- day next, when the moon’s semi-diameter is only one-thirtieth part less than the sun’s — the eclipse which is put down in the almanacs as annular, only barely escapes being total. It seems very possible that a strongly developed corona might be observed on such occasions : indeed, the experience of many observers who have followed the corona after the total phase, makes it quite probable. To be sure, the du- ration of the annulus at such times is very short; but, if the corona could be observed WS ZN! a S ec ow x SJ f ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE OF MARCH 16, 1885. been helped along by the deceptive way in which these eclipses are almost always repre- sented in astronomical treatises, where the ratio of the semi-diameters of the sun and the moon are unnecessarily out of proportion ; and frequently that of the moon is drawn only three- quarters that of the sun, thus giving the im- pression that a very large proportion of the total light of the sun is unextinguished at the time and place of central eclipse. In point of fact, the greatest breadth the annulus can have, under the most favorable circumstances, is only about a minute and a half of arc, or less than one-tenth the semi-diameter of the sun at the time; while not infrequently —as is the case on these occasions, we should be able to halve the intervals of an observation as conducted by the present methods at the times of total eclipses only. THE ANNISQUAM SEASIDE LABORA- TORY. We have in America two classes of sum- mer schools of natural history, — one in which only original investigators are allowed to study (Professor Agassiz’s laboratory at Newport, the Fish-commission laboratory at Wood’s Holl, and the Johns Hopkins laboratory at Beaufort, being examples) ; the other where students of 212 all grades, both beginners and specialists, are admitted. ‘The Massachusetts laboratories at Salem, Cottage City, and Annisquam, are ex- amples of this class; and these differ among themselves. Those at Salem and Cottage City have been conducted on the plan of giving lec- tures, and supplementing them with laboratory work. They have had little success; and, in fact, that at Salem has been closed for two years, because of small attendance, and lack of funds, for it can readily be seen that the lec- ture system is an expensive one. The labora- tory at Annisquam has a distinct policy, due to Professor Hyatt’s and Mr. Van Vleck’s experi- ence, much simpler and less expensive. No lectures are given, and noclasses formed. The fundamental consideration in each case is the individual wants of the pupil. The student is set at work upon some special animal or in some line which he wishes to follow, and made to study and see for himself, frequently with- out the aid of text-books, which are seldom used except as means of confirming what has already been seen without their aid. Students not infrequently come from schools and colleges where the old method of teaching from books is still in vogue; and though imbued with the idea that this is the proper way of teaching, and at first opposed to the new method, they event- ually go away with their notions concerning teaching always much modified, and sometimes completely revolutionized. That this is the proper method of teaching biology, there can be no doubt; and the amount of knowledge possessed. by the students at the end of the sea- son’s work is remarkable indeed. Advanced ° students are allowed to choose their specialty, and study what they please ; though they, too, are advised to study after this method. The Annisquam school is the outgrowth of a small private laboratory which Professor Hyatt had in his own house at Annisquam. The number of applicants increased to such an extent, that the limited accommodations at Professor Hyatt’s disposal would by no means satisfy the demands. Some of the members of the Woman’s educational association of Bos- ton who were interested in this branch of edu- cation, and knew these facts, took the matter in hand, and, though uninfluenced by any di- rect solicitation from Professor Hyatt or others, offered to found a laboratory for the use of both sexes, provided its departments of instruction could be carried on by the officers of the Bos- ton society of natural history, of which Pro- fessor Hyatt is curator. | Annisquam, the place chosen, is an ex- tremely pretty and quiet village on the north SCIENCE. |VoL. V., No. 110. “9 side of Cape Ann, a few miles from Gloucester, — and two hours’ ride from Boston by stage and rail. The granite, surf-beaten shores and the bowlder-covered granite hilltops are found on all sides. All conditions necessary to the ex- istence of a variety of marine forms are pres- ent on these shores. There are tide-pools, rocks, mud, sand, eel-grass, and marshes, all alternately covered with water, and exposed to the collector, by the strong tides which rise and fall from nine to eleven feet twice each day. All kinds of shore and surface forms are found in an abundance equalled by no place south of ~ Eastport. Embryos and adults of common and curious forms are constantly met with, thus furnishing material both for general work and original investigation. For collecting-pur- poses, the laboratory owns two row-boats, in which the students can visit any of the collect- ing-grounds in the vicinity. It has also been the privilege of the students, for the past four years, to make occasional dredging-trips in Professor Hyatt’s schooner-yacht, though this does not belong to the laboratory. These excursions are not promised as an inducement to draw students; but it has been Professor Hyatt’s custom to take the students out as fre- quently as they desire to go, and give them opportunities for dredging in proportion to their interest in this kind of work, whenever the Arethusa is at Annisquam. Dredgings are then made in from fifteen to fifty fathoms, and many interesting animals are added to the students’ collections, besides the new forms which are thus furnished them for study. Like most laboratories, this one is far from prepossessing, either from an external or inter- nal point of view. The foundations are of solid granite. Most of the tables are fastened di- — rectly to the wall to allow microscopic work to proceed with little jarring. Each table is furnished with a small glass aquarium fed with salt water flowing from a tank which is filled by a windmill. The pipes from this are all wooden, so that there is no trouble with iron- rust. In the centre of the room are larger aquaria. There is also a photographic room, an attic, and a basement for storage. ‘There is a good collection of chemicals, even those for fine microscopic work being well represented. The school is open to all who intend to make use of the knowledge they obtain in teach- ing or in original investigation. The charges being merely nominal, those of limited means are not excluded by exorbitant fees ; and the only obstacle of a pecuniary nature‘ is the necessarily high board at seashore places. A few investigators have already made use of the Marcu 13, 1885.] laboratory ; and the best tables and facilities are reserved for any of this class who may select An- nisquam in order to pursue their work in any special department, whether botanical or zodlo- gical. For the four years the average attend- - ance has been sixteen. Last year there were, in all, fifteen, but at no one time more than twelve. There are comfortable accommoda- tions for about eighteen persons when all the seats are filled, and this is considered the ex- treme limit in numbers at any one time. The students come from all parts of the country east of the Rocky Mountains. Pro- fessor Hyatt is the director, and has one assist- ant; and neither receives any remuneration for his special services. A building specially con- structed for a laboratory is much needed, as well as a steam-launch in which to make sur- face-towings, —a class of work little carried on in our waters, but the value of which should not beunderrated. For the successful maintenance of this laboratory, it should possess a regular fund; for some fear exists that the Woman’s association may at an early date withdraw its support. This would be sincerely regretted ; for the Annisquam laboratory has marked out for itself a course, which, with proper support, will result in great advantage to American sci- ence. As it is, the ladies of the Boston asso- ciation may well be proud of their beginning, and they may be sure that they receive the thanks of a large class of students who have profited by their venture. THE HUDSON-BAY EXPEDITION 1884. WitH Manitoba, and the Canadian North-west be- yond it, promising to become a vast wheat-producing country, a convenient outlet for surplus grain is most important. Taking Winnipeg as the converging point of all grain to be shipped, we find that the distance to Montreal by the shortest road, the soon-to-be- opened Canadian Pacific railway, will be fourteen hundred and thirty miles, and thence by water to Liverpool, via Cape Race, twenty-nine hundred and ninety miles; while if that large inland sea, Hudson Bay, could be utilized as part of a continuous water route to Europe, it would involve only seven hundred miles of rail transport to York Factory, and twenty- nine hundred and forty-one miles of water to Liver- pool, That the bay and strait are navigable to a limited extent is proved not only by the voyage of the intrepid navigator who bequeathed his name to them and left his body on their shores, but by the fact that the Hudson-Bay company has had ships sailing from England to York Factory annually for a great num- OF SCIENCE. 215 ber of years, to take in all the supplies required in its western trade. But the voyages of these vessels, entering the bay only once a year, at the most favor- able season, could throw little light upon the extreme duration of navigation; nor could American whalers entering the bay add much to our information, as they winter and pursue their avocation usually alto- gether too far to the northward. The desire for further information on this impor- tant subject culminated in the appointment of a com- mittee of investigation by the Canadian house of commons during its last session, and the appointment of an expedition under the command of Lieut. A. R. Gordon, a retired naval officer, and assistant director of the Dominion meteorological service. The plan adopted was to establish on the shores of the strait six observing-stations, — one on each side of the outer entrance, two similarly situated at the inner entrance, and the third pair dividing the distance between these, as stated briefly in No. 78 of Science. A Newfoundland sealing-steamer, the Neptune, was chartered to convey the expedition ; and, on the outward voyage, four stations were located: viz., at Port Burwell, on the north-western shore of Cape Chudleigh, at the entrance to Ungava Bay; at Ashe o—p—-0 dt Arcinouiitecter SECTION OF OBSERVERS’ HUT. Inlet, near North Bluff, on the island called by Lieut. Schwatka Turenne Island; at Stupart’s Bay, about three miles away from the strait, along the north-west coast of Prince of Wales Sound; and at Port DeBou- cherville, on Nottingham Island, near its most south- erly point. Each of the stations was named after the observer stationed there. The steamer then ran across Hudson Bay to its north-west angle, and visited the whalers’ harbor on Marble Island, where a letter was found from Capt. Fisher, of the whaling- bark George and Mary, dated the 7th of August, stat- ing that they had experienced a very cold winter and spring, with the thermometer four degrees below zero on the 23d of May; that the ship had got out of her winter quarters on the 7th of June, but had been un- able to get up the Welcome or to the east shore in consequence of ice. Continuing her voyage, the Neptune visited Fort 214 Churchill, where arrangements were made with one of the Hudson-Bay company’s officers for taking auxiliary observations; thence to York Factory, where, in consequence of shoal water, the steamer was obliged to anchor eighteen miles from the post,— a fact likely to prevent this most important station of the Hudson-Bay company from attaining com- mercial importance. At this place there has been for some years an observer in connection with the meteorological service, and nothing more was required than comparison and adjustment of instru- ments. From York Factory the return trip was be- gun on the 12th of September, and a fifth station was established on the south-western extremity of Digges Island, where a good harbor, named Port Laperriére, opposite to, and forty-five miles from, Port De- Boucherville, was found. The SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. 110.- - Meteorological observations are to be taken regu- larly throughout the year, at four-hour intervals, three of these times being synchronous with the series taken by the regular observers of the meteoro- logical service. After each observation, during daylight, the strait is to be examined with the telescope, and a record of its state written down at the time, including direction, and, when possible, velocity of tide, movements of any ice, and whether much broken up, solid field, etc. Each day the time and height of high and low water are to be observed, and, during the open season, the character of the tide noted for two days before, and three days after, the full and change of the moon. Detailed instructions for making these observations, and checking the zero-mark on the tidal-post, were given the offi- cers. vast stretches of In the official ice encountered journal which is in this end of to be kept must the strait point be also entered to these two sta- ‘any thing ob- tions as of the highest impor- tance. There re- mained now but one station to establish, which had been intend- ed for Resolution Island or the lower Savage Islands. On both trips this neigh- borhood was carefully exam- ined, but no har- bor could be found; and the station was con- sequently fixed at Skynner’s Cove, on the north side of the entrance to Nachvak Bay, —a position apparently not calculated to aid materially the objects of the expedition. At each of the six stations an officer is in charge, with two assistants. For their accommodation a hut sixteen by twenty feet, divided into three rooms, with a porch and storehouse attached as a lean-to, was erected. It has double walls of board, with an outer and inner air-space formed by a sheathing of tarred paper; and it is intended to further protect it from cold by covering it outside with sods or grass, and, over all, with snow. For heating, a base-burner cooking-stove, with twenty tons of anthracite coal, is provided; and the smoke-flue of galvanized iron is ingeniously designed, not only to guard against fire, the misfortune most to be dreaded, but to provide, as well, an up-draught for foul, and down-draught for pure air, if required. Only twelve months’ provisions were left; but they were selected as preventives of scurvy, and to give the greatest possible variety of nutritive food. OBSERVERS’ STATION AT STUPART’S BAY. served regarding the migrations of birds, seals, and walruses, the movements of WHE fish, etc., and the il = growth of grass- ——= es, as well as the result of observa- tions on the dis- puted question of the depth to - which water will freeze during an arctic winter. At Mr. Stu- part’s station, in addition to the work at the other posts, special observations of magnetic phenomena are to be taken, for which a suitable building is pro- vided. In working through the strait, especially towards its western end, the ordinary compass was so sluggish as to be almost useless, and in this contingency the Sir William Thomson compass card was found to work admirably. No icebergs were met, nor were reports obtained of their occurrence, in the bay. In the strait a large number were seen, principally along the north shore, where many were stranded in the coves; but some were met with in mid-channel. Of those seen in the eastern end of the strait, some had undoubtedly come in from Davis Strait, passing between Resolution Island and East Bluff; but all of those met to the westward had come from Fox Channel, or perhaps from the still more remote waters connecting with it, all of which have a southerly current. Observations made by Mr. Ashe from his station on Turenne Island showed that a berg coming in Marca 13, 1885.] sight from the westward would pass out of view of his station to the eastward in from three to four tides, this indicating an easterly set of upwards of ten miles a day. The icebergs seen from the Neptune in Hudson Strait in August and September were not more numerous, and would form no greater barrier to navigation, than those often met with off the Strait of Belle Isle, where, and off the Labrador coast north of it, a great number were encountered on the outward voyage of the Neptune. Ordinary field-ice was met with off North Bluff, on the 11th of August, which, though it would have com- pelled an ordinary iron steamer to go dead slow, gave no trouble to the Neptune; the mate on watch run- ning the ship at full speed between the pans, rarely touching one of them. In Ashe Inlet the ice came in with the flood-tide, and set so fast that the Eskimo were able to walk off to the ship, a distance of three- quarters of a mile. Similar ice was found on the south shore, opposite, but none in the middle of the strait so far east. In proceeding from this point to Salisbury Island, long strings of ice were frequently seen; but, as their direction was parallel to the course, the vessel coasted round them. The Eskimo reported that they had never seen the ice hang to the shores so late in the season, and that at all points there were unusually great quantities. On the homeward voyage none of this field-ice was seen. Off Nottingham Island the ice got so heavy and close, that the attempt to force the ship through it was given up, after one blade of the propeller had been broken off,—an accident that entailed a delay of three days to fitin a newfan. In this ice, too, were seen four vessels, fast in the channel to the south- ward; one of them being the outgoing Hudson-Bay company’s vessel, and another an American whaling- schooner. This ice was of an altogether different type from that hitherto met. Some of it, left dry at low water, was over forty feet in thickness, — not field-ice, thickened by the piling of pan on pan, but a solid blue sheet of ice, which had evidently been frozen just as it was found. The average thickness of the ice passed through, in the neighborhood of Port De- Boucherville, was upwards of fifteen feet. From the reports of the Hudson-Bay company’s ships, the evidence of Capt. Fisher’s letter above quoted, and the experience of the Eskimo encoun- tered, the conclusion is reached that 1883 and 1884 were exceptionally severe seasons, and the naviga- tion more than ordinarily interrupted by ice; but the average of many years’ observations at Fort Churchill, the only known harbor on the west coast of the bay, shows that the middle of June and the middle of November would be the extreme limits of time during which approach to that coast would be possible; and these limits agree closely with those of the open season in Nachvak harbor, on the Atlantic coast. If the Neptune had been running direct from Cape Chudleigh to Churchill, instead of coasting, it is considered that she would not have been delayed by ice more than forty-eight hours; but no ordinary SCIENCE. 215 iron steamship, built as a modern freight-boat is, could have got through the heavier ice met, without incurring serious risk, if not actual disaster. From the resident factor at Churchill it was learned that the bay never freezes so far out but that clear water can be seen. From the greater heat of the water, the absence of icebergs at all seasons, and the absence of field-ice on the voyage, even at Chesterfield Inlet, in the extreme north-west corner of the bay, it is evident that the bay itself is naviga- ble for a much longer period each season than the strait. Some high tides and heavy currents were noticed. During two days in which the Neptune was lying-to off Cape Chudleigh, in fog, she was set forty miles to the southward, which indicates the necessity for caution in approaching the strait in thick weather. At Port Burwell the rise of spring tides is nineteen feet, with a current of about four knots in Grey Strait, which causes, when the wind is adverse, an ugly sea. At Ashe’s Inlet there is a rise of thirty- two feet, with a strong tide-race, and a current sometimes reaching six knots within three miles of the shore. At Fort Chimo the rise of spring tides is thirty-eight feet and a half. At Stupart’s Bay there is a rise of twenty-eight feet; but the currents are not so swift as on the opposite shore, probably be- cause the water is shallower. Complete meteorological observations were taken on board the Neptune during the voyage, which when afterwards compared with those taken during the same period at Belle Isle, —a station of the meteoro- logical service in the regular summer trade route between Quebec and Europe, — showed that dur- ing August and September the weather of Hudson Strait, so far as affects navigation, compared favor- ably with that of the Strait of Belle Isle; there being eleven heavy gales at the latter place against three in the former, as well as more than double the amount of fog. Lieut. Gordon, in concluding his report, urges, that, as observations of one year will probably not give a fair average, the stations should be continued for a second year, and two or three of them even for a third year; that next year’s expedition should leave Halifax by the middle of May, and relieve the sta- tions, or, if the ice prevented this, the ship should push on and investigate once for all the condition of the ice in the strait and bay in the early part of the season. If the stations could be relieved, an effort should be made to reach Churchill by the open- ing of navigation there, —about the 15th of June; then a running survey should be made on the east coast, some deep-sea dredging and sounding done, and beacons erected on the low-lying shores of Mans- field and Southampton islands. This would allow the ship to reach the strait again by the middle of August, when any spare time could be employed in surveying it more accurately; or as an alternative, the fishing, especially the whaling in Rowe’s Wel- come, which is becoming of some importance, might be investigated with a view to proper regulation of the trade. Wm. P. ANDERSON. 216 GEOGRAPHICAL NEWS. PAUL FAUQUE has returned to Paris from a scien- tific mission to Sumatra, with much valuable infor- mation touching the people of the country of Siaks and the kingdom of Atcheen. In the course of the journey he obtained precise information in regard to the causes and incidents of the death of Messrs. Wallon and Guillaume, assassinated by the natives on the river Tenom in 1880, as well as on the miner- alogy and natural history of this great island. Nu- merous photographs of the country and people were secured. Francois Deloncle, accompanied by an English and a French civil engineer and a Siamese commissioner, has been engaged in an inquiry as to the possibility of cutting the isthmus joining the peninsula of Ma- lacca to the mainland, in north latitude 7° 14’. Here they discovered a little independent state called Samsam, formerly the resort of pirates, and now semi-independent of Siam. The inhabitants are a métis of Malay and Siamese blood. Here deep inlets penetrate the coast, joining an inland sea, which was now first seen by Europeans. It is about twenty feet deep, and forty-five miles long, having a greatest width of twelve miles. It presented a very singular appearance, being plentifully strewn with small islands of compact limestone covered with swallow’s nests. This sea is fresh during the north-east, and salt during the south-west monsoons, and separates the island of Tantalam from the peninsula by a mul- titude of passages not represented on any chart. The section of the peninsula was made at Talung; and specimens brought back show the presence of auriferous quartz, tin, and iron. The report of the expedition will contain important anthropological as well as geographical documents. Returning, De- loncle also examined Adam’s Bridge, between Ceylon and India, and will report that the establishment there of a maritime passage is entirely practicable. Sorokin has recently published an account of his journey in the central range of the Thian-Shan, where, among other discoveries, he found the so- called ruins of cyclopean buildings to be due to nat- ural causes acting on rock in situ. Dr. Regel has returned to Tashkent with his collections from Hissar and Karategin. Les missions catholiques, published at Lyons, con- tains in almost every number rich contributions to geography or ethnology, as well as to the history of missions. Among others, it has recently contained the itinerary and map of a journey across Kwangsi and Kong Cheo, by Father Chouzy, and a journey on the Niger, by the missionaries of the church in Africa. The abbé Desgodins, in the same review, announces his establishment in a new English out- post in Thibet, at Pedong, forty-five miles north- north-east from Darjiling, where he will continue meteorological observations, as previously at Ba- thang, his former station. Giraud, to whose critical situation, abandoned by his caravan, recent reference was made in this jour- nal, has arrived safely at the mouth of the Zambezi. SCIENCE. (Von. V.,; No. 110s It appears, that, after leaving Karema, he endeavored to penetrate westward, in spite of disquieting rumors and symptoms of mutiny in his caravan. He suc- ceeded in crossing the lake in native canoes, and in a month had reached the Belgian station of M’pala. Here, unsettled by rumors of difficulty on their pro- posed route, his party revolted, and proceeded to pillage villages where he had previously been received with kindness. He was therefore compelled to re- turn. With a small party gathered on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, he reached the north coast of Lake Nyassa, descended in a little boat to Shiré, endan- gered by the hostilities between the Portuguese and the natives, but succeeded in reaching the Zambezi and Kwillimané in safety, in good health, with nu- merous notes and collections, and, at last accounts, was on the point of returning to Europe. From the Missionary herald for March we learn that Mr. Richards of the East-central African mission made a journey in October, 1884, from Inhambane to the Limpopo River. He went through an unex- plored country in search of a tribe whose chief settle- ment was reported to be Baleni on the Limpopo, and who spoke a language akin to Zulu. Between thirty and forty miles westward from the coast he crossed a river called the Bombom, which may be the Luizi of some charts on which it is represented some three times the distance from the coast. No other im- portant river was noticed until the Limpopo was reached. The country is almost wholly marshy, and covered with brush or low palms, with ponds here and there. The thermometer ranged between 80° and 90° F. The Amakwakwa tribe, encountered forty miles from the coast, had been subjected to chronic pillage by Umzila’s fighting men, and had abandoned agricul- ture in consequence. They were idle, living on the wild fruit which is abundant, and getting very drunk on the native wine afforded by the scrub palm, which produces a rapidly fermenting sweet sap at the rate of a pint a day per tree. Many kraals were deserted, and a tract of country seventy-five miles square was nearly desolate. About a hundred and fifty miles from the coast, the Amagwaza people were encoun- tered, who gave the travellers a cordial reception as soon as it was found they were not Portuguese. They are subject to Umzila, whose capital kraal is far to the north, but most of whose people live south of the Sabi River. Baleni was said to be on the Limpopo three days south from the point where Mr. Richards reached it. Time did not suffice to visit it. The return was made through a rather openly wooded country, where the trees bore long wreaths of a gray tree-moss, and beautiful birds were abundant. Hle- phants abound in this district. In three days the ridge between the Limpopo and the sea was reached, where live an industrious kindly people, with sheep, cattle, andlarge gardens. By the pedometer the crest was fifty-seven miles from the sea, and seventy-eight from the river. The people of the region appear to have been originally of Tonga race; but, conquered by the Zulus and Fortuguese, their language has been modified by the superior nationality in its respective districts. MarcH 13, 1885.] The long-disputed questions as to the ancient bed of the Amu Daria, or Oxus, appear to have received a final settlement in the publication of the studies of Konshin of St. Petersburg. According to him, the river has never directly emptied into the Caspian; but it is probable that at some period an indirect communication has existed between them through Sari-Kamich Lake and the Uzboi, which drained it. The lake was of much greater area, and its overflow reached the Caspian by the Uzboi: its character was saline or brackish. Were this state of things restored, we should have an immense Turanian sea, composed of a northern basin corresponding to that of the Sea of Aral, and a southern one corresponding to the Sari-Kamich area, connected by a wide but shallow neck of water. Into the former the Sir-Daria would empty, with the Sari-Su and the Chiu; into the lat- ter, the Oxus, the Tedient, and the Murghab. The overflow of brackish water would find its way by the Uzboi to the Caspian. Those interested in the question of lakes with two outlets would do well to incite exploration of Frances Lake in the North-west territory. This lake, discov- ered many years ago by Robert Campbell, now of Winnipeg, was reached by him from the head waters of the Liard River, ascending, according to his ac- count, a small stream actually proceeding from the lake. To his surprise, on the other side he found a communication, during the time of high water, with the head waters of the Pelly River. In 1865 infor- mation received from officers of the Hudson-Bay company at Victoria, by those of the International telegraph expedition, was to the effect that the Pelly communication was the chief one, and that a lower- ing of its bed had turned the drainage permanently north-westward, and the connection with the Liard had become nearly or entirely dry. This has since been indicated on most charts; but, as the lake cov- ers some four hundred and fifty square miles, fuller and confirmatory evidence would be very desirable. The Liard is an affluent of the Mackenzie, and the Pelly of the Yukon River. THE STATE SURVEY OF NEW YORK. THE veto of the appropriation for this survey by the late governor of New York caused only a partial suspension of its functions. The survey exists by reason of an organic law creating the commission, and defining its powers. Only by the repeal of this law can the survey be abolished. Its work has been confined to a triangulation so accurately executed as to form a reliable basis for all local surveys and topo- graphical work; but the value of such careful meas- urements is somewhat difficult for the unscientific man to understand, and the results are not immedi- ately apparent. To remove all doubts regarding the excellence and economy of the work under their control, the com- missioners requested an investigation by the U.S. coast and geodetic survey. After a full examination SCIENCE. ‘change in the future policy of the survey. 217 of the records of eight years’ work, Superintendent Hilgard transmitted them to the state authorities, with his full indorsement. By this appeal to a most competent authority, the commissioners and director of the New-York state survey have established the fact that the work slowly accomplished with small appropriations since 1876 has been done in the best way and at a small cost. Their report just made to the legislature, having vin- dicated the work of the past, recommends a radical It is urged that New York should be warned by the ex- perience of Massachusetts that a triangulation not immediately followed by a detailed topographical sur- vey gives but little satisfaction to the people. ‘The citizens of a state want reliable maps which they can use, not mere skeleton maps which are only available for surveyors. The board therefore recommends that the legislature enlarge its powers, and increase the appropriations for the state survey, so that topo- graphical surveys may be at once begun in at least three counties, and be carried forward on such a scale as to permit of the economical performance of the work. The cost of the topographical work is esti- mated at from ten dollars to twenty dollars per square mile, depending upon the character of the country, and the scale of expenditure recommended is forty thousand dollars per annum. For this sum, com- plete maps of from three to five counties could be made each year, and the maps, by counties, issued within a year after the field-work is done. It is pro- posed to have the U.S. coast and geodetic survey complete the primary and secondary triangulations, leaving the funds of the state to be used for tertiary triangulation and topographical work. The experience of the director of the survey, who is by law the engineering member of the state board of health, has proved conclusively the wide-spread need of topographical maps to aid in the sanitary work of the state. The commissioners therefore affirm that there is pressing necessity for topographi- cal maps for sanitary works on water-supplies and drainage; that no survey can meet the wants of the people that does not result in a reliable map suf- ficiently detailed for ordinary practical and scientific purposes; and that the people have a right to expect that the benefits of the survey will be made imme- diately available in the form of useful maps. PROPOSED NEW METHOD OF MEASUK- ING THE DENSITY OF THE EARTH. THE only known way of measuring the density of the earth is through the ‘gravitation cdnstant,’ which expresses the attraction exerted by a known mass at a given distance. The bodies whose attractions have been measured are either mountains or portions of the earth, as in the well-known experiments of Maske- lyne and Airy; or portable masses of lead, as used by Bailey and others. The difficulty in the way of the former experiments is the necessary uncertainty of the density of those portions of the earth’s mass in 218 and below a mountain, or within any other extended region. The difficulty in the way of utilizing the masses of lead is the extreme minuteness of the at- traction exerted by any manageable mass. On the whole, however, the latter method, in the hands of Bailey, Reich, and others, has been the more reliable of the two. bs : y } 4 " 4 Pe Nes oA me PND Se 9 aS Oe vm “4 % FROM wl---7 eto p I U Hy ! s Metres. — for from three hundred to five hundred men and their animals. ‘Then the line enters the mountains, and passes for five miles through a valley varying in width from one or two miles to the bowlder-bed of a mountain torrent. Here at Sinkat, a thousand feet above the sea, are the wells of Hambuk, — water- holes three feet deep, filling slowly, and kept drained by two hundred men and their horses, and three hun- dred camels. Thirty-two miles from Suakin is the divide between the valleys of Sinkat and O-Mareg, sixteen hundred feet above the sea, and presenting the first difficulty in building a railroad, as for some miles the pass is narrow and crooked, and the grades steep. Masonry to protect the road-bed from the tor- rent will be required, and rock-cutting may be neces- sary. The defile is a very bad one to pass in the face of an enemy. Thence the route lies through small valleys, with a growth of low trees and shrubs for 256 thirty miles, passing wells sufficient for one hundred or two hundred men only, and reaching, about sixty miles from Suakin, beyond Wady Ahmed, the sum- mit of the line, three thousand feet above the sea, —a short but steep and narrow pass, and the most formi- dable obstacle on the route. Some heavy cutting will be unavoidable, unless another pass can be found. Wells at sixty-two and seventy-five miles from Sua- kin furnish a large quantity of good water. This portion of the route lies through barren, treeless val- leys, strewn with fragments of trap and porphyry. At eighty-seven miles from Suakin is a steep, wind- ing pass, altitude about twenty-five hundred feet above the sea, the last point offering any difficulty for a railroad. Nine miles beyond is the good well of Abd-el-Hab; and then, excepting two or three insignificant water-holes, we find only barren plains and low granite hills to Wady Ariab, —a hundred and eighteen miles from Suakin, and nineteen hundred feet above the sea. Here there is a genuine oasis, with good grazing. Twelve miles beyond, the moun- tains decline, and the route passes over barren plains for forty-two miles to the sand-dunes of O-Baek, about five miles across, where can be obtained a little water. In the preceding fifty-four miles there is no water. From O-Baek to the Nile, sixty-eight miles, stretches a stony plain without tree or herb, and with no water except at one good well two hours’ march from the Nile. For seventy-five miles from Suakin, at no one point could a force of two thousand or three thousand men, with their animals, find sufficient water; and, after leaving Bir Ariab, there are two absolutely waterless stretches of fifty miles each. To supply the water for the workmen while con- structing this railroad, and for the troops which will be needed as guards, as well as to provide for the permanent working of the railroad, a pipe-line is at once to be laid, to consist of two lines of four-inch pipes, with stations every twenty-five or thirty miles, at which pumps will be connetted with power suffi- cient to force the water, under a pressure of some one thousand to fifteen hundred pounds on the square inch at the pumps, so as to give a flow of about a hundred and fifty gallons per minute. The pipes will be laid in curves to allow for expansion from the excessive heat. The pumps are to be supplied by H. R. Worthington of New York, who has had great success in pumping petroleum through pipe-lines in this country under similar circumstances of distance and elevation to be overcome. In some cases their pumps have forced oil over a hundred miles with- out the assistance of intermediate stations. They are to be delivered in London in thirty days from the date of the order. It is also reported that the con- tract for laying the pipe has been offered to a New- York contractor of experience in that work, and that a man in Winnipeg, once an officer under Gen. Wolseley, and skilled in American methods of rapid railway-construction, has offered to build and guar- antee the opening of the railroad from Suakin to Berber within five months from the signing of the contract. Onr enterprising countrymen are also urging upon SCIENCE. Se 6 es eee [Von. V., No. 112, the English government the advantages to be gained by the use, on the Nile, of the small, stern-wheel, light-draught steamboats so commonly employed on our western rivers. These boats are equipped with powerful capstans and warps for hauling them up rapids, as wellas derricks for working off or over sand- bars, and can be rapidly built in the western yards and shipped in sections, or can be built abroad from plans. cS THE TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF THE HUDSON-BAY REGION. From Dr. Bell’s report of the geological work of the Hudson-Bay expedition, we learn something re- specting the topography and geological formation of that region. In passing northward along the Labra- dor coast, the land ascends until within seventy miles of Chudleigh, where a height of six thousand feet is reached: beyond this point it again descends gradu- ally to the cape, which has an elevation of fifteen hundred feet. The. highest land of the peninsula seems everywhere to lie close to the coast, with a grad- ual slope westward down to the comparatively flat basins of the Koksok, and the rivers emptying along the east coast of Hudson Bay. The coast of Labra- dor, like that of northern Europe, is indented by deep and narrow fiords, and in some places has shoals extending out about five miles. In the strait the coast-line appears to be less irregular, the coast is lower, the hills more rounded, and the country devoid of timber, of which the northern limit barely reaches Ungava Bay. Throughout northern Labrador and the strait the formation is of gneiss, most of it Huronian, but some of it, perhaps, of Laurentian age, varying in color from gray to red, traversed at some points by dikes of trap, at others by veins of quartz, accompanied by the rock-formations usually found associated with such gneiss, and containing minerals characteristic of the formation, such as labradorite, anorthosite, calc-spar, iron-pyrites, and mica and felspar crystals. No economic minerals were found in situ; but at Ashe’s Inlet some Eskimo from the eastward brought with them plates of good light-colored mica, pieces of pure foliated graphite, and one of amorphous graph- ite, all of which they said could be had in large | quantities. On being shown specimens of minerals : likely to occur in the formation, they recognized a | bright-red hematite as existing inland, as well as a coarse variety of soapstone, which had been used for making pots; they also knew quartz, which they dis- tinguished by its superior hardness from specimens of marble and gypsum shown them. At Stupart’s Bay, beaches of shingle may be seen at all levels, up to the tops of the highest hills in the vicinity, all as fresh-looking as those on the present shore, except that the stones are covered with lichens. At Port DeBoucherville the gneiss lies in island-like hummocks, the valleys being filled with bowlder-clay, which has a structural arrangement parallel to the walls, apparently due to a process of expansion, con- MARCH 27, 1885.] traction, and heaving, in consequence of the severe frost. In narrow gorges this action had the effect of separating the bowlders from the clay, and throwing them to the centre into rows so regular as to suggest design. Mansfield Island is low, and, from disinte- gration of the rocks, looks like one gigantic ridge of gravel, the solid rock showing through the débris only at intervals. The formation is of gray limestone, in thin horizontal terraced beds, containing fossils, probably Silurian. Southampton Island is very simi- lar, but appears to support a little more vegetation. At Marble Island, diorites and schists of the Huronian series are found; and the island probably derives its name from the white and light-colored quartzites of which the whole of the western part consists, and which bear a strong resemblance to white and veined marble. The surfaces of the beds are often strongly ripple-marked. In considering the glaciation of the district, Dr. Bell remarks, that, if the sea here were only a hun- dred fathoms lower than at present, James and Hud- son bays would be a plain of dry land, more level in proportion to its extent than any other on the conti- nent. The numerous rivers that flow into it would traverse this plain, after having converged into one immense river towards the eastern limit of the pla- teau, and would empty into the strait near Digges, the strait remaining as a large bay, very much in its present shape. During the ‘great ice age,’ the basin of Hudson Bay may have formed a sort of glacial reservoir, receiving streams of ice from the east, north, and north-west, and giving forth the accumulated result as broad glaciers, mainly towards the south and south- west. In the strait, the direction of the well-marked glaciation is invariably eastward; and the composi- tion of the drift, which includes Huronian limestone fragments similar to the more westerly formations, as well as the long depression of Fox’s Channel and the strait, deepening as it stretches eastward, all point to the passage of an extensive glacier into the Atlantic. This glacier was probably joined by part of that occupying the site of Hudson Bay, and by another, also from the southward, coming down the valley of the Koksok River and Ungava Bay; these united streams still moving eastward, round Cape Chudleigh, into the ocean. 7 Mg Throughout the drift-period, the coast-range of Labrador held its head above the ice, especially the high northern part; but, in going south, glacial action seems to have reached a height of a thousand feet at least. Here the course followed by the ice is down the valleys and fiords directly into the sea; while, on the island of Newfoundland, it appears to have been from the centre towards the sea, on all sides. BIOLOGICAL NOTES. OnE of the principal distinctions between the mammalia and the lower vertebrata has been hitherto supposed to be the possession by the former of a SCIENCE. 257 placenta. Duval, however (Journ. anat. physiol., 1884, 193), has come to the conclusion that it also exists, though in a rudimentary form, in birds. The allantois, passing inward into the pleuro-peritoneal cavity, does not become attached to the amnion or the umbilical vesicle, but joins the chorion, becom- ing fused with it. It ends by forming a sac, which encloses a mass of albumen; and into this sac the villi of the chorion project, forming an organ completely analogous to the placenta of the mammalia. There is necessarily a difference in the form of this organ, due to the different modes of reproduction; in mam- mals the villi of the chorion being attached to the mother, while in birds they must attach themselves to the nutritive albumen. It is, however, quite in- telligible, that in an ovoviviparous vertebrate, where the egg has a thin membranous shell, the placentoid organ should become attached to the internal surface of the oviduct. This placenta of birds is therefore a rudimentary organ which enables us to understand how the placenta of the mammalia may have origi- nated. For over sixty years Ornithorhynchus, or the duck- billed Platypus, has been believed to be oviparous; but up to the present time the evidence has not seemed to naturalists sufficient to settle this point beyond a doubt. In 1829 Geoffroy St. Hilaire, in a communication upon the subject, described the eggs as being of a regular oblong spheroidal form, of equal size at both ends, and measuring an inch and three-eighths in length and six-eighths of an inch in breadth. It seems now to be es- tablished, that these eggs, two in number, are laid at. the end of a burrow in the river-bank,, about twelve yards from the water. The ovum of monotremes bears a close resemblance to that of a sauropsidan, and is very different from that of a true mammal, in that it has a good-sized yelk with whichsthe young is nour- ished. It is interesting to observe that the yelk-sac and the umbilical vesicle are really homologous. In monotremes we find, as it were, intermediate animals possessing the attributes of two classes: for, on the one hand, they have developed mammary glands, the distinctive feature of the higher group; on the other, they lack that structure whereby the typical mam- malian embryo receives nourishment before birth; and, in correlation with this, we find them agreeing with the lower class in the possession of a yelk-sac, whilst the contained food-yelk causes the ovum to as- sume the meroblastic type. We may thus trace the line of descent through the Sauropsida, directly to the monotremes (doubtless through forms extinct, as the Theromorpha of Cope); from these to mar- supials, which are viviparous, but whose ova still possess a large yelk-sac, and whose embryos enter into no close vascular connection with the maternal tissues; and from these to the higher mammals. In some experiments upon the digestion of sponges, von-Lendenfeld kept some Australian Aplysinidae in. 258 water containing powdered carmine. It was noticed, that, although all the cells took up the carmine, the epithelium of the ciliated chambers soon ejected the granules, while the cells of the upper surface of the subdermal cavity gave them off to the amoeboid wandering cells of the mesoderm, which, after they had partly digested the carmine, transmitted it to the cells of the ciliated chambers for ejection. He con- cluded, therefore, that although all the cells had the power of absorption, as is the case in man, still the digestive function in the species upon which he ex- perimented was centralized in the upper wall of the subdermal cavities. Other authors have held differ- ent views; and ina subsequent paper he himself has concluded that it cannot yet be decided whether sponges digest with the ectoderm or the entoderm, though he considers it not improbable that both layers may have that function. His papers will be found in the Proceedings of the Linnean society of New South Wales. R. von Lendenfeld has also described in the Annals and magazine of natural history for December, 1884, a new variety of Medusa which may prove to be a new species evolved within the last forty years. The Species is Crambessa mosaica, which Huxley in 1845 described from Sydney, Australia, as blue to gray, but which is now found in this locality distinctly brown in color, due to a parasitic alga which infests the flesh near the surface. The evidence is sufficient to cause von Lendenfeld to state that it is probable that this new variety has been born since Huxley described it in 1845. He also mentions the case of another Medusa (Cyanea annaskala) which has hitherto been found only at Port Philip, where it is abundant, but which has recently been found at Port Jackson in warmer water. Those in the latter place differ from the typical species in being much larger, and, besides, in possessing deep-purple pigment-cells around the mouth-arms, which he thinks may be able to perceive light. He makes a new variety from this variation of color. THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIN IN THEIR RELATION TO MENTAL DISORDERS. TREATISES upon insanity have been appear- ing recently in quick succession, both in this country and abroad. ‘There is none, however, which will command more notice, and prove more suggestive, than this work. Professor Meynert, who has been at the head of the department of psychiatry in the Univer- sity of Vienna for the past fifteen years, was one of the first to advance the opinion that a study of mental disease must be preceded by an understanding of healthy mental action. Regarding mental action as the subjective side Psychiatrie. Klinik der erkrankungen des vorderhirns be- griindet auf dessen bau, leistungen und erndhrung. Von Dr. THEODOR MEYNERT. Erste hilfte. Wien, Braumiiller, 1884, 10 +288 p., illustr. 8°. SCIENCE. “| [Vou. V., No. 112, of a physiological process in the brain, he seeks primarily to ascertain the function of the organ from its anatomical structure. The logi- cal order which is followed in this work is therefore, first, the anatomy of the brain; sec- ond, the physiology of the brain, that is, the mechanism of mind; and, lastly, disturbances of the mechanism, that is, mental disorder. The first volume is devoted to the structure and functions of the organ of mind. The po- sition which Professor Meynert holds as the founder of modern brain-anatomy entitles him to a respectful hearing on this subject. Since the appearance of his first articles in Stricker’s ‘Handbook of histology’ in 1870, he has been the chief authority in Germany; and almost every one of the younger scientific men who have done original work in this department has been imbued with his enthusiasm by personal contact with him in his laboratory. Within a hundred and twenty-five pages he has succeeded in giving a clear statement of the complex subject of the arrangement and relations of the gray masses and white connecting-fibres which make up the brain. An important aid to the comprehension of the structure will be found in the numerous excellent drawings. of dissections and of microscopic sections. The gray matter of the nervous system is the part in which sensory impulses are received and registered, and in which motor impulses are initiated. The white matter is made up of threads which transmit the impulses without modifying them. The structure and functions of the gray matter differ in different parts; simple functions being performed by that in the spinal cord, more complex functions in the gray masses within the brain, the most complex and the conscious functions being assigned to the layer which is spread out upon the surface of the brain, and which is thrown into folds by its convolutions. Each part of the surface of the body is in anatomical connection, by means of nerve-fibres, with its own part of the surface of the brain; and thus it is not difficult to im- agine a projection of a map of the body upon the brain-cortex. The fibres which act in this manner to bring the external world into con- sciousness are named by Meynert ‘the pro- jection system of tracts.’ This ‘ projection system ’ was announced in 1870, and was the starting-point to which all the recent discov- eries regarding the localization of functions in various regions of the brain can be traced. It is to-day the ground-work for many arguments in favor of the theory of localization, —a the- ory to which Meynert gives his hearty support. At present, investigations in brain-anatomy MARCH 27, 1885.] are directed to tracing the course of the tracts which unite the gray masses, and form the parts of the projection system. Owing to the discovery of new methods of investigation, progress has been rapid of late. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that in regard to some details, the statements of Meynert, which were already in print three years ago, cannot now be accepted ; e.g., as to the course of the lemniscus (pp. 94-97), and the connection of the tracts in the spinal cord with those in the cerebral axis (pp. 120-125). The diagram (fig. 58) is especially misleading. It is proba- bly on account of these errors that an appendix is promised, to appear with the second volume, and to contain a review of the more recent dis- coveries. These minor defects do not, however, impair the usefulness of the work as a general text-book of brain-anatomy ; and it is a matter of congratulation to those who are unable to master the very difficult style of the author, that an English translation is soon to appear. It is by means of the projection system that impulses from without reach the brain-cortex, and become conscious perceptions. ‘To asso- ciate these perceptions, and make connected thought possible, there exists a second system of fibres which unites the various regions of the brain-surface with each other. This is the ‘ association system.’ Meynert illustrates the action of these systems by analyzing the sim- ple act of winking. If a pin touches the eye of an infant, the lid closes. This is a reflex act, carried out by a simple mechanism inde- pendent of any act of consciousness; but, coincident with the reflex act, a number of im- pulses are sent along the projection fibres to the brain, which, on reaching the cortex, give rise to the conscious perception of the appear- ance of the pin, of the pain of the prick, and of the motion which has been performed. Each of these perceptions occurs in a different part of the brain, since each impulse reaches it by a different fibre. But the three occur simulta- neously ; and, as all parts of the cortex are joined by association fibres, the three percep- tions are associated both in perception and in memory. Hence, when the pin is seen again, the memory of the pain arises, and also the mem- ory of the motion which stopped the pain, and thus the mere sight of the object may lead the child to close the eye. The perception of the reflex motion has given the infant the knowl- edge of the possession of a muscle which will move; and the motion, having once become conscious, can be reproduced voluntarily by an effort which excites to action those cells which retain the memory of the motion (pp. 144-148). SCIENCE. 259 Every perception and motion has its appropri- ate cell; and, lest this should seem to demand too great a number of cells, Meynert has exam- ined the cortex microscopically, and has found that it contains over a milliard of these bodies (p. 140). Each phySiological action is at- tended by the acquisition of a new memory, and, as we go on in life, the number of cells un- occupied becomes less and less; so that it is probable that a physical limit to the power of memory, and consequently to the power of in- tellectual growth, is determined by the number of cells in the cortex (p. 140). This is the stand-point of an extreme materialist. But Meynert’s materialism is not of the theoretical kind : it is based upon facts of observation which cannot be ignored. The structure of the brain, its comparative development in various species, the evolution of mind in animals, the growth of knowledge in children, the results of experi- mental physiology, and the symptoms of men- tal dissolution in a class of cases in which disease has reduced the individual to the level of the infant, or even to that of the brute, have been called on to furnish the data for Mey- nert’s mechanism of thought. Psychologists are slowly coming to the conclusion that a wholly subjective method of research is inade- quate to settle the questions which for so many years they have been unable to answer, and are beginning to pursue an objective method by studying the development of mind, and the disorders of mind which are associated with actual loss of brain-substance. To psycholo- gists, therefore, this book is .of great impor- tance; for it opens up many new subjects, it throws light on many obscure subjects, it set- tles finally some disputed subjects. Physiological processes are attended by the consumption of material: hence the nutrition of the brain enters as a factor in mental action. When a part of the brain is exercised, more blood passes to that part than to other parts to supply oxygen as itis needed. The rapidity and quality of the mental process is dependent to some degree upon the proper blood-supply. These are facts determined by experiment on animals and man. Mental labor is attended with a rise of temperature in the brain, an in- dication of increased oxidation processes. If a dog’s brain is laid bare, the vessels are seen to be less distended with blood during sleep than when it is awake. If the dog dreams, the vessels dilate. An abnormal flow of blood to the brain interferes with the natural action of the organ: it may cause an irritation of the cells containing memory pictures, and con- sequently a conscious perception of the object 260 remembered by the cells, i.e., hallucinations. So, too, an abnormal lack of blood may ex- haust the brain, may render a person incapable of carrying on mental processes, and may even cause such a degree of hunger for oxygen in the cells as in turn to ‘produce irritation, and thus again hallucinations, followed by loss of memory. It is evident that Meynert regards many forms of mental disease as dependent upon abnormal nutrition of the brain, either from hyperaemia or anaemia, — a position in which he by no means stands alone. The description of physiological processes in the brain forms a fitting introduction to the study of its disorders. This division of the subject is to be taken up in the second volume, which will be eagerly looked for by those who have read the first. It will doubtless be as suggestive and original as this volume. Meynert’s book should be read both by medical men and those interested in the prob- lems of psychology. Its technical parts will be of great service to those who study the minute anatomy of the brain. Its physiological portion is of general interest, and will excite much notice and comment. The facts and the conclusions are entitled to careful con- sideration, as they are the product of most mature and thorough work, even though the materialistic explanation is at times inade- quate. Meynert is not to be placed in the ranks of German philosophers. He does not grapple with the problems of psychology, as Loétze or Wundt have done: he writes from the stand-point of an alienist who seeks to resolve a mental process into its simplest elements, and to detect in any given case of mental dis- order the particular element which is lacking. The explanation of the manner in which we acquire the idea of space is unsatisfactory (p. 166). The causal relation is not sharply differentiated from the simple association of ideas by correlation in time (p. 164). The time element in memory is not exhaustively discussed. ‘There are, doubtless, many trains of thought which are largely the simple rising into consciousness of associated memory pic- tures. There are others which are not to be so easily accounted for, and to which no clew can be gained by a study of association fibres and of variations in the blood-supply. To the psychologist, therefore, this work will be of service only as a collection of facts in one department bearing upon his science, — facts which he must consider, but which by no means carry with them the explanation of the problems involved. The work raises many questions which the SCIENCE. a's [Vor. V., No. 112. author does not attempt to answer. It would perhaps be unjust to demand from him the attempt, for he does not pretend to be writing as a psychologist. As a study of thought- mechanism, and as an introduction to a study of psychiatry, to which alone it lays claims, it is more satisfactory than any work which has recently appeared. ENGINEERING GEOLOGY. Ir is now generally admitted by mining and civil engineers that a knowledge of the princi-— ples of practical geology is necessary for the successful execution of those plans, depending upon a correct conception and understanding of the character of the surface of the earth and underlying rocks, where engineering works, such as bridges, railroads, canals, and even buildings, are to be constructed, and through which, as in the case of railroad-tunnels and mines, excavations are to be made. The rapid progress which has been made in America during the past fifteen years in prac- tical geology has so completely absorbed the active professionalist, that none of our field- geologists have found time to contribute a treatise to our literature such as Geikie’s Field, Penning’s Engineering, and Page’s Economic geology, Burat’s ‘ Géologie applique,’ and the more recent work by Wagner, on ‘ The relation of geology to the engineering sciences.’ This last work is an elaborate and strictly technical discussion of the application of prac- tical geology to tunnel-work and closely relat- ed subjects. It contains superior plate (quarto photolithographs) and text illustrations, and will prove a work of great value, not only to professional field-geologists, but to students in practical geology and engineering, in defin- ing some of the more useful and economically important applications of geology to engineer- ing work. Some of the geological cross-sections in the text clearly illustrate the geotectonic principles referred to, but evidently perpetuate an abom- inable custom, long since abandoned by the best American geologists, of exaggerating the vertical scale. The chapter on explorations by boring is not up to the standard of our home practice. The practical examples cited from Wagner’s own experience add much value and interest — to the work, which would be more useful to Die beziehungen der geologie zu den ingenieur-wissenschaften. Von C. J. berg-tunnels. Wien, Spielhagen & Schurich, 1884. 88 p., 6 figs.,24 pl. 4°. AGNER, ober-ingenieur und sectionsleiter des Arl- Le) MARCH 27, 1885.] practising American engineers if in a more familiar language. As stated in the preface, ‘‘ der ingenieur muss geologische kenntnisse besitzen, aber braucht kein specialist zu sein.’’ His eye should be trained to observe those phenomena which are of importance in determining the structure of rocks ; but in special problems he must expect to consult the expert geologist, who will be able to deduce conclusions from data given him by the engineer. MARTIN’S ELEMENTARY HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. Amone the numerous recently published works of its class, the volume before us easily takes a very high rank. From the pen of a thoroughly trained instructor in biology, it is characterized by great clearness and precision of statement, and, being prepared with the co- operation of an experienced teacher of young pupils, the subject is presented in a simple and attractive way that cannot fail to interest the youthful reader. As an example of the way in which difficult points in anatomy and physi- ology are elucidated by reference to familiar facts, the following illustration of the protec- tion which the skull affords the brain may be quoted : — **Tf you turned upside down a thin china teacup, wrapped round it a covering of raw cotton, and over this put a thin casing of tough wood, any thing placed under the cup would be protected from blows, jars, and piercing, much as your brain is protected inside the skull.”’ The enactment in several states, of laws providing that the teaching of hygiene in the public schools shall include instruction in re- gard to the action of stimulants and narcotics, makes it incumbent upon all authors of text- books of hygiene to devote several chapters to this subject. Professor Martin has, upon the whole, accomplished this portion of his task in a very satisfactory manner, though some of his remarks will probably be read with surprise by practitioners of medicine. Thus we are told that ‘ the bromide is just as dangerous as the opiate,’ —a statement which, however well adapted to accomplish the object of the author in discouraging the use of the drug without a physician’s prescription, can hardly be regard- ed as a strictly accurate therapeutic guide. The human body: a beginner’s text-book of anatomy, physi- ology, and hygiene. By H. Newetu Martin, D.S8c., M.A., M.D., professor of biology in the Johns Hopkins university, and al CARY MARTIN. New York, Holt, 1884. 4+261 p., illustr. SCIENCE. 261 The long list of diseases which may affect every organ and tissue of the body as the re- sult of alcoholic indulgence is well calculated to strike terror to the heart of the toper, and rather tends to give this portion of the book the character of a temperance tract. The illustrations are taken from Professor Martin’s larger text-book of physiology, also entitled ‘The human body,’ and are therefore not always perfectly in harmony with the ele- mentary character of the smaller work. This defect is not, however, of any great importance, and does not prevent the work from being, upon the whole, the best English text-book for beginners in the sciences of which it treats. NOTES AND NEWS. THE annual stated session of the National acad- emy of sciences will be held at the national museum in Washington, commencing Tuesday, April 21, 1885, at eleven A.M. — The island of Formosa, which has recently been the scene of Franco-Chinese conflict, is stated, in Dr. S. Wells Williams’s valuable work on China, to have been unknown to the Chinese before the year 1403, about the beginning of the Ming dynasty. As the mountains of Formosa are visible from the Chinese mainland in favorable weather, this appears due to some misconception, which is explained by Réné Al]- lain. It appears, according to this author, who has recently published a work on Formosa, that, before the conquest of China by the Mongols (202 B.C.-226 A.D.), Formosa was already known, but under an- other name, to the Chinese historians, who counted its people among the ‘ Manti,’ or southern barbarians. It was visited by the Chinese in the year 602, and was known as Liéu-Kiéu, or the Great Loo-Choo. Chi- nese colonies were established there in the fourteenth century. For two hundred years it took the name of Tai-wan, which it still bears in Chinese literature. In 1624 it was ceded by China to the Dutch, who were driven out in 1662 by a celebrated Chinese pirate known to Europeans as Koxinga, who maintained himself there for some twenty years. His successors made submission to the Chinese government, which subsequently made permanent colonies on the island. Formosa is about two hundred and forty-five miles long, with a greatest width of seventy-six miles. It has an area of some fifteen thousand square miles, and is separated from the mainland by a strait nowhere less than sixty miles wide. It is char- acterized by possessing a range of mountains of re- markable uniformity in height, and attaining a very exceptional altitude, the peaks ranging between eleven thousand and thirteen thousand feet. There are no good harbors, except for vessels of light draught, as far as known; and the land appears to be rising at a remarkable rate. The Dutch fort of 1624, originally built on an islet at some distance 262 from the shore, now forms part of Formosa, and under its ruins the water is so shallow that passen- gers land with much difficulty where was formerly deep water. The old harbor is now dry land, con- verted for miles into a plain, where was formerly the fine port of Taiwanfu. The island is very unhealthy for Europeans, and subject to earthquakes, but con- tains no active volcanoes. — The veteran zodlogists of Cuba— Professor Felipe Poey, who is now nearly eighty-six years old, and Dr. Juan Gundlach, who has completed his seventy-fourth year — are still engaged industriously in studying the fauna of that tropical island. Dr. Gundlach has been publishing his contributions to the fauna of Porto Rico in the Annals of the Spanish society of natural history. The vertebrates (includ- ing fishes by Poey) have all appeared, and recently the fresh-water marine mollusca have been issued. Gundlach has been publishing every month eight octavo pages in the Annals of the Havana academy of sciences, — a contribution to the mammals, birds, and reptiles of Cuba, — and is now at work upon the insects, of which the Lepidoptera are almost com- pleted, and occupy already nearly four hundred pages. Poey has published the fishes of the island in the Annals of the Spanish society of natural history, and Arango has discussed the mollusks. It is to be hoped that these still vigorous naturalists will live to see the completion of the work they have undertaken with so much zeal. — The report of the librarian of Harvard univer- sity gives this year a fuller account than we have had before of Ebeling’s collection of maps, which is known to be one of the most valuable collections in this country, especially for early maps of America. These maps have now been arranged with the others belonging to the university; and the whole series will occupy at least nine hundred portfolios, of which about three hundred and sixty pertain to America, counting in this seventy-two which hold the coast- survey maps. About one hundred volumes will be collected of maps which may be classed together for binding; and, when these are eliminated, there will still remain about fifteen thousand maps. ‘The Ebel- ing maps belong principally to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and were collected previous to 1817. The re-arranging will be completed early in the coming year. Meanwhile considerable progress has. been made in a descriptive catalogue, written on slips which are kept in drawers near the cases of port- folios. These entries have been completed for the maps of Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, and Scandinavia. When this catalogue is finished, an historical and topographical index is proposed. The maps in atlases will be eventually included, and per- haps important maps in geographical serials and other books. With this extent of catalogue and index service, it is not probable that questions of historical geography can be settled so well anywhere in this country as in the Harvard library. — The death of Col. Roudaire of the French army, known so widely in connection with the project of an SCIENCE. —— [VouL. V., No. ¥ 4 2. “— inland sea, to be artificially formed by flooding the depressed area of the ‘chotts’ in Algeria and Tunis, will not affect the continuation of the investigations relating to that enterprise. Col. Landas, professor of topography in the military school of St. Cyr, has volunteered to take the place of Roudaire. The latter, who had devoted himself with great energy to the scheme for twelve years, received no pecuniary reward for his labors, and leaves a mother, for whose support those interested have subscribed a little an- nuity. — ‘Melanic variation in Lepidoptera’ was the sub- ject of Lord Walsingham’s presidential address before - the Yorkshire naturalists’ union on the 8d of this month. He calls attention to the prevalence of dark varieties of butterflies and moths at great eleva- tions and high altitudes, and attempts to explain it on the theory of natural selection. He points out, that, while vertebrates living through the winter require to retain in their bodies a sufficient amount of heat to enable them to maintain their existence in the severest climates, insects require rapidly to take ad- vantage of transient gleams of sunshine. ‘* Those males,’’ he says, ‘‘ whose color enabled them to absorb the heat most rapidly would naturally be the first to harden their wings, and to acquire a degree of vitality sufficient to enable them to commence their flight. If we imagine the emergence of a pale and a dark variety side by side at the same moment, it is more than probable that the paler specimen would remain inactive among the herbage, when his darker com- panion had already commenced his flight. In un- favorable weather the degree of warmth sufficient to arouse even the darkest varieties might be of very short duration; and, if this were so, the less favored males might be wholly deprived of the degree of en- ergy necessary to enable them to find their females. The shorter the continuance of passing gleams of sun- shine, the greater would be the influences brought to bear against them; and each separate instance, how- ever infrequent such instances might be, in which they were thus placed at a disadvantage, would have its effect in diminishing their numbers, promoting the survival of only the fittest forms. If this is so, it is sufficiently obvious that the first males on the wing have the best chance of transmitting their color by an hereditary process to the succeeding generation ; and, if these males were always or usually the darkest of the brood, their progeny would also be for the most part dark.’’ In order to test certain questions which would arise in connection with this, he placed several dark and light colored insects on the snow, and found a marked difference in the amount of ab- sorption of heat from the sun, and in the rapidity with which they would make impressions upon the snow. — The opening of the Antwerp exhibition, fixed for May 3, will have to be deferred, as the applications — for space have been so numerous and extensive that the proposed area is insufficient. . at — The following is a translation of the text of the regulations respecting vivisection issued by the Ger- MARCH 27, 1885.] man government. 1°. Experiments on living animals must only be performed in serious investigations, or for purposes of instruction. 2°. In public lectures such experiments must not be performed, unless they are necessary for the full elucidation of the subject. 3°. The preparations, as a rule, must be made before the lectures begin, and not in the presence of the audience. 4°. The experiments must only be per- formed by qualified professors, or by their assistants on their responsibility. 5°. Experiments which will be equally satisfactory if performed on the lower species of animals must not be performed on the higher species. 6°. In all cases where the experiment can be performed without inconvenience under anaesthetics, anaesthetics must be administered. — Nature states, that, in a paper read before the Statistical society on Feb. 17, Sir Richard Temple endeavored to check the various official returns of the population of China by applying the results ob- tained from the population statistics of British India. The various statements made by the Chinese govern- ment as to the numbers of people under its rule show violent fluctuations, those of the last century and a half varying between 436,000,000 and 363,000,000. These returns, as Professor Douglas pointed out, varied with the purposes for which the enumerations were made. China proper, and India, said Sir Rich- ard Temple, have about the same area, —a million and a half of square miles. Both countries are under similar conditions, physical, technical, climatic, geo- graphical. In both there is a strong tendency to multiplication of the race. In both the population loved to congregate in favored districts, to settle down and multiply there till the land could scarcely sustain the growing multitudes, and to leave the less favored districts with a scanty though hardy popula- tion. The average population of the whole of India is 184 to the square mile, and, if this average be ap- plied to China (exclusive of the central plateau), it gives a population of 282,191,600 souls. The writer then compared, one by one, the eighteen provinces of China proper with the districts in India corre- sponding nearly in physical characteristics and cul- tivable area; and, summarizing these computations, he found, that, over a total area of 1,500,650 square miles, the population, according to this estimate from the Indian averages, would be 282,161,923, or, say, 183 persons to the square mile, while the latest official returns vubtained from China show 349,885,386, or 227 inhabitants to the square mile. The general conclusion, he said, might be that the latest Chinese returns, though probably in excess of the reality, did not seem to be extravagant or incredible, on the whole, if tested by the known averages of the Indian census. —Lebasteur has invented an ingenious process for determining the thickness of iron plates in boilers, or places where they cannot otherwise be measured without cutting them, which process is described in Le yénie civil. He spreads upon the plate the thick- ness of which he desires to find, and also upon a piece of sheet-iron of known thickness, a layer of tallow about a hundredth of an inch thick. He SCIENCE. 263 then applies to each, for the same length of time, a small object, such as a surgeon’s cauterizing instru- ment, heated as nearly as possible to a constant tem- perature. The tallow melts: and as in the thicker plate the heat of the cautery is conducted away more rapidly, while in the thin plate the heat is less freely conducted away, and the tallow is consequently melted over a larger area, the diameters of the circles of bare metal around the heated point, bounded after cooling by a little ridge of tallow, will be to each other inversely as the thickness of the plates. The process is stated to have given, in the inventor’s hands, results of great accuracy. — The approaching publication in Holland of a Dutch work on New Guinea by the former Dutch resident at Ternate, Mr. Van Braam-Morris, is an- nounced. The work is to be edited by Mr. Robidée Van der Aa, who is himself an authority on the sub- ject, and will be accompanied by a map. Mr. Van Braam-Morris succeeded in penetrating considerably to the south during an official tour on the Amberno or Rochussen rivers. —At the February meeting of the Russian geo- graphical society, Gen. Meyer read a paper on the transcaspian province, Merv, or Akhal-Téké. The paper did not mention any new facts, but dwelt on the barrenness of the country, and on its poor resources for trade, ete. The secretary mentioned the return of Poliakoff, who was present at the meeting, and the further progress of Potanin, who has traversed Ordoz, the country in the great bend of the Yellow River, China, and has found numerous ruins which testify that the country was formerly occupied by an agricul- tural people. The discussion of the Novaia Zemlia magnetic observations has been intrusted to Mr. Traut- vetter, formerly director of the Pavlovsk observatory. — Arrangements are in progress for a collection of live specimens of tropical fishes at the Indian and colonial exhibition of 1886. This scheme will involve the erection of tanks for the maintenance of water at far higher temperature than that suitable for fishes of the temperate zone. — The largest block of aluminum ever cast is made from American ore, and forms the apex of the Wash- ington monument. It is nine inches and a half high, and measures five inches and a half on each side of the base, but weighs only one hundred ounces. The surface is whiter than silver, and is so highly polished that it reflects like a plate-glass mirror. — There has recently been considerable agitation in Germany upon the smoke question; and some have suggested that government interfere, and establish ‘stoker schools,’ through which the stokers of all manufactories shall be obliged to pass before receiv- ing a position. Besides this, it is urged that these manufactories be obliged to build high chimneys. Engineering, in a recent number, very sensibly re- marks that such a system would be absurd, and fur- ther adds that there is no necessity for such action, for, as soon as the difficulties in the way of the in- troduction of electric lights into dwelling-houses are removed, the gas companies will be forced to reduce 264 their price; and then the system of gas-heating, which is now being agitated, will be introduced into houses, and finally, without doubt, into factories; and thus the system of pouring out immense quantities of smoke into the air of our cities will cease. — Dr. Wiese, the German agricultural chemist, re- cently employed by the government to study suitable vegetables for cultivation in the sandy soil of East Prussia, left Berlin for the Cameroon coast during March. The object of his journey is to study the plants of the country, with a view to their cultivation in Germany. — During the Austro-Italian war of 1866, in order to protect their ports from the attack of Italian ships, the Aus- trians placed tor- pedoes in many concentric —cir- cles near the mouths of the harbors. Each torpedo had a separate num- ber, and was con- nected by a wire with the room represented in the accompany- ing illustration from La Nature, and each wire had a separately numbered key in this chamber. The building in which the cham- ber was situated was placed on the side of a hill, so as to overlook the port. The cham- ber was lighted only by a lens, which had a field cov- ering the harbor. The rays of light coming from outside were then reflected into a prism which directed them down upon an unpolished glass plate placed horizontally upon a table, where an image of the har- bor was formed. The black marks in the figure point out the exact place of each torpedo, and bear num- bers corresponding to those on the keys. An em- ployee watched the plate constantly, and observed every motion of approaching ships. By pressing a button he could at any time explode the correspond- ing torpedo. — The municipality of Paris has at last approved the suggestion of a grant of land for the new central laboratory of electricity, to be built out of the profits of the Paris electrical exhibition of 1881. These profits amounted to no less than $65,000. — Among recent deaths we note the following : Mr. John Francis Campbell of Islay, in his sixty- fifth year; Mr. Thomas C. Archer, curator of the museum of science and art, Edinburgh; Mr. Poydes- sau, French engineer, at Panama, Jan. 7; Louis SCIENCE. 3 AN AUSTRIAN PLAN FOR WATCHING THE MOVEMENTS OF VESSELS. [Vou. V., No. 112. Godard, aeronaut; Rodolphe Meyer-Dur of Zurich, entomologist, March 2, in his seventy-fourth year; Dr. Julius Minter, director of the botanic garden of Greifswald, Feb. 2; Dr. J. C. G. Lucae, anatomist and anthropologist, at Frankfort a.-M., Feb. 3; H. W. Blair, assistant in the U.S. coast and geodetic survey, at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15. . — The Dollfus prize of the Entomological society of France was awarded, on Feb. 25, to Mr. Léon Fairmaire, for his work on the Hemiptera of France. — The first number of Mind in nature, which is ‘ to furnish in a popular manner information regarding psychical questions,’ appeared this month. Those who are willing to accept the marvellous on the slightest evi- dence will take pleasure in read- ing the article on metaphysics, by Bishop Samuel Fellows, and that on Christian science, by Dr. S.J. Avery. The article on pre- sentiments is of the same uncon- vineing charac- ter. A paper by Oliver J. Lodge, on experiments in thought-trans- ference, with one or two by Ed- mund Gurney and others, are reprinted from the Proceedings of the English society for psychical research. —In No. 180 of the Zoologischer anzeiger there are some interesting notes upon spiders by F. Dahl. He claims that their sight is imperfect, except at very short distances; and, in consequence of this, their sense of touch is so well developed, that, when an object falls into their net, they can tell upon exactly which radius the object has fallen, though to ascer- tain this they must first go to the centre of the web, even though the object may have fallen near their original position. Their smell and hearing are also excellent, the former so much so that they can distinguish odors. The remarkable instinct pos- sessed by the geometrical spiders is shown by the fact that the first web made by the young is perfectly geometrical. That they reflect, is proved by the fact that they despise certain kinds of tough, chitinous insects, which they have unsuccessfully attacked before. This reflection is to be distinguished from the instinctive dread which they have for bee-like flies. — Prof. S. P. Langley sailed on Wednesday for " England, to lecture before the Royal institution. _ erin CE. FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. THE TWO LATEST issues Of volumes of obser- vations, astronomical and meteorological, made at the U.S. naval observatory, to which we refer in another column, were received at our office presumably as soon as they were ready for general distribution; and we regret the necessity of calling attention to the delay with which the work of this institution is given to the scientific public. We are informed that this is due in no wise to neglect on the part of any officer of the observatory, but to the repeated exhaustion of the printing-funds annually allotted to the navy department to meet its current needs. However this may be, it is noticeable that the last four volumes — those issued since the delay at the govern- ment printing-office is said to have been the greatest hinderance — have only about half the number of pages of many former issues, owing largely to the abbreviated form of pre- senting the details of observation which the observatory wisely adopted in the volume for 1877. There would seem to be no good reason why the printing of these volumes, requiring a specific sum each year, should not be provided for independently of the naval allotment of the printing appropriation, just as is now the case with many of the scientific publications of the government which are issued at stated intervals. It is to be hoped that the measure already on foot to secure this result may not end in defeat, as the gain will be great at no in- crease of expense whatever. The observatory is so far in arrears in this regard, that its fore- most work should now be to bring the pub- lication of its work up to date at any cost. The chief reason for making certain classes of observations lies in the expectation of their No. 113.— 1885. immediate availability for scientific use; and the publication, in part, of mere results in astronomical journals, does not relieve the in- convenience and uncertainty attending one’s inability to refer, when desirable, to the ex- tended details of the work as presented in the complete volumes. ‘ FLATLAND,’ to which we referred a short time ago, besides giving the general reader an easy view of the road by which the mathema- tician enters the world of n dimensions, con- tains also a clever picture of the ludicrousness of various social theories now under discussion, when pushed to their legitimate consequences. The inhabitants of that country have the shape of various plane figures, — triangles, squares, pentagons, and polygons, — and the degree of their intelligence is in direct ratio to the num- - ber of their sides ; so that ‘ intellectuality ’ be- comes synonymous with ‘ angularity,’ and the circle is a member of the priestly order, — the highest class of all. Beyond the soldiers and the lowest class of workmen, who are tri- angles with only two sides equal, — a figure so irregular that it can hardly be considered human, —it is a law of nature that each male child shall have one more side than his father. Evolution is thus a perfectly regular and definite process ; and a man’s remoteness from the flat apes, his ancestors, can be known by simply counting the number of his sides. Any slight irregularity in a figure is equivalent to a moral imperfection; and to train up a child in the path of virtue is to keep him straight in a literal sense. If he is born with any marked unevenness, he must be taken to one of the regular hospitals for the cure of that disease, or he is in danger of ending his days in the state prison. There is no way of know- ing whether a particular delinquency calls for punishment or reward as a means of reform. 266 - The author, a square, confesses that he is at a loss what course to pursue when one of his own hexagonal grandsons pleads as an excuse for his disobedience that a sudden change in the temperature has caused an unequal shrink- ing in his perimeter, and that the blame ought to be laid, not on him, but on his configuration, which can only be strengthened by abundance of the choicest sweet-meats. The women in Flatland are straight lines. As they have no angles, they have no intellect ; and as they have nothing to say, and no con- straint of wit, sense, or reason to prevent their saying it, their conversation is a great bore. To such an extent has the system of female non-education or quietism been pushed, that they are no longer taught to read, nor to master arithmetic enough to count the angles of their husbands or children. The author fears that this policy has been carried so far as to react injuriously on the men, who are obliged to lead a bi-lingual or even a bi-mental existence. They must be able to speak not only the female language of emotion, but also the male lan- ouage of science, in which ‘ love’ becomes ‘ the anticipation of benefits,’ ‘duty’ becomes ‘necessity ’ or ‘ fitness,’ and other words are correspondingly transmuted. In the presence of women, moreover, the language used implies the utmost deference for their sex ; but behind their backs they are both regarded and spoken of as being little better than ‘ mindless organ- isms.’ The strain of this dual existence, it is believed, has some tendency to enfeeble the male intellect, and on that ground alone the author appeals to the authorities to reconsider the regulations of female education. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. The sun-thermometer during the recent eclipse. AT mid-day, just before the commencement of the eclipse, Draper’s self-recording sun-thermometer of this observatory indicated a sun-temperature of 92° F., while the self-recording thermometer in the shade at the same time indicated 33° F. When the obscuration was at its maximum, 1.30 P.M., the sun-temperature had fallen to 69°, while that in the shade was still 33°. SCIENCE. At the end of the eclipse, 2.50 p.M., the sun-temper- a ature had risen to 82°, and that in the shade to 34°. It is interesting to note from the above facts, that one-half of the difference between the sun-temper- ature and that in the shade, at the beginning of the eclipse, is 295°; while the actual fall of temperature during the eclipse, as shown by the sun-instrument, was 23°. This is as it should be, for only about one- third of the sun was obscured. It is probable, that, if the eclipse had been total, the readings of the two in- struments would have been the same. DANIEL DRAPER, Ph.D., Director. New-York meteorological observatory, Central Park. An attempt to photograph the corona. It occurred to the writer that the late partial solar eclipse would be an excellent chance to repeat Hug- gins’s experiments on photographing the corona. A three-inch refractor of about forty inches focal length was employed. 5 5 6 5 oll. 14 bl 44 5 10) 140) AN'5 G6 4 0 c 30 wall 191 139 AVVO AVG Go Go oC 97 105 250 157 Hours of cold . . 141 187 487 301 30 to 40 Sosa ake 375 223 155 362 Ania) 5 4 G6 4 152 225 30 62 AMT 6 fo 5 6 28 102 ~ 19 6GOtow0 © 2 = . - 7 - ~ Hours of heat . . 555 557 185 443 Hours of cold, in 1885, for February . . . ... . 487 Hours of cold, in 1885, for March . - 3801 788 Hours of cold, in 1884, for February , Sia 5 al Hours of cold, in 1884, forMarch . . ..... . 187 828 Difference of hours of cold between the two years. . . . 460 There were therefore, during these two months, 460 hours more of cold in 1885 than in 1884. DANIEL DRAPER, PH.D., Director. CIVIL AND ASTRONOMICAL TIME. THERE seems to be a good deal of doubt whether the recommendations of the Prime-me- ridian conference are going to be very gener- SCIENCE. wae Bet [Von. v. ; No. ally accepted. France, and the nations under French influence, certainly will not adopt the new anti-Greenwich meridian for many years, if ever. The matter is really one of com- paratively little importance; that is to say, it will make no very great practical difference to any one if different nations continue to use different meridians: still there can be no question that there would: be a real and con- siderable convenience in the establishment of a single meridian, and consequently of a time- system, which, like our present railroad-time in the United States, would be identical as to minutes and seconds all over the earth. It is probable that the gentle pressure of this con- venience will, after a while, bring about the desirable concurrence, especially as the in- creasing extent and rapidity of travel and com- munication will all the time bring out more forcibly the inconveniences of the present state of affairs, and tend to weaken mere local feeling and prejudice, which, after all, is the main obstacle at present to the universal adoption of the meridian proposed. The recommendation that astronomers should come into agreement with other folks, and begin their day at midnight instead of the following noon, as at present, seems espe- cially likely to fail. The Greenwich observa- tory, indeed, adopted the new plan on Jan. 1; but, so far as we know, no other important astronomical establishment has yet done so. Commodore Franklin, of the U. S. naval ob- servatory, proposed to follow the example of Greenwich, and issued an order to that effect ; but it excited so much opposition from cer- tain eminent and influential astronomers, that the order was suspended before the time came for it to go into operation. The objections of Professor Newcomb, who has formulated more fully and forcibly than any one else the reasons why the change should not be made, relate not so much to the fact that astronomers would find it inconven- ient to change the date of their observations at midnight, as to the confusion that would be ~ likely to result in the combination and compar- ison of observations taken before the introduc- APRIL 17, 1885.] tion of the new system, and afterit. ‘The same sort of difficulty now exists in comparing ob- servations made before and after the introduc- tion of the Gregorian calendar; but in this case the discontinuity amounts to ten or eleven days, and cannot escape notice, while the dis- continuity involved in the proposed system would be only twelve hours, and might easily be overlooked with most damaging conse- quences. This objection is undoubtedly valid and weighty. The other objections urged, as to changes needed in the ephemerides, really amount to very little. At present, one has to stop a moment to consider whether he is act- ing as a civilian or an astronomer when he opens the Ephemeris to look out data ; and it is quite immaterial as regards the numbers given for noon, for instance, whether noon is called OQh.or12h. As to the changes in the printing of the Ephemeris, they would involve a little extra work the first year, but nothing of any consequence. Per contra, a considerable majority of the astronomers consulted by Commodore Frank- lin were of opinion that the advantage gained by abolishing the distinction between civil and astronomical reckoning would fully com- pensate for the admitted annoyance conse- quent upon the change. The number of peo- ple inconvenienced by the change would be very small, and they would be persons abun- dantly able to guard against mistakes such as others would be likely to make. On the other hand, the present system leads to confusion in the case of all neophytes in astronomical work : indeed, pretty good astronomers are some- times caught napping when they look into the almanac for forenoon data; and in publishing observations it is often necessary, and always wise, to state whether civil or astronomical reckoning is used. Of course, the change in itself considered is of very little importance ; but it does seem rather unfortunate that the recommendations of the Washington confer- ence should fail, to begin with, at the Washing- ton observatory, and the effect will undoubtedly be to postpone the acceptance of the whole system of proposed reforms. SCIENCE. 309 THE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS OF THE LADY FRANKLIN BAY EXPEDITION. Tue general interest in the scientific work of most polar expeditions has been seriously affected by the long delay which necessarily occurs in the publication of the records and results. With the permission and concurrence of Gen. W. B. Hazen, chief signal-officer, I take pleasure in giving, as far as I can at present, a brief summary of some of the scien- tific results of the Lady Franklin Bay expe- dition. Hourly magnetic declination observations for thirty-two days on which they were made previous to July 1, 1882, were reduced at Fort Conger. The mean declination thus obtained was 100° 12’ west, being 1° 32’ less than the result deduced from the observations of the English expedition of 1875-76. The maximum easterly deflection occurred at 2 a.m., local time (7 a.m., Gottingen mean time), and the maximum westerly deflection at 12 m. A primary maximum at 4 Pp.m., most probably was due to disturbances. These deflections are from one to two hours later than those ob- tained from the observations of Lieuts. Archer and Fulford, R.N., in 1875-76 ; but it is pos- sible that the observations for the complete year, which are now in the hands of Assist- ant Charles Schott of the U.S. coast and geodetic survey for reduction, may give other results. The hours, however, agree with those determined for Van Rensselaer harbor by Mr. Schott, in the discussion of Kane’s observa- tions. The absolute range of the English observations was 8°; and the greatest daily change, 5° 9.4’. From 8.35 a.m. (Gottingen mean time), Nov. 16, 1883, to 10.30 p.m., Nov. 18, the absolute range as observed was 20° 28.2’, — from 113° 19.8’ west, to 92° 51.6’ west. These times and figures are given as of more than common interest in connection with the great magnetic storm of November, 1883. The changes at Conger were much greater, it will be observed, than at Godthaab, Greenland, where, Paulsen says, on Nov. 17, 1883, from 2 a.m. until noon, the declination had varied 4° 44’ to the east, and later about 5° to the west; so that the variations for the day reached 9.5°. The following table of monthly means has 1 The accompanying picture represents Fort Conger as it was photographed by Sergeant George W. Rice, in March, 1882, the print from which it was taken being one of the few that were brought safely home by the Greely party. The high ground atthe north-west of the station is seen at the left. The picture repre- sents the principal building occupied. There were three other small structures, astronomical and magnetic observatories, and an instrument-shelter, the wires seen at the right running to the astronomical observatory. ‘AVE NINUNVS AGVT LV ALUVd ATHHUD THL do NOLLVIS HHL 8B 4 APRIL 17, 1885.] been compiled from three years’ observations,— 1875-76 and 1881-83. Rainfall, in- Barometer | Tempera- | apes (two to sea. ture. years only). | 2 ADU RR eee 29.756 —38.3° 0.42 MEMUREFY . 2 < «4. 0.779 —40.1° 0.13 Ween es 6s oe Sk ss 0 962 —28.3° 0.45 TTL) 6 es Serer ie 30.175 1130" 0.17 i=) 5 0.021 +14.1° 0.40 2 OS ee 29.852 Seae 0.18 2 CL See 0.725 Silly 0.66 ARWEMISG) IT is) a Se we 0.787 33.8° 0.38 September. . . . . . 0.749 15.8° 0.35 Wletaner.cF. ae. eoxs 0.925 = te 0.24 MNevermbers . 58s & s 0.971 BR) 0.20 Mecember. 2.2. st « 0.830 sol be 0.30 Vi ee ee ee 29.878 = ROS 3.88 The barometrical observations show atmos- pheric changes which I believe are common to the region within the arctic circle, north of America at least. The marked maximum pressure in April gives way rapidly to the principal minimum in July; to be followed by a secondary maximum in November, and a less marked minimum in January or February. The hourly barometric observations are of special interest as tending towards a final solu- tion of the question whether or not the regular diurnal variation observed in lower latitudes also occurs near the poles. Buchan, noting the fact that the range at St. Petersburg and Bosukop is but about .012 of an inch, remarks, ‘‘And in still higher latitudes, at that period of the year when there is no alternation of day and night, the diurnal variation probably does not occur.’’ The first year’s observations at Fort Conger satisfied me that such diurnal variation does occur in very high latitudes, and my opinion was confirmed by subsequent observations. Reductions made several months before the station was abandoned, from nearly five hundred days’ continuous observation, showed a range of .0099 of an inch. The primary maximum occurs at 5 A.m., Washington mean time (which is 53 minutes slower than local time), followed by the primary minimum at 1 p.m. The second- ary maximum and minimum took place at 6 P.M. and midnight respectively. To determine whether the presence or absence of the sun affected the fluctuation, I calculated separately the means of the days of continual darkness and continuous sunlight up to May 1, 1883. The diurnal fluctuation was substantially the same, and the critical hours were identical in the arctic night and in the polar day. The absolute range of the barometer ob- SCIENCE, 311 served was 2.032 inches, —from 31, April 9, 1882, to 28.968, Feb. 19, 1883. It is interest- ing to note that the minimum pressure for the .year 1882-83 at Godthaab and in Spitzbergen occurred respectively one day earlier and three days later than at Fort Conger. The barometer at Godthaab touched the unusually low point Of 27.89, The annual mean temperature (—3.9°) is the lowest on the globe, being 1.4° below that deduced for Van Rensselaer harbor from Kane’s observations. It quite disposes of the theories of a warmer climate as the pole is approached. The maximum mean at Fort Conger agrees with that of other arctic stations in general, occurring in July; and the monthly mean gradu- ally declines to the minimum in February. This month, I think, is generally the coldest at arctic stations ; and, when the lowest mean has been noted in January (or occasionally in March), I believe a series of years would change it to February. ‘The lowest monthly mean (—46.5°) for February, 1882, must give way, however, to that at Werchojansk (on the Lena), from which the following means are reported : December, —50.3° ; January, —56° ; and February, — 53°. The highest monthly mean was that of July, 1883, 37.2°. The ab- solute range of temperature was 115.1°,— from —62.1°, Feb. 38, 1882, to +53°, June 30, 1882. 5 The amount of rain and melted snow was 3.95 inches the first, and 3.82 the second year, irregularly distributed throughout the year. This small amount of precipitation may ex- plain the non-glaciation of the adjacent country. I believe the precipitation in the interior to be less than at Fort Conger. The wind resultants are as follows: first year, S. 61.4° E. 7594 miles; second year, S. 67.3° E. 6487 miles. The wind was more southerly from 2 to 4 p.m., inclusive, than at other hours during the first year, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second year. The mean tidal establishment was deter- mined by me at Fort Conger from two years’ observations on a fixed gauge, as follows : — 11 h. 33.9 m. High water (1314 tides) . 0h. 45.7 mm. Low water (1314 tides) . Complete series of high and low waters for two years, with regular hourly readings of the tide for one year at Fort Conger, have been placed in the hands of Mr. Schott. These observa- tions, with supplementary simultaneous read- ings at Capes Sumner, Beechy, Craycroft, Leebi, and at Repulse harbor, added to Bessel’s and Nares’ observations, will, I trust, enable 312 tidal experts to determine the co-tidal curves for Lincoln Sea, and Robesen and Kennedy channels. The temperature of the surface sea-water was carefully observed from October, 1882, to June, 1883. The temperature fell steadily from a mean of 29.2° in October, to 29° in December, and then rose steadily to 29.4° in June. The ebbing tide (to the north) was from 0.1° to 0.2° colder than the flowing tide, and its mean for December was 28.9°. The sounding of 133 fathoms and no bottom, midway between Capes May and Britannia, is significant of a different ocean along the north coast of Greenland, from the shallow sea north of Asia, North America, and Grinnell Land. Forty-eight swings, with accompanying time observations, were made with a pendulum fur- nished by the U.S. coast and geodetic survey. The observations are now in the hands of Assist- ant Charles S. Peirce for reduction and com- parison. I regret that continued mental and physical weakness have prevented more care- ful and systematic treatment of these subjects. This summary is now presented, as the imme- diate future promises no better results from my hands. A. W. Greety, U.S. army. « FOOTPRINTS IN THE ROCKS OF COLORADO. From a few tracks and signs, an Indian is said to have inferred that at noon there had passed by a white man, lame in the left foot, blind in the right eye, dressed in gray, and with a double-barrelled gun and a black dog. With no attempt to rival the aborigines, nor to name and classify, it is interesting to notice some features of the footprints on four slabs from St. Vrain Creek, Col.,— the only ves- tiges of animal life thus far reported from the immense beds of triassic sandstones in the eastern Rocky Mountains. Three of the slabs are in the museum of Iowa college, Grinnell, Io.: the other, No. 2, has been sent to the national museum. Slab No. 1, represented in the figure, with two of the tracks on a larger scale, is some- what like the rare horseshoe forms found in Kurope and in the Connecticut valley, in rocks of the same age. No hoofed animal is sup- posed to have existed at so early a period. The shape has been attributed to a membrane beneath claws, in this case a firm, flat pad, if that be the explanation, and semicircular within as well as exteriorly. In the three for- ward tracks, the fore and hind feet coincided, (SCIENCE. making one impression. ae st [Vou. V., N In four of the re- maining tracks, the smaller fore-feet show a crescent that coalesces with that of the hind- foot. There is a rough, broken, irregular bulg- ing of the rock in and behind the hollow of the foot, dying away backward into the sur- face. The great amount of this would suggest that the animal was ascending a wet slope. The appearance of slab No. 3 is so like No. 2 that they were probably one continuous series. As seen in the figure, the larger im- pression of the hind-foot mostly touches, and once or twice somewhat overlaps, that of the fore-foot, which is evidently such because its position varies relatively to the former. It has a wide angle from the line of progression. In the last (uppermost) left feet, the fore-foot repeats its print, though at first glance it looks like a jointed toe. All the impressions are simple ovals (ellipses), deepest in the centre ; and several, as in the larger separate figure, have a shallow ear-shaped impression on the inner forward border, which, in two, shows slight lengthwise wrinkles. The left-side tracks are less perfect, as if the right feet pressed on a lower, wetter part of the ancient beach. ; In No. 3 there was an inch space between the heels in passing each other ; in No. 1, little Fifth right foot. Scale 3. Third left feet. Scale 4. Sage, 22S == <2 2S a> Z2 SSS ZS ere ag = Fact == SLAB NO. 1. Average stride, 81 inches; width of trackway, 43 inches. Scale, 1-12. or none. had an erect habit, not the dragging move- ment, with horizontally extended legs, of ordinary reptiles, if reptiles they were. The animals must therefore have __ APRIL 17, 1885.] Slab No. 4 has nine pairs of hind-foot tracks, with the fore-feet sometimes coinciding, and elsewhere separated at considerable distances. They are in relief, that is, on the under side Ze re . jon Appelle fo Battleford. . ..... acces, o0 “ a) ea Mounted police Sta. Statute Mile aoe en 6 x p i or e.d < sts Alberta Learnt ~*~ o FRSAS 4 NTO ay % x | + A~\ N | Niany IRCUPINE MTs. on >) Buffalo “Oo “ims CTT <7) & Mounted police Sta. k Rail, Road mee = PROJECTED. See, a W grr Se, 20> ouotace _\% aie “ Blackfeer™ Shits Corea Fue: 4p DEER FiUD Rein ¥ ROCKY BUTTES ne |) SPrll 24, 1885.) _ - That the elastic yielding of the ballast under the passing loads, and the slight rocking of the. ties, ab- sorb or resist the creeping force, would. appear from the fact that the tendency to creep is most pro- ‘nounced where the supports under the rails are held rigidly, as in bridges. On the Harrisburg bridge, over the Sasquelannc: the Pennsylvania company encountered this difficulty, but arrested the move- ment by spikes through the angle-splices at joints. On the St. Louis arched bridge, and its east approach, there is found a most remarkable example of creep- ing rails. Prof. J. B. Johnson, in a paper read before the Engineers’ club of St. Louis,! discusses this case at length, and offers an explanation. The bridge proper is 1,600 feet long; the east ap- proach, a series of short girders on iron columns, is 2,50) feet long, with a grade rising towards the bridge of eighty feet per mile; both are double-tracked. As it was thought by those in charge of the bridge that fastenings at frequent intervals, to resist the movement, would bring too great a strain upon the structure, the attempt was made to restrain the rails by holding them firmly at isolated points some dis- tance apart, with the result that spikes, bolts, and splice-bars were sheared off or torn apart. After the failure of attempts to arrest the creeping, the track was cut at the two abutments and at the east end of the east approach. The time of eight men (five by day, and three by night) is stated to be largely occupied in changing rails at these points. Where the openings are enlarging, short pieces of rail are taken out, and longer ones put in their place: where the openings are closing up, the process is reversed. . Each operation is performed many times a day, and a careful record is kept, from which the following facts were obtained: the north track, when carry- ing an annual westward traffic of about 5,283,000. tons, moved west on the approach and up-grade 401 feet in a year, and on the bridge moved 264 feet; the south track, under an eastward traffic of 4,807,000 tons, crept east 414 feet on the approach, and 240 feet on the bridge, in the same time. The movement each way on the bridge was proportional to the ton- nage; and the difference on the approach was doubt-' less due to the grade, as the changes of temperature would produce a slipping down hill, as previously stated. Professor Johnson cites some explanations of this case that have been given: viz., the stopping of trains on the bridge; the deflection of the bridge itself by the weight of the train; the distortion of the arch, as a train enters a span, by its curve becoming less convex on the loaded portion, and more convex on the unloaded side, with a reversal of the: distor- tion as the train passes over and off the span, the arch thus slipping under the rails; and, finally, the elastic rolling-out and recovery of the rails under successive wheels, as‘we may imagine a strip of rub- ber to move as a roller is passed over it. He does not think, however, that these causes are sufficient to account for so great a movement, and, in explain- ‘ 1 Journal of the Association of engineering soplation: 2 Novem- ber, 1884. ‘ Ria a laa bottom chord, and a train to enter upon it. -yn Europe. McLENNAN. ‘London, Macmillan, 1885. 345 ing his theory, offers a preliminary illustration. Sup- _ pose a span of a bridge to have supports exactly alike, such as sliding surfaces, at the ends of the The bottom chord is stretched by the action of the load, and, as the end where the engine enters is held fast by the added weight, the other end must slip on its support in the direction of the train movement. As the cars pass off at this latter end, and hold it fast, the lower chord shortens, and recovers itself at the first bearing by slipping towards the train. Thus the bridge creeps in the direction of the moving train. If the points of support were under the upper chord, the direction of this creeping would be reversed. When rollers are placed under one end, and the other is anchored fast, the slip and recovery take place on the rollers, and no creeping results. He notes that between the trucks of every car the rail springs up from the support an appreciable dis- tance, by reason of the elasticity of its bearings, and that, when pressed down by the passage of the rear truck, any marked point on it has advanced a small distance. A wave-motion of the rail may be per- ceived in advance of every wheel, and an increment of forward movement every time a wheel passes. The more cars, the more movement for any train. The rail moves across the bridge by reason of the extension under flexure of the flange on which it rests. In proof of his position, he showed, by a model over which a loaded wheel was rolled, that a rail supported by the bottom flange will creep forwards, and that the same rail, when supported by its head, will creep backwards; and hence he argues that some point of support between the head and the bottom flange may be found, for which the tendency to creep shall. be zero. THE PATRIARCHAL THEORY. In 1861, Sir Henry Maine’s work on ‘ An- cient law’: was published. .In that -work he elearly set forth the importance of ‘legal fictions’ in the development of institutions. In this respect, his work will remain as a. per- manent contribution to the science of society. Inthe same treatise he made an exposition of _the patriarchal theory of the origin of society, which had long been held by a class of writers In his introduction he says, — ‘¢ This evidence establishes that view of the race which is known as the patriarchal theory. This theory is based on the scriptural. history of the Hebrew patriarchs. All known societies were originally organized on this model. . The eldest male parent is absolutely supreme in his household. His dominion extends to life and death, and is as unqualified over his children : The patriarchal theory. - Based on the papers of the late John Ferguson McLennan. Edited and completed by DonaLp 16+365 Re 8°. 346 as over his slaves. The flocks and herds of the children are the flocks and herds of the father. These he holds in a representative rather than in a proprietary character.’ Subsequently ‘ Village-communities in the east and west,’ ‘ Lectures on the early history of institutions,’ and ‘ Dissertations on early law and custom,’ were published, in which Maine still advocated the patriarchal theory. Arguments for this supposed origin of society were derived from the Spraty: of the Romans, Greeks, Hindoos, Celts, T'eutons, Slavonians, and Hebrews. 7 In 1868 the Smithsonian ingaintion published Morgan’s great work on ‘Systems of consan- ouinity and affinity of the human family ;’ and in 1877 his work on ‘ Ancient. society ’ appeared. In these, and in miscellaneous articles published in the reviews, Morgan clearly and fully established the existence of more primitive forms of social organization than those exhibited in the Scriptures and early Roman history. Thus the patriarchal theory fell to the ground. Morgan’s investigations extended far and wide among the lower tribes of mankind, and his work altogether constituted a masterpiece of inductive research. But we now know that Morgan’s work had one blemish. Seeing that the growth of family institutions, which constitute a large part of primitive sociology, was in the main toward a higher state of society as measured by the standard of civilized ethics, he accredited savage peoples with modern opinions relating to physiology, and with a high degree of moral purity, and held that the growth of institutions was due to a conscious effort at reform. While, therefore, Morgan’s theory of the structure of primitive society was established on abundant facts, his theory of the origin of this structure and the cause of its development was unsound. Thus it occurred that a theory of the structure of society resting upon an inductive basis was to some extent discredited because of a priori theories of social and moral reform. Induc- tive conclusions suffered by reason of their association with deductive errors. For these reasons certain scholars in Europe, and espe- cially in England, have to some extent ignored Morgan, and have gone on to re-affirm and elaborate the patriarchal theory. Chief among these is Sir Henry Maine. J. F. McLennan, the author of * Primitive marriage,’ and other works on tribal society, collected a great body of facts relating to marriage by capture, and the interesting for- malities which supervene upon that institution, and from them deduced the theory of exogamy SCIENCE. [Vor. V., No. 116, and endogamy, by which he classified the tribes of mankind into exogamous and endogamous, and thus failed to discover that exogamy and endogamy are correlative parts of the same in- stitution. McLennan was evidently dealing with facts more primitive than those with which Maine was dealing, and, soon discovering the errors into which Sir Henry had fallen in his patriarchal theory, he finally commenced the preparation of a critical treatise on that subject. probably for the purpose of clearing the ground for the more elaborate treatment of his theory of marriage and concomitant theories of tribal kinship. He died before his work was com- pleted. His brother, Donald McLennan, has taken up the subject, and edited the papers, adding new material. .The book which we now have before us is the result, and is a very fine piece of destructive criticism. The entire field occupied by Sir Henry Maine is reviewed ; and the facts from Aryan and Semitic history are carefully examined, and shown to be quite con- tradictory of Maine’s theory. He _ shows, further, that the particular form of patriarchy discovered among the Romans, and which Maine claimed to have been the universal form, was exceptional, and that the Roman tribes presented the sole instance. ‘To American anthropologists this work may seem one of supererogation ; but it will serve a good purpose by clearing the ground of false theories which have had deep root, and have been continually springing up to choke the growth of sounder doctrines. In this new book by the McLennan brothers, the destructive part is much more satisfactory than the constructive: in fact, the critical portion is somewhat marred by erroneous theories relating to primitive marriage, and by some strange blunders relating to kinship, — blunders common to many writers on sociology. It. seems probable that a form of social organization based upon communal marriage was primordial; but, be that as it may, it must here be néglected. It has been estab- lished that a very early form of society was based upon kinship, and that kinship was used to organize peoples into groups of different orders. In the very simplest form, there is always a larger group including two or more ~ smaller groups. In this grouping, kinship of. one kind is used to combine the individuals of a smaller group into a minor body politic, and: kinship of another kind to combine the groups into the larger body politic. ‘Thus the group in its various orders depends upon the recog- nition of different kinds of kinship. To make this plain, it becomes necessary to define APRIL 24,-1885.] the kinds of kinship recognized in primitive society. First, then, kinship by consanguinity and kinship by affinity are clearly distinguished. Then kinship by consanguinity, or ‘ cognation,’ as designated in Roman law, is divided into parts. The consanguineal kindred of any given person may constitute a large body. There may be selected from this body all of those persons whose kinship may be traced exclusively through males. Such kinship was called by the Romans ‘ agnation,’ and the body of included kindred, ‘agnates.’ From the same body of cognates there may be se- lected all those who can trace their kinship exclusively through females. Let such kinship be termed ‘ enation,’ and the body thus con- stituted, ‘enates.’ The agnates and enates together constitute but a part of the whole body of consanguinei or cognates. In all tribal society, either the agnates or the enates are clearly distinguished from the other cog- nates, and organized into a body politic, usually called the clan or gens. | Maine holds in that primitive society agna- tion was the only kinship recognized, and that enation is an accidental and infrequent derivative; that the true course of kinship development is from agnation to cognation. McLennan holds that in primitive society enation only was known; that agnation is an accidental and infrequent derivative ; and that the true course of evolution is from enation to cognation. The fact is, that cognation, including enation and agnation, is primitive ; that is, that no society has yet been dis- covered among the savage tribes still living on the globe, or in recorded history, that has not recognized cognation in its different branches ; and in all cases different kinds of kinship have been used for different organizing purposes. : In the simplest form above mentioned, where the group constituting a tribal state is organ- ized into sub-groups, sometimes the higher group is bound together by affinity and general cognation, while the smaller group has a kin- ship bond of enation. And, again, sometimes the higher group is bound together by affinity and general cognation, while the smaller group is organized on agnation. In either case, the tribal bond is affinity with cognation; and in like manner the clan bond is either agnation or enation. The evidence that cognation has ‘been recognized in all tribal peoples, is com- plete. Nota single tribe has yet been found to ignore it in its social organization; and, in every language that has been investigated, kin- ship terms for it are discovered. The real SCIENCE. his daughters. 347 question, therefore, is not whether agnation or enation is the more primitive, but whether ag- natic kinship or enatic kinship was the tie which bound together the members of a clan or smaller group in the tribal organization. Sir Henry Maine and the McLennan brothers alike have failed to discover this, one of the most patent facts concerning primitive institutions; and this failure has led both parties into the most radical errors. There is another institutional principle which seems to be primordial; at any rate, it is every- where woven into primitive custom-law. This principle will here be called ‘ elder-rule.’ It would seem that primitive men in the savage state, groping for some means to prevent con- troversy and secure peace, hit upon the very obvious expedient of giving authority to the elder; so that, in all the relations of life, superior age should confer authority. There are thus two primordial principles in early law: the first is that kinship by affinity and consanguinity is the bond of society ; and the second is that authority inheres in the elder. ‘These two principles have been worked out in many and diverse ways, and about them have gathered many legal fictions; but they were primordial, and have been universal down the whole course of history, including the highest civilization; so that even now affinity and consanguinity, both agnatic and enatic, together with elder-rule, still continue, — the one as the bond of the civilized family, and the other as its rule of authority. But the history of the application of these principles is long and varied. The Roman patriarchate was defined by agnation; and the group was a body whose kinship was reckoned only through males, and over whom the patriarch, who was the highest male ascendant, was theruler. ‘This ruler had despotic power. He owned his wife, and by legal fiction reckoned her as the elder sister of He also owned his sons, and his sons’ wives, and their children, and was the owner or custodian of all the property be- longing to the group. This is patria potestas. The patriarchy, therefore, is a despotic form of elder-rule exercised by the eldest ascendant over a group of agnatic descendants. On the death of the patriarch, the group was dismem- bered into as many parts as there were sons with families. The patriarchal group, there- fore, was dissolved and re-organized with every passing generation. There is another form of elder-rule, which I shall denominate ‘ presbiarchy,’ in which the ruler is the oldest man of the kinship group, 348 whether that group be agnatic, enatic, or cognatic. Such a group does not necessarily dissolve on the death of the ruler, for the next younger man who is the oldest of the group takes his place. The group, therefore, is com- paratively permanent, and there is no inherent necessity for its dissolution. It may remain as long as there is a living man to act as ruler. Presbiarchy has widely prevailed: in fact, it seems to be primordial. 7 The patriarchy, with its patria potestas, as far as we now know, was confined to the Roman tribes: but the patriarchy without absolutism has been much more widely dis- tributed, and it has probably been associated also to a greater or less extent with presbiarchy, real or fictitious; so that the latter has fre- quently been divided into patriarchies, they being subordinate groups. Maine and the McLennan brothers seem not to recognize presbiarchy; and Maine, wherever he discovered evidences of it, and also where he discovered evidences of any other form of elder-rule, presented them as proof of the existence of the patriarchy. Had the McLennans recognized elder-rule, they could have made their criticism of Maine much more effective. As it is, they have success- fully attacked Maine’s theory by showing that patria potestas has not been widely spread ; in fact, that there is no evidence of its exist- ence, except among the Romans. Maine also bases his theory of the primordial and universal patriarchy upon his theory of agnation ; and, wherever he discovers a recog- nition of agnation, he holds that it is evidence of the patriarchy with patria potestas. The McLennans show that agnation is not the only kind of kinship recognized in tribal society, . by arraying much evidence of the recognition of enation; but they themselves fall into the antipodal error of supposing that enation was the only kind of kinship recognized. Altogether the patriarchal theory of Maine has been successfully overthrown in the work before us, by a re-examination of the very facts adduced in its support; and we owe a debt of gratitude to the authors for the thorough way in which they have accomplished their task. If, now, Sir Henry Maine will on his part as completely overthrow the McLennan theory of exogamy and endogamy, and its con- comitant polyandry, the ground will be well cleared for the development of a sound system of sociology upon the inductive basis estab- lished by Morgan. | Connected with this theory of the patriarchy is Spencer’s theory of ancestor-worship, by SCIENCE. which he accounts for the genesis of theism, - — a theory which ignor es all the facts of savage philosophy, finds an origin for opinions midway in the history of culture, and accounts for later opinions as following in the course of normal development, and for early opinions as degen- eracies. With the final overthrow of the patriarchal theory, the ancestral worship theory has its weak foundation entirely removed. A piece of good destructive criticism here would be opportune. Spencer’s ghost theory of the origin of a dual existence has long been overthrown by ~ Tylor’s grand induction denominated ¢ Ani- mism.’ A good piece of destructive criticism on this point also would be timely. Jt ge PoweELu. LESQUEREUX’S CRETACEOUS AND — TERTIARY FLORA. : Tuts work is the third, and will undoubtedly be the last, of the series of final reports con- tributed by this author to the publications of the U.S. geological survey of the territories in charge of Dr. Hayden, and which together constitute a truly great and enduring monument to the fame of the now venerable paleobotanist. The first of these volumes appeared in 1874, and was devoted to the flora of the Dakota group, the only cretaceous flora then known in the west. The second, a larger work, came out in 1878, and was called the ‘ Tertiary flora ;’ but more than half of it was taken up with species of the Laramie group, by many regarded as cretaceous. ‘The present volume is in the nature of a review of the whole field covered by the two preceding, bringing the matter down to date, and embraces some Pacific-slope miocene localities in addition. The first hundred and twenty pages and eighteen plates are devoted to a revision of the flora of the Dakota group, and the description and illustration of thirty-five new species from that formation. At the close of this division of the work, the author introduces an exhaus- tive table of. distribution, extending it to em- brace the entire Cenomanian fon ae to which he assigns the Dakota group, as well as the middle cretaceous of Greenland. He divides the Cenomanian of Europe into three groups of localities: viz., 1, Moletein, Qued- linburg; 2, Quadersandstone, Harz, Bohemia ; Contributions to the fossil flora of the western territories. Part iii. The cretaceous and tertiary fioras. By LEO LEs- QUEREUX. Report of the U.S. geological survey of_the ter- ritories. F. V. Hayden, U.S. geologist in charge. Vol. viii. Washington, Government ,1884. 12+283p.,59pl. 4°. Aprit 24, 1885.]./ 3, Niederschoena, Saxony, Hungary. Someof these districts are exceedingly vague; ‘ Qua- dersandstone,’ for example. Niederschoena is in Saxony; and Quedlinburg is in the Harz district, at the same horizon as Blankenburg, which is not Cenomanian at all, but Senonian. From all these sources he enumerates 442 species, —a number which is still too small. The Dakota group alone furnishes 195 species. The second division of the work relates to the Laramie group, but does not review its flora. Some dozen additions to it, made by Mr. Lakes at Golden, Col., are described, six of which are new species. Mr. Lesquereux here discusses again the geological position of this group, and, while still insisting upon its eocene character, admits that its flora re- sembles that of the travertines of Sézanne in the Paris basin, but which are known to lie considerably lower than the coarse limestone and lignites that prevail in that district. In his table of distribution he only enumerates 207 species; but the reason for this paucity is his failure to recognize as Laramie the plants described from the Fort-Union group, —the upper Missouri and lower Yellowstone region, and the Bad lands of Dakota. The third division of the work consists of an exhaustive survey of the flora of the Green- River group; and, as this had not previously been done, it forms altogether the most valu- | able part of the treatise. Since the appear- ance of the ‘ Tertiary flora,’ a large amount of material from this formation had accumulated in the author’s hands, out of which he obtained no less than ninety new species. The most fertile source of this material was the small locality in South Park, Col., known as Floris- sant, from which, in a light volcanic ash, also containing insect-remains, an immense number of beautifully preserved specimens of fossil plants have been derived. The other principal localities grouped under the general designa- tion of ‘Green-River group,’ are those of Green-River Station and Alkali-Stage Station, Wyoming; Elko Station, Nev.; and a place reported as in ‘ Randolph county.’ As to this last, as there appears to be no Randolph county in any western territory, it is probable that Randolph courthouse, Rich county, Utah, is meant, which is the same as is otherwise known as Bell’s Fish-Cliff, where fine speci- mens of palm-leaves ard other fossil plants are found. The locality called Barrel’s Springs is also here referred to the Green-River group, although it: appears in the preceding table as belonging to the Laramie group. This is con- fusing, to say the least. SCIENCE. 349 We have not space to show how the floras of these several localities are correlated by the author; but the occurrence of identical and wholly characteristic species in several of them seems to establish their geological synchrony with considerable certainty. ‘This formation is now commonly regarded as eocene; but Mr. Lesquereux, led, as in the case of the Laramie, by the affinities of the flora with that of Europe, insists upon placing it somewhat higher, and calls it ‘ oligocene.’ The remainder of the work is devoted to what is called the ‘ miocene flora.’ So far as the localities on the Pacific slope (Chalk Bluffs and Corral Hollow, Cal.; John Day valley, Ore. ; and Alaska) are concerned, this refer- ence is doubtless correct ; but the large collec- tions from the ‘ Bad lands of Dakota’ belong almost without question to the Fort-Union group, and should have been referred to the Laramie, with which the invertebrate fauna forces us to correlate that group. It is true that this flora has a marked miocene aspect when compared with those of European strata, and that several species seem to have persisted from that period to the present (e.g., Corylus Americana, Onoclea sensibilis) ; but the entire Laramie flora is also strongly miocene, and at least one species (Ginkgo biloba, L.) of the living flora has come down to us seem- ingly unchanged from the typical Laramie of Point of Rocks, Wyoming. Geological considerations aside, this volume is one of the most important that have lately appeared upon the paleontology of western America, and, should it prove his last work, would fittingly crown the long and faithful labors of its justly celebrated author. ANTHONY ANDYBRACKETTS PHYSICS: For many years the English have borrowed or stolen their text-books of elementary phys- ics from the French, and Americans have borrowed or stolen from the English. About a year ago, Daniell produced a distinctly Eng- lish, or rather distinctly Scotch, book of this order. Now Professors Anthony and Brackett have undertaken to remove America’s reproach. Their book is to consist of two parts, of which part i., ‘ Mechanics and heat,’ has already ap- peared. It is a small volume, and in other respects shows a disregard of old traditions. It has numerous diagrams, but hardly a picture. Elementary text-book of physics. Part i. Mechanics and heat. By Prof. W. A. ANTHONY and Prof. C. F. BRACKETT. New York, Wiley, 1884. 9+ 246 p. 12°. 300 It gives almost at the start a short treatment, much shorter than Daniell’s, of simple harmonic motions; and it devotes several pages to the idea and theorems of potential. The subject of air-pumps, and with it much that is wont to make the student miserable, is dismissed after a treatment of four pages. In the chapters devoted to heat we miss the familiar names of Dulong and Petit, and the other pre-Regnault investigators of the phenomena of expansion. The steam-engine occupies one page, without an illustration. Carnot’s cycle, with related matters, fills ten pages. The book is written with great care. Its language is clear and judicious. ‘There are, of course, slight inaccuracies. For instance: the first sentence of article 26 reads as if a point could be located by means of its distance from any one plane. Again: on p. 209 we find it stated as having been demonstrated ex- perimentally by Joule, that, ‘‘ when a gas expands without performing external work, it is not cooled ;’’ the later experiment of Joule and Thomson, which led to a different conclu- sion, not being mentioned. From beginning to end, this volume of Anthony and Brackett grapples with difficult principles boldly and in good faith, as if the authors expected their whole book to be read and mastered. ‘Trigonometry is freely used, and occasionally something that borders on the ealculus. The long experience of the authors as teachers encourages the hope that they have not over-estimated the capacity of college classes; but, excellent as is the matter and the manner of the book, one fears that the ordinary student will find portions of it for- midable. Perhaps it should not be otherwise. Cer- tainly the extraordinary student, who craves strong meat, will find it here, and of the best. So small a book cannot teach all there is to learn: it is not intended to do so. It does not show the whole of physics, but it shows physics as a whole. NOTES AND NEWS. DuRING the opposition of Neptune just passed, Professor Pickering continued the observation of the planet’s magnitude with the meridian photometer of the Harvard-college observatory in the same method as previously employed. Nine series of observations extend from Dec. 16, 1884, to Jan. 21, 1885, the final result from which, when corrected for atmospheric absorption, instrumental error, and reduction to mean opposition, becomes 7.63. The residual difference for only one series is as great as two-tenths of amag- SCIENCE. nitude. The corresponding results for two previous’ seasons are 7.71 and 7.77. Contrary to the experi- ence of Mr. Maxwell Hall of Jamaica, who found evidence for a rotation-period of Neptune in small variations of the planet’s light according to his own observations, Professor Pickering regards it as im- probable that there is any variation in the light of. Neptune of a strictly periodic character, and further calls attention to the influence, much neglected by observers, upon the observed brightness of objects when seen east and west of the meridian on the same night. This has to be taken account of in the observations of maxima and minima of many variable stars, and may to some extent account for — the variations of Neptune’s light detected by Mr. Hall. — Prof. Charles E. Bessey writes to the American naturalist that fifteen years ago there were no dande- lions in the Ames flora (in central Iowa): now they are very abundant, and have been for half a dozen years. Then there were no mulleins: now there are afew. Then the low and evil-smelling Dysodia chrys- anthemoides grew by the roadside in great abun- dance: now it is scarcely to be found, and is replaced by the introduced ‘dog-fennel’ (Anthemis cotula). Then the small fleabane (Erigeron divaricatum) abounded on dry soils: nowit is rapidly disappearing. Then no squirrel-tail grass (Hordeum jubatum) grew in the flora: now it is very abundant, and has been for ten years. Then there was no burr-grass in the flora: now it is frequently found, and appears to be rapidly increasing. Both of these grasses have apparently come in from the west and north-west. Fifteen years ago the low amaranth (Amarantus blitoides) was rather rarely found: now it is abundant, and has migrated fully a hundred and fifty miles north-eastward. This plant has certainly come into the Ames flora from the south-west within the last twenty years. Old settlers say that there have been notable migrations of plants within the past twenty or thirty years. The buffalo grasses of various kinds were formerly abundant in the eastern part of the state: now they have retreated a hundred to a hun- dred and fifty miles, and have been followed up by the blue-stems (Andropogon and Chrysopogon), The blue-stems now grow in great luxuriance all over great tracts of the plains of eastern Nebraska, where twenty years ago the ground was practically bare, being but thinly covered by buffalo grasses. In Dakota it is the same: the blue-stems are marching across the plains, and turning what were once but little better than deserts into grassy prairies. —A principle that may generally be wisely adhered to by reviewers is that notices of books appearing in numbers should not be based on the first number issued; but this can be safely departed from in an- nouncing the preparation of a new (fourth) edition of Meyer’s ‘Konversations lexikon,’ of which the first part appears with imprint of 1885. Sixty-four pages carry it to ‘ Absteigung.’ Abyssinia is allowed six and a half pages, which include liberal reference to sources of information, an essential in all good encyclopaedias. Among the illustrations there are r ' * APRIL 24, 1885.] chromolithographed plates of African tribes and of the.Alps, both finely executed. The work is to run. through two hundred and fifty-six weekly numbers. '—Mr. A. Ainslie Common, well known as the maker of a powerful reflecting-telescope at Ealing, Eng., has been experimenting in the application of photography to the production of stellar maps. A small lens of four inches and a half diameter has been found sufficient to show stars of the ninth magnitude; and one of the photographs of the region about Altair (a Aquilae) was found to contain eighteen hundred separate stars which had been identified. — Messrs. Hachette have just published vol. x. of the ‘ Nouvelle géographie universelle’ of Elisée Reclus, which shows the same amount of care and energy as its predecessors. The maps areas numerous as ever, and the illustrations, near- ly all taken from photo- SCIENCE. 351 — Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, formerly professor of experimental physics at University college, Bristol, has been made director of the Finsbury technical col lege of London. — The Norwegian brig Coulant reports, that on March 21, in latitude 13° 22’ north, longitude 45° 30’ west, the ship was going nine knots under full sail, when she struck something, apparently a sand- bank, and continued striking for halfa minute. The vessel’s speed was reduced to about five knots. The captain had no time to get a lead over, and could see nothing over the sides. At the time a heavy sea was running. It has been suggested that this might have been a submarine earthquake. — The Japan gazette publishes a brief statement from Mr. Gowland, technical adviser to tle Imperial mint. at Osaka, on his ob- servations during a recent journey through a part of graphs, areexcellent. This volume deals with the basin of the Nile, and thus embraces regions in which the public are just now ~ specially interested. Mr. Reclus furnishes full ac- counts of the physical geog- raphy of the country, and of its inhabitants, but very wisely abstains from dis- cussing the political events of the day. The informa- tion has been well brought down to date, documents published as recently as November, 1884, having been consulted. — The Natal Mercantile advertiser gives a lengthy account of the expedition of Dr. Aurel Schulz in the interior. One strange tribe discovered by the party on the Kabengo River, was the Makuba tribe. They are strongly aquatic, taking to the water like fish, splendid fishermen, well built, strapping fellows of Zulu type, expert canoeists, and the corn-growers of the country-side, and, in addition to all this, imbued with a horror of shedding human blood, so much so that a man of the outside blood-shedding tribes is always ‘open to back himself to give battle to fifty Makubas any day.’ Another interesting matter is the account of the chief Kama, whorules at Soshong, the capital of the northern Bechuana. He governs his people well: his great wish is to have them well armed with guns,and provided with ammunition. Alcohol in any shape is not allowed in his dominions. No kafir beer is brewed. Any white trader selling liquor is fined up to a hundred pounds; any subject brewing is expelled from the country. All, from the chief downward, are stanch teetotalers. Kama claims dominions up to the Tyobe River, though those portions do not pay tribute. He gives as much as a hundred and eighty pounds for a horse, and is an expert rider himself. His history is romantic, and will be read with interest when it appears. THE CREVASSE ON THE ROAD FROM LOJA TO ALHAMA, SPAIN. (From L’ Astronomie.) Korea. Hespent ten days at Soul, the capital, and twenty days on the over- land route between that place and the port of Fasan. He did not observe any in- dication of mineral wealth: there were no signs of mines, and nothing beyond doubtful indications of min- eral veins in one or two places. There are no moun- tains exceeding about four thousand feet in highest elevation, and no char- acteristic volcanic cones. The central range was crossed by a pass twenty-three hundred feet above the sea-level. The forests were of no great extent; but very extensive tracts of cultivated ground, evi- dently yielding a large surplus production of rice, barley, and beans, were noticeable throughout. There was a marked absence of any manufacturing industry, or of indications that any thing beyond food-products received attention. The traffic on the roads was very limited, —no signs of wealth, no money, and no for- eign trade. — Views of the devastation caused by the recent Spanish earthquakes still afford material for the for- eign illustrated papers. The cuts here copied are taken from La Nature and L’ Astronomie of recent dates; and the first one, at least, gives evidence of being drawn after a photograph, or from a careful sketch. The fracture here represented in part is de- scribed as being about a mile and a half long, and of considerable but undetermined depth. A church has sunk in it, leaving only the top of its tower above ground. The formation of the crevasses was violent, accompanied by an explosive noise; and, where they traversed villages, escape from ingulfment was by no means easy. A muleteer lost one of his mules in a fracture, and the artists of L’ Astronomie have not hesitated to commemorate this sad occurrence by a 302 view that must be essentially imaginary, —a method of illustration that is unfortunately too common in works on geography. — As the result of a series of observations made at seventeen forest meteorological stations in Prussia, Professor Miittrich has arrived at certain definite conclusions respecting the influence of the forest on temperature, which may be stated as follows: 1. The forest exercised a positive influence on the tempera- ture of the air; 2. The daily variations of temperature were lessened by the forest, and in summer more than SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No. 116. given concerning the waste resulting from this pro- cess.. By actual experiment, Mr. Wray has found, first, that the wet bark which is now allowed to rot in the jungle contains fully 5.7% of its weight of gutta-percha, or, when dried, 11.4%; and secondly, that, by simply pounding and boiling the bark, nearly all this gum may be extracted. From the trunk of a tree, which he estimated to weigh 530 pounds in a wet state, he obtained but twelve ounces of gutta- percha by the ordinary Malay method, whereas, by boiling, 28 pounds more can be obtained; that is,. THE CREVASSE NEAR GUEVEJAR, OPENED BY THE EARTHQUAKES IN SPAIN LAST DECEMBER. (From La Nature.) in winter; 3. The influence of the leafy forest was in summer greater than that of the pine-forest, while in winter the tempering influence of the pine-forest preponderated over that of the disfoliaged forest. An attempt to determine the influence of the forest on the mean annual temperature led to no sure re- sults. — By the present method of extracting gutta- percha, practised by the native Malayans, the tree is cut down, and the bark slit at various intervals, and, after the gum which exudes is removed, the tree is allowed to rot in the jungles. From a paper by Mr. J. L. Wray, jun., curator of the Perak museum, pub- lished in the Journal of the Straits settlements branch of the Royal Asiatic society, some startling facts are for every pound collected, 87 pounds are wasted. It is stated that the export of gutta-percha from the Straits settlements and peninsula in 1875 reached the total weight of 10,000,000 pounds. From this it will be seen that there was no less than 300,000,000 pounds actually wasted, which represents £37,500,000 sterling. This estimate only includes the trunk, whereas the branches, and even the leaves, contain the gum. Such a wholesale waste of a material so vastly important to the world should be at once prevented if possible; and the question naturally arises, Can the bark be broken from the trees, and dealt with in the country, or can it be dried .and sent to Europe to be worked over so as to be a com- mercial success ? | OC PEN CF. FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1885. THE APRIL MEETING OF THE NATION- AL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. THE spring meeting of the national academy always secures a larger attendance of members than that held in the autumn, because the business of this stated session, including the election of new members, is more important. Last week, however, the attendance was not so good as usual, only thirty-seven members being registered. Of these, seventeen were from Washington, and the remainder prin- cipally from Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Haven, and Cambridge. Though lacking in special incident, the meeting was an interesting one; both scientific and business sessions ex- tending over four days, and the papers elicit- ing a good share of discussion. Public and private receptions were not wanting, and the mid-day recess gave excellent opportunities for social intercourse. Though many questions affecting the policy and the development of the academy were discussed with great freedom at the business-meeting, these discussions were not marred by a single note of discord. The trust funds of the academy having been increased during the year by the gift of eight thousand dollars from the widow of the late Professor Lawrence Smith, and in his memory, to encourage the study of meteoric bodies, Messrs. Wolcott Gibbs, Brush, Asaph Hall, Pumpelly, and Rutherford were appointed a permanent committee to administer the trust; and they were also charged with the duty of conveying to Mrs. Smith the thanks of the academy, and its appreciation of her generosity. The award of the Draper medal, made for the first time, was most appropriately bestowed on Prof. S. P. Langley of Allegheny, now absent in England, for his researches and discoveries in solar radiation. The academy was strengthened by the elec- No. 117. —1885. tion of five new members: Prof. E. S. Holden, director of Washburne observatory, Madison, Wis., the chief of the recent Caroline Island eclipse expedition ; Professor Henry Mitchell of the U.S. coast-survey, whose knowledge of the hydrography of our eastern coast is un- surpassed; Mr. F. W. Putnam, the curator of the Peabody museum of American archae- ology at Cambridge; Prof. W. A. Rogers of the Harvard observatory; and Mr. Arnold Hague of the U.S. geological survey, whose work has lain chiefly in our western territories. As the number of home members is now ninety- eight, it is probable that by another year it will reach a hundred, beyond which it will be difficult to pass, on account of the more strin- gent rules of admission which will then come into force. We have only space to mention a portion of the papers, a complete list of which will be found in our notes. Jupiter was the subject of two astronomical papers. Prof. C. A. Young called attention to some changes in the constitution of the ‘ great red spot,’ and to the belt of white spots in the southern hemi- sphere. The period of one of the latter, the upper of a lozenge-shaped series of four, he had found to be 9h. 55m. 12.74 s., and that of an equatorial white spot 9 h. 50m. 9-12s., while that of the great red spot was now 9h. 55m. 13.48. Mr. G. W. Hill discussed the two in- equalities in the moon’s motion due to the action of Jupiter, the theoretical discovery of which is due to Mr. Neison, finding the coefficients for these inequalities smaller than given by Neison; the former’s values being —1.163” and +2.200”, while Mr. Hill obtained — 0.903” and +0.209”. In a paper on the cause of the progressive movement of areas of low pressure, Prof. E. Loomis concluded, that, although in middle latitudes these areas usually follow the course of the winds, the general drift of atmospheric movement could not be looked upon as the cause. Their d04 progress could be compared to that of a great atmospheric wave, the pressure being more steady and persistent on the one side (in this case-the west) than~on the other. Prof. H. A. Rowland exhibited a tabular view of the different values which had been given to the ohm, and criticised that which had received the sanction of the Paris electrical conference as an average derived by giving equal weight to values obtained by’ admittedly unequal methods. By adding to the table of the Paris conference the results reached by the American committee in its investigations, and allowing each result its proper proportional value, he had obtained a column of mercury of one square millimetre section and 106.2 centime- tres high as a satisfactory average, which the American committee therefore recommends. Perhaps the greatest public interest attached to the two papers of Dr. Graham Bell, given on the last day of the session, one on the possi- bility, while at sea in a fog, of detecting by means of echoes the proximity of dangerous objects. Mr. Della Torre and Mr. Bell had experimented by means of a gun and a receiy- ing-trumpet, and had obtained echoes from passing vessels at a distance of from a quarter of a mile to a mile, according to their size. The other showed the results of some experi- ments he had made on the audition of school- children of Washington. He exhibited an audiometer he had devised, in which two flat coils of insulated wire were so adjusted as to admit of separation on a graduated scale meas- uring the distance between their centres. An electrical current, produced by the rotation of a Siemens armature between the poles of a permanent magnet, is passed through one of the coils, and is rapidly interrupted by the rota- tion of a disk, a telephone being attached to the other. The intensity of the sound pro- duced being dependent upon the intensity of the current induced in the coil to which the telephone is attached, and this upon the dis- tance between the coils, a ready measurement of audition is obtained. The use of this instru- ment proved that ten per cent of the more than seven hundred. pupils examined with the SCIENCE. VOL. wi No. 117, 'F) assistance of Mr. H. G. Rogers were hard of __ hearing (in their best ear), and seven per cent had very acute powers; the general © range of audition being measured - on~ the scale by the separation of the disks to a distance of from fifty to eighty centimetres, while the total range was from twenty to ninety centimetres. It is known, on the other hand, that in some institutions for the deaf as many as fifteen per cent are merely hard of hearing. Dr. Ira Remsen brought to the notice of the academy a case in which chemical action was affected by magnetic influence. Placing a test- tube containing nitric acid in the middle of a coil through which a current was made to pass, he found that the action of the acid on a strip of iron placed in it was sensibly lessened, by at least ten per cent, when compared with that of another strip of iron placed in similar circumstances excepting for the absence of the electric current. Dr. Sterry Hunt proposed a classification of the natural silicates which make up a large part of our earth’s crust, di- viding them into three groups, according to their bases, and distinguishing them as proto- silicates, persilicates, and _protopersilicates. These divisions he believed were more natural than those which divided them according to their sensible qualities, or otherwise, and indi- cated genetic distinctions. On the biological side, the papers, while perhaps not so attractive to the public as those already mentioned, were of more than usual’ philosophic interest. Prof. E. D. Cope, in a communication on the pretertiary vertebrates of Brazil, which were referred to the cretaceous, Jurassic, and upper paleozoic, and which con- tained many interesting types, pointed out. also that a single pliocene fauna extended from south of our borders to Patagonia, and that neither eocene nor miocene beds had been dis- covered in South America. In a more elabo- rate paper on the phylogeny of the placental mammalia, based largely on discoveries in the western parts of North America, he claimed, that while many details remain to be worked out, and though their didelphian ancestors had May 1, 1885.] not yet been discovered, the phylogeny of the orders of placental mammals was now undoubt- edly completed in its main features. The phylogeny of the clawed groups has been traced back to a common ordinal form, the Bunotheria, and that of the hoofed groups to the contemporaneous order, Condylarthra ; while at the same time the characters of the feet of the Condylarthra agree with those of clawed placental mammalia, and bind the series together; the anthropoid line may also be traced directly through the lemurs to the Condylarthra. These views were fortified by numerous examples. Mr. 8. H. Scudder gave a sketch of the geological development of the orders of winged insects, in which he claimed that no ordinal differentiation could be detected in paleozoic insects, although all the existing orders were fully developed by the middle of the mesozoic period: he therefore held that we were to look to the triassic period for the most interesting future discoveries in this field. Dr. T. Gill exposed his latest views regarding the orders of fishes, and introduced a specula- tive paper, by Dr. Ryder, on the flukes of whales, which he looked upon as the posteri- orly transferred, hypertrophied, tegumentary elements of the mammalian hind-legs, basing his argument on embryological evidence, and on the anterior transference of the front limbs and girdle in certain mammalia. Dr. J. S. Billings exhibited a series of composite photo- graphs of skulls, and explained the method pursued in taking them directly from the skull ; as also a method of measuring the cubi ca- pacity of crania, devised by Dr. Matthews. This consisted briefly in the rapid use of water instead of shot or seed, after rendering the skull water-tight by closing all the small open- ings with putty, spraying the interior with thin varnish, and embedding the whole skull in putty. Finally, Major Powell read a paper on the organization of the tribe, and the differ- entiation of kinship, distinguishing between agnatic kinship, founded upon brother groups, and enatic kinship, founded upon sister groups. The next meeting of the academy will be held in Albany, beginning Nov. 10. SCIENCE. Bdd LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. Mr. Hampden’s designation of Sir Isaac Newton. ON p. 283 of Science (April 3) it is stated that ‘‘ to call Sir Isaac Newton ‘a fanatical pantheist’ is a happy thought which would certainly not have oc- curred to everybody.’ I trust I shall not incur the risk of identification with the disciples of Mr. John Hampden if I venture to express my conviction that this gentleman does not vituperate Newton when he applies to him a term at once appropriate and just. Surely, if such were my opinion, I should be justified in asserting that the scholium generale at the end of the third book of the ‘ Principia’ reads like the drivel of a cretin rather than a scientific conclusion. While science itself forms a grand and sublime whole, —its only rival and superior being pure reason and sense,— it is nevertheless true that nothing can be more dis- appointing than many of the biographies of physicists, who, even in the most favorable instances, are but little great men. In Locke’s correspondence with his nephew Sir Peter King, we perceive what a delicate matter it was to have any thing to do with Newton in connection with their precious mutual confidences with respect to the mystical and prophetical parts of the New Testament. Hitherto Sir Isaac’s devotion — I may add, fanatical devotion — to theology has never been called in question. His laborious criticism of Dr. Burnett’s ‘Sacred theory of the earth’ deserves a place among other kindred examples of human folly and irrational superstition, its object being to prove that the surface of the earth afforded indubi- table evidences of the truth of the Bible account of creation. M. C. O’ BYRNE. Highlands, Macon county, N.C., April 17. A second phalanx in the third digit of a carinate-bird’s wing. There is not a single adult carinate-bird known bearing two phalanges at the third digit. Jeffries (Proc. Bost. soc. nat. hist., xxi. 301-306) gives the following four families of birds having two phalanges in the first, three phalanges in the second, and one phalanx in the third digit: the Palamedeae, Anseres, Alectorides, and Pyg opodes. The only living bird which has ‘two phalanges in the third digit is the ostrich from Africa (Alix). According to Meckel (Archiv. anat. phys., 1830, 233) and Nitsch (Osteogr. heitr. natury. vogel, Leipzig, 1811, 90), the ostrich pos- sesses only one phalanx in the third digit. The only known bird having four phalanges in ‘the third digit is Archaeopteryx (Dames) from the lithographic lime- stone. It is evident that all birds at a former time had four phalanges in the third digit; and it seemed very probable to me that rudiments of at least one phalanx more than in the adult ought to be found in embryos of the above four families. This probability has been verified by the examination of an embryo of Anas domestica L. (length of ulna 2.5 mm.), where I find a rudiment of a second cartilaginous phalanx in the third digit. I think it not improbable that the rudiment of a third phalanx (if there is really a second one in the third digit) will be found in embryos of the ostrich, which 1 hope soon to examine. Dr. G. BAwa Yale-college museum, New Haven, Conn. , April 24. THE RUSSIAN BASE OF OPERATIONS AGAINST INDIA. Avr Baku, on the Caspian Sea, there stands an old temple, where for centuries a beacon has been kept continually burning by the fire-wor- shippers of India and Persia. The priests in the olden time declared that the light was su- pernatural, the gift of the god of fire. Mod- ern science shows that the supply comes from gas-wells. On one side of this temple are der- ricks and oil-wells ; on the other side, a great stone embankment stretching for over a mile along the seacoast, several hundred steam and sailing vessels, long trains of railroad-cars loading with oil, and a population of fifty thousand where ten years ago were less than fifteen thousand. ‘The Parsee, tending his eter- nal fire, is the emblem of the past: the Russian, with his oil-wells and embankments, his rail- roads and steamboats, is the emblem of the present. From Baku, steamers run north, through the Caspian Sea, to Astrakhan, near the mouth of the Volga; thence up the Volga and Kama to Perm (25 miles by rail from Ekaterinburg in Siberia, whence come the best iron rails and manufactures of iron and steel), up the Volga and the Olga to the neighborhood of Moscow, up the Volea to Ry binsk, whence a canal con- tinues the navigation to the Baltic. On these waters the cotton from Khiva and Bokhara, the oil from the Caspian, the wool from Astra- khan, and the grain from the lower Volga, are borne to the Baltic and the North seas, while material and supplies from all parts of Europe are brought as return cargo. Some of the steamers plying on the Volga resemble our Mississippi steamers, and are as large and commodious: others, two hundred feet long, are fitted with cisterns, into which the oil flows, through pipes from reservoirs at the refineries, at the rate of from a hundred to two hundred tons an hour. Kerosene from Baku has nearly superseded the American oil in Russia, and now competes with it in Berlin and Vienna. From Baku the railroad runs west (561 miles in thirty-six hours), along the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, through Tiflis, to Poti The map published in the present number, to accompany this and other articles, is based upon one issued from the office of the superintendent of the great trigonometric survey of India. The original was mapped on the bases of the surveys made by British and Russian oflicers up to 1881, and was published in Dehra Dun in September, 1881. As slightly reduced here, it represents the territory on a scale of an inch to forty miles. The upper broken red line represents the boundary of the territory in dis- pute as given on the map of which this is the copy; and it also appears in precisely the same place, in the latest reduction of the Russian staff map obtainable in St. Petersburg two years ago; but the lower broken red line indicates what is supposed to be the extreme Russian claim, and does not appear on the original from which the map is taken. SCIENCE. Fe LN a [Vou. V., No. Fi 7 and Batum on the Black Sea. From. these seaports, Russian steamers, the best on the Mediterranean and Black seas, make quick trips to Sebastopol and Odessa; and railroads connect these cities with all parts of Russia, eastern and western Europe. Directly across from Baku (sixteen hours by steamer), on the other side of the Caspian Sea, the trans- Caspian railroad commences, runs to Askabad (280 miles), and is being rapidly extended towards Sarakhs (185 miles from the present terminus). From Sarakhs to Herat is about 200 miles up the river Hari Rud, or Tajand. The construction of a railroad would be more difficult between these places than between Sarakhs and the Caspian Sea; though, as it must follow the line of the river, there would be no obstacles that cannot be easily sur- mounted. Sibi is the present terminus of the Indian railways, though the English government is extending the line 135 miles to Quetta, 470 miles from Herat by the way of Kandahar. This route crosses many rivers and mountain ranges, and will be a difficult and expensive road to build. It requires twice as long for the transit of men and supplies from Sibi to Herat as from Herat to Baku, though the dis- tance is but little more. The Caspian line is the most feasible and shortest route for a railroad from Europe to India. Hours. From London to Berlin . . . « a eee Thence by Breslau and Lembure to Odessa . “4 1g By steamer to Batum.. . .°. «/0) (eee By railto Baku... « ox mn) 0) Seer By steamer across the Caspian . 0 oe 6) ne By-rail to Askabad .. . . -. . tea) eee From London to Askabad! (7 days) . he Thence to India, 1,000 miles,in .... .. 40 Nine days’ running time, if the railroad were in operation, from London to India. . . 212 While from London to Herat, by the Suez Canal and India, is nearly three times as long. The trans-Caspian railroad, from the Caspi- an to Sarakhs, runs in a south-easterly direc- tion, at the foot of a long range of mountains separating Turkestan from Persia. Small streams, every few miles, run down the sides of the mountains into the valley, and are soon lost in the sands of the desert. Wherever these streams appear, there are fertile oases. This desert extends from the foot of these mountains, north-east to the River Oxus, about 500 miles at the Caspian Sea, and 300 miles at | 1 Here ends the present line of jaa SCIENCE 1, 1885.] MAY SDV Vi, WSS Sal KIS ZT TTS ’ u ie, \ IWS 4 a wh, Muss. NX SINE fei OM wt *y H.( MAP TO SHOW THE RELATION OF CENTRAL ASIA AND INDIA TO EUROPE, ° 308 Sarakhs. The rivers Tajand and Murgh-ab run from the mountains of Afghan into the south-western part of the desert, nearly parallel to the Oxus, until they are absorbed by the sands of the desert. The old channels through which they once ran into the Oxus can still be traced. Formerly this desert was a rich, fer- tile land, cultivated by irrigation, inhabited by a vast population, where for hundreds of miles ‘¢ a nightingale could fly from branch to branch of the fruit-trees, and a cat walk from wall to wall and housetop to housetop.’’ The monu- ments of the oid cities are frequently seen by the traveller, half buried in the sand. Now the desert is traversed only by a few wander- ing horsemen, or an occasional shepherd with his flocks, and is sparsely inhabited on the few oases that have been preserved. The great cities of ‘Turkestan are Khiva on the Oxus; Bokhara, Samarkand, and ‘Tash- kend, north of it. The former route from Russia to these cities was by rail to Orenburg on the dividing-line between Europe and Asia (and the termination of the Russian railways), thence across the desert to Kasala on the Aral Sea, then by steamer up Sir Daria (the Jaxar- tes) or through the Aral Sea, and up the Amu Daria (the Oxus). These rivers are navigable only at their flood, and are very dangerous even for the smallest steamers. At other sea- sons the route is all the way across the desert. It is 900 miles from Orenburg to Khiva, 1,100 to Bokhara, and 1,225 miles to Samarkand. and takes fifty days for the caravans to go from Orenburg to Samarkand. aD a, I . > f : d ; I AS pe Brno B a. UO ite gn Cet q Tait 156 Sefall ihe Mis , sate ie Sy, ees SS, 8 i ag Fie Vu AN Us | Gi ara : ai za » wr od no Chee S68 Sf ; eX Hees aay 5 y YF role B® 66 Gord only, arab Bebo Aspér Dara, Kartchino—F TANS * Np, Fa ad I IES IN ZUSSUR : : : y R ANG DR eZ, d j : ‘ es MTT EET aa LATING, y : i * ‘ . Com : wml i Wy “Ae NILE, H USGS L: ‘ Se { : Y , pea SENT) Se is nee Gin Ny SINE, : Day oN ar “i vo ae Ss SS | i ] cA rn SK yi \ Bichidnwdla , aCUJRANWALA : ; oN KEAN MEER » je oe the Ze, we dew Inpudlv. lost: | 3 TspiinwalaKio mah, etc ek E pew Bhar a Mae. ste . : / i Haga Fort t 61° “SOIENCE, May 1, 1885. Re y re A 9 Fee z3 5 3 Reproduced from map issued by the Great trigonometric survey of India. fae 2 cmcivae CEE aie —_ eT ts pepe a test > aa May 1, 1885.] the Khyber and Kuram passes. From Kabul to Peshawar (190 miles), the road leads by the Khurd Kabul or Lutaband passes to the Jagdalak Pass. It was in these narrow defiles that the English army was slaughtered by the Afghans in 1842. Thence by Gandamak and Jalalabad, on the Kabul River, the road runs to Lalpura. There it leaves the river, and follows two mountain streams over the Khyber Pass (3,000 feet), to Peshawar. This route was ‘followed by Elphinstone and Pollock in the first Afghan war; and, now that the terminus of the Punjab railway is at Peshawar, it is the most important route from India to eastern Afghanistan, although Gen. (now Sir Fred- erick) Roberts, in 1879, led his army over the more southern Kuram Pass to Kabul. Kandahar, the great trade-centre of the south, lying on the direct road from India to Herat, is likely to be of more importance in case of a war between England and Russia. It is situated in a small plain between the Arghand-ab and Tarnak rivers, and commands the road through the Tarnak valley, by Ghazni, to Kabul (818 miles). Sir John Keane took this route on his march to Kandahar in 1838 ; Nott marched by it in 1842, to aid Pollock in avenging the massacre of Elphinstone’s ex- pedition ; and it was by this road that Sir Frederick Roberts made his famous march from Kabul to the relief of Kandahar in 1880. The railroad from India to Kandahar leaves the main line from Karachi to Lahore, at Sukkur on the Indus; thence by Shikarpur and Sibi to Rindli, at the entrance of the Bolan Pass. Here the railway stops ; but a good car- riage-road has been constructed, at least as far as Quetta. Unfortunately no bridges were built over the streams, they being crossed by fords ; and this has made it impossible to lay a light military railway along the road. Indeed, it has been stated that a thoroughly built rail- way could not be opened to Quetta in less than two years. Quetta, or Shal, is situated between the head of the Bolan Pass and the Pishin valley. It commands the road, and is there- fore a place of very great military importance. The Bolan Pass and Quetta are in Baluchistan ; but the English acquired by treaty, in 1876, the right to hold and use the pass and town for military purposes, and Quetta is now the most advanced English outpost. The road leads thence through the Pishin valley, and over the Kojak or Gwaja passes to Kandahar. From the end of the railway at Rindli, to Kandahar, is somewhere between 200 and 260 miles. Authority has been given to complete it to the Pishin valley within a hundred miles of Kan- SCIENCE. 361 dahar. ‘That city was occupied by the English from 1839 to 1842, and again from 1879 to 1881. The trade-route thence to Herat, nearly 370 miles away, leads by two strong positions, — Kushk-i-Nakud, the scene of bBurrows’s defeat in 1880, and Girishk, — and over several mountain passes. But the importance of this road, and of Kandahar itself, has been les- sened by the discovery of a much longer, but nevertheless good, route from Quetta to Herat without passing Kandahar. It was by this road that Gen. Lumsden’s Indian escort, over 1,300 strong, and with a train of 1,300 camels and 400 mules, marched at an average rate of eighteen miles a day to meet him on the frontier. Herat (Heri) is situated on a fertile plain, near the river Hari-Rud (river of Heri or Herat), between the western extremities of the spurs of the Hindu Kush, above men- tioned. Its importance, both commercial and strategic, is due to the fact that it dominates the best road from the Caspian by Mash-had, to the Indus by Kandahar. The position of the city itself, from a military point of view, is not good ; because its defences are, as Gen. Grodekoff pointed out, commanded by a neighboring hill. The Hari-Rud rises in the heart of Afghan- istan, and flowing almost due west along the northern base of the Paropamisus Hills, within a few miles of Herat, strikes the Persian fron- tier seventy miles beyond that city, at Kusan. There it abruptly turns north, and, passing Zolfikar, — a name given to a ford, but more correctly, perhaps, to a neighboring pass in the hills, — reaches Pul-i-Khatun. At this point it receives its principal affluent, the Kashaf Rud, from the west. The Kashaf and Hari- Rud, after leaving Pul-i-Khatun, take the name of Tajand, and, passing Sarakhs, become desic- eated in the Turkoman Steppe. The oasis thus formed lies between Merv and Persia, and for this reason has been nearly uninhabited until the recent Russian advance upon Mery. The river Murgh-ab rises to the south of the Paropamisus Hills, and, flowing in a general northerly direction, passes the Afghan strong- hold of Bala Murghab, on the road from Herat to Maimana and Afghan Turkestan; thence it flows by Meruchak (where, according to the Russians, the north-western boundary of Af- ghanistan crosses the river), by Panj Deh and Yulatan, to Merv, where it loses itself in the irrigation canals of that oasis. A few miles below Panj Deh the Murgh-ab receives from the west the river Kushk, which rises to the north of the water-parting not far 362 SCIENCE. from Herat. The road from Herat to Bala Murghab crosses its upper waters. At some point near the confluence of the Murgh-ab and the Kushk the Afghans constructed a small fort called Ak Tepe. The Merv oasis, from just above Yulatan, stretches along the Murgh- ab for nearly sixty miles. Its width is not far from forty miles, and it may be said to be only 240 miles from Herat. A detailed and interesting description of the oasis, togeth- er with a clear plan, is given in the second volume of O’Donovan’s ‘ Merv Oasis.’ It is only necessary to say here that Merv is the converging point of the caravan routes from Persia by Mash-had, to Khiva, at the northern end of the Turkoman Steppe, and to Bokhara and the countries beyond the Oxus. Epwarp CHANNING. WMH KRACES OF CHNTRAL AST: AFGHANISTAN is inhabited by many different tribes and races, of whom the Afghans are un- doubtedly the dominant race; but the extent of their dominion at any one time depends more upon the skill and energy of the Afghan chief or amir for the time being, than it does upon any prescriptive right or tradition. In- deed, there are living at the present moment, in the mountainous districts, non-Afghan tribes which have never been subdued. And the Hazara dwelling on the great central plateau are only tributary to the ruler of Kabul when that potentate is sufficiently strong at home to spare soldiers to collect the tribute or taxes. There is no settled government in the country. The amir’s authority is respected only when he possesses means of compelling respect. Each tribe and clan manages its own immedi- ate affairs through a council of the elders, and in accordance with the immemorial customs of the tribe. The amir is merely a dictator for life; and every attempt, in recent times, to introduce a settled form of government or to establish a dynasty, has been an immediate and complete failure. It is this want of co- hesion among the Afghans themselves that has brought about the interference of the English in their domestic and foreign relations. The true Afghan tribes live in the valleys between Kabul and Peshawar, and Kabul and Kandahar. They are a sturdy, daring people, and are de- scribed as possessing a strong Jewish cast of countenance. This latter peculiarity has in- duced some learned and enthusiastic ethnolo- gists to declare that they, like all other races whose origin is unknown, are the descendants > i [Vou. V., N of the ten lost tribes of Israel. However this may be, they at one time extended their rule to the south of Peshawar, and have been a constant thorn in the flesh of the viceroy of India from the beginning of the century to the present day. : | To show the fluctuating nature of the Afghan dominion, let us briefly trace the history of the country from 1842 to the present year. In 1842 the English abandoned the attempt to force a ruler on the Afghans, and again recog- nized Dost Muhammad as amir of Kabul. Eight years later, that chieftain reconquered Balkh, then the most important town north of the Hindu Kush; and between 1850 and 1860 he extended his rule over the whole of Afghan Turkestan, and reduced Badakshan to the condition of a tributary province. In 1855 he took Kandahar, and thus established his authority in the south. But it was not until 1863 that he captured Herat. Then, for the first time since the days of Timur, there was one supreme ruler in the country. . Two weeks later he died. His son, Shir Ali, suc- ceeded him. But there were many rivals in the field, among them Abdurrahman Khan, the present amir; and Shir Ali cannot be said to have been the undisputed ruler of Afghanistan before 1868. His attention was then directed to persuading the English, in return for valu- able concessions, to guarantee the amirship to himself and his descendants, and also to supply him'with funds with which to raise and maintain an army in the face of the unpopularity his reforms were arousing in Afghanistan. In this he was only partially successful; and in 1878 he turned to the Russians. Gen. Stolietoff was received at Kabul as ambassador, and Gen. Grodekoff was escorted through Afghan Turkestan to Herat, while the English envoy was not even allowed to cross the frontier. War followed; and in a few months Shir Ali died a fugitive at Mazar-i-Sharif. His sec- ond son, Yakub Khan, was recognized by the English as amir; and, upon his signing the treaty of Gandamak in 1879, the English evac- uated the country. By this treaty the foreign relations of Afghanistan were placed under the control of the English, who were to be allowed to send a ‘resident’ to Kabul. Shortly after his arrival, Major Cavagnari, the ‘ resident,’ was murdered. The English again invaded the country, deposed Yakub Khan, and recog- nized his. cousin, Abdurrahman Khan, formany __ years an exile in Bokhara and Samarkand, as" amir. Kabul was evacuated in 1880, and_ Kandahar in 1881. In 1883 the new amir drove Ayub Khan, another son of Shir Ali, a ft A, on 0. 11 wie 4 area A @ ae May 1, 1885.] - out of Herat, and became sole ruler of Af- ghanistan. North of the Hindu Kush, and between that range, the Oxus River, and the Turkoman Steppe, are situated Badakshan and Afghan Turkestan, as the provinces of Kunduz, Khulm, Balkh, Sir-i-pul, Shibirkhan, Andkhui, and Maimana are conveniently called now- adays. The great mass of the population belongs to the Usbeg race, who are of the same Tarki stock as the Usbeg inhabitants of Rus- sian Turkestan. The best account of this part of the world, in recent times, is ‘ Gen. Grode- koff’s ride from Samarkand to Herat,’ trans- lated from the Russian by the indefatigable Charles Marvin. Before 1872, Balkh, near the ruins of the ancient Bactra, was the capital of Afghan Tur- kestan. But in that year the cholera raged there with such virulence that the seat of gov- ernment was removed to Mazar-i-Sharif, a few miles to the east, where is situated, according to the Usbegs, the tomb of Ali. Balkh is now an insignificant village. Gen. Grodekoff spent a couple of weeks of enforced idleness at Ma- zar-i-Sharif in 1878; and to his Russian eyes the Usbegs seemed ready to fall into the arms of the czar, the advance of whose armies, however menacing to Afghanistan and India, has certainly brought order and law to central Asia, and especially to the Usbeg countries of Bokharaand Khiva. Almost nothing is known of the condition of the country at the present time; but the Usbegs assisted Abdurrahman Khan in his struggle against the sons of Shir Ali. That they are more trusted by the Ka- bulites now than in 1878, is shown by the fact, that, while they were then disarmed, an Usbeg corps formed part of the amir’s escort to the recent conference at Rawal Pindi. The origin of the Turkomans is veiled in obscurity ; but it may be stated as certain, that in 1830 the Tekke Turkomans occupied the Akhal oasis, the Sarik Turkomans lived amidst the ruins of Merv, and the Salor Turkomans resided in and around Sarakhs. ‘They were all robbers and slave-stealers, but the 'Tekkes seem to have been by far the most savage and energetic. They flourished, and outgrew the capabilities of the Akhal oasis. A portion split off, and, advancing to the east, settled down on the Tajand. ‘The Persians, in 1833, fell upon the Salors at Sarakhs, and all that escaped took refuge among the Sariks at Merv. ‘The Tekkes then moved on to Sar- akhs, and, as they gradually acquired strength, extended their forays to Khiva, Bokhara, and to every part of Persian Khorassan. ‘This SCIENCE. 363 brought upon them the vengeance of the Per- sians, who, in 1857, drove them from Sarakhs to Merv. As there was not room on that oasis for such a large population, the Tekkes com- pelled the Sariks to move farther up the Murgh- ab. They established themselves at Yulatan and Panj Deh, driving out the Salors, and ac- cording to the Russian general, Petrusevitch, some Afghan nomads who fed their flocks near the latter place. The Tekkes, now masters of Merv, built an enormous dam at Benti, and by means of lateral canals greatly increased the cultivable area of the oasis, until it became capable of supporting a population of not less than a quarter-million souls. From this secure retreat, the Merv Tekkes raided the frontier provinces of Persia and Afghanistan, until - whole districts became desolate. In 1861 a Persian army thirty thousand strong, accom- panied by artillery, was sent against them ; but instead of defeating the Merv Tekkes, the Persians were overthrown, and fully one-half captured and sold into slavery by the Mervli. Atter the Russians had brought Khiva and Bokhara under their dominion in 1873, they abolished slavery in those places, and, by clos- ing their great slave-markets, took away from the Tekkes the incentive to the capture of slaves. The ground put forward by Russia to justify her occupation of Panj Deh and Sarakhs is now clear; that is, if we allow that the Sariks were tributary to the Merv Tekkes. ‘Those of Yulatan undoubtedly were; they could not very well help it, living as they did on the oasis. But the case is not so clear as to the Panj Deh Sariks, who, according to the English and Afghans, pay tribute to Herat. The Russians reply that no tribute is paid except at the point of the bayonet, and therefore, on ethno- logical grounds, Panj Deh should go with Merv. That compulsion is necessary, is certainly true. It is admitted by the Afghans. But the soldier is the tax-gatherer not only of Panj Deh, but of central Asia. In conclusion, it will not be amiss to again point out that all of Afghanis- tan north of the Hindu Kush and its outlying spurs belongs, both geographically and ethno- graphically, to Russian Asia, rather than to Afghanistan. EpWARD CHANNING. THE LEGAL LANGUAGE OF INDIA. In the higher courts of justice and in government administration in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the English language is coming into general use. In 1 Translated from the Oesterreichische monatsschrift fiir den orient. 364 the courts, both written and spoken proceedings are in English. In the examination of native witnesses, and in the reading of documents in the native lan- guage, the judges are allowed interpreters. In other parts of India, however, the provincial language is used, both in legal and in government transactions: thus, in Bengal, the Bengalese is employed; in Behar and the north-western provinces, the Urdu and Hindu dialects; in Madras, the Telugu and Tamil; the official language varying in accordance with the dialect used in each province. In law cases the magistrates have the privilege of declaring which dialect is to be considered legal. English-speaking officers (either Englishmen or natives) can use English in rendering their judgments, etc.; but they must be perfectly familiar with the native tongue, and use it in inter- course with the parties. Everywhere in the cantons, schools are organized in which elementary instruction in the provincial dialects is given: in all the more important places there are schools in which English is taught; and there are a smaller number of colleges in which those higher branches, usually taught in English high schools and colleges, may be studied. Besides these, there are a considerable number of col- leges especially devoted to the study of eastern dia- lects. In this class are the midrassi (Mohammedan theological high schools, in which philosophy and science also are taught), and Sanskrit colleges and schools, a considerable number of which are at present encouraged and supported by the government. The use of the native dialects has always been encouraged by the English government; and in reference to this there has never been any agitation among the native population. But there are numerous associations with the declared purpose of protecting the interests of the natives; and thus it happens that the wishes of government which are in accord with the existence and spread of education among the natives, are at times supported by these associations. Petitions and presentations may be drawn up either in the official dialect of the province or in English. In reality, documents of this kind always receive consideration, whatever language is used. HAULING A STEAMER THROUGH AFRICA. FRom letters of one of the agents of the Inter- national African association, we gather the following account of the transportation of the steamer Le Stanley along the banks of the Kongo from the Atlantic to Stanley Pool. As the rapids in the river necessitated the hauling of this craft over the land, she was divided into nine sections, about eight feet by sixteen, each of which was mounted on a heavy iron wagon, especially designed for the purpose, which required, through the roadless country on level ground, some eighty Zanzibaris each to haul them. It will readily be understood that in such a hilly country considerable difficulty was to be met in managing these wagons; and the transportation has SCIENCE. ‘feet four inches in diameter. [Vou. V., No, 117. not been effected without many accidents. As many as twenty per cent of the-men were generally inca- pacitated for work by broken limbs, or wounds, though only two were actually killed. This is a very small proportion, when the dangers are considered to which these fellows were exposed, which can be best imagined when one thinks of a wagon of iron, loaded with several tons of the same metal, running down a steep hill, almost or entirely beyond the control of its attendants. This down-hill movement was only attempted with some fifty men in front, and two hun- dred behind, exerting all their strength to check the speed. The negroes would always stand by the wagon as long as a white man did; but the minute their white superintendent or commander had let go, they followed his example with alacrity. The wag- ons were steered by three of the Zanzibaris, who, strange to say, always escaped, very possibly owing to their superior agility. On one of the down-hill movements, when a wagon got entirely beyond con- trol, the wheels were broken off, and one was found sticking in the mud, but another was never seen again. Middle Section "ohca ) ete —J Boiler Boiler. Hatch Hatch Elevation Botler Section The steamer, which by this time is probably fin- ished, is a clumsy affair, of great beam and light draught, about sixty-nine feet long. A clear idea may be obtained of the form of the vessel from the accom- panying plans of the section containing the two boil- ers. When finished, the steamer will be eighty feet six inches long, including the wheel, which is at the stern; and about the same beam throughout, except- ing at the bow, which is of course tapering. The boilers are placed at the bow; and the machinery at the stern, acting directly on the paddle-wheel, eight Le Stanley is not a beautiful boat, but will serve a good purpose on the Kongo, where there were only a few steam-launches before her completion. Her capacity is large, and, when loaded, she draws only two feet of water. THE EFFICIENCY OF THE STEAM— ENGINE. Tue results of a series of trials of steam-engines, tested without reference to the efficiency of the boiler, by Mr. J. G. Mair, and reported by him to the British institution of civil engineers,! will repay careful study . 1 Excerpts, Ixxix. parti. May 1, 1885.] and unusually detailed discussion. Mr. Mair has been one of the earliest and most earnest advocates of this system of ‘independent engine-tests,’ and has fol- lowed closely upon the steps of Messrs. Farey & Don- kin, and of Sir Frederick Bramwell, in carrying out this undoubtedly correct method. By this system, the power of the engine, and the distribution and variations of weight of steam in the steam-cylinder, are determined by the indicator in the usual way; while, at the same time, the discharge of heat into the condenser of the engine is measured by introducing a weir at the discharge from the hot- well, and, by the use of properly disposed thermome- ters, calculating from the readings so obtained the number of thermal units of heat-energy thus carried away from the engine. The sum of the quantities of heat carried off, the heat converted into power and utilized as mechanical energy, and the heat wasted in various ways in its passage through the machine, should evidently be equal to the heat re- ceived from the boiler. The latter quantity is usually capable of easy determination; and the power of the engine as shown by the indicator, and the losses in the condensing water, are the other important quan- tities, and these are also readily ascertainable. The comparison thus made.is that of the heat produced at the generator, with the power derived from it; and, this comparison being effected, it becomes easy to calculate, from the data thus obtained, what is the actual efficiency of the engine; what are the wastes, and in what direction they occur; and, finally, in what direction improvement may be looked for, and to what extent it is possible. Mr. Mair’s trials were made with several engines, and in some cases with the same engine under vary- ing conditions. Of the engines tested, one was a single-cylinder beam-engine, one was a ‘ Bull-Cornish engine,’ and the others were Woolf arrangements of the compound engine. With the first of these en- gines, steam was carried at from 56 to 59 pounds’ pressure, measured from vacuum. The speed of pis- ton was from 222 to 240 feet per minute, and the ratio of expansion varied from 2 to 4.83. The steam used was practically dry, containing, by observation, but one per cent of water. The amount passing through the jacket was from 4.4% to 4.9%, except on one oc- casion, when the jacket-steam was entirely shut off. The power of the engine was from 120 to 125 horse- power, as shown by indicator. The proportion of water condensed in the cylinder, up to the point of cut-off, varied from 15% to 30%, as the ratio of expansion increased from 2 to 4.33, and was brought up to 37% at the ratio 3.84 by shut- ting off the jacket. The heat supplied to the engine, measured in British thermal units, varied from 416 to 516 per horse-power per minute; the best work being done, and most economy exhibited, at a ratio of expansion of 3.16. When the jacket-steam was shut off, the consumption of heat amounted to 516 units per minute. The consumption of steam amounted to from 21 to 26.5 pounds per horse-power per hour. The theoretical efficiency was from 25% to 27%, while the actual efficiency was from 8% to 10%, or from 33% to SCIENCE. - the ideal heat-engine. 365 37% of that estimated on the assumption of perfect freedom from wastes other than the necessary thermo- dynamic waste of the perfect engine. Comparing these figures, it will be seen that the cylinder waste amounts, in this engine, to about ten or twelve hundredths the ratio of expansion, in per- centage of the total heat or steam supplied in the cases of trial of the jacketed cylinder. Throwing off the jackets brings up’the waste to a percentage equal to nearly fifteen-hundredths the ratio of expansion. The ‘ Bull-Cornish engine’ is a pumping-engine in which the steam-distribution is effected as in the or- dinary Cornish engine; but the beam is dispensed with, and the cylinder is inverted and set directly over the shaft and pump-rod. It is thus impossible to use safely as large a ratio of expansion as in the common form of Cornish engine, the distribution of weights being less capable of a wide range of adjust- ment. In this case, the engine was worked with 55 pounds’ absolute steam-pressure, at a piston-speed of 244 feet per minute, using dry steam at a ratio of expansion of 1.75. In this case, the amount of con- densation at cut-off was 17%; the power was 175 horse-power; the heat used was about 624 thermal units per minute, and the steam 32 pounds per horse-power per hour; the theoretical efficiency was 23%, the actual 7%, and the latter waS 30% of the former. The ‘Bull-Cornish engine’ is thus seen to be substantially equal to the single-cylinder, jacketed beam-engine in waste by condensation, but, on the whole, to be inferior to the latter in its consumption of heat and of steam under substantially equivalent conditions. The Woolf compound engines were worked with steam varying from 67 to 78 pounds’ pressure, absolute, with piston-speeds from 284 to 868 feet per minute, and at ratios of expansion varying between 10 and 16.5. Their power ranged from 133 to 215 horse- power, and the amount of heat supplied ranged from 296 to 324 thermal units per horse-power per hour. The cylinder-condensation ranged from 24% to 31%, or about eight times the square root of the ratio of expansion, in per cent, of steam supplied. The engines used from 15.12 to 16.6 pounds per horse- power and per hour. The efficiencies, theoretical and actual, were from 25 % to 30%, and from 13% to 14%; the latter quantity being nearly one-half the former. . The consumption of steam, on these trials, is extraor- dinarily low, — the lowest on record, probably, —and should be checked by repeated experiment. On the whole, these reports present the class of data that the engineer greatly needs, both for the purpose of determining the direction and the limita- tions of further improvement of the steam-engine, and for the purpose of securing a more practically applicable theory of the real, as distinguished from R. H. THURSTON. METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. THe Russian meteorologist, Woeikof, known in this country from his share in the final preparation 366 SCIENCE. of Coffin’s great work on the winds of the globe, is one of the most industrious, as well as one of the best, writers among the modern meteorologists. He has lately published a good-sized volume on clima- tology, in Russian, from which a sample chapter on the influence of forests is translated in a recent number of Petermann’s mittheilungen, to which we shall shortly refer. Besides this, the German and Austrian journals of meteorology contain frequent contributions from his study devoted largely to the discussion of the climate of the eastern dominions of Russia. Among these, that on the climate of East Siberia contains many facts of interest, especially in relation to the extremes of winter cold observed at Yakutsk and other low inland stations, where the average January temperature is close about the freez- ing-point of mercury. It is found that the excessive cold that characterizes the long, clear, quiet winter nights of that region is most severe in the low val- leys, while the elevated stations have a distinctly milder winter, although still surely cold enough; so that at this season the air is generally warmer ata moderate altitude above the earth than at its surface. This inversion from the normal decrease of tempera- ture vertically, had already been inferred by Hann to be a characteristic of the cold season of continental interiors, but its best observational proof is now given by Woeikof. It results directly from the ease with which the land cools by excessive radiation in win- ter, while the air which is slower to lose its warmth departs less from its average annual temperature. An example of a similar condition in this country is given in an account of the cold island in Michigan, by Alexander, in a late number of the American meteorological journal. CLOUDS SEEN IN MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE. Millot, secretary of the Meteorological commission of Meurthe-et-Moselle, describes in LZ’ Astronomie some very singular clouds which he observed in the morning of Dec. 18, 1882, directly after a rain-storm and severe squall from the west. Scattered equally throughout the pallio-cumulus rain-clouds were hemispherical grayish pockets slightly elongated, which Millot calls globo-cumulus clouds. They are represented in the accompanying cut. Elfert, in his paper on cloudiness in central Eu- rope, presents statistics of cloudiness from three hundred and nineteen stations scattered generally throughout western Europe between latitudes 39° and 60°, and longitudes 4° and 30°. The stations range in height from near sea-level up to nearly nine thousand feet above. The periods of observation vary from one year to forty or more, and few stations have been occupied for a less period than three years. Statistics of the monthly, seasonal, and annual per- centages of cloudiness are given for all these stations, showing a mean percentage of cloudiness in central Europe, in winter, of 69; in spring, of 59; in summer, of 55; and in autumn, of 64. The mean of the year is 62%. Over the greater part of the area under discussion, the maximum of cloudiness is reached in winter, and the minimum in summer; but in the alpine region these conditions are reversed, while in the low region of Holland and Belgium the maximum is in spring, and the minimum in the autumn. The distribution of the annual cloudiness shows little appearance of design, further than the general fact that cloudiness is more general in the northern than in the southern part of the area. The general tables are succeeded by discussions concerning the relations of relative humidity and of the direction of the wind to degree of cloudiness, and of the relative proportions of cloudiness at different times of the day. The paper is illustrated by maps and diagrams. THE RUSSIAN EMBASSY TO AFGHAN- ISTAN. | THE origin and growth of the present Rus- sian empire are intimately connected with the courses of the great rivers of Russia. Between the White Sea and the Pontus Euxinus, the Baltic and the Caspian seas, the country, total- ly devoid of dominating elevations, bears the character of an extensive lowland, stretching towards the south. Orographically it may be considered as the continuation of the plains of central Asia, with which it is connected. Over this tract of land various Slavonic tribes, the present Russians, have been spreading at a more or less rapid rate, especially in a south- eastern direction. Subjugating those who of- fered resistance, they ever remembered the words, ‘ to conquer, or to perish,’ — the proud device of Swatosloff, their first great leader. Unlike the bloodthirsty Asiatic warriors, them- selves an agricultural people, they were the bearers of civilization, whether they moved toward the north, east, or south. In some directions their progress necessarily had to be slow ; but it has steadily been going on for the past two thousand years. Reise der russischen gesandtschaft in Afghanistan und Bu- chara in den jahren 1878-79, von Dr. J. L. JAWORSKIS. Aus dem russischen tibersetzt und mit einem vorwort und anmerkung- en versehen, von Dr. ED. PETRI, docent fiir geographie und an- thropologie an der Universitat Bern. Bd.i. Jena, Costenobdle, 1885. 12+427 p., illustr. 8°. May 1], 1885.] It is not difficult to comprehend the motives by which, in 1869, Russia was prompted to send her troops across the Caspian Sea; and it is likewise easy to perceive why, nine years later, she sent an embassy to Afghanis- tan, whose voyage is partly described in the volume now before us. The person intrusted with this mission was Major-Gen. N. G. Stol- ettoff of the imperial army. His command consisted of twenty-two Cossacks, a colonel, a topographer, three interpreters, and a physi- cian. The latter, Dr. Jaworskij, who also per- formed the duty of historian, some time ago published two short volumes in Russian, con- taining the results of his observations. The first volume of this work has just been issued in a German translation. Similar to other previous travellers, who have been visitors rather than explorers, the mem- bers of the embassy followed a single track, the shortest from one important point to the next, leaving the country to right and left un- visited. At the time the voyage was under- taken, the existing maps of the country had been mostly compiled from rough and unsci- entific observations. They were necessarily incomplete: places were located miles from their true position, rivers were running up hills, and mountains were set upon plains. Unlike most of his predecessors, Dr. Jaworskij, evi- dently accustomed to observing, had eyes to see, and ears to hear; and his descriptive power is certainly not of an inferior order. Asa physician, he had rare opportunities to observe the family life of the various tribes through whose dominions the track of the embassy passed, and to study habits and customs which would probably escape the notice of the ordi- nary traveller. We watch him with true pleasure, making his preparations at T'ashkend, the place from which the embassy started. We follow him to Samarkand, and thence to Dsham. We get acquainted with the genuine hospitality of the Bokharians, with the mode of life of the members of the embassy while at Karshi, and the ceremonies accompanying the receptions given by the emir of Bokhara. Leaving Karshi, the travellers wended their way across the steppe, to Amu Daria. While attempting to cross the river bearing the same name, they met with serious difficulties, as the Afghans would not permit them to land on their native soil. This obstacle, however, was soon overcome: they were made at home by the officials of Amu Daria, and received a military escort of three hundred men to take them across the desert to Mazar-i-Sharif, where they were welcomed by the serdar, at the head SCIENCE. 5367 of several regiments of soldiers. Notwith- standing all the precautions taken, most of the Russians suffered severely from the local malarial fever, which induced them to leave their quarters sooner than their suspicious hosts had originally anticipated. Accepting an invitation, tendered them by the emir Shir- Ali-Khan, to come to Kabul, they set out for that place after a fortnight’s sojourn. Kabul was to be the terminus of their voyage. Passing the valley of the Amu Daria, of which the author gives a graphic description, which may be considered a brief monograph, the travellers followed the banks of the Khulm. They then moved through Dere-i-Sendan, termed a glen in the narrative, but which, ac- cording to the account (p. 231), appears to be a regular extensive canon, with perpendicular walls of an average height of about five hun- dred feet. Unfortunately, Dr. Jaworskij does not seem to have paid much attention to the geological features of the country traversed, for his observations in this respect are more than meagre. ‘To go into the interesting details of the voyage to Kabul, would exceed the limits of these columns, and we therefore have to refer the reader to the volume itself. It may suffice here to state that the first mountain pass crossed on the way to Bamian was that of Tshembarak ; but we cannot omit mentioning the description of the vast caves in the Bami- an valley, and the colossal stone images, rep- resenting human figures, which adorn their entrances. These rude statues, hewn out of the native rock (a conglomerate, according to the author), with which they are still connected by their backs, vividly remind us of the sculp- tures of Easter Island. ‘They are represented on the plate facing p. 280. The entrances to the caves open between the legs of these images, which are loosely draped, and whose sex remains doubtful. It would be of interest and importance to unveil the true character of the dark round spots scattered over the appar- ently perpendicular and projecting narrow sur- face, which reaches from the ground almost to the broken-off elbow of the largest figure on the above-named plate. Until better informed, we should feel inclined to consider them as so- called cup-cuttings. Having traversed the Sefid Khak, the last mountain pass to be crossed, the embassy, on approaching the goal of their voyage, were met by a vesir, who gave them a warm, broth- erly welcome. He embraced the general and his officers, placed his saddle-elephants at their disposal, and escorted them to Kabul, where spa- cious quarters had been provided for them b¥ 368 order of the emir, who sent word that he would be happy to receive them. The day following the friendly reception, the Russian ambassador examined the presents sent by the governor- general of Turkestan to be delivered to the chieftain, and found to his great dismay that they consisted of almost worthless things. According to the author, they were shabby to behold, and beyond the most indulgent criti- cism. Gen. Stolettoff, anxious to prevent the reputation of his country from being dam- aged by a fraudulent governor, selected three of his best horses given him by the emir of Bokhara. He had them provided with richly ornamented Bokharian saddles, with brocade blankets, and the officers cheerfully added their silver tea-set, most of their plate, some costly fire-arms, and various other valuable objects. The emir graciously accepted these oifts, sending in return 11,000 rupees, which, after some remonstrance, had to be accepted by the Russians in order not to offend the princely donor. During their sojourn at Kabul, two events of importance took place. ‘The heir to the throne of Afghanistan died after an illness of only a few days. In consequence thereof, the para- graph in the projected Afghano-Russian con- vention, that ‘‘ the imperial Russian govern- ment recognizes Abdullah-Dshan as heir to the throne of Afghanistan,’’ was changed as follows: ‘*The Russian government is ready to recognize as heirs such persons as may be nominated by Emir Shir-Ali-Khan.”’ Shortly afterwards the emir received the unexpected message that an English embassy was under way to pay their respects to him, and that he should receive them ‘‘ according to the usage of hospitality becoming to a good neighbor of India.’’ This piece of news was surprising, for two years previous the emir had entirely fallen out with the English. Under these conditions, he could by no means receive the embassy. Like a good diplomate, he used the recent death of his son as a pre- text, and informed them that he was in mourn- ing; but to no effect. The English insisted upon being received. After holding a con- sultation with the Russian general, he sent them the only possible answer : he emphatically declined to receive them. On the 11th of August, Gen. Stolettoff, ac- companied only by the author and a number of Cossacks, suddenly left Kabul. Twenty days later, they again reached Samarkand, after an absence of almost fifteen months. The rest of his staff had been directed to remain at st to await further orders. SCIENCE. [Vou.: Vi,/No. 12%" We regret that we can dwell no longer upon this interesting and timely work, but we hope that we shall soon have an opportunity of reviewing the second volume, which has not reached us. We wish the translator might have displayed a little more artistic taste. That he has performed his work with minute correctness, cannot be denied; but his Ger- man style is by no means elegant. Sentences like the following, -— ‘ Ich wollte furchtbar schlafen,’ or ‘* Sie werden sich zerschlagen ’ (p. 187), — remind us too vividly of the idiom used by Senor Pedro Carolino in his ‘ English as she is spoke.’ It is true that he states in his preface that he had attempted to render: his translation as correct as possible; but we are far from even admiring the language of his introduction. We are, however, indebted to him for a better track-map than the one in the original, though the orthography of the names in the text does not always agree with that on the map. THE RUSSIANS AT THE GATES OF HERAT. No higher compliment could be paid to Mr. Marvin’s little book than the fact, that, within ten days after it appeared, it formed the basis of leading articles on the Afghan dispute in nearly all the principal papers in the country, and in most of them without any acknowledg- ment. No one but a man who had made a most careful study of the subject could have condensed so much, and such timely, infor- mation in such small space and on such short notice. The preface bears the date of March 23; and the book gives the clearest possible insight into the progress of Russia’s advance from the Caspian during the last few years, the purpose and aim of her movements, the origin of the boundary dispute, and its con- dition on the date named. With the aid of this book, the telegrams in the daily papers become clear and intelligible, and any one can follow the development of events hereafter with a clear understanding of them. Mr. Marvin has passed a considerable part of his life among the Russians, and under- stands their language. While he is naturally alarmed at Russia’s progress, and opposed to her intentions, yet he writes in a calm and moderate tone. He always strives to be just, and comes as near being so as is possible when one is a party to a controversy. In his inter-— By CHARLES MARVIN. 10+185 p., illustr. — The Russians at the gaies of Herat. ie York, Charles Scribner’s sons, 1885, Gn ; May 1, 1885.] course with the Russians during the last five years, he has gained a clear conception of what is the real object of Russia’s advance across central Asia, and he is the first to ex- plain it in the English language. It can be summed up in the phrase of Gen. Skobeleff: *¢ Russia does not want India, she wants the Bosphorus.’’ It is England that maintains the Turk on the Bosphorus, and _ prevents Russia from taking it: hence Russia seeks a position from which she can threaten England with disaster, if she continues her opposition ; and this position is on the frontier of India. To suppose that any body of Russians has ever seriously contemplated the conquest of India, is a mistake; but it is a fact, that the great mass of the Russian army firmly believes that England holds India by a feeble tenure, that a small force of Russian troops could cause an uprising in India which would over- throw the English rule, and that, when Russia possesses certain points on the Indian frontier from which it can injure the English, the latter will come to terms about the Bosphorus. These ideas first began to spread in Russia after the Crimean war, but they received a tremendous accession in consequence of the action of England in 1878. Their chief advo- eate was Skobeleff, who had taken part in several of the campaigns in central Asia, and was marvellously familiar with the Asiatic question in all its bearings. In pursuing this advance to the borders of India, Russia has acted on two lines; and Mr. Marvin dwells at length upon this fact, so as to avoid the confusion which vague notions of geography have caused in England. ‘The first line, which was followed from 1863 to 1876, was from Orenburg south-eastward across Turkestan. This movement practically ceased with the conquest of Khokand or Ferghana, and the virtual subjugation of Bokhara in 1876. It gave Russia a territory about as large as France, Germany, and Austria com- bined, added something to her trade, and brought her armies to the base of the lofty mountains in the eastern part of Afghanistan, and only 300 miles from the north-west proy- inces of India. The second movement began in 1879. Its starting-point was the eastern shore of the Caspian (about a thousand miles south of Orenburg), where Russia had gained a foot- hold ten years before. It has progressed, with extraordinary rapidity, eastward through Turkmenia, or the country of the nomad Turkomen, lying between Persia and _ the desert on the north. It reached Merv, six SCIENCE. 369 hundred miles from the Caspian, in 1884; and this year it was nearing Herat, when the English took alarm, and endeavored to fix a limit by marking the boundary of Afghanistan as the line which could not be crossed except as an act of war. These two movements have therefore attained their full development; and the object of them is accomplished, for Russia is now practically on the borders of India, ready to strike a vigorous blow whenever the moment seems propitious. She has a line of railway and steamboat all the way from St. Petersburg and Moscow to a short distance behind her advance post at Panj Deh; and she can move half a million men against Herat with far more ease and safety than she moved them into Turkey in 1877. And from Herat there are no physi- cal obstacles to prevent a march on India; for, according to Mr. Marvin, one can drive a coach and four all the way. This is in brief the situation of affairs to-day, as delineated with the utmost lucidity in Mr. Marvin’s excellent little book. He accuses Russia of bad faith in her movements: so have France and other nations accused England in the past, until ‘ perfidious Albion’ has come to be a by-word. Such accusations, and the arguments in support of them, count for little with disinterested spectators. What they de- sire to know are accomplished facts, and it is in the presentation of these that the merit of this book consists. Few people, even among those who have tried to follow this trans- Caspian movement, have realized what it has already accomplished, and how pregnant it is with great events for the near future. What was scouted in parliament only four years ago as an idle dream, is to-day a reality, an exist- ing state of affairs. It finds the English un- prepared, undecided, bewildered, as to their proper course. In front of them is a nation which they have succeeded in converting into their inveterate enemy, patient, crafty, deter- mined, with a clear understanding of its own intentions, and a willingness to make any sac- rifices in support of them. If England will agree with her about the Bosphorus, Russia will be at peace, and even retire from central Asia: if not, a terrible war must ensue, not necessarily now, but in the near future, —a war in which all the advantages of position will be on the side of Russia. The probable result of such a war is a matter of the widest specula- tion, and no one can foretell it. It is enough now to know and understand the existing state of affairs, and this Mr. Marvin has enabled us to do. 3710 TIFLIS AND BAKU. Arter having laboriously waded through half a dozen of the ponderous tomes with which English travellers—and American too, for that matter —conscientiously afflict man- kind, it is really a pleasure to take up this light, and we fear ephemeral, narrative of the exploits of Mr. Orsolle. To be sure, there are few dates and no statistics in the volume. Neither are there any pictures, not even a portrait of the author. There is a map, but as it was evidently drawn to illus- trate a condition of affairs considerably ante- rior to our author’s journey, and as no attempt seems to have been made to adapt it to the book it accompanies, it is of little use; nev- ertheless, it is a good map, in its way, and, a few years ago, might have been regarded with a more favorable eye. It was in July, 1882, that Orsolle said good- by to his mother, and made the best of his way to the ‘gare du nord,’ where his trav- elling companion, M. Ad. Nihlein joined him. Thence by Cracow, Odessa, and Sebastopol, he proceeded to Poti, where he arrived on the 14th of August. From Poti, at that time the Black-Sea terminus of the Caucasus railway, he journeyed to Tiflis. His description of the latter place occupies a dozen pages, and will well repay a cursory perusal. At Tiflis he left the railroad, and travelled in the manner of the country, which he found much more agreeable than did O’Donovan, to Kars, the ruins of the ancient city of Ani, of which a plan is given, and Erivan. ‘Thence, by a route not to be traced on the ‘Carte pour le voyage de M. Orsolle,’ he found his way to the Tiflis- Baku railway, and eventually to the Caspian itself. There are many descriptions of Baku in the books, but none so interesting as this. M. Orsolle does not tell us how many gallons of oil are refined per hour, nor does he go into the details of the use of the refuse products of that distillation on the Caspian steamers. He gives no information on such points; but he does tell us what Baku is like, who its den- izens are, and how tuey eat, drink, play, bathe, and exist. We say exist, because, judging from this description, it is a bare existence that the Bakunians lead in their naphtha-soaked town, which, he says, is destined to become the Marseilles of the Caspian. The remainder of the book is devoted to Teheran and north-western Persia, and pos- sesses no especial interest at the present time. Le Caucase et la Perse. Par E. ORSOLLE. Paris, Plon, 1885. SCIENCE. tM haat, NOTES AND NEWS. TuE following is a complete list of the papers read at the meeting of the National academy of sciences, April 21-24:—J. S. Billings and Dr. Matthews, U.S.A., Methods of measuring the cubic capacity of crania; S. H. Scudder, Winged insects from a paleontological point of view; A. 8. Packard, The Syncarida, a hith- erto undescribed group of extinct malacostracous Crustacea, The Gampsonychidae, an undescribed family of fossil schizopod Crustacea, The Anthra- caridae, a family of carboniferous macrurous decapod Crustacea, allied to the Eryonidae; Alexander Agas-_ siz, ‘The coral reefs of the Sandwich Islands, The ori- gin of the fauna and flora of the Sandwich Islands; T. Sterry Hunt, The classification of natural silicates ; Elias Loomis, The cause of the progressive move- ment of areas of low pressure; C. B. Comstock, The ratio of the metre to the yard; C. H. F. Peters, An account of certain stars observed by Flamsteed, supposed to have disappeared; J. E. Hilgard and A. Lindenkohl, The submarine geology of the ap- proaches to New York; Theodore Gill, The orders of fishes; J. W. Powell, The organization of the tribe; G. W. Hill, On certain lunar inequalities due to the action of Jupiter, and discovered by Mr. E. Neison, E. D. Cope, The pretertiary Vertebrata of Brazil, The phylogeny of the placental Mammalia; C. A. Young, Some recent observations upon the rotation and surface-markings of Jupiter; H. A. Rowland, On the value of the ohm; F. A. Genth and Gerhard vom Rath, On the vanadium minerals — vanadinite, endlichite, and descloizite — and on iodyrite, from the Sierra Grande Mine, Lake Valley, N. Mex.; A. N. Skinner (by invitation), On the total solar eclipse of Aug. 28, 1886; Theodore Gill and John A. Ryder, The evolution and homologies of the flukes of ceta- ceans and sirenians; Ira Remsen, Chemical action in a magnetic field; A. Graham Bell, The measure- ment of hearing-power; A. Graham Bell and F. Della Torre, On the possibility of obtaining echoes from ships and icebergs inafog. The following biographi- cal notices of deceased members were also presented : of Dr. J. J. Woodward, U.S.A., by J. S. Billings; of Gen. A. A. Humphreys, U.S.A., by H. L. Abbot; and of William Stimpson, by Theodore Gill. — Ata recent meeting of the Bavarian geograph- ical society, Professor Rutzel communicated some particulars concerning a map which he is designing to show the political circumstances of Africa; the actual limits of the various states, native and other, . being defined according to the extent of the territo- ries actually possessed by each. The map will show several ‘centres’ of state formation. The whole of the continent is, however, far from being divided amongst the existing tribes, as there are many dis- tricts which do not belong to any of them. The ex- isting native states, moreover, such as the Sunda and the Zulu kingdoms, are of varying importance, and subject to very different systems. The native states, it is asserted, rest mainly on the boundary be- tween the Sahara and: the Sudan, the high plateau of east Africa, and the Guinea coast. The remain- May 1, 1885.] ing territories, so far as they are not occupied by European powers, are free from any form of state rule or possession. — Bouquet de la Grye is ordered by the French ministry of instruction to proceed to Teneriffe, in order to study the laws of gravitation under all the circumstances for which the Peak offers facilities. — Dr. Pechuel Lésche reports curious changes in the physical geography of Africa: ‘‘ Lake Ngami is dried up; the game has died or gone away; the vegetation exists no longer; both the Okavango and the Tamakan flow into the Zambezi.’’ Dr. Pechuel Lésche returns to Europe with rich collections, in- eluding a living Welwitschia, perhaps a new species of that curious plant. — Dr. Lenz will leave Vienna in May for the upper Kongo, whence he will endeavor to cross the old equatorial province of Egypt in order to establish relations with Emir Bey and Lupton Bey’s party. — Dr. Silvers of Hamburg, who left that town in October, 1884, on an exploring expedition to the Cor- dillera of Merida in Venezuela, arrived at Tovar on Jan. 9, and from there will commence his explora- tions. — The Sémaphore de Marseille reports a method of sugar-manufacture which is to supersede beet-root by potatoes, the saccharine matter being extracted by the help of electricity. Paris capitalists, and even English, are reported to be interested in the inven- tion. — The Marine biological association of England has already raised six thousand pounds of the fund required to found a station on the south coast of England, but requires four thousand pounds more before beginning to build. Cambridge has under- taken to raise five hundred pounds. — A correspondent of the Oesterreichische monats- schrift fiir den orient writes, that if the reports of the few parties who have succeeded in gaining personal knowledge of the interior of the celestial empire did not agree in the fact that a kingdom of four hun- dred million inhabitants awaits the products of Eu- ropean factories, which will be opened to commerce by the introduction of modern means of intercourse, the beginning of the development of European in- dustries in the interior, as evidenced in the last few years, would awaken immediate and serious anxiety for the future of the English trade. Led by their position, Hong-Kong and Shanghai are setting a good example in this direction to the other places which come in contact with European civilization. Hong- Kong has at present three large sugar-refineries, a spirit-distillery, a cordage-mill supplied with modern machines, and an ice-factory. Besides these, there are large glass and iron works, and an arrack-distil- lery, in course of construction; while the Chinese carry on woollen and cinnabar works in great style and with modern improvements. In Shanghai, to the establishments which have existed for several years, there was added, a few months ago, a new one of considerable importance,—the paper-factory of the SCIENCE. 371 Shanghai paper-mill company, which makes common and medium fine papers out of rags. This factory, established by Umpherston & Co. of Leith, and quite up to time in its plant, produces, on an average, two tons of paper a day; and laterthe production will be increased. It is under European direction, and em- ploys only Chinese workmen. — With a view to effectually prosecute marine fish- culture on sound scientific principles, the English national fish-culture association has under considera- tion a scheme for carrying out a series of observations on the temperature of the sea at various stages, in order to obtain a more thorough and concise knowl- edge of fish, their habits, food, ete. Thermometers for this purpose will be distributed to those selected for observers under certain rules and regulations. — From experiments carried on by the French com- mission for the scientific study of firedamp, it is found that the most violent explosion takes place when there are 13 parts of air to 100 of firedamp, and that above or below this the explosion diminishes in violence. When the mixture is below 7 parts in 100, or above 18 in 100, the gas simply burns with its char- acteristic blue flame. The singing noise often heard in mines is ascribed to the escape of gas from many minute cavities; while it must exist in some places in vast quantities, as is witnessed by its use for illu- minating-purposes. — Prof. J. A. Ewing of University college, Dundee, has communicated a paper to the Royal society, which contains several points of immediate practical im- portance. He finds, for example, that the ‘ dissipa- tion of energy’ by reversal of magnetism is very much smaller in soft iron than in hard iron or steel, and even in the latter its amount is trifling; so that the principal part of the heat which is produced in the cores of electro-magnets must be due chiefly to other causes than the ‘ static hysteresis,’ or static lagging action observed by Professor Ewing, and is, in fact, due almost wholly to the induction of so-called Foucault currents in the cores. The effects of this action are also almost entirely removable by vibrat- ing apiece of soft iron during the application and removal of magnetizing force, and the iron is then found to possess almost no retentiveness; but, when the application and removal of magnetizing force are effected without mechanical disturbance, the reten- tiveness of soft iron is found to be even greater than that of steel. In some cases ninety-three per cent of the whole induced magnetism of a piece of annealed iron was found to remain on the complete removal of the magnetizing force. Examples were given to show that the influence of permanent set in the curve of magnetism is so marked as to give a criterion by which a strained piece may be readily distinguished from an annealed piece of metal; and that strain di- minishes very greatly the magnetic retentiveness of iron. — Capt. Hoffmann of the German navy has pre- pared a valuable pamphlet on ocean-currents (Zur mechanik der meeresstromungen an der oberflache der oceane, Berlin, 1884), which gives a better 372 general presentation of theory. and fact than any work we have seen. The value of the winds as the chief motive force, and the inefficacy of gravity brought into play by changes of temperature, are clearly made out, so far as surface-currents are con- cerned. The part played by the deflective forces coming from the earth’s rotation is also well stated. So long as the surface-waters are brushed along by the wind in any given direction, the tendency to depart from this direction is practically overcome by the wind itself; but, whenever the waters set in motion by the wind enter a region of calm, they at once begin to describe the ‘inertia curve,’ —a line whose radius of curvature decreases with the sine of the latitude. Already in latitude 5°, this radius of curvature for a velocity of one metre a second is only forty-two and a half nautical miles: hence, when the South-Atlantic current runs into the region of calms just north of the equator, its waters will quickly turn to the right, easily falling into the power of the south-west monsoon of that region, and so forming the Guinea current, and, during the northern summer, the equatorial counter-current as well. The author therefore concludes, that, after the winds and the configuration of the coasts, the diurnal rotation of the earth must be recognized as the most important factor in determining the existing system of ocean- currents. — Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. of London an- nounce ‘ Under the rays of the aurora borealis, in the land of the Lapps and Kvaens,’ — an original work by Dr. Sophus Tromholt, edited by Mr. Carl Siewers. The book contains an account of the work of the recent circumpolar scientific expeditions, and an ex- position of our present knowledge of the aurora borealis, to the study of which the author has de- voted the greater part of his life. — The second session of the summer course of bot- any at McGill college, Montreal, will be opened to ladies on Tuesday, May 5. The course, which will be in charge of Professor Penhallow, will continue for seven weéks. It is designed to give practical instruc- tion in general morphology, including the analysis and study of Canadian plants as found in the vicinity of Montreal. Instruction will also be given in his- tology with the microscope. —In the annual report for 1884, of Prof. G. H. Cook, state geologist of New Jersey, there is a de- scription of some remarkable recent changes in the condition of the land near South Amboy. A forest of common timber, such as oak and chestnut, stand- ing on land ten or twelve feet above high-water mark, was cut down, and the underlying sands to a depth of twelve feet were stripped off preparatory to taking out the stoneware clays below; but, before reaching the latter, a swamp deposit a few feet thick, with white-cedar trees embedded in it, was passed through 5 - and at the bottom of this, standing in the clay, were several oak stumps, at a level two feet below the adjacent salt-marsh, which is overflowed by high tides; and near the stumps there was a log about a foot in diameter, eight or ten feet long, that had been cut with an axe. There is no tradition telling of the SCIENCE. burial of this forest, but it must have been less than two hundred and eighty years ago. deposits are well shown in the excavation. clay; then the black swamp-earth, and its small cedars embedded therein; finally the overlying plain of sand and gravel, with its late growth of upland timber, — with this, there is good evidence that the ground, which was formerly high enough above the level of the sea to sustain a growth of upland timber, is now so low that every tide could cover it with salt water. Some valuable figures are given in illustration of the superposition of glacial drift on unconsolidated — tertiary clays, and of the columnar trap-rocks and water-bearing sands. The Green-Pond Mountain rocks, which were thought triassic by Rogers, and which were regarded as Potsdam in the earlier reports of the present survey, are now placed in the middle Devonian. The crystalline rocks of the Highlands, which have been called Laurentian on the strength of their lithological. characters, are here prudently called simply archaean, in the absence of sufficient evidence to correlate and identify them. — Major.-Gen. Sir F. J. Goldsmid has an article in the April number of the Contemporary review on Russia and the Afghan frontier, The gist of the article is, that the apathy with which the English government and people have hitherto watched the Russian advance from the Caspian towards India is due to a lamentable ignorance, on their part, of the geography and topography of central Asia. ‘This is undoubtedly true; but how far the remedy proposed by the gallant general would be a remedy, is an alto- gether different matter. — The Royal medals of the Royal geographical society, says Nature, this year were awarded to Mr. Joseph Thomson and Mr. H. E. O'Neill; to the former for his well-known work in Africa, and to the latter for his thirteen journeys of exploration along the coast and in the interior of Mozambique. The Murchison grant for 1885 was awarded to the Pandit Kreshna for his four explorations made while attached to the survey of India, and especially for his extensive and important journey in the interior of Tibet. The Back grant went to Mr. W. O. Hodkinson for his Australian explorations, and the Cuthbert Peek grant to Mr. J. T. Last for his surveys and ethnological researches in the southern Masai, Nguru, and other neighboring countries. The following were made honorary corresponding members: Chief-. Justice Daly, president of the geographical society of New York; Mr. Elisée Reclus, the eminent geogra- pher ; and Herr Moritz von Déchy, the distinguished Austrian explorer of the Sikkim Himalayas, the Cau- casus, and other regions. — On the night of the 5th of April, the steamship Nurnberg, in latitude 49° north, longitude 18° 307 west, during a very heavy storm from west-north- west, had mast-heads and yard-arms lighted with St. Elmo’s lights. It was raining and hailing at the time, and the barometer showed 29.19. A ball of fire ex- ploded during the storm, with a loud noise, ee to the explosion of a gun. — [Vou. V., No. 117. oe eae A ak The successive Theclay at the bottom; the old oak forest in the soil on this — SCTENCE. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. IN ALL BRANCHES of science where the ob- server deals with the forms of objects, it is more or less desirable that an average of the shapes of the objects should be attained. This end has hitherto been sought through a system of measurements, which is at best a clumsy method, suited only to determine the average of some single dimension ; for, where it is the aim to present to the eye a normal or typical form, it is quite incompetent to serve the desired end. So far the beautiful method of composite photography devised. by Francis Galton has only been applied to the human face, with the single exception of Dr. Billings’s experiments in craniology : if it can be carried into no other fields, it will still remain one of the most im- portant contributions to the graphic resources of science. But the naturalist who has felt the need of this resource in various directions is drawn to consider how far its use may be extended to other branches of inquiry. It seems at first sight that there may be use for it in obtaining the normal or average form of all objects which do not depart too far from a mean shape. It may be that the zoologist or botanist who wishes to present a picture giving the normal aspect of a variable species, can, by selecting for delineation individuals of the same size, present to the eye a composite combining the general features, and neglecting the individual variations. In this way we shall be able to give to the term ‘ normal form’ a definite and valuable meaning which has hitherto been wanting. It will also be re- membered that the late Professor Agassiz laid particular stress on form as the under- lying element of ‘family’ structure among animals; and this would seem to offer an opportunity to test experimentally the view held by the great naturalist. No. 118 — 1885, It may also be hoped, that, in certain lines of inquiry in the inorganic world, this method of graphic averaging, this Galtonizing process, if we may so term it, will be of great use. Yet, important as are the prospects for the extension of this method of delineation to other fields of inquiry, its greatest use must be in the. study of the human body. There this admirable process is full of promise. It may, for instance, be possible to secure an average picture of our school-children at different ages, which will give us a new measure of their con- dition, and so help us in what is perhaps the most important branch of social inquiry. The effect of occupations, and the results of dif- ferent methods of physical culture, can also be accurately compared. It may be serviceable in testing the action of different systems of training on young soldiers, as also the influence of their accoutrements on the form of the body. So, too, the effects of certain diseases on the bodily form may be ascertained, to the great gain of medical science. Indeed, the possi- bilities of this method crowd on the mind. Practice may show limits to its use, and will doubtless do much to overcome certain difti- culties evident at the outset of the work. The charming composite photographs for which we are to-day indebted to Professor Pumpelly show the admirable results which may be obtained, and at the same time some of the critical difficulties of the process. No one can look upon them without a new respect for that shadowy thing called the normal man. There is a singular dignity in these combined shadows: they are strong faces, those of high- browed, deep-eyed, earnest-looking men, fit for all sorts of trials. But most of those who review the faces of American men of science will recognize that in figs. 2 and 3 one face appears, curiously, to dominate all the others, yet which, taken by itself, is perhaps the most ree individual of all those contained in the plate. It would be interesting to know what effect on the composite its absence would produce. This element of what we may perhays call prepotency is most likely to disturb these com- posite delineations ; for, though in itself a very interesting phenomenon, it seems to be. some- what of an obstacle in this use of the new art. With this great contribution of Galton well in hand, we may at length hope that we shall be able to enter upon the study of that unex- plored realm of the human face, and physiog- nomy become a tolerably exact science. Some such process as this seems to offer the only chance of obtaining valuable generalizations in this field of inquiry. THE CITIZENS’ committee of Montreal, formed to arrange for the entertainment of the British association last summer, has every reason to be congratulated on the success of its enter- prise. Not only was the meeting a marked success in every point in which the citizens’ committee had power to contribute to it, but the report presented at its final meeting a fort- night ago showed with what care it had em- ployed the funds intrasted to it. Parliament granted $20,000 toward passage-money to the British members ; and this was so carefully ex- pended and accounted for, that there remains a considerable sum (about $2,600) to cover in to the treasury, — a new experience for a par- liamentary grant of this sort. The Dominion government further voted $5,000 for general ex- penses, the corporation of Montreal an equal sum, and the citizens subscribed $4,580.97. This, too, has been managed with such care, that, apart from the expenses of the meeting, the committee is able to publish an edition of fifteen hundred copies, largely for gratuitous circulation, of a volume of economic papers, and then have on hand a surplus of $1,500. This the committee recommended should be given to McGill college in recognition of, and partial compensation for, its liberality in pla- cing the building and grounds of the university at the disposal of the association. This was SCIENCE. voted with the understanding that it should be” . used in some special way, such as for prizes - or scholarships, to commemorate the meeting — The success of the work of the committee was be- _ lieved to be largely due to the excellent judg-— . of the British association in Montreal. ment and unwearied.service of Mr. D. A. P. — Watt and Lieut.-Col. Crawford, to the former | of whom his associates presented a pleasing «; memento. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The ° writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The ontogeny and phylogeny of the hypo- glossal nerve. It cannot be otherwise than gratifying when two investigators, travelling along entirely distinct paths, unknown to each other, find themselves suddenly brought face to face upon the same stand-point. Haeckel’s dictum, that the ontogeny of any form is a _ brief recapitulation of its phylogeny, is continually receiving confirmation, and, taking into considera- tion cenogenetic modifications, may be accepted as a dogma. of any form or organ which has been deduced from embryological data is also to be deduced (and that, too, - independently) from comparative anatomical studies of adult forms, there are strong reasons for its ac- ceptance. A case of this kind has occurred quite recently. Since van Wijhe’s interesting and important obser-- vations on the mesoderm segments of the elasmo- branchs, the view that the hypoglossal nerve’ has been derived by a separation of fibres from the ven- tral roots of the vagus .has very generally been ac- cepted. In a paper very shortly to appear in the ‘Studies from the biological laboratory of the Johns Hopkins university,’ an entirely different view wl be supported. From a comparative study of the origin and ils’ tribution of the anterior cervical nerves in’ the various orders of the class Pisces, I have been led to the conclusion that the post-occipital nerves, as they may be termed, of Amia and other ganoid forms, are comparable to the anterior cervical nerves of the elasmobranchs, and in the teleosts and mar- sipobranchs have passed backwards, and become in- corporated with the first spinal nerve. The apparent first spinal, therefore, represents three nerves. Inthe urodelous Amphibia, one finds, however, an arrange-. ment more similar to what obtains in the elasmo- branchs, there being in the anterior spinal region ~ — three distinct nerves, whose combined distribution “resembles very closely that of the first spinal nerve of the teleosts, and may therefore be considered its equivalent. In the Anura there is a reduction in the number, the first nerve disappearing, or fusing with the second, so that two nerves here fulfil the function of the original three. forms there is no true hypoglossal, this nerve making its appearance in the Sauropsida. terior spinal nerves of the urodelous Amphibia, © Sot If, then, a theory as to the past history” | In all these ichthyopsidan From its distribu- tion, it is apparently homologous with the three an- re May 8, 1885.] a result of these comparisons, it may be concluded that the hypoglossal nerve of the Sauropsida and Mammalia is not a separation from the anterior roots of the vagus, but is formed by the coalescence of a number — probably three — of anterior spinal nerves. Since the completion of my manuscript, the last number of the Archiv fiir anatomie und physiologie has been received; and therein is a paper by Professor Froriep of Tubingen, dealing, among other things, with this very point as to the origin and morphological relations of the hypoglossal. His observations were carried on by means of sections through very young sheep and cow embryos; and he was able to perceive that the hypoglossal at an early stage consisted of three distinct parts, which eventually unite; the union occurring first near the origin of the nerve, and proceeding centrifugally. To emphasize the similarity between Froriep’s results based on embry- ological data, and my own deduced from anatomical facts, it will be well to quote a sentence from his paper. In summing up, he says, ‘‘ The hypoglossus is formed by the union of a number of segmental spinal nerves, each of which is composed of two roots, —a ventral and a dorsal, — exactly like spinal nerves.’’ J. PLAYFAIR McMuURRICH. Johns Hopkins university, Baltimore, Md. The Wisconsin bill relating to the instruction of deaf-mutes. In Science (vol. v. p. 324) you state, that, until the present year, no special provision had been made in Wisconsin for the education of deaf-mutes. This is a mistake. The Wisconsin institution at Delavan, one of the best in the country, has been in successful operation since 1852, and two private schools are also in existence. The returns of the recent census, how- ever, have shown that a large number of the deaf children of Wisconsin are growing up in ignorance, and that existing provisions for their instruction are inadequate. The bill that has just passed the Wis- consin legislature is an attempt to remedy the evil by a change in the policy of the state towards her deaf and dumb. The new plan may be tersely described as the policy of decentralization. The old policy of centralization—that is, the policy of collecting into one school all the deaf-mutes of a state — has everywhere failed to bring under instruction a large proportion of the deaf-mutes of school age. For example: there were in the United States in 1880, according to the last census, 15,059 deaf-mutes of school age (six to twenty years); while the total num- ber of deaf-mutes returned as then in the institutions and schools of America was only 5,393, and many of these were beyond the school age. A similar re- sult is obtained when we examine the statistics of each state taken separately. Parents have a natural reluctance to part with their deaf children, who, more than others, require home care and attention. But education in an institution involves separation from home. Some parents will not part with their children excepting on compulsion ; others delay the separation until the most impression- able period of life has been passed; and still others deprive their children of education on account of the value of their labor at home. The nearer the school can be brought to the home of a deaf child, the less likelihood is there that he will escape instruction. The promoters of the Wis- consin bill believe that in many of the incorporated cities and villages of that state the deaf children SCIENCE. 375 could, with limited state aid, be educated in the loca]- ities where they reside; and that, if day-schools were established wherever possible, the institution at Del- avan would be able to accommodate all who could not attend a day-school. The bill grants state aid to any incorporated city or village supporting a school for deaf-mutes, to the ex- tent of a hundred dollars per annum for every pupil instructed. ‘The state appropriation alone will prob- ably be sufficient to provide a teacher for a school of four or five deaf children; but even a school contain- ing only one deaf child, which, of course, would have to be supported mainly from local sources, may, by complying with the provisions of the bill, receive state aid to the amount of a hundred dollars per an- num, Under such a law, there should be no excuse for lack of instruction. Public opinion will probably compel the education of deaf-mutes: for, if allowed to grow up without instruction, they very easily be- come dangerous members of society; while, if edu- cated, they become good citizens, amenable to the laws of society, and sources of wealth to the state. If only as a measure of economy, the Wisconsin bill demands consideration; for the average per capita cost of the education of a deaf child in an American institution exceeds two hundred and twenty-three dollars, whereas the cost to the state, on the Wiscon- sin plan, is limited to a hundred dollars. But other considerations are of still greater im- portance. It certainly seems reasonable to expect that the Wisconsin plan, consisting of a central institution and a large number of small day-schools scattered throughout the state, will bring under in- struction a larger percentage of the deaf children of school age than would be possible on the institu- tion plan alone. Instruction can also be com- menced in the day-schools at an earlier age than heretofore; so that many pupils could receive pre- paratory instruction in a day-school before entering the institution, and thus be enabled to receive from the institution a higher and better education than they could otherwise hope to obtain. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL. Washington, D.C., April 27. A complete fibula in an adult living carinate- bird. The only known bird with a complete fibula is the Jurassic Archaeopteryx (Marsh, Dames). The fibula of all birds is complete during the early life of the embryo. I find in an adult Pandion carolinensis of Prof. O. C. Marsh’s collection an entire fibula, but with the distal end of it not in front of the tibia, as in Archaeopteryx (Marsh). It would be interesting to examine the embryos of this bird; and I will be very much obliged to anybody who can send me any of them. Dr. G. BAUR. Yale-college museum, New Haven, Conn., April 24. Digestion experiments. I have read with some surprise the comments by Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant in Science, April 24, upon my article on ‘ Errors in digestion experiments,’ inas- much as I had no intention, in that article, of assert- ing or implying any thing whatever in regard to other experiments of that character in this country. The purpose of the article was to call attention to the 316 rather large possible errors of the results of such ex- periments; and for that purpose I used the material nearest at hand. In order, however, to prevent any further misapprehension, I desire to say that I fully concede Dr. Sturtevant’s claim to priority; although, owing to the fact that the bulletins of the New-York station are to be had at first hand only through the press of that state, I was not aware, at the time my results were first published (Bulletin No. 3 of the agricultural experiment-station of the University of Wisconsin, June, 1884), that he had anticipated me by three or four weeks. I fully appreciate his remarks regarding the value of recognition, on the part of science, of scientific work at experiment-stations, and should regret ex- ceedingly to seem to fail of doing whatever in me lies to secure such recognition. The field of agri- cultural science is too wide, and the workers in it far too few, to justify any professional jealousy. H. P. ARMSBY. Madison, Wis., April 30. Tertiary phosphates in Alabama. Since the publication of my two notes in Science last year, respecting the occurrence of phosphates in the cretaceous formation of this state, we have found that they occur also at at least two distinct horizons in the tertiary formation. This formation in Alabama shows the following well-marked subdivisions, given in descending or- der: — Vicksburg 175 (?) feet, Jackson . 60 fe Claiborne. 150 3 Claiborne, Buhrstone . 175-200 x Lignitic 1,000 2 The upper of these two divisions consists mainly of limestones, called throughout the country, and by Professor Tuomey, the ‘ white limestone.’ The lower division consists of sands and clays, which make up the greater proportion of the thou- sand feet or more of the strata of this group; but in- terstratified with these are five or six, and perhaps a greater number, of beds holding marine shells, the aggregate thickness of which may perhaps be given at a hundred feet. Mr. D. W. Langdon, jun., of the state geological survey, while on a collecting tour for Mr. T. H. Al- drich, made the discoveries to which this note is in- tended to call attention. At Nanafalia, on the Tombigbee River, there is a remarkable series of beds, over fifty feet in thickness, made up almost entirely of the shells of a small oyster (Gryphaea thirsae). At intervals throughout this thickness are projecting indurated ledges, hold- ing the same shells, but forming a tolerably compact rock. A specimen from one of these hard ledges, one or two feet thick, has been analyzed by Mr. Langdon, and found to contain 6.7% of phosphoric acid. Other parts of the Gryphaea beds may be similarly phosphatic, but no analyses have yet been made to show it. This Nanafalia marl, which occupies a position nearly in the centre of the lignitic subdivision, occurs SCIENCE. White limestone of Tuomey . Lignitic and flatwoods of Hilgard, [Vor. V., No. 118, sey also on the Alabama River, at Gullette’s and Black’s Bluffs, and crops out between the two rivers in the, lower part of Marengo county, where its presence is. indicated. by limy. spots, or ‘prairies,’ of very great, fertility. This mar] contains also a very considerable percentage of greensand, and, apart from the phos- phoric acid which it contains, would have become a valuable fertilizer. The other phosphate-bearing horizon is in the lower or Jackson division of the white limestone. At the base of the orbitoidal limestone which. forms the greater part of the bluff at St. Stephen’s,. Mr. Langdon finds a hard ledge of rock holding. Plagiostoma dumosa, and immediately beneath this, and extending fifteen feet down to the water’s edge, a glauconitic marl holding numerous nodules or concretionary masses of phosphate of lime, — an occur- rence quite similar to that of the nodules in the cre- taceous beds at Hamburg in Perry county, described last year. Mr. Langdon’s analysis of the greensand mar! holding the nodules shows 0.6% of phosphoric acid, while a sample of the nodules analyzed con- tains 22.68 % of phosphoric acid. On the opposite side of the river, in Clarke county, similar materials have been collected and analyzed. A greenish glauconitic sand, occurring some three or four miles north of Coffeeville, contains 1.76% of phosphoric acid. Fifteen or twenty feet above this marl, there is a yellowish-brown loam holding soft yellow nodular masses varying in size from one inch to eighteen inches in diameter, and containing 2.74% of phos- phorie acid. This loam is probably formed by the disintegration of the Jackson limestone, the age of Oligocene. Calcareous Claiborne of Hilgard, 1 | Siliceous Claiborne of Hilgard, > Eocene. | J the stratum being indicated by the specimen of Plagi- ostoma dumosa which it contains. i Again: near Grove Hill, in Clarke county, one of my students, Mr. S. S. Pugh, has collected a number of phosphatic nodules which contain 19.48 % of phos- phoric acid. Where the argillaceous limestones of the Jackson age form the surface, they give rise, in their disinte- gration, to the rich limy or ‘prairie’ soils which characterize my ‘Lime Hills’ region,! which occurs over a good part of the counties of Choctaw, Wash- ington, and Clarke. It is more than probable that the exceptional fertility of the soils of this region is in great measure due to the presence of these phos- phates. In the upper part of the white limestone (Vicksburg), I have not yet been able to detect any unusual proportion of phosphoric acid. In this connection it may be interesting to note that Mr. L. C. Johnson, of the U.S. geological survey, has traced the extension of the Alabama cretaceous. phosphate beds into Mississippi, along the line point- _ ed out by me in one of my notes above referred to. The occurrences in Mississippi are quite similar to — those already described in this state. EUGENE A. SMITH. — University of Alabama, April 20. 1 Report on cotton-production in Alabama, p. 52. May 8, 1885.] PROGRESS OF THE LICK OBSERVATORY. SoMETHING like a year ago, we reviewed the policy and operations of the Board of trustees of Mr. James Lick’s bequest of about four mil- lions of dollars for objects patriotic, charitable, and scientific, directing due attention to the conservative management of the estate, show- ing the utter folly of the attacks which have from time to time been made upon their official actions, and giving the best of reasons why all interested in the administration of this trust should uphold the board in the continuance of the policy which they have seen fit to adopt. The cessation of these impolitic hostilities is a matter of noteworthy significance, because of the relations of the bequest to the Lick ‘ob- seryatory, and the other scientific objects which Mr. Lick thought worth gaining. The trustees’ first work — the construction of the great observatory on the summit of Mount Hamilton — has been prosecuted with such vig- or during the past five years, that its comple- tion at a definite epoch in the near future appears now to be a matter of certainty. It is only possible to say this because informa- tion has just been received from the glass- makers, Messrs. Feil and Mautois of Paris, that all serious difficulty in making the disk of crown-glass for the great telescope has at dast been surmounted, —a difficulty which has already delayed the beginning of the opti- cians’ work nearly three years, and has per- mitted the trustees to advance the remainder of the observatory to a finished state. The opticians now hope to be enabled to begin their labors upon this great object-glass by next August or September, and to complete their part of the contract within two years’ time. This encouraging condition of affairs has been brought about largely by the recent action of the trustees themselves, who, desir- ing to complete as soon as possible their task of constructing and equipping the observatory, and finding that all further progress was con- ditional upon getting the necessary disk of glass, despatched a responsible agent to the eastern states, where he could be in consulta- SCIENCE. 377 tion with prominent astronomers, and in ready communication with Paris. The results of this action have been very satisfactory, and will enable the trustees to sketch the important outlines of their plans for future and final operations on the moun- tain. The fact that the glass is now to be ob- tained with reasonable certainty, has prepared the way for determining the size of the dome which will be required to cover the telescope when finally mounted. This building is already in process of erection, and will consume all the attention of the superintendent of construction for the next two seasons. ‘The dome will have an interior diameter of seventy-three feet ; and the telescope itself, whose exact length cannot yet be defined within narrow limits, will proba- bly be fully sixty feet long, while, with the monster spectroscope attached, it may reach a length of nearly seventy feet from end to end. Aside from this important end of secur- ing the data necessary to avoid the entire cessation of work upon Mount Hamilton this summer, the agent of the trustees has also personally inspected the mountings of the great domes at Charlottesville, Washington, and Princeton, including the smaller ones at Harvard, Amherst, Columbia, and other col- leges ; and, on his return to San Francisco, he will report to the trustees on the information he has obtained, and recommend that plan for constructing and mounting the great dome which appears likely to insure in every way the best results. Any competent person who will take the trouble to consider the problem of building this dome from an astronomical and engineering point of view, will readily appreciate the nature of the obstacles to be overcome; but the eminently satisfactory ar- rangements devised, and already put into suc- cessful operation at this mountain observatory, will goa great way toward inspiring confidence in whatever form of dome the trustees finally decide to adopt. In an early issue, we shall place before our readers an account of the Lick observatory and its work, together with a fully illustrated description of the site, build- ings, and instruments. 3718 SCIENCE. COMPOSITE PORTRAITS OF MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. - Tuosr of the members who were present at the Washington meeting of the academy last spring will remember, that, at the request of Professor Brewer and myself, they sat for their separate photographed portraits for the purpose of obtaining an experimental composite picture. Professor Baird kindly offered the facilities of the photographic department; and the pictures taken by Mr. Smilie, the photographer in charge, bear the same stamp of excellence that char- acterizes so generally the work of that depart- ment of the national museum. As only one or two previous attempts, I believe, have been made to produce composites in this country, I will state briefly what they are, and how they are made. The idea in its broadest sense was conceived and applied by Francis Galton for the purpose of obtaining an average or type. portrait; i.e., a picture that should show the features that are common to a group of individuals, and exclude those that are purely individual. It is clear, that, in proportion as this result is attainable, the method will be of value in obtaining a clear conception of the external characteristics of any given type or class. Galton reminds us, that, during the first days of a traveller’s meeting with a very different race, he finds it impossible to distinguish one from another, without making a special effort to do so: to him the whole race looks alike, excepting distinctions of age and sex. ‘The reason of this is, that, by short contacts with many individuals, he receives upon his retina, and has recorded upon his memory, a com- posite picture emphasizing only what is com- mon to the race, and omitting the individuali- ties. This also explains the common fact that resemblances among members of a family are more patent to strangers than to the relatives. The individuals entering into these com- posites were all photographed in the same position. ‘Two points were marked on the ground glass of the camera; and the instru- ment was moved at each sitting to make the eyes of the sitter exactly coincident with these points. The composites were made by my assistant, Mr. B. T. Putnam, who introduced the negatives successively into an apparatus carefully constructed by himself, and essentially like that designed by Mr. Galton, where they were photographed by transmitted light. The arrangements of the conditions of light, etc., were such that an aggregate exposure of sixty- two seconds would be sufficient to take a good picture. What was wanted, however, was not an impression of one portrait on the plate, but of all the thirty-one; and to do this required — that the aggregate exposure of all the thirty- one should be sixty-two seconds, or only two seconds for each. Now, an exposure of two. seconds is, under the adopted conditions, too short to produce a perceptible effect. It results from this, that only those features or lines that are common to all are perfectly given, and that what is common to a small number is only faintly given, while individualities are imper- | ceptible. The greater the physical resem- blances among the individuals, the better will be the composites. A composite of a family or of near relatives, where there is an under- lying sameness of features, gives a very sharp and ‘individual- looking picture. It would be difficult to find thir ty-one intel- ligent men more diverse among themselves as regards facial likeness than the academicians entering into this composite. They are a group selected as a type of the higher American intel- ligence in the field of abstract science, all but one or two being of American birth, and nearly all being of American ancestry for several gen- erations. The faces give to me an idea of per- fect equilibrium, of marked intelligence, and, what must be inseparable from the latter in a scientific investigator, of imaginativeness. ‘The expression of absolute repose is doubtless due to the complete neutrality of the portraits. Fig. 3 contains eighteen naturalists and thir- teen mathematicians, whose average age is about 52 years. Fig. 1 contains twelve mathe- maticians, including’ both astronomers an physicists, whose average age is about 51% years. Fig. 2 is a composite of sixteen natur- alists, including seven biologists, three chem- ists, and six geologists, with an average age of about 52% years. I may mention, as perhaps only a remark- able coincidence, that the positives of the mathematicians, and also of the thirty-one aca- demicians, suggested to me at once forcibly the face of a member of the academy who belongs to a family of mathematicians, but who hap- pened not to be among the sitters for the com- posite. In the prints this resemblance is less strong, but in these it was observed quite in- dependently by many members of the academy. So, also, in the positive of the naturalists, the face suggested, also quite independently to myself and many others, was that of a very eminent naturalist, deceased several years before the sitting for this composite. There is given also a composite (fig. 4) of SSS PAMAAAMANNHMAAY SS PAR aa al Fic. 3.— THIRTY-ONE ACADEMICIANS. Fie. 4. — TWENTY-SIX FIELD-GEOLOGISTS, TOPOGRAPHERS, ETC. COMPOSITE PORTRAITS OF AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC MEN. SCIENCE, May 8, 1885. May 8, 1885.] a differently selected group. Itis of twenty- six members of the corps of the Northern transcontinental survey, — an organization of which I had charge, and the object of which was an economic survey of the north-western territories. It was a corps of men carefully selected as thoroughly trained in their respec- tive departments of applied geology, topog- raphy, and chemistry, and having the physique and energy, as well as intelligence, needed to execute such a task in face of many ob- stacles. The average age of this group was thirty years. RAPHAEL PUMPELLY. MORTALITY EXPERIENCE OF THE CONNECTICUT MUTUAL LIFE-IN- SURANCE COMPANY. THERE is a popular superstition, almost uni- versal among our transatlantic cousins, and widely spread in our own country, that Amer- icans are shortening their days by hard work, and inattention to the laws of healthy living. Our readers may remember, that, when Mr. Herbert Spencer first arrived in this country, he immediately began lecturing us on this sub- ject. No surer test of this question can be found than that of mortality statistics, because those who insure their lives belong princi- pally to the very class, who, according to the superstition, are most actively engaged in their own extermination. The tables recently pub- lished under the above title are therefore of great interest. The fulness of detail, and vari- ety of form, in which the results are presented, facilitate their discussion. It therefore seems worth while to point out the most interesting results obtained. The fact thus brought out is, that at the very ages when mortality from over-work should most powerfully show itself, namely, from thirty to sixty, the American’ mortality is more than one-third less than the English, as shown by the combined experience table, and is constantly diminishing. There are, however, reasons why we should not expect the death-rate shown by the expe- rience of a life-insurance company to coincide with the rate amongst the community at large. Insured lives are not taken at random from the community, but form a select body. Only a limited class possess the foresight and interest in the future which would induce them to in- sure their lives. Out of that limited class, the insurance company selects only those whose viability is free from serious doubt. This selection, of course, tends to result in the in- sured class having better lives than the com- SCIENCE. 379 munity at large. There is, however, a tendency in the opposite direction, which may be opera- tive to a limited extent. A person who has reason to suspect his viability will have a stronger motive to get insured than one who does not. There is, however, no evidence that this cause has resulted in the lowering of the standard among the insured generally. One result of the selection exercised by the company is obvious, and has frequently been pointed out by writers on the subject. Out of the class of men with good constitutions, the company selects only those who are, for the time being, in good health. With those who are going to die, symptoms of disease fre- quently appear weeks, months, or even years before actual death. The probability of a healthy person dying within the year following his examination by the life-insurance company is therefore less than the probability that he will die in the second year; and this, again, is still less than the probability that he will die in the third year. It has commonly been sup- posed that three years would have to elapse after the examination, before the probability reached its normal point. It is remarkable that the table now before us exhibits this effect in a much smaller degree than usual. The death-rate during the first two years of insur- ance is less by perhaps ten per cent than the general rate at all ages. During the third year it is actually less than during the second. Instead of attaining its maximum at the end of the third year, it continues to increase, and it does not reach the regular curve until the sixth year. It would seem that while the company gains a certain advantage during the first five years, through its privilege of selection, that advantage is far less during the first year than would have been supposed, and far less than common experience has hitherto shown it to be. Another remarkable result, which we wish had been explained more fully, is the extraor- dinary death-rate among the younger class. This is more strongly shown among natives of the United States than among the insured at large. From the age of twenty-one to ninety, the death-rate follows the table of mortality very closely, but is uniformly from fifteen to twenty per-cent less than the tabular rate. But among native Americans, between the ages of seven and twenty, the rate is forty per cent greater than that given by the American table. The actual number of those who died was forty- seven, while the table gives only thirty-three deaths. The case is rendered yet more strik- ing by the consideration that the mortality of the American table at the early ages is greater 380 than that of the combined experience table of the English companies. Above the age of thirty, the American mortality is decidedly less than the English, while at the earlier ages it is greater. The American table shows a maxi- mum of advantage over the English experience about the age of fifty. The deaths at this age are about one in seventy-three by the American table, while the English table gives one death in sixty at this age. The experience before us greatly increases this discrepancy on the two sides of the Atlantic. At the age of fifty, the Connecticut company has only one death in ninety-three, against the numbers just stated for the English and American tables respectively. Perhaps the case is seen in the strongest light by remarking that the actual mortality at the ages from thirteen to twenty has been apprecia- bly the same as at the ages from forty-six to fifty. Whether this extraordinary mortality is due to some special cause, is not clearly stated. Ifthe lives which have been accepted by the company are representative ones of their class, it would seem that young Ameri- cans are subject to some extraordinary liabil- ity to death. The insured are divided into forty-nine classes of occupations. It will perhaps sad- den the reader to learn that travelling-agents, among whom book-agents are undoubtedly classed, seem to have the greatest viability of all. ‘Taking them and lumber-men together, the death-rate is less than half that given by the tables. Dentists come third, and meet with the same fortunes as professors and teachers: for both classes the mortality is six- tenths that of the tables. How little mere occupation has to do with viability, is shown by the fact, that, while bankers and capital- ists suffer one-fourth less, brokers, speculators, and operators suffer twelve per cent more than the tabular mortality. Officers of the navy, and of ocean and sailing vessels, have suffered the greatest comparative mortality of all, having died twice as fast as the general average of the insured. This is no doubt to be attributed to the civil war, which oc- curred during the time covered by the experi- ence. Taking out this case as exceptional, the greatest mortality of all would be found amongst liquor refiners and dealers, bar-keep- ers, landlords, ete. This is quite in accord with general experience. . Jt is much to be desired that the mortality statistics of the census should be placed ona better basis. If the census office were to be made a permanent one, we might expect such a result to be attainable. 5. Newcome. SCIENCE. gtd wht, rh me on [Vou. V., No. ifs ae AMERICAN FLASH LANGUAGE IN 1798. Tue cant or flash language, or thieves’ jar- gon, was scarcely known, even by name, in the United States, until attention was drawn to it some forty years ago by the publication of Ains- worth’s ‘ Rookwood’ and ‘Jack Sheppard,’ followed by Dickens’s ‘ Oliver Twist.’ Even then it was regarded as a purely English prod-. uct; and it was not until 1859 that Mr. G. W. Matsell, chief of police in New-York City, pub- lished a little work upon this dialect, showing that it had been to some extent transplanted to this side of the Atlantic. {I am not aware that any mention has ever been made of the fact that there exists a full glossary of this thieves’ jargon, as spoken nearly a century ago at the Castle in Boston harbor (now Fort Independence), which was used down to the year 1798 as a state penitentiary. The reason for this neglect lies, no doubt, in the fact that the book in which this glossary is given—‘ The life and adventures of Henry Tufts’ (Dover, N.H., 1807) —is an exceedingly rare one, having been, it is said, suppressed by the au- thor’s sons. It is not to be found in any pub- lic library in Cambridge or Boston ; and the only copy I have ever seen was picked up by myself at an old book-store, many years since, and was presented to the Worcester, Mass., city library. In a paper to be published elsewhere, I have given some account of this singular book; but this glossary of terms deserves a_ separate treatment as a contribution toward the history of the American speech. There is nothing more curious than the vitality of a class of words never employed in good society, and never admitted into any dictionary. While we all claim theoretically that vocabularies, and even academies, are necessary for the preserva- tion of a language, we yet find in practice that these base-born brats, these children of thieves and outcasts, have a vitality of their own. The profane or indecent phrases which boys hear at school, and which they repeat with bated breath if at all— these same words were heard at school by their grandfathers, and have led a hardy and disreputable existence ever since; yet they remain unchanged, and time has not, as Sir Charles Pomander said of his broken statues, ‘impaired their indeli- cacy.’ Tufts’s list does not, for a wonder, stray into the domain of impropriety, though the rest of his book does; but he gives many words that can be traced through other similar dictionaries, many that occur in his glossary alone, and others that are now familiar, and are commonly supposed to be recent. I have re- May 8, 1885.] arranged his glossary in alphabetical form, and have in a few cases analyzed a phrase into its component words; but I have not al- tered his definitions. In the table that fol- lows, his list of words will be found compared with various other lists of the same descrip- tion. The books which I have selected for com- parison were published at various dates, some before and some after Tufts’s glossary, which was compiled at least as early as 1798, he having been a prisoner at the Castle for the five years preceding. These books are as follows, arranged in order of date, and they are designated in the accompanying table by SCIENCE. 381 1573, Harman’s (Thomas) ‘ Caveat for com- mon cursetors,’ reprinted in J. C. Hotten’s ‘Slang dictionary,’ ed. 1873, p. 15. 1673, Head’s (Richard) ‘ Canting academy, to which is added a compleat Canting Diction- ary.’ 1785, Grose’s (Francis) ‘ Classical diction- ary of the vulgar tongue.’ 1790, Potter’s (Henry T.) ‘ New dictionary of the cant and flash languages.’ 1811, ‘ Lexicon Balatronicum ’ Grose ]. 1859, Matsell’s (George W.) ‘ Dictionary of the thieves’ jargon’ [New York]. 1873, Hotten’s ‘Slang dictionary,’ [founded on a new this date alone. edition. Tufts’s glossary, 1793-98 (Boston). 1673 (blower); 1785 (same) ; 1790; 1811; 1873. 1790 (chaunt, to make known) ; 1859 (same, and also chant = name). 1573; 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873 [ Anglo-Saxon clea, claws? ]. 1573 (cofe) ; 1673; 1785 (cove or coffin) ; 1790 (landlord); 1811; 1859 [found in 1785 (crab-shells, Irish) ; 1811 (same) ; 1859 (same, and also crabs = feet) ; 1873. Blower~ ..'. . A woman. . Bonny lay Highway robbery . The best day, or device. ] Briar . Asaw. . Obvious analogy. | Chant . Writing of any kind . Clout . A handkerchief 1859; 1873 (called ‘old cant’). ives 22 A pocket . Cove Womans =. Dekker’s ‘ Wits’ recreations’ Crab’ ./: A shoe. : Crabkin . A shoemaker’s shop. Crack . To break open . 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873. Darky . Cloudy. ce Dead up “ae to be. Dinge . To know well A dark night 15738 (darkemans = = the night) ; 1673, 1785, 1790, 1811 (the same) ; 1873 a twilight). Dead = very, exceeding. Halliwell, North. | To dinge = to drizzle. Halliwell.] 1785 (dingy Christian = a mulatto); 1811 (same). 1811; 1859; 1873 [glin or glim]. Dingy COVER ies). c A negro IOC FL a ePOL WowoDe = 1785; 1811; 1873. Douse the glim To put out the li ght. Drag . A prisoner . Evening sneak . A false key . . Going into a house ‘at night, where the doors are eeu [One dragged by the police? | 1785; 1790 (dubb the jigger = lock the door) ; 1811; 1859. 1785; 1790; 1811. 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873. 1785 (glazier = a window-thief); 1811; 1859; 1873. 1673, 1790 (the same); 1811 (glim); 1859 (glimsticks = candlesticks) ; 1873 (glim). 1811 (gorger =a gentleman). [Gypsy, gorgio.| 1790 (hornees) ; 1859 (horness = watchman). 1573 (gyger) ; 1790; 1811 (jig) ; 1859; 1873. 1785 (kicks) ; 1790, 1811 (kicks or kickseys) ; 1859 (kicksies) ; 1873 (same). 1573 (kynchen) 3 1673; 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873. [German, kindchen.] Bags = trousers, London Punch. | Shaksp., Togde. | 1573 (Lowre, a Wallachian gypsy word) ; 1678; 1785; 1790 (dowr or Jower) ; 1811; 1673; 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873. 1790; 1859; 1873 (‘nearly obsolete’). 1790 ( peterees = thieves of peters or trunks) ; 1859 ( peter-biter = same). 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1878. 1573 (prauncer) ; 1673 (prancer) ; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873 (‘ old cant’). (queer ken); 1790 (quod); 1873 (quad or quod, an abbreviation of quadrangle). 1785 ‘(quailpipe boots, so called because plaited like a quailpipe) ; 1811 (same). 1785 (quiz = a strange-looking fellow) ; 1873 (quisby = an amplification of queer). [Possibly a corruption of Rowland, to correspond to Oliver = the moon. ] 1785 (a handsome wench) ; 1790 (same) ; 1811 (same) ; 1859 (same). Flamer Vitriol . : [ Inflamer ? IS ES aa ae A foolish man . Gentleman . : A crowbar. 3 ee A square of glass . Glin ae A star or light . 1573 (glimmar = fire) ; Gorge. A person or fellow Grub 2 Victuals es : 1785; 1790; 1811. Hammers to y ou, Pm, I know what you mean. Hookses. . .. «. Neat-cattle. Horney A sheriff . Jarvel A jacket. Jigger AOL 6 Kickses - Breeches . Kin... A stone. Kinchen . CHG «. BAy,- <6 [ Mode of stealing] 1785; 1811; 1859; 1873. Leg-bags . Stockings. . Long tog. A coat . Toga. Lour Money . 1859 (lowre) ; 1873. Mitre . A hat. Napping . SCAM n+ so + Napping his bib Crying. et 5 1790; 1873. Nipping-jig . A gallows 1673 (nubbing cheat). Oliver. . : The moon < Petre yourself . a Take care of yourself A Pops aye EIS OIGMP ME so sts, “a ve RA, 5s) A horse Pradholder . . . . A bridle. esse” in, 5! EAD 1573 (quyer ken); 1673 Quakeeper . .. . A jailer. Oe - + + . + + A gates . 1790; 1859 (quid = $5). Quillpipes Boots Quisby Mean Roram The sun J tum-blower A. gentlewoman Rum-cove A gentleman Scrag a lay, to. To steal clothes — from a hedge. 1785 (a dexterous rogue!) ; 1790 (a good landlord) ; 1811 (same as 1785). SCIENCE. Mave, ee, eee / t ‘ fyi jé ie au yy [Vou V.; Bs 8 1790 (slanged = ironed) ; 1811; 1859 (slanged; also slang = watch- chaiit 3; 1873 (only a watch-chain). 1573 (mish or commission) ; 1790 (mish or smeesh),; 1811 (same as “— : +1859 (mish) ; 1873 (both mish and smish). ER fie oA ie ie, AMONS le ghia ee pe it SSMS Geo, Bie vob oi. ee AGS MIE 4 Ts. teed ereysrpeces am to Snuskin . . . « Anail . Spotted, you’ Lobes eve [ Snuskin = =a delicate morceau. Halliwell. You are like to be found out,, 1859 (spot = point out as suspected) ; 1873 (marked by the police). [Mentioned as ‘recent’ in Bartlett’s ‘ Americanisms.”] Spread ... . . A saddle. Star a BALE, to - - Tocutoutapane. .. . 1811; 1859; 1873. Suck . Aieiae oe (UG UTO WS kts. he8 te 1785; 1790: 1811; 1859; 1873 (only suck-casa =a public-house). & PRApSteh ener t sy wt dots HA-Gor «, Spat ts pay ‘a mere variation of Yapster.| Thumpkin . A barn of hay . Sod Thumpkin =a clown. Halliwell. ] AROS 9 Con oe BMRB Y ale rivera clin NaN (EUSA ea igen 1673, 1785 (topping cove = the hangman) ; 1790; 1811; 1859; 1873. Tonch, to S PABOMOD seal eee en ot Ne 1785; 1790; 1811; 1859. Ubriek: .. A watch ate, Mes 1859 ‘(trick = = any thing stolen by a pickpocket). Undub, to To unlock : 1859 (under-dubber = turnkey). Water-sneak .. Breaking into a vessel 1785 (waterpad = robber of ehipays 1790 (same). Wheel. ‘ A dollar. Wibble Ananger. .. ATS aan = bad drink); 1811 (same); 1859 (same). [Wimble = an auger. ryden Yapster . IN CWE 5 6 5 Oe 6 [Yap=acur. Halliwell.] [ When a date slonea is given in the above fale: ap dictionary of that date gives both word and definition as Tufts gives them. ] It will be observed that a certain number of Tufts’s words are not to be found in any of the books of English slang; while, from the correctness of the remainder, it is unlikely that he invented even these. The words bonny lay (robbery), briar (a saw), drag (a prisoner, i.e., one dragged ?), flamer (vitriol), gentleman (a crowbar), hammers to you (im- plying comprehension), hookses (cattle), jarvel (ajacket), kin (astone), nipping-jig (gallows), roram (the sun), to scrag a lay (to steal from a hedge), snuskin (a nail), spread (a saddle), tap- ster and yapster (a dog), thump- kin (a barn of hay), and wheel (a dollar), — these are not found in the other lists, and some of them are difficult to explain. Other phrases, though not else- where mentioned, are easy of derivation; as crabkin (crab- ken?), dead up to (like dead sure), dinge (dingy), leg-bags (stockings), long togs (long- clothes), mitre (hat), and prad- holder (bridle). In a few cases the phrase is preserved by Mat- sell (1859) as a part of Ameri- can slang, although not now to be found in the English slang dictionaries; thus, trick, in the sense of something stolen, and undub (unlock), which apparently survives here in the phrase under-dubber (turnkey). In regard to any word untraced, I should be glad of suggestions. T. W. Hiaaernson. Cambridge, Mass. WALKING AND RUNNING.1 ALTHOUGH every one pretends to know how to walk and run, still there are few who do not make 1 Abridged from Za Nature. useless effort; and the few good runners or walkers are not necessarily those with great muscular force, or power to withstand fatigue, or those who have merely a special aptitude in this direction, but rather the persons who by training have found, little by little, the best possible means of using their natural powers. They are incapable of transmitting the secret of their ability, and, indeed, they hardly have time to reflect upon the movements which they exe- cute so mechanically. It is hoped that by means of the camera this secret can be found. TGs al Experiments have been undertaken at the physio- logical station in Paris to study these movements. In fig. 1 a man is seen running upon the experiment- track, and in the same figure the recording apparatus ~ is shown. A telegraph-line, resting upon poles placed fifty metres apart, reaches around the track, which is half a kilometre in circumference. The runner, as he passes each post, finds his course barred by a hori- zontal rod (fig. 2), which gives way before the slight- est pressure, but which cannot be moved without causing an interruption in the circuit of the telegraph- line. This interruption records itself in the laboratory May 8, 1885.] by displacing a crayon, which traces upon a turning eylinder covered with a sheet of paper. The mechanism of the electric interrupter is very simple, as shown in fig. 8. The rod which bars the track is so arranged that it slides up an inclined plane every time it is displaced, and in so doing presses upon a spring, which, displacing a button of metal, breaks the circuit. The rod immediately returns to its original position, and the interrupted current re- establishes itself. At each breaking of the current, the wheel-work of the recording apparatus, freed for a moment, moves, and makes the crayon advance on the paper. The paper-covered cylinder turns uni- formly, the rate of rotation being such as to cause the paper to pass in front of the crayon at the rate of half a centimetre per minute. On the other hand, the crayon is allowed to move only when the current is interrupted. The crayon progresses at each rup- ture of the current only a constant distance. After a person has travelled around the track, the paper bears a sinuous line similar to that in (qa), fig. 4, In the diagram the time is scored horizontally, the minute spaces equalling half a centimetre. The interruptions score themselves vertically, each upward step showing that the pedestrian has gone fifty metres: hence the course (a) corresponds to a march of twelve hundred metres in fifteen minutes, SCIENCE. 383 thirty-five seconds. In drawing a line connecting the angles of the sinuous line, we have a simpler expres- sion of the march, as seen in the lines b, c, d, etc., which, by their greater or less imelinations show that the gait has been more or less rapid. The line (i), for instance, corresponds to a run of sixteen hun- dred metres in nine minutes and a half, while (c) cor- responds to a march of seven hundred and fifty metres in sixteen minutes. By gathering outlines from hours of marching, we have much more interesting records, in which the effects of fatigue are plainly seen, all irregularities in speed, being faithfully recorded by the rise or fall of the line. The shape of the boot bas considerable effect upon the quickness of the march. In order to determine the best form of marching-boots, buskins have been made with heels which can be regulated, by removing plates, so as to be of any height from half a centi- metre to six centimetres. From the experiments it is seen that the quickness of the step increases in proportion to decrease in height of heel. This result tends to an increase in the length of the step, and it is also noticed that the step increases in length and quickness when the length of the sole considerably exceeds that of the foot. Beyond a certain limit, however, the precise determination of which can only be made after many experiments, the length of the sole causes a noticeable fatigue. The rhythm of the drum or clarion guiding the steps of soldiers has marked effect upon their speed. This problem is very complex. The acceleration of the rhythm may increase the speed to the rate of eighty steps per minute; but beyond this the in- creased frequency of the steps causes a slackening in the rate of march. In order to experiment upon this, an electric bell, placed in the centre of the track, is rung by a pendulum, represented above and to the left in fig. 1. The rate of ringing can be regulated, and the walker finds it impossible to keep out of step with the strokes of the bell. Starting the bell so as to cause the man to take forty steps per minute, then gradually making it more rapid, it is seen that the time taken to run a kilometre varies greatly. The length of the steps is simply deducted from the num- ber of oscillations of the pendulum during a tour of the track, which represents a well-known course. 304 Experiments show that the progressive acceleration of the rhythm brings about the modifications repre- sented in the following table. The acceleration of rhythm from sixty to eighty steps per minute has 1200 (ee 1000 ae a + Ea 8 9 0 1 2 13 Mw 15 16 Fie. 4. increased the length of the step, and decreased the time required to travel a certain distance; but, when we go above this, the opposite effect is produced. It is better to replace the numerical table by the dia- gram of fig. 5, which represents the variations in 85 90 pas «Ala minute quickness of gait, and length of steps, as guided by the electric bell ringing at different rates. Time of travelling over) Number of double | Length of double 1,542 metres. steps to the minute. steps. 20’ 30” 60 1.35 m. 18’ 40’ 65 1.57 m. 16’ 27” 70 1.45 m. 14’ 58” 75 1.51 m. 13’ 52” 80 1.50 m. US mae 85 1.49 m. Je Fil kas 90 1.32 m. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE IN ENGLAND. FRANCIS ELGAR, professor of naval architecture at the University of Glasgow, devoted his inaugural address, on entering upon his duties in November, 1884, to a history of the science. Until within comparatively few years but little at- tention has been paid to the study of naval architec- ture. Fifty years ago ninety-nine per cent of the British merchant-ships were under five hundred tons, and few measured more than a hundred and thirty SCIENCE. -- [Vor. V., No. 118. feet. They were comparatively uniform; and, being built after an established plan, they were perfectly seaworthy when properly ballasted. In the case of war-ships the matter was more difficult; as it was necessary to get a type of ship which should be large, high out of water, and able to carry many large guns, without interfering with her sailing-qualities, or ren- dering her top-heavy. In 1811 a school of naval architecture was started in England, and during twenty years it trained forty students. This was followed in 1848 by another at Portsmouth, and in 1864 by a third at South Kensington, which is now united with the Royal naval college at Greenwich. Some excellent designers have been graduated from these three schools. Before the use of iron, ship-building required no elaborate calculations: it was simply a highly devel- oped mechanical art. Ships were built of great rela- tive depths in proportion to their breadth, and initial stability was deliberately sacrificed to reduce the tonnage measurement. Usually these ships would not stand up, when fully rigged and light, without ballast; and, judging from the proportions given to them, they must also have required ballast when laden with cargoes which were not composed of heavy dead-weight. What is now required of the ship- builder is to predict with great accuracy the weights of complicated iron and steel structures, with all their fittings and machinery; the weight of cargo that such structures will carry at sea; the stability they will possess in different conditions of loading, and the treatment necessary to insure a safe amount of stability being preserved upon all occasions; the amount of steam-power and the rate of coal-consump- tion required to maintain given speeds at sea; and very frequently the strength that is possessed by the hull to resist the straining-action of waves. The reason that the English schools for this study have not been better attended, is that the courses are too technical in character, and the requirements too rigid, to attract any except advanced students. The idea of the newly established chair of naval archi- tecture in the University of Glasgow is to teach in a less technical manner the new science, and to adapt the course to the requirements of the students. The policy will be first to fix what they already know, and then to go forward toacomplete study. Special stress is to be laid upon long-continued and arduous prac- tical training, combined with true science. The only way in which superiority in ship-building can be at- tained is by possessing a class of ship-builders who have gone through just such a training, and who by long study and work have acquired these theoretical ~ and practical principles. RECENT BRITISH LOCOMOTIVES. ENGINES recently designed for the London, Brigh- ton, and south-coast railway of Great Britain by Mr. Stroudley, were described by their designer at a recent meeting of the British institution of civil en- gineers. They were designed for freight-traffic, or as May 8, 1885.] goods-engines.’ The steam-cylinders were inside the frames. The forward wheels were coupled, instead of, as usual, the after-wheels; thus getting a set of small trailing-wheels, short outside coupling-rods, and a large boiler. The centre of gravity of the en- gine was purposely made high, as is the practice in this country in the construction of the wide-firebox engines of Mr. Wooten, for the purpose of making the engine move more easily at high speeds, and, as both these designers believe, making them safer; the rolling being less serious at exceptionally high speeds than in engines having a low centre of gravity. The action of the high centre of gravity in throwing the pressure mainly upon the outer rail, in rounding curves, was thought to be another advantage of ap- preciable value, permitting the inside wheels to slip more readily. Six wheels were used, without truck or ‘ bogie.’ It was asserted that the cranked axle, and other parts of the machine, do not break if properly pro- portioned, although it was evidently felt that the axle is a source of danger in greater degree than when straight, as in outside-connected engines. The steam was given an admission varying from twelve to seven- ty-eight per cent, the engine running very smoothly, and with great economy, at high speeds, with the shorter cut-off. The compression is thus made ad- vantageous in both ways. compounding would not be of sufficient advantage to justify its adoption in such engines; although it might prove useful for heavy, slow-moving engines, work- ing with little expansion the greater part of the time. The Westinghouse brake was fitted to all these en- gines, and gave thorough satisfaction. Its pump had been fitted with a water-connection, and it could thus be utilized as a boiler-feeder when on sidings. The boiler was made of Yorkshire iron, with joints but- ted, edges of sheets planed, holes drilled after bend- ing the sheets, and all hand-riveted. The steam used amounted to about twenty-six pounds per horse- power per hour, on a road on which the average is thirty. One pound of coal conveyed one ton thirteen miles and a half, at the speed of 43.38 miles an hour. Heating the feed-water saved two pounds and a half per train-mile. SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF THE LYCE- UM OF NATURAL HISTORY AT WIL- LIAMS COLLEGE. It will be news to many, that a natural history society of college students has had an uninterrupted existence of fifty years at Williams college, in the little village of Williamstown, Mass. It is neverthe- less true, and its semi-centennial was celebrated on April 24. The exercises were opened by the president of the society, Mr. Henry B. Ward, with a short historical sketch. ‘‘ Fifty years ago,” said he, ‘‘on the 2d of April, eight students of Williams college formed a society for the study of natural history in its various departments. At first secret, under the name of ® BO, within six months it adopted its present SCIENCE. It was considered that 385 name. Professor Albert Hopkins, speaking twenty years later, said that it had sustained from the begin- ning a spirit of enterprise. The history of its early years remarkably verifies his assertion; for within a year from its formation it was large and active enough to send to Nova Scotia an expedition of twelve members and three professors. This expe- dition gave the lyceum a considerable reputation, and it was referred to by a French scientific journal as the first of the kind attemptedin America. In the spring of 1840, only four years later, an expedition was sent through Berkshire county for study and collect- ing. By these two expeditions and individual effort, the collections well filled the society’s rooms in East college. When that building was destroyed by fire, in 1841, the collections also perished. Contributions from all sides, and hard work by the members, soon re- stored them so well that the rooms in South college became too small; and in December, 1854 a circular was sent out, forcibly setting forth the needs of the lyceum, and asking for twenty-five hundred dollars to erect a building. This circular was brought to the notice of Mr. Nathan Jackson of New York, a rel- ative of Col. Williams, and grand-uncle of the pres- ident of the lyceum at that time. He sent a check for the whole amount; and in a few months Jackson hall was completed. At commencement, Aug. 14, 1855, the lyceum was addressed in the forenoon by Prof. William B. Rogers, and in the afternoon held a public meeting in its new rooms in Jackson hall, to dedicate the building, and celebrate its twentieth anniversary. At this time Mr. Jackson sent a thou- sand dollars to make up the full cost of the building. In February, 1857, desiring to fill the cases in Jack- son hall, the lyceum sent an expedition to Florida. Sixteen members, under the guidance of Professor Chadbourne, spent a month collecting on the Florida shores, with great success. The expenses were pro- vided for by the liberality of Mr. Jackson and other friends of the society. In 1860 another expedition under the charge of Professor Chadbourne was arranged to Labrador and Greenland, a description of which has been recently published by Prof. A. S. Packard, a guest of the lyceum on that trip. In 1867 an expedition under the joint auspices of the lyceum and the college was sent to South America, under the charge of Professor James Orton, a former pres- ident of the lyceum. A small party proceeded from the northern coast by the courses of the Orinoco and Rio Negro to the Amazon: the main body crossed the Andes from the western coast, and descended the Amazonincanoes. In 1870 an expedition from both the lyceum and college spent four months collecting in Central America with great success. ‘The expe- dition of 1877 to the northern Rocky Mountains was broken up by the death of Professor Tenney, its leader, just as it had started. ‘¢ Many have been the professors who have aided the lyceum in its work; but to Professor Albert Hopkins, Dr. Chadbourne, and Professor Tenney it owes a debt of gratitude which can never be computed.”’ Dr. W. K. Brooks, a former president, then ad- dressed the lyceum on Life. He spoke of the age 386 of biology, the study of life, and said that modern biological study began with Darwin’s visit to the Galapagos Islands fifty years ago. ‘‘ Activity of pro- toplasm cannot be called life. Vital phenomena are distinguished by what is done, not by the constituents of the organism. ‘There is no necessary connection between life and protoplasm. The common charac- teristic in all life is education. Life is education, and education is life. Kick a stone and a dog: the difference in the result is caused by education.”’ He then referred to examples of natural difference in life as caused by education, and adjustment by education to varied circumstances. ‘‘The common character- istic in all these forms of life, from the highest to the lowest, is education. If, then, life is education, in seeking the latter we are advancing the former.”’ At the close of the lecture, Dr. Brooks was tendered a reception by the lyceum, at its building, Jackson hall, where letters and speeches from old members showed that their interest was still great. The lyceum is the only active college society in this country which has its own building. It has now about twenty working-members, and holds its meet- ings every week, at which reports are given by mem- bers appointed in advance, on the subject which they are studying. Since Dr. 8. F. Clarke took the pro- fessorship of natural history in the college, a strong interest in biology has been aroused in the society. Among the members who have devoted themselves to science after graduation, the following are the best known: Professor Addison Ballard, ’42; Mr. William H. Edwards, ’42; Prof. W. D. Whitney, ’45; Hon. D. A. Wells, ’47; Dr. P. A. Chadbourne, ’48; Dr. William Goodell, ’51; Prof. Henry A. Ward, ’55; Professor James Orton, 755; Mr. Samuel H. Scudder, 757; Dr. R. H. Ward, ’58; Dr. E. W. Morley, ’60; Prof. F. H. Snow, ’62; Dr. G. Stanley Hall, ’67; Dr. W. K. Brooks, ?70; Dr.iE. A. Birge,’?73; and Mr.od.S: Kingsley, ’75. THE UNITED STATES AT THE FISH- ERIES EXHIBITION. Ir is impossible to do much more than in- dicate the contents of this immense volume of over thirteen hundred pages. It is entitled ‘ Descriptive catalogues ;’ but, as observed by Mr. Goode, it really partakes of the character of a report on the part played by the United- States exhibit at the London fisheries exhibi- tion, — not only that of the government, but also that due to private American exhibiters. A considerable part of the volume was printed, and distributed to visitors, during the exhibi- tion. There is a short introduction by the com- missioner, followed by some data from the census ; alist of forty-two gold, fifty-five silver, Report upon the exhibit of the fisheries and jish-culture of the United States, made at the London fisheries exhibition, 1888. Prepared under the direction of G. BRowN GoopE. (U.S. nat. mus., bull. 27.) Washington, Government, 1884 [1885]. 8°. SCIENCE. vie ope x of 118. > ‘ , f % [Vor V., No. and thirty bronze medallists; beside some fifty other awards to American exhibiters, followed by a report on the collective exhibits of the U.S. national museum and the U.S. fish- commission. It is needless to say that every branch of the subject is thoroughly presented, either by specimens, models, illustrations, or literature. There is included under these a useful series of catalogues by Messrs. Rathbun (Economic invertebrates, except mollusks), Ridgway (Water-birds), Winslow (Economic mollusks), Brown (Whale-fishery), Bean (Fishes, and illustrations of fishes), Rathbun (Scientific appliances for deep-sea investiga- tion), True (Aquatic mammals), Capt. Collins (Vessels and boats), Earll (Fishing-tackle and appliances), Clark (Fishery products) , and Earll (Fish-culture) . The catalogues of birds and fishes are of particular interest and value, apart from their present connection, to all interested in those departments of biology. The catalogues of mollusks and other invertebrates are necessarily much less complete, and are expanded and improved from the centennial catalogues of Messrs. Dall and Rathbun, prepared for Philadelphia. | The volume is a monument of well-system- atized labor, but would probably have been more convenient for reference if it had been divided into two volumes. The anthropolo- gist, ornithologist, ichthyologist, fisherman, or manufacturer can hardly fail to find useful and welcome information in these pages ; while, by the staff of the commission and museum, the book can hardly be contemplated without a feeling of thankfulness that the period of extraordinary drudgery, apart from their usual and regular duties, which the volume com- memorates, is at last entirely over. PHYSICS OF THE EARTH. Tuts is an admirable book. Dr. Gunther, whose thoroughness has been well shown in his earlier writings, makes many physicists, mathematicians, and geographers his debtors by preparing so able a work on the subjects where they meet on common ground ; and, if all teachers of physical geography and geology had the good fortune to possess the advanced training that this volume gives and requires, we should hear less from the classical men of the insufficient discipline afforded to the scholars — in our secondary schools by their natural-his- Lehrbuch der geophysik und physikalischen geographie. Von StegmMuND GUNTHER, Band i. Stuttgart, Anke, 1884. 10+418 p. 8°. May 8, 1885.] tory studies. A second volume is promised to contain the more geographic topics, while the one now issued treats of terrestrial physics in amore general sense under such headings as the relations of the earth to the other planets, the form of the earth, the effect of its motion, and the condition of its interior. These are preceded by an historical introduction, and fol- lowed by a brief and discriminating discussion of voleanoes and earthquakes; and all the chapters are closed by extended lists of cita- tions that add greatly to their value. As indicative of the careful and learned investi- gation that has been required in the prepara- tion of the work, we cannot do better than give in brief abstract an outline of three dis- cussions on subjects that have not received sufficient attention on this side of the water, — the irregularities of the earth’s shape, the effects of its rotary motion, and the hypothesis that its interior is gaseous. The development of the belief in the glob- ular form of the earth is treated at length; and the reasons for giving up the Cassinian view of its elongated polar diameter and accepting the Newtonian explanation of its polar flatten- ing are clearly stated before mention is made of the difficulties that have been encountered in attempting to reconcile the accurate arc- measurements of modern times with the sup- position that the earth must have a regular form. It is then shown, that after it had to be admitted that meridians measured in different countries could not be fitted on any single ellip- soid, and after it was found that mountains exerted a sensible lateral attraction on plumb- lines hung at their bases, it was still supposed, even by such men as Gauss and Bessel, that the ocean was essentially level, and that it would serve as a proper fundamental surface to which measurements of altitude, or distance from the earth’s centre, could be referred. During the prevalence of this opinion, through the first third of this century, careful observa- tions of swinging pendulums were made in many parts of the world; for, as the pendulum moves in obedience to gravity, the flattening of the earth could be deduced, it was thought, from the number of oscillations counted in a day at different latitudes. In the course of these difficult experiments, it was found, strangely enough, that pendulums would swing faster on mid-oceanic islands than on the opposite continental coasts: the difference was small, only eight or nine seconds a day; but it was persistent, and, as it implied a greater strength of gravity, it soon led to the conclu- sion that the earth was denser beneath the SCIENCE, 387 oceans than below the continents. This view is now widely quoted, and it probably will long remain in our text-books ; although there can be little doubt that it is quite incorrect, and that the true explanation of the difficulty is to be found in the deformation of the ocean’s surface by lateral continental attraction. The most important investigation of this deformity, and of the many difficulties it adds to geodetic work, is by Fischer, in a small volume entitled ‘Untersuchungen wber die gestalt der erde’ (1868). Saigey, Stokes, and Hann have also considered the question ; and, although it is not yet possible to say how much the sea is drawn up on the flanks of the continental masses, it is sufficiently demonstrated that the lifting amounts to many hundred feet on certain coasts. As a result, islands appear in mid- ocean that would be submerged if the ocean’s . surface were really level; and pendulums must naturally swing faster there than on the coasts, because they are nearer the centre of the earth. : f Other important modifications of previous views follow from these conclusions ; continen- tal upheaval becomes more of a problem than ever; the great East-Indian arc is considered useless for determining the size and shape of the earth; and Airy’s explanation of the ab- sence of lateral attraction by the Himalaya is pronounced incorrect. Evidently, geodesists have still much to do. Among the consequences of the earth’s rotation, Gunther gives a full and precise ac- count of the lateral deflection of horizontal motions so conspicuously seen in the oblique motion of the trade-winds. ‘There is not to be found an English text-book on physical geogra- phy in which this matter is properly explained : when mentioned, it is almost invariably stated that the deflective force acts only on north or south motions, and is nothing on bodies mov- ing east or west. Even Herschel has explicitly given this meaning. But as a matter of fact, the deflective force is the same, whatever be the direction of motion from a given point, and the demonstration of this unapparent truth is here simply presented. Still a farther step is taken in quoting the results of Finger’s re- cent investigations, where it is shown that on a spheroid, instead of on a sphere, it is not precisely true that the deflective force is inde- pendent of the direction of motion: it is great- -est for eastward motion; and in confirmation of this, Gunther quotes Darapsky, who finds that in artillery practice the observed deflec- tions are greatest when the aim is directly to the east. The variation is extremely small, and 388 is only apparent in high velocities. For nearly all studies, it will suffice to consider the deflec- tions as if produced on a sphere. Ritter’s speculations concerning the gaseous condition of the earth’s interior are of espe- cial importance, inasmuch as they may tend to counteract the very positive statements made by English physicists and geologists in recent years in regard to the age and contraction of the earth as determined by its cooling. The English school generally regards the earth as essentially solid, with a great central volume of dense matter at a high, and, roughly speak- ing, uniform temperature. On the basis of certain plausible assumptions concerning the original temperature and conductive power of the mass, it has been possible to approximate fairly well to the age for an earth of such char- acters, and todetermine roughly the shortening of its radius, and consequent diminution of circumference since it has had a definite solid crust on which water might condense from the vaporous atmosphere into the oceans. ‘The age of an earth thus limited has greatly reduced the estimates in vogue by the follow- ers of Hutton and Lyell, even though its years are still to be counted by millions. Its contrac- tion from cooling has also been pronounced insufficient to produce the observed structure of mountain ranges in the way that Elie de Beaumont had suggested. Strongly contrasted with these assumptions and their legitimate results are the conclusions reached by Ritter. His original papers were published in Poggen- dorff’s ‘ Annalen,’ and have received an approv- ing review from so trustworthy a physicist as Zoppritz. Gunther quotes largely from the latter. We cannot here do justice to the hy- pothesis, for it would need a somewhat delib- erate statement to make it clear. Excessively dense vapors, probably dissociated from their ordinary combinations, and existing at tem- peratures high above their ‘ critical point,’ are supposed to occupy the earth’s centre; and from these there is a gradual transition to the solid superficial crust. The cooling of sucha central mass follows a paradoxical law, — the more heat it loses; the hotter it becomes, — and so the supply of interior heat is long main- tained, and the time allowed for geological processes is lengthened. Moreover, the con- tractional theory here finds a cause for all the diminution of interior volume demanded by the wrinkling of the crust in mountain ranges. Altogether, while the venturesome hypothesis is very far indeed from any thing like dem- onstration, its consideration is profitable if it prevent our settling down prematurely to a SCIENCE. 9 i eee (, ie a [Vor. V., No. 118. fixed belief concerning the condition of the earth’s interior. We shall wait impatiently for the second volume of the work, in which the physics of the air and sea will be discussed ; and it will be particularly interesting to see what treatment so learned an author gives to the physical geography of the land. ROMANES’ RESEARCHES ON PRIMI- TIVE NERVOUS SYSTEMS. Au who are interested in the physiology of the nervous system in lower animals will find in this volume a most useful popular contribu- tion to this subject. The book, as the author states, is restricted to experiments made in his own researches; but these are so numer- ous and varied that it will be found to contain a summary of the most important results in this line of investigation which are at pres- ent known. | ‘Do they feel?’ and ‘ Have they senses?’ are questions which are very naturally asked by any one who watches the varied movements of the jelly-fishes, star-fishes, and sea-urchins. A natural credulity prompts one to question whether the medusae, whose bodies contain over ninety-eight per cent of water, have a nervous system, and organs of special sensa- tion. Twenty-five years ago, science would have given a very unsatisfactory answer to these questions; but to-day we have a very accurate knowledge of the anatomy of these structures. With this advance in anatomical knowledge, physiological research has kept pace ; and certainly no one has done more than Romanes in this kind of research. Thanks to these advances, we can now reply to our questioner with more confidence than formerly. These animals not only feel, but also have special organs of sight, hearing, and probably smell. The author puts the anti-vivisectionists in a receptive frame of mind for the work which follows by declaring, in the introduction, that his experiments on living animals involve no pain, and that the ‘* consciousness which is present must be of a commensurately dim and unsuffering kind.’”’ The work is mainly taken up by experi- ments in excising portions of the body, and noting the effects on the movements of the animal. Many very interesting experiments Jelly-jish, star-fish, and sea-urchins: being a research on primitive nervous systems. By G. J. ROMANES. New York, Appleton, 1885. (International scientific series.) 1213823 p., illustr. 8°. May 8, 1885.] on the effects of the application of stimulants — mechanical, electrical, and chemical — are described. The action of poisons upon jelly- fishes shows a wonderful resemblance to that of the same on higher animals. Many con- clusive experiments are given to prove that the fatal effects of transferring medusae from salt to fresh water is not due to a difference in density of the two media. A medusa arti- ficially frozen into a solid block of ice, so that ice-crystals are formed in its body, is not killed by the operation. The observations on the star-fishes and sea- urchins are recorded in a single chapter; yet they are in many respects as interesting as those on the jelly-fishes in the preceding nine chapters. The author points out the different methods adopted by star-fishes and sea-urchins in righting themselves when turned upon their backs. The ‘ geometrical regularity ’ of these animals, in their nervous system as in their form, leads to a ‘‘ very pretty instance in physiology of the physical principle of the parallelogram of forces.’’ If two stimuli are applied simultaneously at opposite extremities of an axis passing horizontally through a round sea-urchin, the Echinus moves off ‘ in a direc- tion at right angles’ to a line connecting these points. The author finds, that, by cutting off the eye-spots from several star-fishes and _ sea- urchins, they do not seek the light thrown into the dish, as is invariably their habit when these organs are intact. He also finds that an ex- cised ray of a star-fish makes its way to the beam of light as if it were an entire animal. A star-fish, with all the eye-spots but one re- moved, crawls to the light. Romanes ascribes to the star-fish a sense ot smell from the following experiments: a star- fish is kept fasting for several days. should be ‘1881.’ DC RN CE. FRIDAY, MAY 15, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. Ir MAY NOT BE Amiss to remind a corre- spondent in to-day’s issue that the arguments which he uses to show the peculiar fitness of Col. Coleman for the position of commis- sioner of agriculture, would, with very slight changes, show him to be qualified to act as director of the geological survey, or super- intendent of the census, or, in fact, fur any executive position. ‘The work of the depart- ment of agriculture is largely scientific work ; and, as we had oceasion to point out in the remarks to which our correspondent takes exception, the proper and effective direction of such work requires something more than ordinary executive and business ability. ‘* The ability to distinguish and recommend what is best, to discover and make use of the ability of specialists,’’ implies a thorough knowledge of what has already been done, and of the distinguishing qualities of the ‘ best,’ an ac- quaintance with specialists, and a capability of judging of the merit of their work, such as only a ‘ technical expert ’ can possess. A man who, without special scientific attainments, undertakes to direct the work of scientific specialists, must inevitably stand much in the same position as the typical fine lady who is the slave of her domestics. He may uritate and hinder by ill-judged interference, or he may leave matters to take their own course, as has usually been done; but any broad, well- planned policy is practically out of the ques- tion. A further important consideration is that there is a large and increasing number of agricultural colleges and experiment-stations devoted more or less exclusively to scientific investigations for the benefit of agriculture. The United-States department of agriculture No. 119.— 1885. | should be the natural centre and regulator of this work, giving it a general unity, and preventing unnecessary duplication of experi- ments. Moreover, it is proposed to add to these, in the several states, so-called ‘ national experiment-stations,’ in the conduct of which. the commissioner of agriculture shall have at least an advisory power. It may be set down as certain, however, that the men who are conducting this experimental work, many of them eminent in their profession, will pay small heed to the advice of any commissioner whom they cannot respect as at least their equal in scientific attainments. We do not wish to be regarded as unfriendly to Col. . Coleman. Judged by the previous history and present standing of the department, the ap- pointment is an excellent one. What we desire to see is a new system, and only secon- darily, and as a result of that, a new man. Dr. ApoLtF Dronke, director of the real- gymnasium at Trier, has lately published an elaborate paper on the place of geography as a science and in the school. While certain parts of it seem to us somewhat visionary, — such as the formation of an _ international academy of geography, the establishment of professorships of geography in all universities, and the adoption of an initial meridian in 20° west longitude, — the greater share contains suggestions that are at least valuable and prac- tical, even if not altogether novel. Certainly there is much need of improvement in geo- graphic instruction, as we have already point- ed out. There is so general an agreement on this subject, that what we need now is not so much a discussion of what changes to make, as how to get the money for making them. Good maps and models, illustrations and specimens, as well as expensively taught and far-travelled teachers, are the first needs, but where do we find school committees ready to supply them ? wd 394 : AMONG THE WONDERFUL achievements of modern explorers should be placed on record the history of the successful expedition of Capt. Willard Glazier in search of the ulti- mate source of the Mississippi River. This daring explorer, at the head of a large and well-equipped party, penetrated the untrodden wilderness of central Minnesota, and reached Lake Itasca, which has so long been regarded as the source of the great river. Not content with this achievement, he plunged boldly into the forest, and succeeded, after great exertions, in forcing his way three miles farther south- ward, where he came to a second lake, also drained by the Mississippi, and forming, as he states, its uttermost head. To this lake he gives his own name, that the fame of his achievement may be perpetuated. It is per- haps unfortunate, that, as this whole region was sectionized by the general land-office sev- eral years previously, lines having been run at every mile, a prior claim to this great discoy- ery may arise. In any case, however, the names of Capt. Glazier and John Phenix as explorers will go down to posterity side by side. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. *,* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. The new commissioner of agriculture. In your notice, April 10, of the appointment of Col Coleman to be commissioner of agriculture, you com- mend the selection because of his ‘*‘ knowledge of practical agriculture, and his experience of men and affairs,’’ and indirectly condemn it because he does not have ‘‘any special or intimate acquaintance with the science of agriculture;’’ your idea seeming to be that the agricultural department should be organ- ized as a ‘scientific bureau, with a technical expert at its head.’ Col. Coleman has one additional qualification, in which he differs from all previous commissioners: he is without a pet hobby. His course will be to elevate the work of the bureau from the advocacy of some single theory, to the development of what is best in a variety of theories, and the adaptation of that best to the practical work of the agriculturist. To carry out such a course, it is not necessary that the head of the bureau should be a ‘technical ex- pert:’ indeed, it is better that he should not be. Technical experts in one or two or three branches of scientific agriculture are, as a rule, those gentle- men who have bees in their bonnets, and seem to be incapable of such universal control as ought to be re- quired; and experts in all branches cannot be found. If one have the ability to distinguish and recommend SCIENCE. what is best, to discover and make use of the ability of specialists, to restrain the disposition in any one department of his general work to override or belittle the rest, that one is the person to have charge as the general head. Such a person is Col. Coleman. His experience of men and affairs, and the general ap- preciation of his fitness in the conditions you pointed out, by all classes of men, prove the wisdom of the selection. When the bureau is to be properly organized as a scientific one, will be after the so-called agricultural colleges, founded at so enormous an expense by the general government, shall have done what they were intended to do, —raise up young men and women, first, to an appreciation of what scientific agriculture ~ is capable; and, second, to an educational ability to pursue and apply it. Until the old ruts are aban- doned by men capable of understanding the benefit of a new and well-made road, such men to be those who are practical workers themselves, there will be no use of attempting science in a place the province of which is really only the collation, selection, and diffusion of such knowledge as can be used in the gradual development of all the resources of the coun- try. When the work of such an education is begun at the right end, it will have its natural sequence in a higher gradation of the work of the head of the agricultural bureau, if any thing higher than that which will be accomplished by the new commissioner is needed. Aue. F. HARVEY. St. Louis, April 19. Auroras. Various speculations are met with from time to time as to the extent of any individual display of an aurora. A prominent French writer has recent- ly attempted to show that auroras are not widely extended, and has instanced the case of the most brilliant aurora of modern times at Brussels, Belgi- um. This phenomenon occurred on Feb. 4, 1872; | and the writer emphasizes the fact that it was not seen at Godthaab, Greenland. Meteorological obser- vations at the latter place for this date are not acces- sible; but there is little doubt that, if there were such, it would be found that the sky was clouded, thus pre- venting the appearance. At all events, the observa- tions made on the American polar steamer Polaris, which wintered about four hundred miles north of Godthaab, show the most brilliant aurora of the winter on Feb. 4. The same aurora was seen throughout the northern United States. When we consider, that, as shown by Professor Loomis, during a maximum period of sunspots there are also the greatest number of auroras, and that great solar outbursts are followed or accompanied by magnetic storms and brilliant auroral phenomena, we are led to the view that the cause of the latter may be superterrestrial, acting either directly or indi- rectly through induced earth-currents. It would seem as though all auroras are a manifes- tation of cosmic energy, and that their extent and brilliancy are limited by the amount of energy, by the vapor in the air, by the temperature, etc. Pro- fessor Lemstrom in Finland obtained a simulation of the aurora by artificial means during one winter; but during the next winter, which was barren of brilliant auroras, both he and Professor Tromholt, the latter in Iceland, failed in this. It may be that the first success was Owing as much to earth-currents, or a condensation of atmospheric electricity, as to the artificial means employed. The question of the source of the electricity of an aurora is an important one in meteorology; and May 15, 1885.] the fact that thus far all attempts at connecting auroral phenomena directly with meteorological have failed, goes far to show a cosmic rather than a terres- trial origin for the aurora. H.. Agwee An extinct hydroid. Whether Shakspeare was the first to give expres- sion to the idea of ‘Sermons in stones,’ the writer of this notice is not scholarly enough to answer. Strongly impressed by many demonstrations of its truth, it is in no spirit of detraction that he ventures the opinion that the inspired bard could not have appreciated the significance of his declaration, if we take into consideration what these sermons have since revealed to us of the past history of the world. The rocks have proved to be volumes of the most convincing sermons, and every pebble has a story that may be read. Such a pebble, the subject of the present communication, was sent to the writer by a greatly esteemed friend, the well-known naturalist and philologist, Prof. Samuel S. Haldeman, shortly before his death. It was picked up in Lebanon coun- ty, Penn., but exactly at what locality I failed to inquire. It is an irregular rectangular piece of quartzite, about an inch and a quarter in two diameters, and half an inch in the third diameter. It has several conchoidal fractures, is water-rolled, with rounded edges, and smooth. It is dirty white, opaque, homogeneous, and of flinty texture. Embedded in it, scattered here and there, are seen several dozen little fos- sils, all of the same character, and worn level with the smooth surfaces of the pebble. Most of the fossils have the form of a narrow ellipse with acute extremities, or have the shape of a sec- tion of a double convex lens. Where they cross the edges of the pebble, they exhibit the same form of outline on the contiguous surfaces; so that, if isolated, they would appear to be actually lenticular in form. They are composed of smoky-colored quartzite, cross-barred with white, and contrast conspicuously with their matrix. My first impression, on seeing the pebble, was, that the fossils were rhizopods, related to the nummulites; but an in- spection with a lens indicated them probably to be hydroids related to the graptolites, and especially to Phyllo- graptus. ‘The lenticular sections of the fossils gener- ally range from four to nine millimetres in length by one to one and three-eighths millimetres in thickness at the middle. As represented in the accompanying figure, the white bars crossing the short diameter of the lenticular sections are produced by what appear to be two rows of cells, with their bottoms applied to- gether inwardly, and separated by a median, slightly undulating line. Many of the cells are flask-shaped, with the neck directed outward, and reaching the con- vex surface of the fossil. In others the neck is vari- ably shorter, and in some appears to be absent, the difference apparently being dependent on sections of the cells at different levels. In the specimen figured, the beaked cells appear somewhat curved or retort-like, but in other specimens they are straight. The body of the cells mostly exhibits a nucleus of smoky hue, while the walls of the cells are white, though not sharply defined from the nucleus. The appearance seems to be due to the interior of the cells being occupied by HALDEMANA PRIMAEVA. SCIENCE. 395 a more translucent deposit of silex. In several of the fossils. like the one figured, the number of cells in each row is about two dozen. The lenticular sec- tions of the fossils are not all equally symmetrical with the one figured, some bulging more on one side than the other, and a few being thicker towards one pole than the other, and less acute at the end. Two specimens, of which one is eleven millimetres long, are slightly constricted near the middle, and look like conjoined pairs. Another specimen, unlike the others, extends across the pebble for about eighteen millimetres, is of nearly uniform width throughout, and is broken near the middle. One extremity curves laterally, and ends in an obtusely rounded manner: the other extremity extends obliquely in an opposite direction, tapers a short distance, and is then pro- longed to a broken end. From the well-known graptolites of the Silurian rocks, our fossil differs especially in the cells being embedded in a common basis or matrix, in this respect resembling such polyzoa as Cristatella in com- parison with Plumatella. The age of the fossil I am unable to read in the pebble, though doubtless others may be able to doso. In Lebanon county the pre- . vailing rocks are of lower Silurian age; and it is prob- able the pebble pertains to one of these, though it may have travelled from another source. The char- acter of the fossil appears to be different from any previously indicated; and I would propose to name it Haldemana primaeva, in memory of the one who called our attention to this interesting representative of the hydroids. JOSEPH LEIDY. Phosphatic rocks of Florida. In my ‘ Report on cotton-production in Florida,’ vol. vi. of the quarto series of census reports, p. 14 (194), there is an analysis, by Dr. G. W. Hawes, of a build- ing-stone from Hawthorne, Alachua county. ‘This rock contains 16.02% of phosphoric acid; and it was considered as of eocene or oligocene age, like the rest of the limestone of the peninsula. During the past winter, Mr. L. C. Johnson of the U.S. geological survey has been collecting in Flor- ida, and has made avery important discovery. He finds that the building or chimney rock in several of the counties of the state, and probably wherever it is found, like that occurring at Hawthorne, is generally phosphatic. Specimens sent to me for examination by Mr. Johnson, from Suwannee, Levy, Alachua, and Marion counties, are strongly phosphatic, varying in content of phosphoric acid from five to ten per cent. The material which contains most phosphoric acid is a porous, soft rock, consisting in the main of grains of quartz, with occasionally a little carbonate of lime, but seldom very much. In some of the specimens, especially those from near Waldo, the soft friable rock contains small nodular masses of nearly pure phosphate of lime disseminated through it. The largest of these nodules is some two inches in diameter. By the discovery of a highly fossiliferous bed near Waldo, Mr. Johnson has been able to fix the age of these phosphatic rocks as miocene or later; and this view is confirmed by the specimens from Rock Spring in Orange county, collected by me in 1880, which Professor Angelo Heilprin determined from the fos- sils to be miocene. I have recently tested all these specimens, and find them, without exception, highly phosphatic. From these facts, and others presented in the sub- joined letter of Mr. Johnson, it appears that the deposits of miocene age are generally spread over the Florida peninsula, if indeed they are not co-exten- sive with those of the oligocene. 396 This will lead to a modification of some of the views advanced in my census report above referred to, concerning the past geological history of the pe- ninsula, and the origin of the high hummocks; for these hummocks, in part at least, are produced by the action of the miocene phosphatic limestone, and not the oligocene, upon the prevailing sandy soils. And, similarly, the much wider distribution of these miocene rocks proves that a much larger proportion of the peninsula was submerged after the oligocene period than I at one time supposed. We shall look with the very greatest interest for the results of Mr. Johnson’s investigations of the rocks of the western coast of Florida, in Hernando and Hillsborough counties. I may add that none of the specimens of the upper oligocene or Vicksburg limestone, either from Florida or Alabama, which I have examined, show more than a slight trace of phosphoric acid. EUGENE A. SMITH. University of Alabama, April 20. It might have been hasty, without books, and with- out sufficient opportunity for comparison, to have pronounced the phosphatic rocks of Preston’s Sink, Fort Harlee, miocene, or not older. I now think it later still; but always with the reservation that I may be permitted to change my mind upon a more careful study, under circumstances more favorable, and also deferring to the opinion of Dr. White, who already has such favorable opportunities, when he can get time to take up the subject, with all my col- lection before him. The location of these phosphates is of more imme- diate import to you and me. But, on the question of the horizon, I ask the consideration of the facts and specimen already sent you. The ‘Nigger Sink’ at Downing’s, in this vicinity alone, ought to set the question at rest.1 There you find in situ, and exhibit- ing their due relations, the oligocene limestone at the base, and finally, after various intermediate de- posits, a hundred and fifty feet above, the siliceous phosphatic rock, exactly similar to that sent you from the quarry at Gainesville, from Liveoak, and which is found in this oak and hickory region on the top of every hill. There, also, you find two fossils,— the Ostrea, found also at Hawthorne and in the Wacahootie region, Marion county, always underlying the phosphates, and above the Orbitoides and Pecten of the lime- stone; and the other, the great coralline, of which I could mail but a fragment. This last is seen in situ, so far as I am now informed, nowhere but on the tops of these hills, overlooking the Natural Bridge of Santa Fé. The Fort Harlee marl, near Waldo, is quite differ- ent from the phosphatic rock I have been sending you from so many points. It has all its shells, or casts of shells, intact. The vertebrate fossils, however, seein the same; that is, the sharks’ teeth and saurian remains are alike. The phosphatic rock has lost all its fossil shells. That these once existed, is clear from the fact that occasionally a trace may be found. If not the same, then how are they related? The argu- ment must be postponed; but to me the conclusion is clear that the Waldo bed is newer than the others. All the others, from the texture of the rock, the obscure traces of shells, the chemical constituents, and from the surroundings, may be classed as one. 1 Three others, heretofore explained, — Simmons at Haw- thorne, Sullivan old field, and the devil’s mill-hopper, — sustain the same conclusions, and none contradict. SCIENCE. The great extent of the formation, and the uniformity of the rock, are still very remarkable. Undoubtedly it is the same rock seen near Ocala, where the limestone is not visible, at Hawthorne, at Gainesville, at Newmanville, at two or three knolls in the vicinity of Liveoak, and on innumerable others all over this central region of oligocene sinks. Strangely, too, the knobs are uniformly of a height of about sixty feet above the surrounding flats and de- pressions marked by the cherty limestone. It would be interesting and valuable, if I had the means in my power, to locate and measure the extent of every one of these deposits. Your own census report, giving the extent of hummocks, and oak and hickory soils, east of the great chain of sand-dunes from Apopka — northward, and west of the lake region, is the nearest means I can suggest for making an approximate esti- mate. LAURENCE C. JOHNSON. Newmanville, Fla.. March 22. Do telegraph-wires foretell storms? Probably some thousand Americans have noticed the automatic storm-signalling of wires by sound- vibration. I allowed a telephone-wire to remain for a long time attached to one corner of my (frame) house because of its practical utility as a weather-prophet. When not a leaf was stirring in the neighborhood, and not a breath to be felt, the deep undulations were audible in almost every room, although mufflers had been duly applied. Before that, some hours in advance of every severe storm, the upper story was hardly inhabitable on account of the unearthly up- roar, which would have made a first-rate case for the Society for psychical research. The warning that it gave varied from six to twelve hours, rarely exceeding the latter; and I do not think it ever warned in vain. When the storm actu- ally came, the noise nearly always ceased. It never was noticeable in the warmer part of the year; and through the heat of midsummer it was silent. I cannot recall any exception to this. Its climax of clamor was reached some hours before the ‘electric storm,’ as it was called, of November, 1882. But all through two winters and the proximate parts of autumn and spring I found it a trustworthy and self- announcing storm-signaller, which left me abundant time to prepare. I had it removed, finally, because there was sickness in the house, and its doleful prophecies were not appreciated. I explained the phenomenon, partly at least, by the effect of very distant air-impulses transmitted in sound-waves from wire to wire, after the manner of the acoustic or mechanical telephone. Yet this does not seem quite adequate, when one considers how far those vibrations must have travelled to outstrip a storm by hours; and yet how much energy and sonorousness they retained when they reached me! ~ Wn. H. BAascock. Washington, April 16. [We have good authority for saying that the vibra- tions of the telephone and telegraph wires here re- ferred to are certainly not due to electric currents, nor to the minute acoustic waves of the mechanical ~ telephone, but are simple transverse vibrations and longitudinal waves such as occur on every stretched cord that gives out a musical note. These vibrations are ultimately caused by the wind. For any given wire stretched in a permanent location, there will undoubt- edly be a certain direction and character of wind that will call forth its loudest tones. Ourcorrespond- — ent’s wire may be specially influenced by the south- ee [VoL. V., No. 119 . May 15, 1885.] erly winds that precede storms. Sometimes rapid alternations of sunshine and shade, by heating and cooling the wire, cause it to elongate and contract rapidly, and maintain an additional series of musical notes. Sometimes the length and tension of a wire stretched between two telephone supports is such that it can harmonically respond to several classes of waves transmitted from distant parts of the line. We thus obtain the very rich effects of the aeolian harp, which, as is well known, has often been said to ring out the finest notes before a storm, and whose action was also attributed to magnetism and other occult causes, until Chladni gave the correct explana- tion. — ED. ] An attempt to photograph the solar corona. Mr. W. H. Pickering having called my attention to his letter entitled ‘ An attempt to photograph the solar corona,’ printed in Science for April 3, may I ask you to insert the following lines in the next num- ber of your journal. The false coronal effects which Mr. Pickering de- seribes are precisely those which might have been expected to result from his optical and instrumental methods. I have in my papers called special atten- tion to the two principal sources of false effects which are present in the form of apparatus employed by Mr. Pickering; namely, the use of a lens, and the position of the drop-shutter which is said to have been ‘ attached to the lens.’ In some early attempts which I made with lenses, any true coronal effect which may possibly have been upon the plates was completely masked by very strong false coronal appearances and rays, similar to those obtained by Mr. Pickering. These were due, prob- ably, in part to outstanding chromatic aberrations of the lenses, though corrected for photographic work, in part to reflections from the surfaces of the lenses, and in part to a diffraction annulus about the sun’s image. It was on account of these, and some other probable sources of error when a lens is used, that I had recourse to reflection from a finely polished mirror of speculum metal. When the mirror was used, all these false effects disappeared. It is scarcely necessary to remind your scientific readers that the only position in which the drop- shutter can be placed, when an object so bright as the sun is photographed, without introducing strong false coronal effects about the sun’s image from dif- fraction, is in, or very near, the focal plane. ‘ At- tached to the lens,’ whether behind or in front of it, a strong diffraction effect is produced upon the plate at the beginning, and again towards the end, of the exposure. If Mr. Pickering will direct his apparatus to the sun, and observe the sun’s image on the ground glass of the camera during the time that the drop- shutter is moved very slowly past the lens, he will be the spectator of a succession of fine diffraction effects, which in the aggregate, as far as they were bright enough, must have recorded themselves on his plates. In this way, with care and skill, the sources of other instrumental effects could, no doubt, be tracked out. In one of my papers my words are, ‘‘ The moving shutter, being placed very near the sensitive surface, and practically in the focal plane, could not give rise to effects of diffraction upon the plate.’’ I may now add, that, even with the shutter near the plate, care has to be taken that no light is reflected from the edge of the moving plate of the shutter. I state that with my apparatus, when the sky is free from clouds, but whitish from a strong scattering SCIENCE. 397 of the sun’s light, ‘‘ the sun is well defined upon a sensibly uniform surrounding of air-glare, but with- out any indication of the corona. It is only when the sky becomes clear and blue in color that coronal appearances present themselves with more or less distinctness.”” Any apparatus intended for photo- graphing the corona must fulfil perfectly these con- ditions before any serious attempts are made to obtain the corona. I stated, in a paper presented to the Pritish asso- ciation for the advancement of science in ihe summer of 1883, that I had discarded the use of colored glass (or cells of colored solutions) because of the danger of false appearances from imperfections in the sur- faces or in the substance of the glass. Mr. Pickering does not state that his sensitive plates were ‘backed’ with a solution of asphaltum, or other black medium, in optical contact with the glass, — an essential condition. No tube, with suitable diaphragms inside, appears to have been used in front of the lens to prevent light falling upon the inside of the telescope tube or camera, and being thence reflected possibly upon the plate. The desirable precaution of using a metal disk, with a suitable surface, a little larger than the sun’s image, and placed close in front of the sensitive plate, does not seem to have been taken. Mr. Pickering says of the violet glass, ‘‘ By its use, a negative image of the sun’s disk was obtained; but without it, the plate gave a reversed image.’”’ I found no difficulty in obtaining a negative, or a reversed image, when violet glass was used, by a suitable change of the time of exposure; and therefore Mr. Pickering’s time of exposure was in fault, if he wished a different result. Mr, Pickering says, ‘‘ Both bromide and chloride plates were provided; but, as with Mr. Huggins, the latter proved to give much the better coronal eifects.”’ And again, towards the end of the letter, he says that ‘‘ chloride plates are more suitable than bromide ones for obtaining an atmospheric corona, just as Mr. Huggins has claimed that they are more suitable for taking a solar one: hence I think one must not rely too much on the ultra-violet sensitiveness of the chloride plate for the separation of the two.’ Pass- ing by the use of the words ‘ atmospheric corona’ for the false appearances which were due in great part, if not altogether, to diffraction and other instrumen- tal effects, as I have already pointed out, and presum- ing that Mr. Pickering was not unfamiliar with the greater blackness of chloride plates, especially when developed with ferrous oxalate, he seems to infer some special suitability of the chloride plates to bring out the false effects upon his plates. It may be sug- gested that Mr. Pickering seems to have used the same length of exposure throughout, ‘ giving an exposure which may be estimated at about a fifth of a second.’’ Now, it is scarcely probable that the bromide and chloride plates possessed the same sen- sitiveness; and it may have been that the (probably) more sensitive bromide plates were thin from exces- Sive exposure. It may even have occurred that his lens, if corrected for bromide plates, gave an outstand- ing aberration about H, or a little beyond. Anyway, until these and some other similar points are cleared, it does not seem to me that Mr. Pickering is justified in making the insinuation which seems to lie in the words which I have quoted. In conclusion, I cannot refrain from expressing great surpcise that Mr. Pickering should have men- tioned my name in connection with experiments car- ried out in complete disregard of the conditions to which I had called attention, as essential in a matter ry a 398 SCIENCE. of such extreme delicacy as photographing the corona, and in which no little skill and special experience are necessary on the part of the photographer as well as on the part of the physicist. Mr. Pickering has no doubt received authority from Dr. O. Lohse to say that ‘‘ he (Dr. Lohse) considers that the halo on his plate is wholly atmospheric, and not coronal;’’ but Dr. Lohse’s published statement reads differently. Dr. O. Lohse’s words are, ‘“ Es gelang aber dieselben (die schwierigkeiten) zu iiber- winden und resultate zu erhalten welche zu einer fortsetzung der — hier freilich selten méglichen und mit grdsserem vortheil in moglicht hoher lage an- zustellenden — experimenten ermuthigen.’’ — Vier- teljahrsschrift der Astronomischen gesellschaft, xv. 134, I have not seen Dr. Lohse’s plates, and can there- fore express no opinion as to the nature of the ap- pearances upon them. WILLIAM HUGGINS. THE PRESERVATION OF NIAGARA. NEARLY, seven years ago Lord Dufferin, then governor-general of Canada, suggested to Gov. Robinson of New York that the governments of the province of Ontario and the state of New York should purchase such lands about Niagara Falls as would be required to give free access to the principal points of view, and serve to restore and preserve the natural scenery of the great cataract, beside securing to visitors freedom from those vexa- tious annoyances which now abound. Sub- sequently the governor-general called the attention of the government of Ontario to the matter, and recommended co-operation with the state of New York in accomplishing this purpose. Later, in January, 1879, Gov. Robinson, in his annual message to the legislature of New York, presented this matter, and recommended the appointment of a commission to investi- gate the question, to confer with the Canadian authorities, to consider what measures were necessary, and to report the results to a suc- ceeding legislature. By resolution the commissioners of the state survey were charged with the investigation. This commission included some of the most distinguished men of the state, — Ex-Gov. Ho- ratio Seymour, Vice-President of the United States W. A. Wheeler, Lieut.-Gov. Dorshei- mer, President Barnard of Columbia college, and others. With breadth of view worthy of such men, they state in their report, that, ‘‘ under this resolution, it became the duty of the commis- sioners to ascertain how far the private hold- ing of land about Niagara Falls has worked to public disadvantage through defacements of the scenery; to estimate the tendency to ‘The report of the state survey, with its com- [Vou. V., No. 1197 ee 0 greater injury ; and, lastly, to consider whether the proposed action by the state is necessary to arrest the process of destruction, and re- store to the scenery its natural character.”’ In pursuance of these objects, the commis- sioners instructed Mr. James T. Gardiner, director of the state survey, to make an ex- amination of the premises, and prepare for their consideration a project. He was assisted in this work by Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, the distinguished landscape-architect. The examination showed that the destruc- tion of the natural scenery which forms the framework of the falls was rapidly progressing : unsightly structures and mills were taking the place of the beautiful woods that once over- hung the rapids; the fine piece of primeval forest remaining on Goat Island was in jeop- ardy from projects looking to making a show- ground of the island; and every point from which the falls could be seen on the American side was fenced in, and a fee charged for admission. It was found, that, owing to the topography of the main shore, it was prac- ticable to restore its natural aspect by clearing away the buildings from a narrow strip of land 100 to 800 feet broad and a mile long, and planting it with trees which would screen out from view the buildings of the village. When these trees should be grown, and the mills re- moved from Bath Island, and trees planted there, the falls and rapids would be again seen in the setting of natural foliage which formed so important an element in their original beauty. Every point from which the falls could be seen would also become free of access by the plan proposed. A map was made showing just what lands should be taken to carry out these purposes. ‘The commissioners adopted the plan of Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Olmsted, and recommended to the legislature : of 1880 the passage of an act to provide for acquiring title to the necessary lands by the exercise of the right of eminent domain, leay- ing it to a future legislature to consummate the purchase by appropriating the amount for the payment of the awards, if the sum should seem a reasonable price for the property. Such an act passed the assembly, but was defeated in the senate, although the movement was supported by petitions signed by the most distinguished men of this and other countries. plete descriptions, illustrations, and maps, then became the basis of a systematic effort on the part of a few determined friends of the falls” to educate and arouse public opinion to save. the scenery of Niagara. Early in 1883 © this — | Dp Centre of Main Channel 3" 198 =~" SiSTER Jap 3 0 a fe: o8 7-6 SCIENCE, May 15,1885. ; a aeee anes en po pe eet a ee : ; Magnetic Vurialion te J" 56'22" test, The Cruises sho on this Ma, e i Be , 5 ae accontiny lithe rue Musician wee Be Bs if a NIAGARA ST: & TRE MERI DIA MAGNETO MERIDIAN Nise, ALLEY Canatian Shur tre wes nol bud ia shelchadine from Mayu of 165, a 1,5. Lake Suncy uf 7875, SoU 3 : STREET. plat land------ 66.46 Ae: core pies Total =_73.90_ Hianes of Ormers of Goat Island, Mirth half op Bath RY Leland: and alt the ‘other Islands, anc their retattre, erepeartion. Subject to Life interest 4 Solir A torter. 6 Zeeerth Dhsy.. a ney: , f ser! the Ee. Adee oe < “Lo minecd } enticement FOR | Neer scopy op THE TM sof SuRvey MADE BY THomas Bversaep, Drv: ENG: linder the direction Tr S1LasS SEYMOUR,STATE ENGS* SUR? wagust > Sept t089. PHOTO-LITH. BY WEED,PARSONS & CO.,ALBANY,N-Y. ] a siyric wissioners ofthe Stele Resenation ab Hrugarw ayquinted ee ea Oe ciate the Law of the Stite over Sore of Lhe year 1833: do hevely Lerlify, that this és the Mapof land which they hare Cn iined to take forthirpeaproses of seid Net; andi ndicle they Tee iseed lobe made-by the Stale, Enginecr and Suneyor to be filed at TAG Ae? Secreluery of Slut, anciw the Uijice of the Clerk of the Coury yj Naga. We «lso dio lenity Certify. Chat the Borerrcdetry of The Lancs, selected: and Avedleds by Us, znd nhicle tre hare Gelerineinved Lo tale forthe, YE Sj (parwscrnivey the Scenery ofthe Falls of. MNuagare, and resterang te Said Secery Wo tts nabinrl ‘condition, is on this Mupy bn dicated by the outer mecerzivy of lee buad pink Lind, which said-oulas Iragne ts shomv,also” dy wt Blacks Larus fornting the same, —— MB Sudeadivx----- Caranission Mamplinllall...... suet Daatids Nes Yori Dec! 81885 STREET: STATE RESERVATION at NIAGARA ea | 2.90 a on Co} S$ o ] be Scale, For, Chaimstote keel, Table Of Las ed proposed to le-lukery unde lho Act. STREET. BUFFALO ea Oe [dia jon of Bete SESS SELIESEN LW foter ~~ Ya wf. fe tan 18) In first gflets 62 t0 qoinclasive 0.19 He Belt poet River AH Per ter— 48. Onpers 1 Ext: as felerys™ 4 Page eater. G13 tienene7a™ ) | aes Channel SCIENCE, May 15,1885. May 15, 1885.] movement ripened into the organization of an association to promote legislation for pre- serving the scenery of the Falls of Niagara, Mr. Howard Potter of New York being presi- dent, and Hon. J. Hampden Robb, chairman of the-executive committee. Through the efforts of this Niagara-Falls association, an act was passed, in 1883, provid- ing for a commission entitled ‘The commis- sioners of the state reservation at Niagara,’ and giving them power to proceed through the courts to condemn the lands needed. Ex- Lieut.-Gov. William Dorsheimer is the presi- dent of this board; and the other members are President Anderson of Rochester university, Hon. J. Hampden Robb, Hon. Sherman S. Rogers, and Andrew H. Green. With some modifications made necessary by changed con- ditions, they adopted the plan proposed by the state survey. The lands selected were then surveyed, and their value appraised by a com- mission of very high character, appointed by the court, the total valuation of the lands being $1,433,429.50. The report of the commis- sioners of the reservation was made to the present legislature, and a bill to appropriate this sum was introduced. The Niagara-Falls association worked in every part of the state to arouse public opinion to the importance of making this appropriation, and the commis- sioners labored most earnestly among the legis- lators and the people. The battle was a hard one against ignorance and narrow-minded selfishness ; but the victory is complete. The legislature, by more than a two-thirds majority, has appropriated the $1,433 ,429.50, and the governor has approved the act. After six years of almost continuous effort on the part of the active friends of this en- lightened project, it is secured by a law which declares that the lands are purchased by the state in order that they may be ‘ restored to, and preserved in, a state of nature,’ and that every part of them shall be forever free of access to all mankind. THE NIAGARA GORGE AS A CHRO- NOMETER. Tue recession of the falls of Niagara will be understood by reference to the accompanying figure. The strata, as will be seen, dip gently (twenty-five feet to the mile) toward the south. The upper stratum (No. 1) consists of com- pact Niagara limestone about eighty feet in thickness. Underneath it (No. 2) is the com- SCIENCE. / 5399 paratively soft Niagara shale of about the same thickness. Nos. 3 and 5 are also strata of hard rock, with a softer rock intervening. The river formerly plunged over the escarp- ment at Queenston, about seven miles below the present cataract, and where the perpen- ad 3 bea 5 o< Sn ed S Py Nea ™~ x he) - gue ae S iB S YS) 7 eee ee SECTION OF THE STRATA ALONG THE NIAGARA RIVER, FROM LAKE ONTARIO TO THE FALLS. dicular fall must have been upwards of three hundred feet. From that point to the present cataract, the river now occupies a narrow gorge from five hundred to twelve hundred feet in width, and from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty feet in depth. The manner of the recession is easily understood from a glance at the diagram. The softer rocks (Nos. 2 and 4) rapidly wear away, thus under- mining the harder rocks above, and leaving them to project over, and finally to break off in huge fragments, and fall to the bottom, where they would lie to obstruct the channel, were it not for the great momentum of water con- stantly pouring upon them, and causing them to grind together until they are pulverized and carried away piecemeal. The continuity of the underlying soft strata insures the con- tinuance of a projecting stratum at the top, and a perpendicular plunge of the water when passing over it. . Double interest attaches itself to the Niagara gorge, when we consider the evidence of its post-glacial origin, and thus are permitted to regard it as a chronometer of the glacial age. That the Niagara River can have occupied its present channel only since the glacial period, was shown by Professor Newberry when he proved that the Cuyahoga River, emptying into Lake Erie at Cleveland, occupied in preglacial times a channel about two hundred feet below its present bed, borings in the bed of the Cuyahoga extending that distance in glacial clays before reaching the rock. To receive a tributary at that depth, the level of Lake Erie must, of course, have been correspondingly depressed ; and, as the lake is nowhere much more than two hundred feet in depth, we may confidently say, that, before the glacial period, such a body as Lake Erie did not exist, but 400 instead a wide valley through which a great stream, corresponding to the present Niagara, found its way to the head of Lake Ontario, through a deep and continuous gorge. Pro- fessor Spencer, indeed, thinks he can trace the course of this preglacial gorge from near the mouth of Grand River in Canada, northward to Lake Ontario.? We might also infer the relatively late origin of the present channel of the Niagara from the small amount of work which the river has done in its present channel. The Allegheny and Ohio rivers, which lie outside the limit of glaciation, illustrate in a striking degree the extent of preglacial erosion. For a distance of more than a thousand miles, these streams occupy a continuous eroded trough, averaging about a mile in width and from three hundred to five hundred feet in depth; whereas the gorge in the Niagara River below the falls is only about seven miles in length. ” Queenston WN] ia a unsnnast stl RUAN ry wo" uw & = | Fo = . N 7. ~¢ StzDavids 3 “7 = i < 3 Cc ‘ = 4 Vy ‘ We Wy fy t ame meee Ware! ie .' FALLS OF NIAGARA Ak That the Niagara gorge is post-glacial, was also shown as early as 1841, by Professor James Hall of the New-York survey, who pointed out to Sir Charles Lyell? the probable course of a preglacial channel, now filled with glacial débris extending from the whirlpool to St. David’s, where the level of Lake Ontario is reached. L South- j | os fer) The two groups differ from each other considerably in grammar and lexicon. A member of eitheris much nearer to its fellow-members than to any member of the other; thus, Assyrian is more important than Arabic for Hebrew lexicography, and Ethiopic and Arabic are of more value than Hebrew or Aramaic for Sabean. Still, all these languages have much in common with one another, and each throws light on the others. The choice of a student will depend on his special aim. Aramaic is the simplest Semitic language in forms, is necessary for the study of the Talmud (Gemara), and contains material for biblical textual criticism, and for the ecclesiastical and secular history of the first sixteen or seventeen centuries of our era. Hebrew is indispensable for the critical study of the Old Testament and Talmud (Mishna). Assyrian is grammatically interesting, and valuable for the early history of western Asia, and for North-Semitic civ- ilization in general. Phoenician exists almost wholly in inscriptions, —a few of which are of historical im- portance (B.C. 500-A.D. 150),— and in Latin tran- SCIENCE. . 3. Canaanitic./ Hebrew, biblical and post-biblical. _ 405 scription in the Poenulus of Plautus. Arabic has most fully preserved the old inflectional forms, is indispensable in the study of general Semitic gram- mar, and has a large and varied literature, of which the historical part is of great value, and the poetry interesting. Sabean, or Himyaritic, is found only in inscriptions, which have recently revealed the exist- ence of an ancient and remarkable civilization in southern Arabia, and a language presenting note- worthy peculiarities. Ethiopic, nearly related to Sabean, is the language of the Christian period of the Semitic colony in eastern Africa. Its literature consists of a Bible translation, monkish chronicles, and versions of several important apocalyptic books. The grammar is remarkable for the symmetry of the verb. At present it has been replaced by various related dialects, one of which was the language of the late King Theodore of Abessinia. No genetic relation between the Semitic and Indo- European families has yet been discovered. The lexi- con of the one does not help that of the other, and only the most general connection exists between their grammars. It is only a seeming exception to this statement, where one language has borrowed from another, as is the case with the modern Persian and the Hindustani, a large part of whose vocabularies is taken from the Arabic, and the Eranian Huzva- resh, which has taken much from Aramaic. Turkish, a member of still another family, is similarly indebted to Arabic. THE STONE AGE IN AFRICA. AT the meeting of the Royal society of northern antiquaries, held April 14, 1885, L. Zinck gave an ac- count of the discoveries hitherto made regarding the stone age of Africa. There was now no doubt that Africa had its stone age, as well as Europe. Both in the old cultivated land of Egypt and the well-known desert of Sahara, the inhabitants in their time had only instruments of stone; but he would speak only about the stone age of South Africa. About twenty years since, was made the first find of stone objects in the region of the Cape of Good Hope. We know now that the natives on the south-west coast of Cape- land, even at the end of the sixteenth century, paid extravagant prices for iron, and Magaelhens had before found the natives of Madagascar using weapons of iron. Kelics of the stone age are also found among the Bu~hmen, who were driven back to the Kalabari desert, and whose arrow-heads were of stone. There are found in South Africa, from an ethnological point of view, three peoples, — the Kaffirs, Hottentots, and Bushmen, — who represent three waves of migration. The last are the oldest people of the land, and have in their time extended themselves far to the south, where, in the rocky hollows, they have left monuments of various kinds, executed with much ability. They were acquainted with perspective, and had an appre- ciation of caricature. The Hottentots later drove them back, but were themselves driven back by the Europeans and the Kaffirs. The last, who came from the north, began to encroach on the Cape territory 406 at the time of its discovery by Europeans. Although it is only twenty years since they began to make col- lections of the stone age in South Africa, so many specimens have been found, that an older and a younger stone age may be recognized. As yet have been found no objects of polished stone. For a few years past an English railroad-engineer residing at Natal, who had made many finds, has undertaken to examine all South Africa. From his researches, it appears that there are large quantities of stone im- plements, both in the sea near the Cape, in the alluvial layers at Natal, and in the mountains. It is impos- sible to fix the time of these stone objects. Kjokken- moddings have also been found in many places, near Simonstown and Capetown, and masses where the Hottentots had burned lime from oyster-shells: these do not belong to the present natives, as the Kaffirs never eat Shell-fish, and rarely fish. -A find has also been made in the caverns, but nothing is known about it yet. In Basuto-land have been found arrow- heads of flint. From the older iron age the above- named engineer had found, in the layers of gravel near the rivers, and in large hills covered with forest, and in the diamond diggings at Kimberley, imple- ments and chips at a depth of forty feet, where the diamonds occur. It may be concluded that the stone age dates very far back. This shows that the prehis- toric ages are not periods of time, but states of de- velopment, — in the case of Africa there was a sudden rise from the stone to the iron age, without any in- tervening bronze period, —the result, not of develop- ment from within, but of commercial intercourse from without. PARADISE FOUND. Tue title of this book will attract attention, and find for ita widesale. The mode of treat- ment, and the style too, are such as are most pleasing to the popular mind. The book is very ingenious and learned, but, as it seems to us, conceived and written in the spirit of advo- cacy rather than in the true scientific spirit. It is true, scientific, as well as every other kind of literature, is laid under contribution; but authorities are used — now a Huxley, and now a Winslow — with little discrimination; and thus conclusions are reached which a cautious science would not accept. Yet we believe the book may be read with profit, even by the scientific anthropologist. There are few questions connected with man more deeply interesting than the place of his origin; for that he did originate in one place, and not in many places, is now generally ad- mitted. After giving (we think at too great length) the various baseless speculations on this subject, the author states his own thesis ; Paradise found ; the cradle of the hnman race at the north pole. By WILutaAM F. WARREN. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin, dé COo., 1885. 24+505 p., illustr. 8°. SCIENCE. viz., that the cradle of the human race was a north-polar continent, now submerged ; the submergence being coincident with what science calls the glacial epoch, and what universal tradition calls the deluge. ‘This view, he con- tends, consistently explains and reconciles all traditions and all scientific facts. He proceeds, first, to remove some obvious objections. ‘The climate of polar regions is now unfavorable for human life, as witnesses the melancholy history of polar expeditions; but in- miocene times, as shown by its luxuriant forests of temperate and subtropic species, it was wonderfully mild and equable. During this time, too, one or more large bodies of polar land, or perhaps a polar continent, existed where now only the ocean reigns. Good scientific authorities are cited for this belief. The long polar night may be thought an ob- jection: but he shows that this has been great- ly exaggerated ; that there is more day and less night at the pole than anywhere else, viz., six months full day, nearly four months twi- light, and only two months full night. Add to this the full moon (which would be above the horizon during the polar night) and the auroras, and the polar man would have no reason to complain. ~ But the most important scientific contribution to his view is the probable polar origin of many existing species. From miocene times until now, there has been apparently a gradual though not uniform refrigeration of climate ; and as a consequence a streaming southward, along all longitudes, of species successively originated by change of climate at the pole. This view, first brought forward by Professor Asa Gray, has been most distinctly formulated by Marquis de Saporta. Among the number thus originating and migrating, the author in- cludes man; and he gives much good scientific authority showing that he is not alone in this belief. But the author, we think, overstates the facts. He seems to think all species origi- . nated in polar regions; but this is far from true. It is probably true that there has been from miocene times a streaming southward of species originating there, but undoubtedly many species and genera have been formed by modification in the course of migration. It is not impossible that man, too, if derivative in origin, may have been thus formed in the course of migration. This depends much on ~ the time of his southward migration. If, as — the author thinks, this took place in the quater- __ nary, then he probably left his home as man, and the modifications have since gone only so — far as to form races. This point requires more May 15, 1885.] investigation. If the existence of man in miocene time in France and Portugal be con- firmed, then our author is wrong. For our- selves, we do not yet accept the miocene man. All traditions, too, the author thinks, when rightly interpreted, confirm his conclusion. They all point to a golden age and an original home to the north; they all speak of this home as the centre, — the navel of the earth; they all speak of the revolution of the heavenly bodies about a fixed zenithal pole, the abode of the gods; they all speak of a migration enforced by a deluge. To confirm his inter- pretation, he quotes from traditions of Chal- deans, Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptians, Greeks, and Scandinavians. Clas- sical scholars will doubtless be interested in his view of Homeric cosmology and geography as represented in his frontispiece. ‘To them we leave the question. The author’s view certainly seems plausible. For the author, then, the place of origin was the north pole; the time of origin, the miocene period. The third question is, What was the character of primeval man? On this question the author takes a somewhat middle ground between extreme opinions. He thinks that primeval man of paradise was wholly destitute of all, even the simplest arts, and therefore, we suppose (although he does not say so ex- plicitly),of language. Nevertheless, he thinks he was endowed with simple, and comparatively noble, religious ideas; and that the revolting bestialities of savage life are the result of retrogression. A cautious science will have little to say on this question ; but retrogression is certainly as much a law of evolution as is progression. The author’s view is therefore not improbable. Childhood, with its simple faith and reverential love, is certainly a nobler thing than a degraded manhood. For obvious reasons we do not think that traditions of a golden age amount to much as argument. But when the author sustains the traditional idea of gigantic stature and millennial longevity of primeval man, science will, we think, demur. The popular belief that animals of early times, in comparison with existing species, were gigantic, will hardly bear examination. ‘The true view seems to be this: in the history of the earth, there have been_ periods peculiarly favorable for the development of different orders and families of animals, during which they increased, culminated, and then declined. The mesozoic was such a period for reptiles, the tertiary for mammals. The time of cul- mination, however, is never at the beginning, but in the middle or near the end. Is it not SCIENCE. 40. possible that the present is such a period for man? All the scientific evidence we have is in favor of increasing rather than decreasing size. Also we would remind the author that the decreasing size of which he speaks was in successive species, and even genera. Will he admit that the Edenic man was a different species. or even genus? He may, indeed, well do so, if he carries man back to the miocene. Again: if he likes analogies of this kind, we would remind him of the very notable increase of brain-size in all families of animals since miocene times. Is he prepared to admit the very small brains of Edenic man? The millennial longevity we dismiss with the remark that we do not believe it can be sus- tained on natural grounds. We are sure the author will thank us for calling his attention to some scientific mistakes. 1. On p. 66, in speaking of polar twilight, he says in substance, that, if twilight continues until the sun is 20° below the horizon, it would make a full polar night of sixty days; but, if until 24° (which he thinks probable), it would make it only fifty days. Now, the inclination of the ecliptic is only 23° 28’: therefore the sun would never get so far below the horizon, and therefore in the case supposed there would be no night at all. 2. On p. 194, speaking of the aspect of the heavens on Pamir plateau, he says that the pole of the heavens is tilted about one-third from its zenithal position towards the horizon. Itis nearer two-thirds, for its latitude is about 35°. 38. On p. 412, as an example of degradation instead of pro- gression, the author quotes from Science to the effect that the recently discovered Silurian scorpion is a more perfect specimen than any found in later formations; but the writer ob- viously meant more perfectly preserved speci- men, not more perfectly organized animal. THE LENAPE AND THEIR LEGENDS. Tue Walam olum (or ‘ picture record’) of the Delawares has long been known to scholars, though imperfectly, as one of the most re- markable productions of the Indian intellect. It was discovered about the year 1820, some- where in the west (exactly how or where is uncertain), by that eccentric naturalist and-anti- quarian, C. S. Rafinesque, who held for some years the very comprehensive professorship of the ‘ historical and natural sciences’ in Tran- The Lendpé and their legends; with the complete text and symbols of the Walam olum. By DANIEL G. BRINTON, A.M., M.D. Philadelphia, Brinton, 1885. (Brinton’s library of abori- ginal American literature, No. 5.) 6+262p.,illustr. 8°. +08 nen SCIENCE. sy lvania university, Kentucky. After his death in 1840, the manuscript of the Delaware record came for a time into the hands of the distin- guished archeologist, Mr. J. L. Squier, who in 1848 read before the New-York historical so- ciety an incomplete summary of its contents, giving only a portion of its Indian text and of the symbols. ‘This was published soon after, in the American review, and has been since re- printed in other publications. Thus enough has been known of this singular composition to excite the curiosity of students of Indian archeology, who have long regretted the dis- appearance and supposed loss of the original manuscript. By persistent inquiry, Dr. Brin- ton has succeeded in recovering it, and bas now published the work in full, with all the mnemonic signs, the Delaware text, a new and exact translation, an ample introduction, and many useful notes. Rafinesque’s peculiarities, and some other circumstances have caused a doubt to be cast on the authenticity of the Walam olum. The evidence adduced by Dr. Brinton, however, seems quite sufficient to show that it is a genu- ine Indian production, though its date and authorship are uncertain. Any one who will compare the symbols, or picture-signs, in this work, with those given by the native historian, Copway, in his ‘Traditional history of the Ojibway nation,’ will be satisfied that they be- long to the same system of notation. In fact, of the fifty symbols depicted in Copway’s book, about half appear in the Walam olum, either precisely the same, or with just such variations as might be expected in an independent work. These symbols are, in part, rude representa- tions of natural objects, —sun, moon, and stars, man, snake, fish, river, canoe, and the like, — bearing, as might be expected, a certain re- semblance to the curt pictorial outlines from which the Chinese characters were developed. Besides these, there are some purely conven- tional symbols, which are found both in Cop- way’s book and in the present work, and which show that Indian inventiveness had already passed into the higher stage, in which ideas as well as objects are represented. PTR Pr ee ee [Vou. V., No. ° 119, allie ry — A. Riche has presented a report to the Council of, hygiene of the department of the Seine, in which he ~ states that vaseline should not be used for alimen- tary purposes, as it is injurious to health. This sub- stance has been recommended for use in pastry, as it is said to show no tendency to become rancid. — The Académie des sciences offers for this and — the three following years a medal of the value of three thousand francs, for some important improve- ment in the theory of the electric transmission of work. The Bordin prize of three thousand francs is also to be given for the best memoir on the origin of atmospheric electricity, and the causes of the great development of electrical phenomena in storm-clouds ; this to be sent in before the 1st of June next, the other before the 1st of June, 1886. — Tea-cultivation is making some progress in Italy. In the province of Novara a plantation is reported to be doing well; and at the agricultural show at Mes- sina, in 1882, Signor d’Amico exhibited a hundred plants three years old, that had been grown in the province of Messina. ‘The Italian government has sent to Japan for a supply of plants. — The prize offered by the Société d’encourage- ment pour l’industrie nationale, of forty pounds, for the discovery of ‘a new alloy useful in the arts,’ has been awarded to P. Manhés, on account of his discoy- ery of the value of an alloy of copper and manganese for improving the quality of commercial copper. Manhés prepares an alloy of seventy-five per cent copper, and twenty-five per cent manganese, and adds it in small quantities to the molten copper after refin- ing and just before casting, stirring the bath of metal at the same time. The manganese of the alloy is stated to immediately combine with the oxygen of the dissolved cuprous oxide, forming a manganiferous slag which is easily removed. The operation is cheap, and very much improves the quality of the copper so treated. Also several of the principal alloys of cop- per, bronze, gun-metal, brass, are of superior quality when prepared with copper purified in this manner; and copper so treated is more slowly acted upon by sea-water. — Obrecht published, in a recent number of the Comptes rendus, his result for the solar parallax as de- rived from measures of the photographs of the tran- sit of Venus of 1874, obtained by the astronomers of the French expeditions. The value found is 8.80”, but itis not final, having still to be corrected for some elements in the calculation whose precise value is as yet unknown. A few years ago, Professor Todd, in a similar way, obtained a preliminary result from the American photographs of the same transit, which was 8.88” for the solar parallax. — ‘The sun,’ by Rev. Thomas W. Webb (New York, Industrial publication company, 1885), is ‘a — familiar description of the sun’s phenomena.’ It is after the style of the scientific primers, and gives in seventy-seven small pages of coarse type a clear idea — of how the distance of the earth from the sun is de- termined, and of what is going on upon the sun’s surface. oC lH CE. FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1885. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. As WE LOOK BACK at the literature of mod- ern physiology, —a retrospect suggested by the recent appearance of an index to Pfluger’s Archiv fur physiologie, —two facts especially impress us: first, that the bulk of the researches comes from Germany; secondly, that modern experimental science is scarce over forty years old, but has developed in extraordinary cre- scendo. There is, perhaps, no other science so pre-eminently German, and to which other nations have contributed relatively so little. In Germany the first physiological laboratories were founded, and these have become impor- tant ‘ institutes,’ which are the patterns other countries are now slowly imitating. In Ger- many the science first became strictly experi- mental, and its modern methods and aims were wrought out. The German universities have been the training-places of the majority of professional physiologists the world over, and these men have been the apostles of German influence. Our indebtedness to modern physiology can hardly be over-estimated ; for its acquisitions represent not only an invaluable intellectual evolution, but also knowledge of immeasurable utility in manifold practical aspects. It has changed medicine from a crude empirical art to an intelligent application of science, and has done more than any other cause to raise the mental status of the medical profession by inculcating the rational foundation of the practice of medicine. The chief initiatory impulse to modern physiology was given by the greatest of German biologists, Johannes Miller, — a man remarkable alike for his own intellectual achievements, and for the stimulus he imparted to others. He was one of the No. 120, — 1885. chief founders of the sciences of morphology, physiology, and comparative anatomy. His influence in physiology has been perpetuated by his distinguished pupils, notably the veter- ans, Ludwig, Helmholz, Bricke, and Du ,Bois Reymond, who are living to see two generations of followers. ‘Thus the young physiologist of to-day might be called the great-grand-pupil of Johannes Miller. The literature of physiology has grown with constantly expanding rapidity. At first the memoirs were scattered in numerous scientific and medical publications, but soon two peri- odicals acquired the lead as media for the announcement of physiological discoveries. Miller’s own Archiv expressly included physi- ology in its scope, as did also the Zeitschrift Jiir rationelle medicin, a journal of high scien- tific rank. It was long before there was any periodical exclusively devoted to physiology, Pfluger’s Archiv not being founded until 1868. At first Pfluger’s volumes were annual, but at present he issues nearly three volumes a year. Since then two other first-class physiological journals have been started in Germany. Hoppe-Seyler edits a new and _ successful Leitschrift fiir physiologische chemie; and the continuation of Miuller’s Archiv has been divided, the physiological part now forming a separate annual volume. The annual report on the progress of physiology, giving abstracts only, alone makes a bulky volume, which shows, moreover, that nearly all the papers are in German. While the extraordinary develop- ment of physiology in Germany has been going on, what have other countries contributed? Very little. There are only two other physio- logical journals of any note, — one decidedly second-rate, in France; and another the out- come of the combined efforts of England and America, which, though excellent scientifically, is uncertain as to its viability. In short, the 414 world depends, now as formerly, mainly on Germany for the progress it makes in the knowledge of the functions of life. ‘¢Tr 1s ONE of the melancholy things con- nected with publication in government reports,’’ writes one connected with the government, ‘¢ that your work appears so many years after it has been completed, that the author has in the mean time quite outgrown it, and developed into another stage of opinion and activity.’’ This is not a matter of months only, but of years, and, though not so serious a difficulty as formerly, is still a great drawback to efficient and effective work. The administration of the public printing-office is such that every thing has to give way to congressional documents which are often of the smallest value. Is there no remedy for this uncomfortable state of things ? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. * Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer’ s name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. Progress of vegetation in the Ohio valley. THE spring of the present year has been very late in the valley of the Ohio; so late, indeed, that nearly every one has said that it has not been so long com- ing for many years. A review, under these circum- stances, of a record kept of the early-flowering plants for eight years, may be of interest. The first appear- ance of flowers is a more reliable indication of the state of the weather than the thermometer. Plants indicate the general average of climatic conditions; and the species, appearing in much the same sequence, SCIENCE. [Vou. V., No, 1 indicate the progress of spring. In the table of fif- _ teen species here presented, of the first flowers which : generally appear, a number of facts are to be noted. It is to be noticed that every alternate year is a cold year, or one, at least, with a late spring. The years 1874, 1876, 1878, and 1884 are early ones, while 1875, 1877, 1883, and 1885 are late. In 1874 eleven out of the fifteen plants were observed between March 19 and 26, a period of eight days; in 1876 nine out of the fifteen were seen between Feb. 12 and March 14, just a month; in 1878 the eleven of which there is record were found between March 3 and March 18, or sixteen days; while in 1884 the thirteen were recorded between March 16 and 30, or fifteen days. These were the early years. In 1875 fourteen out of the fifteen bloomed between March 30 and April 11, or in thirteen days; in 1877 two were- out on March 4, none others until April 1, and be- tween that and the 12th twelve came out; in 1883 two were out on March 4, one on March 13, and ten between April 6 and 12; lastly, in the present year the first flower did not appear until April 1, and thir- teen others bloomed up to the 20th. Account is here taken of only fifteen species. More than this number appeared during the time between the earliest and latest dates; but the ones here con- sidered may be regarded as the typical early flowers. They represent eleven different orders. The earliest year of the eight is 1876. In that year the spring cress (Cardamine rotundifolia)- was in bloom Feb. 12, and the dandelion (Taraxacum dens- leonis), generally the earliest composite, on April 7. In 1875 the first flower, red elm (Ulmus fulva), was in bloom March 380, and the dandelion on April 29; while in the present year, in many respects the coun- terpart of it, the first flower, white maple (Acer dasy- carpum), was out April 1, and the dandelion on the 26th. But even 1875, the latest of all, was, on an average, six days in advance of this year. This season is, then, nearly a week later than any in eight re- corded years, and is seven weeks and two days behind the earliest year (1876) of the same eight. In scanning the list, it is further found that three out of these fifteen early flowers are trees; nine of the remainder are provided with bulbs, tubers, or rhizomes, in which nourishment is stored up; one (Anemone acutiloba) has persistent evergreen leaves ; and only the remaining two (Capsella and Taraxacum ) seem to have no special fund upon which to draw. The importance, then, to herbs, of a store of matter SPECIES. 1874. 1875. Acer dasycarpum . St he eo Mace at - 4-4 Symplocarpus foetidus 4-19* 4-6 Erigenia bulbosa 3-26 4-6 Anemone acutiloba. ‘ 3-19 4-6 Sanguinaria Canadensis . 3-29 4-8 Ulmus Americana . Side Chen bret eet pty Mere 3-22 4-4 WUimus fulva . . . sh Tobe peta vee mah pat udee ee 3-19 3-30 Cardamine rotundifolia 3-22 4-7 Erythronium albidum . 3-26 4-8 Claytonia Virginica. 3-22 4-6 Capsella bursa-pastoris 3-22 4-7 Anemone thalictroides 3-22 4-7 Dentaria laciniata 4-6 4-11 Jeffersonia diphylla 4-20 4-11 Taraxacum dens. leonis 4-19 4-29 1876. 1877. 1878. 1883. 1884. 1885. | 2-26 4-1 3-8 3-4 3-238 | 4-1 2-13 3-4 3-8 3-4 3-18 4-5 2-13 4-1 33 4-8 3-16 4-5 4-2* a 3-8 4-6 3-23 4-12 = 4-1 bs 4-12 3-24 4-12 9-27 4 3-8 4-6 3-16 4-6 2-27 4-1 3-10 4-6 3-28 4-10 2-12 3-4 3-8 a1 3-23 4-18 - 3-14 4-12 3-18 4-12 3-23 4-18 2-13 4-1 2:8 4-8 3-24 =| 4-18 4-2* 4-2 3-10 4-13 3-30 4-19 3-12 4-1 3-10 4-6 3-27 4-19 4-9 4-7 Z. 4-12 3-30 4-20 a 4-8 cs = Z 4-20 4-7 4-15 = 7 - 4-26 * These were probably in bloom at an earlier date than this; but they are so recorded in my note-books, and were seen firs’ the dates given. 6 ie Piet ie MAy 22, 1885.] which can be speedily utilized at the first opportunity, is here well shown. Jos. F. JAMES. Cincinnati, April 28. Prehistoric fishing. In Professor Rau’s interesting work on prehis- toric fishing is a series of Indian bone and horn fish- hooks, ending with a figure that I sent him of one found on an early site on the line of Onondaga county, N.Y. I was especially interested in this ob- ject; because it was the first thing found there that seemed to show any knowledge of Europeans, al- though the site was connected with later sites, near by, by several peculiar relics. The general form of the hook, with its distinct barb, was so like some of the present day, that I naturally thought the Indian maker had at least seen a white man’s hook. The series in Professor Rau’s work gave rise to doubts, as the main difference in this and others figured was in the barb. I was thus led to see the force of Dr. Rau’s remark in his introduction: ‘‘I would not venture to say that barbed fish-hooks had been unknown in America in ante-Columbian times; I simply state that none have fallen under my notice.’’ In looking over some drawings of relics made about three years ago, my attention was arrested by one which I had labelled ‘horn perforator.’ The more I looked, the more the conviction strengthened that it was the barb of a fish-hook. Borrowing the frag- ment, I drew it again, after care- ful examination, and then sent the _ fragment to Dr. Rau for inspec- tion. He says, ‘‘It certainly has the appearance of the barb of a fish-hook.’’ The fragment is one inch and five-sixteenths long by about one-twelfth of an inch thick; from the point to the preseut end of barb, fifteen-sixteenths of an inch; while the width at the barb is about five-sixteenths; that of the shank, one-eighth of an inch. It is very sharp. ‘There seems to have been a defect in the material, which caused the sharp point of the barb to break off, and which weakened the hook itself. This came from an early site where I have gathered many articles myself, and all are clearly prehistoric. The large copper spear fig- ured by me for Dr. Abbott’s ‘ Primitive industries’ came from the same field. Yet I think the New-York Indians seldom used hooks. All the early references are to fishing with nets and spears; and our Indian village sites are sel- dom on the shores of deep lakes, almost always by streams, or near the shallow rifts of rivers. Stone fish-weirs are not uncommon, probably used as they were farther south. One of three deep bays which I measured was a work of great magnitude. Nets were much used, and I have found the flat sinkers on sites far away from the water. ‘These were small, however. The large ones, measuring six to seven inches across, I have only found on the river-bank. A small cylindrical sinker of brown sandstone, grooved around the centre, was probably used on a line. The ends are rounded. A rough tube of cop- per, two and a half inches long by three-fourths in diameter, found by the Oneida River, I have thought might have been attached to a line, as well as the polished stone plummets. The polished slate arrows of the Seneca and Oswego rivers, and of one part of Lake Champlain, I think may prove to be fish-knives, being much like a double- SCIENCE. 415 bladed knife of broad form. They would have been adinirable for opening and skinning fish, had savages been so fastidious. W. M. BEAUCHAMP. The ruddy glow around the sun. In November, 1883, at the time of the remarkable after-glows, I noticed that there was a broad, reddish ring around the sun even at mid-day. Soon after, I briefly described the appearances in Nature. Since then, I have constantly observed this phenomenon. The sky is very bright for about ten degrees from the sun ; then comes the ruddy zone about twenty degrees wide, the deepest color being at about the natural distance of halos. My observations show that at this place there are but few days of the year when the chromatic glow is not visible ; but it varies in inten- sity not only from day to day, but even from hour to hour. About a year ago I discovered that an in- crease in the depth of color preceded a fall in the temperature, and the formation, first of a structureless haze in the upper atmosphere, and, soon after, of cirrhus-clouds. At other times storms came on with no increase in the depth of color. Soon it became evident that the latter cases were when rain fell, and the general temperature was not low. Hail and sometimes snow storms were accompanied by great depth of color. During the summer of 1884, I passed several weeks in Maine. On two occasions the col- ored zone appeared around the sun as distinctly as it ordinarily does here. Both times the appearance of the glow was followed by violent thunder-storms, with high winds and hail. While temperature would not affect the diffractive power of particles of volcanic dust directly, yet it is possible that at a low temperature the dust parti- cles, on account of the condensation of the air, may be enough nearer to each other to give a perceptibly greater diffractive power to the mass of air in which they are suspended. But so often has an increase in the depth of the circumsolar glow preceded the for- mation of clouds, that it seems far more probable that the glow is caused by the precipitation of at- mospheric moisture at low temperatures. If dust is involved in the process, it is probably only by its in- creasing the depth of color, or by its facilitating the precipitation of moisture. In substance, these views have been expressed ver- bally to numerous persons for more than a year past. They are published now not merely as a matter of theoretical meteorology, but also for a_ practical purpose. The observations here recorded make it probable that the glow may be utilized as a prognos- tication of hail. It goes without saying, that it will be of great value to many, especially to those who have much exposed glass on the roofs of green- houses, etc., to be able to predict hail and a fall in the temperature. It is true that other localities than those named may not show the same phenomena. The subject is worthy of the careful study of the signal-service, and of meteorologists generally. G. H. STONE. CARL THEODOR VON SIEBOLD. Tue death of Carl Theodor Ernst von Sie- bold, the last survivor of three distinguished brothers, deprives Germany of one of her most honored men of science. His investigations had ceased, owing to illness and the encroach- 416 ments of age, some time before his death; but his career is a long record of discoveries. He was born at Wiirzburg, Feb. 16, 1804. His elder brother, Eduard Kaspar Jakob, was a prominent obstetrician, holding a professorship at Gottingen at the time of his death. His still older cousin, Philip Franz (not a brother, as sometimes stated), became distinguished by. his. very successful sci- entific jour- neys in Japan and the Indi- an Archipela- go. Carl The- odor, like Helmholz, and many another of the older German men of science, was educated as a physician, and began life with the practice of his profession, at first in a gov- ernmental post asa ‘* kreis- physikus’ in Heilsberg for a year, next as director of the lying-in hospital at Dantzig. In 1840 he definitely entered upon a university career as professor of physiology at Erlangen ; and, after several changes, he went to Munich in 1858, and there remained until his death, on the 7th of last April. His original work has been almost entirely in the field of zodlogy, more especially in the domain of comparative anatomy. His manual of this last-mentioned science is a great masterpiece, a model of truthful and critical SCIENCE. [Vor. V., No. 12 compilation, supported by numerous original observations. In this work an immense array of facts are properly co-ordinated, and the whole concisely presented. It is not too much to say of this publication, that it has never been surpassed as an adequate exposition of the contemporary knowledge of comparative anat- j omy. Sie- bold’s own in- vestigations have been - very numer- ous. His re- searches on the develop- ment of the in- testinal worms, and also those on parthenoge- nesis, opened new fields of thought, and the first-men- tioned were of great practical utility to man- kind. His monograph on the fresh-water fishes. of HKu- rope is ~ the standard au- thority on the subject. To- gether with Kolliker, he founded __ the , famous Zeit- schrift fiir wissenschaftliche zoologie, a journal of the very highest character. The museum at Munich, of which he had charge, is a beau- tiful monument to his scientific and judicious administration. Such, in brief, are the long- continued and successful labors of one of the most esteemed veterans of German science, of one whose work and influence have contributed much to give Germany of to-day the intellec- a tual leadership of mankind. : May 22, 1885.] THE NEW MINING LABORATORY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. Berore the era of railroads there was com- paratively little demand for technically educated engineers ; and those who were classed as such were either self-made men, or men who, after a college course, had studied engineering from a special liking for the profession. This process of selection brought forward many of the best engineers the world has ever seen; Jigging mac Evans table. fan. SCIENCE. Frue vanner. 417 bent, and therefore follow their classmate’s lead. The duty devolving upon the school is consequently to instruct to the best advantage the students of both classes in order that they may meet the world’s demand. ‘There isroom in the field of discovery and enterprise, not only for the Siemenses, the Bessemers, and the Holleys, but for an army of intelligent man- agers of works and their assistants. The student who has it in him to become a Siemens or a Bessemer will educate himself, with the help of a school, or without it maybe; but the : California stamp-mill. Amalgamated copper plates. Ball mill amalgamator. ° MILLING-ROOM. but the time of preparation for work extended over a period of some six to eight years. The almost incredibly rapid development of the railroad and of manufacturing and mining in- dustries has created, within the past twenty-five years, a demand for engineers which cannot be met by the comparatively slow methods of former years. In response to this demand, schools have sprung up, most of which aim to prepare young men, by a four-years’ course, to become engineers. Asa natural result, there has been a rush of young men to these schools, in the expectation of finding lucrative positions open to them immediately upon graduation. Perhaps one man in four selects a given course because he knows exactly what he wants todo. ‘The other three have no special . three-fourths of a given class who are to become a most important feature in the success of the works to which they go, must be aided to form a special bent for themselves. The methods pursued in all the engineering courses of the Massachusetts institute of tech- nology for accomplishing the above object are well illustrated in the department of mining engineering and metallurgy, which has recently enlarged and refitted its laboratories. The plan is to assign the maximum amount of time possible in a four-years’ course to the usual mental training for the profession, including the principles of chemistry, physics, mathe- matics, and modern languages, — all of them subjects best learned at school, — together with an amount of laboratory-work as small 418 in quantity as will successfully accomplish the following purposes: namely, first, to illustrate, amplify, and explain the use and bearing of the theoretical training ; and, second, by some actual experience to eradicate the conceit and superficiality which so often follows from book- knowledge only, and in this way to give the student a suitable introduction to the world. Experience shows that this course gives a student an insight into the bearing and use of Water jacketed furnace for copper or lead. Slag-kettle. FURNACE-ROOM. much of his mental work, and serves as an initiation to his profession where competition is sharp, and only the most teachable and in- dustrious can survive. The new mining laboratories have an area of floor-space of between five and six thousand square feet. They are furnished with ap- paratus for the mechanical preparation of ores for furnace-work, for lixiviation, and for assay- -ng, each of these subjects being assigned a separate room. The machines and furnaces are arranged in a manner which an experience of thirteen years has shown to be the best for the class-work of students. While in a large establishment it is desirable to have as many as possible of the machines run automati- SCIENCE. Lead reverberatory furnace. « [Vox. V., No. 120, vee cally, in a laboratory for instruction it is’ desirable, on the other hand, not to have the machines and furnaces run automatically, else the students will fail to gain the very experi- | ence which they need. When the students begin their work on ores - | in the last year of their course, they are already | practised analysts, having had a three-years’” training in the chemical laboratories, and a 7 course in assaying. They are already looking : ee ee: ee Copper-refining reverberatory furnace. Lead-kettle. toward actual work in eight months’ time, and they fully appreciate the opportunity given them to make a somewhat intimate acquaint- ance with the tools and processes of the profes- sions they hope to follow. A few examples of investigations which have been made will suffice for illustration. Two students were given gold ores to treat. The first one had an ore from New Hampshire weighing 4,440 pounds: the second had an ore from Nova Scotia weighing 1,400 pounds. — The problem given them to solve in the case of each ore was as follows: 1. Is the ore a— free-milling ore? 2. Is the gold in a fine, or coarse condition? 38. How many amalgamated plates are needed to catch the whole of the gold? May 22, 1885. ] 4. Will there be much waste in treat- ing the ore? 5. If so, how much, and what means should be adopted to avoid it? The rock was crushed fine in a stamp-mill, and the fine sand was conducted by the agency of water over a series of amalgamated copper plates, by which any active or free-milling gold was taken up, and the passive, rusty, included gold was allowed to pass on, together with the sand. This sand, before going to waste, was treated on a concentrator; and from the product or concentrate the greater part of escaped gold could have been extracted by chlorine. The yield of gold per ton was as follows : — Nova-Scotia |New-Hampshire ore. ore. Coarse nuggets.| Very fine grains. Gold in the amalgam of the stamp-mill . ‘ $13.040 $2.28 Gold on the first plate é : 0.200 1.35 Gold on the second plate . . 0.010 0.11 Gold onthe third plate. .. 0.030 0.09 Gold on the fourth plate . . 0.007 0.05 Gold on the fifth plate. . . 0.002 0.03 Gold in the concentrates . . 0.150 0.37 Gold on the additional mer- euby trap. -.-... 2 - 0.02 From these experiments the students ascer- tained that the Nova-Scotia gold is very coarse, is almost all saved in the stamp-mill, and less A, furnace-room; B, assay-room; C, milling-room; D, sup- ply-room; E, toilet-room; F, private laboratory; G, office; H, balance-room; I, vaults; J, entrance to vaults. than five plates will answer for treatment, and that the concentrates yield very little additional gold; while New-Hampshire gold is quite fine, is not much more than half saved in the stamp- mill, that five plates are not enough, and if the series were continued to eight or ten the last would probably more than pay for itself, and that considerable gold is saved in the con- centrates. SCIENCE. 419 A third student had a lot of galena weigh- ing one ton to treat for lead, silver, and gold. Aided by his classmates, he crushed the ore, sampled, calcined, sintered, and smelted it, obtaining base bullion. He extracted the gold and silver by the zine process, followed by cupellation. The silver-gold brick obtained was carefully valued, as were also all his prod- ucts throughout the test. The losses in the process were, — Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. In calcining Lead, 5. | Silver, 2. Gold, 0. In smelting Lead, 12. | Silver, 7. Gold, 4. In cupelling . Lead, 8. | Silver, 6. | Gold, 1. Total losses | Gold, 5. Lead, 25. | Silver, 15. From the results, not only did he learn with his own hands and eyes where the greatest dif- ficulties are to be encountered in lead and silver smelting, but also the familiarity with this process rendered his reading upon the smelting of copper, iron, and other metals, far more intelligible and real. When work by day only is called for, there is enough of the spirit of investigation in nearly every student to carry him over the tedious part of his task for the sake of the results he sees immediately within reach. When the test lasts through the night also, as happens three or four times during the year, there is always enough of the savor of camping out to help keep up the interest. SILVER FROM A PENNSYLVANIA MOUND. ' SiTuATED near the town of Irvine, Warren county, Penn., on a very pretty and fer- tile bottom of the Alleghany valley, are two mounds, well known for the last seventy years. No opening had been made in either in this time, except a shallow pit dug in the side of the smaller about fifty years ago. While spending a few days last summer in that re- gion, I obtained permission of the very intel- ligent and courteous owner, Dr. William A. Irvine, to make a thorough exploration of them. The smaller, which is on the bank of the river, near the point where it is joined by the Brokenstraw Creek, is circular, fifty-two feet in diameter, and three feet and a half high, but has evidently been considerably lowered and expanded by the plough, as the land has been under cultivation for at least sixty years, 420 and for some time previous thereto was occu- pied by a band of Seneca Indians. ' The chief features of this mound, as shown in fig. 1, which represents a vertical section of it, are the pit and large central stone vault (No. 1). The former was found to be two and a half feet deep below the natural surface- line, ab, and about forty feet in diameter, the diameter probably indicating the original ex- tent of the mound. The upper portion of the vault had fallen in, wedging the stones so tightly together that it Fie. 1.— SECTION OF MOUND NEAR IRVINE, PENN. was somewhat difficult to remove them; but the original form and mode of construction could easily be made out without the aid of imagination, as the lower portion was undis- turbed. The builders had evidently miscaleu- lated the proportions necessary for stability ; as the diameter, from outside to outside, was fifteen feet, though the walls were very thick near the base, while the height could not have exceeded seven feet: hence it is probable that it had fallen in soon after the dirt was thrown over it. The stones of which it was built were obtained in part from the bed of the neigh- boring stream, and partly from a bluff about half a mile distant, and were of rather large size; many of them being, singly, a good load for two men. The bottom was formed of two layers of flat stones, separated by an intermediate layer of sand, charcoal, and remains, five inches thick (at the time it was excavated). It was ap- parent that these layers had not been disturbed, save by the pressure of the superincumbent mass, since they were placed there. The in- termediate layer was composed in great part of decomposed or finely pulverized charcoal. In this were found the teeth, decaying jaws, a single femur, and a few minute, badly decayed fragments of the bones of an adult individual, and with these the joint of a large reed or cane, wrapped in thin, evenly-hammered silver- foil. The latter had been wrapped in soft, spongy bark of some kind, and this coated over thickly with mud or soft clay. The weight of the stones was so great that the femur was found pressed into a flat strip, and the reed split. I was unable to determine certainly whether the burning had taken place SCIENCE. [Vou. V., Nor 120. in the mound or not. The few bones found did not appear to be charred, and the same was true of the cane-joint: on the other hand, the bark, although wrapped in clay, was very distinctly charred. A careful analysis of the metal-foil has been made by Professor Clark, the chemist of the geological bureau, who pronounces it com- paratively pure native silver, containing no alloy. Although wrapped around the cane, a portion of it appears to have been cut into’ small pieces of various shapes, two of which are represented in fig. _ 2, a and 6. Where the margins remain unin- jured, they are smoothly and evenly cut. The joint of cane which has been taken between the nodes is nine inches long, and must have been about an inch in diameter. A small stone gorget was obtained from the same layer. At No. 2, on the north-east side of the pit, were a few large stones which may have formed : a rude vault, but were in such a confused con- dition, this being the point disturbed by the first slight excavation, that it was impossible to. ascertain their original arrangement. Among them were found parts of an adult skeleton. The person who dug into the pit at this point, , finding human remains, stopped work, and,re- : filled the opening he had made. ee ee ee Fie. 2. The Senecas, as I am informed by !Dr. Irvine, who has resided here since 1822, pro- tested that they did not know who built these mounds; which statement seems to be borne out by the fact that intrusive burials, probably of their dead, were discovered in the other tumulus. Cyrus THOMAS. A FOSSIL ELK OR MOOSE FROM THE QUATERNARY OF NEW JERSEY. Last summer Rey. A. A. Haines presented 4 to the museum of Princeton college a remark- — ably perfect skeleton of a large elk or moose, May 22, 1885.] SCIENCE. 421 ibd ‘J J nutty iii 4 Wrsin iii iil vii ae # Cnn? ae =! iM ect idan MN I Os <="? SKELETON OF CERVALCES. SCALE IS GIVEN IN FEET AND TENTHS. found in a shell-marl beneath a bog,in Warren by Wistar as a species of Cervus (Proc. Amer. county, N.J. In all probability, this animal phil. soc., 1818, p. 376), and named Cervus belongs to the same species as the specimen americanus by Harlanin 1825. This specimen, from the Big-Bone Lick, Kentucky, described which is now in the museum of the Philadel- 422 phia academy, consists of a broken cranium, some fragments of antlers, and two metacar- pals. Assuming the correctness of this iden- tification, a very short examination of the Princeton skeleton suffices to show that the species in question is most distinctly not a Cervus at all, but is much more like an Alces. It is, however, sufficiently different from the last-named form to necessitate the formation of a new genus for its reception. For this I have proposed the name Cervalces, which serves to indicate its relationship. The spe- cific name given by Harlan must, of course, be retained, so that the full name will be Cerval- ces americanus. Wl HEAD OF CERVALCES FROM THE FRONT, REDUCED 1-25. Cervalces was a very large animal, with large head, short neck and trunk, and exceedingly long legs (much longer than in the great Irish deer). The antlers are palmated, though far less so than in the moose, as in that form they have horizontal beams, no brow-antlers, and a dichotomous division of the tines ; but they do possess, as the moose-antler does not, a bezant- ler, and a posterior tine given off from the beam opposite to it. ‘These processes occur in the antlers of Dama (the fallow deer) and Mega- ceros (the extinct Irish deer). In Cervalces the two tines named are connected by a flaring process of bone, which descends below the level of the eye, and present a most peculiar type of antler, altogether different from any thing known in any member of the deer tribe. The nasal bones are much longer, and the nostrils much smaller, than in the moose, showing that there was no such proboscis-like snout as in that animal. ‘The premaxillae are shaped as in the stag, and join the nasals. The skull is broader and shorter than in the moose, and in many respects like that of the true deer. ‘There are also cervine features in many parts of the skeleton, together with peculiar characters. Cervalces agrees with the moose, SCIENCE. , Bes ip an [VOL. V., No. 12 0. : 2 and differs from the stags, in having the lower ends of the lateral metacarpals present (Tele-— metacarpalia of Brooke). i Altogether, the fossil gives us much welcome light on the obscure relationships of the moose to the other members of the deer family, show- ing that that curious form was derived from a type very like Cervus, but having the lateral metacarpals complete throughout. Cervalces is not one of the steps of direct descent, but it shows what that descent must have been. , It is certainly a very remarkable fact that an animal which in quaternary times was proba- bly most abundant in this country should be represented in the collections by only two specimens. The superb specimen at Princeton is practically a perfect skeleton; for, except two or three caudal vertebrae, the few missing bones are represented by their fellows of the opposite side. The skeleton has been most skilfully restored and mounted by Curator F. C. Hill. A full description, with plates, will shortly appear in the Proceedings of the Phila- delphia academy. W. B. Scorr. Geological museum, Princeton, N.J. GEOGRAPHICAL NEWS. Rev. WiLt1AM E, Fay of the west central African mission contributes three small maps of the route be- tween Benguela and Bihé to the Missionary herald. The trail was surveyed with a prismatic compass, the distances determined by the pedometer, and alti- tudes along the line checked by observations for the boiling-point. The route was passed over four times ; and the maps, while confessedly approximations only, form a distinct advance over the reconnoissance madg by Cameron, which, up to the present time, has been the only authority for this region. The new sketches cover an area about sixty miles wide north and south, and extending some four degrees in longitude. The changes of scenery between Benguela and the inte- rior are numerous and striking. First, the route passes along the level sands of the coast, under a tropical sun. From Catumbella it strikes inland, ascending the highlands at once, and traversing a rocky desert which separates the coast from the fer- tile lands beyond, rich in tropical verdure. Still ascending, the well-remembered features of the tem- perate zone are seen on every side. Descending, at the eastern foot of the range are the first human habitations. About one hundred miles from the coast, the Bailombo River, in wet seasons, is spanned by a native bridge, whose builders take toll, as in more civilized lands. The mission village lies in about east longitude 16°, and south latitude 12° 15’, south-east from the ombola of Kwikwi, ruler of the Bailundu region. This is a broad and beautiful val- — ley, densely populated, and lying eastward from a ~ May 22, 1885.] region of mountains estimated to rise in peaks of from five to eight thousand feet, the source of nu- merous important rivers, whose mouths are often separated by great distances, and whose courses trend to almost every point of the compass, from the moun- tain reservoirs where they take origin. Late advices from Zanzibar state that the four explorers sent to the Ussagara by the German colo- nization society have been very unfortunate. They halted between Mpuapua and Condoa, where one died. Dr. Peters and Herr Baumann, stricken with malignant fevers, were obliged to return to Zanzibar in a serious state, while the leader of the party was left alone on the spot in a condition of great destitu- tion. Aid was immediately despatched by the Ger- man traders of Zanzibar, which, it is hoped, will ameliorate his condition. Two other German explorers, the brothers Denhart, sent by the Berlin geographical society, had arrived at Zanzibar, where they were joined by Herr Schlumke, for the last five years an explorer with Dr. Fischer. The party intend to visit Samburo Lake, and explore the region of the Borani Gallas, as well as to ex- plore the geology and botany of the upper parts of © Kilimanjaro and Kenia. The death of King Mtesa is confirmed. Those in- terested in the civilization of the country believe his successor will be more likely to assist in the process than the late king, whose volatility and caprice more than undid the good resulting from his occasional favors. Mirambo, sometimes known as the negro Napoleon, is also dead. He was noted for his cour- age, great intelligence, and semi-civilization. His death is likely to plunge the population of a vast region into anarchy; for by his ability, in spite of his humble birth, he had brought into submission a large territory, and made all the neighboring sul- tans his vassals. The Algerian fathers have selected a healthy spot for their mission on the west bank of Lake Tan- ganyika, at a village called Chonsa, in about latitude 7° 30’. The natives are friendly, and the country a safe one. Lieut. Becker’s expedition had not started, and the difficulty of getting a sufficient number of porters was very great. This seemed due to the famine, which continues to desolate the interior, and to the uncer- tainties connected with matters in. the basin of the Kongo. A rumor has reached Paris through Bolivia, from the Gran Chaco region, that certain country-people, travellers in the interior, had found in the forest bits of paper and linen on which one of the Crevaux party had written his name in blood, together with an appeal for succor, and the statement that he had been spared by the Tobas on account of his skill as a musician, and had been obliged to follow the band which held him captive in all their wanderings since the massacre. Thestory, which has found a place in the printed proceedings of the geographical society of Paris, is, nevertheless, probably an invention of the ‘travellers in the interior.’ SCIENCE. 423 An important journey has recently been made by a party commanded by Feilberg on behalf of the Argentine Confederation. Their object was to ex- plore the trade-route between that country and Bo- livia via the Pilcomayo. They comprised sixty-two men, with flatboats towed by two small steamers, and were absent fifty-five days. The actual distance in a direct line was probably forty-five leagues; but, taking the sinuosities of the river into account, the party travelled about eighty leagues. Up to this point, the navigation was not bad except for snags and sunken tree-trunks in the channel, but here it became impossible on account of a series of rapids which descend over a rocky surface with only a few inches of water, though the river was in flood. The question of a trade-route by this way is therefore definitely settled in the negative. The party found that below the rapids, sixty leagues above the mouth, a large affluent came into the Pilcomayo, with as much water, or perhaps even more, but which is not found on any chart. It was obstructed by sunken trees, but otherwise showed no impediments, and was ascended for twelve leagues. Feilberg hopes to explore it farther. The country along these rivers appeared healthy, and rich with fine pasturage. It appears now to be certain that the only feasible trade- route will be one carried overland. THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. THE fourteenth annual meeting of this society was held in the lecture-room of the National museum at Washington, May 5-7; the president of the society, Hon. Theodore Lyman, in the chair. The attend- ance throughout was fair, and the papers were, for the most part, exceedingly interesting. The roll of membership now includes about a hundred and fifty names, twenty-four new members having been elected during the meeting. Prof. R. E. C. Stearns read a paper on the giant clams of Puget Sound. He referred to Glycimeris generosa as the ‘boss clam’ of North America. It was first described by Dr. Augustus A. Gould from specimens (probably of the shells only) obtained by the Wilkes exploring expedition, 1838-42. The dis- tribution of this clam extends southerly along the west coast of America to San Diego, where it has been found by Mr. Hemphill; and itis more abundant in its northern than in its southern habitat. It is an excellent article of food, and is called by the Indians geoduck. It has been known to attain a weight of sixteen pounds, and a length of from one and a half to two feet. A paper by Dr. James A. Henshall, on the hiberna- tion of the black bass, was read by Mr. Mather. The writer advanced the theory that hibernation was a voluntary act, and did not necessarily involve a state of profound torpidity. He admitted that other fish were active in the same waters where black bass were hibernating, but accounted for this by saying that there was no supply of food for the bass. In the 424 extreme south, where crawfish were abundant, it did not hibernate; so that he considered hibernation to be the result of lack of food, rather than of tempera- ture. Mr. Goode, in discussing this paper, regarded hibernation as purely a matter of physical cause and effect, holding that the hibernation or non-hibernation of the black bass in a given latitude depended entirely upon the temperature of the warmer retreats accessi- ble to the fish. Black bass always hibernate in shal- low bodies of water in cold climates. Mr. Fred. Mather, in a paper on smelt-hatching, gave an account of some experiments in hatching the smelt Osmerus mordax, which seemed to indicate that quiet, almost stagnant water, and the presence of slime and fungus, were beneficial rather than det- rimental to the proper and rapid development of the eggs, Mr. F. W. True read a paper on the porpoise fish- ery of Cape Hatteras. This fishery was regarded as in its infancy in this country, and capable of great development if the animal could be taken in suffi- cient quantities to secure the introduction of its oil and leather into the markets. The company re- cently formed at Cape Hatteras by a party of Phila- delphia capitalists hoped to utilize the meat of the porpoise for food. It is estimated, that, at the close of the present season, not less than four thousand porpoises would have been captured by this company. Mr. Goode thought, that, if the flesh could in some way be divested of its oily taste, it might be a very palatable article of food. He had while in London, in 1883, tasted some whale-flesh (put up in Norway in hermetically sealed cans), and spoke of its resem- blance in flavor to beef ‘ala mode. The oil he con- sidered superior, for lubricating-purposes, to any other animal oil, but thought that its present high price would prevent it from coming into general use. He also said that in Europe boots made from porpoise leather were held in high esteem, and cost from fifteen to twenty dollars a pair. He considered the leather as most desirable for belting and lacing pur- poses. Mr. Lyman expressed his belief that the products of the porpoise fishery might be made of considerable commercial value, provided the animal could be taken in sufficient quantities. Mr. Frank N. Clark gave some results of artificial propagation and planting of white-fish in the Great Lakes. + Mr. A. Nelson Cheney submitted a paper entitled ‘ Does transplanting affect the food or game qualities of certain fishes?’ This was followed by a paper by Mr. J. S. Van Cleef, on ‘How to restore our trout- streams.’ Dr. Tarleton H. Bean exhibited a nearly complete series of salmon and trout of North America, showed a species of Oncorhyncus, Salmo, and Salvelinus. He said that the species could be, for the most part, very well identified by a single character. In the genus Oncorhyncus, O. chouicha might be known by its very large number of branchiostegal rays, and the numerous pyloric coeca; O. nerka, by its large number of gill-rakers, usually about forty; while none of the other species have more than twenty- SCIENCE. ‘oa seven. O. kisutch has but few pyloric coeca, —sev- enty to eighty. O. gorbuscha has very small scales; so much smaller than any other species of this genus, that this character alone will suffice to distinguish it. _O. keta, the last species, resembles O. chouicha in most respects, but has a smaller number of branchi- ostegal rays. The species of Salmo are easily divided into two groups, one of which has hyoid teeth, the other hay- ing none. Of the first group there are two small- scaled species, —S. Gairdneri; and its fresh-water form irideus, in which the scales are never in more than a hundred and fifty longitudinal rows. The small-scaled form S. spilurus, with its offshoot S._ pleuriticus, has sometimes as many as two hundred scales in the longitudinal series. The group with hyoid teeth includes Clark’s trout, S. purpuratus, with its varieties, Bouvieri, stomias, and Henshawi. The species of Salvelinus divide themselves into two great groups, the first of which has a tooth- bearing crest on the vomer. This is represented by namaycush and its variety siscowet. All of the other Salvelini are red-spotted, and have no crest on the vomer. ‘These are again divided into two great classes, one having hyoid teeth, and the other having none. The Salvelini with hyoid teeth are oquassa, naresi (which is a near relative of oquassa), arcturus (the most northerly salmonoid known), malma, the Pacific red-spotted char, and salvelinus (which has been introduced into New England from Bavaria). The group without hyoid teeth includes fontinalis, known in the searun condition as immaculatus, and in its northern habitat varying into hudsonicus of Suckley. It is a giant in this genus, reaching a weight of fifteen pounds. This Labrador form .has a larger number of gill-rakers than the common fon- tinalis, and theie seem to be fewer tubes in the lat- eral line; so that we may be obliged to consider it as a species distinct from fontinalis. The last species of this group is S. stagnalis, a Greenland species, which reaches a large size, and is distinguished by its greatly elongate form. The three species recently introduced from Europe into America are Salvelinus salvelinus (already men- tioned), Salmo levenensis (the Loch Leven trout of southern Scotland and northern England), and Salmo fario (the river-trout of central and northern Europe and England). The species of Salvelinus, both eastern and west- ern, attain their greatest development in the north- ern portion of their habitat. Thus the S. malma of the west coast is represented in the national museum by examples more than two feet in length from Alaska; and the Labrador form of the eastern brook- trout bears more resemblance in size to a Maine salmon than to any thing else. Another noticeable fact about our salmonoids is that almost all of the western forms are black-spotted, while all but one of . the indigenous eastern forms are red-spotted. Col. McDonald, in a discussion of the ‘ Objective — points in fish-culture,’ presented an argument for a — more extended application of the methods of scientific _ research, showing how exceedingly valuable to fish-— [Vou. V., No. 120. ae May 22, 1885.] culture would be a more perfect knowledge of embry- ology, of the physical conditions of the waters, and the influence of temperature upon the movements of fish, ete. Mr. W. V. Cox gave the audience a ‘Glance at Billingsgate,’ describing the location and general ar- rangement of this celebrated fish-market, and the daily methods of transacting business. He called attention to the fact that there was a great need for the introduction of a system of cold storage similar to that employed in the United States. Mr. Fred. Mather gave an account of his work at Cold Spring Harbor. Statistics were presented show- ing the numbers of the various species hatched out under his direction, and a brief explanation as to his methods of operation was added. Mr. Eugene S. Blackford read a paper on the oyster- beds of New York, containing a very instructive account of the present condition of the oyster indus- try of New York. In the course of his remarks, it was made to appear that the supply of oysters was much greater at present than ten or twelve years ago, and that, by a careful continuance of the methods of protection and planting, there was not the slightest doubt that the most successful oyster industry in the world would become developed in the waters of Long Island Sound. Mr. John A. Ryder presented a paper on some of the protective contrivances developed by, and in con- nection with, the ova of various species of fishes. He classified the eggs of fishes into four divisions, — * buoy- ant,’ ‘adhesive,’ ‘suspended,’ and ‘transported ;’ this last including such eggs as are hatched in the mouth, or in receptacles especially developed on the outside of the abdomen, or under the tail of the parent fish (usually the male), such as are hatched in nests built by the males, or are viviparously developed in the ovary or the oviduct of the mother. The egg of the cod was the type of the first division, buoy- ant, but without an oil-drop. The egg of the Spanish mackerel, bonito, cusk, and many other marine fishes, is buoyant, and with an oil-drop opposite the germinal pole, where the embryo develops. The second group was represented by the egg of the goldfish, which adheres singly to plants and weeds. The blennies lay eggs in radiating, adherent groups. The gobies, gobieso, yellowpeids, and many other forms, belong to this group. Asan example of ‘suspended’ eggs, he referred to the common oviparous ray, which has four filamentous horns, one at each corner, which wind around plants, and suspend the eggs to weeds; so that as the tide sweeps by these horns, which have openings in them, fresh water is carried into the egg- case to aerate the embryo, and favor its incubation. In the Scombresocidae the entire egg-membrane is covered with strong filaments, which intertwine with those of contiguous eggs; and thus masses of eggs are suspended, sometimes several inches in length. The Apeltes, or four-spined stickleback, was cited as an example of the fourth group. The male has a pouch on the right side of the rectum, from which is poured out a viscid secretion, and which is spun out into threads fitfully by the animal, as he goes round a SCIENCE. 425 bunch of waterweeds, like a bobbin, to build a little basket-like nest for the eggs. Callichthys also builds a nest, while Antennarius and fishing-frogs of the deeper ocean deposit their eggs on masses of sar- gossa-weed. Reference was made to the number of salmonoids that prepare beds for the better protection of their eggs. This was also done by the black bass, sun-perch, and lampreys. Prof. O. T. Mason, in a paper describing the use of the throwing-stick by the Eskimo in fishing, said that the most interesting of modern ethnological studies is the tracing of human arts from their birth through the different stages of their evolution. Many savage devices live on in civilization; but there is one, the Eskimo throwing-stick, which is not only one of the most ingenious of aboriginal devices, but one which has not survived in more highly cultured peoples. An account was then given of the manu- facture, use, and distribution of this implement. Professor Theodore Gill presented a paper entitled ‘The chief characteristics of the North-American fish fauna.’ He restricted his remarks to the fresh- water forms alone. He described America north of Mexico as a primary, terrestrial-aquatic realm, vari- ously designated as the North-American, nearctic, and Anglogaean‘region or realm. It.is one of the very richest in fresh-water types, more than six hundred species living exclusively, or nearly so, in the rivers and lakes. These species represent a hundred and fifty genera, and about thirty-five families. The North-American fish fauna may be segregated into two primary categories: 1°, arctogaean, including those families which are shared with Europe and northern Asia; and, 2°, those peculiar to this con- tinent, which are the Amiidae, Hyodontidae, Percop- sidae, Amblyopsidae, Aphredoderidae, Elassomidae, Centrarchidae, and several sub-families, as the Ethe- ostominae, Hoplodinotinae, and Hysterocarpinae. Of the fresh-water species and genera of most of the families, some are anadromous; others inhabit salt and fresh water almost indifferently; and still others are catadromous, as the eel, which appears to breed only in the sea. The number of genera common to Europe and North America is extremely small. Itis noteworthy that the number of the types peculiar to America are distinguished by the care which the parents take of their young, whereas the European forms are generally indifferent. The care of the eggs and young seems to be accompanied by an apparent diminution of the number of eggs; and in this respect there is a kind of analogy between fish- culturists and parents. The fish-culturists assume the part which, in nature, is exercised by the atten- tive parent; and the eggs and young, being provided for, stand less danger of destruction, and conse- quently in such the ratio between the eggs laid and fertilized, and the young matured, is very much less than that between the number of eggs of indifferent parents, and that of other progeny matured. On Thursday, at noon, the members of the society, through the courtesy of Professor Baird, went on the U.S. fish-commission steamer Fish-hawk, for a trip down the Potomac River, to visit the shad-hatching 426 . SCIENCE. station at Fort Washington, and some of the Potomac fishing-shores. Col. McDonald, in charge of the fish- hatching station, displayed the apparatus for, and explained the process of, hatching shad and herring eggs at all the various stages. After the roe is taken from the fish and cleaned, it is put into glass tanks, through which the water is allowed to flow con- stantly. About forty-eight hours are required to hatch out the eggs. A shad a day old looks like a hair with two black spots attached to the end. When two days old, they measure about one-fourth of an inch in length. In twelve days the whole body is distinguishable. The spawn are not, as a rule, kept at this hatching-station more than thirty-six hours; at the end of which time, just previous to hatching, the eggs are placed in crates, and brought to the prin- cipal station at the armory building, near the national museum, where the final stages of incubation occur. The commission has this year hatched five million shad-eggs. The herring yield has been much larger, as the catch of this fish in the Potomac has been un- usually abundant; nor are so many eggs of the her- ring destroyed during the process of hatching as of shad. The commission employs eighteen men at Fort Washington, who are constantly kept busy pre- paring the spawn and eggs for transportation. The day before the party visited this station, sixty thou- sand shad-eggs were taken. After the hatching pro- cess had been explained to the visitors, they were summoned to refreshments, which had been provided in one of the frame buildings belonging to the com- mission. The principal dish was ‘ planked’ shad. By this process four fish are fastened to a board, and held towards a hot fire. Whilst cooking, the fish are constantly basted with a preparation made of butter, salt, and other ingredients. At a meeting on board the vessel, the commissioner of agriculture made some remarks on fish-culture in the west, and Col. Marshall McDonald offered an address on our fishing interests in general, and the work of the society in particular. The following officers were elected for the present year. President, Col. Marshall McDonald, Washing- ton. Vice-president, Dr. William M. Hudson, Hart- ford, Conn. Treasurer, Eugene G. Blackford, New York. Corresponding secretary, W. V. Cox, Ohio. Recording secretary, Fred. Mather, New York. Ex- ecutive committee, G. Brown Goode, Washington; F. L. May, Fremont, Neb.; Roland Redmond, New York; J. A. Henshall, Cynthiana, Ky.; Frank N. Clark, Northville, Mich.; S. G. Worth, Raleigh, N.C.; George Shepard Page, Stanley, N.J. INLAND NAVIGATION OF EUROPE.} THE lower parts of the chief rivers of the United Kingdom are mostly arms of the sea, navigable at. high water by ships of the largest burden. The prin- cipal waterway, the Thames, is navigable for about 194 mniles, and is united by means of a grand network of canals with the Solent, the Severn, the Mersey, the 1 From a lecture by Sir C. A. HARTLEY before the Institution of civil engineers. ‘i ¥ 4 [Vou. V., No. 1 Humber, and the Trent, being thus in direct com- munication not only with the English and Irish channels, but also with every inland town of impor- tance south of the Tees. The estimated length of inland waterways in the United Kingdom is 5,442 miles, which has been constructed at a cost of £19,- 145,866. Russia’s principal highway is the Volga, the largest river in Europe, which affords, with its tributaries, 7,200 miles of navigation. Hitherto no permanent works have been undertaken to improve the navi- gation of the Volga, but dredging has been resorted to in the lower part of the stream; and recently a system of scraping by iron harrows has been employed, _ which has doubled the depth of water over certain shoals in a few days. Other important water com- munications in Russia are the Caspian; the River Don, 980 miles in length; and the Dnieper, with a course of 1,060 miles. Of secondary rivers, the Bug, the Dniester, the Duna, and the Neva are all navigable. In the case of the latter short but most important means of communication, a maritime canal 18 miles in length has recently been completed to unite Cronstadt with St. Petersburg. About 900 miles of canal have been constructed in European Russia. In most in- stances they have been built to connect the head waters of rivers which had their outlets at opposite extremities of the continent. Sweden abounds with lakes; but none of the rivers are navigable except those which have been made so artificially, nearly all of them being obstructed by cataracts and rapids. Nevertheless, Sweden possesses remarkable facilities for internal navigation during the seven months that the country is free from ice, intercourse being carried on by means of a series of lakes, rivers, and bays connected by more than 300 miles of canals. Germany owns parts of seven river-valleys, and three large coast-streams. Of these, the Weser is the only one which belongs wholly to Germany, while of the Danube but one-fifth part runs through her territory. The inland navigation of Germany is of the most advanced character, an immense trade being carried on by means of barges and rafts. In the case of the Elbe, the system of towing by sub- merged cable has taken a large development. As early as 1866 chain-tugs were running on 200 miles of its course; and in 1874 this mode of traction had been so increased that there were then twenty-eight tugs running regularly between Hamburg and Aussig. These tugs are 138 to 150 feet long, 24 feet wide, with 18 inches draught. On the upper Elbe the average tow is from four to eight large barges, and, taking the ice into consideration, there are about three hun- dred towing-days in the year. Although Germany ~ possesses a length of nearly 17,000 miles of navigable rivers, or more than double the combined length of the navigable streams of the United Kingdom and France, it cannot be said to be rich in canals. In South Germany the Regnitz and Ludwig canals, from the Main at Bamberg to the Danube, were the only ones of importance until the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. aah 32 May 22, 1885.] Holland possesses the great advantage of holding the mouths of the Rhine, the Maas, and the Scheldt. Her means of river communication with Germany, France, and Belgium, are unbounded; and the posses- sion of a length of 930 miles of canals and 340 miles of rivers enables her, apart from her railways, to carry on her large trade with greater facility of transport than, perhaps, any other European country. Belgium shares with her northern neighbor the advantages of an elaborate system of waterways. By far the most important river is the Scheldt. Thanks to its unique position at the head of a tidal estuary, to the abolition of the Scheldt dues, and to the fore- sight and liberality of the Belgian government, which has spent $20,000,000 on dock and river works since 1877, Antwerp has now become in many respects the foremost port of the continent. Besides her 700 miles of navigable rivers, Belgium possesses about 540 miles of canals, by means of which communica- tion exists between all the large towns and chief sea- ports of the kingdom. France has built up, and is constantly extending, an elaborate system of canals and canalized rivers. Of the latter, the Seine is the most important in re- gard to the artificial works undertaken for its im- provement, and for the tonnage of the traffic, which was in 1872 more than one-eighth of the whole water- borne traffic of France. The Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhone have all been largely benefited by the art of the engineer. The canal system of France is historic; one of the earliest of these artificial cuts being the celebrated canal of Languedoc, 171 miles long, built in 1667-81, and now forming part of the Canal du Midi. From its summit-level 600 feet above the sea, it communicates with the Garonne, and therefore with the Atlantic, by twenty-six locks, while its southern slope descends by seventy-three locks to the Mediterranean. Up to 1878, on 17,069 miles of waterways, France had spent upwards of $215,000,000. Nevertheless, it is intended still fur- ther to extend this means of communication at an estimated further cost of $200,000,000. Spain and Portugal possess, partly in common, eight principal rivers, of which five—the Minho, Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir — drain the wes- tern valleys, and flow into the Atlantic; while the other three — the Ebro, Incar, and Segura — discharge into the Mediterranean. As a rule, these rivers are only navigable for a limited portion of their course, and are chiefly remarkable for extremes of flood- discharge; a velocity of sixteen knots an hour having been noted in the Douro under certain conditions of tide. The canals of the Iberian peninsula are unimpor- tant. Spain possessed a length of 130 miles in 1875. Italy is not rich in waterways except in the valley of the Po, the navigable portion of her rivers only attaining an aggregate length of 1,100 miles. Al- though the total length of navigable canals in Italy is only 435 miles, the Italians were the first people of modern Europe that attempted to plan and execute such artificial waterways. As a rule, however, they have been principally undertaken for the purposes of irrigation. SCIENCE. 427 Austria-Hungary possesses in the Danube the largest river in Europe as regards the volume of discharge, although it is inferior to the Volga in the length of its course and the area of its basin. This great stream first becomes navigable for flat-bottomed boats at Ulm, 130 miles from its source. In its total length of 1,750 miles, it is-fed by at least 300 tribu- taries, many of them large rivers. Although the Danube between Vienna and Old Moldova had been regulated in numerous places and at great cost, there had been but little appreciable improvement effected in its general navigable depth. On this account, projects having in view the permanent acquisition of a sufficiently wide channel, of from six to eight feet deep at every point between Passau and Basias, have lately been prepared, which involve an outlay of $10,000,000 to effect the desired improvements. Traffic on the upper and lower Danube is mostly carried in barges, of which the greater number gauge 250 tons. The effect of the improvements at the Sulina mouth has been to increase the trade from 680,000 tons gross in 1859, to 1,530,000 gross tons in 1883, and to lower the charges on shipping from an average of five dollars per ton for lighterage, to half a dollar per register ton at the present time for com- mission dues. As a commentary on the hostile crit- icism evoked when the scheme was initiated, the lecturer drew attention to two facts; namely, that the works so unsparingly criticised in 1857 had already effected a saving of $100,000,000, and that experience had abundantly proved that the predic- tions of a rapid silting-up to seaward of the Sulina piers had been completely erroneous. THE GEOLOGY OF WISCONSIN. Tue nearly simultaneous appearance of the two final volumes of the ‘Geology of Wisconsin’ some months since, marked the close of one of the most rapid of the state geological sur- veys, and, for the time and money expended, one of the most thorough and complete. The work has been done in less detail than in some other states, whose surveys have run through much longer periods of time, and have con- sequently necessitated much greater financial outlays. The results are embodied in four large octavo volumes, containing something more than three thousand pages. ‘The text is well illustrated; and the judicious use of cuts, which express much more than the best verbal descriptions occupying the same space, has contributed to the embodiment of a large ount of material in relatively small compass. 2 the same line may be noted the predomi- nance of observational results over theoretical deductions, and the absence of irrelevant dis- cussions which have sometimes served to swell Geology of Wisconsin. Professor T. C. CHAMBERLIN, chiet geologist. 4vols. Madison, Wis., 1877-83. 3,147 p., 140 pl. 8° 428 similar publications. The accompanying atlas sheets, more than forty in number, add much to the value of the reports. The leading contributors are Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, chief geologist, and Messrs. R. D. Irving, Moses Strong, R. P. Whitfield, Charles E. Wright, T. B. Brooks, E. T. Sweet, L. C. Wooster, and F. H. King. In connection with lithological determinations and reports, stand the names of Irving, Wichmann, Pum- SCIENCE. hardly be asked by one familiar with the results of the survey of Wisconsin. In vol. i. appear several chapters of economic import, the express purpose of which is to make easy of comprehension the principles which are in- volved in such every-day matters as the sink- ing of artesian wells, the manufacture of brick, tile, etc., the selection of building-stone, the relations of soil to fertilizers, where and how to search for ore-deposits, — questions concerning which the opinion of the Lowez Helderbelg Limestone Limesione (eats Si. Peters Sandstone SS Lower Magnesian ees Limestone «| Potsdam Sandstone Keweenawan or Copperbearing Group “4 Huronian or Geological Map WISCONSIN. || geologist is of prac- tical worth. : ‘Attention has throughout been di- rected to known mineral resources with a view to their future development, and particularly to those formations which, from their relationship to pro- ductive mineral- bearing formations elsewhere, or for other reasons, were thought, from an economic point of view, to merit care- ful investigation. The benefits, both positive and nega- | tive, which have ac- : crued to the state as the result of such investigations, have already been con- siderable, and will doubtless be still greater in time to come. Other natu- GENERAL — a Irenbearlog Group ’) Laurentiva or vevyes 4 See Graniiic Group MME i sake pelly, Van Hise, and Julien. Vol. i. also embraces reports on selected topics in natural history, notable among which is King’s report on the economic relations of our birds. A characteristic feature of the publications is the relatively large amount of practical in- formation brought within the reach of the intel- ligent citizen who has little technical knowledge of science. Indeed, the oft-repeated question of which every geologist must be weary — ‘ What is the object of the survey? ’ — would ral resources have not been neglected. Attention has been directed to various building-stones of considerable merit; and some of them, in consequence, have already found their way into the market. The subject of artesian wells has received special study at the hands of the chief geologist. It is doubt- fulif the problem of subterranean water-supply over a commensurate area of such diversity of character is anywhere better understood. The survey has done more than assist in the - development of natural resources, andits work _ is to be commended for other than economic — May 22, 1885.| reasons. The science of geology has received no insignificant contribution in these publica- tions. Much light has been thrown upon some unsettled problems; and if they are still unsettled, or if their solutions are still disputed, the contribution is not less real, because the data afforded by the state are insufficient bases for positive conclusions. Each formation of the state has been carefully mapped ; its strati- graphical relations determined ; and its fossils, when fossils exist, identified. Ninety-four new species are described and figured, as also are some of the more characteristic forms pre- viously known. Among the more important and interesting results are the determinations which have been made respecting the subdivisions of the archaean formation, and those which pertain to glacial geology. Concerning the former, the Wisconsin geologists recognize three dis- tinct groups of rocks, — the Laurentian, Huro- nian, and Keweenawan. ‘These groups, it is maintained, are not only distinct, but separated by intervals which, in point of time, were of no inconsiderable duration, — intervals long enough in each case to allow profound changes, both stratigraphical and petrographical, to be accomplished during their continuance. The evidence cited in support of this subdivision, as well as that bearing on the distinctness of the Keweenawan from the Potsdam formation above, is of a positive and perfectly definite character. ‘The greatest break is held to occur between the Laurentian and Huronian series. The rocks of the Laurentian series are much more highly metamorphosed than those of the Huronian which overlie them; they are in a highly folded and contorted state, while the Huronian rocks have suffered notably less stratigraphical distortion; the laminations of the two series, when seen in contact or prox- imity, are discordant; the later series con- tains, at its very base, material from the older highly metamorphosed rocks ; and the relations of the two series to penetrating igneous rocks are such as to emphasize the conclusion to which the other lines of evidence point. Al- together, the evidence upon which the subdi- vision is based is strong, and, for the region under consideration, is certainly convincing. The separation of the Keweenawan rocks from the Huronian on the one hand, and from the Potsdam on the other, rests on scarcely less positive grounds. ‘The question as to whether the Keweenawan group is to be classed as Cambrian or pre-Cambrian, is one concerning which there remains room for doubt. In any event, the important fact developed is the exist- SCIENCE. 429 ence of a distinct formation younger than the Huronian, and unconformably subjacent to the oldest formation of the interior known to contain Cambrian fossils. At the other end of the geological series equally important advances have been made. For the study of quaternary geology, Wiscon- sin is an exceptionally good field, because of the proximity of driftless, old-drift, and new-drift areas. The determination in 1874, of the morainic character of the previously known ‘Kettle Range’ of eastern Wisconsin, gave a new impetus to the study of the drift phenomena. Following this important deter- mination was the demonstration of the char- acter of ice-movement in a relatively level region, as exemplified by the ice which occupied the Green-Bay valley. The proof of the lobation of the ice-margin followed, and the facts and principles here first developed have been the key to the explanation of glacial phenomena since studied from the Atlantic to Dakota. The determination of hitherto unsuspected moraines, and the connection of these with each other and with moraines pre- viously known, but not known to have more than local developments, quickly followed in the wake of the first determinations in Wis- consin. Another result, scarcely less sig- nificant, was the recognition of two clearly differentiated ice-epochs in the glacial period, separated, according to Professor Chamberlin, by an interval which may not have been less than the time which has elapsed since the last. Although the existence of two ice-epochs is not yet universally admitted, the drift phenomena of Wisconsin, especially when con- sidered in connection with like phenomena throughout the interior, place the hypothesis upon a substantial basis. Although later in- vestigations have slightly modified the borders of the driftless area as mapped by the survey, the reality of its existence is beyond question ; and it is just as certain that between this area and that bounded by the Kettle Moraine, which marks the limit of ice advanced in the second epoch, as interpreted by Professor Chamberlin, there is an area. covered with glacial drift, which, as indicated by the greater amount of erosion which it has suffered, is of much less recent origin than that within the Kettle Moraine. The consideration of the ore-deposits of south-western Wisconsin constitutes one of the more valuable portions of the reports. The author accepts the general conclusions concern- ing the manner of deposition reached by Whitney some years since, but works out the 430 SCIENCE. theory much more in detail, and for the first time makes it complete. For this thorough- going treatment of the subject by the chief geologist, the excellent topographic and geo- logic work of Mr. Strong prepared the way. Wisconsin is to be congratulated upon the successful completion of a work which in so many other states has had a different issue. NORDENSKIOLD’S ARCTIC INVESTIGA- TIONS. Wuewn Baron Nordenskidld retired in April, 1882, from the presidency of the Royal acad- emy of sciences at Stockholm, he took for the subject of his address the story of the Zeni brothers. This address was published in Swedish in 1883; and in the same year he laid before the Congrés des Américanistes, at their session at Copenhagen, three of the early maps, illustrative, as he thought, of an early acquaint- ance with Greenland, posterior to the so-called Northman discovery in the tenth century, and earlier than the period of Columbus. ‘These were the Zeni map of 1380 (1390?) ; a map of 1427, found in a manuscript of Ptolemy at Nancy ; and the Donis map of the edition of Ptolemy, printed at Ulm in 1482. In the Ger- man version of Nordenskidld’s papers, which has recently appeared as ‘ Studien und forschun- gen,’ we have this same Zeni study in a language easier read by most inquirers. Those who believe in the substantial truth of the Zeni nar- rative will find Nordenskiéld on their side. He identifies the Frisland of the story with the Faroe Islands, makes the Zeni to have reached Greenland, and identifies the Estotiland and Drogeo of the Frisland fisherman with our American coast from Newfoundland south. The botanical portion of the book has been contributed by three writers, — Nathorst, Kjell- man, and Wittrock, — who treat respectively of the former botanical geography of high lati- tudes as indicated by the results of polar re- search, the biology of the arctic flora, and the vegetable life of the naked snow and ice. All of these articles are remarkably free from tech- nicality, and form pleasant and instructive reading, the last being especially valuable be- cause of its full references to the literature of the subject. Fossil collections made from time to time in the arctic region, and, for the most part, elaborated by Heer, when compared among Studien und forschungen veranlasst durch meine reisen im hohen norden. Von A. E. NORDENSKIOLD. Autoriste ausgabe. Leipzig, Brockhaus, 1885. 9+521 p., illustr., 8 pl., and maps. 8°. themselves, and with similar collections from __ Europe, show a remarkable uniformity in the early flora of the entire northern part of the world, until, scattered and driven southward along numerous lines of migration, ‘it has left its descendants mainly on the eastern sides of the two great continents, as Dr. Gray has already shown in his history of Sequoia. For the most part, the present arctic flora is composed of the descendants of tertiary alpine species, which, wandering from their original homes, — the Alps, the mountains of Greenland and Scandinavia, the Caucasus, and the Altai and Rocky mountains, — were driven back, at the end of the glacial period, to high elevations, or into the circumpolar region, by the warmer climate which succeeded. Thecollections made by the returning Vega party at Mogi, in Japan, are interesting because they indicate a certain, though relatively slight, reduction in tempera- ture in that part of Asia corresponding to the glaciation of America and Europe, though, as is well known, no traces of inland ice occur there. The arctic flora of to-day is a most interest- ing subject for study. While the ocean, at a short distance from shore, supports a growth of giant kelps and dark Florideae. which manifest continued activity the year through, vegetating in the short summer, and pushing their repro- ductive processes during the long winter night, the land-plants are all pygmies, apparently less because they cannot endure the intense cold of winter, than because they do not enjoy sufficient warmth in summer to assimilate enough organic matter for any considerable growth. 3 In a region where the average daily temper- ature for the least cold month of summer is but a few degrees above the freezing-point, and where vegetation is practically limited to about two months of even this slight warmth, interest- ing adaptations are met with on every hand. Annuals are as good as unknown, the season proving too short for the development of their vegetative organs, and the subsequent matura- tion of fruit. The entire flora is practically biennial or perennial; the plants rapidly push- ing into bloom, like our spring flora, with the first abatement of the cold of winter, yet, un- like the latter, barely fruiting, and elaborating material for the next year’s flowers before the short summer is succeeded by another winter. Indeed, the season is too short for the majority of even these precocious and hardy plants, many of which are forced to rely on vegetative reproduction except in the most favored situa- tions, while nearly all are caught in the midst of flowering by the cold of autumn, which a ‘ » . — ese se {[VOL. V., No. 120. May 22, 1885.] blights them as a sudden frost nips the tender exotics of our gardens. Yet, despite the desolation of the oa in all save the most congenial localities, and the dif- ficulty with which ‘the plants growing in these perform their necessary functions, even the bare ice and snow are not without their life, no less than forty-two species or well-marked varieties of ice and snow plants being now known. As might be inferred from their habi- tat, these are mainly algae, though the alga- like protonemata of several mosses are found, and the occurrence of putrefaction to a slight extent argues the presence of bacteria. ‘The essential characters of this flora, are, in brief, that it consists almost exclusively of water- plants of low organization, propagating them- selves chiefly by non-sexual processes. ‘These plants are all microscopic; yet, as they are for the most part brightly colored, characteristic tints —red, brownish-purple, and green — are often given to extensive areas of snow and ice by the myriads of these minute beings which occur together. Under the title ‘ Insect-life in arctic lands,’ Dr. Christopher Aurivillius gives an account of the expeditions which have enriched our knowledge of arctic insects, of the number of species of each order of insects collected, and of the literature of the subject. He explains that the uniformity of the arctic fauna becomes more striking as the north pole is approached, but that three subdivisions are recognizable: these he terms the Scandinavian arctic, the Asiatic arctic, and the American arctic regions. A brief notice of the influence of the retreat- ing glacial sheet, in the past, in leaving colonies of arctic insects on mountains,— of which Mount Washington, N.H., is especially men- tioned, —is followed by a discussion of the difference in relative proportion of species of the different orders of insects in arctic and temperate lands, and the causes of this unequal distribution. Insect metamorphoses are stated to take longer time in arctic than in temper- ate lands; Oeneis Bore requiring two years to complete its changes, passing from five to six weeks as a subterranean pupa. The co-ordi- nate development of plants and insects in geo- logical time, especially the correspondence in the development of suctorial mouth-parts of insects and of flowers with concealed or not easily accessible honey, is outlined; and the relationship of the distribution of arctic insects to the arctic flora is illustrated by a tabular synopsis of the nature of the flowers, and the distribution of different arctic plants. This synopsis shows that anemophilous flowers SCIENCE. 431 diminish in number toward the north, and that the flowers fertilized by flies, bees, and Lepidoptera, bear nearly direct relationship to the dipterous, hymenopterous, and lepidopter- ous fauna of each region.